Four weeks and counting...

Gracie has now been with our family for four weeks--Crazy! How do I recap all that has taken place in our family in four weeks? I'll do my best..Nana: My mom was here for almost two weeks. Unfortunately for her, just a few days after arriving she caught a terrible cold from Kate. Kate is so good at sharing! She still managed to make meals, fold laundry, change diapers and sew some cool Transformer/Scooby-Doo bags with the boys.The fourth of July: The kids spent the morning of the fourth playing outside and attacking their dad with water balloons. Then we actually ventured out of the house for a bbq and fireworks with friends. I just love the 4th of July. It is a holiday that I have many fond memories of from my childhood. Hopefully our kids will also have fun memories of this day.

Mary Jane: A few days before my mom was set to leave we learned that the baby that my sister-in-law, Ashley, and my brother, Matt, were expecting had died. She delivered the baby on July 10th and my Mom flew out on the 11th to be with them. We were all amazed at the strength and faith of Matt and Ashley as they have come together in the knowledge that they will see little Mary Jane again one day. Of course we feel grateful to have Gracie here with us as we have shared in sorrow with them. We love you Matt and Ashley.
Annie: Week four and Owen and Davis continue to call Gracie, "Annie". This poor confused child. I actually have a good laugh as I sit and listen to Kate debate with them about her name. "Annie is crying"...."No! Gayce!"...."Annie is awake!"..."No! Gayce!"..."Where is Annie?"..."No! Gayce!" Man, I love that girl!

Davis does still refer to her as "our brand new baby" as well.

Ben and Jerry: The first day I was alone with the kids on my own I declared it "official quiet time for all" around 2:00 p.m. Once all the little people were in their rooms I stood in the kitchen and ate Ben and Jerry ice cream out of the carton. I kept telling myself that I could do this and hopefully would not have to rely on Ben and Jerry every day to get me through. Thank goodness they were there when I needed them! God bless Ben and Jerry.Open House at the Fire Station: Our town had an Open House to celebrate the opening of a couple of new fire stations. It was a great event...one of those things you go to and leave saying, "I love this town!" The kids were able to climb on and in the fire trucks, police cars, a SWAT truck, eat hot dogs and ice cream, collect balloons, stickers and pencils, watch the Jaws of Life tear into a car and a demonstration of a police dog taking down a "bad guy" and finally...spray a fire hose. Does it get better than all of that?

Sisters: Up until today, I have stayed home with the girls from church. I will admit I have loved this time and of course have used it to take a few pictures along with reading stories, baking cookies, napping and playing with dolls. I hope these sisters will always love each other as I loved my sister.

Introducing little Gracie...

Sorry for being delayed with the photos and details, but little Gracie is here safe and sound!

Last Saturday was Kate's birthday and I started having more significant contractions than I had been experiencing. Really I just wanted to make it to the 28th, so that they could have different birthdays. That night I was up a lot with contractions and had them off and on throughout the next morning and afternoon. At the prodding of some persuasive friends I called my Doc (Dr Cohen--love her!) and asked if she was going to be at the hospital if I could have her strip my membranes to speed things up (she had offered to do this before and I knew that she was on call). Well, to my surprise she said, "Why don't we just head down there now, I'll break your water and we'll have a baby tonight?" "Uh, okay", I said. Beth and Shae had taken our kids to their home for the night and off we went. Basically, they checked me (I was at a 3 and 50%), got me in a room, I had my epidural, Dr Cohen came in, broke my water and two hours later I was ready to push. Seriously, this was the most surreal, laid back birthing experience yet. IT WAS AWESOME. We did have a little hiccup in that a respiratory therapist had to be on hand because they thought that Gracie had possibly swallowed some of the miconium, but it ended up being a false alarm...whew!
So, at 12:23 a.m. on June 29th our beautiful dark haired baby entered the world. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and looks A LOT like her handsome daddy's family. After much discussion we finally settled on the name Grace (Gracie) Jeanne. Owen still refuses to call her anything but "Annie" (from The Magic Treehouse books) and Davis thought we should have named her "Bergert" ("It is totally a girl name and means 'baby' in Spanish," he says.), but we'll see how long that lasts. Kate thinks she is the best toy we have ever gotten her and Davis is fascinated with letting us know when "It is AWAKE! Oh, how cute! Our new baby is awake."

We'll keep you posted on our life with little Gracie...

Happy Birthday Katerbug!

