Morgan's 6th bday festivities

Morgan's Princess Party Details

Morgan Turned 6! She wanted a Princess party, so we had the best princess party ever! We had about 12 little princesses running around the house. They were all so cute!

This is the tea party. Complete with princess sugar tea, cookies, crumpets, and pizza shaped like hearts, flowers, and stars.

This is Princess Morgan in her new princess dress. Thanks to all her friends for the great gifts!

Morgan helped make her very own birthday cake. She wanted an icecream cake with princesses on top. Thank goodness for "youtube"!!!

These are all the other famous princesses who were in attendance.

This is the fingernail/toenail painting part of the princess make-overs.

This is the make-up part of the princess make-overs.

This is Morgan taking over the make-up make-over of her little sister. Precious Moments!

Once everyone was ready for the princess ball, we went downstairs to learn a special princess dance. Here is the video of their performance for the Kings and Queens at the end of the Ball.

Back at it!

As you can see, I haven't posted since Naomi's birth. That is a long time ago because we are approaching her first birthday. I have decided to get back at it. There are so many people out there who frequently ask when I will post again. The answer is today, apparently!

This will be short and picture-less. So sorry to disappoints! I will bore you, instead, with a quick recap of our life since the last post.
June: We had a super fun trip to Moab, Ut (I'll look for pics to post)
July: We camped with friends for a week. Later that month we moved across the country to a little place called Fort Mill, SC. Tyler was transferred there for his second rotation as a Human Resources Manager Assistant with Citi Bank.
Aug: Probably the hottest, stickiest month of my life so far!
Sept: Morgan started her first year of preschool and loved everyday of it. LeRoy Springs Rec center has the top preschool around in our little town. Morgan was pretty quick to pick up some of the "twang" in her voice that she heard from her teachers and classmates!
Oct: We took a family trip back to out west. Tyler went on a hunting trip in northern Colorado while me and the kids spent some time with friends in Denver. Then our little family reunited in Utah to spend time with my family. Tyler's parents drove all the way up from SD to see us.
Nov: After receiving an unexpected job offer from Cafe Rio, Tyler quit his job with Citi on Nov. 2, and we packed up a moving truck two weeks later. My parents were gracious enough to let us move in with them.
Dec: We spent a fun-filled Christmas at The Robinson's house. After only a few weeks of house hunting, we offered on the perfect starter home only 5 mins from Tyler's work.
Jan: We closed on our new home, but couldn't move in right away. We went on a business trip with Tyler as Cafe Rio opened their first store in Denver. Then the kids and I stayed for the birth of Tami's last baby.
Feb: Tyler made a fun trip to the ER for a kidney stone, then I made one of my own for a strangulated hernia. I had surgery a week later. The next day we got the keys to our house and began renovation work right away. Two weeks later we made what we hope to be our last move for a long, long, long time!
Mar: We made our first mortgage payment and couldn't be happier in our new home.

The Long Awaited Birth

Naomi Mei Tinling born April 14, 2009

8 lbs 4 oz 19 1/2 inche

I know that most of you just want to see pictures, so I put them in first. For those of you who want a synopsis of the labor and delivery, that is included at the end of the post.

This is what I look like moments before I have a baby. Not too bad, I would say (besides the gown).

This is what I look like after I have a baby. This picture doesn't show it very well, but I am super skinny! I lost like 20 lbs in 20 minutes!

I hope this picture is not too graphic for any of you. I just thought it would be fun to put on here.

This is my first moment holding baby Naomi. It is funny that the first time we get to see each other, we both have to look so bad.

She pretty much looks just like my other babies when they are newborns. I was fully expecting that complexion, that dark hair, and that same little face.

This is Morgan holding her little sister for the first time. I think it is great that our kids went to bed the night before and woke up to a new baby sister.

Here is Caleb holding his new sister for the first time. He loves to sit on the couch and just hold her while he watches a show.

The Labor and Delivery Story

I woke up around 1:45 am to a contraction I couldn't sleep through. I was too excited to try to sleep through any others, so I laid there until 2:00 watching to see if this was for real. The contractions were steady and coming about 7 minutes apart. I got up to get water, eat food, and clean the kitchen. I knew that this was it, and we didn't have much time to waste at home because the hospital was 45 minutes away. I woke Tyler at 2:2o, woke my mom, called the babysitter we had arranged to come in the middle of the night, and called my friend Tami (who was to be our doula and ride). We all left the house around 3:00, and after returning home for a few forgotten items, made it to the hospital at 4:00. Tami drove her 15 passenger van while I labored on the front bench with Tyler's help. When we arrived, I sat up to exit the van and was in some serious pain as everything finally had a chance to drop into place with the help of gravity. The nurse checked us in, I put on that beautiful gown, and a few contractions later she checked me. I was already 9 cm! I was secretly hoping I would be so we wouldn't have to spend all morning laboring in the hospital. After assessing that my water might break any moment, they rushed me up to a labor and delivery room. It was only another 15 minutes before the "overwhelming" pushing contractions began. Everyone rushed in, broke my water, and helped me push the baby out. I had her at 4:49 am on Tuesday April 14, 2009. She came right on her due date. She was 8 bls 4 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was perfect and beautiful!

I was planning from the begining to have this baby with no pain medication. It was truly an amazing experience! I am glad to have had my first two with epidurals, but I won't ever go back. For anyone who wants a more graphic or detailed version, please call me and we can chat. I do enjoy telling about my experience, and apparently it is therapidic to do so.

Morgan's 4th Birthday Pary

This was one rockin' bike parade party!

About two weeks before her 4th birthday, Morgan pretty much taught herself how to ride her bike with no training wheels. She was so excited that she wanted to show all of her friends. We decided to do a bike party. Everyone made flower headbands and decorated their bikes with streamers, balloons, and noise makers. We rode through the neighborhood to the park and played.

We had cake with candles and singing.

And of course we had presents for the birthday girl. She got a lot of make-up, barbies, ponies, and hair accessories. Looks like I am in for a serious make-over!
Hopefully I can include a clip of her showing off her superior bike riding skills!