Pictures of Breah

As promised, here are a few pics of the newest Lockard.

Before

After

Only a few minutes old

Sour face

Opening her eyes in the famous Johnson "ducky jammies"

At home with her sisters and grandma

Welcome Breah Spring

My fourth (and final?) child, Breah, was born today at 2:43pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was only 19 inches long. I'll have pictures tomorrow. I remembered the camera but forgot the USB cord. Oops.

As I've done with the other three, I was right by Cara's side for this birth. I don't have anything terribly insightful or eloquent to say about the experience other than that it was truly a miracle, just as it was with Ainsley, and then Aftyn, and with baby boy Gavin. Oh, and I was once again reminded why I am so, so, so glad I'm a dude.

A few other observations and musings:

1. For the first time, I got woozy and nearly passed out. No, not during the delivery. That would be so cliche. Instead, I nearly lost consciousness while Cara got her IV right after being admitted. Go figure.

2. Cara is the type of woman that is universally hated by all other woman. Yaknow, the thin type. (again, glad to be a dude) Immediately after delivering the baby one of the nursery nurses about jumped out of her skin when she looked back at Cara. "Oh my word! You're skinny again!", she exclaimed. The other nurses grumbled in agreement.

3. The doctor and nurses take bets on how quickly things will happen after you tell the OB that the last two babies came out within 5 minutes of your water breaking. I overheard them in the hallway set the over/under at 10 minutes. Don't bet against Vegas...Cara delivered Breah at almost exactly 10 minutes.

4. April 6th is a cool day for a birthday! Not only was is the day that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, but it's also the day the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, it's Tartan Day (aka wear plaid day). Seriously, look it up.

April 6th is also the traditional date for Christ's birth according to LDS folks (see D&C 20:1) and it was the date that the American League began using the designated hitter. Sweet.

Finally, Breah will share her birthday with Rafael, the renouned Italian painter and architect, and Billy Dee "Lando Calrissian" Williams.
It's definitely better than my birth day. The only noteworthy event that ever happened on November 3rd was the introduction of the US income tax. *uggh* Oh, and I share my birthday with such luminaries as Michel Dukakis, Roseanne Barr, and Dennis Miller. *sigh*

Bold Birth Predictions

I'm an engineer, which means that I analyze things. Occassionally I tend to over-analyze and it's fair to say that this probably falls into that category. Still, thanks to some basic math, I have a few predictions about how and when our fourth child, Breah, will be born.

As you can see from the chart, the trends clearly show that the baby will be born at 39 weeks (to the day, mind you), and labor will last a brisk 45 minutes.

Numbers don't lie, right?

And 1

In case you didn't know already, Cara and I are expecting baby number four in April. Not exactly the distant future, but it sure feels that way.

No, we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet (it's still a walnut) but I'm secretly rooting for a boy. It would be nice for Gavin to have a brother to fight with. Then again, I love my girls and another one would be just as nice.

Now we all just have to survive the first trimester and Cara's incapacitating nausea. Cara gets the worst of it, but you know the old adage, "when Mom's not happy, no one is happy." Ain't that the truth? Bottom line: the entire process of pregnancy makes me very, very, very glad I'm a dude.

Nonetheless, we're excited, happy, and looking forward to the arrival of the newest Little Lockard.

10 Blissful Years

A little arithmetic for you -- 1999 + 10 = infinity minus 10

Today, August 6th 2009, marks ten years since I married my sweetheart Cara. She was the answer to my prayers back then and she remains a dream come true to this day. I feel so honored to be with her and blessed to have found her in the first place.

I told Ainsley this evening about our upcoming special day. I said, "Ainsley, tomorrow is Mommy and Daddy's tenth anniversary. That means that we've been married for 10 years!" To which she replied, "So when are you going to stop being married?" I told her, "Never! We'll be married forever."

Forever. That's a comforting thought. There's no one else I'd rather spend forever with than the woman I've spent the past decade falling deeper and deeper in love with.

The happy couple...they had no idea what they had in store for them.

Wow, what a beautiful bride...

