I love this brownie face, especially the lips. Tonight she stuffed two pieces of chicken in her mouth and I said, "Hailey! You don't have to eat so fast, slow down!" and she looked over at me with a smug face and started chewing in slow motion. I wish I got it on video tape-it was hilarious! (I think she got her love of food from her mom and her sense of humor from her dad!)

Hailey is now calling Arianna "my baby" and refuses to sit any further away than 1 inch from her at all times.

I think she kisses her at least 300 times a day, on all parts of her body from her elbow to her fingernail-seriously!

One of the sibs cute sharing moments. I love how they both have their slippers on

Arianna and Daddy

Here's a closeup- I love her profile! :)

Nice and clean after her first real bath

Arianna 2 Weeks

Living the good life!

Arianna had her 2 week checkup today, which also happens to be her due date- fun!

7 pounds 7 ounces (31%)
20 1/4 inches long (49%)
She was about 6 13 when we left the hospital, so she's gained about 10 ounces and grown almost an inch in just 2 weeks

Getting to Know Ari

FINALLY after 3 long weeks the kids are over their coughs, etc. etc. (Needless to say Hailey won't be going to nursery again until April...it's just not worth it!) My mom ended up leaving us early because she caught a bronchial infection. I felt horrible because it was obviously from taking care of my sick kids! Thanks mom for all of your help!

Hailey still has much to learn about how to be soft with babies. It's just not her nature to be soft, but she's learning :)

Look at the picture below at Arianna's skinny little legs. So funny! They look just like Scotts!

Scott is such a natural nurturer. Even when we brought Hailey home and he was just 2, he never had to be told to be soft. He loves his new baby sis!

Scott says, "Hey fussy! Whatcha doin?"

We survived 4 days without my mom. Phew! I think I can handle it, lets just hope and pray that Arianna stays the sweet little angel that she's been since we brought her home!

Heaven on Earth!

Valentine's Day

My three Valentines!

and of course what's Valentine's Day without sugar cookies?

Here's a few pictures of Scott and Hailey meeting Arianna. They are still a bit sick, especially Scott so he had to wear a mask. He's been so cute about it though-he runs downstairs and puts his mask on so he can hold the baby. Another little girl well taken care of by a big brother!

She would fuss a bit and I would reach for her and say, "She must have a burp" and he would pick her up and say, "I can burp her!" He wants to help with everything-it's so sweet.

Hailey is a lot more touchy and grabby, so Grandma helped introduce her to Arianna. She's already been climbing in the crib and up onto the changing table. She definitely wants to be right where the action is.

2 days old

sleeping like a baby (during the day of course!)

First sponge bath- I love her little arm wrapped around her head

sleepy sleepy

Another girl to steal dad's heart

Here's a couple of pictures of Scott. Kevin took him ice skating for a few hours

They even had a little walker to help the little kids balance

It's a Girl!! Arianna has Arrived

It's a Girl!

I can't believe she's here! Exactly 2 weeks early!

Arianna

Born Tuesday February 9, 2010

@ 8:29 pm

7 lbs 0 oz

19.5 inches long

Right before delivery

She's here! Only 2 hours after we made it to the hospital!

Kevin and I both think she looks just like Scott when he was born

Proud Mommy

Proud Daddy

Grandma Melody

The hospital changed their ways and instead of having the dad and nurse go bath the baby in the nursery, they bring all of the stuff into the recovery room and give the baby a sponge bath on the mom's bed. That was neat! I finally got to be there!

This winter our hospital wasn't allowing children under 14 to visit mainly because of all the flu scares, so Scott and Hailey didn't get to come meet their baby sister. Instead my mom decided to take them both with her to Rexburg to bring my Grandparents home and give Kevin and I a chance to get to be alone with our new baby girl.

This is a funny shot, but I had to get a picture of the hair!

Getting dressed to go home- complete with one big yawn

Peace out guys, I'm out of here!

My mom is an angel for taking Scott and Hailey up to Idaho for a few days. Kevin and I came home from the hospital today to welcome Arianna into a quiet home. Scott and Hailey will get to meet her tomorrow and that's when all of the fun will begin, I'm sure!

