Mr. Seth's many faces

Seth is 5 weeks old and cute as can be! Here's our little one in a nutshell: eats really well, doesn't like baths, loves to look at the Christmas tree lights (and any other lights or high-contrast objects), is starting to discover his hands by putting them in his mouth, is starting to smile purposefully, wakes up only once in the night sometimes, is calmed by daddy's voice or mommy holding him, and sleeps most of the day.

Seth's quilt

I wanted to show off Seth's awesome sailboat quilt his grandma Purser made for him!

She really went all out to make this masterpiece and we know he'll always treasure this gift from his grandma. A million thanks to my mom also for spending the last week with us- doing laundry, holding Seth, shopping, making DELICIOUS meals (roast beef and mashed potatoes mmm), handwashing onesie stains, driving on crazy Maryland roads, and more!


Today Seth had his 2 week Dr.'s appointment. He is an excellent eater and now weighs 8 lbs 9 oz! We're so thankful he's healthy and hope to stay that way through the holidays.

He's here!

If you have facebook then you already know that our little boy has arrived. You may have even found the link to the picasa album on Stephen's page. If this is your first introduction to the cutest baby ever, then congratulations!

We are proud to introduce Seth Darrell Haskin who was born Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 9:52 am. He arrived healthy and strong at 7 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches. We are exhausted but OVERJOYED to welcome him into our home and couldn't be more thankful this Thanksgiving/Christmas season!

The following is a relatively gore-free labor story, but feel free to skip down to the pictures!

Labor started suddenly and powerfully around 11pm on Monday night with contractions 3-5 minutes apart. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to use the Lamaze breathing/focal point/comfort measure strategies we had learned in our birth class, but Stephen was a pro at helping me stay calm. Soon afterwards (but what seemed like hours to me) we checked into the hospital. My water had broken on the way and I was in obvious pain so we only made a quick stop in triage where I managed to purge my quesadilla dinner from Qdoba's and then up to our labor and delivery room. I think I was dilated to a 3 1/2 when we checked in (I was at a 2 1/2 at my last appointment). My nurses in labor and delivery were fantastic and helped me get through the hour or so before the anesthesiologist could make it to my room to do the epidural. Before labor I was pretty sure I would get the epidural, but after about 20 minutes of contractions at home I have never been so sure of something in my life. Thank you modern medicine! And thank you to the awesome anesthesiologist and her assistant who talked me through the whole thing. My opinion of the epidural is that it was totally worth it for me, that it didn't hurt when they administered it (only the numbing shot), and that it makes your lower body have the strangest tingling feeling. It took twice as long as they thought it would to work, but when the pain was finally relieved we waited for his arrival! I knew I should rest while I could, but I was so excited I kept talking to Stephen and his mom while they were trying to sleep. They were both extremely wonderful. They held my hand, counted while I breathed and pushed, fed me ice chips, cheered me on, scratched my feet (the epidural gave me impossible-to-satisfy itches), and reassured me. Stephen's mom even drove home in the middle of the night to get our cameras which we had forgotten somehow (she also cooked, cleaned, laundered, entertained, and babysat during her stay-- thank you!). A few hours later they said I could start pushing. My favorite part of labor happened during this phase when Stephen and his mom could see the baby's head. Their reaction gave me courage and made me feel like he was actually going to come. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours and we eventually decided that he might need some help. I could feel the contractions and they even hurt but I just wasn't making much progress. One episiotomy and vacuum-assistance later, Seth arrived! I was worried about both procedures, but we felt like (and still do) they were the best options to get him here safely. Because of the vacuum-assistance they wanted to give him immediately to a pediatric nurse, but they were good about quickly handing him off to Stephen after he had been checked. I had to wait 30 minutes to hold him while I was being stitched up, but honestly I didn't even mind. I was so thrilled that he made it here and made it here safely that I was happy to look at his beautiful face (puffy eyes, conehead, and all :)- really though, he was beautiful) and watch Stephen bond with his new little son. It was indescribable to hold him for the first time and I am so happy to be his mom. He has been doing well ever since and my recovery is going better and better everyday. 

