Introducing......

*drum roll please*

Evan August Anderson

Phew! After many days (4 to be exact) we finally chose a name. Evan was chosen, well because we liked it and August was the name that Elyse suggested seconds after he was born. It would have been his first name ( I immediately loved it) but Can Man put his foot down on that one (if you know Can you know that his foot rarely gets put down so how could I argue?)

Now please enjoy a few photos of the boy.

We love his cute bushy eyebrows and chubby cheeks. Don't worry I'll take him to get them threaded soon enough.

Squinty eyes, a button nose, ginormous hands and feet.....where'd he get those?? (no really I want to know, we can't figure it out)

We think he has the same head as his dad, which unfortunately is a 34 year old bald head, but whaddya gonna do?

Levi loves being a big brother and is always saying "I can't believe I'm a big brother " so cute!

For good measure and because I have no pictures of her and baby Evan, here is Valeriana at our after birth visit.

The Birth of Baby Anderson!!

We welcomed our new little boy, who has yet to be named, on  August 24th 2011 at 5pm. Here is the story....in pictures :) It was such a beautiful experience with my favorite people surrounding me. Not to say it wasn't hard, those last moments were something else, but it was beautiful and is such a miracle!!

Last belly shot 40 weeks 5 days

Around 9, just chillin and waiting for things to pick up. Labor started the night before but was nothing big. I've had plenty of false starts so I wasn't getting my hopes up. But when I woke up around 6:30 and they were still there I was getting excited!

1:45, things are picking up....finally! Our friend Anita came to be the photographer, but she had to leave our house at 3 to catch a flight to Switzerland :( We are so sad that she didn't get to stay for the birth but glad that she was there for the time that she was. Thanks Anita!

About 2:45, things move up a notch yet again and the midwife is on her way!

Woot woot, filling the tub, the kids favorite

3ish, waiting for the fracking tub to fill and saying bye to Anita. Things are moving WAY faster than I anticipated.

3:30ish Ahh sweet relief, water takes away about 50 percent of the pain and I give major props to women who give birth on dry land :)

My sweet little helpers!

4:15 Things are really moving

It was about this time that Karley got here. We are sooo grateful that she came and took such amazing pictures and that her little man is such a good baby and will stay with a sitter! I love you K dawg!

4:30 ahh, no contraction is always something to smile at!

Checking on the little one.

4:42 Blessed relief, my water breaks! Phew, I thought it was the head what with all that pushing.....

but only for a minute, now the real work begins!! 4:48

A break.

I love this man!

4:54 Crowning, youch!

Elyse is feeling the head, for what turns out to be a while, I didn't want to push when I didn't feel like it and I didn't feel like it for a few minutes!

4:57 Elyse is feeling the head come out and getting ready to catch the body!

About 1 minute later he is here!!

The moment when we all see that it's a BOY!!

Note the look on Elyse's face, she is SO disappointed that it's not a girl, it was a sad moment. Levi was right next to Valeriana (the midwife) and while I was pushing kept saying, "kass calm down, Kass calm down" hah!

A little bit of blood goes a long way in the water, I tore just a little which is what makes the water so red.

As the placenta is coming out Levi cautiously observes.

Elyse is cutting the cord with Gayla, the midwife's assistant.

I love this guy...more than words can say, everytime I do this with him my love for him just reaches a new high.

Newborn exam.

The weigh in 8lb 14oz!! Hefty!

A well deserved after birth snack...yum!

Welcome to the world baby boy, we love you so much!! Please forgive us that we can't think of a name for you, but don't worry we will!

We are so grateful to our wonderful midwife Valeriana, she helps make the experience so lovely and so relaxed. She brings so much love and knowledge to each birth that I have been lucky enough to attend with her, we just feel so blessed to have had her at our 2 homebirths! Thank you!!

Blech!

This was a cell pic from our trip to Disney World in Feb '10. We had such a fun trip! We searched and searched but finally found a non chain restaurant in Orlando. It was a really great Mexican place and they served grilled octopus. Elyse was very brave!

Nee Nee came....and went :(

My 15 year old sister, Lillian came to visit. She was here for almost 3 weeks in the hopes that the baby would come and she could see and help out at the birth. Sadly this kid is very stubborn, like poor Can needs one more of THOSE in his house...hah!

Either way, we had so much fun and Nee Nee was SOO helpful and delightful and of course is SO good with the kids. We all adore her. Thank you Nee Nee I miss you already!!

It's thanks to her that I got to go to Serendipity for their TO DIE FOR potato skins 2x, yum yum! And Ethiopian 2x. Really, the only 2 things that I have craved this pregnancy.

Isn't she beautiful?

She and Elyse went to Times Square one day by themselves and they thought it would be fun to take a picture with Minnie. Little did they know that these characters are a tourist trap and won't let you go till you give 'em a dollar. The lady grabbed Elyse's arm and was like "one dolla one dolla" yikes!

Bedridden

So, in my 40th week ( +1 day grrrr) of pregnancy I am calling uncle. I worked out super hard on Tuesday and then I HAD to race (literally, and I had already run at the gym, and worked my legs and did a class....my bad) across town to try and get to the Wicked lottery on time, which I did, but of course we didn't win...boo! Any who, as a result I've separated my pelvis a bit and now I am in major pain. So, today I am taking it easy which is not easy for me.

I've uploaded all of my old cell phone pictures and bought more storage on Picassa. (I can't believe I've stored that many pictures!)

In December of 2009 when we were between cameras for a minute we snagged some free tickets to see the Radio City Christmas show. It also included free popcorn, drink and treat as well as a pre show workout with the Rockettes!

Radio City is SO beautiful and it was really cool to be up on the stage. The show itself was....meh.

Elyse is obviously thrilled to be dancing with her mom in front of actual people.....yikes!

Beach Days!

We are lucky enough to live within 1.5 hrs from the beach (that's door to door peoples...not too shab for NYC) We go to Long Beach, it is beautiful. Can played around with the settings on the camera and got some beautiful shots of our beautiful chilluns.