Check out that pretty lady...she hasn't aged a day. If she has then she's getting more beautiful as she ages.

A Baptism in St. George

One of the best things about having moved to Utah this past year is that we now have frequent visits with Cara's family. I'm getting to know Cara's sister Jessica much better, as well as her boyfriend Lee. My girls have also enjoyed spending time with their Utah cousins, especially Adree, Jessica's only daughter.

On Saturday I had the great privilege of baptizing Adree. It was the first time since my mission that I had performed a baptism. It had been so long that I had to break out my "white Bible" to review the words of the ordinance. Luckily, I got the words right and everything turned out OK, or at least that's what the witnesses said. If I screwed anything up, it's on their head now, right?

The baptism was in St. George. Cara's aunt and uncles from her Dad's side were there, as was Cara's mom (obviously) and brother Sterling. Quick note: Sterling looked like the bum from Happy Gilmore (the one who was Adam Sandler's caddy), but we were glad he made it.

Anyway, I am very happy for Adree. She is the sweetest kid. She has a perpetual grin on her face that is utterly infectious. I only wish my girls could spend more time with her so she can have some girl playmates and so some of her cuteness can rub off on them.

I'm excited that she has joined the Church. She's blazing the trail for her family to follow and I'm confident that she made the right choice. It's a big deal to make the commitment that she just made. It really is. It's not an easy thing to do. I've often thought it strange that Heavenly Father allows children, at a very young age, to make such a life-altering decision. Do they really know what they're getting into?, I've asked myself.

I think they do. I think they know enough and have felt enough of the Spirit to have "planted the seed" as Alma put it. And that's all that really needs to have happened at that point. Besides, in God's eyes we're all little children, and we need to strive to retain the trusting and loving nature of youth. This weekend reinforced that for me. It was a testimony-builder for me. It made me want to be more like Adree - to be willing to make commitments to Heavenly Father and to be an example to those around me. I wish her and her family all the best.

Thanks for giving me that opportunity Adree!

Ainsley the Deep Thinker

I had a wonderful moment with Ainsley today. After getting the girls ready for bed and reading them books, Ainsley said her bedtime prayer. Immediately after finishing, she asked me, "Daddy, why do we finish with 'in the name of Jesus Christ', and why do we start with 'Heavenly Father'?"

What a teaching opportunity! I quickly rehearsed to my captive audience the plan of salvation, explaining that Heavenly Father sent us to Earth to obtain a body and to learn how to master it. I explained that gour bodies are imperfect by virtue of the Fall so we all make mistakes which prevent us from approaching our perfect Heavenly Father. Directly, that is. I explained that because Jesus lived a perfect life and died for us, he made it possible for us to come back into Heavenly Father's presence and made it possible for us to communicate with Him. Jesus is our advocate and so when we pray, He carries our message back to our Father who love us and who wants to hear from us.

Ainsley thought on this for a second and then asked, "So, it's like we call Heavenly Father on the phone and Jesus listens to us, writes it down, and brings the message to Heavenly Father?"

"Yes, Ainsley. I think that's how it works," I told her.

Nintendo personas

I asked Ainsley and Aftyn which video game character would best represent each member of our family. They came up with some interesting choices. Here's the roster:

Nathan = Yoshi Personally, I don't see the resemblance. Yoshi is a green dinosaur who gobbles up fruit and turtle shells in mass quantities. Admittedly, I do like fruit, but if I had to attack someone I most definitely wouldn't do it by projectile vomiting.

Cara = Daisy I guess this one fits, given Cara's most recent hair dying experiment. Red-heads are a fiery bunch, eh?

Ainsley = Bowser Ainsley chose this one herself, I swear. On rare occasions she can be a scary adversary, but even when she's making her best mad face she's as cute as a button. I don't think Bowser could pull that off...

Aftyn = Zelda Now this one is a good pick, I think. Not only is Aftyn a little princess, but she's also our damsel in distress with unparalleled frequency.

Gavin = Toad And finally, there's Gavin. He's short, has a big noggin, and speaks in unintelligble quips and yelps. So, yeah, this one ain't bad.