Baby Kristiana

On June 27th at 1:21 pm, we welcomed our daughter Kristiana into the world! We feel so blessed with this precious child that God has given us and thank Him for a safe delivery. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 21 inches long; of our 4 children, surprisingly, she is our smallest! Ready to begin my induction meds... 5am

Holding our daughter for the 1st time...

Hello world...

Proud Mommy & Daddy

All cleaned up...

In the evening Kristiana got to meet her siblings... and, they were overcome with excitement to meet her!

Kristiana with Nana & Papa

And, our favorite doctor, Marian Groff

39 weeks

One more round of pregnancy pictures before our big day tomorrow! We spent this weekend enjoying time at the rodeo and spending time with dear friends who are visiting here from the Dominican Republic, the Geers. Also, our good friend, Sharla and her kids were here for the weekend so, it's been a great weekend of catching up with friends and letting all the kids play together. I am thankful to also have my parents here this weekend as they've helped a bunch around the house and letting me rest when I needed it!

While at Judy & Ken's today, Ann gave me a much appreciated foot massage... something I've been dying for this whole pregnancy :)

Casey and I with Scott and Ann... we miss them dearly when they're not with us!

Summertime

On Wednesday my friend, Lisa and her two kids, Taylor and Dalton, came over in the afternoon. Lisa and I relaxed in the shade while the kids had fun eating ice cream, running through the sprinklers and playing on the swingset. Yesterday I had my last OB appointment in Elko to make sure things were still good to go for my induction early Monday morning (more like the middle of the night... we have to be to the hospital around 2am!) My mom drove from Boise and made it just in time to go with the kids and I to Elko for the day. After my appt. we had a picnic and let the kids play at their favorite "wooden park".... Katie showed off her climbing skills on this rope thing... I zoomed in to get her picture...

Monster Truck

The big Mud Bogging event is in town this weekend and, we all know how much the boys LOVE monster trucks! Since we won't be going to them tomorrow, mom and I took the kids to see one of the big trucks before going swimming this afternoon. Of course, they LOVED the big truck and Trent kept running around it all excited!! Having the kids stand underneath it put in perspective just how big that truck was!

Rumble in the Rubies

On Saturday afternoon/evening we took the kids to Elko's yearly Rumble in the Rubies motorcycle rally. Four city blocks are blocked off and lined with motorcycles, vendors, bands and lots of "motorcycle dudes" walking around. We took the kids early enough in the day before the craziness of the night-life began... A majority of the bikes are Harley Davidsons so, the boys had a great time looking for ones that looked just like their Grandpa's! Casey got to spend his evening dreaming about the future Harley he'd like to get and, Katie & I admired the pretty pink rhinestone helmets :) Towards the end a storm blew in so our evening was cut short but, we finished off the fun evening with ice cream and playing in Playland at Burger King.

Tys and a 1940's motorcycle. Apparently, if you owned a bike like this during it's time you were immediately drafted into the war due to the lack of military motorcycles...

This year's rally was in honor of our nation's current POW Bowe Bergdahl. My family and I know Bowe and his family from when we attended the Boise OPC church about 10 years ago.. he was more of my brother's friend but I remember him being very kind and quiet. We continue to pray for his release so he can be with his family once again.

38 weeks

The time is near... I am now 38 weeks and scheduled to be induced next Monday, the 27th, if she hasn't joined us by then. It's all becoming so real that very soon we'll have our little baby girl; this pregnancy has been my most challenging yet and I can't believe it's almost over. Some days it felt like it'd never come! However, with this being our last pregnancy I have also really tried to enjoy it and cherish everything one last time. I feel that it is such a blessing and a joy to be able to carry each of our kids and am looking forward to the moment when we hold her in our arms for the first time!
We aren't huge fans of inducement but, decided this was the best choice. Per many nurses and my 2 doctors, the baby is "ready" (won't go into details! lol) and I had better get to the hospital right away when I go into labor. I am prone to have fast deliveries and, with living an hour away from the hospital we decided to go ahead with the induction. Also, most of the time Casey doesn't have phone service when he's at work and, he could be anywhere in the middle of the nowhere (since we live in "the middle of nowhere"!!) So, I've been worrying that not only might I not make it to the hospital in time but, my husband wouldn't either! Anyhow, she could still arrive this week so, we'll see.... She gave us quite a scare this last weekend; I woke up around 5:30 Sunday morning realizing I hadn't felt her move throughout the night. We had taken the kids to the motorcycle rally in Elko the night before and she was VERY active then but, once we got home and to bed I hadn't felt her move at all. So, I laid in bed for the next hour and tried to get her to move, drank juice etc (everything the books say to do) By 8am I had gotten just a little kick in my ribs. So, Casey and I headed to the hospital to have her checked. The nurse hooked me up to all sorts of monitors, I drank more juice, ate etc. and she finally began moving around 10am. By then, it had been about 13 hours! She still wasn't "jumping around" as well as the nurses wanted AND, I had a few contractions during that time so, they observed me (and her) for a while. Thankfully, her heart rate was great so it was determined that she wasn't in distress. At one point she had the hiccups and, with having the monitors on, it amplified her hiccups so they were really loud... pretty cute! We got home around 3 in the afternoon and I was ordered to "rest" (which to me means no pulling weeds in the yard! lol) But, I was really drained and tired by than and did rest for the remainder of the day. Since then she's been moving around like she's supposed to and everything looked good at my doctor's appt. yesterday.
I felt bad that Father's Day for Casey was spent in a hospital room! But, he is so wonderful and didn't mind... I DID let him watch car racing on the t.v. since it was Father's Day (I just don't understand the thrill of watching cars going round and round in circles for almost 2 hours! lol) And, we had already celebrated Father's Day with the kids on Saturday when we took them to the motorcycle rally. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Casey with his kids on Father's Day...
So, we're thankful that all turned out ok! I am thinking that because she had been up the night before (I spent the night having false contractions) and we had a busy day on Saturday that maybe she was just exhausted and slept for 13 hours!!

