Happy Birthday Poppa Kenneth!

Poppa's birthday was at the end of March. He usually heads to the lake around his b-day time, so I made sure we got to celebrate before he left. We like to take the grandparents out to eat for their birthdays, just because we are quickly running out of room to entertain at our house. One of our favorite restuarants we like to go to for big events closed this year. So we decided to cook and we took dinner to Nana and Poppa so he could stay in his comfy chair.

These kids were waiting as patiently as possible.

Jake grilled steaks, which were wonderful, the girls and I fixed a salad and copied a cake from our Fort Rock trip. It was so yummy, I had to try it! It was a pretty big hit, you can't go wrong with chocolate cake, condensed milk, cool whip and heath bar!

Daddy held Arynn while I was serving cake.
I caught him tasting it before he had a free hand to eat with!

Arynn was being sweet and cuddly.

Poppa doesn't like to hold "new" babies.
I think this is only the 2nd time he held her.

Nana, on the other hand, can't get enough of her grandbabies!

We ate too much and stayed too late as always. We hope Poppa knows how much we love him. Happy Birthday Poppa!

Momma's Birthday

On Tuesday night, we went to celebrate my birthday with Mimi, Poppa, Keith and Cabrina. Unfortunately, Arynn was pretty fussy and I didn't even get my camera out of the bag. :-( But the food was wonderful, she made an awesome dessert and I got more photo albums! I only need about 500 more!!!

On Wednesday, my actual birthday, we celebrated with Nana and Poppa Kenneth. Nana wanted to have it on my birthday even though it was church night. We went to their house for pizza, went to church, then we came back for cake. They got me a gift certificate for a much needed pedicure! I feel so blessed to have wonderful parents and in-laws!

Aiden's favorite spot is with Poppa is his chair. (Poppa is thrilled that I am taking his picture!)

Can we say "cheese?"

Not to be outdone...

Our crew waiting on cake, everyone except Arynn, I think Poppa was holding her.

Taken by Aiden, it was supposed to be of me unwrapping my gift!

My last birthday in my 20's. Where has the time gone? Somedays I feel like I should still be Aiden's age! I can't imagine how my parents feel to know their baby is almost 30. I remember when my Mom turned 30 and it was a big deal, black balloons and I was thinking..."I'll never be that old" and now I'm almost there. Birthdays are a blessing and I am thankful for everyday, no matter how young or old I am! Although to hear my kids tell it I should be getting mail from AARP.

Austen asked the other day "Momma, are you really old?" Me- "Pretty old." Aus- "Like really, really old?" Me- "Yeah" Aus-"Are you like as old as Ms. ______?" (An elderly lady in our church) Me- "Not that old, but pretty close!!!" Out of the mouths of babes. :-)

Old Washington

What do you do with a new vehicle? Make plans for a road trip! Actually Daddy had planned this trip for awhile, the new van just meant we had extra seating and could take Mimi and Nana with us. We headed to Historic Washington State Park for the Jonquil Festival. We were hoping for something a little more old fashioned and it wasn't exactly our cup of tea but we made the best of it and got some cute pictures. We are looking forward to going back in the fall when they have Frontier Days for Homeschools.

 

It's hard to take a road trip without stopping for breakfast at Cracker Barrel! We tried to see my cousin Cody who manages this CB, but he didn't come in until 2 that day.

Mimi & Ava

The Jonquil Festival is a major event with lots of crafts, music, food and games. We didn't know how big of a deal it was until we arrived. It reminded us more of a fair atmosphere, and the music was super loud when I was trying to take these pictures. Which explains the distracted subjects...

Our 1st attempt at a group shot

One more try, nope still lost one!

Aiden, Arynn and Ava

Away from all of the action, there was this huge magnolia tree which the boys really enjoyed seeing. I forgot the exact age, but is over 100 years old, so neat to think of the changes the town has seen in that time frame.

The Big Magnolia Tree

My new favorite pic

They offered rides in a surrey, (which made me want to burst into song) and we were glad to have the horses give us a tour around town, or maybe just a block!

Waiting patiently on our ride



"In that shiny little surrey with the fringe on top" 



Addy was excited about our ride, probably because she was so tired of walking!

Arynn did so well on her first road trip!

After our ride

The best family pic of the day

Can you believe she's almost 4?!

Such a proud big sister!

I so wish I could go back and move that flower out of Addy's face, but these were the last pics of the day and we were exhausted.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of the boys, now I have a new one to compare. I hope they are always close friends.

2009
Our sweet boys

2013
Still just as sweet

Overall we had a good time, but we sure did sleep well that night!



Arynn's Birth Story

On February 26th around 4:30 am, I woke up with light contractions. We were 40 weeks and 6 days. Around 5:30, I woke Jake and told him today might be the day. I still wasn't convinced because contractions were 8 minutes apart, and nothing like the fast and furious labor we experienced with Addy. Jake went ahead and called into work to tell them he wasn't going to be there and then he called Nana. She arrived around 6:15 and we got to the hospital by 7:15. Jake wanted to make sure we could beat rush hour traffic. We were a little gun shy after our experience with Addy.