We really enjoyed having Stephen's parents and 4 siblings over for Thanksgiving... in our 2 bedroom apartment. Don't worry, Stephen's mom/family did ALL the cooking and preparation and they were fantastic guests during their 4 day stay. They helped me stay distracted from my pain and it was great to have so many hands to hold Seth so I could sleep when I needed to. Today he gets to meet his other grandma and in less than a month he'll meet the rest of the Pursers. He's sleeping okay during the night and is apparently eating well since he left the hospital at 6 lbs 13 oz and 4 days later at his doctor's appointment he weighed 7 lbs 10 oz! 

One quick note about his name. We have had a really rough time finding names that we both liked. A few days before he was born we made yet another list and surveyed our family members. Once we met him and talked about it for a while we decided that "Seth" fit best and we also liked that it's a bible name. His middle name, Darrell, is Stephen's dad's first name. Stephen and his dad each have their grandfathers' names as middle names so we thought we would continue the tradition and give him a meaningful role model.

Sorry if I had time I would write captions, but I don't, so enjoy!

18 days... or less

I've been holding out on making a blog post, hoping that our next post would be the exciting news of baby boy's birth, but... he's not here yet. We are 1 week away from his due date and today they scheduled me to be induced on the 29th if he hasn't come by then. I really don't want to be induced, but they have to schedule it this far in advance or things are too full at the hospital. So within 18 days we will have our baby boy! For those interested in the numbers  I am dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. It is hard to sleep and somedays I am exhausted and uncomfortable, but I am still thankful to be having a great pregnancy. So next post = baby pictures, right?!

schools

Today I started working at my 5th school in 2 months.

Don't worry though. It's not because I'm a HORRIBLE speech-language pathologist or because the schools are terrifying. Since I'm only working until our baby comes in November, the district assigned me to cover another SLP's maternity leave at 3 schools. She came back this week and I started at 2 of my 3 new schools today.

At first I was stressed out about long commutes to the other side of DC and managing multiple caseloads, but I'm actually very glad that things worked out this way. I have loved being exposed to so many different schools and meeting more kids. I wish I had blogged earlier about all the funny things that have happened this year, but I didn't, so I will just try to remember some of the good stuff.

At one school I was separated from the nearby special education classroom with a wall that didn't go all the way to the ceiling. Every morning I got to listen to this little gem of a song which uses children's love of ice cream as a way to review the days of the week and the months of the year. It's got to be one of the worst videos ever made and I don't know how I feel about the phrase "Honey baby I love you," but the kids LOVE it and it's working because they can all name the days and months.  Th teacher knows exactly how to reach them and is fantastic working with them. One other thing cute and awesome thing about that class is that they helped create their classroom rules. My favorites were: 1. No hitting. 2. No crying like a baby.



At another school I had the cutest 1st grader who couldn't get over the fact that it was taking so long for me to have my baby. This was our conversation every week: "Did your baby tome (come) out yet?" "No, not yet." "When he donna (gonna) tome out?" "Around Thanksgiving time." "Is that the one with to'tumes (costumes)?" "No, that's Halloween. The baby won't come until after Halloween" Anyway it always turned into a discussion of how she wants to be Bat Girl for Halloween. When I asked her what I should be she said the only other possibly cool costume: Batman.

One advantage to moving around so much is seeing the actual school buildings. Guess what the newest building is named? Barack Obama Elementary School! If you think it's a little early to be naming a school after him I looked it up and there are already 6 other schools in the US bearing his name. Regardless of what you think of him as a politician or a president, becoming the first African American president is a huge accomplishment/honor/whatever you want to call it. 

One last thought about schools. Has anyone seen "Waiting for Superman"? What did you think? I love public schools and feel like my education was excellent, but I realize there are problems. My biggest complaint is how hard it is to get rid of the really incompetent and crazy teachers out there. For example: "In Illinois, where one in 57 doctors loses his medical license and one in 97 lawyers loses his law license, only one in 2,500 teachers loses his credentials, because of union rules." On the other hand, I applaud and look up to the majority of teachers who spend countless hours for little pay just because they love kids and want to make a difference.

p.s. I don't know what happened to the baby poll. It started over counting again or something... working on it. Thanks for voting!

