A New Baby!

Yeah, we have a new baby in the family! Here's his birth story... On February 13th about 2pm my water broke and so we started preparing to get to the hospital. I got packing and realized I didn't have any pics of my big belly yet. Luckily my sister was here so I quickly got cute and she took some pics to show a before shot of me hours before the baby came. It was so awkward because my water was leaking and I had a towel hidden between my legs, sorry if that was too much info but it's too funny not to remember, so my butt looks a little bulgy too so don't look too close.

When we were ready I we left for the hospital. I was hoping to be able to start labor myself. I was dilated to 3cm but I really wasn't having contractions yet so we started our waiting game. We waited about 8 hours and still hadn't been having consistent strong contractions so the started me on pitocin. That got it all going about around 11pm or so I was starting to have regular contractions finally. Of course the got harder and harder and about 1am the checked me again, still 3cm and in a lot of pain I asked/begged for an epidural. After WAY to long the anesthesiologist came and I got my epidural. That helped slightly but mainly through my body into a fast spiral toward delivery. That's exactly what happened when I had Tristan too. After about 1 contraction after the epidural my nurse came in and wanted to check me because of some dips in the monitors which mean the baby was coming down. Sure enough he was and I was about a 7-8 already and after a few more contractions I was ready to push. Everyone started moving quickly getting things ready and the fun began. With about 2 good pushes our little man arrived at 1:58am on February 14th, Valentine's Day! He weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 inches long.

We had some nice down time and got to snuggle with our newborn before we went to our postpartum room.  Then we went to see him get his first bath.  Everyone said he had some good lungs, he didn't enjoy it too much obviously.

We spent the morning talking about what we should name him and decided on Archer Reese Thompson.  We found it only fitting that he should be a little Archer since he was born on Valentine's Day.  After a little rest Scott took off to see our other kids and bring them over.  I got to hang out with our sweet baby.  I love how small newborns are.  It is just so amazing.

Here are pics of the boys the first time they got to hold their little brother.  They all loved him and kept saying "He's so cute!"  Tristan especially loves that he's a big brother now.

I love this pictures.  Connor and Haydn are checking out his little toes.

The next day we had a slow morning just getting ready to come home.  This is Archer in his first set of clothes.

I love how little he looks in his car seat.  I wish they could stay this little for longer!

Me and the baby on the way to the car to bring him home for the first time.  Notice my nice bright hospital socks...my shoes got taken home accidentally so I didn't have any, oops!

Welcoming Archer home was easy.  Everyone wanted to love on him and he fits right in.  Connor even held him while reading a book.

This is his first smile we caught on camera.  Sweet smiling dreams are the best.  We love you Archer!  Welcome to the family!

Haydn's 5th Birthday

Haydn is official is officially 5 years old. I can't believe it! He wanted a "beach party", something he's never been able to have before since his birthday is in February. Unfortunately all our plans to go as a family to the beach didn't work out because it was a little too cold but we will go soon in his honor. We filled the day with a yummy waffle breakfast, presents, games, a trip to the park and pizza, cake and ice cream later. He loved everything he got for his birthday and he was so fun to watch open presents because he was SO EXCITED and thankful. Sweet boy!

Here he is with his presents...

An awesome ship that can turn into a bunch of little ones and has a shark to catch too.

Anakin Skywalker Alarm Clock

Slinky from Connor-just what he wanted!

Angry Birds game! So awesome!

Sand toys for all our sandy parks and the beach!

Here are the boys trying out Haydn's new boat and Angry Birds...


A beach cake! He wanted a cake that tasted like cinnamon rolls and looked like a beach. I made a pound cake with cinnamon swirls and apples in it topped with cream cheese frosting and candy fixings to make it look like a beach(cinnamon toast crunch sand, pretzel and laffy taffy palm trees, whopper coconuts, a laffy taffy campfire and goldfish fishes swimming in the ocean)! It was yummy and he was happy.

Happy Birthday to YOU!

One of Haydn's birthday wishes was for the baby to come on his birthday! It didn't happen that way and I'm glad since I wanted them each to have their own day. We are still waiting around for baby boy #4 to show up. He will be evicted on Feb 16th if he doesn't willingly come before that.

Jenn's birthday!

Today was Jenn's birthday! YAY!

To mark the occasion, Jenn and I made a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake:


Here's the birthday girl blowing out her candle - may all her wishes come true!

Marina Del Rey Beach

We went to the beach again on a nice day since the kids couldn't stop talking about it after we went the first time. We did a little burying.


Connor and Haydn helped build this with some strangers next to us.

Tristan still didn't try the water much but he played in the sand happily the whole 4 hours we were there. Who wouldn't fall in love with this face?

We left relaxed and luckily with a little January tan! We could get used to this!

Hiking in Griffith Park

We ventured to Griffith Park to do some hiking and see be a little more touristy. We had such fun doing a little off roading. Tristan did get a little grumpy at the end, but that was mainly a timing issue (hiking during lunch/naptime isn't the best idea). Scott, being the amazing father that he is, carried T on his shoulders through the rougher and steeper parts.





The best part was that these two really bonded on the trail. They spent most of it together talking, imagining and working together. This was them walking to the car as we were done. If this is how hikes end, we will go on many more!

Playing at the BEACH in JANUARY

We FINALLY decided to head to the beach on a sunny warm day in January. We went to the Santa Monica Pier and rode the ferris wheel to get the best view.



Then we walked down to the water. I envisioned the boys running from the waves and getting their toes wet, it is January afterall and the water is cold, but it went a lot farther than that. It started out like this...

And the ended up shirtless and drenched but having the time of their lives!

Tristan was a little nervous about the water but enjoyed playing in the sand...a little too much...stinker!

Modesto

After we left Sacramento we stopped through Modesto to stay at my Harrison Grandparent's house. We spent an evening talking and the kids played with toys I remember from my childhood there. In the morning we picked lemons (we brought a whole box home, yum) and went to the park before driving the rest of the way home.

Trip to Sacramento

After Christmas we mad a trip to Sacramento to see my extended family. It was so fun! We stayed with my Aunt Pam and her family but we saw everyone else almost every day too. We played lots of cards, went to the park, made a trip to Leatherby's, went on a hike and had a New Years celebration. It was busy and fun.
When I get together with my aunts playing cards is a given, it's what we do!

This is our Indiana Jones Adventure hike lead by Indiana hinself(my Uncle Jeff)


The boys loved playing a game of soccer with my big cousins.

All of the cousins together (missing a couple families)

Beverly Hills

We have to be a little touristy since we are still new to the area. Here's a pic of our family in front of a BIG Beverly Hills sign.

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas and I just wanted to finally put up a couple cute pics of the most loved presents. All of the kids got pillow pets. Connor's favorites were all the Harry Potter books, and movies and a HP Wii game to boot. Haydn loved his club penguin game, dragon car, and dragon egg. Tristan got a few different Cars related sets. He LOVES his Lightning McQueen pillow pet, talking car and race track set. We opened Santa presents in the morning and family presents after church. We had a great dinner at home together and the holiday couldn't have been better.