Our Sweet Little Princess

UPDATE:
(From Tim) Jace, Braxton, and I have spent quite a bit of time together since Ashlyn was born. It's both fun and tiring to be around them all day. I don't know how Kristin does it day after day. Jace and Braxton say the darndest things! Jace and Braxton have taken well to Ashlyn. They always want to hold her. I wonder what Ashlyn thinks about that! Ashlyn is a very good and sweet baby. It must be the girl in her. I think she will bring a sense of calmness to our house.

On Friday, May 23, we went into the hospital at 6 am. In some of my business dealings I have come to know the hospital administrator. He must have pulled some strings because Kristin supposedly got the best room (very good size, big windows, and great view). When we were checking in, one of the nurses was going to put us in Room 114 before another nurse said, "No, they should be in Room 116". The administrator stopped by the room to say hi and congratulate us the day after the birth. The whole birth process took longer than we expected because the doctor did not show up until 1 pm to break Kristin's water. After her water was broken, things progressed rapidly which we expected based on Braxton's birth. Had the doctor come in the morning to break her water, I'm guessing the birth time would have been before noon rather than 3:16 pm. Additionally, the doctor had to go over to another hospital to perform a Caesaran. Because of that, the nurses stalled Kristin (with drugs) until the doctor made it back. Anyways, the birth went smoothly. Kristin may disagree, but compared to the screaming girl in the next room, Kristin seemed calm. It must have been because she couldn't feel her legs due to the strong epidural! At nights, I stayed with Kristin while Grandma watched the boys. I would go get them ready for bed and then head back to the hospital. During the days, I would play with Jace and Braxton (the Nintendo Wii at Grandma's house was the most requested activity), take them to see Mommy and Ashlyn, go to lunch, go to the playground, and one night to Chuck E Cheese's. We are grateful for another healthy baby and look forward to new experiences with three children. I spend a little time working on the basement while I'm home from work this week. It will most likely be complete next week. Just in time since the baby gear has joined the toys in the family room!

(From Kristin) Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl. She is so fun and I am LOVING having a newborn again. I love this stage and it seems to go so fast so I am spending lots of time snuggling her. I already love having a little girl. She is doing great, and thankfully Tim is home this week so I have been able to rest and recover while he takes care of the boys. They love their sister and always want to carry her around and hold her. We have to watch that. : ) So here are some pictures from her first few days of life...

Ashlyn Emilie

With mommy shortly after being born

Our little family of 5!

Saturday...we both liked being taken care of in the hospital : )

On our way home!

Does she look like daddy or mommy?

First day at home...she has been so great.

Braxton loves his baby sister and LOVES to hold her (Jace loves to be in every picture we take)

Jace loves her too, and wants to be able to carry her around all by himself...we will have to wait a little while for that though : )

Sleepy after her first bath at home

We love all the PINK!

Her 4th day here with us wrapped up in my new favorite baby item, the Boppy swaddler. So great if your baby likes to be swaddled as much as she does. I got it as a gift the day we got home and just tried it yesterday and love it.

So we are all loving life with our newest little addition. There is nothing like having a new baby join our family, we feel so very blessed!

She is Here!!

And actually she has been here since Friday at 3:16pm. It has just been a busy time and we didn't take our computer to the hospital. She is healthy and doing great and is SO cute!!! (I am biased, but you will see. We will post some pictures in the next couple of days) We named her Ashlyn Emilie and she weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. We will give more updates soon... : )

Finally Some Baby News (and some other pictures)

So I finally have some baby news to share because I went back to the doctor today. Last week, he had said not much progress and that we wouldn't really know until this week whether anything could happen this week. When I went in today though I had progressed a lot so we scheduled me to go in Friday morning at 6 am to have this little girl! I can't believe that I will only be pregnant with her for 2 more days at the most! I really have mixed feelings now that it is so close...so excited to see her finally, nervous to have 3 kids, stressed about getting things ready before she gets here, hoping the boys adjust to the big family change well...it will be a busy couple of days! So this will be a big week for our little family. We will post some pictures as soon as we get a chance... so wish us luck!!! Pray I don't go completely crazy before then : )



So, here are some pictures of what we (mostly the boys) have been up to this last week...

