Piper's Blessing

Today was Piper's Blessing. Don gave her a beautiful blessing and then we enjoyed a very spiritual Sacrament meeting. Today was the first time I have been to church since she was born and it was so nice to be there. I'm so grateful for my membership in the church.

This dress was made in 1950 by my Grandma Deane. She made it from the left over fabric from her wedding dress. I think it is beautiful.

(uh...wish I would have been early to church so that we could have had photos before Sacrament meeting instead of after...if ya know what i mean)

Look at all of those pleats, aren't they gorgeous?!

My sweet SIL made this hair thing for Piper. I love it.

The high and lows of coming home...

It seems to be such an emotional roller coaster those first few weeks at home. I know that pregnancy hormones play a factor in that, but knowing still doesn't make it any easier.

Here we all are with Piper just a couple hours old
(Our new family of SIX. It makes me laugh to think that we ARE INDEED a family of SIX!) (My kids always look like ragamuffins in hospital pictures...don't feel bad Mom, I'm glad they are happy and taken care of.:))

So here are some of our Highs and Lows of the first few weeks...

High: This was my BEST labor and delivery. I really didn't want an epidural or any drugs. I did it and it felt so good. My contractions were 15 minutes apart all morning, we went in to the doctor at 2:00 to have her check me and I was at a 7. (We didn't go to the hospital first because I thought they would send me home since they were so far apart.) My contractions stayed 15 minutes apart until about 3:30, then 10 minutes apart for a couple. Then my water broke and I was ready to push. I "tried" not to push while waiting for my midwife. My midwife got there and since she was already crowning I gave one push and she was born at 4:00. It was all crazy wonderful.

Low: This is my forth time having stitches. I REALLY hate stiches.

High: Piper easily fell into a 2 1/2 - 3 hour eating schedule and has at least a 5 hour stretch each night and often a 7-8 hour stretch.

Low: Piper thinks its okay to poop like 30 times a day. This bad habit led to an ugly diaper rash for a day, but we have it under control now.

High: Snuggling a cute little person. (Don't you just love when you pick them up and they arch their back and curl their legs up...that really is the best)

Low: Our house feels VERY small now and our other 3 children seem to have much more energy than before which I didn't know was possible.

High: Having so many great friends that fed us for over a week followed by my sister who flew in from California and took care of us for 3 1/3 days AND filled my freezer with meals.

Low: LAUNDRY

High: Having a wonderful husband who has a flexible job and was able to take time off work to help and be with us for a couple of weeks.

(Maybe I should have put a bow on her head if I was going to take a picture of her in her brothers clothes. But who has time for that...remember...we are a family of SIX now.)

Meet the newest member of our family....

Piper Jane
11/1/11
8 lbs 1 oz

making things even around here...


By the end of this year we will be a family of 6. Kennedy is beyond happy that it is a GIRL! I am due November 2nd and feeling great. This pregnancy has been my easiest, by far.

St. Patrick's Day

Each year on St. Patrick's Day we make a little trap and see if we can catch us a leprechaun. This year Mason wrote a note as well. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch the leprechaun, but he did leave us some fun things for St. Patrick's Day, including a response. What a fun morning for the kids.

Trip to California

We headed down to California at the end of January. Our first stop was in Bakersfield to visit our dearest friends, Cheryl and Micah and their cute boys. I'm so disappointed in myself because I didn't take any pictures! Shocking, I know.

After a few fun days at their house, we headed to Uncle Miles and Aunt Jann's in Alta Loma. It was so fun to spend the day with them and to see Jocelyn and her family.

Monday morning took us to the Happiest Place on Earth where we meet up with Cheryl and Micah and the Moody's. It was so much fun. Once again, I just have a few pictures...:(

This picture was taken over by the Bug's Life theater in California Adventures...when we came out of the show, I could not find Mason. I was only slightly panicked, but still panicked. Someone finally spotted him over in line waiting to see Mickey. I find that I experience extreme emotions at these kind of places. Anxiety (about loosing a child, especially one crazy 2 year old), Panic (when I loose sight of 7 year old and a 2 year old a different time), JOY (5 year old LOVES fast rides), heartache...well, that's because this 7 year old boy is scared of the rides. He did better this trip but we had to convince him to go on several rides. (Okay PUSH and DRAG him on Pirates...oh yes I did.)

Yes, we used the animal lease at Disneyland. We needed it. The time we lost sight of him was the one time we took it off, which was while we were eating lunch. He wandered away and thankfully a family sitting near us saw him. Awesome.

Our kids with the Nilsson kids. The taller boy right in front of the tree....see him...that's Kennedy's future husband.

Had to add this one.

Cheryl and Asher.

Just 2 of the Moody kids in this one. Ya, I'm awesome with the camera. Speaking of awesome, check out Ryker in the bottom left corner.

The was another heartache for me. We went over to the Star Wars show and Ryker caught sight of Darth Maul and covered his eyes for about 30 minutes. It was pretty sad. We left right away when we saw how scared he was, but he just kept his eyes covered.

The last part of our trip we headed down to Carlsbad with the Moody's to stay in a condo right on the beach. It was so beautiful I could have stayed their another week. Unfortunately, I don't have a pictures. Surprise, surprise.