Our Eden at 5 weeks

A sweet friend in our ward is a talented photographer. As a baby gift, she gave me a photo shoot with Eden. What a perfect gift! Last week we went to her house and spent the morning for the photo shoot. These are some of my favorite photos that she captured:

Eden cracked a smile, something that is happening more and more often lately. I love her cute smiles while I talk to her and kiss her soft, increasingly chubby cheeks.

Isn't she darling!? None of us can get enough of little Eden. She is such a blessing to our family! She takes up a lot of my time right now and I'm enjoying that, even though I've hardly gotten out of my comfy clothes/p.j.s in the last six weeks;). I'm sure I'll come out of my newborn coma soon, but for now I'm loving my time with Eden.

She is Here!

Eden Elizabeth Calder
Born September 29, 2011 @ 1:23 am
Weight: 7 lbs. 7 oz. Length: 20 1/2 inches
This picture was taken shortly after her birth.

She was tired after 22 hours of labor! My water broke at 3:30 AM on September 28th and contractions started shortly thereafter. I couldn't have been more excited! Mark and I were sure she would be here within hours, so we headed to the hospital at 6 am. I was given an ultrasound while I was being admitted and they discovered that Eden was posterior, which explains all of the back pain I've been having. I was warned that this could slow down my labor and ultimately make it difficult to push Eden out. Once I was admitted and given my room, contractions slowed down. Mark and I paced the hospital trying to get my contractions to strengthen. The contractions never did get into a regular rhythm, so at about 4 PM I was given pitocin (this was my very first time getting pitocin). They slowly turned up the pitocin drip throughout the evening, but Eden was stubborn and chose not to come until early the next morning. She was born at 1:23 AM on the 29th, 22 hours after my water broke. They laid her straight on my chest and it was love at first sight (really before first sight). It was an unbelievably sweet moment. I got to hold her for awhile but I had some complications after she was born and she was taken to the other side of the room to be weighed etc. while we spent some tense moments as the doctor had to go in and remove the placenta. Luckily, it all turned out well, but I lost a lot of blood.

I loved my room at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital! The food was delicious and the care excellent. Eden never even left the room for the entirety of our stay. Her siblings were able to come to meet her for the first time after school on her birthday. I was happy to see them. They were so sweet with Eden. Here they are sitting on Mark's lovely couch/bed. Poor Mark had to sleep on that short, uncomfortable bed for two nights but he did it because I wanted him there with me. Thank goodness for good friends and Grandma and Grandpa Calder who drove all of the way here from Utah when they heard we were headed to the hospital!

Here are a few pictures I took of Eden the day after she was born while she had her eyes open.

She truly is a delight, which is what her name means.

My Kindergartner

First Day of School

Summer seems to have ended abruptly here in Michigan. Saturday, we had 95 degree weather and as the kids started school today (after the long weekend) the weather dipped down into the 60s. It is always hard to see the summer end and watch the kids go back to school, but I am excited for them as well. They have been feeling ready to see their friends again.

Carston is now in third grade. He has several friends in his new class which should be fun.

Jackson and Peyton started second grade today. They are in the same class again, which makes me feel better and should make life easier for all of us.

Grant and Benjamin both started school on Thursday. Benjamin started preschool and Grant is now an official Kindergartner!

We Have Some Exciting news!

We couldn't wait to tell you!Today, after Shannon's 19 week ultrasound,
we announced to our kids

The gender of Calder Baby number 7
All of the kids have been praying for a little sister and are so thrilled that...

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Due October 12, 2011

Labor Day Weekend---Saying Goodbye to Summer

Mark got Labor Day weekend off from work so we could explore Michigan a little bit. We really enjoyed the time together!

We started off the weekend visiting Spicer Orchards to do some raspberry and apple picking.

The weather was perfect with a nice cool breeze. The kids did most of the raspberry picking. They really got the hang of it and did a great job. It was calming to be out in the middle of the field with all of them occupied and content. Raspberry picking is going to become our new tradition!

We took a hayride to the apple orchard.

Picking apples was more difficult for the kids, but we enjoyed eating them straight off of the tree.

Especially, this little guy!

Port Huron's lighthouse was next on our list.

We finished off our long weekend with our favorite place in Michigan: Greenfield Village.

Riding in Model T Fords

and the train pulled around the village by the Edison Steam engine.

It was a fabulous weekend!

Spirit Week at School

Hat Day

Luke had some spirit as well.

Crazy Hair Day was messier, but fun.

It took awhile to wash all of the gel out of the boys' hair. Peyton just had an upside-down do.
We've got spirit!!