My little girl is 3!

I can't believe that my little girl is 3! She's been my baby for so long. In fact, I still call her baby. She is such a funny girl. We love her to pieces and are so thankful that she is part of our family.

We had a Tinker Bell birthday party for her last weekend. It was cute. I tried to get her to wear a Tinker Bell costume, but she wouldn't. She had a fit during the party as you can see in one of the pictures below. I'm ready to leave the Terrible 2's behind, but not so sure about the Terrifying 3's!

Baby Announcement

Here's our baby announcement (it's in the header for all you google readers). It turned out so cute! My cousin helped me make it (thanks Kayli!). I had the idea and the program but had no idea how to use it. I emailed the pictures that I wanted along with the font and told her the colors and this is what she came up with! I love it!! It's so cute! I just had to share!

My little guy is 3 weeks old now...I can't believe it. He is such a good baby. He only cries when he is hungry. The kids love him. He is so sweet!

My sweet baby boy!

He's here! My sweet little boy is here! And I couldn't be happier!

WARNING: This paragraph is going to tell the labor and delivery story. It's not graphic, but if you don't want to read it, you have been warned! I started having contractions at 3:07 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The were about 10 minutes apart (sometimes 12, sometimes 8) for a whole hour. So, not wanting to go through what I did with the last baby (in the hospital for less than an hour before she was born), we left for the hospital. I was dilated to 6...not too shabby. I got hooked up to the IV, and then got the blessed epidural. Ahhh....so nice! Instead of my contractions being a 10, they were a 5 (on a scale from 1-10). It was wonderful!! I progressed from a 6 to an 8 and then 9 pretty quick. The doctor came in a broke my water around 8:30 a.m. (it was bulging and hadn't popped on it's own yet). Then close to 9 o'clock, I told Ryan to go get the doctor because I felt like I needed to push. Sure enough...I was a 10! The doctor told me to go ahead and push on the next contraction. I did and out came his head! Second push and he was out!! So wonderful!

We named him Derek Ray (Ray was Ryan's dad's name...appropriate, I think!). He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, and was 19 1/2 inches long. He was born at 9:04 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19th. He's a redhead! He is so cute and sweet! He looks a lot like Ryan. He is such a good baby! I love him to pieces already! He is a week old today and I can't believe it.

I am so happy to have him out and in our lives. He truly is a blessing. The kids love him and always want to hold him...it's cute! Enjoy the pictures of my sweet little guy!

Not yet...

No baby yet. Not even any contractions! Crazy! So, stay tuned!

On another topic, today is the one year anniversary of my father-in-law's death. I can't believe it has been a year. He was a good man and truly loved my children. We watched a picture slide show today (it was shown at the funeral) and totally cried. There is a picture of Grandpa with each of my children and it made me sad that I won't have any pictures of him with our new little guy. But, I know that he sent him to us and that he has been taking care of him. He just needs to let him come be with us now! :-) Everyone was kinda hoping that the baby would be born today so that we have something happy to think about today. Well, the day is not over yet...

Catch up!

So...it's been a very long time since I have posted anything. Sorry to my avid readers! This is what the rest of April had in store for us...

We had a wonderful Easter. TONS of Easter egg hunts that weekend. A tea party at Grandma's with a hunt after, a ward hunt the next day as well as my mom's Annual Easter Egg Hunt with a pinata and all, and then Easter Sunday was dinner and a hunt at my mother-in-law's house. Busy but fun! We had so much candy!!

We also celebrated our oldest son turning 10. Good grief! He got to spend the day with my parents and sister at Disneyland. He got home really late...good thing it was Spring Break!

Another celebration in April was our 12 year anniversary. Time sure flies!! I have been in love with the same man for 12 years!! Who would have thought since I was so fickle as a teen?!? haha!! He is the best husband ever!!

I am down to my last 2 weeks of pregnancy and I can't even believe it!! I can't believe this little guy is going to be here so soon! I have waited a long time and it's weird that it will be over soon. The crib is set up, the changing table has been sanded and repainted. It looks so nice...I will post pictures soon. I have been cleaning around here...NESTING...just trying to keep things organized. My bag is packed; I'm on weekly appointments (every Friday) which means I only have 2 left! I am just ready to be done...to hold my little baby and to have my body back. I would love to be able to roll over in bed easily and to be able to walk normally!! Ahh...the things we take for granted when we're not pregnant.

I hope that the next post is about our new little miracle! Wish me luck!

Baby Shower

I am a little late at posting this, but a couple of weeks ago my sweet sisters and sister-in-laws threw me a baby shower. I haven't had one of those in so long! It was fun! They did a great job! The invites were cute, the prizes looked so fancy, the decorations (a rubber ducky theme) were awesome and the food was yummy! It was a small turn-out, but I think a nice time was had by all. It was fun to see family and friends and I thank you for all your love and support! Here are some pictures from that day...


This is a blanket that my mom made for the baby. She has done this with each of her grandkids! It's so cute! It's light blue and light green with a Precious Moments animal print (which includes monkeys...how perfect!!)

















My sisters and sister-in-law (minus 1) who threw the shower for me.













My awesome friends! I can always count on them! I love you guys!













Cute decorations!

P.S. - Thanks to "M" for taking pictures for me!!

My two cute nieces

Our family was blessed with two little angels this past week. Both of them being girls. First, Ryan's youngest brother and his wife had a little girl...they didn't know what they were having. They have another daughter that will be 2 soon.
























Then, my sister had her little girl, making that three girls for them! They are both super cute and super sweet and I love them to pieces already! I was fortunate enough to visit both of them in the hospital. I love being able to do that. So, now that these two babies are here, that means I am next!! Can't wait!!!

Calling all moms...

I need your help! I am trying to decide what to do and I need your opinion. I am trying to decide if I want to get a sit-n-stand stroller or not. I do not have a stroller that will let me use the carrier/carseat with it. So...does anyone have a sit-n-stand stroller? What are your opinions about it? Do you like it? I still need to trap Lindsey, especially when walking to the school to pick up the kids. So, let me know how you feel about this stroller. Worth it? Worth the money? Should I check out garage sales? I don't want to buy too much for this little guy, but think this might be a good purchase that would last a long time. Let me know what you think...