Maxwell Leif Hestenes

Announcing the arrival of Maxwell Leif Hestenes! Born April 28th, 12:28 a.m., 9 lbs, 8 oz, and 22 inches long. I went into labor on the way home from work, although I thought they were Braxton Hixx contractions. By dinner time, things were picking up. We went to the hospital around 9 pm and I was 6 cm dialated. And by midnight it was time to push. Maggie watched the whole birth and was fascinated. Thankfully, Sean slept through it. Baby Max came in a hurry with only 1 and a half pushes. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck which the docter was able to untangle. We are happy to be home now.

Made it through the week.

Busy week. Took Maggie to get 4 fillings on Monday, Tuesday I had a doctor appointment, Wednesday was the Dad's Club BBQ that Glen and I had to work. Took the kids with us after school and they had a late night. Friday was Maggie's school talent show. And fortuneately, I didn't go into labor during this time. Things are a little calmer this week. One doctor appointment, a parent-teacher conference for Maggie, an end of the year field trip and dinner in Phoenix for Maggie which a parent has to come with, and of course my due date is in there somewhere. We will see what happens.

My feet are killing me! I can barely squeeze into my Tevas when they are on the loosest setting. So thats what I wear to work. But by the end of the day, the straps are leaving huge marks on my feet and my feet are all puffy around them. :( Glen has been rubbing them at night and keeping them elevated does help but the skin is so tight! They really do hurt! I'm also moving pretty slow and having a lot of Braxton-Hixx contractions, especially in the evenings, but other than that I am doing well.

It reached 104 degrees here the other day. So we had our first sprinkler play. Maggie happily got into her swim suit, but Sean had no clue what was going on and did not want me to change him so I just let him play in his clothes. He did let me slide off his overalls once they got wet, but he insisted on leaving his shoes on. :) Hopefully next time he will understand the benefits of a swimsuit.

A few pictures...

A few pictures of the kids...

Here are all the Hestenes guys discovering that Sean likes watching monster trucks on tv.

Easter baskets! Notice how Maggie decorated hers ahead of time with pipe cleaners.

Sean found a top and little magnetic trains in his basket.

Oh! THere is another egg! Maggie was hard to capture on film during "the hunt".

Sean was able to find some eggs too.

Here I am 9 months pregnant. Hiked up "whiney mountain" (Papago Park) to watch the helicopters fly over up close. Sean is enamored with them currently.

Sean wasn't interested in dying eggs, but he enjoyed putting easter egg stickers on his egg carton. (Look at all those teeth!)

Dying easter eggs.

Maggie at her first science fair. She is holding her thermometer she made and her poster is the yellow one behind her.

Ice cream!!

Maggie and the Dentist -- epic saga part three

Maggie had her teeth cleaned today and it has been confirmed that she has the worst teeth possible, cavity wise. The dentist said she seems to be prone to cavities and will probably need a lifetime of dental work. (Just like Glen) Wah! We are going back for 2 fillings next week and 2 more the week after. She also may need a crown, but the dentist is trying the filling first to see if that will hold. Even her 6-year-old molars have cavities and they aren't even fully erupted yet!!! The dentist is being conservative and putting watches on all but the 4 most serious. (That means he is not doing anything about them for now unless Maggie develops pain or the cavities are worse at her next check-up.)

Poor Maggie. And poor us too. Our dental insurance is soooooo lame. Its not even really insurance. Its basically a 20% off deal. This spring break has really drained our finances. A new carseat for baby, small cloth diapers (since I had already sold Sean's), trip to the ER and several doctor visits for Maggie, and now major dental work. Yippee.... At least I also got our taxes done and our federal refund should just about cover the entire bill. Phew.

Now I am going to wash all those sweet little diapers and the new baby clothes we have accumulated in order to mellow out. As much as laundry can be a pain, I have always found something soothing about folding baby stuff. :)

Must...post...before...family/friends...revolt....!

My poor little blog has suffered. It has been an exceedingly busy and challenging few months, and I completely dropped off the internet. Hopefully this will change as we come into the summer months during which I will NOT be working. Yay!

Baby boy Hestenes is due in about 2.5 weeks. Everyone else will still be in school until the end of May so me and the baby will have some downtime at home alone the first few weeks. Then our family of 5 will have the summer to get used to the new order a baby brings to the house. I'll be back to part-time (with full-time pay, Yay!) in August, so I will be working from 7:45 to about 12:30. Less time in daycare for the new baby. I will also have more time in the afternoon to do such things as blog! And chill out before everyone else comes home from school.

I will post some recent pictures soon. I need to upload the software for my "new" camera. (My old one was stolen during a recent break-in to our house) Once I get that figured out, pictures will abound!