These pictures give a sense of the progression of events. Good stories for years to come.

We had lunch with the kids and Marmie at Balboa Park on May 21.

Then just 12 hours later, here we are in the downstairs half bathroom and the hallway leading into it. Brian, the paramedic, is in the black shirt bending over. Carly is on the floor (hidden) in front of him, and I'm there as well kneeling next to Carly.

After a successful delivery, they wheeled her out to the ambulance. I wonder if we woke our neighbors up? Here you can see all five of the folks who came to help, 2 paramedics and 3 firefighters (the driver of the firetruck stayed with the engine).

Here's Noah, moments after he was born, before we headed to the hospital.

Brian and his partner took good care of us, and made sure we made it up to the hospital room.

Kevin, the pediatrician, give him his first check.

Our first family picture (Zoe's got him snuggled up there).

She loves this.

The proud parents.

Noah Clayton Walters

Here are the stats:

Noah Clayton Walters

May 22, 2010

8lbs. 9oz.

21in.

San Diego, CA

Our little guy Noah finally made his entrance, and what a memorable one it was. On Friday May 21 Carly and I went to her weekly appointment with the midwife, and everything looked fine. That night we were watching the news together, and Carly's semi-regular contractions (which had been so for weeks) began to intensify a little. So at 10pm we started timing the contractions. At this point with the previous two kids, we still had another 8 or 12 hours until delivery. But at 11:30, Carly said to me and her mom, "I think I'm gonna have this baby!" Sure enough, the bag of waters was rockin' and rollin' on out. "So what do you want us to do?" "Call 911!" she said. So that's what we did. Carly was in our downstairs half bathroom when the bag of waters showed up, and that's where she stayed. Two paramedics and and 3 firemen came in an ambulance and engine and cued up on the tile and in the narrow hallway from our foyer to bathroom. Carly was on some towels on the tile, neck craned uncomfortably against the wooden cabinets below the sink, and Brian, the paramedic, helped her deliver our biggest baby yet! Noah's time of birth was 12:23am - according to the midwife who was on the phone the whole time listening to all the proceedings, and she said 12:23 is when she heard Noah begin to cry and when the Fire Captain called out the time of birth. We then took a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. It was not at all the way we thought this would unfold. But Noah and Carly are healthy and happy, and dad is too. And this all happened MUCH more quickly than we ever thought it would. He's beautiful, and we love him. So do Zoe and Caleb - especially Zoe. She can't get enough of holding him. It took her a few minutes to understand that Noah was no longer in Carly's belly. We introduced her to Noah this morning, and she said, "No, Noah is in mama's tummy," and ran over to touch Carly's tummy. What an adventure, and what a privilege to be their parents. Here's a few pics from the hospital. As soon as I get some of the "accidental home birth" pics, I'll post some of them.

No baby yet

For those family and friends who are checking here to see if our little dude has come yet - don't fear that somehow you were left out of the communication loop - he's just taking his sweet time. We'll put some info. up here, as well as send emails & texts. Hopefully one of the three will catch you when it's time.

An update, at long last

So we're here in California and we're loving it. Nana, Gramps, Caleb & Daron helped us move in in January.

Caleb & Daron came back for another visit and we took them to Sunset Cliffs at Point Loma.

Zoe and I hiked to the highest point in San Diego city limits (Cowles Mountain) with a few friends from church (John Worcester is here in the pic with us). This mountain is very near to our house and is about 1600 ft. in elevation.

The kids have loved their new home, and love playing together. This little living area is pretty much their room. It's got their toys, books, bouncy horse and table. By the end of every day, it looks like a battlefield.

Here is where Mission Trails Church meets on Sunday mornings - an elementary school cafeteria / multi-purpose room. It gets the job done.

Zoe is doing GREAT with potty training. Though, one day she decided to give it a go in her little dollhouse potty. I'm so glad Carly took a pic before cleaning it up!

Caleb has been growing hair like crazy - finally. This night we sacrificed the mullet.

They love their new friends Bevan & Kendall Daniels. And we love their parents. God has been kind to give us some sweet friends, though all of our lives are very busy. Here are Bevan and Caleb hiding out in an armoire.

