baby fun....

so I haven't been blogging its not because we haven't done anything fun...but more because we're having too much fun! jen, michael, ethan, dani and dani's boyfriend jared are all in town this weekend! what fun! so we've been doing things non-stop, but I wanted to blog one of the things that we did and that was family pictures. here is our individual family picture:

I totally was not happy with how lopsided my family looks, but it was chaotic. kate kinda bummed out after these pictures (she's been sick recently....and/or teething) and so we didn't get ALL the cousins....just the cousin twins.

can you tell which one is sawyer?

Alma

as I have mentioned in a previous post, I have a children's book of momon that we read to kate every night before she goes to bed which she calls "alma." I have no idea why, but we think its pretty cute. we keep it on the floor next to her rocking chair so we can find it easily every night. she loves this book so much, however, that we often have to look for it elsewhere (like in our room or my mom's bathroom!) last night we brushed and flossed her teeth and then went to go find alma and it wasn't in the usual spot. so we went and looked in some of the usual places...but I couldn't find it. so I grabbed "green eggs and ham" off the shelf and told her we would find alma tomorrow and just read this for now. so we read and said prayers but as I was putting her in bed she started looking for alma again. I told her we would find her tomorrow and kissed her and walked out thinking everything was fine. well, right after I walked out I heard her crying, which is very abnormal for her. (she is really good about going to bed.) I had just picked up sawyer so ryan went in to see what the matter was. he asked what was wrong and she said "alma"! what a sweetheart! I had no idea this was such a critical part of our bedtime routine. so ryan promised to find it, and did (luckily) in my mom's room next to a chair where she told me she found kate sitting and "reading" alma to herself out loud that day. so ryan read to her and she was happy! now both my mom and ryan are wondering if we should get a few backup copies of this book. the one we have is already coming apart at the binding a little bit from use!

(and ps, the book I pictured is not the one we have....but I couldn't find a picture online of the actual one and I couldn't take a picture because it is now back in its rightful place....where kate is asleep!)

all about me

me in 3's

3 joys: ryan, kate & sawyer
3 fears: spiders, not losing baby weight & moving
3 goals: organize my move, get back into my gym habit, be a good mom
3 current obsessions: feeding sawyer (its amazing how fast 3 hours goes by!), working out at the gym & TV (especially game show network!)
3 random facts: I have a shrunken toe (my go to random fact), I live with my mom and LOVE it! & I'm afraid of fridge bugs

Answer the following with only one word.
1. Where is your cell phone? ....................pink
2. Your significant other?......................funny
3. Your hair?....................................uck
4. Your mother? ................................helpful
5. Your father?..................................funny
6. Your favorite thing?..........................family
7. Your dream last night?........................none
8. Your favorite drink...........................water
9. Your dream/goal?..............................happiness
10. The room you're in?..........................mine
11. Your children?.....................................CUTE
12. Your fear?...................................loneliness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years...........mom-neighbor (does that count as 1?)
14. Where were you last night?...................home
15. What you're not?.............................fashinonable
16. Muffins......................................blueberry
17. One of your wish list items?.................nursing cover
18. Where you grew up?........................... oklahoma
19. What you read last........................pillarsoftheearth
20. What are you wearing?........................pants
21. Your TV?.....................................off
22. Your pets?...................................none
23. Your computer? ..............................time
24. Your life?...................................changing
25. Your mood?...................................happy
26. Missing someone?.............................no
27. Your car?....................................gray
28. Something you're not wearing?................socks
29. Favorite Store?..............................Target
30. Your summer?.................................scary
31. Like someone?................................yes
32. Your favorite color?.........................brown
33. Last time you laughed........................now
34. Last time you cried?.........................hormones

class of 2008!

its official....

devin graduated from sabino high school last night!! way to go little brother!

it was a really weird ceremony....much different than mine was. they were so far out in the football field that you couldn't really see them at all. (see what a little speck he is!!)

and, unheard of for tucson at the end of may, it was FREEZING and RAINING!! all day long it was really windy (which is why none of the kids are wearing their caps! they wouldn't let them because of the wind! and the part of the ceremony where you change your tassel to the other side....they had to mime it!! sad!) we made it through all the speakers and 1/3 of the names before it started to sprinkle....which let up....and then started again....and then it rained HARD!! I had left ryan at home to put kate to bed but I had sawyer and we had to work hard to keep him warm and dry! and as soon as we heard devin's name we were out of there!! (curse our end of the alphabet last name!)

here is kelsey and devin:

devin after he unwrapped his graduation present (a new camera):

and here is "the moment" on film:

and here is kate because she looked adorable this morning eating breakfast:

exercise creates endorphins...

...endorphins make you happy. happy people just don't kill their husbands. they just don't!

