Take Two

Here's attempt #2 at a picture of Hudson & Anna Kate together. I guess it may take awhile to get a real keeper. I think this picture is hilarious though. :)

Siblings

Here's my first attempt at a picture of Hudson & Anna Kate together.

Reverend Trent Casto

On Sunday, Trent was officially ordained as a minister in the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America)! In the PCA, this is a one-time ceremony. In other words, once you're ordained, you're ordained for life.

Our sanctuary was decorated as a spaceship for our church's Vacation Bible School, which is going on this week.

We were so excited that Trent's parents, 2 sisters, brother, brother-in-law & 2 nieces were all able to attend and celebrate with us.

Pastor Petterson (on left) is the head pastor at our current church. He preached the sermon for the service. We were also able to be joined by Pastor Hawkins (on right), the pastor from Trent's college years. He also helped marry us.

Sunday was also Anna Kate's one week birthday and first time to meet lots of people from church.

About 6.5 years ago we first sensed a call to ministry. This ordination service gave us a neat opportunity to reflect on how God has been shaping us for this moment in our lives. To God be the glory!

More Hospital Photos

My sister Stephanie (below) has been adamant for the last several months that if Anna Kate was born while she was visiting, she did NOT want to be in the delivery room. She made sure we all knew to not let her come in until everyone was all cleaned up. Well, she went to the hospital with us and ended up in the delivery room the whole time! She told me later she has been traumatized for life. Either way she is a proud aunt for the 5th time!

Cousin Marcus

Cousin Brandon

Can you tell how happy these 2 boys are to meet this little girl?

Anna Kate was born with some dark hair! This must be from Trent's mom as she's the only one of the 4 grandparents who had dark hair as a kid. The doctor did say she could lose this hair and it could come back lighter though.

Getting ready to go home. I think I look 16 here.

Sleeping peacefully at home

Checking on baby sister

See you later!

Anna Katherine Casto

On Sunday morning at 2:36am, we welcomed Anna Katherine Casto into the world!

7lbs 12 oz *** 20" long

We're calling her "Anna Kate"

For those who want to know the labor/delivery story...

It was an extremely precipitous delivery! I woke up Sunday morning around 12:45am to a contraction. I had one more contraction and my water broke between 1-1:15am. We got up, went to the hospital, where I was only 3.5cm dilated. They told me they'd need to do a test to confirm that my water broke before they admitted me. I had a couple more contractions and they decided to admit me. Soon after getting into a delivery room, I started having unbelievably painful contractions one right after another. I turned into a monster, demanding an epidural immediately. A few nurses ran into my room (from my intense yelling I think!) and checked me again. I was 10cm dilated & Anna Kate was crowning! It had only been ~15min since they checked me before!

They proceeded to tell me I couldn't have any pain medicine and that I couldn't push because there wasn't a doctor in the hospital. For any women who have had a baby naturally, you know it's impossible not to push when your body says to push. While we waited for a doctor to get there, the nurses proceeded to hold Anna Kate inside of me. I had one death grip on Trent, another on a nurse & demanded that they either give me pain meds or let me deliver the baby. I guess they weren't intimidated by my death grip and demands, because they didn't let me have either one.

The doctor walked in, the nurses stopped preventing the delivery, and out came Anna Kate. I didn't even really have time to push. The room wasn't set-up for a delivery yet. They never got me hooked up to monitors. For those who haven't experienced this, it was amazing how immediate the pain relief was once Anna Kate was born. As soon as she was out, I started apologizing for being so demanding.

Now onto the fun part again...pictures from her first day of life

My 2 sisters

Hudson's 3 cousins on my side...they were all excited to meet Anna Kate and took turns holding her very carefully

Right after Hudson first met Anna Kate. He was SO excited to see her!

We love you so much sweet girl! More details & stories to come soon.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." Psalm 127:3

Pool Party

A dear couple from our church hosted several young families at their house for a Memorial Day pool party and cookout. We had a great time & Hudson tried to swim by himself for the first time!

After seeing all his friends swim around with their little floaties on, he got brave & tried it.

He went back and forth between Trent & I quite a few times! Way to go Hudson!

Hudson's cousins, who are great swimmers, come this weekend and we're thinking Hudson will try more "swimming" on his own. So far, when he's just with us, he has preferred being held the whole time (which has been fine with me).

Cocohatchee Nature Cruise

We went on a nature cruise today near our house. We mostly toured a small inlet of the Gulf, but did go out on the Gulf for a few minutes. We saw lots of neat birds, including Great Blue Herons, Lesser Herons, Snowy Egrets, Pelicans & an Osprey. We also saw quite a few dolphins and some Rays (I think the captain said they were a different type of Ray than Sting Rays, but I don't remember).

Hudson was also fascinated by the kayaks & jet skis we saw. He comments on the jet skis in the video (although you can't see them in the video).

Pregnancy update: I've been having contractions on and off since Thursday night. They mostly come for a couple hours in the evening, but are almost gone during the day. This could happen for the next 9 days until I'm induced. I guess only time will tell...