On Saturday it was a wonderful, beautiful, blue-sky day that was actually kind of toasty for us here. I remembered how much my brothers and sisters and I loved to put the sprinkler under the tramp when we were little, so I thought it would be fun to try it with the boys. They had some friends over and it was a HUGE hit. I wasn't sure how Braxton would like it...spraying water and much bigger boys jumping around, but he loved it. They stayed out there for hours playing. It was fun to watch how much fun they had.

Brax with his Thomas having some sprinkler fun...he still doesn't realize he is 2 years younger than Jace. He stayed out there with the big boys the whole time.

I haven't posted basement pics for a while. This week we (and by we I mean the guy we hired) finished painting all the walls. The trim and ceiling were done being painted the week before. We are really happy with the way it turned out. As you can see the baseboards and windowsills are in too. We ordered the carpet today, which is the last step! Yeah!

The big toy closet at the end of the main room. It has big french doors that go on it but all the doors were taken off to be painted, then left off to make things easier on the person painting the walls and closets. Lee did a great job with all the trim and building shelves in all the closets. He even built some shelves in our garage with the leftover wood.

Here is the beginnings of the shower. The cabinet, counter top and sink were installed toady so they aren't in the picture (these are from a few days ago) but now that it is in we can tile the floors around it and finish up the bathroom.

This is the big bedroom in the back. It will eventually be the boys room so we are painting it the same color as their room upstairs. It is done now and looks great. Just like their room now so see the post below if you want to see what the finished product would look like.

Jace's last T-ball game was Monday night. He improved a lot over the season. He was actually getting some lift on the ball off the tee and hitting it pretty far. It has been so fun to go to all his games.

Mondays game was extra fun because at the end they got their trophies AND pictures AND a cupcake AND a can of root beer. It was the best game ever to all the little boys.

Braxton was happy he got a cupcake too. He will be so excited when he is old enough to actually be part of a team.

So lots of good times around here : ) We are excited to meet the newest member of the family and we are also excited to see what name we come up with since we still don't have anything picked out!

Bunkin up

This week has gone so fast! We have gotten a lot of things done though, one of them being getting the boys bunk beds. We found out that Jace's bedroom set had a bunk bed that matched but it was being discontinued. So we bought it last week before it was gone since it matched the dresser and stuff we already have. Tim picked it up last night and came home and put it together. Jace was very impressed and told his preschool class today that his daddy built him and Braxton bunk beds. I explained to his teacher Tim just put them together, he didn't actually build them. : ) So now they are officially roommates. Here is a board that I have hanging in their room...and thankfully, they are really good buddies. I hope it stays that way.

Here they are on the top bunk ready for bed. Braxton really liked being up there with Jace. They were so excited to be able to sleep in their new bunk beds, it took them a while to fall asleep. When they did though, they slept really well.

Here is Jace ready for bed. I haven't gotten a quilt yet for Braxton's bed. We just put an extra blanket on it for now. I did get him new sheets though to match Jace's and a new mattress pad. Thankfully it was waterproof, because he was so excited to be in his new bed he wet all over it. : ) (Through his diaper and jammies)

Here is the little cutie pie ready for his first night in a big boy bed. Yeah no more crib! He never slept well in his crib so we are hoping the big boy bed is a success. So far so good. He stayed in it all night last night : )

They slept in pretty late this morning, and then I heard them laughing in their room. So I went in to find this. Brax had climbed up in bed with Jace. Jace is just pretending to sleep....and Braxton is trying to pretend. He was snoring with his eyes open. : ) (I checked on them throughout the night, and Brax was always in his bed so I know he had just climbed up there when he woke up. ) So, bunk beds are so far a success. They are both good at going up and down the ladder so we are hoping there won't be any falls from the top. Last week I did go through all their clothes and box up the things that don't fit, so now I just need to move Braxton's clothes into his new room. I am glad I am having another baby because I can't believe my Brax is in a big boy bed.

Yesterday Tim also brought home a box of Krispie Kreme doughnuts a drug rep had brought them at work. So this morning I put the box out in front of them so they could pick which one they wanted to have for breakfast. Jace picked one with sprinkles...Braxton picked everything else. I think he took two bites of each one. As some of you know, we haven't really had a name picked out for our soon to be new baby. Tim liked "Kate" pretty early on and we just kind of had that because we hadn't thought of anything else. Well, now we have decided that we really don't like that name after all so it is no longer in the running. So we have been trying to think of ones we do like. This morning during doughnut time I asked they boys for their input. This is how it went.

