Welcome William James Buckingham

William James Buckingham was born at 1:08 am October 18, 2014.  8lb 5oz, 19.5 in long.  What a blessing!

I had been to the doctor Friday morning (the 17th).  She said everything was progressing, I just needed some steady contractions.  By Friday afternoon, I started feeling those contractions.  So close to the due date, and knowing I had already progressed quite a bit, I figured the hospital wouldn't turn me away for false labor.  We ordered pizza and Mom came over.  Robert and Judy went straight to bed to rest up (yeah right...I don't think they slept a wink!).  When we got to the hospital, I had had a good 15 minutes between contractions, so we decided to walk the mall.  As soon as I started walking, they'd come on fairly quickly.  As soon as I sat down, they stopped.  Ten minutes in the mall, and we decided to go to the hospital.  I thought the triage nurse would never believe me, but she finally checked me in as a patient.  Once we got a room, the set me up quickly.  Will could've been born the night of the 17th, but there was an emergency C-section, and I was comfortable with the epidural, so we waited, and we waited.  Shortly after midnight, the doctor broke my water.  A while later the nurse said, "Let's do a practice push.  1-2, oh wait, look at all that hair!  Let's get the doctor".  Since the doctor had forgotten to see if Ellie was a girl or boy, we prepped the staff, letting them know we wanted a big to-do.  The doctor, whom I'd never met since he was from another practice, was so nice and asked how I wanted him to tell.  We settled on holding the baby up for us to see.  Half a push later, here was William James!  He immediately peed all over the place!  What an entry to the world!  What a boy!  I was able to hold him right away, and of course, was immediately in love.

 Poor thing, he cried at the top of his lungs for what seemed like forever.

 

 One of the first things we noticed were his amazing monkey toes!

 Daddy finally got him to calm down.  Ever since he's been a really calm and happy baby.

 He's just perfect and beautiful.

 Oh wait, he did cry a lot during his bath, too.

 That made me sad.

But he did like having his hair washed.
The doctors and nurses immediately talked about how big he was.  Of course, after carrying Jake, he obviously seemed so small.  Actually, the smallest of the boys by 2 ounces.  At this point, we were still undecided on a name, so we decided to sleep on it until the real morning.  When I finally got feeling back in my legs (it took a really long time...must've had quite the epidural) and a shower, and Buck got a cup of coffee, we decided on William James (James is Buck's middle name), and prepared for everyone to come meet him.... William James.  What a precious blessing and joy!

2nd Half Ironman

 Do 2 half ironman races equal a full Ironman?  I'm not sure, but Buck managed to complete his second October 12.  How he manages to train and finish is beyond me.  It's nothing shy of amazing.  Of course, just days before the due date, the question was always whether or not the baby would beat him to the finish line.  And more importantly, I asked him, "If I need to rush to the hospital, should I stop you in the middle of the race?"  Fortunately that wasn't an issue.  We had lots of preparation to do for the big race (although I opted out on making new shirts...we recycled the shirts from the previous race).

 

 The kids worked really hard making signs.
Fortunately this race wasn't as far as Wisconsin.  It was in Anderson.  Another fortunate thing was that Robert and Judy flied in for the festivities.  I was HUGE, and couldn't have made it through the race myself without so much help.  A race of this magnitude truly is a team effort if you want to cheer at all.  It's exhausting (although I'm sure not nearly as much as actually racing), but it's also so much fun. (Side note on the exhausting comment...in the interest of full disclosure, while Buck was on his second bike loop, several hours into the race, we stopped to eat lunch at McDonalds).

The swim was a shuttle away and started super early.  I know our limits and figured we'd just have to miss the swim.  There were terrible storms coming through, which actually delayed the start and caused them to shorten the swim due to lightening.  That's right, Buck was swimming in a lightening storm!  We waited for him in the warm dry car.  When we saw the bikes start coming, Jake was so excited to see, "eh come a-nuh one!".  Cute.

 You can't see us all in the picture, but we were all there...Robert, Judy, Mom, Jake, Ellie, John, Eve, and me.  We caught Buck at a handful of places on the bike course.  He had a smile on his face the whole time, and even made a wisecrack about traffic at one point.

 Good Job Dad! (Ellie's sign)

 1st (another of Ellie's)

 Jake's

 John's

 Eve's

 Thumb's up!

