Big Brother

Odin is so proud to be a big brother! He tells his friends his little baby brother is cute! Being a proud BIG brother he couldn't wait to get his hands on Bjorn and hold him all by himself! Mom and Dad, a bit nervous, finally allowed the big moment...and Odin did GREAT! Bjorn hung in there, though, at times he furrowed his eyebrows ;-)

Welcome Little Bear

Tuesday, September 20th was a big night for Momma! After a normal day of activities, two walks, a great dinner, and then some work in the garden, Momma started feeling a bit restless. We started winding down for the night, and Momma laid down on the bed for a few minutes (around 8:10pm) and all of a sudden her water broke! Not sure if labor was coming quickly or slowly, we called our midwife, Audrey (see picture), at 8:16 to get her input. At 8:40 the contractions started coming in very fast and furious, about every 3 minutes. At 8:49 we called Audrey again. In the background Audrey could hear Momma's labor roar and said, "I'm leaving now!" Audrey arrived at our house at 9:14pm, Momma was in intense labor and the baby arrived at 9:21pm! Yes, only 7 minutes after the midwife walked through our front door, the baby was on Momma' chest being cuddled! WOW, super-fast. We were quite pleased we decided to have a homebirth. Total time from first sign (water breaking) to birth was 1 hour and 10 minutes! (But Momma says it was a VERY INTENSE 1 hr and 10 mins!)

Fortunately Grandma Fern was around to entertain Odin during the short labor. After some minor clean up, Odin and Grandma Fern came upstairs to be introduced to the new family member. Odin immediately wanted to hold and cuddle the baby. He also went about picking out 3 good toys for him to play with! :)

Our newest addition is named Bjorn Ragnar Bullock. Bjorn means bear in Swedish and Ragnar is a legendary Norse Warrior from the Viking age (he'll do just fine with his bigger brother!). Bjorn weighed 6 lb. 10 oz and was 20 inches long. Not bad for being a bit early (he came at 37.5 weeks...much better than Odin's 36 week gestation!).

In the picture below, Audrey our midwife, Momma, Dad and Bjorn relax in the comfort of our home.

Proud Dad!

Mother's Blessing

On Friday night some of Momma's closest friends threw her a Mother's Blessing Party to prepare her for the baby to come. They adorned her with flowers, feed her yummy food, gave her words of encouragement and blessings for the labor, and made her a very special necklace with hand-chosen beads holding special meanings (super cool necklace!).

As you can see, Momma enjoyed every minute of it...
The circle of friends: Momma, Sue, Michi, Susan (the designer of the necklace), Erin and Tia. Robyn was also there, but took the picture.


So, now at 36 weeks, we just wait for Odin's sibling to arrive!

The Big Climb

Yesterday Odin showed off his super climbing skills at a local park!

Happy 3 year Birthday Odin!

Odin showing us how old he is now.  Hard to believe he is 3!

We had a cake and some singing on his actual birthday. 

We had a party with lots of his friends.  Lots of running around before dinner and cake.

There was a cupcake with a candle for everyone to blow out (twice!).

One of Odin's friend's Mom, Tia, made him the crown with the big "O."

And finally here he is helping to clean up after his own party.