The last Sunday of each month, we have some of the college students over to our house for lunch. We love it. Carly and the girls are deep in conversation, and I joined the guys to watch one of the Lakers' playoff games. One of the guys in the picture became a Christian just three days earlier!

One of many trips to the Allied Gardens neighborhood park.

Then, the night before Carly's mom came into town to help us when baby #3 comes, we decided to have one last meal together as a family of four. Then we spent a little more time at the park - you can see Carly is great with child.

Last weekend our church participated in an annual festival in our neighborhood - the Allied Gardens SpringFest. Here's Zoe sporting the new Mission Trails Church t-shirts.

Carly pushed Caleb in the parade, and looked beautiful doing so!

We had the best parade float. A killer classic 1963 23-window VW bus with front safari windows!

Can anyone take that guy seriously?

The booth we set up at the SpringFest. We had an awesome balance beam challenge that got shut down by the festival administrators about halfway through. Lame.

And now we're waiting, not sometimes not so patiently, for baby #3 to arrive. We seriously cannot wait to meet him.

With love,

The Walters

long overdue but not much to see

It has been quite a while since we've been able to post anything. Life is moving a quite a speed! We're mostly settled in our apartment in San Diego, getting to know the people in the church, exploring the area, and hanging on. It has been thrilling, terrifying, exciting, and exhausting. Here are a few pictures of the first few days in town. My brother, sister-in-law and dad helped us make the 3-day drive from Colorado to Kansas and then to San Diego. Mostly good weather until the very end when we entered Southern California's worst rainstorm in nearly 10 years! But, having grown up in Houston, it was like any good old summer thunderstorm :). More pics to come. The weather is insanely beautiful here. We have a guest room :) We've even had one friend already use it for a few days for a conference she was attending. And we're officially Californians with license plates and drivers licenses to boot. Waiting in line at the DMV was like being back overseas in some idiotic red tape runaround.

The family at Ocean Beach

The moving crew

Some friends helping us unpack the kitchen

Boxes, boxes and more boxes. We need to simplify!

Our new home. We are the end unit, located on a little bluff with a nice view to the north and to the west. Pretty to watch the sunset in the evening. Our dining room is the window just above the garage. The kids room is the top right window, and the guest room is the top left. Our room is at the other end from the kids room and guest room.

Trip to Virginia

I just got home from a work trip to Virginia. Had some good meetings with good people, but also to see some cool stuff.

This picture is from Carter's mountain on the southeast side of Charlottesville, VA. Just on the other side of the hill with the apple orchard and vineyard is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We went to the visitor center, but didn't have time to take the tour. Good apple cider and apple cider donuts at the orchard though!

Our next meeting took us to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. We made a quick trip out to the Virginia Beach boardwalk just so we could see the Atlantic Ocean.

After our meetings on the coast, we headed back to the airport in Richmond, but made a stop at the Jamestown settlement near Williamsburg, VA. This very spot, where the National Park Ranger is giving us a history lesson, the English settlers landed in the 1607 and created Jamestown, the first settlement in America. Where we are standing would have been pretty much the center of the town. The James River is in the foreground.

In 1992 or 1994, an archaeologist discovered the original triangular shaped fort at Jamestown. When we were they they were excavating a well that was within the fort walls.

The original foundation for this church was laid in 1617. It was rebuilt in 1907 to celebrate the tricentennial of the Jamestown settlement. You can see a swingset looking structure just behind and to the right of the church - that is the current archaeological dig at the old fort site.

Halloween

We had a couple halloween outfits from a friend, and weren't sure who was going to wear which one. So Zoe tried out the Tigger one first.

Then we had both of them in the lady bug outfits. Poor Caleb.

Finally, we landed on the right Tigger.


And the right lady bug. But she didn't want to keep her hood with antennae on.

And let me just say, this little one is mildly obsessed with books. Carly says she probably reads 10 books to her each day, and I'll read another five or so before bed time. (she's actually looking through some Target coupons here :))

Dad's pigtail experiment.