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?

Happy Easter

It's been a long time since my last post. I'm worse at this than I thought I'd be! Oh well, you get what you pay for sometimes, right?

Happy Easter to you and yours! As you can see in the pictures we're celebrating the Resurrection of the Savior under a blanket of new-fallen snow.

I'm just glad I won't have to go out driving today. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow either. Cara's going to be induced on Tuesday so I'm taking the entire week off of work. With the other three kids I never took more than two days off so this week will be a different experience for me. Either I'll be in Cara's way all the time or else I'll be responsible for keeping the other kiddos out of her way. Should be fun!

I'll make a few more posts in the next couple of days. I've had a lot of things banging around in my head that I need to get out and down on paper, as it were.

Dining The New Room

Over the past two weeks I converted part of our downstairs from this:


...to this:



As is the case for most good ideas in this household, it was Cara's idea to get rid of the formal dining room in favor of an office. I'm pleased with the result, especially since I no longer have to work on my laptop from a dining room table.

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.