What's in a name?

If you are me, a lot. :)

So I previously hinted at some of the "rules" or parameters for naming Mark. It became quite a lengthy and extensive list by the end of the process. :) We had many friends pondering with us as we attempted to find the perfect name.

Family name.  Had a good meaning. Four letters long.  Contained an "A".  Did not begin with "A", "R", "J" or "H". Couldn't end the same way as our last name. Not short for anything (ie, "Will" was off the table because it is short for William).

***

So, for fun, I will include all of the kids' names and their meanings.

Anna-Grace, favor
Kate-Pure
Ruth-Faithful friend

Ryan-Little king
Elliot-My God is the Lord

Jack-God is gracious/His gracious gift
Henry-Ruler of the home

Mark-Strong warrior
Christopher-Bearer of Christ

I have loved watching my kids grow up and take on their names, and what their name meanings have brought us to pray for them. Just a little special thing for me.

To remember

I don't have a "birth story", per se, but there are some things I want to remember about Mark's birthday.

• I didn't shake or get sick from the pain meds/surgery for the first time. Such a relief!
• Our prayers were beyond answered that Mark didn't need to go to the NICU like his brothers did. 
• The doctor assisting my OB in my surgery said, "wow, you are really thin." I started laughing and said, "you probably say that to all the girls. I feel anything but thin right now!". Evidently I have a very small layer of fat. Who knew? Now, if I could get the muscle control back so it didn't appear fat to the naked eye...
• They wanted to slowly wean me off the epidural overnight so turned off the automatic drip. I awoke to a screaming baby at 3 who I couldn't hold because my stomach was burning. I think I know what it would feel like to be shot or cut open with no meds. Good gracious. Painful. Turned that guy back on and weaned off while I was awake to monitor my pain. 
• My OB recommended an abdomen wrap. I was unsure the proper way to put it on/how tight to do it, so laid down as my two nurses put it on for me. Without thinking, I said, "oh, I just feel like Scarlett O'hara...never mind me not having a 20 inch waist" and laughed it off. Chris was behind the nurses turning all colors of red for my foot in mouth moment. Oops. Can I blame that on the pain meds I was on?
• I was off percocet about a week after surgery, motrin 13 days. 
• 12 days post surgery my incision was completely closed...same day that Mark's umbilical stump fell off (which, PS, I always rejoice over as that is disgusting and then they can have a real bath...but I was a little saddened this time as I continued one of many "I'll never do X again...")

That's all I have for now. Off to bed. 

The nursery

Well, I struggled with a nursery vision this time. As my big boys {weird that Jack is now "big"} are now sharing a room, I still needed to use my nursery bedding for Jack (it actually coordinates with Ryans, which is great as the window treatment is still up in there). I chose fabric twice and by the time I went to purchase it was sold out until late May--which I took as a clear sign from the Lord to a) scale back what I was planning to sew (everything) and b) choose new fabric. :)

So, back to the drawing board I went, again. I had in my head I wanted to use predominately navy, which is surprisingly hard to find in cute fabrics/nursery stuff. Well, for some reason, as I searched Pottery Barn Kids for the umpteenth time I found a new bumper I'd not seen before. And, bonus, it was on sale--$54 shipped! Done. My mom gave me the cute navy and white polka dot sheets for my shower, and my vision was reborn.

I bought navy minky to make a diaper changing pad cover. Love the softness for his little body. :) The french board was a re-purpose job from Ryan's big boy room (see it HERE). The other two are being used for Jack and Ryan. I recovered the glider and ottoman with a navy fabric with white polka dots that looks identical to the PBK sheets my parents' gave us. 

Still standing in the doorway. I bought cheap white drapes from Target ($9.99 each!) and added a 4 inch border of the navy/white polka dot to the sides and bottom. Love it. 

Here is the bumper and sheet that sparked the whole thing. I made the box pleat bed skirt from a simple white pique and added the same 4 inch border of the polka dot. The letters I just painted navy and added white dots to. And yes, Chris hung them the day before Mark was born. :) Then I took them down and hid them until we came home from the hospital. I'm a sneaky one like that. Lol. 

All in all, I am very happy with the room. It is quite a soothing place to sit, rock and nurse (which is super as I spend an awful lot of time doing those things right now.). :)

Announcing...

{One week late...oops}

The birth of our fourth child...Mark Christopher. 

Hello world!

Our smallest baby weighing in at 7.1 lbs. 

Mark was my brothers name and means "mighty warrior". Christopher is obviously after Chris and means "bearer of Christ". Our prayer for our little Mark is that he will grow to be a mighty warrior for the Lord! If he is anything like his uncle or his Daddy, I will count it a blessing.

And baby makes six!

Smitten with her newest baby brother

Our first picture in the recovery room about 35 minutes after he was born. We were so thankful to an answer to prayer that he didn't need to go to the NICU--our first boy not to!

My last pregnant picture ever. Weird. Total weight gained: 23 lbs. Odd, since I tore through bags of cheetos, powdered donuts and gallons of icecream and ate veggies only as an example to my kids. Ha! 

Baking a BIRTHday cake the day before Mark was born! Yum, raw egg...

 

Not so smitten...in fact wanted nothing to do with him until I produced the Elmo book from Mark to Jack. :) 

Loving on baby

Have this picture, in this same sweatshirt, with all the babies. :) I keep the  room cold. Chris lucked out with our room this time. He had an extra alcove area that wasn't up against the window such that when they brought the baby at night/took my vitals he was often able to sleep through it as the light over him didn't turn on.  

 

Eating cake {cake is his happy place}

With my sweet friend and OB, Stacy.

Ready to go home daygown...not a dress. :)

After much waiting, finally heading home!

A big thank you to my parents who kept the kids while we were in the hospital! My big kids had such a good time and enjoyed their Nana and Poppy time so much. In fact, when I told Anna-Kate that she couldn't hold the baby until she washed her hands, (Chris, Anna-Kate and I all got horrible colds/sore throats during Mark's first week of life) she said, "but if Mark get sick, doesn't that mean Nana will have to come back to our house for more time here?" :) Sweet, but no dice!

Somehow not pictured are Ryan and my parents...there are pictures of them all holding the baby, just not on my phone. Those will come. :) They were there too.