9 pounds 7 ounces
21 inches long

Once we got to the hospital we found out we were going to have a baby soon. I was dilated to 5 and contractions were coming regular but still around 8 minutes apart and very manageable.  Our OB was not on call, but Dr B was very nice and reassuring. He made sure the staff was on top of my platelet issue and to our surprise they had came up since the previous week. He offered to break my water around 8:00 to help speed things up, but I declined. I was okay with a slow labor this time.  

Meeting family for the first time.
 

Sometime later Dr B came back and offered to break my water, Jake and I still weren't ready to have any interventions so he left and then came back to tell us my Dr was going to check on us around lunch time. Dr. S came in around noon we were dilated to 9 almost 10 and he offered again to break my water, I still didn't want to just because I remembered how much more intense the labor was after that happened with Addy. I really wanted to just let things happen naturally. He told us he would eat lunch and come back in 30 minutes. 



Nanny Lee holding her 5th great-grandchild. Arynn is named after her mother, Mary Lizabeth, who would have been 113 years old on March 4th.

At 12:40 Dr. S came back, this time I was complete, but no urge to push. Arynn was still -3 station and posterior. He said if I would let him break my water she could rotate and come down like she was supposed to. I wasn't convinced but Jake knew if we sent him away again he might not make it back in time. So we agreed.



Mimi holding her 5th grandbaby.

Everything happened just like he said, I guess 50 years of delivering babies counts for something. : ) Arynn was born at 1:00 pm, no complications for either of us and Dr. S didn't even have to reschedule his afternoon patients!

Nana checking out her 3rd granddaughter's chubby cheeks.

Arynn made her appearance during the day so we had visitors come and welcome her. We actually were able to take pictures! (This didn't happen with Addy because she came in the wee hours of the morning and then went to the NICU) Bro. Ben came and stayed for a while but had to leave before he got to see her, so we don't have any pictures of him. 

Gary and Ann meeting baby Arynn.

We were so blessed with a wonderful labor and delievery. God knew the exact timing that was needed. We are thankful for all of the prayers about mine and Arynn's health. Not only did God answer those prayers but He blessed us even more with an easy labor, delivery and a speedy recovery. This has been the best postpartum experience compared to all of our other babies!

First photo as a family of seven!

We have been completely overwhelmed by the kindness and love shown to us with our 5th baby. We jokingly said it has been more like a first baby! We have had many meals prepared, gifts for Arynn and myself, prayers on our behalf, calls and visitors. We feel loved and blessed to have so many friends and family showing their love. We are thankful to everyone and love each of you! We are happy to have a new blessing in our lives! Welcome Baby Arynn, we love you!!!

The Boys' Party

Aiden and Austen's birthdays are 10 days apart, we split the difference and have a family party on the Fourth of July. They still think the fireworks at the end of the day are just for them!

Addy provided the entertainment, she was so funny jumping around!

Two peas in a pod, they both like to talk to their food.

Daddy fired up the grill and we had Nanny, Papa, Nana, Poppa Kenneth and Mimi over for lunch, cake and homemade ice cream. YUM! Poppa Gary couldn't make it because he had to work. But we met up with him later for fireworks.

Aiden and Poppa Kenneth, I am sure they discussing a hunting/fishing story.

The weather was actually not too hot, we started around 11:00.

Since we were on the porch, we put the ice chest under her feet so she could touch. She would walk to the edge and hold on with her little monkey toes. It was pretty comical.

The boys holding up their new shirts Mimi made for them.

The boys were very excited, (obvious by the looks on their faces) they received clothes, books, fishing poles and of course toys!

The dragon cake. 

Nana gave me the instructions on how to fix this, it turned out pretty cute. I told if it did not turn out well, it would be all of her fault ;-) Next time I will do things a little differently. I am by no means a cake decorator, and have no desire to be one, in fact this was my first attempt. Talk about stressful!

My brave knights! 

I know swords, shields, helmets, bad idea!?! So far no bloody noses or broken bones. These swords are used to reenact Chronicles of Narnia on a daily basis. This was a gift from Nana, not Momma and Daddy. We opted for a safer gift, bikes! We had a great day with family and enjoyed celebrating our boys!

Haven't I Seen You on Television?

Nana works at Saline Audiology and they were shooting a new commercial for their business. Ms. Lisa and Ms. Credonna needed a baby for one of the shots and they asked for Addy. Then they decided they also needed a toddler... and a few older kids might work... well, we just so happened to have one for every age group!

Here's a look at the kids' 15 minutes seconds of fame!

The boys were asked to play with toys in the waiting room.

Addy with Ms. Credonna getting a newborn hearing screen.

Ava with Ms. Lisa in the hearing booth.

Addy, after a hard day's work, taking a much needed nap.

The commercial started airing in June, on KARK-4, but we have only seen it in an e-mail. Either way the kids' were super impressed with the end result. There are actually two commercials, one has just Addy, the other has all of the kids. I was so happy they asked us to participate, the kids had a great time. I have never tried this before, but I believe you can view the commercial by clicking here and here. Let me know if it doesn't work!