Soaking up the sun

A few days ago Sadie started to look a tad yellow. The other kids were this way too so we knew just what to do... lay her out in the sun. Who wouldn't like this?



We sure love our Sadie!

Addy the big sister

Addy has sure loved having a real baby around. She is always so concerned about making Sadie happy. Addy has done her share of growing up too. Lately she will not wear anything if she can't wear a dress or tights. Addy is beautiful and we are excited how much Sadie appears to look like her. We are sure to have a house full of pretty princesses.

Logan the bigger brother

When we brought Sadie home, Logan asked me, "how old am I now." It was funny at the time but it has also been sort of sad because he really has grown up so much since Sadie arrived. Logan is a big helper, he loves Sadie and Addy and it is so fun watching him interact with his sisters. Logan is the best pal ever!




This is Logan's science house for school. His teachers are going to play the part of the big bad wolf and see if they can blow it down. Personally, I don't think that they have a chance.

Made In Korea

What a crazy couple of days! Life is a miracle and experiencing little Sadie's arrival has just confirmed this. Ten years ago when I was knocking doors in Pusan I would have never believed that some day I would be here again with a wife and two kids getting ready for another. When I was a kid, it seemed like every once in a while the teacher would have each of the kids in the class tell everyone where they were born. Most everyone was born in Utah. One time I tried to be different by telling everyone that I was born in Yellowstone National Park.... needless to say I could not back that one up. Now I have three children, one born in Utah, one in Maryland and now one in Seoul Korea. What an experience!
So here is Amber on her "third" last doctor's appointment. This was preceded by here "forth" last trip to the commissary... With Logan coming a month early and Addy coming 2 weeks early, we were sure that Sadie would be early too. Sadie had other plans. The doctor had Amber's due date as 3-6-11, Amber had calculated 3-9-11. So last Friday we had an appointment and the doctor was really anxious to be the one to deliver Sadie so he scheduled Amber for another appointment on the coming Wednesday (3-9-11) to see if he could get things started while he was still on-call. Wednesday morning at 0900 Amber was examined and Amber began having regular contractions. They monitored her for a couple of hours (which she hated since they wanted her to lay still on the bed) and then sent us home. By the time we got home Amber's contractions were pretty strong but she was just happy to be able to walk around the house and not be stuck in a bed. Once Amber starts labor, she cant stand to have anything touching her. I think this is one of the reasons she likes to put off going to the hospital as long as possible. By noon, she was in considerable pain and we started making sure we had everything ready to go. At 1420 we called up our good friend Diana to come and watch Addy and pick up Logan from the bus stop. We arrived at the hospital at 1430 and had the nurse check Amber again. According to the nurse she was dilated 3cm. Amber got in the shower and began laboring pretty heavily. I went and talked to the nurse to tell her Amber's history of fast labor and got the nurse nervous enough that she wanted to check Amber again. By 1450 Amber was dilated to 3.5cm and the nurse was still skeptical. She told us that she could not move Amber into the delivery room until she was to 4cm. We all kind of gave her a look and she made an exception to start getting us into the delivery room. Once in the delivery room (1500) Amber was having really strong contractions, luckily, the hospital staff was fine with Amber doing all of this standing up. We spent the next 15 minutes refusing medications and I.V. preps, which really freaked out the nurses. I don't know if they had ever had somebody turn it all down. They told me I would have to sign release forms and they actually went out and made a form. At 1520 the room was prepped and the nurse was out at the check-in station calling the doctor. Amber's water broke so I ran out to tell the nurses. When I got back to the delivery room, Amber looked like she was about to be finished. The nurses came in and told her to stop pushing and to get on the table. The nurse tried to reach the doctor again but was forced to put the phone down because Sadie's head was beginning to crown. The nurses told Amber to stop pushing again but by then, there was nothing anyone could do, Sadie was coming. First her head came through and everyone was tense, then the silence was broken by the phone blasting the "disconnected" tone. One of the nurses went to turn off the phone and then when she came back the other nurse helped Sadie's head turn and then with all of the pressure building behind her, Sadie shot out into the air (1555). Luckily the nurse had a hand above Sadie's shoulder, because the force pushing her out probably could have skipped her right off the end of the delivery table. The first thing I noticed was her long wavy hair and her fingers and toes. The nurse rolled her onto her back and at that moment I saw a large quantity of slimy stringy substance get sucked into her mouth. It was as if she went to take her first breath but instead was nearly drowned with the membrane that was holding her in. The nurse did not appear to see this and was calmly prepping the cord for cutting and that is when Dana and I started saying, "she's choking." The nurse grabbed the suction bulb and with one good swab, suctioned a huge mass out of her throat, then came the best sound ever, crying. Right about then the doctor came walking in, disappointed that he had missed the whole thing.
Compared with the births of Logan and Addysen, despite her being our largest baby, Sadie's birth was probably the least rough on Amber. Not long after giving birth she took a shower and was feeling pretty good.
Sadie is a wonderful eater, and was on the prowl for her first meal.
Her stats: 8lbs 8oz, 20.1 inches, O+ blood
She has shared her father's birth mark with both Logan and Addy.
As far as looks go, her hair is much lighter than Logan's or Addy's. Her face is very similar to Addy's when she was born. You can click the link to see each of the kids at birth. I will put up some comparison pictures soon.
We are home now from the hospital and both Amber and Sadie are doing wonderfully. We are so happy to have her here she has brightened up our house.