 This was our view (from inside the comfortable car) during part of the bike portion.  A few miles away where Buck was at the time, there was hail.  That's right.  Buck swam through a lightening storm, and rode his bike through a hail storm!

 Here he is rounding the bend to the bike/run transition.

 This is somewhere near the middle of the run...still looking strong.  Really, the run was cushy...no storms :)

And he finished!  They allowed the family to run with the athletes across the finish line.  Eve opted out, but the others joined him.  He CARRIED Jake (and he's no lightweight) across the finish line.  We had a logistical error and didn't get a picture of them all crossing.  What an amazing job!  I am so very proud of him!  During the last one he said, "remind me to NEVER do this again!", but after this one, I think he's caught the bug.  Way to go, Buck!

2 Is Funny

Jake always says the funniest things.  Of course, they're more funny to hear than read, but he always gets too interested in the camera to say or sing what he's been saying or singing, so typing it out will have to do.  He also has fantastic manners!
He went through a phase a few weeks ago where he always asked, "How your day?"
He always says "Thank you" when something is given to him, or "Bless you" when someone sneezes.
He often asks, "Wha da doin', Mom?"  "I'm _____ (i.e. driving the car).  What are you doing?" "I doin' good."  Always.  Cracks me up.
I'm also impressed with how many songs he can sing, and how well he can string together sentences.  Yesterday he was asking, "When we home, Mom, can I play trains playroom?"  That's a lot of words in one sentence for a recently 2-year-old!  AND it's asking permission, which I think is even more impressive!
I'm sure there's more...always something new around here.

Two :(

So, I'll have to do a full post on Jake turning two, but I don't want to forget this.  It was already an emotional time for me.  Each time I've headed to the hospital expecting the new baby, I've had a sad moment (or sometimes several moments over a period of days or weeks) just thinking about the current "baby" and how they won't be the baby anymore.  So anyway, I was already sad about Jake getting older and not being my little baby anymore.  THEN, just 9 days later, he decided to turn 2.  Not fair!  On top of that, as I've said before, he and Ellie have always had a special bond.  He calls her "Eh-ddie".  On his birthday, I went in to get him from his bed when he got up from his nap.  He immediately said, "I want to see Eh-ddie."  Then he paused, and I watched the wheels turn, and he very intentionally corrected himself and said, "E-llie".  Ever since that moment, he's very intentionally called her Ellie.  :(

In The South

The other day Eve was working on her homework.  Antonyms.  She had a list of words, and was supposed to write the antonym for each.  She asked me for help when she came to the word "ugly".  She asked, "Do you think they mean pretty or nice?"  It took me a short second, then I realized she's probably heard one too many times, "Eve, quit being ugly to your brother/sister!"  With a little more thought, I realized in an effort to dissuade our kids from calling people ugly (as opposed to pretty), we have likely never used it in the traditional sense in front of them.  Man, school can be tough...especially when you grow up in the south!

Way Behind

Good gracious!  Behind doesn't even start to describe this!!!  I know I can't catch up at this point, but I'd like to record some things before everything gets even crazier, then sometime when I'm up in the middle of the night maybe I can post thousands of random pictures.

We had lots of fun activities over the summer that I'll post mostly in the form of pictures later (I'll have to jog my brain!)  John and Eve earned a rainbow of ribbons on swim team.  It was such a great experience for them, and they loved it.  It blows my mind that Eve, on Jr. Swim Team, at age 6, is doing butterfly (sort of).  The coaches are amazing, it's a great workout, great community, great fun, and sure has made them great swimmers.  Ellie did great in Guppies, too!  Not to miss Jake, he's just as much a fish as the others.  Needless to say, the pool was our happy place over the summer.

This year in school...John is in Mrs. Rice's class.  She's wonderful.  He's not thrilled about school this year because he says it's boring.  Part of it is a, what I'm now calling, 2nd grade attitude.  Most of it is because he's very bright and feels like he's reviewing material from Kindergarten.  His teacher agrees, so we're thinking of different options to challenge him.  He is a very good student, reads like crazy, and remembers everything!  Eve has Mrs. Seeley.  She is also fantastic.  She is a little more rigid, and Eve becomes more and more of a free spirit in la la land, so hopefully the two can find some common ground.  We're working on introducing a "hurry up offense" with a little focus, but without crushing the gift of her laid back creative spirit.  Eve loves school and her teacher.  She's also reading quite well, doing well across the board actually.  Ellie has Mrs. Looper (same teacher Eve had in 4K), and Mrs. Nelson (hard for me to say that...it's my good friend Holly).  They, too, are fabulous.  Ellie is still a bit shy at school, but is coming out of her shell a bit, and that's been fun to watch.  They are all doing so well in school, and it's just amazing to me to watch how they grow and learn!

