the coombs: When 3 becomes 4

First off we had such an awesome summer. We got to spend 2 months in Utah with our families and do lots of fun things and spend lots of time with the ones we love the most! I'm not going to post in detail about it because it would take far longer than my allotted time today (the kiddos nap time). I will only say that we loved every minute and were so dang grateful to have Daddy out of school and all to ourselves for nearly 4 months! A few of the things our summer included were home improvements, swimming, Jentry's 1st birthday party, trips to the treehouse, bear lake, midway, walks, selling our old car, and buying a new one, parades, fireworks, pizza, weddings, glorious california beaches, walks on the pier, sunsets, and sea world! It was definitely a summer we will always remember.

Now, back to the real purpose of this post.

It feels funny to post about the birth of child number 2 when I never made a single post about announcing his existence in utero, or monthly pics of my growing belly, but nonetheless, he is here! I'll show you how it all went down with a few photos :)

My due date was October 14th. So, we planned to have my mom come down and visit from October 13-20. So she did, and I was scheduled to be induced on Monday Morning October 15th.
My mom was nice enough to take a little family photo of us in the bright Arizona sun on Sunday before Church so we could document 1) my belly, that I neglected to diligently take pictures of like I had during my pregnancy with Jentry, and 2) take our last family picture as a family of 3.

We were called to come in for our induction at about 2am. Poor Mike had a test at 7am the same morning so between anxiety about that and adding a new member to our family he couldn't sleep or study :/ He was a great support for me during my labor, he did have to take off for an hour and a half or so to take his test, but he hurried back as quick as he could. While he was gone I had my water broken by the OB who works in the hopsital...and boy did that speed things up. Almost immediately I was in excruciating pain and come to find out it was because that made me progress from 2 to 7cm in about an hour. I ordered by epirdual stat, but you know how it is, they can never get there soon enough! It took the anethesiologist a couple of tries to get the dosing right (adding more that he thought I would initially need), but I did finally get relief of pain. Thank goodness because I was really scared I was going to have to feel what natural labor felt like, and that is something I have no desire to (ever) experience. About 11:30 I was completely effaced and dilated and our little boy was almost crowning. My nurse kept telling me to keep my legs closed and to quit throwing up because I was going to deliver him before the doctor arrived. Luckily, that didn't happen because we had it all planned with our (awesome) OB to let Mike deliver our little guy and that wouldn't have been able to happen if she wasn't there to supervise :) Here is a cute photo of Mike and Dr. Brotsky gearing up to deliver our son. Mike did awesome. Dr. Brotsky stood just behind him and coached him through the delivery. It was a really special time though since Mike was able to (literally) bring Camden into the world. He was born at 12:21pm and weighed 8lbs 11oz and was 21.5 in long.

My mom came up to the hopsital about an hour before we delivered, and brought our sweet Jentry with her. Jentry sat and watched the whole delivery and never made a peep. She is such a beautiful and very mellow little girl. We are so blessed to have her as our daughter and Camden's big sister.

We stayed in the hospital for about a day and a half. Mike stayed with me and camden overnight, and my mom took care of Jentry at home. Mike went off to school the next morning, and shortly after my mom and Jentry came to spend the day with us in our Postpartum room. We had all of camden's test run as quick as we could thinking we'd be able to get home about lunch time. Turns out I was the one who held us up because my doctor wasn't able to come and discharge me from the hospital until after 4pm. Oh well --- we did eventually get to go home :)

My mom left the following Saturday and...I cried. She was so much help while she was here and I am so grateful she came to help me make the adjustment of being a mother of two.

It didn't take Jentry too long to figure out she had to be "soft" with Camden and that she couldn't hit him, etc. I still have to keep an eye on her just so she doesn't accidently fall on him or step on him when she isn't paying attention...but other than that she has done really well with him. She loves giving him hugs and kisses and taking taking his diapers to the trashcan for mommy. Isn't she darling? Sometimes I really cannot take her cuteness. How do you discipline that? :)

Jentry turned 16 months old the day after Camden's 1 week birthday!

Here they are celebrating their new ages :)

Camden 2 weeks

Camden and Jentry before church...this was our first week back to church. We only went to Sacrament meeting, but we survived it. So personally, I felt victorious!

Mike's mom and dad came to visit us for Thanksgiving. They were here for about a week. We were so glad to have them here to share the holiday with (and to make delicious food). I had a mucocele removed from my lip just 4 days before thanksgiving and the aftermath of that ended up being more brutal than I thought. So it was extra nice to have grandma here to help me with the babies so that I could whine and attend to my (very) swollen lip. I didn't take a picture, but trust me when I say it was huge and not pretty. I am doing MUCH better now though. The swelling has gone down and my stitches have been removed. My lip is still numb on the left side and I have a nice lump inside my mouth where the incision is trying to heal but we are definitely in the upswing :)

Anyway, while Mike's parents were here, we all went to the Phoenix Zoo. The highlight was probably the petting zoo for miss Jentry. She loved following the goats around. Dad even helped her give them a good brush. She had a blast.

Here is everybody (expect me and cam of course who are behind the camera), looking at the Cheetah.

We vistited Westgate one day for lunch and the Christmas tree was up so Grandpa and Jentry went to check it out, and found Santa's sleigh! How lucky are they? :)

Christmas in Arizona looks a tiny bit different than Christmas in Utah...but we are loving the perfect weather.

The kids got one more picture with Grandma and Grandpa Coombs before we sent them off with Dad to catch their flight home. Thanks for visiting!

Mike is back in school, his second quarter started last Monday. We miss him when he is gone, but we are so proud of him for having such ambitious goals and expectations for himself, and sacrificing so much of his time, and time with us, to better our family's future and provide for our needs.

He is our favorite blessing :)

Jentry (17 months) and Camden (1 month)

So far Camden has kept his dark hair and eyes but we'll see if they last.