so in L O V E

Ella Cathlene Perigo

January 25, 2010

7 lbs 4 oz 18 inches

8:52 pm

what's in a name:

Ella is named for 4 of her grandmothers: EllaMay Smedley and Eldora Ash inspired her first name. Her middle name is my mom Cathy and Cameron's mom Sharlene combined.

birth story:

went into my regular appointment on Monday. dialated to a 4, 80% effaced. doc was ready to send me home. I asked how long I had to keep having these horrid contractions before something would happen. doc said give it another week and she'd schedule an induction. I lifted my shirt back up and said, "feel this contraction. I'm NOT making it up." she said, "whoa, you must have a high thresh hold for pain. I'll go talk to the doctor on call and see if he'll admit you." FINALLY! they hooked me up to the monitors and stripped my membranes - within a half hour I was 100% effaced. An epideral, and a bag of pitocin later, Little Miss was born (just before the "Bachelor" handed out the final rose. Seriously. That's how laid back a delivery it was. Wouldn't want it any other way!) She was squished in my pelvis for so long her face, especially her nose, was squished flat. But it's going back to normal quickly and beautifully.

meet your family, little girl:

we all love her. already, there really is something different about little girls. the boys want to hold her all the time. they love to rub her head and give her kisses

her temperment:

it's still early but so far she is peacful, content, and easy-going. ferocious appetite. she is alert more than the other kids have been. she looks the most like Landon as a baby. best burper. least jaundiced. already so so fun.

T H A N K Y O U

The kids opened the door yesterday and found a box - with MY name on it! I opened it and got the B E S T surprise.

I unpacked the adorable clothes, creative handmade treasures, and other cute girl things, and danced around the kitchen with excitment. Then I watched the DVD with a HUGE smile and a few tears on my face the whole time. Only 5 wishes - Of course I wish I was there with you! And I wished I could eat some of that yummy looking food! And I wished for Colleen's chocolate chip cookie recipe (although I'm sure they wouldn't be the same if I tried to make them). And I wished Austin was there to play with Josh and Tyler. And I wished you could see the cute little hats Jaquie made and sent me too.

I love you girls!

Thank you so much for the virtual baby shower. You have NO idea how happy you made me. I miss you all so much.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

P.S. You all look wonderful! The babies are adorable. I wish I could see you all in person.

weekend UPdate

...NO BABY...

contractions... check

back pain... check-check

nerve pain... check

swollen legs, feet, and fingers... checkity-check

not sleeping... check

pressure, pain, pulling (and other yucky stuff)... check, check, check

COME OUT BABY!!!

To pass the time, I'm enjoying all the PINK that's coming my way. I love it! My visiting teachers threw me a great baby shower, even inviting my family. My mom made the drive to come to it, bringing clothes from Narji and gifts from my Grandma and Aunt Kim too. How lucky am I?!

I loved the shower and appreciate all the people that came and sent things. I really feel blessed to have such great family and friends.

The girls that threw the shower went all out - from pink m&m's to pink cupcakes (individually boxed) and baby clothes wrapped up like candy. It was really nice and made me feel so special - princess for a day.


Cameron's office put a big gift package together for us too. So much pink! Since his office has so much staff and I wasn't sure who gave us what I brought in a cake with a thank you card for the whole office.

In {OTHER} News...

The weather's been pretty nice (high 40's - better than last month at -4!). So Austin and Zac and I have been going on walks lately. Austin's new favorite place to walk - the field a few streets down - so he can collect BB's. (He's especially happy if he brings his basketball to dribble while we walk. I don't always let him because then Zac wants to bring one too and I end up chasing Isaac's ball all over the place)Cameron and I finally made it out on a date. We got a baby sitter and took off for Boise. This ENTIRE pregnancy, I've been able to count on at least one thing - Olive Garden Pasta Figoli and salad ALWAYS sounds good to me. So, that's where we ended up. We stopped at Costco after. Cameron saw the steaks and wanted to get some. I told him I wouldn't buy them because we don't have a grill (what's the point of cooking steak if you can't grill it?!). So we went to Lowe's and bought one. (We got it at the right time - they're clearancing last year's models to make room for this years, so if you're in the market you might get a great deal.) Anyway, it's been awesome having a grill again.... and the alone time with Cameron was GREAT too!

