Welcome to the planet Ada Lillian

She is finally here! Ada Lillian Hansen was born at 5:30 pm on June 23 after her and mom toughed out a relatively quick, sometimes dramatic, safe and successful labor. She was 7 lb. 4oz., 19 inches, APGAR 9, and absolutely perfect. Details about Ada's experience being vacumned (literally) into the vortex of existence will be in another posting. We know all anyone really would like now is photos!!! So here they are:

Here is the little bundle a few hours into life. She was immediately wide-eyed and alert.

Ada and mom taking a break.

She definitely enjoys being able to stretch.

Snuggling with the porta-nip. It helped a lot during her phototherapy.

Ahh... phototherapy. We paid for a white baby, not an orange baby, so we had to use the lights.

The glowworm and mom having another nap.

Yes, she is that precious.

Cheese!! We finally made it to Obachans and Ojichans

Three Generations.

Sunbathing with dad. It's good for zapping bilirubin.

She has ten fingers too.

Besides being beautiful, she is an good teacher. Here she has gently reminded dad to always remember the burp cloth (he already got the message on having a clean diaper staged)

And here is proof that she is actually alive, not just a happy-doll prop.

Everything has gone very well and we are all healthy and happy to be together. We appreciate all of the support and love from everyone. Check back soon for more.

Did you hear the one about the pregnant lady who went past her due date???...

Yeah.

But, things are still going well. We are mostly comfortable since the weather has cooled off significantly and we had three day of rain - the first substantial anything for three months. And everyday longer that Ada spends in the womb further prepares her to fight off mountain lions or survive on the arctic sea ice. And everyday longer she is a few layers of skin away lets Ma and Pa still be Stacy and Bryan. We did throw her a small "zero" birthday party, cake included!

We are exciting to see her and feel like it won't be much longer. The betting pools around town currently have good odds on the 20th. And her status as a new consumer was further cemented today as we got a new video camera! We will be in Cedar City tomorrow for, hopefully, our final checkup.

The spring wildflower extravaganza continues on. Here are a few photos of the desert temporarily looking like Holland:

Ahh... When the wind isn't howling (50 mph today) spring can be pleasant.

Countdown

We made it back from Kanab without a baby. We have 3 days until the due date, but I'm pretty sure we're going to be later than that. The idea of the due date has always seemed a little arbitrary to us, but it will be a little disappointing to go past it because we are ready to meet her! Anyway, things seem good- she's still moving a lot and she's in the right position to come out. But she can't be THAT comfortable in there with us poking and trying to play with her all the time. And she really can't have too much room left. Here's how far we've come in the last 4 1/2 months:

Getting down to it

We are headed to Kanab tonight for Bryan to go to a work training, while I get to hang out in the hotel and swim in the pool. We are packing like we could be gone for a couple of weeks- since we only have 10 days until the due date. We have an appointment with the nurse-midwife before we come home, so maybe we will have news (or a baby) soon!