David... we mean, um... Sterling is born!

Baby Sterling decided to give us a run for our money with his birth.  While all four of our other children have arrived early (Ellie - 3 days, Meg - 2 days, Grant - 2 days, Spencer - 2 weeks), Sterling Paul Wood arrived a full 8 days late.  This meant Grandma was in town for a few days before he even arrived!  The day after his due date I did go into labor for about six hours, but then everything stopped and we ended up going back to sleep and sending our friend Evangelina back home to her own bed.  We've decided Sterling wanted to act out his labor in two parts so he could take a nap in between.  That boy really likes to get his sleep.

On Saturday, January 18th at 2:30 am I woke up and started getting ready for the hospital. (Justin was a little confused when I woke him up and asked if he could eat something, but then he figured out what was going on and got our stuff in the car.) We headed over to the hospital pretty quickly because Meg and Spencer's births progressed so quickly.  It was nice to already be at the hospital during transition, instead of just walking down the hallway attempting to get admitted.  Sterling was born at 6:20 am at 7 lbs 15 oz.  I just love the midwives and nurses here in Iowa.  They really make sure that the hospital experience centers around the Momma.  Our nurse was so kind and kept our room darkened and quiet.  Every time I asked to be checked she paged the midwife right away.  They broke my water when I asked them to, and let me push when I decided to.  Because of this, Sterling's birth went just how we had hoped.  

For the first day of his life, Sterling had this little scowl on his face.  Obviously he was not to excited about getting down to the world quickly.  We've won him over now, and he's getting to like it :)

We were so happy to welcome little Sterling to our family!!!  It did take us a few days to name him, and we even named him David Paul Wood first.  We couldn't manage to call him David though, and luckily Monday was a holiday so we were able to call the hospital and change our paperwork before it was sent into the government.  Yay for Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!!

Meg's Birthday

Meg turned six!  I can hardly believe it, and almost typed "five".  She was so excited for her birthday, and doesn't mind at all that it comes right after Christmas.  This year she wanted a watch and a globe, and was happy to receive them both.  She also wanted cupcakes because she doesn't like cake.  Meg adds such a flavor to our family.  She has the best giggles and loves to take care of her younger brothers.  She loves to dress up in her dance clothes and dance around the house.  She can be a spitfire when she wants to be, but also loves to have a good hug and cuddle.  She is loving having friends and being in kindergarten.  Every day she comes home to tell us about some new friend that she has made.  She also loves to draw and has enjoyed a new book that shows you how to draw all sorts of animals.  We love our six year old Meg!!

The Circus

Instead of having a birthday party this year, Ellie chose to go to the Circus.  It was quite the experience.  The kids liked the Trapeze Artist the best, and enjoyed their million dollar cotton candy.  

Ellie's Birthday Morning

Ellie had a great birthday year with all her grandparents in town for her baptism.  Her siblings were very excited to give her gifts.  They gave her big hugs and loved her lots.  We love our eight year old!  She is a busy reader, loves to make up stories, draw artwork, and do science experiments.  She is good at saving money, she likes to plan things for our entire family (FHE, activities, meals, anything that could possibly be planned!) and is always ready to share and make her brothers and sister happy.  She has been reading her scriptures, writing in her journal, and doing extra work at school for fun.  She has good friends at school this year that she plays fairies with at recess.  She tells me all about the weather and about how air works when she gets home.  She gets to go to ELP this year which means lots of extra projects that get her thinking about all sorts of things that I can barely keep up with.  She does math problems with Justin in the car, and plans on being an author one day.  She also has had her temper calm down this year, and is much happier to deal patiently with crazy siblings... unless she is reading a book, and then she doesn't hear them at all.  She continues to take piano and is passing me up pretty quickly... I won't be able to help her soon!  She likes rhyming, riddles, and jokes, and has inherited her Grandpa Wood/Grandpa Mark/Daddy's humor for saying strange word plays.  She is a treasure and we love her soooooo much!

Ellie's Baptism

Ellie turned 8 this September!  Which meant it was also her year to get baptized.  Ellie wanted to be baptized on her official birthday, luckily it fell on a Friday so we could make it happen.

Invitations (Ellie loves trees right now, so they became our unofficial theme):

Waiting for the big moment:

Guests:

Spencer's favorite friend from Church: Evangelina:

The Bulman Family:

The Steurers (one of Ellie's primary teachers), The Carlsons:

Meg stealing strawberries, one of her favorite things to do!

The Sheffields:

The Mergenthalers:

Ellie's teacher from last year, Mrs. Gorsh.  Ellie really wanted to invite her and was so happy that she could come.  Afterward Ellie invited Mrs. Gorsh to Church on Sunday.  She is quite a little missionary, and much braver than me.

Anna Sheffield:  Anna sang a song at Ellie's baptism that Ellie had written the words to herself.  She wrote them late one night while trying to fall asleep.  She came upstairs to tell me, and first I gave her the angry "get back to bed" speech.  Once she read me the words, I remembered what a special girl she is.

"That God"

by Ellie Wood

I know a God that you might know.

I really hope you do.

And if I tell you about Him,

I think you'll love him too.

That God who is my Father.

That God who had a Son.

That God who loves me just as much as He loves everyone.

I love that God, of course.

I know he loves me too.

He sent the Holy Ghost to help us know what we should do.

Shauntel Anderson wrote music for Ellie's song that her daughter Camille (Ellie's piano teacher) played.