Noel Abigail

Welcome to our family little Noel!

We have a new addition to our family. We were blessed with our little Noel Abigail on August 25th. We are so happy to have her. She has such a soft and sweet little spirit and she has eased right in with our crazy little family. Her siblings adore her, contrary to some of their expressions in our hospital pictures. They love to show her off, even to complete strangers. They love and kiss on her and hold her every chance they get. Especially Rylan. We are very excited to watch our kids grow together as siblings.

Noel, much like Rylan, was in a hurry to get here. I was induced Saturday morning, got all hooked up to the pitocin by about 7:30 am and Noel arrived by 10:52 am. We had a little joke running with my doctor that he needed to beat my last laboring time with Rylan which was about 2 hours and 57 minutes. Noel was not about to make things a competition though... as I got closer and closer to a 10, she decided to come down a little crooked, slowing the process just enough to make this labor a little longer at about 3 hours and 22 minutes. She was also, by over a pound, my biggest baby which also slowed things down. She required a little more pushing than I'm used to, and I'll be honest, it was also quite a bit more painful getting her out of there! But everything still went smoothly and flawlessly and I was so happy to have that baby girl in my arms when it was over. 

Our first, slimy cuddle:

My 8lb 3 oz baby:

Daddy, with another little girl who's finger he will be wrapped around:

 Rylan loving on her new little sister:

A few shots on her first day home:

So far she has been a very easy-going baby. She eats well and sleeps so much better than Parker and Rylan did at first, so let's hope that is a good sign for my future! 

I know this little girl came to our family with lots of blessings in tote. She is such a warm spirit to have in our home. And she is such a cuddly little thing. As a matter of fact, one of the night nurses who brought her in to me told me that she was one of the cuddliest babies she had ever held. I love holding her... which is a problem because I don't get much else done. We are feeling very blessed to have another beautiful and healthy child in our family. We love you baby Noel!

Summer Pre School Show

If you don't already know, my mom, in addition to being an awesome grandma, also owns an awesome preschool, and we feel very blessed to be able to take our kids there two mornings a week. I actually had the opportunity to work there for about six months as well and I am so impressed by what my mom has accomplished with her school. It is a wonderful environment and she really works so hard to make every student and their family feel special and loved. Plus, my kids are practically geniuses thanks to her curriculum :) 

At the end of every summer, the whole school puts on a show where each class comes up with a couple of skits and dances. This year both Parker and Rylan were in it and had so much fun! I was a little worried that, being my children, they might come down with a case of stage fright once they got up there. Nope. They obviously inherited their father's love to show-off.

Playing before the show:

Parker's class in "The Circle Dance":

 Rylan's class making shapes in the air to a cute little song:

Parker as a dog in one of his skits:

Parker with his surfboard after dancing to "Surfin' USA":

Rylan was very into her dancing!:

It is really fun to get to watch these kids work on something and have a chance to perform it for their families. We are very lucky to have this opportunity for our kids and love watching them learn and grow while making friends and having fun!

Thanks Grandma Kerry for all you do!

Your Preschool Rocks!