More Pictures of Caelyn

My feet next to Gma's thumb...skinny

I am a SLEEPER!


Me and my big sister

Arriving Home

My First Bath at the Hospital

A visit from my Aunt Jenny

Minivan MOM

Anyone that knows us also knows that we have always said that we would NEVER own a minivan. We were just not minivan people. We were going to own an SUV. But after driving both kinds of vehicles long distances with the kids and stuff packed in we realized that in order to get the same space you would have in a minivan you have to get something as big as a Suburban and that huge of a car is just not very practical for us right now. So we broke down...sold the Acura...and bought a Honda Odyssey. We love it! Jason says I look cute driving it.

Introducing Caelyn Marie!!!

So here are some much awaited pictures of our beautiful baby girl. And for those of you that haven't heard about the exciting delivery already...this one is the best! She was born at 2:43 am on May 22nd, weighing 6 lbs, 12 oz and measuring 18 1/2 in.

So I went to the doctor on Thursday morning and he let me know that he expected that I would be going into labor by the time the weekend was over. I had been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and so this was promising. Excited about that news, we had Jenny come over around dinner time to watch the kids while Jason and I went speed walking around the mall. About an hour into our walking, 6:30 ish, contractions started to kick up. We had dinner, went home, got the kids and took them to Aunt Jenny's softball game. Contractions were still steady. We got home around 9 and put the kids to bed. I decided to take a long, hot bath for a couple hours just to relax and prepare myself for the long night that I expected to be having. Around midnight I laid down in bed with some pretty good contractions. Jason helped me breath and realax through each one and by 1:30 we decided to give my friend Lindsay a call to come over so that we could head to the hospital. In a tiny bit of pain, but still feeling good we got to the hospital around 2:15. Contractions were just about 3 minutes apart. The maternity ward was busy but they got me checked in and sent me to a triage room where they took vitals and hooked me up to the monitors and asked me all the detailed questions. The nurse was just about to check me when I had a contraction that felt a little different. There was that slight urge to push at the very end. I made that known to Jason and the nurse and so she decided to check me. She made a joke that maybe we'd be lucky and I'd be dialated to an 8 already. I will never forget the look on her face as she checked and then quickly reached for her phone to call the doctor. I was completely dialated and the baby was coming. The nurses had to scramble to find me a room and resorted to one on the c-section side of the maternity wing. They had me switch to the other bed inbetween contractions and when they did so my water broke everywhere!!! At that point I was definitley feeling like I needed to push but I had 10 nurses and Jason just trying to coach me to breath through it. I tried as hard as I could but my body and taken over and before I knew it and with no effort on my part she was out! Needless to say, when the doctor got in the room I was already holding little Caelyn. It had been 5 minutes from the time the doctor had been called to the time she was out. It was a huge adrenaline rush. Jason did awesome as a coach!!! and I totally feel like a super woman because I was able to do it with out any meds.

To All of the Women in My Life:

I don't know why but I feel that it is important for me to recognize all of the wonderful women in my life. Over the last month or so have felt extremely blessed to know so many great women. My heart is so full that I wish I could take it and make all of you feel how I feel. Here are all of the great things that have been going on in my life...My sister-in-law Jenny has been there whenever we needed her to help us with the kids and making sure that I am doing ok. My mother-in-law offered to take the kids for a whole week so that I could prepare for baby #3 and get some rest. My own mother is going to be taking time out to drive here and be with me when she has girls camp and youth conference at church to plan, a wedding to plan, kids at home that are still in school, and a job that the family relies on. My sister-in-law Becca, who did her best and was successful at planning a relaxing spa birthday party for me. All of the ladies at the YMCA child watch who put together a baby shower and have expressed concern and caring through out my transition into the child watch coordinator and through out my pregnancy. My visiting teachers, most especially Andrea who is so consistent at expressing her concern for me and making a strong effort every month to stop by and also come with something for me. My visiting teaching companion, Heidi, who is much better that I am at making sure that we keep up with the sisters that we visit. My friend, Lindsay, who constantly is doing things for me and has made me feel beautiful for well over a year now (she does my hair). She also is willing to do just about anything for me (like last week she took my to my OBGYN appointment when I didn't have a car). There are also numerous women at work and church that are constantly thinking of me when they have hand-me-downs and who are always setting great examples of what it means to be a good mom and friend. Thank you to all of you that make a difference in my life and have made me feel so blessed.

Playing Catch up

I have some free time for a couple of days and I am trying to play catch up on all of the stuff I have been putting off. This means some extra posts for the blog. We have had a lot going on over the last couple of weeks. I don't have my kids for a few days so I will be finishing my girls' blankets, filling in the summer schedule at the Y, and looking for a mini van. We amazingly will be saying good bye to our Acura later today :(. We will be hopefully picking up the kids in a new van just in time for baby to come.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is close enough to my birthday that it kind of just all runs together. I don't mind it though. We did have a special Mother's Day though. We went to Muscatine and spent the day with Jason's family. May 10th is also Jason's little brother Steven's birthday and he turned 18 this year. I got to wear a pretty red rose corsage to church and Jason was given the opportunity to get up to the pulpit at church and talk about the Mother's in his life. It was the best to see him get up and look at me and the kids and tell everyone how much his family meant to him and how much he really loved me and what I do as a Mother. I wish that I had a video camera so that I could watch what he said over and over again. Hopefully I can keep that in my memory though. Not everybody gets to hear their husband publicly praise them. The kids and I made little Mother's Day presents for Grandma Thrap, Great Grandma Thrap and Grandma Bell. They are really cool! But I can't post pictures quite yet because Grandma Bell hasn't gotten hers yet and we don't want to ruin the surpise. As part of my Mother's Day my Grandma Thrap has the kids for a few days so that I can go home and tie up whatever I need to at home and at work before baby Caelyn comes (hopefully any day now). It is kind of weird because it is soooooo quiet. I miss my babies already.

My 25th BDay

I had a wonderful 25th birthday. On Sunday the 26th of April we had a family combined dinner for mine and Charlys' Birthdays because they are only a week apart. It was a great time! On my actual birthday I woke up to lots of singing from my husband and kids. I also had a brand new phone to use. Jason had gone out and gotten me a red LG Envy 2. Very nice!!! When I got to work, my good friend Kelsi had a balloon and bouquet of candy bars for me. At lunch time, we got to have lunch with Jenny and my mother-in-law. At dinner time, my very best friend Lindsay watched the kids while Jason tooke me out to eat at a very fun Mexican place. (And because it was the day before Cinco de Mayo it was very empty). We topped off the day by eating some cake (that I made for myself). Thanks to everyone that made it a great day. It was definitely the best I've had in a while.

Charly's BDay April 26th

My tiny baby girl is now 4 years old. It is hard to imagine. It really feels like she was that tiny 5lb 14oz baby just yesterday. She continues to be cute and petite but now has a great intelligence and can express it very well. She sings and performs for everyone who will listen. She is the source of a lot of the joy in my life. I have felt, since the day that she was born, that she is much more like my little girlfriend than my daughter. Hopefully, she feels that way too as she gets older too. Here are some pictures from the little party we had with some of her best friends. We had them make crowns and necklaces and then watched a princess movie. I'm sure their mother's loved that they were eating Skittles, and Cheetos while doing their crafts and then still got cake and ice cream. We definitely spoiled their dinner

Ciomara Stubblefield

Hosanna Theile

Meagan Sprague