We Had a Baby!

So we went in for our "planned c-section" on Monday and in a matter of hours we had our new baby boy! Everything went perfectly. The stats:

2-22-10 at 10:21 am (sharing a birthday with the great George Washington)
Cooper Danny (Danny is my Dad's name)
8 lb. 10 oz. (17 days early - glad we didn't wait any longer!)
19 inches (shortest baby we've ever had)



Previous kiddos:
Breckyn - 9 days early 7 lb. 8 oz.
Kyra - 3 days late 9 lb. 1 oz.
Ryder - 10 days early 8 lb. 13 oz.

Considering the past 3 children's deliveries this one was by far the easiest. I've done it all now - 1- au natural, complete with dimmed lights and yoga music playing softly in the background (way overrated in my opinion!), 2- last minute epidural followed by almost 4 hours of just pushing, 3- emergency c-section after a day of hard labor and finally 4- a planned c-section. For me, and the way I have babies it is definitely the way to go! Recovery is going well, even better than the last time I'd say. So thankful for our little guy and that it all went well.

Valentine's Day Picnic

We hiked up to one of our favorite rocks for a lovely Valentine's Day picnic. The sun was shining so bright and we loved soaking it all up. Happy V-Day!

Breckyn derygweenmaker (Dairy Queen Maker)

This artist wants more than anything to work at Dairy Queen when she grows up, (at least that is what she says this week). She's been practicing making cookies and cupcakes with playdoh all week. She's totally into drawing fairies and mermaids right now. I may be biased but I think for a 5 year old she does pretty well.

A Rainy Day at Disneyland

I'll admit I thought we were in for quite a wet adventure at Disneyland. We picked up Breckyn from Kindergarten and headed directly there. We listened to the radio on the way and they were throwing around terms like 'bow echo' and 'tornadic'. Of course we are well versed with those terms from living in the Midwest, but it wasn't exactly what we expected to hear in Southern California while driving to Disneyland. The rain and wind got crazy strong, we came upon a fresh accident and then we had to forge several rivers (literally - there were other cars stalled in the middle of it but we were crazy and just decided to go for it).

Upon our arrival and not seeing anybody else entering Disneyland we thought they must have closed the place due to the tornado warning, but no they let us right in! As we boarded the tram hoards of down trodden people looking soaked, sad and wind blown were leaving. They all had the overpriced, plastic, Disneyland ponchos and they just looked whipped. It was barely sprinkling at that point so we just hoped for the best.

I've never seen Disneyland like this. It was deserted! No lines whatsoever. We started in CA Adventure and after zipping through Soarin' Over California twice we came out and the sun was shining! It was seriously a dream come true. Disneyland without people. We couldn't have planned it better if we tried. Even though we were only there for a half day we did way more than we ever have because we never waited for anything. It was a fantastic day!!

My mom was with us so we had plenty of helping hands. Due to my current condition I was sad to not do any of the really crazy rides but Kyle had a brave partner and that would be Breckyn. She didn't really want to go on the Tower of Terror but Kyle talked her into it.

She survived! Although, it wasn't her favorite. She says she'd like to wait until she is 10 years old to try that one again.

I'm afraid we won't be able to top this Disneyland experience for a while! :)

My decapod crustacean children

shrimp: tiny in size, quantity; adjective

Synonyms:bantam, bitty, cramped, diminutive, inconsequential, inconsiderable, little, meager, microscopic, mini, miniature, minuscule, minute, modest, petite, picayune, piddling, pint-sized, pocket-sized, puny, runty, scanty, scrubby, short, slight, small-scale, stunted, teensy, teeny, toy, trifling, trivial, undersized, unpretentious, wee.

...apparently, I've given birth to three of them.

Breckyn has always been way underweight. Kyra has always been super short (however she shocked her doctor last week by growing nearly 3 inches in 6 months!) and then there is Ryder. He is skinny AND short. Poor little dude. At his 2 year check up he weighed in at a whopping 22 pounds. And I tell you I worked very hard for each one of those pounds! He's just not all that interested in eating. We're working on it. I'm not worried about it but we have to do a few little tests to make sure he is growing. He may be small but we still love him anyway. He's full of smiles and opinions and never stops moving. I think he's perfect. Maybe I am little bit biased, but... probably not.

Baby on the brain

After have 3 children we pretty much have what we need for a 4th. Buuuut, here are some things on our wishlist, because, you know, it is fun to buy stuff. ;)

A new car seat is in order. Our old one was purchased 6 years ago on ebay, used.

Trying to fancy up the boys room a bit.

We already have a purple one, pink one and a blue one. Looks like this kid gets green.


Just something cool I've wanted to try.

This is too cute. Must have.

Our crib is old too. And a hand-me-down. And it is currently being used by a very possessive 2 year old who has no signs of wanting a big boy bed.


Some more eye candy for the boys room.


Pretty sure this will never happen. But one can dream.

TWO is for Terrific!

Little Ryder turned the big 2 today! He is so little and still seems like my baby but then he says something like, "I SIT THERE! MOVE!" and I realize he isn't a baby anymore.
















Today- "CAAAAAAAAKE!!!!" Or in other words, "put the dang camera down Dad and let's eat!"




BLOW!


Wow. It worked!


He started out so sweet. Recently he has developed quite the strong attitude, firm opinions and is a little spitfire. He keeps us all in line. He is still sweet, you just have wait for it. Love you Ryder!

Christmas and New Year's at my house

Was just perfect. We've been living so far away from any family for so long we have kind of gotten used to just being our own little family and really enjoyed our time together, making traditions and celebrating the reason for the season. The kiddos.



Just the girls.


And kinda bad pic, but the only family pic we have taken in a veeeery long time!



The damage. I never realized how passionate people are about their Christmas tree's until recently! Ours is always real, but the ornaments are just a mix of ones we've collected over the years. It's actually one of my favorite traditions, getting out the ornaments that have so much meaning and memories along with them. And I LOOOOVE the ones my children have started making the past couple years... Maybe someday we'll have two tree's, the 'department store' fakey tree that is perfectly beautiful and then the real, sentimental one. Oh and of course there are no ornaments on the bottom half due to our grabby little one year old.



Trying out new toys.


I found this on the easel the day after Christmas. I wish I could say I taught this to Breckyn but she actually learned it at school. December was generosity month and they learned all about it and practiced it all month long. I just LOVE LOVE her teacher and school. She is doing so well there.


Helping Daddy stoke the fire.


New Year's Eve. We put Ryder to bed on time and let the girls stay up all night. We watched tons of movies and ate the yummiest appetizers all night. I couldn't believe they had no problem staying up that late because they usually go to bed at 7:00!


Already starting her New Year's Resolutions! :)


Ky did get a little grumpy towards the end as you can see.


We do look forward to future holidays when we will live closer to family and can share fun times with them, but for now - I think we are doing okay. :)

My new secretary

It is so weird having a kid who can read and write all of the sudden, especially when a few months ago she wasn't even close. (Or so I thought!)

I can't get away with my standard "Oh, maybe tomorrow sweetie..." anymore without having little reminders waiting for me everywhere.

My kids are keeping me honest and that is a good thing.

Turns out 'Lulu' is a

BOY!!!

Two ultrasounds by a shoddy doctor at 18 and 22 weeks and a bunch by a veterinarian (ahem!) turned out to be WRONG!!! So time to start thinking blue...

***Yes! Shoddy! That is putting it nicely, in fact. If you want details you can ask me personally but I am SOOO glad I switched for my own health AND the health of this baby. The gender thing was the LEAST of my issues with him! (unfortunately!!)***