Emily Claire is FOUR

I love birth stories.  Yours, hers, mine, theirs.  The miracle of growing a life inside of you and then the amazing process of labor and delivery makes me cry every single time... well, only when reading...  never in the moment. I actually never did cry when I first looked into my babies' eyes.  The only time, during one of my L&Ds, when I almost teared up was when the wicked nurse told me I didn't have time to get an epidural with Sophia and, even then, it was more of a angry cry while I dreamed of kicking her in the knee.

The night before life really got exciting.

No, with sweet Emily, my labor and delivery was as controlled and comfortable as checking into a 4 star hotel and then heading to the spa with your husband and mother.  Her due date was January 8th but on December 26th we had an appointment with the OB and, given my progress and history of easy deliveries and a previous uneventful induction, he offered to induce me on December 31st 2007.  Are you interested?  Yes, indeedy.  Any conviction about desiring to have another one of those Sophia spurred - "Hi, honey, I know its 5:30am but I think it's time!" - and rushing to the hospital only to have the baby 30 minutes later deliveries - jumped right out of that two story window.  Oh how I loved that exhilarating experience and absolutely would not trade it for anything but I was done and done on that day after Christmas and so ready to meet my Emily Claire.  So, it was scheduled, and that afternoon my mother was planning her trip up to Greenville to share that special day with us.

Waiting to get all hooked up.  I love love love this feeling of anticipation and excitement.  Nothing could be more exciting than meeting your child for the first time.

And then she was here.. Emily Claire Page.

 

This was the first of my labors where it truly was a "been there, done that" experience since with Joshua I had never been in labor, much less an induction, so that day was full of unknowns but pleasant surprises.  With Sophia, I went into labor spontaneously for the first time so I didn't really know what to expect there either.  But with Emily, third time was a lucky charm.  With our bags packed we headed to the hospital that morning to check in at 7am.  I got all hooked up to the monitors and the pitocin started dripping around 8:30am.  I allowed myself to experience maybe three, ok two, of those really strong contractions to prove to myself that I am a real women before I requested that heaven sent anesthesiologist to come in and insert that gigantic needle into my spine.  Where after I was able to relax and control the amount of pain and pressure, then voila, about forty five minutes later the OB forced Freddie to finally cut one of his children's umbilical cords and all of the precious 7lb 4oz of Emily Claire was placed on my chest around 11:30am.

We have been in love cubed ever since.

And then we promptly found a urologist to snip and clip.


The end.

 

Proud big brother and big sister.

 

Emily Claire's First Birthday a week before moving to France...December 31st 2008

Second  Birthday...  December 31st 2009

Third...  December 31st 2010

And the 4th birthday celebration.. 

December 31st 2011...

 I am SO excited to be four!

 A little Hello Kitty bling from Daddy.

 Ready to ride.  

Happy New Year everyone!  
May you have a blessed 2012 filled with peace and love.

Holly Jolly Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was lots of fun... from Dec 1st until bedtime tonight it has been filled with excitement, beauty, movies, old traditions, new traditions, food, friends and family.

Some good friends babysat the kids this year so Freddie and I could brave Toys R Us together.  That was a real treat.  Thanks to some snazzy reconnaissance work (je vous remercie toysrus.com) our shopping trip lasted one hour - start to finish, from first present to the last.  Now that, my friends, is a Christmas miracle.  We then had a lunch date at the first Chinese restaurant we have found in France.  How we missed you shrimp fried rice, dumplings and fried chicken somethinganother!  We liked it so much, in fact, that we decided to introduce the kids to westernized Chinese food after watching La Chat Potte where Miss Emily dined on frog legs.  How very french of her and how very un-American of you Chinese restaurant... frog legs and baguettes on the buffet... only in France.

We came home to some happy children, snuggled up with one of their favorite babysitters of the past, watching the Christmas classic, Elf.  Good times.

A British friend introduced me to the Christmas cracker which involves everyone sitting in a circle, crossing arms while holding onto one end of a cracker while your neighbor holds the other, pulling really hard and the cracker pops open with a loud bang and small toys fall out along with brightly colored paper crowns.  We made it random by placing the crackers on the ground in a circle and playing a game of Ring Around the Rosie, with the cracker laying in front of us after we fell down being ours to pop with our neighbor.  We may need to change that ritual as the kids get older.. or, maybe not, surely our 17 year old Joshua will love that on Christmas Eve 2021.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was Raclette, a traditionally Swiss meal consisting of melted cheese, potatoes, veggies, saucisson, salad and the Maison Vacher fanette. Yes, I did mention the name of the boulangerie because it is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best bread I have ever eaten in my life. It is the boulangerie of boulangeries. It is simply da bomb and, of all the things I will definitely miss about our life in France, this little carbohydrate laden luxury tops the list... right up there with great friends and fabulous vacations.  If I could bottle the delightfully mouth watering aroma of their freshly baked - crusty, yet, melt-in-your-mouth buttery - loaves, I would be competing with Coco Chanel.  I am tempted to write a letter to Yankee Candle suggesting they send an associate to Clermont-Ferrand straight away as this is surely the next top selling candle scent. (As if this hasn't already been suggested, right?)  If any portion of a loaf is leftover the next morning - and only fit for bopping someone on top of the head if they step out of line (as are all baguettes in France) - I almost cry as I toss it in to the trash can before I remember that it is only a 5 minute drive away where another one has our name written all over it.  Enough with the bread already.  But it really is that good.

So, where was I?

Yes, the meal.  I would love for this to remain a Page family Christmas Eve tradition.  It is delicious and filling and fun.  But how, pray tell, will I ever find a suitable replacement for the bread?

After we enjoyed dinner, Joshua read to us the story of Jesus' birth in the book of Luke.

The annual children's bedtime story was Twas the Night Before Christmas and I kissed those cherub like darlings bonne nuit and went to work on those dreaded gifts that require assembly.

Bright and early this morning the children woke us, bubbling with excitement to find out what was waiting for them under the tree.

And this was Christmas morning....