my gorgeous girl at one year

reese is FOUR!

reese was so excited when he woke up on his birthday morning!

he loves doing homework, even on his big day

my happy boy

unfortunately this face appears all too often

i love the excitement in his face

blowing out candles is serious business

last saturday the day came that reese has been aching for since last october 20th. he has asked about his birthday nearly every day. and this one was a major success. when reese was eating breakfast he said, "hey mom! where is everyone??? grandma? bentley? shanea! they are all supposed to be here for my birthday!" haha, he was expecting to party all dang day! so we tried! we let him open up his presents from us first thing in the morning, which he loved and played with all day. then we went to target to get his cake and i let him pick out whatever ice cream he wanted. (fat free chocolate and mint chip which everyone thought tasted like toothpaste! ha!) then party time came! our families all came over and we had pizza. the kids all played outside forever and then we did the presents which reese was the most excited about. then we did the cake, and he was so worried that cace was going to blow out his candles. that explains the very serious look on his face throughout "happy birthday". that night when i put him to bed, i said the prayer and he kept interupting me. "mom, tell heavenly father that i am thankful for my presents, and that everyone sang happy birthday to reese, and for playing with the kids!" he just could not get enough. it was so fun, because it was like this year he finally got it.... for real, he knew what to expect, he knew he was special that day and that everyone wanted him to be happy, and he was! he really enjoyed it all the day.

jovi may

On Tuesday Dr. Bierer called me at work. He told me that his family surprised him with a trip to go out of town for his birthday, so he wanted to know if I wanted to be induced a couple of days early. We were planning on 11.11.11, but I was more than happy to have our baby girl right away. So I called Brad, he said, "lets do it tonight!" which is exactly what I wanted. So I left work, Brad left school, we met at home along with my parents and Reese. We went to the hospital at 6:30pm.

In the waiting room

We got all set up and Dr. Bierer came in at about eight to break my water. I waited to have my epidural until my contractions were pretty unbearable. I think i just wanted to see what I could handle. Especially after seeing Kate go natural a couple of months ago. Around ten I had had my epidural. It was awesome. Honestly, it was a major relief and I felt so much better immediately after. This time instead of my entire lower half being numb, Dr. Silver made it so it was just my midsection. It was so good to still be able to feel my legs and to be able to walk almost immediately after giving birth. About 15 minutes after my epidural I had dilated from a five to a seven. Fifteen minutes later she checked me I was a nine and three quarters, the nurse had me turn over and I was a ten. So we called Dr. Bierer. Turns out it was his birthday if we had this little one after midnight, so we all decided that we would sing happy birthday to him. He got there a couple minutes after twelve, and we were having our baby. I pushed one good push and she was nearly out, he told me to stop pushing and within a minute she was born. I didn't tear, which was awesome. As I was sitting there in the stirrups the entire nursing staff came in and sang to our baby and Dr. Bierer.

They put her on my chest the moment she was out and brad cut the cord. It was amazing. So different than my birth with Reese. It was surreal, I love my baby so much.

We snuggled for a minute as we got her dry. I thought she looked like Reese right off. Her nose is just a little different and she is definitely a lady.

The proud papa

 

The birthday kids

Momma and her girl

 

Oh, the happiness on our faces. 

What was amazing this time around, is that we weren't rushed from the delivery room to our room. They left us alone, I fed her for the first time. There was no one waiting so we didn't feel rushed to pick her name or anything. We just spent time together and bonded. She was born at 12:09 am on Wednesday, November 9th.  She weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces, she was 20 inches long.

 little lady with her first bow. by now it was about 3 am. i was exhausted and so was brad. we got to bed.

the next morning my parents brought reese right over. he was so excited to meet "baby sisser". he loved her instantly. he asked if he could hold her and pet her. it was too sweet for words. he is already an amazing big brother. he tells us that we have to be soft with her, that we can't hit babies, and that he doesn't want us to change her because it hurts her (because she cries). 

little miss swollen and dressed. 

momma and jovi

daddy and his sweet pea

 brother and sister

we tried and tried to get a decent first family photo. this wasn't the most orthodox, but it's my favorite. 

snuggling. my favorite part about having a newborn is feeding her and then letting her sleep on me. it just feels so good. i love her so much. it's amazing how your heart has a little place in it, that you didn't even know existed, until you add one more little one to it. 

all ready to go home. 

happy birthday reese!

reese turned 3 on october 20. he was so excited for his birthday. he had been talking and asking about it for weeks. we had made a paper chain for him to tear off some everyday until his birthday. i think it helped him understand that we can't just pick our birthday. we decorated the house and had family over for cake and ice cream. it wasn't anything too fancy but it was really a perfect birthday for him this year.

 these pictures are from his birthday morning. brad had to be at school all day and i had to work so we let him open up his presents before he left. 

 

we gave reese this kitchen for his birthday. 

at his party. opening presents. 

at three reese loves:

ipads (he got a leap pad for his birthday)

peaches

pirates booty

PBJ sandwiches

giraffey

talking about hiking in the mountains

singing "popcorn popping in the acorn tree" and lots of other songs

his favorite show is My Big Big Friend

he loves to play "Monster"

two!

reese is officially a two year old! i never imagined what he would be like when he was two, but he is perfect. he is still the sweetest child and loves to give hugs and kisses. we had a family birthday party for him, i think by the end of it he had it figured out. he knew it was all for him. i read him a special birthday book before his nap, ordered chinese food for lunch (his fave is ham fried rice with egg drop soup dumped on it), blew up a million balloons, put up the birthday banner and spent 15 bucks on ice cream! it was so good. my good boy deserves a good day.

opening presents. don't mind my g's

after he opened every single present he took it to my dad to show him. he was very excited... 

playing in the bag was one of the best parts of the party! 

he blew out his candles twice before we got through the birthday song. he had practiced a lot!

family pic on his two year old birthday. he got buzz and woody, and now we seriously cannot go anywhere without buzz. he loves him and makes him fly and kisses him. what a sweet boy! i love you reese!

27 on the 17th

(reese, sav, bent, sal)

my birthday was on sunday.. 27! time flies by... anyway, it was a good long weekend filled with lots of fun stuff! we went to the auto show with b&s. as you can see we all piled into this huge military truck that they had.

 reese and bent were in the back of the truck, you can tell how freaking huge it was by looking at the guys..

friday night we went to the free dashboard confessional concert, courtesy of the dew tour!

brad and i had so much fun. we sat and watched people slip on a piece of ice for about 30 minutes, and then when the show started we headed for the crowd. we got in the middle and jumped and sang at the top of our lungs. it was so fun, it was like being 19 again.. i miss concerts.

(hello, my love!)

on saturday brad and i went to salt lake for the day. we went and saw the movie the blindside and ate at macaroni grill. seems like we took some pictures, but i can't find them. then we went to trolley square and shopped around. we went to shanea's to get reese and hung out for a while, just talking and having a good time. brad gave me some new perfume! chanel chance, my favorite! what a good hub i have!

(me and drew)

 on sunday my mom had everyone over for dinner to celebrate mine and dylan's birthday. dylan was born on the 17th ten years after me. it was a really good day. other than some family drama... and well, it really isn't a celebration without a little drama right?

 

(reese and dylan)

reese chowing on leftover home made chicken noodle soup.

my fave.