Look alikes

Throughout my pregnancy, Allia kept saying how she wanted this baby to look like her. Each of the other children has a match - two redheads, two blondes. One of the first things I said after Sebastian was born was, "Allia will be so happy." He looks so much like her as a newborn! It is funny after 10 years to have a baby that looks so much like the one I gave birth to so long ago. Of course, Allia is thrilled!

Allia, a couple of days old

Last Lita Snuggles

Lita heads back to Corpus Christi today. Here are Sebastian's last Lita snuggles before she left.

More baby

Last hospital photo - finally opening those eyes

We were supposed to go home Thursday morning, but he hadn't urinated in 24 hours. So we were stuck there praying and hoping for pee. He finally peed at 8pm (just before the neonatologist was about to take serious action), so we arrived home just in time for a little baby adoration and holding time before the kids went to bed.

Baby Pics

The morning after his birth, everyone was anxious to meet Sebastian. After breakfast, Austin went home to get the van and bring his siblings up to say hello. The consensus was, "Baby brother is soooo cute." They must have said that 100 times!"

Such awe

And of course Lita wanted to meet him, too!

His Birth

Our sweet baby boy was due Sunday, March 23rd. After the previous two being inductions and Stephen being 10 days late, I fully expected to be induced. My doctor was out of town the week of the due date, so I scheduled an induction with him at my 39 week appointment for Monday, March 31st and fully expected to see him there. :) But baby had other plans...
I mentioned previously that I was up for about 1 1/2 hours with regular, slightly painful contractions starting at 2am on Tuesday the 25th. Just when I started to get my hopes up a bit for a Solemnity baby, it all stopped. So back to sleep I went. Lita was here helping for the week, and she offered to take us and Tia Nana's family out to lunch at Jason's Deli. So after my 40 week appointment with another doctor and the girls' piano lessons, we headed off to eat a delicious lunch complete with cookies Austin picked up for dessert in honor of the Solemnity. Just as I finished eating my lunch, I had a couple more of the contractions like the night before. (What a nice "last meal" that turned out to be...thank you, Lita!!!) They continued in the afternoon but were very sparse and irregular, so I continued to go about my business. Around 3:30 or 4 they got a little more regular, so I texted Austin (who wanted to be off on the Solemnity anyway!), and he came home from work. I scolded him, though, because I really thought it was another false alarm. We got things ready to attend daily mass that evening. However, the contractions kept coming, more and more regular. They started getting stronger around 5pm. Lita went to Tia Nana's to get her stuff and prepare to stay the night here. We nixed our plans for mass and instead packed our bags and hung out a bit more. Just before 6, I recognized the familiar signs of transition and told Austin, "We had better go!" So off we went. We got to the hospital and were quickly escorted to L&D. I was at 8cm, so the nurses promptly called the Dr. (the one I had seen for my appointment that morning) and prepped me for birth. After a few quick pushes, our sweet boy was born at 7:13pm with a full head of dark hair and dark eyes that he barely opened for the first 24 hours. So sweet! I am very thankful for such a wonderful, natural birth and healthy boy!

It took us quite a long time to name him since he surprised us by coming on the Solemnity, and we wanted his name to reflect that. Sebastian Mario Ambrose means "Venerable Mary Immortal" and is also after three great saints that we admire. We were actually married on the feast of St. Ambrose!

First Bath

Welcome, Sebastian!

Just a couple of hours after the last post, my contractions picked up again. Our sweet little guy actually came on the solemnity!

Sebastian Mario Ambrose ("Venerable Mary Immortal")
March 25, 2014 @ 7:13 pm
8 lb 3 oz
21 1/2 inches

Sent from my iPhone

A Solemnity and Baby stuff

Yay! So nice to have another Solemnity today to interrupt Lent. :)
I was up for almost two hours last night with good contractions, and just when I thought the baby might come on the Solemnity, they stopped. At least we are getting closer! If he doesn't come by Monday morning, we go in for an induction. We will see!

Super Sports Saturday!

We had a big one today! The three oldest girls ran the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Run together this morning at 8am. Boy was it fun. There were costumes and so many yummy treats at the finish line. They had a great time. Then we were off to Gloria's soccer game, an early lunch, and Allia's game. Both girls' teams won their games. Gloria scored a goal, and Allia came within inches of making a goal and played really well!

Getting ready...

 Cute little spectator

 A little painting demo

 And they're off!

