The Cookie

So, we have a rock awesome church that has been providing us meals every other day since we came home with Jewel. It is so nice not to have to worry about dinner plans every night! We are seriously beyond blessed.

One of our really good friends brought Silas a treat with our dinner, cookies for him to frost and sprinkle...let's just say it was a huge hit.

And, for those of you on my side of the family, these goofy smile pictures will certainly remind you of our Everett Joseph just a few short years ago.

Jewel Nancy Bury

Let's just take a minute to have a good laugh at my last blog post. A woman, lost in pregnancy hormones, giving up hope of ever delivering her child, asking for grace and mercy from family and friends and mostly from God. All of this just hours before going into labor.

So, I go to bed on Saturday night feeling exactly the same way I had felt for the last month. At about 3am I wake up to use the restroom and am feeling some lower back pain along with my normal braxton hicks contractions. I think that I must need to change positions in bed to relieve my aching muscles, and I go back to sleep. At 6am Jordan and I are both startled awake by a thump in the house that has us both out of bed in a flash (which is saying a lot for me being as pregnant as I was, and a lot for Jordan who sleeps like he does). He checks to make sure Silas hasn't fallen out of bed, and I am standing in our room feeling a new degree of back pain and a strong contraction. I recognize this feeling from Silas' labor. Jordan reports back that the thump is a mystery sound and Silas is sweetly sleeping in his bed. I report that I am thinking I am starting labor. I decide to hop in the hot shower to see if relaxed muscles will ease the contractions, and Jordan goes to get the number for the labor and delivery desk at the hospital, just in case. By the time I am done with my shower, contractions are less than 5 minutes apart and getting stronger and stronger. By God's grace (I am sensing a theme here), Everett was at our house so we woke him up to let him know we were on our way.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:40, checked in, and waited for a nurse to come and check me. When she got there she said "You have a look about you...are you in a ton of pain, or really nervous?" I didn't exactly know how to respond to the pain question, what did she think I was doing there? So I addressed my nerves. I confessed I was feeling anxious about testing positive for group B strep and needing to get all the medication, because I also knew that my labor goes really fast. She remained totally calm and asked me to lay down so that she could check my progress. Her nonchalant demeanor changed when she realized I was 8 cm. Off we went to a delivery room and they made the call to my doctor. His shift ended at 7am, so we caught him by 10 minutes. Again, thank you God.

I knew the epidural would not be an option, so I was starting to get my "look" back about having to do delivery without any help. By the time my doctor got there to check me I was nearly 10 cm. He told me they could give me a spinal block and that was all we had time for. I didn't even really know what it was, but blocking anything sounded really good at the time so I signed myself up. As soon as I got the shot, I totally relaxed. I felt like I was able to start thinking about the baby and the pushing, instead of just making it through each contraction. So, at 7:45 the doctor checked me again and the baby was already starting to crown. Two contractions later, there she was. Yes, almost exactly one hour after getting out of the car, we were holding our baby girl. Amazing.

The day was beautiful. It was still early enough in the morning that the hospital was quiet, our room had huge windows overlooking the tree covered west hills of Portland, and the thin layer of clouds kept a dreamy light around us. They laid sweet baby girl on my chest. She whined at the nurses wiping her off, but was quickly contented to snuggle with me. Somehow, things seemed so calm and relaxed. It was just one doctor, one nurse, Jordan, me and baby. The room was quiet, the baby was quiet, and we were just in awe. So we soaked it up, each moment. For about 20 minutes the doctor and nurse went about their duties while Jordan and I studied our daughter, commenting to each other; surprised, excited, what about the name, we want Silas here, too...

Silas and Everett joined us just 45 minutes after she was born. My eyes still fill with tears to think of my little brother escorting my son into our delivery room to meet his little sister for the first time. I was overjoyed to be able to share the time with him. It made the day even more precious to me.

My big boy was overwhelmed. The nurse tried to engage him, only to get strange squeaking noises as a response. He looked at Jewel, kissed her, asked a lot of questions, and spent the rest of the time getting into things in the room. He stopped long enough to hug me with his tightest hug, my very sweet boy.