(name the movie!)

ryan went back to work on sunday so I've been on my own the past few days. but I've utilized my husband and my brother when needed! yesterday morning ryan got home from work and I got to go to the gym! oh, it makes me so happy! and I am pleasantly sore this morning. last night I used devin as a baby holder/put to sleep-er while I put kate to sleep. it was adorable when I came down and saw sawyer sleeping on devin's shoulder...but I was too tired to get a camera! so anyways, all in all we're doing well, I have a little help, and my mom comes home tomorrow! (with dani!) wahoo!

and to entertain you visually, here are my cute kiddos ready for church this past sunday. sawyer looked adorable in his outfit from grammie....and he liked it so much that he pooped all over it in sunday school.

oh, they are fun!

our action packed week

what a week! it has been so fun having ryan's mom and sister and our niece ella here to visit! but, boy, did this week go fast! I wish they could have stayed longer, but they had families to get home to. here is a little recap of our adventures.

on monday we went to the splash park. it was a really windy day and neither of the girls were super brave, but I think they had fun. it felt nice to get out of the house but I was a little intimidated by my first try at breastfeeding in public since kate. but we both survived. here are a few pictures of the cute girls:

getting ready to go

ella frolickingkate looking cute
drying out before we head home

on tuesday we went to the zoo. we chose the perfect day of the week weatherwise to go. it was nice and cool!

it was really funny because they have lots of peacocks that walk roam free and I've never seen them with their feathers open until this visit! it must be mating season for the peacocks!

this is kate feeding the giraffe. at 10:00 you can pay $2 to feed the giraffes a piece of lettuce and a giraffe cookie. kate didn't quite understand so when we gave her the piece of lettuce, she threw it at the giraffe (thats how you feed the ducks, right?) and he picked it up off the ground. she looks a little scared in this picture but I would be too. look at that tongue!!!

this is sawyer chilling in his stroller. doesn't he look like he's enjoying the zoo? he actually slept really well, ate really well, hung out, and then went back to sleep. gotta love a newborn!

ella and kate in the turtle shell. (we thought it was really funny that we couldn't get a single picture without someone else's kid in it...and then as we were walking away the place was empty!)

on wednesday we went swimming in the heated neighborhood pool. grandma kissell had bought ella and kate these matching swimsuits.

they had little terrycloth robes that matched and they looked pretty cute in them.the water was a little chilly, but hilary and ryan were brave enough to get in. kate, of course, was in her own little world in the deep end swimming with her floaties. I just LOVE how much she loves to swim!!

later that day we decided to go to a mexican restaurant (we couldn't let hilary visit tucson for her first time without going to eat mexican food!) and on the way we drove up mt lemmon a little ways to take pictures in front of the cacti.

but it wasn't very long before poor ella started crying and we realized that she had pokies all up and down her leg!!! she didn't fall into it, but she must have brushed up against it enough that she had hundreds of them! there were tears shed, but she was a lot more brave than I would have been. we went home and got her a new skirt and then headed out to the restaurant. we didn't take any pictures, but it was fun. I hadn't been there before, but we got to eat outside and when you sit down this lady comes over with a cart and makes the salsa right in front of you. there was a mariachi band and the food was pretty good too.

on thursday we kinda just hung out and then in the afternoon we took kate and sawyer both to the pediatrician. (kate for her 2 year check up and sawyer for his 2 week check up.) she let the dr do everything he needed to. then the nurse came in with the shots. she cried, but she calmed down really fast once we started talking about her purple and yellow bandaids that the nurse had put on. she was so good we even bought her some "Ms" (m&ms) on the way home.

on friday we hung around the house. I think kate really enjoyed following ella around and was even pretty good about sharing her toys with her....most of the time.

they swam in our backyard pool (that was FREEZING!!!) and then we headed out for a few errands. one of which was stopping at eegees to give our guests another little taste of a tucson original.

I did not take this picture. we didn't get food, we just got an "eegees"...the slushie thing for those of you not from here.

then we went to ryan's aunt becky and uncle del's house for a yummy bbq and a pleasant tucson evening outside.

then today we got up and fed them breakfast and then then were off to the airport! like I said, the trip felt so short and I'm so sad they're gone. now its back to real life...with one tired little kate. (she is SO worn out from all the late nights!!) I told hilary when she got here that I was considering her my own personal live-in photographer and we did a couple of sawyer photo shoots. he was one wiggley little worm to try and take pictures of, but she got some really good ones and I'm really excited. (I don't want to show too many because I haven't decided which I'm using for his announcements!)

this morning after they left I got sawyer dressed up in this really cute outfit from cousins meagan and josh...is he not the cutest thing ever!!! thanks you guys!!

then we went swimming at the heated neighborhood pool that was actually MUCH warmer than when we took hilary and ella to swim in it and I was actually willing to get in. now my babies are sleeping and I think I'm going to take a little rest after such an action packed week!

sawyer's first day at church

happy mother's day to all!! today I celebrated by getting my babies dressed and ready to go to church! today was sawyer's first time so I thought I would get him dressed up for the occasion.
this picture makes me giggle. actually, everytime I saw him in this onesie I giggled!! he is just TOO HANDSOME!! and he did so well at church!! I think I'm basically the luckiest mother in the world because I have the 2 best babies ever.