Me: Guys, what do you think we should name baby sister?

Jace: Slinky Dog.

Braxton: Poop

Me: Those area silly names...how about some nice names.

Jace: Stinky Pants

Braxton: Burp

(losts of laughing from the boys)

So yeah, we are still at square one. If anyone has any suggestions to top theirs we would be happy to hear them. : )

Tomorrow I have another doctor's appt. Last week he said that tomorrow's appt. would be to check my progress and, if I wanted, to set a date to be induced depending on how much I am dilated. It will probably be sometime next week. So I think that kind of kicked us into gear to get a lot of things done. On Saturday, it was a pretty nice day, so I decided to plant flowers outside in our yard because I knew it wouldn't get done if I didn't do it then. So, I spent the late afternoon planting 50+ flowers all over our yard. Tim wasn't home then, so they boys jumped on the trampoline and stuff and played pretty good just on their own until they decided they wanted to take a ride in their jeep when I was about half way done planting. I was like, okay sure, it will feel good not to bend over for a while. We got down our street and then another, then the battery ran out. Great...so then I pushed them all they way home in their jeep. I am sure it was a wonderful sight for all the neighbors. : ) The flowers all got planted though, and I slept really well that night because I was sooo tired after. I am hoping they all take and look pretty for the rest of the summer. I am feeling pretty good for the most part though and really can't believe that my little girl will be here with us by next week. I will post tomorrow or the next day to give an update on what the plan is after I go to the doctor.

This is a picture of Jace's Mother's Day present he made in preschool. (I don't know why it posted sideways, but you get the idea) It was really cute. The kids picked the color (thank you Jace for the neon green, and just know that it is even brighter in person) and painted the boards and then the teachers put the lettering on. I love it though and it goes perfectly in our master bedroom where nothing really matches anyway : ) I had a good Mother's Day. I got to take a nap, which was so nice, and then Tim and the boys had taken me to Olive Garden for dinner on Thursday to celebrate. On Sunday we went down to my parents house where my sisters had made dinner. I am so grateful for my mom and mom-in-law. My mom is such a good example and helps me out in so many ways. She is always willing to watch the boys too and is such a good Grandma. My mom-in-law is on a mission and such a good example to my boys of going on missions. She also raised Tim and did a great job since he is my favorite person in the world, and for that I will always be grateful to her.

One closing comment...we are going to Mexico in August on vacation so I want to hurry up and lose all my baby weight. I found that the only motivation I will need is to keep Jace around. When we were at Olive Garden he was sitting next to me. At one point he turned and looked at me and said "Mommy, you have a very, very very, biggie big bottom" Ummm, thanks Jace. So I said "Oh, do you have a big bottom?" No. "Does daddy have a big bottom?" "No mommy, just you." So if that isn't motivation I don't know what is : )

Happy Birthday Braxton

We had a lot of fun this week going to more T-ball and celebrating our little Braxton's birthday. It is hard to believe that he is already two! There are lots of pictures so...brace yourself : )

First the T-ball game from Monday. It was finally beautiful weather and that made the game even more fun. Wednesday's game got cancelled because it was snowing lightly and freezing cold so...that made us appreciate the beautiful weather when we have it even more!

Jace up to bat...he gets better every time

Happy after he made it all around the bases and scored

Braxton still hasn't given up the idea that he is part of the team. This was after the game. He was really excited that it was his turn to play, because he pretty much cries through the whole game when I put him in his stroller.

Their post game cheer...1,2,3 BEES!! Jace loves it and likes to do it at home too : ) He is on Tim's left.

Okay so now for Braxton's birthday pictures. He had a fun day. He started out by sleeping in until 10:30 (I kept checking on him to make sure he was still alive because he NEVER sleeps in that late) and then requested marshmallows for breakfast. Every time I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday he would say "Go to Blockbuster"...so we went to Blockbuster.

Here he is trying to choose a movie. We were there for like 40 minutes; he couldn't be rushed. In this picture, things look calm but about 5 minutes later he ran around the corner and decided to climb the shelves to get a better look and broke the middle one off. That was my limit at Blockbuster, so I hurried up and fixed the shelf, had Jace help me put all the videos back on it and hurried Braxton's selection process up. He finally decided on Thomas and Friends: A Very Busy Day. And that is a 4 star movie, let me tell you : ) He loved it!