So, she arrived. Safe and sound. In God's perfect timing. Thank you Jesus that Everett was here, thank you that Jordan's schedule worked out just right for the week, thank you for getting us to the hospital on time and still letting me sleep through 1/2 of my labor, thank you for knowing just what we needed. You always do. You always do.

The Big Brother

Snuggling on the couch at home

Super Uncle Everett

LOADS of dark hair!

Silas at the same age...very similar faces!

Beppe and Baby

Daddy and his girl
(By the way, how hot is Jordan looking these days?!? He is a working out, eating healthy machine...and it is showing! Thank you God for my hubby, too ;)

Jewel Nancy

Silas Charles

Mom and daughter, our first photo

Jewel, 8 pounds 4 ounces, 20 inches

Jordan and his kids :)

Well, here we are...

I have talked to most of you in the last couple days, at least over email, but I thought I better fill in the gaps for everyone else.

As of last Wednesday at my doctor appointment, I was 3 cm dilated. I know, to some this seems like a lot...what am I still doing at home when you checked into the hospital when you were 2 cm? Others are saying...oh yes, I was 3 cm dilated for 2 weeks before I was induced. Well, I hope we are somewhere in between there!

I have a ton of contractions every day, but so far they are not consistent enough or strong enough to constitute true labor. I get less and less time every day between my trips to relieve my ever shrinking bladder. My feet are aching and swollen by the time I crawl into my bed. I wake up several times in the night (back to the bladder issue) and lay there for a moment waiting to feel if I am being woken up by labor. So far, nothing.

I think that because Silas was 2 1/2 weeks early, I was really expecting this baby to come early, too. Then, since I was dilated and everything, I just kept expecting the baby to come any day! I got the room all ready. I have deep cleaned my house multiple times. I painted my downstairs bathroom (for the third time since we have lived in this house...I think I like it for sure this time!) this week. I am set with all things baby and postpartum. All we need now is the baby!

Actually, I did a great job of telling everyone how sure I was that the baby was coming early. I also readily shared my "too much information" about being dilated and effaced and everything, sure that it was any moment I would be letting people know I was on my way to the hospital. With Silas I was only 1 cm dilated at my check up and he was born 6 days later. So I had myself and everyone else convinced that (also due to the measurements of the baby) we were for sure looking at an 'end of August' arrival!

The thing is, you can only live on the edge for so long. You can only wake up wondering if you are in labor so many nights before you start to lose some focus on reality. I was there...I hate to admit it. I think Jordan was getting worried about me. Frankly I was worried about myself :) So, I am rejoining the human race. I am realizing that this baby may not be early, I mean it may not even be on time, we could (although it is unlikely) even be over due.

In the mean time...things at home are fabulous. Everett arrived last Monday and we have been LOVING having him here. He and Silas did not waste any time in becoming best pals. They play trains together, read books, wrestle, and laugh a lot. It is so fun for Jordan and I to be able to have someone to share Silas with. And, with Jordan being so busy at work it has been fun for me to have the company and conversation.

Silas brings more joy and laughter to us than there is space to write about. The best part is how entertaining he finds himself. He frequently pinches the sides of his own cheeks and says "I'm teasing you!" and then cracks up. When we are sitting at the table, eating, he repeats the things we say and then just laughs really hard until we all start laughing. He is also picking up so many "grown up" phrases. It is so fun to hear him using them in his little body and in his little vocabulary.

So we will just keep on enjoying where we are and what we are up to for now. We promise to let everyone know AS SOON as anything changes. We will call everyone when we are on the way to the hospital. We will send pictures and emails of our sweet little addition as soon as God's grace allows this baby to join us.

We love you all tons :)

August

On the beach, inside a cloud, with Audrey

Dinner and a movie date with Audrey
(and yes, that is a shiner on Silas' eye...a bed jumping injury)

Trying to dig in the sand with the dads

A great big hug!

It is late at night, Friday night. I should be sleeping but my growing belly, active baby, jumpy muscles and thinking brain just won't let me.