Jake is doing quite a bit of learning as well.  He just cracks me up.  He's talking like crazy, and says the funniest things.  When the kids are naked, we call it "Nudie tootie fresh and fruity".  A few weeks ago I asked him, "Are you nudie tootie?"  he responded "Fruity" with his voice getting higher at the end of the word...almost like a question.  It's now a common question that always gets us all laughing.  He loves feeding the geese.  I was amazed when I asked him what the geese like to eat (seemed like a complex question to me), and he answered, "Sandwiches".  He loves all things that go; diggers, garbage trucks, airplanes, etc.  For the longest time he'd point out every airplane he heard, ask "where go?" and I'd have to answer, "to the airport".  He also is starting, or shall I say increasing, his independent spirit.  The other night at the table he forcefully said, "Stop it!  Right now!  I'm eating!"  He's really stringing a lot together and has an amazing comprehension. 

2 weeks ago Eve learned to tie her shoes and Ellie let loose on 2 wheels!  I figure we need to foster some independence before this baby comes.

I've missed so many funny little things they've said, and there's no way this pregnant brain can bring those things back.  One funny moment was when we were playing the game Life.  I had a car with a pink peg.  We all had a hard time reaching everything, so Eve was taking care of my car for me.  When I passed the block to get married, without hesitation or a second thought, she removed my pink peg, put it in the passenger seat, and put the blue peg in the driver seat.  Buck and I laughed and laughed and she had no idea why.  That's just what they always see at home, so it made sense to her (either that, or she was making a comment about my driving).

Ellie and Jake still have this special bond.  They just love each other and make each other belly laugh all the time.  The other day I had just finished giving them a bath when Buck came home.  They were jumping around in circles, flapping their arms, stark naked, yelling "Daddy's home!  Daddy's home!"  It's moment like that that just make me smile and think how happy I am to be where I am.

Everyone is super excited about the baby coming soon.  It's actually been fun not knowing if it's a boy or girl this go-round.  The girls still really want a girl, and the boys still really don't care.  The other night we were at the dinner table and asked Siri for fun.  It took several tries to get an actual answer, but Siri finally said it's a girl (it was more of an explanation that the name "Baby" is feminine).  Oh my!  I wish I had it on video.  Crazy loud squeals erupted at the table.  "IT'S A GIRL!!!  IT'S A GIRL!!!"  It was hilarious.  Eve and Ellie both say that if it's a boy they'll still hold and kiss him, so I think we'll be OK either way.  Every night they ask me to put them to bed.  Not because I'm the favorite tucker inner, but because they want to hug and kiss the baby goodnight.  It's so very sweet, and I love that they all are so excited.  The sibling bond they have (even though they fight and argue plenty), has really been one of the most special things I've experienced.  I love it.

So there's our past few months in a nut shell.  I hope one day I'll get around to the pictures.  Big news coming any day now...

A Typical Morning Conversation

Jake is in "practice vocabulary" mode.  Maybe I just don't remember well.  OK, who am I kidding, I don't remember well, but it seems to me he's practicing more than the others did.  In fact, he's for some reason obsessed with potty words, so much so that he was practicing "potty" and "wet" so much the other day at church that he had them convinced he was potty training and needed to go.  They finally gave in and put him on the potty, at which time he looked at them like they were crazy and he had no idea what was going on.  Anyway, every morning when I get him, our conversation goes like this...almost exactly the same each day.
K-Good Morning!  Did you have a good night?
J- Uh huh.  Bed.
K- Yes, you slept in your bed.
J- Pillow
K-Yes, that's your pillow
J - Rabbit
K - Yes, that's a rabbit
J- Ooooooohhhhh
K- No, a rabbit doesn't say Oooooohhhh!, a rabbit does this (I wiggle my nose...)
J - Oooohhhhhh (smile) bed
K- Yes, that's John's bed
J- Bo
K- Yep, there's Bo
J- Fruh fruh!
K- ruff ruff, yep, he's a dog.
J- door
K-Yep, that's the door
J-Locked
K - No, it's not locked...
And so on and so forth.  It's funny he says the same wrong things every day as well as the same right things.  Of course his enunciation isn't there, so if you don't live in our house, you probably wouldn't understand.  Each part of our day is like this, though.  Whatever he sees, he seeks affirmation in his naming of it.  And if I'm not paying attention, he'll get right up in my face and yell "MAMA!" until I repeat it back.  It's fun...most of the time.