Sadie Brighton Cottrell has finally arrived

3-9-2011
15:55
8lbs 8oz
length ???
3 days overdue
Came so fast that the doctor missed the birth. More details tomorrow!
Amber and Sadie doing great.

Family Dinner eating Meat & Leaf!

This food is sooooo GOOD! I love the meat, rice, and leaf. We thought one more time before our sweet baby comes. Well she is taking her sweet time so we might get one more time in next week with Grandma. :-)
Logan is a trooper and tries everything. It is so fun...he says "eating new food is like going on an adventure."
Can you feel the heat? It feels so nice with the warm floors etc.
Waiting to be seated....they are so cute.





We had a really great dinner and can't wait to go again. I am sure going to miss this when we leave Korea. The meat it just melts in your mouth. Dad you need to come visit again.

Post ride paris doughnut

After the ride we headed down the road to Paris Baguette and got each of the kids their favorite doughnut treat.
Deep fried covered in sugar.... can't go wrong there.
Then Addy rode daddy home.

Logan is "one rad dude"

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful outside and Logan has been itching to get out his bike. Just as we were about to leave he said, "can I try it without the wheels?" Logan is pro at riding his scooter but since his bike is big and bulky we don't take it down the 36 floors too often to go riding, so I was a little worried about his ability to do it.
Last time we went to Albuquerque Logan's cousin Brody had the coolest bike called a "STRIDER". It is basically a bike without pedals that teaches kids to balance on a bike and never need training wheels. Addysen got one for Christmas but Logan has done his share of trying it out and has obviously gotten the hang of balancing. So after I took off the training wheels, we headed outside and right out of the door, he took off and went about 20 feet before stopping. Within about 30 minutes he was riding up and down the sidewalk like it was no big deal. I remember being 5 when I first rode without training wheels and I crashed so many times I had skinned knees on top of skinned knees. Logan has a few bruises from the pedals knocking him in the legs, but for the most part came out unscathed.
Then there is Addy, she is loving the STRIDER. If you have a toddler, you should definitely pick one of these up.
She is already lifting up both feet and balancing for several yards.
Shes good...
And knows it:)
So here are our not-so-little kids on a day that Logan will probably never forget.

Back in the house I showed Logan the opening credits for the 1980's movie "RAD"



Needless to say he got really excited to do some more biking.



Here is a video of Logan doing his thing.

My daughter and the future ruler of North Korea

Aren't they just a couple of cute, silly kids.....