Slippin' and Slidin'

A couple of days ago, Nate bought a Slip-N-Slide for the kids. He set it up and showed them how to do it. He was very grateful for the pool at the end, so he wouldn't slide to a stop in the grass.


Braelinn had a blast! She wouldn't go on her belly, but her knees worked just fine.

Danen was not down with sliding (what 19 month old would be?), but he liked to sit down on the tarp and get sprinkled.

They had a great time. By the end, we had tons of neighborhood kids sliding too. Too bad I can't fit in my suit yet.

Okay. It has been a while since my last update. I have been taking pictures, but I've selected to sleep instead of blog. Now that I'm adjusted to less sleep, I can get everything posted.

It is quite funny the things that happen in front of me while I'm stuck in the chair feeding Rianne. This time, Danen was trying really hard to get in Braelinn's Barbie car. Naturally, he tried the door first....

But since he didn't fit, he went through the sunroof.

Next, a picture of Rianne after a trip to Bruster's. She wasn't a fan of the heat!

On the 4th of July, we went to celebrate with Grandpa Clair at his neighborhood block party. Here's Braelinn taking a drink break from all the running around.

Here's Danen pleading with each of us to play ball with him.

Rianne slept the entire time we were out there. So here's a picture back at the house once she woke up.

This is a random picture after church. I thought her outfit was so cute.

And lastly, we had a picnic after church last week. I remembered why I don't do picnics very often. Braelinn is scared of EVERY SINGLE bug that comes around. I did manage to get one happy shot of her.

Danen enjoyed his meal so much, he wouldn't even acknowledge the camera for a picture.

And finally, Rianne was sunbathing (sleeping) through the majority of the meal.

Now that you're all caught up, I'll do my best to post more often.

Does anyone know if there's a PA?

So, it's bad enough to have a kid addicted to one passy, but this is how Danen has been walking around the last few days... And if we try to take them away, he looks crazy like this...

Does anyone know if there's a P(assies) A(nonymous)? I don't think we will ever get them away from him!!

Test Results are In

In case you haven't heard the wonderful news yet, Rianne's tests all came back normal. I spent the majority of the day, Wednesday, at the Children's Hospital at Scottish Rite getting tests run to make sure her kidneys are okay. She got an ultrasound and a test called a VCUG (they insert a catheter and dyed fluid to see if her bladder refluxes fluid into her kidneys.). She was a trooper; she didn't cry at all. Then on Thursday, the doctor let us know everything's okay. We are so grateful for everyone's prayers and concerns for Rianne. She's a perfect addition to our family.
Here's a picture from after church yesterday. Let me tell you, getting 3 kids ready is WAY different than 2. Hopefully it will get easier when Rianne doesn't want to nurse every minute she's awake. I thought I was doing good until it hit 8:30, the time we usually leave, and all the kids were ready, but I was still in my pajamas. We made it in time to take sacrament, but it was close. I pray next week is better. We'll see....

When it Rains...

Things have been kinda crazy since we came home from the hospital. Nate had his final week of school and now has a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice. (I'm so glad that is finally over with.) On Memorial Day, we had to take Braelinn to the Urgent Care, and we found out she had strep throat. It was not easy keeping her away from her new baby sister. Then on Tuesday, Rianne had her 2 week checkup, and I had to take her back to the hospital to get blood drawn. Turns out her jaundice level was really elevated, so they sent someone out to our house with a light bed for her to lay on. Well, when I went to pick up the kids from my mom, Danen was running a fever of 101.2*F. So Nate met me as soon as he got off work, and took Danen to the Urgent Care (of course everything happened "after hours") while I rushed home to met the light-bed guy. Danen ended up having a virus similar to Hand, Foot, and Mouth, so he is suppose to stay away from Rianne now, and she has to stay on the lights for 24 hours a day. It has been 4 days of juggling sick kids and a husband whose got the worst case of poison ivy I've ever seen (he actually had to get a steriod shot to hopefully get rid of it). Out of all of this, I will say this light bed is way more humane than the one Braelinn had to stay under in the hospital with the little Batman goggles. Here's a few pictures I snapped of her sleeping.

She finally did get off the bed today. So I'll be getting up some cute pictures in cute clothes soon, I hope. Next week we are going to get all of the tests done to see how her kidneys are functioning. I will keep you posted.

And can I add, on an equally as important subject, did you see the New Moon trailor? Oh my goodness!! I'm so excited, I don't know if I can wait 5 months.

THE BIG UPDATE!!

Hello, Everyone. I've finally gotten a computer again, and it's just in the nick of time. Nate graduated from FLETC one week ago, and he is home for good. We've been trying to get as much done as possible this past week that has been neglected over the last 5 months due to his absence and my pregnancy. And just when I couldn't handle being pregnant anymore, we welcomed Rianne to the world last night. My plan was to get my midwife to induce me yesterday after my check-up. When she did the exam, she said I was doing fine on my own. And sure enough, two hours later, we were heading to the hospital with contractions 3 minutes apart. Don't look too closely because it is slightly obscene, but here is a picture of me in the triage room of the hospital waiting to get checked in.

This picture is obviously after the epidural. Life was much better for the rest of the night.

I'm sure no one wants to see the gross details of birth, so here's Rianne, all cleaned up, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 14 oz.

She has truly been the easiest baby for the last 19 hours. She hasn't cried at all. She just sleeps. And sleeps. She's a very good blend of Braelinn and Danen. She looks like Braelinn while she's asleep, and Danen in the brief moments of being awake.

And might I add, LOOK AT ALL THE HAIR!!!!! She has more hair than Braelinn already. It's a miracle. Maybe it will stay dark and curly, and I'll have some contribution to one of my kids.

Finally, here is our first family picture. Braelinn was so excited to hold her new baby sister. Danen just wanted to honk her nose.

Thanks for all your prayers and help during this pregnancy. We are so grateful for all of y'all.

White Oak Park with Daddy

We've been counting down the days for Nate coming to visit. When he got home last night, Braelinn went crazy! We decided to go to a new park that just opened up down the road from our house since the weather was beautiful today (nearly 70 degrees!). The kids had so much fun. The park equiptment looks like a farm. Here's Braelinn on the section shaped like a tractor.

Here she is blowing bubbles in front of the barn playground. I love this picture because it looks like the bubble's popping on her nose.

Here is the rock wall that she climbed to the top of by herself....

Here's one of my favorite pictures...kisses for Daddy.

Danen had so much fun playing on the little bulldozer for babies. He loved this slide!!
We had a lot of fun playing with Daddy and are so excited that he will be able to visit next weekend also since he gets an extra day off. The last month has seemed very long, so we'll take advantage of our short weekends.