May 2012

The rest of the month of June was busy too. We had a lot of fun with our downstairs neighbors this month. Dani loves, loves, loves having her cousins so close! One day when I was still trying to be on my feet and keep contractions going I took Dani, Samantha, Derrick and KayDee to the park in Paragonah. Dani absolutely loves being outside and playing and having big kids to play with took some of the stress off me which made it EVEN BETTER! : )

For Mother's Day Travis and I were invited by Mandy to go with her and Travis' parents to go to dinner and then to see The Avengers. Sara volunteered to watch Dani so that we could. It was a lot of fun. Travis' brother, Milt, and his wife, Roni, were there as well. It was the last date that Travis and I got before Charleene was born and the first time we had gone to a movie since we were married! It was REALLY good to get out!

We had a lot of visitors after Charleene was born. It was a lot of fun to see so much family and have good company around.

Sara took Dani to the pool with her kids. It was the first time that Dani had gone swimming in a big pool. Sara has been really good with helping her learn how to handle herself with so much water all around her. She has a great time! I'm excited to be able to go with her hopefully very soon!

May was also the first month that Dani started sleeping in her "big girl bed" and her new room. She loved it from day one! She hasn't fallen out, been too scared to sleep in there by herself. She always wants to play in her room and on her bed. I can't believe how big she is getting! She has started putting together small sentences and is so full of energy. She's a busy, busy bee learning all that she can. Just the other day we went through her numbers (1-10 - all scrambled up) and she knew all of them by sight except for 8! She had trouble with 6 but all the others she knew.

We are so so blessed to have two adorable little ones in our little family. I can't wait to see how they change as they continue to grow! : )

Charleene Ruth

 

She's here! Our beautiful daughter has finally arrived! Charleene Ruth was born May 17, 2012 at 9:27 AM. She was 7 lbs 6 oz, 20 in long. Charleene is a name that Travis and I both really love and it just fits her so well. Ruth is for my sweet paternal grandmother and is a part of Travis' mother's first name. After we had decided that Ruth was to be her middle name we found out that Ruth is also the middle name of Travis' paternal grandmother.

We did end up having to have her turned and 37 weeks. But she stayed head down. I can't believe that we waited around for so many weeks, wondering if the contractions were going to keep up and stick around this time. :-) Every time I went in for a check up I would be one more cm dilated and one step closer to preeclampsia. At 39 weeks my doctor recommended that I get induced to avoid my worsening condition. I was mostly concerned about going into labor and having the baby on the freeway. (At my last appointment I was measuring a 5). We set the date for the 17th at 7am. When we got there I measured at a 6! Thank goodness we went in because they started the pitocin at 7:45 and she was here not even 2 hrs later! 

Thank goodness for my sister-in-law Sara and Travis' mother for helping with Dani that day while we were in the hospital.

Travis went home the night after Charleene was born and brought Dani down with him the next day when he came to pick me and Charleene up and take us home. Dani was fascinated with Charleene from the first moment she saw her. I have been so nervous about how she would react and treat her new sister but she has been great! She asks to hold her and gives her kisses. She gets very concerned when Charleene starts to cry and the other morning she took of running for Travis' and my bedroom and came tearing back down the hallway with a binki in hand to give to her sister cause "she's sad, Mommy! She's sad!" Haha it was so so very sweet.

The first morning that we woke up and Charleene was here Dani came into our bedroom and looked in the bassinet and saw her there and was so excited that she was still here that she shouted, "It's a baby!" Travis and I quickly quieted her down and told her yes, yes the baby's still here and you have to be quiet because she is still sleeping. Dani responded by pointing her finger down into the bassinet and mouthing (very excitedly), "It's a baby!" I think we almost woke her up because WE were laughing too loud. It is very very sweet how much Dani pays attention to her.

Mostly we have been trying to adjust to a new schedule. Charleene has been a wonderful baby so far. By the time she was 5 days old she was down to only one feeding between 11pm and 7am. Getting sleep makes a big difference!! She is very calm, not very loud. During her awake hours she looks around and smiles. She almost always grins the second that Dani is holding her. She recognizes Mommy and Daddy's voices and looks around when she hears us and someone else is holding her. Her jaundice level was EXCEPTIONALLY low and everything else has been going well since we got home.

We are so grateful to all those in our ward and family that provided us with meals and other services during that first week that we were home. We hope you know how much we appreciated all of the phone calls, visits, food and laundry being taken out of my hands. ;-) Thank you, thank you so very much!

April 2012

April was A LOT busier than we thought it would be when it began ; ) But it was also A LOT of fun! Travis' brother, Kevin, and his wife Sara and their 3 kids, Samantha, Derrick and KayDee moved into our basement. It has been great having them here. Almost and answer to prayer with all the help they have given us!

Travis was able to go with our ward's YM and YW to their Youth Conference over Spring Break down in St George. They had a great time. They got to do some really neat tours and had the opportunity to hear from some great speakers. Travis was really excited to be able to go. There are a lot of times that work and his calling conflict a bit so whenever he has the opportunity to participate with something like this he really gets excited about it.

