Happy Pioneer Days and 10 years!

 We were able to celebrate Pioneer Days in Snowflake this past weekend. It's pretty much my favorite holiday. I love being around so much family and getting to see the people that I grew up with. I love watching the parade with my kids and I get such enjoyment seeing their excitement in little things like a blue Jolly Rancher, a small pony, or getting their very own drink that they don't have to share(I know I'm a bad Mom and give my children soda). 

No, Jayden didn't slide into home, he rubbed his head on the carpet for who knows what reason.

 Even though it's election year and the parade ends up being a little longer than usual, I still love getting to sit there with my family, and look at all of the floats that are centered around our pioneers. I have such pride in being from Snowflake. I love it's heritage and I feel so lucky to have been able to be raised  there.

 My kids already love Snowflake, but I hope as they grow they are able to appreciate what a special place it is.

 It has also been 10 years since I graduated from High School. I can't even believe it. I don't feel like it's been that long. I don't feel old enough but I really love my life and I am so proud to stand by Matt and introduce him as my husband. I am so proud of him, and I know that I am so lucky to have him forever.

My sister Leslie and her family also got to stop by for a quick visit and meet Harlie. We don't get to see her very often, which makes me sad, but when we do, our kids are such good play mates with each other. Jayden loves having older cousins to be around and Jolie and Fischer were quite the pair. I'm afraid Jolie may  have been a bad influence on Fischer because we had another marker incident. 

I just love this picture of Jayden. You can really see how truly happy he is to be with his cousins.

My kids really do adore their grandparents. I think they secretly wish they had them as parents. Oh well, they are pretty much stuck with me, whether they like it or not. Oh and in case you were wondering, Harlie loved every minute of it as well.

Introducing...

Harlie Rae Waite

Born...7-11-12 @ 9:01 am...7lbs. 10 oz...20 in...

 Well I did it, or I should say we did it. I had a fabulous team. My midwife is amazing and Matt was able to help deliver the baby. She was the same one that delivered Jolie and she was just as great as I remember. This time I had GBS so I had to go in early and get started on the antibiotic which threw everything off. If I hadn't been so paranoid, I would have waited to go to the hospital when I was in more active labor. I woke up at around 12:00 and started timing my contractions. They were consistent, but not very strong. I woke Matt up and told him it would probably be tonight, but I would wake him up when it was closer to time. I was 5 days past my due date so I was so ready to go. We left for the hospital at around 1 am and luckily my mom had been staying the past couple of nights with us. My dear friend Ashley who lives in our apartment complex came over and stayed with Jayden and Jolie until Matt's sister, Christina could get here.

 We got to the hospital by 1:30 and once I finally got checked it was probably around 2 am. I was only a 3-4 which I knew but figured since I had gone so quickly with Jolie that it was fine. They got me started on antibiotic and my contractions stayed pretty consistent for the next 2 hours, then they just kind of stopped. I walked the halls, even jogged for a bit, sat on the ball, took a shower, and just tried to really get them going, but they weren't and I was getting really frustrated. With Jolie it all happened so quickly and it was great, so I wanted it to go the same. Every delivery is different I guess. I wanted to almost go home, but didn't want to have to start the antibiotic all over again. I decided to just relax until my other midwife got there(shift change) and see if she would just break my water. She came in at 7, and that's what we decided to do. I got the second antibiotic in, and then at 8 my midwife broke my water(I was at a 6). As soon as she broke my water, off they went. The next hour was pretty hard(who am I kidding, it was crazy hard). 

From the time my midwife broke my water, to the time I delivered, she didn't leave my side. My nurse was a tad annoying, but I tried to block her out. I swear they are never used to people going natural, so when it does happen, they don't know what to do(I know this isn't all nurses, just the ones I've had). My Mom was a wonderful coach once again, rubbing my back, giving me encouragement and doing whatever I asked. I will spare you the other details, but an hour after they broke my water, our sweet baby girl was born @ 9:01. 