I sure missed my mom today, but ryan's mom and sister came into town for a week long visit and we're super excited! kate has been talking about grandma kissell all day...and then of course she comes and she is my shy girl. but I'm sure she'll get used to her and we're excited for a fun family filled week!

#200

I don't really have anything extraordinary to post for my #200. just some pictures of our new addition (sorry for being so repetitve!)

we've also tried our hand at...and given up on...potty training in the past couple of days. she loves wearing panties and talking about going on the potty (she likes to talk about making it "yellow") and talking about the candy she will get if she does make it yellow and sits on the potty for long stretches of time reading books and just looking really cute:

but alas, no pee pee or poo poo in the potty. it amazes me how we can sit on the potty reading books for over a half our and then we stand up, pull up the panties and within minutes she has peed on the floor. the last time she did it we decided to give up for a while and we put the diaper back on...and then a little while later we noticed she was pooping. we ran to the toilet but it was too late. but we decided to sit and try anyway. I got her a pile of books and went about cleaning the kitchen and then I heard her say "more!" she had a tiny bit of poo poo in the potty! boy, was she excited! (mroe about the candy than anything!) but its definately a step in the right direction!

ryan and I also used some of our time off to make a new headboard. isn't it nice? we've been going without for so long! we're both pretty proud of our handiness!

well, thats it! #200! a little bit of everything! hope you enjoyed it.

one week old!

happy one week birthday to sawyer!  

I was watching lost last night and I thought "hey, last week I was watching lost pregnant!"  and a week ago today I casually showed up to the hospital and had a baby 6 hours later!  its been a fun week.  I think he is an awesome baby.  he is a great sleeper, a pretty good eater and an all around CUTIE!  

sawyer's favorite things at 1 week old:

-putting his arms up near his face (especially when eating)

-peeing like a fountain when you get his diaper off (he's done it twice...you think we would learn...and it has scared kate to tears both times!!)

-looking around with his big eyes

-letting kate kiss him and pat his soft head

more sawyer pictures

so I've had some requests for more pictures. unfortunately, we haven't taken very many. I never believed when people would see all the pictures I was taking of kate as a baby and they would say "your second child is going to feel so bad when there is hardly any of them" that I would not do the same the second time. and jen always complained that any pictures that were taken of her as a baby had me in it. well...I'm doing it. and I feel bad. and I don't really have an excuse so I'm going to try and be better.

we also ventured out for a little family walk this morning down to the lake to see the ducks. the weather was perfect for it. I bought this baby wrap for kate and never really used it much. its really bulky and I kinda wish I had a less bulky one...I'll have to look into that...but he loved it in there. kate is pushing the baby stroller that she got for her birthday. her favorite thing now is to take her baby for a walk. this past weekend when I was in the hospital she and papa went on LONG walks all the time. she loved it! speaking of, here is a funny picture of the two of them. they were laying on the ground playing and papa took a picture of them. too bad her eyes are closed, but you can see how much fun she has with him anyway.there were 2 cute little baby ducks that were fun to watch at the lake. no wonder its kate's favorite place!

it was a fun little family outing. we're having fun with our daddy home all the time and I'm so glad he has 2 whole weeks off! I couldn't do it without him and I'm already dreading his first nights back to work!

our first townsend cousin!!

this morning at 4:19 I was in a half awake/half asleep state about to feed sawyer when I heard my mom's cell phone ring downstairs. I was very confused at first and then I thought that if it was important they would call the home phone next and they weren't. about 10 minutes later when sawyer woke up to eat I ran downstairs first and got the phone and saw that it was michael. I brought it to my mom and then settled in to feed sawyer. a few minutes later the home phone did ring! jen was in labor!! and my mom was here!! she was planning on leaving wednesday, which was the day before jen's due date. I think she was thinking she would be there several days in advance and they would be able to get pedicures and help her get ready....but she went early! so mom threw things in a suitcase and was on the 7 am flight to slc. unfotunately she had a long layover in las vegas which made the trip 6 hours!! we've been getting text updates on jen's condition from michael...and I just got a picture of my new nephew!! a few minutes later my mom called. she had just gotten off the plane! so she missed it, but she will be there shortly and she is really excited. I am really bummed because dani picked mom up from the airport and my dad left this morning to drive there so everyone is going to be there!! but I'm sure they'll give me lots of updates. (and I can't wait to see more pictures!!)