Land-O just finished reading the Indian in the Cupboard TRILOGY. 600 pages all together. He read it in 3 weeks. I can't believe how much this kid loves to read. We went to the library yesterday, checked out two books, and had to go back today because he finished them last night.

Landon's been playing basketball too. He's had practice the last three weeks and games start next Saturday. He really likes it. He's never even dribbled a basketball before now and he's doing really well. The kids and Cameron have been outside practicing every chance they can.

Austin is still not loving preschool. His class is a mix of 3-5 year olds and he feels like he's with "babies". It doesn't help that he can read and the focus of school is learning the alphabet and the letter sounds. Oh well - Kindergarten can't come fast enough! But he did have a great field trip the other day and I didn't have to fight him to go to school because he was excited for that. It was a post office tour and lunch at Smokey Mountain Pizza - they got to make their own pizzas and use a frisbee for their plate.

Austin's other favorite new past time is building forts. He found a corner in my closet and claimed it for his hide-out spot. He collects all the pillows from the bedrooms and sets up camp. Isaac loves it too. They fill up my entire closet with pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals and have a party.

Zac has become the KING of independence lately. He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. When he can't do something he screams like a banchi with frustration. Not a fun stage he's going through. That's why I actually took him out like this the other day. I really wasn't up for the fight - and we ARE in Mountain Home, who really cares what he's wearing?! Looks like I didn't do Austin's hair either - I must have been tired that day!

Is It Just Me? Or are the days dragging on for you too?

The belly.

Nothing makes strangers talk to you more then a big belly. When I'm out on my own I get mostly nice comments, and a LOT of, "my daughter just had her first too." variations. I just nod and smile. Let them think it's my 1st because when I say it's my 4th I have to deal with the open-mouthed, shocked look, with a quick recovery, followed by, "oh you look so young!" I know, I know, I've heard it a trillion times.

And when I'm out and about with my other kids - well, I hear it all. "wow. you're going to have your hands full!" "I hope you're having a girl." One guy actually told me he should buy my husband a TV!!

It's surprising to me how many people are so shocked that I {almost} have four kids. To be honest, every once in a while I wonder if I'm a little crazy too. But I don't feel like it. I wouldn't change a thing about my little (or should I say big) family. We are definitely a work in progress. No family is perfect. But when the temper tantrums die down and my patience is refueled by a good night's sleep and I'm just hanging out, building Legos, or reading stories in a fort, or singing silly songs, I feel like nothing could make me happier.

And I can't wait to add one more little person to this family.

It's coming soon. I'm at 37 weeks. 60% effaced. Dialated to between 2 & 3. Head at -1. I have contractions that take my breath away, they're so strong.

I'm getting impatient with this whole process. Every time the contractions get regular and I start to think, "this is it!", they stop. A few hours later the same thing happens - EVERY DAY, ALL DAY. It is driving my crazy. My body is sore and tired. And I can't think about anything else - is today going to be the day? Baby can't stay in there forever, right?!

Hapy (...I mean Happy) 2010

We spent New Year's Eve with a few friends. We invited everyone we could find that was in town to come play games and let the kids go crazy. We ate TONS of food and had lots of fun. Only one kid fell asleep before midnight. But, weirdly, the house really wasn't that torn up.

when you buy a banner that says "made in china" on the package, you might end up with one like this.

the kids were WIRED. they sustained themselves on wii, guitar hero, licorice, and sour patch kids, oh, and some noise makers that were meant to be used at the stroke of midnight - should have kept them hidden, they were LOUD

The highlight (or, for me, the lowlight) came around 11:00. In the middle of Cranium my chair totally broke. I didn't quite fall to the ground but I needed help getting up. As if I wasn't already feeling fat and pregnant enough! Seriously! Everyone laughed for quite a while - I laughed until I cried (I might have been crying from embarassment and the shooting pain in my hip but let's just say I cried from laughing so hard ;) )
One guy said, "well can't top that." (plus, we had no more chairs) so the game ended and the guys turned on ESPN. Fine with me!


We rang in the New Year with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, had a few more drinks and treats and put the kids to bed. Cameron, blessedly, took the chair to the trash and sent me to bed. He cleaned up a little, went to sleep around 1:30, got up with Isaac this morning, and then cleaned up a LOT more.


So far 2010 is looking pretty good - can't beat a husband that does dishes, gives kids breakfast, vacuums, takes out the trash, and cleans up the toys that were everywhere...all while I got to sleep in.