Brooke is home!!!

It truly is the greatest thing ever to be home! We left Provo Friday just before noon and didn't have to deal with any storms, which was wonderful! We are loving being home. Tyler tore through the house like a mad man going from room to room just making sure everything is still here! :) It was pretty funny.

I knew we were gonna be in for it when Brooke was in my belly and about 1o:30-11pm every night she would get very active. Yup, we were right - she's a night owl and we are now zombies. But - it is the greatest blessing that she is here, healthy, and went home with us. I am in 7th heaven. I am doing good. Slowly recovering from my c-section. I like to think I can do more than I should - then I really hurt and regret thinking I need to be busy. Ryan is loving home life too. He has been playing in the snow with Tyler and doing lots of "boy stuff". He's been great keeping Tyler happy and away from climbing on me!

Tyler is so happy and he really loves his baby sister. It seems he has really grown up this last week or so. He doesn't seem like my baby anymore. :( He is being such a big boy which makes me a little sad. He was thrilled when he saw how much snow we had at our house and he really had been missing our Christmas decor - especially the tree. He is so excited about Christmas and sings "Santa Claus is coming to town" on a regular basis! He is so much fun.

Brooke Kristine has made her big appearance!!!!

And wow, she is beautiful. I am completely in love! :) She was born at 1030 this morning via c-section and is doing great. She wanted to grunt when she was born so they had the NICU Dr come down along with a respiratory therapist. She passed with them and went to well baby. Can you believe it? I had a baby and she went to well baby and will go home with us?! Crazy. Anyways - she is 7 lbs 3oz and is 19 inches long. She has strawberry blonde hair and the greatest round cheeks. Tyler is loving her and thinks it's pretty cool. He likes to look at her and has asked to hold her a couple of times! Here are a few pics and I'll post more tomorrow night. :)

We made it!

Well, we're on our 11th night at the hotel and we are SICK OF IT! But.....we made it and my c-section is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 0930! We will go in at 0715 and I am so so so ready. :) I am taking my laptop, so hopefully we can get pics up by tomorrow night-ish. Wish us luck and in 11 short hours I will be holding and kissing my sweet baby! Love to everybody! :)

Killing time....

We're seriously getting SO bored. How many stores can you walk around, really?! Especially with no money, seems how it's all getting dumped into our motel and food bills! We're getting sick of being around people constantly, so we retreat to the motel but that gets boring too. Our typical day goes like this: I'm awake by 5 or 6 (I'm just not sleeping anymore so I'm pretty much up all night off and on) but have to be quiet until the boys wake up. Ryan is up by 8ish and Tyler is closer to 9. If we're up & going before 9 we go down to the breakfast, otherwise we eat the stash we have saved in our room. Then we all get ready and head out around 11. Wander some stores, drive around, eat lunch and we're back to the motel around 3. Ryan "tries" to nap, Tyler plays and I usually get on my computer. Once again - the sleep thing isn't working for me and it is so uncomfortable to lay. Ryan and Tyler go swimming around 5 for an hour or so. We then go get dinner. Lately it's been picking up a quick dinner and eating at the motel. It's a lot cheaper than restaurants every night. Then - we chill at the motel, watch anything Christmas-y since it really doesn't feel like Christmas being shacked up in a motel or anything good that we can find and crash around 10-11. What a life! It really does suck. I just want to go home.... Here's hoping the full moon will help us out tonight. Otherwise, I have a feeling we're waiting until Tuesday....

We took Tyler to Krispy Kreme the other night. He loved it! Can you tell?! :)

And....here's Ryan about 5am crashed out on the sofa hide a bed that's on the floor since half the springs are broken. I was awake, bored and decided to take pics. Luckily, the flash didn't wake them! :)

Is it really a "home" away from home?!

Our new home - Super 8. At my last appt my Dr said I really need to stay in Provo until the baby is born because I'm dialating and he didn't feel good about me being so far away. So......we went home, packed our bags, wrapped up things at our house and moved North. Nothing like being 8.5 months pregnant, living out of a suitcase, having to eat out every meal and sleeping in a crappy motel bed for the last *and most uncomfortable* 5-10 days of your pregnancy. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh......Can this baby PLEASE just make a grand entrance so we can go home and see our cute Christmas decor and sleep in our own beds? What does a girl have to do?!

A hero.....

What do you say? Are there words, really? Jason is my big brother. I think it's safe to say that we hated *or really disliked* each other until we were out of high school (what brother and sister don't!) , but I wouldn't hesitate one second now to say that he is one of my best friends.

Jason is a hero of mine and it became even more evident on January 5, 2007. As a police officer myself I can not imagine what he went through the night of his shooting. Hell. Pure hell. And it's been a roller coaster ever since. He is such a strong person. He is the one that is there when you really need somebody. When I went into labor with Tyler, he came to Provo that night. He spent the next 2 days learning about the hospital, he took the tour of the NICU for us since I was bed ridden, he brought in the Dr's to explain to me what to expect with our tiny little baby that was coming any time. He gave me a blessing. He was a rock. That is Jason. He is still a rock. I never doubt that if I am going through a difficult time that I can count on him.

On Labor Day this year I was an emotional wreck worrying about my current pregnancy and Jason offered me a blessing. It brought me to tears that he would do that. He doesn't know, but I think about that blessing constantly. He has no idea the peace it brought me. I *knew* this baby wasn't coming early after that blessing. Jason told me so and I have no doubt that he was inspired. I love him for that.

