New Addition

Sorry folks...although I don't think anybody is following this blog...but it's been a while. Things have been really busy which is why I haven't had time to write anything, but the truth of the matter is...we just had a baby. McKinley Ada Tate was born on Sunday January 25th at 3:49 PM. She was born smaller than the other two at 8lbs 6oz (the other two were 8lbs 8oz) and she was 20 inches long.

Everyone is really excited about the baby, Madison is being a young mother and has to be involved with everything. When the baby cries, she jumps up and thinks she needs to hold her and calm her down. She wants to be there for feedings and for every diaper change. It was cute at first, but to be honest, I wish she would stop. It just means that everything takes more time.

Carter wants to hold her all the time...but's it's never for more than a few minutes at a time. He gets bored sitting there and doing nothing. Although Carter has the cutest reaction so far. He loves to wait until the baby is sleeping and snuggle up to her. I think he likes this because it allows him to come and go as he pleases. I have tried several times to get pictures of this, but unlike Madison, he is quite camera shy.

Jenn is doing just fine, it was a difficult delivery but she managed a natural birth again. She is becoming an expert. I have to say things were a bit scary at first. Normally Jenn progresses slowly, her water breaks at about a 5 and then she progress rapidly (20 minutes) and the baby is born. We have always associated the water breaking as the benchmark for delivery. With Carter we called people once her water broke to let them know we were close. Well Jenn's water broke at home...I was scared...no...I was MORTIFIED that the baby was going to be born within 30 minutes of the water breaking. Now there are some Dad's who can handle this...Ryan...my hat is off to you...I am not one of those Dad's. I was NOT about to deliver my baby at home. I was rushing around trying to get us out the door. We had planned for almost every contingency...labor in the middle of the day was what we thought was worse because I work 45 minutes away from home so we were worried. What he hadn't prepared for was a Sunday morning emergency. So when Jenn's water broke at 8:30 AM on Sunday...we were far from prepared. The kids weren't dressed for church and both Jenn's mom and dad and my mom and dad have church at 9:00. Since we don't go to church until 11:00 the kids were getting ready to get in the tub. I called the inlaws in a rush saying they needed to hurry down here so we could get to the hospital (remember I am thinking a 30 minute timeline so I was very insistent). We got to the hospital at about 9:15...well past my comfort zone...and the nurses said they would have to check to see if her water had actually broken. When the nurse came to check it was very obvious.

After a fairly short labor and delivery, out came McKinley. She was a bit swollen and beat up when she was born, but the effects wore off quickly. Now we have this beautiful and healthy little girl who we love to death (seriously sometimes Carter worries me).

Thanks to all those who helped with the labor, delivery and recovery. You are very much appreciated.