Happy 4th of July!

Reese had her first 4th of July---even though she looked good in her American tye-dye outfit, her partying was kept to a minimum. We pretty much hung around the house all day, grilled hamburgers & hot dogs and then attempted to light fireworks. Unfortunately it rained, so we only got through about half. We will finish them off tonight. The kids are excited about that!

Reese Turns 1 Month Old

My how the summer is flying by! Reese has already been in our family for a month now. She continues to eat and sleep well. She is pretty laid back and seems to just go with the flow of our chaos. So far, she is exactly what we prayed for and we thank the LORD daily for it. Paul & I keep joking that we see "the train coming though" and feel like she is going to change into the baby that cries all the time and won't sleep. Our hope is that we are wrong. *smile* The kids continue to love on her constantly. Who would think that one would actually have to "yell" at their kids to quit kissing and hugging the baby, but sometimes Riley and Ryan just take it too far. Reagan is such a mommy's helper with Reese and I am very thankful for that. She makes bottles and wants to help burp her. And anytime Reese cries, i can count on my three "mommies" to come running and try to calm her down and get her pacifier. Again, I feel so blessed. Here are some updated pictures of the new little girl.....

Daddy likes to put bubbles all over her

Check out the blue eyes --Ryan hopes they stay that way so she will be like him

The kids with one of their great-grandmothers

The Cornwells and The Wiebes ---Thank you James & Amy for all your help!

Amy, Ellie and Reese

Happy 6th Birthday Ryan!!

My sweet son, Ryan, turned 6 this past Friday. I am so blessed to have him as my son. He is so tender-hearted, funny, and loving. He is so enamoured by Reese and cannot get enough of her. His birthday party was originally scheduled for June 8th at Chuck E. Cheese. It was my plan to get all these activities done before the baby arrived on June 17th. So when Reese arrived June 3rd, we had to reschedule it -- along with many other things. At least when we had it this past week, James & Amy Wiebe, and their girls, could join us in the celebration too! We also celebrated his actual b-day on June 26th where he got his dream toy from his Grammer -- the Star Wars LEGO X-Wing Fighter jet. He was so excited when he and his dad finally completed it! And he wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for his b-day dinner, where he received balloon hats and he got to sit on the saddle --YEE HAW! Ryan has grown and changed so much in the past year. The most significant even was when he accepted Christ as his Savior back in April!! We were so excited and look forward to what the LORD has in store for this awesome boy!

Ryan and his friends Andrew and Nicholas

Riley actually enjoyed the rides!

Texas Roadhouse

The Completed X-Wing ship

Happy Father's Day to the MOST WONDERFUL MAN!!!

I cannot even begin to tell you how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful man. I love Paul so much and am so thankful to be his wife, his best friend, and the mother his four children. I am even more humbled by him and his love for me and his kids and his devotion to his family as we struggle through these first couple of weeks with a newborn again. I love watching him interact with the kids. He is such a help to me with the baby and the kids and he also helps so much around the house with household duties. He has also been extremely wonderful & loving as he has helped "nurse" me back to shape as I recover from the c-section. I praise God every day for the man he is. Happy Father's Day Sweetie!!

Reese's Nursery

OK, I am a little late getting nursery pictures up. This was suppose to be done BEFORE Reese came, but that didn't happen. Hey, i was also suppose to get my 9 month pregnancy picture taken that Sunday for my scrapbook, but I lost that chance too! So here it is... Well, as with all my children, we stuck with the Winnie the Pooh Bear theme in the nursery. Actually this was Riley's room when we moved here 3 years ago, when she was just 4 months old. Needless to say, when she got moved into the Disney Princess room, she kept asking to move back to her Pooh Bear room. She said she loved it and missed it. We eventually had to take some of the decals down and move them next to her bed in her princess room. That made her feel better. But I think she still wants it back from Baby Reese....

Some More Pictures of My New Baby Girl

OK, so we are a week out now from the birth and we seem to be doing fine. My recovery from the C-section is going slowly, but I am managing the best I can--especially thanks to the drugs! Reese is doing well---she sleeps most of the time, even throughout the night. We have to wake her up to feed her at 3:00am and 7:30am. She needs to gain weight, so that is why we do such a crazy thing. As soon as she is at her birth weight, we will stop that craziness! I remember with my other three children thinking, "I thought newborns were suppose to sleep all the time. Why aren't mine??" as I would listen to them scream. Well, the LORD finally blessed us with a sleeper--and a very sound one at that. She sleeps through all the chaos of her brother and two sisters running and yelling and wallering her and holding her. We are so thankful for her demeanor so far and we pray that God has answered our prayers about letting our 4th kid be one that is easy going and laid back. Hopefully, you won't hear differently from us any time soon. We have been very blessed this week with friends from church bringing us meals every day. Paul has been off of work all week and has been a SUPER dad & husband as he has taken care of me and my recovery, but he has also taken care of the kids and does all my work around the house. What a wonderful man I married!! Our dear friends James & Amy from Texas are arriving on Saturday to help us out for 2 weeks, so that will be wonderful. The kids continue to adore her and constantly want to hold her and feed her. What a blessed woman I am! Here are some pictures of our sweetie...... This was her "take home outfit" --yes, a little too big, even if it was 0 - 3 months

Sweet princess

Doesn't she look like a doll?

Time to go home from the hospital

Proud Big Brother feeding her the bottle for the first time on her first morning home

VERY proud big sister Riley

The whole gang, in our bed, on the first morning home--isn't this what family is all about?!?

Sweetie in her towel after her first sponge bath at home......

Enjoying some awake time in her bouncy seat----see, she does have eyes!! Very blue ones at that! We are hoping she has blue eyes like her brother.

Daddy and Reese compare feet ---Thanks Kerri for the idea!

Riley gives Reese the bottle for the first time