We did a small Easter egg hunt this year which was really really fun! We did a little one for Dani last year but this was the first year that she got to participate in coloring eggs. We had a lot of fun! I had never heard of coloring on the eggs first with crayons but it made the eggs look so cool once we dyed them! Dani colored a couple of eggs (which got eaten just a few minutes later cause they were both dropped on the table and a little cracked..) ; )

Here is a picture of the kids looking for eggs.

Easter weekend was really busy! Travis went over to Beryl on Friday night to go bunny hunting with his brothers and brother-in-law. Dani and I got up the next morning and met him in Gunlock where we went to their community egg hunt.

It was small and really cute. Dani LOVED it! Didn't take her long to pick it up either. She kept trying to fit more and more into her basket even though it was already over flowing! Haha She was so so cute!

After the egg hunt we played at the park for a bit. Dani hadn't been on the swings since last summer and it didn't take her long to remember that they were the most awesome thing EVER! We kept asking her if she was done and if she wanted to get out and she would say, "NO!!!" and shake her head. It was really sad when we did have to go and take her out of the swing. You would think that her life had ended. This is a picture of Dani and her cousins (left to right: Jaxon, Scott and Dani). 

When we left the park we went back to Kevin and Sara's where we helped them pack up some of their house so that they could move out into our basement.

On our way back home we stopped in Beryl to hunt for our Easter baskets that Grandma puts together for us each year. Dani got her very own hair brush and has been making Mommy "pretty" every day since. ; )

On Easter Sunday we went back out to Beryl for lunch with as many of the family that could make it. Over the course of the weekend we did get to see everyone which was nice. We had lunch and even had time for a game before we headed back home. It was a busy weekend.

April 9th was Travis' 29th birthday. We had Kevin, Sara and their kids over for the party. Travis doesn't like cake a whole lot so he gets brownies instead. We didn't want the house to catch fire so we put 2 candles and then 9 candles on the cake. ; ) He had a great birthday and we had a lot of fun celebrating.

 

The whole group here for the party.

Around the middle of the month I fell off a curb in Parowan. They are really deep in some places (about a foot or more) and I sprained my foot pretty bad, dislocating a couple of bones. Thank goodness though, it wasn't broken and I was getting around with a cane a few days later. The baby was fine and I'm almost through the healing process (hopefully)!

Travis had a Great Aunt that passed away. She was a sister to his maternal grandmother. Her name was Viola and she was quite the woman. It was a very touching funeral service with quite the turn out! She was very, very loved.

We got together with Milt and Roni at their house along with D.J., Whitney, Kevin and Sara for a potluck dinner and game night. It was a lot of fun! The kids played downstairs and we got to have some grown-up time. : )

We bought a piano and kitchen table from my parents this month and my dad was nice enough to make a couple trips down to bring them to us since we weren't able to make it up. It is so nice to have a piano back in the house! (And as soon as I remember how to play it will be even nicer!) ; )

We also are in the process of buying an Explorer from a friend of mine. We were finally able to sell my car to a small dealership in Cedar City. This means after a year or more of being a one car family we will finally have the flexibility of 2 vehicles again! (Not to mention the added advantage of running errands around town with 2 kids in a vehicle that I don't have to park a mile away from the entrance! SWEET!!!) We are really excited about it.

Dani and I tagged along to the kite festival with Sara and her kids. They had to turn in reading charts to show that they had been reading at home for the last (insert time frame here - not really sure how long it was) in exchange for a kite. It was a perfect day - wind wise. The kites were staying up and everyone was having fun it was just a supper chilly north wind... It was ok though. Everyone had a good time. I really wish that I had taken the camera with me. KayDee didn't fly her kite for very long and handed it off to me when she was finished. Dani was BEGGING for a turn so I let her hold it with my help thinking that with the pull on it she would change her mind fast and be done too - Ummm... NO! She told me, "I do it!" and took off running with it! She seriously flew it on and off for about 15 min and was heartbroken when we had to stop. Who knew a 2 yr old would love to fly a kite that much! It was hilarious! She had so much fun. Like I said, I am really mad that I didn't think to grab the camera before we left.

Everything with the baby is fine. I have another appointment on Wednesday (I'm already dilated to a 3). My doctor was a bit concerned last week because Charleene hasn't turned yet. So if we are still in the same situation tomorrow he is going to turn her so that she will be ready to go whenever the time is right. We are really praying for a safe delivery. Travis has given me a number of blessings throughout this pregnancy for different things and I have always been told to follow the Dr.'s advice and to have faith and things would turn out well. So that's what we're trying to do. ; ) We've had a lot of blessings thus far and have no reason to doubt that the Lord won't keep his promise. We are just excited to meet our new little one and (because I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable) we hope that it is just this side of sooner rather than that side of later. ; )

Hope all has gone well for you guys this last month! We'll get pictures up of Charleene as soon as we can after she arrives.