Let's face it, the last month of pregnancy is just really tough. I am hesitant to complain, or even describe my discomfort to anyone. I know that still being pregnant at nearly 37 weeks is my biggest blessing. I am not ignorant to the challenges that a baby being born prior to this time can bring. I don't want to place my own physical desires over the needs of my unborn baby. I have even been critical of others who have wished for an early delivery. I am not foolish enough to think that giving birth at this time will make things easier for me...being pregnant versus caring for an infant...neither is easy.

But also, I do live in this failing body. My joints are aching. My feet are swelling. I want to be able to pick up Silas and snuggle him in close to me without my stomach being in the way. I want more than 1/2 an hour to go by between my trips to the bathroom.

I am DYING to meet my baby. I am ready to look into little baby eyes and touch soft baby cheeks. I would rather be up with my baby right now; nursing, talking, getting to know each other...much more so than writing on my computer. My mother in law assures me this is how pregnancy is designed to be. Babies can't stay in there forever, so by the end your body desires the change. I needed the liberty to express myself instead of trying to be careful and correct in all my responses.

So, we wait on. Waiting now for God's perfect timing.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to live each moment fully. We were able to spend an evening with Hessel, Heather, Audrey and Evangeline in Manzanita earlier this week. What a blessing to see my sweet Silas with his darling cousin, Audrey. Only a few weeks separate these two in age, and watching them live in their two year old world together was a gift to both sets of parents. Amazingly, God created cousins to recognize one another regardless of the time and distance that has kept them apart. I have been the recipient of this gift with my far away cousins, and was delighted to see Audrey and Silas connect with each other in the way they did after not seeing one another since March. I was also enchanted by my sweet niece, Evangeline. Peace and joyfulness radiate from her little being. She is beautiful to behold. Both Jordan and I were encouraged and lifted up by our conversation with Hessel and Heather. When we live so far away from one another, the time we have together is precious, and used wisely. One day we may be able to enjoy a casual evening watching a movie together, for now we squeeze every last moment for all it is worth.

Silas continues to be the refreshment of our lives. Jordan has been busy and overwhelmed with work. I have been on a nesting frenzy as I prepare for the arrival of our next baby. Silas remains to be Silas. He is smart and funny, snuggly and cute, and our reminder that God desires to bless us. He frequently wants to talk to the baby, asking me to lift my shirt so that he can place both hands over my stomach and talk quietly to his sibling. He seems totally uninhibited by this activity. He tries to give the baby his pacifier. He tells me he can feel the baby. And when he is done he gently puts my shirt back and says goodnight...regardless of the time of day. I can't say with certainty that the transition from only child will be easy, but Silas' gentle heart and caring ways make me hopeful for the relationship that God has in store for these two.

As of last Wednesday, I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so the baby and I are moving in the right direction. I have another appointment this Wednesday, so if there isn't any action before then we will update again.

OK, back to bed...

Just some of my favorites

My two best pals, Lisa and Devon, at Lisa's baby shower over the weekend. She had her baby yesterday (Maddox), Devon is due in December, and I have made it almost to 35 weeks!

Silas at the park in his new muscle shirt.

Devon, Lisa, Erin and me at Erin's husband's 30th birthday party.

Silas and I made cookies before all the family came. I fondly remember my mom letting us lick the cookie dough off the kitchen aid mixer. It was so much fun to give Silas the same experience!

Today, on our way home from the park, Silas said to me...

"You are Mommy, I am Silas. I am two years old. Now, THAT'S what I am talking about!"

The extension of the reunion

The other thing we had really been looking forward to all summer was the couple of days that Mandy and her kids would be sticking around in Portland after the rest of the Bury clan left. They are living in Arizona now and were looking for a really fun way to wrap up their summer vacation before Abbie goes off to 1st grade, Mandy starts teaching, and the boys start preschool. What better way than for us to show them around beautiful Portland for a couple days...right?

WRONG.

Our first mistake was that we left the beach. While we had been enjoying fabulous weather on the coast, Portland was enduring it's longest and hottest heat wave in my life time. Seriously. In ignorance and bliss we headed east from Cannon Beach and stopped at Lost Lake to do some fishing with the kids. It was warmer there...actually hot. However, we could have easily handled the heat had there not been the attack of 50 million bugs.