Then it was off to Target, his other favorite destination, to spend the gift card he got from Nana and Papa. He was in heaven browsing the toy isles and once again, did not want to be rushed. I think we were there for just over an hour. He looked at just about every toy available before he decided on a train (above picture), a huge bouncy ball, and a dinosaur (pictured below...which is really a dragon but he thinks it is a dinosaur and loves it) He was so excited, a big thank you to Nana and Papa!

Then it was off to the store to pick up his birthday cake, which is when he started singing "Happy Birthday" to himself...it was so cute. More Thomas the train...

Dinner was Braxton's choice and he picked Carl's Jr....known in our family as "Star Chicken" because the happy meal chicken comes in the shape of a star. He had so much fun on the playplace he didn't do much eating...but he drank a lot of Root Beer. : )

Then it was back to the house to open presents. He was so excited and kept saying "Wow!" every couple of seconds as he was opening them...even before he knew what they were : ) It was so dang cute! This is when he was opening his very own bike, which was so exciting because he always wants to try and ride Jace's but is just a little too small still. This one is perfect for him! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa : )

Getting ready to blow out candles but he just wants a taste of the icing...

Lighting the candles and still just wants to taste the icing : )

So proud that he blew out the candles

Then he really got what he wanted, lots and lots of icing. He ate every speck of icing off the cake, and then maybe a bite or two of the actual cake. He picked chocolate cake, his favorite.

After playing some more with his toys, taking a bath and getting ready for bed; he was ready for just one more piece of cake. The perfect end to his big day!

The next day Jace thought it would be funny to ride Braxton's little bike, Brax thought it was fun to push him around the house on it. Tonight we took it out for a ride around the neighborhood and he loved it. He rang his little bell about 1000 times and loved to be a big boy on a bike instead of a baby in a stroller.

His gift from Tim and I was this trampoline. We had been thinking about getting one for a while but didn't want to just give it to them for no reason. Christmas isn't a good time here to get one for weather reasons and Jace's birthday is right before it gets cold but Braxton's birthday was perfect. They LOVE it. They always want to go out there to jump...Braxton was just going between Tim and I today saying "bampoline" with a very sad face until we gave in and took him out there (for like the 4th time today). Jace has already learned some tricks he is very proud of including the classic seat drop and back up and a spinning jump. Braxton just loves to bounce around.

Here they are through my favorite feature...the net. It goes around just the bouncing part and is stitched to the mat so they can't break through it. That way the springs, and bars that hold up the net, are on the outside so they can't fall on them or run into them. You can also zip the net completely shut and latch it, which Braxton really likes to do. As soon as he is in the first thing he wants to do is "close it up" I am so glad to have it because it will be something fun for them to do while I am in that phase of not going too many places with a brand new baby. So far, besides jumping on it every day, Jace has planned to camp on it with Daddy and Brax in sleeping bags, have a picnic on it, and when it gets hot enough, put the sprinkler under it. So if you are ever in the mood for some trampoline fun, come on over to our house : )

Yesterday my mom and best friend Rebekah had a baby shower for me at my mom's house and it was so fun. I got so many cute little clothes for this baby girl but also got to see so many fun people that I love, some of which I don't get to see that often. I was going to go through and take pictures of some of my favorite things but it ended up being too many pictures, so just imagine lots of cute baby girl dresses, swimsuits, sleepers, play outfits, bracelets, bibs, burp clothes and a girlie diaper bag and you will get the idea. It made it even more real that she is coming soon! Now at least she will have a lot more to wear : ) Thank you so much to everyone who was able to come!! I am still feeling pretty good...starting to swell a little more, but not bad. I can tell she is running out of room in there and when she starts moving my stomach is bouncing and shifting around like crazy. It freaks Jace out a little.

One funny thing to end on...at breakfast one morning this week Jace was telling me how very, very big my tummy is. Then he lifts up his shirt and says "I have a small baby in my tummy. Put your hand here mommy and feel it move". It cracked me up. : ) This week I have a lot of goals like clean out closets and drawers and pack up too small clothes for the boys, plant the outside flowers and start washing the baby clothes. We'll see how it goes. :)