Josiah's Birth

Debora woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that her water broke. Then on the next afternoon, 15 September 2009, at 2:26 pm, Josiah Jachin Parsons was born. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz at birth and was 20 and a half inches long. He was born in the water in a big plastic animal feeding trough that our midwife bought for just such a purpose (in case any of her clients wanted to have a water birth). He was born in the sun room off the back of the house in a very peaceful setting with birds chirping and the fresh air coming in the open window. Our best birth yet. Debora says that she did not have any fear during the birth (praise God), but that she still did feel pain (if we have a sixth, we will continue to pray for a painless birth). :)

Josiah, like all babies, was not very cute immediately after the birth, but now, at 12 days old, he looks a little more normal (some might even say cute). We took him to church with us today (his second time out of the house). It is pretty funny to have five kids in five car seats in the back of our car (Esperance has a booster seat still).

North Powder and Baker City

The drive to North Powder in our new car took 6 hours. Since there were six of us, Othniel had to ride in the front in his car seat and Debora rode in the front in the middle next to me. The other three kids rode in the back in their car seats. The two seats in the very back had to be folded down so we could fit all of our luggage in the car (and amazingly enough, it all fit, a testament to the size of the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon). We only had to tie the double stroller and another car seat (for the new baby after he was born) on top of the car. A day or so after we arrived there was a Celtic festival in Baker City and a car show, so we went and watched the bagpipes and the kilts and the kids even got to try throwing (fake) logs and hay bales (pillows) in a Celtic kids competition.

The Benders have a big boat with a small motor and there is a reservoir about 1/4 mile away from their house, so we took the boat out a few times before the weather turned from summerish to cold. They also have a 12 passenger van, so on Sundays, we can all ride to church in the same vehicle. The back seat sits four, so one day all four of our kids sat in the back in their carseats. Now that Josiah is here we have five kids in five car seats.