But we were determined to catch something and to give the kids the opportunity to fish (since Brandon had been talking about it for weeks prior to them coming). So, we cast and cast and cast. To no avail. It was simply getting more frustrating as we were sweating in the heat the bugs were increasing their attacks, and the fish were NOT biting.
Silas and Ryan did everything but actually jump into the water. They were covered in mud. Not to mention they were working against our little fisher men by throwing every single rock on the shore into the lake. We tried to convince them to move a little further away, but every where the fishers went, the rock throwers followed.
To make things more interesting, Ryan then had a poopy diaper (imagine changing that with the bug population, not to mention laying him in the dirt), and BOTH Brandon and Abbie became official campers by having to go potty in the woods. A landmark, yes, the kind of landmark we were looking for, no. After over an hour, Mandy and I packed up our things and started leading the kids back to the cars. Jordan reluctantly followed, very disappointed to have not one single fish in tow.

Only my car has AC (who REALLY needs AC in Oregon?), so Brandon and Abbie braved the dirt road with windows down in Jordan's truck while Mandy and I blasted my AC and put a movie on for Silas and Ryan. My car was totally covered in dirt and I couldn't see out my limo tint windows. So in my haste to get the heck out of there, I backed into a rock hill and lodged a baseball size rock into my exhaust pipe. Jordan was less than thrilled (to top the no fish fiasco), but we had no time to deal with that. It was after 7 and the kids still hadn't eaten dinner. Abbie had her heart set on the fish and chips that we would be making with our lake loot, but since that didn't happen we decided a stop at Dairy Queen would be the next best thing.

By the time we got back to our house, it was nearly 10 o'clock and still 100 degrees outside AND inside our house. Even though we opened all the windows, turned on all the fans, and gave the kids cold baths, everyone went to bed sweating. We tried to give the big kids a fun sleep over in Silas' room...but since no one was sleeping at 11pm, Mandy and her kids set up camp downstairs on the couch and the floor. It never dropped below 85 degrees during the night. No one cooled off. I even slept on the floor downstairs for part of the night...between the 2 cold showers I took in attempt to lower my own body temperature. The next morning was, of course, trash day. So all three of our trash trucks came roaring through the neighborhood bright and early. Nothing like four kids, 6 and under, getting 6 hours of sleep.
This was the crew, right after breakfast, all nearly naked at 8 in the morning trying to beat the heat by relaxing with a little show. Even at this early of an hour, it was too hot for them to play outside. Jordan went to Costco to try to find an AC unit...which most places were completely sold out of due to the record high of 108! Mandy and I decided we would stick out the heat wave for the morning, take early naps, and then head to the children's museum. Well, even with the air mattresses layed out in front of the AC unit, Brandon and Abbie did not nap. Silas and Ryan were both drenched in sweat and slept barely over an hour. After another round of cold showers for the adults, Jordan came to the rescue again by arranging for us to stay at a local hotel for the night. So we packed up all of Mandy's things and packed the kids into the car, leaving the blistering house behind us for the next 24 hours.
We got to the children's museum at 4pm. The stinking place closes at 5! So, for an hour, we had cool fun playing in the water room, grocery room, dig pit, and doctor office.



