Giveaway: Signed copy of Rump

My sister is giving a singed copy of the newest book Rump to one lucky winner.  Head on over to Discovery Writer for a chance to win.  I'm dying to read this book.  I've heard it's really good!

2 Months

 Jaron is two months old today, which in my mind is very hard to believe.  He has literally grown right before my eyes over the last few weeks and not just in size.  This little guy of ours has started sharing some of his smiles with us and tries his darnedest to join in the conversation with his cooing and babbling.  And just last night he let his mommy get a good 7 hours of sleep.  It was the greatest 2 month b-day gift he could have given me.  Of course, I don't expect that to happen again tonight by any means.

   He continues to be mauled adored by his three sisters.  They all had to keep their distance a few weeks ago due to a cold that made its round through the family, but even that couldn't keep them completely away from their brother and he too got a little bit of the sniffles.  Luckily, everyone is all better and the girls are back to smothering their little bro.

 Britnee is still a big helper and Jaron lights up when she and Kinsie talk to him, but Mylie has stepped into the role of Jaron's mommy and does her best to take care of him in her own little way.  I simply love watching her try to pick him up and give him kisses, and I can't get enough of her patting Jaron's belly and saying "baby".  Even she is growing up too fast.

Needless to say he's been a great addition to the family and I'm looking forward to what the next two months will bring.  Personally I'm hoping for more sleep. 

Preschool, Joy School, and Ballet

Both of our girls started "school" this week.  Kinsie started preschool and Britnee started her second year of joy school.  They were both so excited to go and see their friends and get away from mom for a few hours, or maybe I was the one who was more excited about that.  Either way, there was excitement all around.  I can't believe how big they are both getting.  It's even harder for me to think that Kinsie will be starting Kindergarten next year and Britnee will be in preschool.  Where does the time go?

As inseperable as these two are I think it will be good for them to have their own thing to do and some time away from each other.  I'm also glad that Kinsie goes to school 3 days of the week so that Mylie and Britnee can have some time to play together.  Poor little Mylie always ends up being the third wheel.  Hopefully we can improve that.

The girls also started taking ballet.  They both love to dance (especially Kinsie) and we thought this might be a fun thing for them to try out.  They are both thrilled that they get to have dance classes and seriously make for the cutest little ballerinas that I have ever seen.

It's going to be a crazy and busy year for the girls me, but I figure it will be a good way to establish more of a routine around here. Hopefully I won't loose my mind in the process.

Jaron Boyd

We welcomed this little guy into our lives exactly three weeks ago today. He arrived on July 24th at 8:34 am and weighed in at 6.6 and was 20.5 inches long and he's been melting our hearts since then. Here is his story...

 Jaron made his debut into this world rather quickly. To be honest, I'm actually lucky that I made it to the hospital at all. The morning of his delivery I started having a few contractions starting around 5:45 am. They weren't very strong, but strong enough that I told Chad before he left for work that he might want to stay by his phone that day. Just after Chad left (around 6:30) my contractions started picking up in frequency and intensity.
Poor Kinsie. She had come into my room right after Chad left and crawled into bed with me. I was talking with her and mentioned that baby Jaron might be coming today. She was excited and kept wanting to rub my belly and talk to him, but I kept telling her not to touch me because I was so uncomfortable. As my contractions got stronger and stronger she watched as I would double over in pain. She wanted to help me but didn't quite know how. She was a great coach for that first half hour!

 Once my contractions started getting stronger I decided to shower and start getting ready in case I needed to head to the hospital. By the time I finished showering and getting dressed my contractions were less than a minute apart and were becoming extremely strong and painful. So, I called Chad just after 7:00 and told him he should probably come home.  After I got off the phone with Chad I called a few people to inform them that things were progressing.  I knew my mother-in-law wouldn't make it to our house in time, so I called my friend and told her that I would need her to watch the girls.  Lucky for me she was able to send her two oldest girls over to help out while I waited for Chad to get home.  At this point I was getting to a point where I wasn't able to do much besides double over and bang my fist on the counter as I tried to get through each contraction.  It was also becoming very apparent to me that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP especially in I wanted an epidural...which I did.

 Chad finally made it home around 7:45 and I told him that we needed to leave immediately.  He was great and quickly threw my things into a bag (I was in too much pain to even do that), got the girls settled, and us headed to the hospital which is less than 2 miles away.  Once we got to the hospital I had Chad drive us up to the main doors and run inside and ask for a wheelchair.  I knew I wouldn't be getting very far on my own.  I also knew that I was probably not going to be having an epidural at this point, although I was still somewhat hopeful. 

I was then quickly wheeled up to labor and delivery, changed, and put on the monitors at 8:11.  The nurse checked me and announced that I was dilated to an 8.  My heart sunk because I knew that an epidural was out of the question.  However, my nurse mentioned that they might still be able to give me one if the anesthesiologist was around.  He wasn't, but he was close by so they brought in a student who was going to get me prepped.  He talked me through the procedure (which I was well aware of) and left to go grab some things.  One of those things being the anesthesiologist.  But, right after he left my water broke which definitely meant no epidural. 