I love that he is willing to do anything for his family and friends. I love his personality. I love talking to him (when he does talk! haha). I love hearing his stories from being out on patrol. I love watching him work as he has this way with people that is just a treat to watch. I love his sense of humor - the guy really is funny and a joy to talk to when you get him going! I love that he loves his family. I love his sense of adventure. I love how he can make me feel better after a good talk. I love that I feel like he really cares about me. I love hanging out with him. I love when he is sarcastic and we laugh about it. I love the glances and that we totally can laugh inside because we know *why* we're giving those glaces! I love that he is Tyler's uncle and Tyler loves him (especially when he gives pennies!). I love that he will be our baby girl's uncle. I love that he is humble and doesn't boast himself in pride. and......I love that he is my big brother.

Today, after almost a week long jury trial, we got a guilty verdict on his shooter. We didn't *win* per se, but we were blessed with a great sense of relief. It's not a win/lose here, it's justice....and justice was served on the twentieth day of November, 2008. This was a huge hurdle to get over and one that we are all so grateful to put behind us. Most of all Jason. I will always be so grateful to my Heavenly Father that he allowed Jason to stay on this Earth with us. What would we do without him? He is our rock.

Our baby girl has a room!

We did a lady bug theme and it really turned out cute. We have just a couple of things to hang up and the nursery is completely done! I love the cherry wood and the bedding is just adorable!

Cute closet - thanks Ryan!!!! I really LOVE having a handy man husband.... and check out those clothes! I can't wait to start dressing this spoiled little girl! :)

I didn't have a rocker in Tyler's room. I am excited to have one this time. It'll save me a trip downstairs to the recliner at 2am. :)

Seriously, my baby shower cake tasted as good as it was cute! Delicious! I need to post more shower pics, but I have to get them from my mom. I only got pics of the food! ((of course)) It was so much fun and my mom, Keri, Kailee and Joni did a fantastic job!!

.....and check out this baby belly! Yowzers!!! I can not believe I'm 34 weeks. Crazy!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Our cute house with monsters and spiders! :)

Tyler was a monkey and he imitates one perfect. His hands go into his armpits and he squeels "eee eee eee". SO adorable!

Carving pumpkins with dad. Tyler loved it!

All ready to go Trick or Treating! Let's go mom & dad!!!!

How cute is that monkey bum?!

The first house! Oh, and don't try to adjust your screen - that's Ryan "dressed up" in his grumpy old man mask. :)
Trick or treating to daddy at our house!

We're having a baby!

It took 3 years to finally talk me into doing it, but.....I am pregnant! I am 31 weeks and 1 day to be exact, not that anybody's counting! Oh ya, I am. I am counting every.single.day because this pregnancy has been emotional chaos. What a roller coaster of emotions to be pregnant after Tyler's scary experience. We have had 5 ultrasounds and every one has showed us a baby girl, so we're starting to feel convinced. :) I have been extremely paranoid and refused to buy anything for a long time. At 26 weeks I finally went on a little spree and got some cute girl stuff. Then...after having a minor panic last week that we hadn't done anything since - I ordered all the furniture. So, we should be ready by next week. Yay!

I am due December 22, but am having a c-section sometime early December. Can't wait to meet our baby girl! :)


Here's my belly about 3 weeks ago! I never really had one with Tyler so it has been an adjustment.

...and her cute little face. She is already stubborn and wouldn't peak out from her hiding spot on THREE separate 3d ultrasounds!

Ryan's weekend handy work. He pulled the closet doors off, took out the closet rod, did some touch up paint and built a new closet. I love it. It's a lot like Tyler's, but bigger which I'm sure our daughter will need! I'll update pics as we get the nursery done. :)

Our miracle...

Well, since I posted one of Tyler's birth pictures, I decided it's a must to dedicate a post to my sweet boy.

We were ecstatic when we found out I was pregnant. But, we really never saw the roller coaster coming. Tyler was born at 24 weeks 6 days. A full term pregnancy is 40 weeks. He weighed in at 1 pound, 9 ounces and was 12.25 inches long. When he was delivered, we had no idea what to expect. Well, we had seen pictures from the NICU staff of teeny tiny babies, had been given survivability odds and had heard the horror stories but we were not prepared for what came. He was SO tiny. He let out one little squeal before they whisked him to the NICU team. I barely got a glance at him. We spent the next 80 days at the NICU. It was torture and definitely one of those million dollar experiences that you wouldn't pay a penny for! Tyler came home 4 weeks before his due date and has been doing fabulous ever since. He continues to amaze us and the medical community with his great strides! We love you sweet boy!

4th picture tag....

So everyone is passing this tag along, so I figured I'd better jump on the bandwagon. Here's how it works. You open your picture files and choose the 4th picture from the 4th folder. Let's see what you get! I tag everybody!

This picture is 3 years, 3 months and 12 days old. It is my sweet Tyler at on his first day of life.

Tyler's 1st day of preschool

Tyler started preschool this August. We were really excited for him, but too bad he really doesn't feel the same way. He is NOT a morning person (just like his dad) and he has to be on the bus by 8:20am! It has been a task to have him awake and out of bed, then he needs 15-20 minutes of waking up time, then dressed, fed and ready for the bus by 8:20! It's exhausting! :)
Daddy and Tyler on the first day of school!


















Yes, he had rice crispie before he left.
Bribery is a wonderful thing sometimes.


















He rides the bus to and from school and I was dying for him to get home the first day! Here is a picture play by play of me waiting....taking pics of the empty street....then the bus shows up.....and I was almost in tears by the time I got to the bus to get him! He looked so big with his back pack on getting off the bus. Needless to say, school exhausted him and he crashed on the couch not long after he got home!

We're bloggers!

Yay! Everybody says blogging is great and I really love to read other people's blogs. So, here we are....we'll see how long we last!