Easter time

Shep has wanted a vest for a long time.  He thinks they look cool.  We saw online one of those kids set- the pant, vest, tie and shirt and Shep thought it would be awesome.  When it came in the mail he was a little dissapointed in the quality.  The pants were elastic and the shirt paper thin.  He decided to just stick with the vest!  Bear wasn't feeling well Easter morning so he stayed home from church.  

Since we have 8:00 church the Easter bunny came while the kids were at church.  

Bear loves Dora and says that she is his "girlbend."  He loved this doll and carried it around everywhere for a week.

Egg hunt at Judy & Papa's.

the egg breaking game

Meda was runner-up for the second year in a row.  The winner uncle Sam was so nice to make Meda feel like the winner and gave her the $5, she was thrilled.

Some love for Kathleen

Handy man uncle Jason brought us two of his bunnies and built us a bunny cage.  So nice.  They have been our first real pets.  Living longer than two weeks!!  We are loving our mustachio and guchi guchi goo.

baby kathleen

Our new little angel.  Kathleen was born on March 22nd.  Weighing in at 7.3 lbs and 21 inches long.  We couldn't be more delighted, overjoyed and humbled to have her join our family.  

Travis preparing for surgery.  The 4th time and we were still nervous.  We couldn't wait to see her.  I love thinking of her at this time right before she came, in the arms of Grammy.  Getting advice on how to deal with her 3 very loving and rambunctious siblings and receiving words of encouragement and last minute hugs and kisses.

She cried as soon as she came out and cried and cried.... for about an hour straight.  The doctors and nursers all kept saying, "wow, she is not happy."  I thought we were in trouble, she was going to cry a lot.  But thankfully she has not been uncontrollable since.  She has been a wonderful baby.

Overwhelming love and gratitiude for this wonderful gift.

When I was 18 weeks pregnant we got an ultrasound.  As soon as the technician said, "it's a girl" I felt my mom present and a strong connection to this baby and my mom.  So it kept coming in my mind to name this baby Kathleen.  I thought it would probably be her middle name and contemplated it as her first.  But in the hospital Travis and I both thought Kathleen was the perfect first name for our baby girl.

Her loving visitors in the hospital, Aunt Melissa and Grandma Sandy

Papa, Judy and Big brother Shep

Big sister Meda

Aunt Anney and cousin Katie

Aunt Leslie, cousin Brinley and Aunt Abby

cousin Elsie

Kathleen, ready to come home.  All the nurses in the hospital were raving about Travis and the wonderful Dad he was.  He changed practically every diaper, he had continuous sleepless nights while I slept.  One nurse that was particularly fond of him almost proposed.  

We were SO LUCKY to have Grandma Sandy stay with us for two weeks.  She was the biggest help.  She cooked and cleaned and babysat.  When I came home from the hospital I had a spinal headache.  I would feed Kathleen then hand her off to Grandma so I could lay down.  Travis and I went to the ER to get a blood patch and came home with everything fixed.  It was so nice to have Sandy there to watch the kids and stay with baby Kathleen.  We couldn't have survived without her.

I just love this picture of her jammies coming off her tiny newborn body.  There is nothing sweeter in this world than a newborn baby, the smell, the skin, the cuddles, the cry, the nursing (which miraculously has been wonderful).

My nanny Brinley (I wish) she is so great with the kids, they love her.  Bear is very hands on with Kathleen and just can't get enough of her!  I think she kind of likes it.

Kathleen is now 7 weeks old, getting chubs and is the cutest sweetest thing.  She sleeps for 6 hours straight, smiles at us and lights up our days.

The crew

waiting for baby

The c-section is scheduled for Thursday and we can't wait to meet our baby girl!  It's all I think about- seeing her, holding her, nursing her (I am scared, please don't hurt), naming her, bringing her home to her brothers and sister who are also so excited, surgery (I get butterflies every time I think of this one).  These next few days will be filled with fun, preparation and anticipation.  The one thing I will so miss about being pregnant is feeling her move inside me and feeling a special bond with her in my belly.  

Bear's Day

Today is my birthday!  I got a very special treat, I got to spend the day with my Bear!!  We had our special day while Shep was at school and Meda played with Elsie.  Bear and I went to the mall and rode the carousel.  One of Bear's favorite things is horses.  He loves seeing them when we drive in the car and he loves looking at pictures from Montana, when he was a cowboy.  I couldn't saddle up a real horse for him to ride so we went for 2nd best.  He was VERY excited and said over and over and over again on the way to the mall, "mommy, I ride horsie?"  Then we played outside at the fountain and ate IKEA cookies that I found in my purse.  Bear kept saying, "I'm you pits mom," I had no idea what he meant and he wouldn't let it rest.  I said, "what about your pits?  Your arm pits?"  Then I realized he meant I'm your prince.  Sure enough he said, "ya mom, I'm your prince."  He's the sweetest little boy, in touch with his sensitive side.  He loves princesses, dress up and pink, mixed in with his trucks, dogs, wrestling and booger bu*** (his favorite word that he knows is naughty but always gets him a laugh with his brother and sister)!  Bear can ALWAYS bring a smile to my face, I love being his mommy.