Today our spunky, beautiful, determined, happy Kate is TWO! I can hardly believe it. Kate adds so much love and life to our home and family. We love to watch her dance and chat away about everything. Her favorite thing to talk about...the color pink! How our hearts melt when she blows kisses and how we laugh when she joins in on the wrestling. Happy Birthday Katerbug! We love you!

My 29th Birthday...for the fourth time!

Here is a quick recap on my birthday last week...above you see the face that woke me up in the morning. I love that face...
As soon as Davis woke up he came and gave me a big hug and said, "I Know it's your birthday!" Like he had discovered and remembered some deep dark secret. Then the kids went to work...
First they helped Jed fix breakfast before he left for work...cereal and toast...YUM! Owen even remembered to put out our special birthday cup. Too bad nobody told him that it was really dusty and should have been washed out before he poured the juice...of course I just smiled and drank dusty juice...Gotta love it!
Then the kids set up game after game because they just knew that I would love to play games with them all morning. My favorite was Twister! Look at the previous post for a reminder of why this is humorous. Needless to say, I was the official spinner.

Jed's office had a special lunch for me and showered me with gifts...we have the world's greatest staff! Thank you to Erika for watching my kids so that I could go and be pampered.

In the evening we took the boys to see "Up". One of my favorite things to do is watch my kids and their excitement at the movies. Is there anything better than hearing them laugh out loud???? Thank you to Loretta for spoiling Kate during this time and making her feel special too.

Finally the night ended with cake and presents. Thank you to all of you who thought of me with emails, phone calls, cards, gifts, etc. I felt very loved!!! I love being 29...again. :)

Today's Up-Date

Today I went to the doctor and I am now dilated to a 2, although the baby is still a bit posterior. I am hoping to hold out until after Kate's birthday on Saturday and my mom arrives on Monday. Looks like that is a good possibility. We'll keep you posted. Gotta love the belly shot, eh? I promised a friend in my ward that I would get a good belly shot in at the end.

In other news...the kids are in swim lessons this week. I think we have three fish on our hands. Davis is suddenly fearless, which scares me to death, but they are making great progress. Gotta love the summer!!!

Happy Father's Day!

I just got off the phone with my Dad and have been thinking about how lucky I am to have such a great father myself and now such a great father for my children.

As I am entering the final days/weeks of my pregnancy there are so many emotions running through me...I am excited for this little life to come into our home, terrified that I won't be able to handle four little ones very well, apprehensive that our baby or I may have complications that we aren't prepared to deal with, sore from carrying around this extra _ _ pounds, and on and on. So, yesterday Jed was manning the fort and the natives, while I went out and ran some errands. On the way home I was thinking about Father's Day and how lucky I am. I had a thought that I don't think I have ever written down before. One thing that I love about Jed is that I have NEVER felt that he isn't totally proud to say that he is with me. It doesn't matter how crazy I am or how big I am or how sloppy I look (what can I say...if it is not comfortable, I am not wearing it these days) he is always totally accepting and loving toward me. Now the poor guy has to watch me in labor soon. Honestly I feel bad for him (I feel worse for me of course!). It must be hard to be so helpless. I am pretty sure he is going to have a legal document in the delivery room for me to sign stating that this IS our last baby.

So, there you have it...the random thoughts of me at almost 38 weeks...dilated to a one and 50% effaced...we'll keep you posted!

China and Hi Kitty

Two quick stories...

Today Davis' nose was pretty raw around his nostrils (um, yea we are going on 4 weeks of colds/coughs, on and off fevers etc....ugh!), so I put some aquafor around the edges of his nose and he threw a fit. Then he told me if I ever do that again he "is going to run away". I just had to document that today was the first time one of my babies threatened to run away...I know it will not be the last. I asked him where he would go and he said, "probably China". Ha!

After we got home from Jed's soccer game tonight Kate told me, "my foot hurt". I washed off her feet and looked for a sore or something, but couldn't see anything. Then she changed the subject or so I thought. She suddenly started to say, "hi kitty...hi kitty". I thought, "Okay, she wants to go say 'hi' to a kitty." Our neighbors have a kitty...she has a stuffed kitty...nope neither of those was the answer she was looking for...."You want to read a book about kitties?"...no, not it either. Then she grabbed my hand and started to pull me into the hall. Then I understood she wanted a "Hello Kitty" band aid for her "owie". After she had gone through so much to explain to me what she wanted, I relented and opened a band aid. I went to put it on her foot and she stuck out her arm..."Here," she smiled. Too cute. So now she sleeps with "Hi Kitty" on her arm and she is happy as a lark. Funny, funny.