Early Easter

Since next Sunday is General Conference and we won't be at church - the kids wore their Easter outfits today - I clearly am not a photographer, and as I am finding out, taking pictures, like most things, is harder with three kiddos - but I thought they were really cute!

The Details...

Cara's birth went really well, though not as fast as I would have liked. Natalie was born within a couple of hours of breaking my water, so I assumed the same would happen with baby number 3 - maybe even quicker. I had dilated to a four, water was broken, epidural in place, and nothing happened for hours. After being stuck at a four for what seemed like forever, the nurses started having me change positions hoping to shift Cara into a position where she could help the labor progress. The nurse suggested that I get on hands and knees to move things along - which would have been fine if my legs and abs weren't numb. I'm sure the look I gave the nurse at her suggestion was a good one. I really didn't think it was possible, but for about 10 minutes I was on hands and knees supporting myself with my arms (it really wasn't very much fun :). Within a half hour of position shifting I was complete and ready to deliver - we had to wait a little while for the doctor - since the last time she had been updated I was at a four - but once she arrived, delivery went smoothly and quickly. Cara had her cord wrapped around her neck once, and was completely purple when she arrived, but the nurses assured me she was fine and with a little time her coloring was normal. Caroline didn't cry much and is still a pretty content baby.

Week one has gone well. Kirk was off of school and work for the week (although now he is out of town on guard duty) so we managed to get enough rest and care for our 3 under 3. Cara is very content, is still sleeping a lot, and is adorable! We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy, calm baby.

Dominic and Natalie seem to be adjusting well. Dominic is excited about "Baby Caroline" and Natalie loves to get close to her saying "baby, baby, baby". They are both a little jealous I think, and always seem to need me when I'm feeding or caring for the baby.

We are grateful for our little family of five - which I still can't believe - and so grateful for all the help we've received from our family and friends!

Welcome CAROLINE!

Caroline (Cara) Marie Pavkov

3/12/10 at 6:31 pm

7 lbs. 6 oz., 20.5 in.

Patience is a Virtue...

That I don't currently have.

I was supposed to be induced this morning, but the hospital called last night and told me not to come in because the Labor and Delivery ward was going to be full with people needing to deliver for more serious medical reasons. I don't think the nurse understood that my current mental state ought to be considered a medical condition requiring delivery. As bummed as I was to find out I would have to wait another day, I'm sure in the scheme of things, its really not a big deal. And,as it turns out my daughter will be born on my great grandmother's (my name sake) birthday.

Earlier this week, since it was the first day above 60 degrees in months, I told Dominic and Natalie we'd go to the park. When I we got there I could not believe how much snow was still on the ground. There is no way a 2 year old and 1 year old would easily be able to play but I felt awful because I had gotten Dominic so excited about going. So at 40 weeks pregnant I carried my two kids across the snow and mud and we attempted to play at the park. The kids had fun for about 5 minutes, Dominic wanted to swing on the "tiger swing" but other, older kids were using it. He has more patience than me, and waited for his turn only to get scared and want down.

Natalie's shoes were soaked so she kept falling and eventually busted her lip. You can't really tell in the picture above, but she's got a nice cut and there is blood on her jacket and hands. I suppose I should have waited a couple days since we did make a successful trip to the park today - sunny, 68, and no snow. I guess its a good thing I didn't spend this beautiful day in labor :)

The last thing I can't seem to wait for is Natalie's hair. The mullet is going to have to go. She use to let me put clips in her hair so it didn't look quite so ridiculous, but now she rips the clips out, usually with a nice chunk of hair attached.

Well my patience has worn thin, but by this time tomorrow I'll have my new baby girl (she'll even have a name and a place to sleep), The weather is improving (although I'm not counting out another snow storm, I do live in Ohio), and I can't imagine Natalie will have a mullet forever - so really everything is great!

The Name Debate

Seven weeks and counting, no name yet. By this time with the last two we had a list of names Kirk and I were both willing to accept - this time, nothing. Kirk REALLY likes the idea of calling my daughter Cat/Kat (I've never let the conversation go far enough to find out what spelling he has in mind). The idea would be to name her Katherine/Catherine or Kathleen and then call her Cat/Kat for short. I'm really not a fan of this, and I don't really know why. The idea of naming my daughter with the intention of calling her an animal is not appealing, and especially the spelling "Kat" conjures up images of promiscuity that I don't want associated with my daughter.

Anyway, the point of this post is to consider the possibility that I'm overreacting - not trash my husband's opinions. Believe it or not, I'm prone to stubbornness and overreactions, and I like to blame the current intensity of the situation on the fact that I'm the size of a whale and getting new aches and pains everyday :)

I googled "Cat/Kat" to see if my suspicions were correct and of course "Cat" brought up images of a cat and for "Kat" - well let's just say don't google it. But then I checked Anna and Natalie, and those images weren't any better so I suppose any girl's name is going to bring up trashy photos - sad world we live in.

Anyway, like I said, Kirk loves the name, and I have names I like, but nothing I love. Should I be less stubborn and consider Cat/Kat or do you all agree that this name should be overlooked?

Funny Kid

Me: "Ok Dominic, let's go get in the bath"

Dominic: "No, go away mommy, I sleeping". (snoring noises as he lays against the wall).

Finally an Update

We had a great couple of months at the end of 2009. I had a birthday, we celebrated the holidays with family, and Kirk and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. Below is all the pictures I have from Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years etc. (Pretty sad, I know. At least we do have some video of the kids on Christmas morning which includes their new kitchen set falling on top of them :)

Things at the Pavkov house are a little crazy. I am still trying to dig out from Christmas and I think nesting is setting in since our new baby should be here in about 9 weeks. I am trying to figure out how best to fit our growing clan in our home, which will include Talie and Nic sharing a room which likely means no sleep for me...

I started my third masters course last night and it looks like the professors I have this semester are going to be pretty flexible with me having a baby in March which is great!

Kirk will start his final semester at Akron next week and we are pretty excited that he's almost done!

Dominic has become obsessed with cows - the best we can guess is this stems from meeting a cow at chick-fil-a - but he is pretty funny always talking about cows and barns, or "cow houses". We are working on moving him into a toddler bed, so far, not so good. And, we're going to get a little more aggressive on the potty training soon. I am really hoping not to have 3 kids in diapers.

Natalie is a little spit fire. She is learning quickly and is very smart. She is starting to say more, learning most of her vocabulary from her brother, including things like "tractor". Her hair is growing in as a total mullet. I've been dying to put this girl's hair in bows and pony tails and it will not grow on the top! Natalie also has perfected the tantrum, I think 15 months is a little young to be throwing yourself on the floor screaming just because you can't do something, but what do I know? While she has quite the temper, Natalie is also very sweet and will give you hugs and "kisses" which are more like a lick. It sure is fun to see my kids grow.

Baby girl is closer to getting here, will hopefully have a place to sleep when she does, and will hopefully have a name - but as of right now - we're not any closer on that note. The pregnancy is going well and even though I'd rather skip the last trimester, I really can't complain too much. Considering how busy we all are I feel great.

Thanksgiving Day

These two pictures above were taken Christmas morning and are a pretty good indication of why I don't take many pictures. It's almost impossible! Dominic will not look at the camera no matter what and Natalie tries to attack the camera...

Natalie with her new baby and stroller.

Dominic with one of his fav. Christmas toys. A cheap plastic cow that "moos". Notice he won't look at the camera :)