Unexpected

My fourth and final child, Adelia Jolyn Hinkley, is finally here. I love and adore her. She has blessed my life with her presence and I am so happy that this pregancy, which was unexpected in so many ways, ended in my heathly baby girl.

Right from the beginning, Adelia and I went through quite a journey together. This pregnancy was so different than any one of my other three. Never had I been so wrong before about what I thought I knew. She broke all my theories on pregnancy and gender. But at the time I took this challenge to my deepest instincts on a pendulum ride, swinging between worry and doubting everything I feel, to digging in my heels in the foundation of belief.

Now off this roller coaster ride, these lessons appear clearer. Some include…

Subsequent babies might not come earlier. Nate was born at 41 weeks, Riley on his due date and Lauren 6 days early. Adelia arrived at 41 weeks 6 days.

Pregnancies of the same gender can be night and day different. Same dad, same weight, same body, so what gives? I was extremely sick from 7 to 14 week, mostly at night when dad was at work. I had wicked heartburn, swollen everything, craved sweets, and hurt constantly. With Lauren, I barely knew I was pregnant.

Even instincts can be wrong. Deep down I was positive she was a boy. My instincts with all the other kids, from gender to delivery, were correct. So imagine my shock when each ultrasound confirmed that I was carrying a girl.

Still, even with all this mental and physical chaos and the doubts it sprung, I clung to the belief that my third trimester would be easy, delivery would take place earlier and labor would be just as planned.

BIGGEST LESSON LEARNED: Trust in God and his plan, he whispers to you, follow his agenda and not your own, even if it’s not exactly what your heart desires. Guess I wasn’t paying attention during the pregnancy so it took a big ol’ slap across the face from God during labor and delivery to learn this.

Fall Puyallup Fair

The one tradition we have as a family, longer than any other, is the fall Puyallup Fair. I debated whether or not to go, hugely pregnant, but my friend's son plays guitar and vocals in the band Society's Voice, and I wanted to catch their last performance, the next to last day in late September.

The Fair has so many different options. This time we seemed to gravitate towards the animals and rides. Lauren and Riley (Nate was gone) where so into the animals. Seriously, they could of stayed quietly for hours looking at goats, cows, pigs etc.

milking Ol' Bessy

I suppose to balance this off, they wanted to go on some extreme rides, most which they've never been on!

Though Lauren insisted she wasn't scared, she wanted to go on the Haunted Pirate ride. She did come out covering her eyes!

Riley wanted to try out the Mad Mouse, my favorite ride as a kid. It's a smaller, but tall, metal coaster where you seriously feel that you'll fall off the edge at multiple times. Here is his before and after picture. Brian had fun too!

The scariest part, for my anyway, is my baby girl very much wanting to ride the giant swings. Mind you, she is tall enough, though only 4 years old. And these swing up very high, and wide, spinning fast, with only a metal bar across the torso and chain between the legs to keep her in. I tried to hide my terror, smiled and took deep breaths. Though once it began moving, I started crying a bit and had to hold on to Brian for support. She of course LOVED it and was jumping up and down once off.

Guess Lauren is so over the tamer KidVille area.

42 and renewed

This February, my parents Mark and Mary participated in our church's 1st marriage renewal ceremony near Valentine's Day. Being the first, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be very sweet; a recommintment to each other and their relationship with God.



It was so sweet how much my mom was into it. She chose purple as her wedding color and had matching flowers :)

After the service all three of their kids and families took them out to eat at their favorite restaurant, IHOP. CONGRATULATIONS MOM AND DAD!!!

In the beginning...I was fit

Going way back in 2010, I was actually very fit!

We were members of the YMCA, and my friend Kendra and I decided to run the Fun Run 5k in early April. I trained by doing cardiovascular and strength training a few times a week and running 5k at least twice a week. Buff mama!

This year the rest of the family did the 1 mile. Nate registered for the 5k but changed his mind. Lauren ran with Brian and their time was very good, though she was freezing and very grumpy. Nate was 2nd or 3rd in his division and Riley finished somewhere in the middle.