By the time we left, no kid wanted to ride in Jordan's truck, and even the promise of the hotel and the pool was barely enough motivation to leave the air conditioned building. But, we got checked into the hotel room, and Mandy took the kids on a tour while I went to go get us dinner. We ate fried chicken on hand towels sitting on the beds. Even though it was 7pm and every kid (and mom) was totally ready to sleep, not one child was willing to give up swimming. So, bathing suits went on and we headed down to the pool. As we suspected, the pool was fun. Busy, but lots of fun and very cool. But of course at some point we had to leave...and so the melt downs began. Silas cried from the time we told him we were getting out, until he was out of the bath and in jammies nearly an hour later. We spread out pac n plays and mattresses for the kids, closed the black out curtains, Aunt Mandy told a magically calming story, and turned out the lights. Presto...everyone was out. Jordan had to work in the morning, so I decided to borrow a friend's van so that I could take Mandy and the kids to the airport. Mandy and I got into my car only to get half way to my friend's house and realize I had a flat tire (this was probably also due to the rock hill at Lost Lake). We filled it up and hoped it would last for my pals for the next day. It didn't.
But, after a great night's sleep in the nice cool, dark hotel room, there was a new energy in the morning. Breakfast in bed consisted of yogurt, muffins and milk. Despite the arrangement, everyone slept great and we had to wake the kids up at 8:30 to get them ready to go to the airport.
We had a few more complications with getting all of Mandy's things into the right vehicle, but we made it to the airport on time. Unfortunately their second flight was delayed and they didn't get home in bed in Arizona until after 9pm. Needless to say, the whole lot of us (except for Jordan) got sick. Sore throats, headaches and extreme tiredness were the only logical things to follow 48 hours of sleep deprivation and probably dehydration. It was certainly a trip to remember, and Mandy and I agreed, family bonding to the extreme. If all of that craziness didn't put me into early labor, I think I can safely say I am out of the woods for delivering preterm.

I am so thankful that Mandy is the kind of mom and sister that can weather any sort of storm with a smile on her face, adventure on the mind, and a positive outlook. We were able to laugh at our circumstances (most of them) in the midst of the drama. Next year we will go to Colorado for that special summertime trip :)

Bury Family Reunion

This summer we had the Bury Family reunion in Oregon! It was so much fun. Grammy and Pops rented us all a house in Cannon Beach, and for 5 days we had uninterrupted family time at the beach. Grammy and Pops arrived on Thursday and we had one special evening with just them at our house, and Friday morning Chris, Christine and Ellsie all came in. It was a circus event getting the rental car packed with food, luggage and people to head out to the coast. Thankfully it is only about an hour drive...since Christine had to sit in the "6th" seat on the front bench.
It was all worth it for the incredible weather, beautiful scenery, and fabulous time we had together. The kids hit the beach every morning, crashed hard for every nap time, and soaked up all the time with cousins.

Grammy found a star fish to show off.

Uncle Chris was on nephew duty until Jordan came in on Sunday afternoon. A lot of work for a guy who is over 30. :)

We celebrated our four summer time birthdays while we were there. Chris, me, Ryan (2) , and Brandon (4)
Grammy and Pops were loving having all 5 of their grand babies together. Here is Grammy with the boys, getting in some stories before bed time.

A special kiss for Silas

Grammy and her baby boy

And no Bury get together is complete without a roasting of smores with Aunt Christine. We made a fire on the beach and toasted away!
Ellsie isn't smore ready, so she snuggled with everyone in her cozy little jammies. She was such a trooper the whole time, with so many cousins who wanted to play with her and take care of her, so many aunts and uncles who wanted to hold her, and Grammy and Pops needing their time too...she is so precious we just can't get enough of her!

Uncle Chris took his turn on the couch with the boys reading books.

Grammy, Pops, and their grandkids. What a very special time for all of us!

Thank you so much Mom and Pops for making this weekend possible for us. We appreciate your generosity and commitment to keeping all of us together even though we are all living in different states. We love you!
Silas was NOT cooperative during picture time. As you can see by the grin on his face, he was not concerned with getting out kodak moment...he was on his own agenda.
We had to do some tricking to get the cousin pictures...jumping off a log was one activity they would all do together!
And of course all the kids couldn't wait to get their cute clothes in the sand. Thankfully this was after the family pictures were finished. Ellsie (5 mos), Brandon (4), Abbie (6), Silas (2), Ryan (2).
Some special girl time on the front porch. Ellsie definitely will be well taken care of by Abbie, and she loves her Aunt Mandy.
Aunt Christine got the boys dart guns for Brandon's birthday. They were a huge hit!
Brandon and Silas were best pals and found common interest in their level of activity...here they are together in their matching soccer uniforms.

So many great memories! The action will just continue to increase as we get ready to welcome grand baby #6 in the next month. Getting together will be tricky, but always entertaining and so rewarding when we do. I am so thankful for the family I married into!