 She came in so fast, I missed getting a photo of her finishing! She got 4th in her age division (12 and under), and there were a lot of girls, so we were very proud!

 Finishing strong (Austin ran along side her to make sure she was ok, but he was NOT part of the race...no boys allowed!)

 Gatorade in champagne glasses at the finish line. Pick your color...they had them all!

 And the treats...all dippable in the chocolate fountains. Yum!

 Soccer time...

Lost Tooth!

Gloria lost her second tooth yesterday. She let me pull it this time instead of waiting for it to just fall out. She was very brave! And it just so happened to be on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, when we take a little break from our Lenten penances to celebrate a wonderful saint! So, of course, she got a nice treat. :) In the evening we went to daily mass and out to a nice dinner at Carino's with some friends...sort of a last hurrah before baby since my diet undergoes lots of restrictions, like minimal spicy food and dairy, with our newborns!

Soccer time for Stephen!

Stephen has been asking about soccer almost every night since the fall season ended. Now he finally gets to play again! Yay! He had a great time. Even though it was a bit chilly, we all enjoyed watching him!

Waco Zoo Trip

After starting out our spring break battling a cold, we made a quick recovery (thankfully!) and headed to the zoo yesterday. The last time we visited the zoo was when Gloria was Anastasia's age, so we were overdue for a trip. Instead of heading to Houston, we decided to try the Waco zoo this time.

Stephen has been asking to see a real bear for weeks now, so he finally had his chance! He was really excited. We got to see one in action and another still sleeping.

The giant turtle. You can't tell from the photo, but this turtle could have easily given Stephen a piggy back ride.

 Everyone really liked all the snakes. There were lots of them, including many native to Texas. Yikes!

 The eel (photos by Allia)

 Jaguar

 Bison

 This giraffe was really hungry. He just stood there eating the whole time we watched.

 Kudu

 Rhino

 And the ever famous elephant. The kids asked the whole time when we would see elephants, and this ended up being one of the last animals we saw! They still remember the elephants at the Houston zoo doing handstands during their morning shower when we were there!

And some Anastasia-isms from the day:
Hih tah pah pas (Hippopotamus)
A-mango (flamingo)
Looky Dat (look at that!)

Two weeks!

Yesterday officially marked two weeks until this baby's due date. I really can't believe it. In two weeks (or perhaps 3!), there will be a whole new little person in our house. Our doctor seems to think the baby will be early, but I think not...I think he is just hoping so because he will be out of town the week of our due date! We did take this weekend to pack bags, get the bassinet down and take care of a few other baby prep items since we have a break from soccer and all other craziness for spring break. I am not sure how I will care for a new little one and keep up with all the other demands of our family life, but I know God's grace will be with me! So exciting to meet this new little one.

Our own party

I remember at some point, as we dreamed of having a big family, talking with Austin about the day when our family would be it's own party. I think we have arrived. :) At least last night we did. It was Mardi Gras, and in the absence of any parades or other community celebrations, we became our own party. In the afternoon I took the children to Spoons, and after a yummy dinner with several desserts (since we as a family always give up sweets for Lent) we had a dance party in the living room complete with Chicken Dance, Cotton Eye Joe (clean version) and the Shoddish. It was lots of fun and a good chance to burn off all those sweets before bedtime!

The girls were actually the ones who grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. They did a pretty good job!

 Yes, that is me, 8 1/2 months pregnant, dancing in my living room. It was Mardi Gras after all.

We began Lent with early morning mass. May this Lent be an opportunity for all of us to grow in our faith.

"Wim Soups"

I just love toddlerisms. We are doing a lot of shopping and trying on of swimsuits right now. Anastasia calls them "Wim Soups." So cute! We all can't help but smile.

Soccer time again!

We had our first week of soccer practice and games. Allia and Gloria are so excited to be back in soccer! Stephen is still waiting for his to start up, and Mariana just finished her skating lessons. Busy times. The girls both played really well. Allia's team tied 1-1 with the team that won the fall tournament. She even had to play against one of her sweet friends who just joined that team this spring! Gloria scored 3 goals, but I have no photos. They moved her division to the fields across town (unbeknownst to me!), so Austin had to rush her over there at the last minute when we found out, and she missed the first part of her game. I am super unhappy about this change and might not have let her sign up had I known they would not be playing in the same location, but too late now. Here we go! At least we have a week off for spring break. :)