Swimming

Yesterday my sweet neighbor, Dena, and I took the kids swimming at our local pool. With having three little kids on different levels of knowing how to swim, I was thankful to have Dena's help! They mainly played in the kiddie pool and each one took turns swimming in the big pool with Dena. They had a great time and all took naps after arriving home!

On the home front, I am keeping myself busy with cleaning, doing things with the kids and resting when necessary... Casey has forbidden me to weed or wash the outside windows so I'm cleaning everything in the house instead :) At 37.5 weeks I am experiencing quite a bit of false contractions, tiredness and soreness. But, there's not much longer so I'm just trying to enjoy these last few days!

Katie has been attending a local church's VBS this week; she's having fun learning new songs, being with her friends and doing the crafts. It's good to hear what she's learned about God as, today she was telling me about the fact that Peter denied he knew Jesus and we were able to have a discussion about that....

Milkshakes

My mom bought me a new blender this weekend... in the evenings, after their baths, we've been having fun making milkshakes and blizzards with it! They drink it from a straw and enjoy every bit of it until the very last drop!

Tys being silly....

The park

The weather is in the 80's today... so beautiful and sunny! I decided to take the kids to the park so the boys could play while Katie practiced riding her bike. She is gaining more strength in her legs and coordination with stearing the bike (she improved quickly once she realized that she can't pedal, stear and ring her Barbie bell all at the same time!)

Trenton enjoying his ice cream from Bakkers Brew! I have a new found love addiction to their Snickerdoodle Frapps :)

Tys brought his Spiderman Scooterboard along to ride but, once we got there the screw got lost and I couldn't find it. So, here's Tys showing off his broken scooterboard and the "gun" he made from the handle bars....

36 weeks

I am now 36.5 weeks and feeling pretty good! There is the usual end-of-pregnancy things but, overall I can't complain. This last week I've been experiencing quite a bit of false contractions which, I take as a good sign since my body is getting ready to do what it's supposed to do. However, they do leave me feeling tired and sore. Thankfully, Baby is facing down and in the right position... kicking in my ribs and having lots of hiccups!
Katie and I had a "girls day" on Monday and went to Elko for the day. I had a doctor's appt, had lab drawn and pre-registered at the hospital. Katie enjoyed getting to hear the baby's heartbeat and talking to the doctor. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my OB doctor? She is about my mom's age (so very motherly!) and truly cares how I'm doing and feeling. She also takes the time to talk to the kids and answer their questions. And, of course, she wins their hearts when she passes out suckers at the end of our visit! She's also a lady that's full of all sorts of knowledge. If I mention anything that I'm having a hard time with (ie. heartburn) she has all sorts of remedies to try besides the usual Tums or Rolaids :) Anyhow, I'll miss seeing her once the baby arrives.... The weather is finally beautiful, sunny and warm here today!! We're going to celebrate the arrival of the beginning of summer with a trip to the park today... along with more house cleaning and yard work. I'm pretty sure we'll have the cleanest house around by the time Baby arrives lol

Trenton's helmet

Ever since riding on Monday, Trenton has been obsessed with wearing Casey's helmet. Personally, I don't know how he can wear it all day without getting a headache! But, he loves it and "vrooooms" around the house. He does take it off for mealtime and naptime :)

Katie's tea party with me and her brothers... Trenton brought a little bit of "manliness" to the party with his helmet!

Winnemucca Sand Dunes

My parents came down from Boise for the holiday weekend. They arrived Saturday then, took the kids camping with them at the Winnemucca Sand dunes on Sunday. My mom said they were great little campers and enjoyed doing things like playing in the sand, taking nature walks, coloring & reading in the camper, eating Smores and playing with their new flashlights at night! Casey and I enjoyed a quiet day to ourselves and went to our friend's house that evening.
On Monday Casey and I woke up early (no kids and we STILL woke up early! lol) and headed out to join the family at the dunes. I spent the day hanging out while Casey and my parents rode the 4-wheelers and gave the kids rides. The weather started out cold but, warmed up by the afternoon. After a yummy bbq dinner we headed home with three very tired and dirty kiddos!! Here are a few photos... My dad and Casey with the boys

Nana and Tys

Katie & Trenton building sand castles

Cool dude Trenton

One very happy little boy!