 I instantly could tell that she was a light baby(not dark) but had darker hair. I was pretty surprised. I guess all along I just assumed it would be another Jolie. Harlie was wide awake forever and did not cry. I repeat would not cry. When they gave her shots, she wouldn't cry. When they gave her a bath, would not cry. Sometimes it worried me a little bit, but that is just how she has been. She has yet to really give a good cry. Even at night when she's ready to eat, she just makes noises. She's been a dream.

 My Mom took Jayden and Jolie back with her to Snowflake that night so I could have some time to myself and recover. This is the best gift ever. At first I was a little hesitant, but after the advice of some friends, I agreed. I got a whole week with just Harlie and Matt and it was wonderful. I have loved having a new little baby that I can just hold and stare at. 

 What a blessing she is in our lives. I want her to stay little, but I am excited to see how she develops and what kind of personality she will have. I am so grateful to be a mom and for the gifts that have been given to me. All of my kids are such beautiful and unique gifts. I can't believe it's already been a week. I feel great and Jayden and Jolie got home last night and it's been a day of adjusting. I realize that my life is really going to change especially with Jayden going to kindergarten and Jolie into joy school. I am going to lose a lot of my freedom, and I am okay with that. As long as I have these precious gifts, how could I complain.

Happy 4th of July!

 We got to celebrate the 4th with some of our family. It was a beautiful day. In all of my 9 years of living in the valley, I have never known it to be 84 degrees on the 4th of July. It was a little humid out, but hey, we were able to play outside so I'll take it. 

 Here are the two LEGO loving boys. They are getting along in this picture and Jayden loves Derek to death, but on this particular day, they kept running into conflicts.

 It's times like these when I want to have a big family and it's also times like these when I wish we had more family that lived closer to us. I just love watching the cousins play together. It reminds me of all the Sunday dinners we would have at my grandma's growing up and playing in the backyard hide and go seek. There were at least 20 of us, and it was always so much fun.

 Oh this little girl was so cute. Here she is with her thumbs up. I can't believe she is almost 3. She isn't going to be the baby for too much longer. I still love when she comes up and asks if I can hold her like a little baby. It reminds me of the children's book, I'll Love You Forever. She makes me laugh multiple times a day of the funny things she says. Like when we were at my doctor's appointment this past week and she had to tell me that "the doctor was going to check my bum". I just laughed and laughed. Then she also had to point out that the after birth on the picture in the office was "so pretty". Oh if she only knew.

 Jeanie got to come over too which is always fun. All the little girls had to take their turn over and over again getting spun by Jeanie. Notice in this picture that Jolie has only one shoe on. She got dirt in her shoe at the very beginning of the evening and wanted me to take it off, but she only wanted the one off. This is how she looked the remainder of the night, with one shoe. She is just too funny I tell you.

Here is sweet Sarah with Jeanie as well. Sarah always gives great action pictures and is a much better poser for the camera than Jolie. Oh well. It was such a great evening, even though I didn't have a baby. I didn't want to have a July 4th baby anyway. I would love to have a July 6th baby though. Come on body...do what you need to do! Hopefully the next pictures I post will be of our new sweet baby. 

Mommy Fell Asleep

This is what happens when it's hot outside, you're kids are sick of being inside all the time, oh and you fall asleep because you are 39 weeks pregnant. She sure is funny this one. I don't know why but she's not getting the concept that your body is a temple.

She might have a thing for tattoos. Oh my!

39 Weeks

This is me @39 weeks. What? I don't look happy? Well that's because I am not one of those people that enjoy being pregnant. Grateful, yes, but enjoy getting bigger and bigger by the day...No. I finally decided it was time to take a picture of myself because I may have been extra hard on myself this time around. I didn't really have any good profile shots of when I was pregnant with Jolie and I wanted to compare. So this is to remind myself next time around how big I actually get. Hopefully this baby will come soon. I am ready.

Summer Building

This is what these boys have been up to lately. Matt and Jayden are building machines. Or should I say Jayden is a looking for the right piece machine, and Matt is the building machine, and then Jayden is the playing machine. I sure do love watching both of them.