Welcome Baby Caleb!

As promised, here's the update on our new little addition!
My November 18th due date came and went and it was quite clear our third baby had no interest in coming on time. In fact, I think he may have gotten hold of some super glue because the kid was snug as could be. The midwife had been monitoring his size due to the fact that my belly was big enough for twins. In fact I got asked ALL THE TIME if I was having twins. In one night two people asked me if I was having twins and a third lady said my belly looked just like hers. I thought, finally, someone who had a belly as big as mine. Then she said, "I was carrying twins."

Fabulous. Time to go home to hubby and consider picking a back up name!

Needless to say we were concerned about this baby coming late and getting ANY bigger. So aside from all the old-fashioned remedies for encouraging labor to begin, I decided to google it and see if I had missed an idea. A youtube video of a mego prego lady rocking out to music in her living room immediately caught my attention. I mean the lady was really getting down with her bad self. So on Saturday I decided to give it a try. Of course my husband whipped out his I Phone and lets just say if the footage was not properly deleted his life may be in jeopardy.


Although I did decide there were 4 good things about being overdue:
1. No one will try and kidnap you. It's just too much work. Plus you have the whole bladder control thing playing to your advantage.
2. You can walk through Costco devouring an almond ice cream bar and no one will bat an eyelash. Except for the man who gave you the odd look when you took off the wrapper as you rather (indiscreetly) sang hallelujah to your about-to-be-consumed-dessert.
3. It's most likely the only time that someone will tell you your belly is hard as a rock.
4. Even though you have kankles...you can't see them *grin*


Anywho, back to the action.

On Saturday night, to my surprise it kept the momentum of my contractions going. Since we live an hour+ from the hospital, I woke up my husband, Noah, and he got to work throwing on clothes, loading bags and warming up the car.

When we got to the hospital it was 2:00 AM and the labor and delivery floor was under construction. We walked the halls for an hour watching the commotion to keep my mind off things. When faced with the uphill climb of labor and pain, a gal can get overwhelmed. When anxiety and doubt crept in, I asked Noah to read to me. He pulled out his phone and Bible app then read all of first Timothy. Later on, after officially checking in, things really intensified and he rounded the corner into 2nd Timothy because still, it was keeping me semi-calm. This is a good time to point out that we had chosen the name Caleb Scott for our little man. The day before I went into labor, Noah suggested the middle name Timothy. We decided to wait and see when he was born and we could decide. More on that in a minute...

To our delight, Caleb was born at 12:02, a surprising 9Lb 15 oz, and the whole labor experience worked out really well. I was so thankful for my husband, especially when it came down to the idea of changing our original birth plan and veering in a different direction. The whole time Noah was my hero and I was so thankful to have him by my side. We named our new son Caleb Scott then shortly after, I asked Noah if we could change it to Caleb Timothy due to the fact that we had nearly consumed both books only hours before. Since his idea the day before, he was pretty thrilled and it suddenly became clear that was the perfect middle name.

Our ten pound baby was quite a hit on the labor and delivery floor that night, as nurses came and went, amazed at his heft each time they picked him up. He's just a warm, snuggly, teddybear and I have to admit it's not always easy to share him :).

We were so excited to have the kids come see him the day after he was born and even more excited to finally bring him home. He likes his snug little house in the mountains and loves even more having his diapers changed near the wood burning stove and two doting siblings singing to him, reading to him, and just loving him endlessly. Our family feels so much more complete now and my husband and I are excited to watch Caleb, Levi and Mabry continue to grow into the lovely people God has planned for them to be.

Taking a break from blogging this week but I'm so thankful to have the most precious newborn in my arms and I promise to tell all about him in my next post! Here's a fun post on editing from one of my fabulous critique parters, Beverly Nault.

Tighten, cut and burn those problem areas, Writer. Like a good exercise routine, editing can target specific weaknesses. Here’s an acronym for three common loose and flabby areas.

Here’s our practice paragraph.

A noise woke up Lavinina with a startle and she looked at the alarm clock. It read five thirty. Her husband’s side of the bed felt cold and lonely. She rolled over to try and get some more sleep despite the noise. She remembered now, he’d called to say he was taking another shift, it would give him some overtime pay. She heard a noise and sat bolt upright, her heart beating a staccato. She looked outside the window and saw it was still dark outside and she wondered who could be in the house with her?

Can this be trimmed and tightened? Yes, SIR!

S-sensory terms. Remove all the “feelings” that are obvious by the action: looked, felt, heard, etc.

I-“it” is weak and nondescript. While impossible to totally eliminate, you can often recast the sentence and use more active, interesting phrasing. Seek and replace all its.

R-repeated words. Highlight verbs, nouns and objects occurring more than once and think of new ones, or rephrase them. Some writers read their manuscript backward or out loud to catch these.

Here’s our paragraph, trimmed and toned, with SIR in mind.

A noise Lavinina woke up with a startle and she looked at the alarm clock . It read five thirty. She rolled over to try and get some more sleep despite the noise. Her husband’s side of the bed felt cold and lonely. She remembered now, He’d called to say he was taking another shift, it would give him some for overtime pay. She heard A noise, and she sat bolt upright, her heart beating a staccato. She looked Outside the window, and saw it was still darkness outside and she wondered Who could be in the house?

One more for flow, and I’ll let you know who’s making all those noises...ahem, mysterious clatters.