Included in your registration fee for the 5k is a runners shirt. The Y never fails to shock and awe, this year it was a ghastly, stop traffic type of yellow. You can see it in the dark it's so bright
Kendra never got hers but she didn't seem too broken up about it... yikes! The only good aspect of this was that even when runners wore them underneath jackets, a little sliver of bright yellow was always visible.

Though thankfully not rainy, that day was VERY cold. Not just in temperature, but there was an Arctic wind that we were running against in the beginning that would take my literal breath away. I had to stop running and walk backwards to breathe. So this is what ashma feels like!

Kendra and I started by running together but she is much more of a runner and got a stellar time of about 25 minutes. Though I felt like I was moving slowly, thanks in large part to the wind, I'm proud to have ran most of it. On the way back up the hill to the finish line, I was pacing this old bag-lady type (see picture) and dangit, I was determined to beat her, which I did, though barely! My time was around 38 minutes and that is fantastic as I have never ran a 5k in less than 40 minutes.

Now funny thing is, this was the last time I had a real work out in 2010. Unknown to me, at the time of this run, I was about a week pregnant with baby #4! Two days later my period was due and never came :) Thus ended my running streak.

Yes, I am a Sounders FC fan!

I LOVE SOCCER! Call it futbol, footbul, football, whatever. It's the only sport that I both follow and love to participate in. I enjoyed it when I was younger, but there were no teams available and my parents, not being the 'sport' type (except for my Dad and American football), didn't encourage me. I did have one great moment at a family reunion where I beat both of my male older cousings:) In highschool, I played tennis instead, which I like to play, but don't follow.

I enjoy watching my kids play. All three have played on teams but Nate is the only continuer this fall. Still it's the pros that really get the heart pumping. It's hard to be pregnant and a soccer fan, terrible morning sickness kept me away from the Sounders most the season. Fortunately, we were able to watch a match in late May.

Seattle Sounders FC vs San Jose Earthquakes
QWEST FIELF
Saturday, May 22, 2010 12:00pm
Section 116 Row: MM Seats: 4,5,6,7

We took the Sounders train from the T-Dome station to Qwest field. It was a few more $$$, but SO worth it!





We bought tickets as a group with Nate's soccer team, Avanti United FC. It's always great for him to spend time with soccer mates outside of games and practices, but go figure. The kid that was into the game most was Lauren! She did all the cheers, booed, screamed, jumped up and down, the whole nine!






This day we played San Jose and lost 0-1. But despite that, had an over all great time with our Jones sodas and garlic fries.

Hopefully the 2011 season will be better for my beloved Sounders!

Swimming in a small world

This summer we snuck in swim class for Riley and Lauren.

It was great practice for Riley who was headed off to his first Boy Scout summer camp experience and helped him a bit.

Lauren finally took off in her swimming ability. She loved it and having her friend Maya in the same class.

Funny thing is, Lauren's swim teacher, Stephanie, has a son Regan the same age as her. They ended up in the same school and class for kindergarten. Plus Steph is the school's crossing guard so they still see each other everyday. I knew the first time I saw her at open house that I remembered her from somewhere. It wasn't until the next time I saw her that I placed it. She said not to worry, no one recognizes her dry!

Ye Ol' Rein Faire

Okay, do you have those events that you see and say "I go someday" and never get around to it? I went to a few Renaissance Faire's with my pal Amanda in HS and sworn to take the kids one day, never to follow through.

So finally, in early August, I took the fam to the Washington Renaissance Faire in Buckley.

The boys went straight to chess and played a game.

Lauren played all these old fashioned games with this quirky lady names Mimsy, getting candy at the end.

A big highlight was the boffer sword fights hosted by the Tacoma Game Matrix. It was only $2 for 2 rounds and the boys got to experience their first real fight.

One of my favorite activities to partake of during these type of festivals is the food, and did we eat! We ended this feast at the Dragon's Breath Inn where we got real rootbeer. It came in 4 different flavors and I can say I never had REAL rootbeer until that moment. Riley, who's favorite drink this is, was in high heaven.

We also got to see the presentation of the royal court and I swear, the queen took my breath away, she was gorgeous! At the end Riley and Lauren were thrilled to get honorary knight and ladyship from the Queen and her court. I only got a video of this, and it won't load. But so cute!