Baby Names

We're interested in getting some anonymous opinions on some names that we've been thinking about for our son (who is due next month!). To the right, you'll see  a survey that will allow you to rank order the names--just click on the name and move it up and down the list.

Please don't leave any comments on the names--we're just interested in putting out our feelers and getting some initial feedback on the names. Heather had to do a good persuasive speech to convince me to share some of the names we've considered, and my condition was that I don't want to know:

1. Who likes/dislikes each name
2. Why that person dislikes/likes the name

Thanks for your participation!

Brownie... in a mug

Is anyone else dying for Fall to start? The temperature is finally cooling down at night and I am craving pumpkin cookies, caramel apples, and apple cider.

So, I bought a turkey breast a few weeks ago and found this delicious crockpot recipe which led me to find on the same blog (A Year of Slow Cooking) one of my new Fall/Winter favorites: brownie in a mug. I know you can make the same thing in a fraction of time in your microwave but ours is pretty ancient and not very reliable. Plus, there's something wonderful about waiting and smelling something cooking in a crockpot. My only tip is to use 8 mugs instead of 4 (you might not be able to fit them all in at once) and to load on the ice cream afterwards! mmmmmmmmmm


This comes from the same blog as the recipe because of course we didn't remember to take a picture.

Other great news and updates:

• Only 10 more weeks until our baby's due date! We took 11 hours of child birth class last week and feel much more knowledgeable and excited!

• I was initially upset about being placed at 3 schools on the other side of DC this year (covering someone's maternity leave) but I am actually very happy and like my kiddos and schools!
• Stephen's night classes only go until 8pm instead of 9 or later. Yay for earlier nights and being together!
• We bought a stroller/carseat travel system! It was the same price as getting a carseat and a snap-and-go stroller so we decided to just get the travel system and buy another stroller later if this one doesn't work.

Classic Graco snugride! I was sick of researching and this seemed the safest for the best price.

Great Falls

Last weekend we took a little drive to see Great Falls in VA/MD. They were a little disappointing after our recent trip to Niagara Falls, but still fun!

Here's part of the falls, I think!

I really liked the rocks here. I think the water was a little low because most of what we could see was just rocky.

Looking handsome as usual

Stephen thought the baby should have a picture :) This is my belly at 29 weeks

Haskin family lake trip

After a great trip to Utah, I got to meet up with my sweet hubby for a few days of boating and fun with his family. The Haskins have a fun tradition of renting a cabin every summer and we're glad we could continue the tradition in Georgia. I might say I enjoyed the tradition even more now that the boating takes place in bath-water Georgia lakes and not icy Minnesota water. And now, the pictures! (I happened to take a lot more on this leg of my summer trip since I couldn't do any of the dangerous stuff on the boat).

Master water skiier Steve!

Nerding out, reading the manual for the awesome board game Todd brought (it's called Small World in case you are looking for something cool)

Chilling together on the tube on the pregnancy friendly "ride"

ahhh, the joy of reading on summer vacations!!

see? everyone's doing it

Yum! what would the cabin trip be without all the delicious food! thanks Mom and Dad!

The boy table

Traditional ride... I have a feeling this is going to get tougher in a few years

Not a tradition... yet

hahaha I guess this is what happens with too many hours in the sun and too many wipeouts

lol I'm not sure what was going on but I'm glad Katie took a picture of it

And the real picture :)

My aim for the timer picture was horrible, but at least it's the whole family! We had a great time attending the nearby LDS church meeting

The rest of the cabin decor was great, but this was just hilarious/hideous

Along with this wall and lamps

Yay! Even though Stephen couldn't take time off to go to both Utah and Georgia, I'm so glad we got to spend a few days of our summer hanging out and relaxing. Can't wait to take Baby Haskin to the lake next year!