Slow Down, Buddy!

Jake has passed the 18 month mark!  Even just 2 months or so out, these look so far behind.  It's just crazy how fast he's growing and learning.  Jake weighed in at 27 lb 13 ounces (88th percentile) and measured 33 inches (63rd percentile).  To me he looks much taller.  Anyway, this is when his vocabulary really took off.  Funny, I've always said my kids are advanced, and reach the terrible twos well ahead of time...around 18 months.  Prior to 18 months Jake said uh-huh (like "yes") for everything, whether he meant it or not.  The week he hit 18 months, he changed to uh uh (like "no") for everything whether he meant it or not.  (Several weeks ago he moved on to a clear and deliberate "no" for everything, whether he meant it or not...although almost all the time he means in, but in the past week he's started to give a few more uh-huhs again).  At 18 months he started using a lot more words, by now we're having (sort of) lots of "conversations".  He's really doing a great job communicating, although most of his communications are either practicing vocabulary or expressing his displeasure and independence.  Jake is such a neat kid.  He's a whole heck of a lot of work right now, but I think in the long run it's going to be awesome.  He is constantly in motion, except when he's reading his favorite word book (he really REALLY like word repetition).  He loves to be outside and/or in the water.  Until the past week or so, he really had no desire for toys.  He was more interested in just about everything else, i.e. contents of the cabinets, trash can, etc.  He is almost always walking away, and emptying everything in his path.  He knows no limits.  For instance, when we are at a playground with a fence around it, his first instinct is to bee line toward the exit...just because.  He is very opinionated (and quite often ornery), and very independent.  He moves chairs around the kitchen to climb and get whatever he's on mission for.  He has a knack for finding food and opening it.  He is a super sweet snuggler, mind you his snuggles are super short, but very sweet and frequent.  He loves giving hugs.  One of my favorite things he does is comes up to give a huge hug (maybe more like a tackle) and says "ah gah!" meaning "I got you!"  He has the same belly laugh as Ellie, and the same coy cutting eyes and smirk as Eve, and the same huggie cuteness as John, but an independent spirit that even exceeds all 3 (which I didn't think was possible).  Oh, and he really really loves his dog.  I just love this little man to pieces!  Slow down, Buddy!

No really...slow down!  (This is only a spattering of my attempt to capture him at 18 months)

Meanwhile...

Not to be outdone, we got a sitter for Jake and John and I had an awesome date night.

 He chose Moe's for dinner

 We rode in the jeep...of course (he wasn't sure if I knew how to drive it)

 We went to a climbing wall for the first time.  It was just bouldering, which takes a HUGE amount of strength...no ropes.  He got really frustrated several times, but kept trying and really enjoyed it.

 Whew!

 Frozen yogurt for dessert...he more than earned it.

By the time we got home, Jake was well in bed, and we were tuckered out...still beat the girls home, though.

Daddy Daughter Dance

The Daddy Daughter Dance was another big hit this spring.  This year there was a country/western theme.  Although the theme drove me crazy (more to buy, and I don't get my sweet "princess" pictures), the girls LOVED it!

 They were so excited to give flowers to Daddy...daisies seemed appropriate.

 Now they know the routine, and they've come to expect corsages.  I almost couldn't get a smile out of them until Buck brought the corsages out.  I love their anticipation here!

 Now THOSE are some happy girls, and one happy Dad!

 This picture cracked me up.  I suppose she's giving the stink face because she didn't want her picture taken?

 But she came around.

 

 This will forever be one of my favorite pictures.
I hope these girls always remember how blessed they are to have such a special Daddy.  I know their Daddy will always treasure his blessings.