 The nurses sprung into action and started to have me breath through some contractions.  My doctor wasn't there yet and for some reason the nurses were unwilling to deliver my baby...go figure.  At this point I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be having a natural delivery which I hadn't really prepared myself for, mentally or physically.  I had never practiced how to breath through a contraction because I had never needed to before.  So, of course I wasn't breathing properly and was somewhat hyperventilating.  So, the nurses were trying to help me regulate my breathing and all I could do was tell them that "I can't, I can't".  Those two words came out of my mouth a lot in that delivery room.  After having me breath through a few contractions they finally brought in a midwife who was in the hallway.  She came in and had me push once and that's when my doctor walked in.

 He walked in and had me push about two or three times before Jaron was born.  He arrived exactly 23 minutes after I was put on the monitors.  My total labor and delivery was about 2 hours and 45 minutes.  If the hospital had been further away we wouldn't have made it.  But, we did make it and he arrived healthy and strong.  I also survived what many women before me have done.  I can tell you that natural child birth isn't a walk in the park and is extremely intense, but it is also very empowering.  I'm so grateful that I was able to experience that process and even more grateful that it made for an amazing recovery!

He's been such a fun addition to the family.  The girls absolutely love him, especially Britnee.  I'm amazed at how much she loves taking care of him and helping me out.  She has been so great to have around!  Chad has had his hands full trying to tackle the three girls while I deal with the baby, but I look forward to seeing my two guys become best buddies over the years.  And I am loving being a mom to a little boy.  I forgot how much I love the little newborns and the sweetness that they bring.  It's already been a process trying to be a mom of 4 kids that are 4 years and younger, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

Thank goodness summer has arrived.  For our family summer means camping and after being cooped up all winter long camping trips can't come soon enough.  We were able to make it out camping over Memorial Weekend and were lucky enough to be joined by Chad parents and grandparents for part of that trip. 

We decided to keep it simple and camp on Chad's grandparent's property, which meant we were able to plug the trailer in the cabin and have full hook ups.  NICE!  We took the bike and four wheeler and spent the first day riding around the property, building forts, playing on the swing, and building up a mighty nice rock collection.

That night we were surprised to have grandpa and grandma join us.  The girls were thrilled to wake up to the news that they had come to play with them.  They ended up bringing their two Razors (which we hadn't played with yet) so we decided to pack some lunches and head up the mountain for a little afternoon ride.  The girls did pretty good especially little Mylie who wasn't the biggest fan of her helmet.

During our little ride up the mountain we were able to find ourselves a patch of snow.  Building a snowman is always a must, so grandpa helped Kinsie build one.  Then he helped her get a pretty decent snowball fight going.

After some fun in the snow we drove back down the mountain to play in the water.  Only in Utah can you enjoy playing in the snow and water on the same day.  We had been seeing a lot of ticks and even found one crawling in Britnee's hair.  YUCK!  Luckily I happened to have several bandannas with me so the girls wore them the entire time.  I couldn't get over how cute they looked.

After a long day of riding and having fun we headed back to the trailer/cabin for dinner.  Just after we pulled in great grandpa and grandma showed up and joined our little party.  Hot dogs and smores were on the menu that night so Britnee helped dad get a fire going and we ate to our hearts content, or at least until our bellies felt like they were going to pop.

This picture of Britnee kills me!

The next day we rode for a little bit, had lunch, then packed up and came home.  It was a short trip, but fun was had by all.  We're looking forward to the next time we can get out and enjoy some more time with the family.

The girls decided to dress up like mom and dad.  These two crack me up

Can't forget this little lady. 

She loves it when I pull out the camera and immediately says, "cheeeeese..."

Looking back on birthdays

Birthdays have all come and gone here at our house and I thought I'd better post about them before I completely forgot what happened.  Britnee's is the first one we celebrate once the new year hits and we decided to throw her a little party since Kinsie had her swimming party last year.  We decided to go with a fairy theme for her first party ever.  All of her guests came dressed their "fairiest", received their very own wings, decorated wands and cupcakes, and even got their finger nails and faces painted.  I think they all had a fun time.  She got some great gifts from the grandparents and was even spoiled by her mommy and daddy.

Britnee Turning 3

 Mylie was next in line for a b-day celebration, unfortunately my camera wouldn't cooperate and I didn't get very many pictures of her big day.  I think Chad was able to snap a few, but he hasn't downloaded them to the computer yet.  I'm such a bad mom not to document her first b-day very well.  Oh well, that's the third child for you.  But don't worry.  Once I get those pictures I will be posting them on here!
After a few months of waiting it was finally Kinsie's turn.  I've decided to hold off on any more parties for awhile, but I may have condemned myself to them since Kinsie continually asked when she was going to have her party.  Lucky for me I have great friend who was holding a little carnival in her backyard on Kinsie's b-day.  These neighborhood carnivals are such a blast.  There were games to play, prizes to win, and bouncy house to play in, and yummy food to be eaten.  I went ahead and baked up some cupcakes for a the little carnival goers and we were even able to sing Happy Birthday to the b-day girl.  Needless to day she felt pretty special.

The Carnival

 She was also spoiled with some great gifts from the grandparents and got a bike (just like a Strider but without the same price tag) from Chad and I.  She was happy with how her day turned out which is all that matters in the long run!

Kinsie Turning 4

We hope you girls all had a wonderful day and know how much we love you.