Arianna's Birth Story

The Birth Story

Monday night at about 9:30 pm I started getting contractions 10 minutes apart. Here we go again I thought, since that's what time Hailey's started, 2 days before she was born! Well they went on all night long 10-15 minutes apart. My mom texted my cell phone at 3 am asking if I was awake. I called her back and told her I was having contractions all night, but they would probably go away in the morning like they did with Hailey. She said she felt like she needed to get in the car and head to Utah, but I assured her it would at least be Wednesday, maybe even Friday. I was hoping for Thursday or Friday since my doctor was out of town until then.
Well the contractions never stopped. Tuesday morning my mom left Las Vegas around 9:30 am and even then I was telling her "No, don't come. It won't be today." She also brought my Grandma and Grandpa Rydalch who were visiting from Rexburg until I had the baby. Around noon I called and told Kevin he better get off of work because the contractions were getting pretty painful and it was hard to take care of Scott and Hailey at the same time. He got home and kept the kids busy and by 3 in the afternoon the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart. I was panicking a bit because Scott and Hailey were sick and I didn't have anyone that could come watch them if we had to go to the hospital-my mom was still 3 hours away! Finally at 6 pm my mom and Grandparents arrived at our house. We basically waved them out the door because at that point my contractions were 4 minutes apart. My Grandma Lill grabbed my belly and said, "Nicole, this isn't a little boy!" EVERYONE on both sides of our family thought this baby was a boy except my sister Brooke and now my Grandma Lill.
So we made it to the hospital and checked in around 6:30 and she was born just 2 hours later! Crazy! When I got to the hospital I was 6 cm and 90 % effaced and the anesthesiologist made me wait to get some fluids before he gave me an epidural. They checked me as soon as he gave it to me and I was already an 8. I met the doctor on call named Tandy Olsen and broke my water. It was seriously a flood. The nurses couldn't believe how much it was and the doctor had to go change because he got soaked! It was so funny! About 30 minutes later I was dilated to a 10 and complete. I was seriously in shock because when they broke my water with Hailey it took 10 1/2 hours for her to get here! So while all of this is happening I found out that my on call doctor is a distant cousin of mine. His Grandpa and my Grandpa (the one that came with my mom) are 1st cousins and live in the same town in Idaho. How crazy is that?!
I pushed through about 5 contractions and mentioned to the doctor that Hailey was facing up instead of down and took an hour of pushing. He checked me and said, "The baby is sunny side up!" I couldn't believe it! He was able to turn her around and after she flipped over she arrived 2 contractions later. It was awesome! The doctor knew we were having a surprise baby and so when she came out he let Kevin call out the shots. We were both soooo surprised to find out it was a baby girl! He asked me if my sister was one to gloat-yes and she has the rights I guess! :) I guessed that she was 7 pounds even and that's what she weighed. My mom came in the door right after they were done cleaning her up which was great. She was so surprised too! I wasn't sick at all this pregnancy and with Hailey I threw up several times a day for 4 months. I thought I was carrying like I did with Hailey though and gained the same amount of weight as with Hailey, so I wasn't sure either!
So anyways she arrived and is healthy! We are so blessed to have another healthy baby and so excited to welcome her home!

February Happenings

Hailey's favorite thing to do is sit up on my dresser where all my makeup is and try on lip glosses while I do her hair. She's so content up there-tonight she even let me put curlers in! This is what happens to a boy who has outgrown naps but clearly needs one now and then. It was quieter than usual for his "quiet time" and so I was going to go down to his room to check on him. That's when I saw him passed out on the living room floor. He didn't move from this position for about an hour. Too cute!

We have been trying to do fun things in this horribly cold weather! One really fun thing we do almost daily is go outside and "paint" in the snow. I bought some really big $1 squirt bottles at the store and then filled them up with water and lots of food coloring. The kids have a blast spraying their colored water and making pictures all over in the snow.

And then of course there's the bath paints with shaving cream and food coloring is always a big hit

Last week I decided to make the kids go on a scavenger hunt. I buried a box with some stickers and candy and then hid strips of paper with clues (pictures) around our backyard, front yard and around the near houses. They thought it was so fun. At the end they had to drive Scott's John Deere to the mailbox and then to the neighbor's basketball hoop and then back to our front yard where they followed the snow tracks to find the box. The only problem with all the fun was that it wasn't quite enough. They asked me if they could do it again and again. (apparently not realizing the work it took for their 9 month pregnant mom to go running around the neighborhood hiding things!)

Luckily they have such a great dad who came up with a great idea to hide toys all over in the backyard under the snow and then draw a map showing where each thing was. They marked each spot with their handy colored squirt bottles and then the next day they got to use their map and dig up all the treasures.

Let me also point out that Kevin is still in his work clothes. I realize most husbands and fathers need some de-stress time when they get home from work and probably 90% of them plop right in front of the tv. Not Kevin-he is absolutely wonderful at taking the kids right off my hands the minute he walks through the door, especially if I'm still making dinner. Thanks babe!

7 Year Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Babe-

Thanks for another great year!We decided to celebrate this weekend, so my sister Brooke and her husband watched Scott and Hailey while we took a much needed R&R stay at the Marriott down in Salt Lake City.
I am definitely 9 months pregnant in this picture, but this is outside the Gateway in SLC. We ate dinner at Happy Sumo and they were so slow preparing our food we got to sit and talk for about 1 1/2 hours. Normally we would have been mad and the kids would have been anxious for their food, but we just enjoyed the quiet time together! We also ate dessert at the Melting Pot which was absolutely divine! I think our favorite part was getting to sleep in until 9 and eating breakfast in bed at the hotel. We also drove over to Park City for some shopping and walking around main. When we went to pick up the kids Sunday afternoon Scott was crying because he didn't want to leave. I said, "Didn't you miss us?" and they both said, "No."
I told Kevin that's okay- it wasn't long enough for us either, but they don't need to know that! :)