on the home front, I found myself alone today with 2 kids! ryan worked last night so when he got home I used him to hold sawyer while I gave kate a bath and put some things in order, but then he went to bed and my dad left for utah and it was just me and kate and sawyer! it isn't easy, but I must say I'm proud of myself. I'm doing better than I thought possible. the hardest part is kate. she is so used to having attention whenever she wants it. we've especially been spoiled because papa was home with her since friday and playing with kate is one of papa's favorite things. she keeps asking "where is papa?" and "where is grandma?" I'm definately not cutting it! when I got her out of bed today I was holding sawyer and she headed downstairs and when she got to the top she said "hold" as always. well....that caught us both a little off guard. so I told her I could hold her hand and we walked downstairs like that. the next time we had the same situation she looked up at me and said "hold" and then before I could say anything she said "hold hand". so we're getting used to it. and now I get to sit here and blog because they are currently both sleeping!!

home sweet home

we came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and it feels great! it is so nice to be home and back in our bed! I hope you all enjoyed ryan's post. I think he did a really good job and I'm glad he got the pictures out so fast. I thought I would give a little labor recap in my own words so you get a little different point of view. first of all, let me just say that it was so different from last time! we got there at 7:30 am and checked in...a little nervous (last time I walked in at 11:00 pm in a lot of pain). I walked casually back to the labor and delivery room and they had me change into a gown and started asking me all sorts of questions. they started my IV and then my midwife came in and we decided to start me on some pitocin to get my contractions closer together and more regular before we broke my water. while waiting we watched neil diamond on the today show and then the price is right. I also beat ryan in a game of phase 10. they broke my water and I started feeling more of the contractions and my midwife checked and I was dilated to a 5. they kept telling me I could have the epidural anytime I wanted and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. last time I walked in and asked for it immediately because I was in so much pain (and already dilated to a 7) but last time I was at home during lots of the labor and I relaxed with a bath and was able to walk around and be in comfortable positions and such. this time I was just laying in the bed. finally I told myself I was silly to try and be brave and I asked them to bring in the nice anesthesiologist. again, it was like heaven! LOVE the drugs! so I just kind of hung out until about a half an hour later when I was feeling pain again with each contraction. soon after I was feeling quite a bit of pain with the contractions. I told me nurse I wanted to see the nice anesthesiologist again to have more drugs, but she was smart enough to have my midwife come in and check me first. in that half an hour I had dilated all the way to a 10 and my midwife said it was time to push! (so I had been feeling the pressure of the baby ready to pop out rather than pain!) I kind of panicked and cried a little because I wasn't ready!! it happened too fast! but then it was time to get to work. she told me to try and push and we would see what happens. I closed my eyes and started to push and I didn't feel a thing so I didn't even know if I was doing anything. but then everyone was like "whoa!" I pushed through 2 more contractions with everyone saying "he's almost here" and ryan giggling (he did that last time too) and he was out! I was in shock! they didn't put him straight onto my chest because the cord was wrapped around his neck 2 times (but loosely). he didn't cry for the first minute so I still was kind of thinking it wasn't real. last time was 2 1/2 hours of blood, sweat, tears, and pushing! and then when she came out I was so emotional and crying! this time it was like "what?!...he's out?!?" and then just watching him from afar. it felt like a dream. and it felt like forever until they finally put him in my arms, but I eventually got to hold him. and he is perfect and wonderful and beautiful. everything about this labor was great. it was fast and easy and my mom was here. I still think I would have rather gone into labor naturally, but my mom was worth it! after my mandatory 24 hours in the hospital, ryan and I were both waiting anxiously for my discharge. we had everything packed and ready to go and were just sitting watching all the ridiculous kentucky derby coverage waiting. (here is sawyer all bundled up ready to go)FINALLY we got discharged and this little old lady came with a wheelchair to push me out. (I felt so weird having this old lady push me down the halls when I was perfectly capable of walking!!) it felt so nice to be out in the warm sunshine and I love being at home! I'm so comfortable! breastfeeding is going okay...he's not as eager as kate so I'm experiencing a little soreness, but not too bad. and, as ryan documented, kate is too cute with him. this morning after his 5:30 am feeding ryan took him downstairs and let me sleep and when I got up I got kate up to take her downstairs. when I went in I said "guess who is downstairs! your baby brother!" and she said "find him!" and started climbing out of bed. when I ask her where he is she sometimes gets this cute look on her face and points! love it!

and we're all just sitting around in baby heaven.

ryan works tonight so I'm really glad I have my parents here to help me, especially with kate. but this is his last night for 2 weeks, which is going to be so nice!!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers these past couple of days! we are so happy and we're glad to have so many nice friends and family to share it with!