Papa & Nana come to visit Addie

Nana and Papa came to visit from Summerland, B.C., a week and half after Addie was born. It was SOOOO much fun having them here. Stefan was lucky enough to be able to take the entire week off of work. We went for lots of walks, shopping for new clothes for Addie, out to eat, and lots of resting. We can't wait to see them again in only a month. We are heading up there for Christmas. It will be Addie's first trip on an airplane, we'll see how that one goes! :)

Addie - Week 3

This is after SEVERAL attempts to get a family picture. Adding another member to the family makes getting everyone to look at the camera an almost impossible feat.

It is somewhat addicting choosing pictures to post on our blog. Because half of our family lives a plane ride away, we are going to always go on the heavy side!!! :) Addie seems to enjoy eating while she is naked, and man does her belly plump out when she is done. I love how content she looks when she is finished!!

My family resting after a hard days work!

Week 3 - Cute Pics

Whenever my mom comes over to visit, we have our very own professional photo shoot. Lucky for us, they are so much fun to look at when she's all done. Here are a bunch of our favorites!!

Week 1

Norm wakes up with me at every night feeding, comes into Addie's room, and sits on the ottoman while she eats. It's pretty cute and it keeps me company and her awake (he likes to lick her feet while she eats). She got to also enjoy her first Halloween experience, she helped hand out candy and then we went over to my Aunt and Uncle's place to have a chili dinner. I also have found different ways to still get stuff done around the house and bring her along, hence her sleeping in the laundry basket when I'm carrying clothes around! :)

Addie's first week home

Going Home- Day 3

On Saturday, we got to bring Adelyn home to meet Norman! He was pretty excited and also not sure what to do with her. We got their introductions on video tape and it is quite funny. He spent the first 5 minutes just licking her, continuously (he really likes her head). I think they are going to be forever playmates when she gets a little older!

Adelyn Rae Julien

On Thursday, October 23rd, at 4:38pm, our little one came into this world. I know that we are updating our blog an entire MONTH later, but, needless to say, it's been quite hectic around here.

On Wednesday, the 22nd, Stef and I went in for my 40+ week check-up with Dr. Locher, where we were told that their was room at the hospital, and if we wanted, we could be induced the next morning. YES!! We got a call at 5:30 the next morning and showed up nervous and excited at the hospital at 7:30am. They broke my water around 9:00am (which is one of the grossest things I've ever experienced, I CANNOT imagine what it would be like to have your water break in PUBLIC!!!!), started the epidural around noon, the drip around 1:30, and by 4:29 (honestly), they told me to start pushing. It was just Stef and our sweet nurse (who is actually Corey C.'s cousin) helping me push. She started arriving so fast, when the doc finally arrived, he told me to NOT push through the next contraction so he could get scrubbed up. So after 9 minutes of pushing she was out and screaming! I told Stef, if our babies came that fast, I won't mind have LOTS more. We joked that she timed her entrance into the world perfectly (I was hoping I'd still make in time to order dinner, which I did!!)

She was 20 1/4 inches long, 7 lbs. 1 oz., full crown of hair, and nice long toes (like her mom and Great Grandpa Gene). I knew that day she was going to be a girl. We had discussed at length girl names, but hadn't agreed on ANY. We had had our boys name picked out since day one, but were pretty stuck on a girls name. Anywho, when she was born, we ended up not calling anyone (not even our family for 2 hours) or emailing because I was adamant that we needed to have her name before we could let everyone know. :( SORRY!!!! We ended up not even deciding on one until the next morning. We had chosen the name Adelyn, but were still figuring out the spelling. So Stef wrote 3 different spellings on my whiteboard in my room and let me look at them all night. I asked all the nurses and everyone who came in, which spelling they liked, and it worked, we had her name spelling chosen by that next morning.

Her name comes from my grandpa's (my mom's dad) grandma Adelade. We had toyed with that name, but liked a different variation of it better, Adelyn. I was sold since day one, but it had to grow on Stef and he ended up falling in love with it. Someday her nickname will be Addie, but we LOVE calling her her full name, Adelyn Rae, because it is so much fun to SAY!!!

40 + weeks & READY

Stef and I just had our final doc appointment this afternoon. It's a go!! Our doctor gave the permission to be induced tomorrow (I guess there's room at the Inn). I'm dilated 2cm and have been having kinda painful contractions all day. So watch, I'll go into labor tonight anyway! The hospital is going to call anytime between 5:30-8:30am tomorrow morning, and then our doctor is going to strip the membrane sometime before noon. So.... Baby J could have his/her birthday on October 23rd. If it's really stubborn, it may be the 24th! :) Another huge blessing is that our doctor is going to be at the hospital for 24 hours tomorrow (that's a LONG shift, but would be awesome if he could be the one to deliver Baby J). Stef and I are going to enjoy an evening of Papa John's pizza and watching a movie.

We love you all and can't wait to publish our next post of BABY J!!!!! Keep us in your prayers! God Bless, Stefan, Betsy, Baby J, and Norm

39 1/2 weeks & Waiting

Norman has found a new favorite resting place. We got a super comfy blanket from IKEA that he has taken a liking to. Everyday when we get home from work, he's curled up with it. :)

So... after a lot of panic, rushing around, and hurriedly packing our hospital bag, Baby J has decided to stay put for the time being. I'm EXACTLY in the same spot as two weeks ago, 1.5 cm dilated, 80-90% effaced, and at a total of 18 pounds. We keep wondering when it will be, but I guess that's the fun part. The baby is kicking and poking around a LOT lately, the doc says it makes sense because he/she has run out of room. :) We love you all and hopefully our next post will be of BABY J!!!

2nd Annual Momentum Boche Ball Tourney

Stef and I hosted our 2nd Annual Boche Ball Tournament this past weekend for the Momentum young peoples group at church. We had a blast! Linnea and Nate were the big winners of the night (Nate won last year, there might be a big fit to see who gets to be his partner next year). Stef made a single elimination bracket, but complained because we didn't start early enough. The boys think next year it should be a double elimination! We'll see about that. We had lots of good food, fellowship, and some bonfire time afterwards. We didn't get the camera out early enough, so sorry everyone, we didn't get a ton of pics!!! By the end of the night, Norm was exhausted and decided his new favorite bed place was our new chair (hence the green blanket covering it).

38 weeks & Baby J's room (almost ready)

Stef and I found a great deal on two new chairs. They are SOOOOO comfy! One gets to be in Baby J's room and the other replaced our blue plaid chairs in the family room (Norm was very upset to see these two go, but it was time). We also found a beautiful changing table on Craigslist about three weeks ago.

This pic is 1 day shy of Baby's 38th week! This past week I had a doc appointment on Wednesday morning, and was told that I am 1.5 cm dilated and almost 80-90% effaced. My co-workers can attest to my behavior the rest of that day!!! I was a nervous wreck, because I was sure that everytime I moved, my water was going to break. I practically walked down the hall with my legs crossed! I came home that night and had a mini panic attack. Stefan found me wandering the house after work, not able to get ANYTHING done. Being the sweet husband he is, we packed our hospital bag together, did a little baby laundry, and went to bed early. I had to finally realize that neither Stef, nor I, can control when Baby J is going to make his/her presence here on Earth. Only God knows Baby J's b-day! We are super excited when that day arrives. We love you all and miss you!!!! God Bless, Stefan, Betsy, Baby J and NORMAN (someone commented that his name has been eliminated from our goodbyes)