All about our little Austin

Boy oh boy, do I have a long list of entries to catch up on! I have a lot of typing and picture pasting to do before I can send my blog to print for my family albums. But lets start with the most exciting news, and then i'll spend the rest of the summer days working backwards! The best news ever is that the big basketball pictured here is now in our arms and sooo much more fun out of the belly!

Austin Douglas Harker greeted us at 8:02 p.m. on Thursday, July 1st. Yes folks, our baby was born on Canada Day! I had been welcoming contractions, good ones, for weeks. I was walking many steep hills, jumping a bit on the tramp, and bouncing on the boat and surfboard that 38th week to see if I could get the ball rolling faster. My body was playing tricks on me every day. I had been a 4 and fully effaced since week 37. By early Wednesday morning, I was sure that the contractions were now real labor. But the hospital sent us home  because I wasn't progressing. I contracted and labored throughout that entire day. I went back in the next morning and was now a 5, but still stuck in prodomal labor (snail-paced labor). I went in again that afternoon and was miraculously going into active labor. So my doc, being that he was leaving town, broke my water. Four hours later, little Austin soared right out. Good thing daddy had gone to McDonalds for lunch or he would have missed the whole thing- it happened so quickly at the end! The labor was quite painless :-) Little boy was not making any noise when he arrived, so the nurses had to briefly get him going. Then he was back in my arms, melting my heart and nursing for the next 4 hours- no joke! He is continuing in that pattern of wanting to nurse all the time.


Oh boy. The most precious, beautiful moments in my life have been the first time I held and kissed my two little boys. Austin's birth was everything i've been looking forward to for several years. I feel so amazed and grateful that we finally got our little baby after so much waiting and dreaming and hoping! He weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz, 19 1/2 in tall, and is perfectly healthy.

             ............Our lives have been completely changed forever now that we have our new little angel to add to the family. We are all so in awe over him and really dig the idea of having a new member of the family. We no longer get bored in the evenings. Instead, the boys really have to pitch in to keep Austin happy and me sane! I had totally, completely forgotten how much work a new babe is! But being busy has been a great change. Logan is a beamingly proud big brother. He may have had his grass mowed a bit at the beginning, but both grandma Tammy and Val made absolute sure to let him know how special he still is. Logan was completely indulged by his grandmas- no, spoiled is the operative word there. He had to face a harsh reality the day that each of them left!

 Grandma Tammy came the night Austin was born, and left 1 week later so that she could go home to dad for a few days before heading to Rachel's for Molly's birth! Baby Molly ended up coming 2 weeks after Austin. What a beautiful girl she is! Having my mom come to stay for a week is almost reason enough to have a baby for my sisters and I. She gets into worker bee mode, and nothing stops her from running around at full speed. We ate soo well, and she took care of everything and everyone.  Here's a pic of Logan not letting grandma lay out!

After she left, Logan ran upstairs and packed a suitcase because he was moving to Rexburg. Grandma Val flew down to stay a few days after mom left! We were soooo glad to have her. Logan decided very quickly that he didn't need to move after all.  He went with grandma Val on several great expeditions around town. And as always, grandma spent a lot of time with Logan playing games and reading stories. We love our parents so very much. Grandpa Orin also flew down the next week for 2 days to spend time with us and meet Austin.