Lavinina startled awake. The bedside clock read five thirty. An arm across Bobby’s cold, lonely side of the bed reminded her of his midnight call, “Taking another shift for some overtime pay.” A clatter made her sit bolt upright, covers pulled to her chin, heart hammering. The window curtains blew apart in the slight breeze, the streetlight glowing outside. Who could be in the house? Footsteps pounded in the
hallway and her door flung open. Tiny Abigail, face sticky, toothless grin wide, bolted toward the bed. “Daddy came home early and we made you can-pakes! Happy Birthday, Mommy!”

To tighten your prose, use the acronym SIR to remind you where to attack these loose and flabby areas. Sir, yes, SIR!

Beverly Nault is the author of Fresh Start Summer and her latest short story is now available!

2 Book Giveaway & Name Guessing Contest!!!

I can't tell you how many times people have tried guessing the name of our mystery boy. So I thought it would be fun to hold a contest. Of course every contest needs a prize, so I looked around at my bookshelves the other day and realized I had several books for giving away. Hooray! Sadly, these are books that were never claimed *sigh*

So remember: Thou must returneth to claim thine prize (or would it be prizeth?) I dunno. But haste ye back to this post on Nov 21st to see the winner! Oh, and the fabulous books up for the taking...

The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews And
Winning Him Without Words by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller





So here's how it works: You get one entry for leaving a comment below and additional entries by doing any of the following:

Follow me on Facebook 

Share this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter

Try and guess the name of the baby. Seriously. Give it a shot! (Hint: it's a boy bible name.) If you get it right, I'll throw in a box of red hots.

That's four ways to enter :]

Please let me know what you did so I can tally your entries!
All entries will go into a hat and be pulled out by a really cute two-year old. It will probably have a elk on it. Not the kid, the hat.

Happy entering!!!

Guidelines:
The winner will be chosen and announced below on November 21, 2011 so please check back or follow me on Facebook to be automatically notified! Of course, If I'm having to-be-named-baby, I will post the winner as soon as I can ;)

Waiting on Baby...

The changing table is in place, cloth diapers are organized, and the bassinet is in it's spot by the bed, little blue blankets folded and waiting for someone to warm. Now all we need is a baby. And after nearly 10 months of waiting, we are so ready for this little one to come!

When we went to the ultrasound, we were planning on being surprised. But alas, while showing us a few final images of baby B, my husband and I both saw a little too much. We knew right away we were having a boy. But we left the ultrasound room, still planning on being surprised. Stopping in the hall, we turned to one another and both said that we knew what it was. Laughing, we shared that it had to be a boy and wanting to be certain at this point, as opposed to 99% sure, we knocked on the door to the ultrasound room, and a surprised technician greeted us. We asked her to confirm our suspicions and she very sweetly told us we were having a boy. Then, she urged us to come back into the room so she could take some more pictures just for fun.

So once we knew our "it" was actually a "he", all we had to do (aside from completely overhauling our bedroom to accommodate a pint sized person) was choose a name. Easier said than done this time around. We tossed around a few ideas, but nothing had that special something. And then one day my husband suggested a name and I immediately agreed. But what about that surprise we had been hoping for in waiting to find out the baby's gender? So right away, we decided we would keep the name to ourselves and tell our family and friends once the little guy made his grand entrance. This is driving our families crazy and there has been much guessing. More than once, they've asked one of our kids what the name is. Like we would tell those two rug rats, hehe.

Everyday, people check in on me to see if anything is happening, but alas, this baby seems quite comfortable where he is. I think he hears all the commotion in our little house and has decided to stay put where it's a little more peaceful ;) Though little does he know there are two pairs of tiny arms just itching to show him love. I have much to be thankful for and look forward to the next phase in our lives!

Book Review: Mine Is The Night

The story:


Stepping from a battered coach on a rainy April eve, newly widowed Elisabeth Kerr must begin again, without husband or title, property or fortune. She is unafraid of work and gifted with a needle, but how will she stitch together the tattered remnants of her life? And who will mend her heart, torn asunder by betrayal and deception?


Elisabeth has not come to Selkirk alone. Her mother-in-law, Marjory Kerr, is a woman undone, having buried her husband, her sons, and any promise of grandchildren. Dependent upon a distant cousin with meager resources, Marjory dreads the future almost as much as she regrets the past. Yet joy still comes knocking, and hope is often found in unexpected places.


Then a worthy hero steps forward, rekindling a spark of hope. Will he risk his reputation to defend two women labeled as traitors to the Crown? Or will a wealthy beauty, untainted by scandal, capture his affections?


The heartrending journey of the Kerr women comes to a glorious finish in Mine Is the Night, a sparkling gem of redemption and restoration set in eighteenth-century Scotland. 


My thoughts:


There are few authors who spin a tale as delightful as Liz Curtis Higgs does time and time again. After reading Here Burns My Candle, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel to the Kerr family story. And Mine is the Night does not disappoint! Laced with the colorful details of 18th century Scotland, Mrs. Higgs weaves a story richer in colorful details than any tartan plaid. As with every story written by Liz, her painstaking research comes through so effortlessly, that the reader is whisked away to another time and place. With cozy fireplaces, delectable Scottish fare and heartwarming characters, Mine is the Night is the perfect autumn read. 

      ~Joanne

    Let's keep in touch!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Facebook   ~~   Twitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~