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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Random Pics from our November
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 It Snowed a ton one day. Trav and Gage had fun.
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 Kayla and I stayed inside and watched through the front window.
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 A great thing about having a dog in the winter...he keeps you warm.  And yes, he is in an awkward position but he liked it that way.
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Trav's Birthday was this month.  I tried to make it more interesting by having a scavenger hunt for his presents. Gage loved it.
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(there was ice cream in the freezer for one of his presents)
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Halloween

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Kayla's Blessing

We blessed McKayla in our home a few weeks ago.  It was beautiful.  Thanks to all our friends and family who could make it.  McKayla was an angel, she slept the whole time.  She wore my blessing dress, but I think she looks cuter in it.
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Three generations with my mom, who Mckayla is named after.

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Four generations

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Four generations

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We weren't able to get a pic of our whole family because our poor Gage was terribly sick.  He barely got up the whole day which is unusual if you know Gage.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lucky

I had a bad day.  A really bad day. It was epic how bad this day was.  Everything that could go wrong did.  I was angry at everything and everyone.  Why did I have to have such a horrible life.

That's what I thought...

I decided to wind down a little while my babies slept and checked a few posts online.  I read a post of a mother's description of her daughter's birth.  Her daughter was born with down syndrome.  It's a pretty old post, you can find it here.  This post changed everything.

It wasn't that everything in my life was awful. It was me and my attitude that made the day so bad.  I'm actually the luckiest person in the world.  I have the most amazing best friend and partner for eternity.  I have two healthy, active, happy, and forgiving children.  I have a loving dog.  I have the gospel.  How can life be bad when I have what I need.

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I can do hard things...especially for these two.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Miracle Baby

I've been thinking about writing this post for more than a week now.  I'm finally getting around to it.  I feel very blessed and grateful for my new sweet baby girl, McKayla.  Let me explain why I truly believe she is my little miracle.

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I can't remember if I posted this, but at the beginning of my pregnancy with her we had some complications.  We thought I may have an ectopic pregnancy and would have to abort.  I was devastated but after a few ultrasounds and tests we were relieved to find out she was fine. At an appointment a month after this, my doctor explained that he truly thought I had an ectopic pregnancy and it must have been a miracle that moved the fetus into the right position so we wouldn't have to abort the pregnancy. Miracle #1.

I can't tell you that the rest of the pregnancy was easy, it wasn't.  I was a lot more sick and uncomfortable this time around but I made it.  Even in the heat and the almost labor signs I was able to carry my beautiful girl to term. Miracle #2.

Now the story of her delivery.  We were concerned about how quickly she would come because of how quickly Gage came.  Therefore, we opted to induce a week early on August 9th.  I really didn't want to be induced but both Trav and I felt very strongly that it needed to happen.  We also felt that we needed to be induced because I am a carrier for GBS and needed to have the antibiotic in my system for 4 hours before delivering to help prevent Kayla from getting the illness. My mom continued to pray that I wouldn't need to be induced and the night before we were to go in to deliver she came over with my dad to give me a blessing and brought my sister-in-laws famous "git-r-done" brownies.  I ate one to make her happy.

The next morning we went in to the hospital at 8 am.  I was having a few contractions here and there but nothing regular (which is what my doctor told me to look for).  When we finally went to our room the nurse checked me and said I was already dialated to 5 cm.  She quickly started the IV with antibiotic but said I probably wouldn't make it the full 4 hours. She called my doctor who said I would be checked every half hour to see how I was progressing and if I wasn't progressing enough after 3 hours they would break my water and if I still didn't progress then they would give me medicine to make the contractions regular.  

Here come the miracles.  I didn't progress which made it possible for me to have the antibiotics for 4 hours. Miracle #3.  When they broke my water I was ready to deliver within half an hour.  I did not have to be induced. Miracle #4.  Traffic was good so my doctor was able to make it to the hospital for the delivery. Miracle #5.  There were absolutely no complications during delivery. Miracle #6.  

Now for what I feel is the biggest miracle of all.  Throughout the entire labor, my contractions were never regular.  I had no idea I was in labor because my contractions were no different that they had been for months before she came.  If I had not decided to induce on that particular day, my water may have broken on its own and Kayla probably would have been born at home or on the way to the hospital and there could have been a lot of complications.

ImageI am so grateful that Travis and I were inspired to induce on that particular day and that the Lord made it possible for my little girl to be delivered safely.  
Oh, and we are so grateful for our wonderful parents who took care of our sweet Gage throughout the delivery and hospital stay.  What would we do without our wonderful family?
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 I love this kid.  He loves his sister and is so good to her. He always wants to give her kisses.

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Trav is such a good daddy.

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Our sweet McKayla, we love you!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Random Pics from Family Reunions and Other

These are just a bunch of random pics from this summer. They are completely out of order so have fun.
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Gage wanted to help me wash the floor. He actually did a pretty good job.

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 We went to Provo Temple for fun.  Gage loved the fountains.
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 Kennecott Copper Mine.  We went with Trav's whole family.  It was a lot of fun. 
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 The whole gang minus Trav who is taking the picture.
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 Playing kickball with my family. All the girls sat at home plate waiting for their turn.
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 Crazy kid.
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 More kickball fun.  My pictures weren't the greatest because I just sat on the sideline the whole time.

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Outdoor movie with Trav's family.

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This is a shout out to all those who remember our cute Yukon doing "the cockroach".  I think that Baxter must be related somehow.  He is completely asleep in this picture.

Pool Party!

We've spent a lot of time in the pool this summer both at our house and Oma's.  
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Gage just loved getting daddy.Image

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This pool at Oma's house has seats in the 
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 Sliding down the 'mountain' at Oma's. It was high, but this kid loved it.
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