Alice Audrey King

 Sept. 13th

7 lbs 7 oz

19 inches

First a birth story and then a bunch of pictures.

I woke up Sunday morning on the 13th, (10 days before my due date), around 7ish and was just laying in bed playing a game on my phone when I felt my water leaking.  It wasn't a gush of water like when my water broke with Ryan, so I felt like I had some time to take a shower.  I got ready and then called my Mom and told her the baby was coming today and to head to Wyoming as soon as she could.  I then called my friend in the ward and asked if she could take my kids to church with her.  And then my Mom could take them after church got out.  Stewart was in Utah for a 50 mile walk that he does with his friends once a year.  I knew Stewart hadn't gone to sleep until 3 am that morning so I was trying to wait as long as possible to call him so he could get some sleep before he made the 3 hour drive and had to be alert enough to help me at the hospital.  :)

I told the kids that I was going to have the baby today and they were all excited but surprisingly very slow at getting ready for church.  I think they thought they were going to go with me to the hospital.  But once I got them straightened out and told them that they got to go to Samantha's house and got to go to church with her family they seemed to pick up the pace.  I dropped the kids off at my friends house and then drove down the street to the hospital. (You've got to love small towns.)  It was kind of weird driving myself to the hospital without Stewart. It was even weirder showing up to Labor and Delivery by myself.   I was having contractions but they didn't really hurt.  And the nurse wasn't 100% that I was in labor, so they did a test to make sure my water had actually broken.  It took 40 minutes for the tests results to come back, so I basically sat in the bed and played on my phone.  When it came back positive, the nurse asked if I wanted pitocin to get things going since my contractions weren't very strong yet.  I said, "Yes, please.".  Stewart still hadn't arrived and the cute nurse asked if I had anyone to come and support me during the birth.  I told her that my husband had been in UT and was on his way and should get there within the hour.  The nurse seemed relieved.  I think she thought I was on my own.

Stewart finally made it.  Whew!  And then the nurse increased my pitocin since my contractions weren't that bad.  It didn't take long for the contractions to start to hurt after that, and I was at a 6,  so I got the epidural.  Sadly, the epidural wasn't working great at first.  Only my legs were slightly numb and I could still feel every contraction. The anesthesiologist fixed the epidural and I was able to finally relax. Yay for epidurals.  The nurse checked to see if I had made any progress and it surprised her because the baby was ready to go.  She told me not to push and rushed to get the doctor.  Two pushes later and our little Alice was born.  

 The not so cute first picture.

 Grandma Patsy holding Alice.

 First time in the car seat, ready to go home.

 Our little blonde one.

Exhaustion

 The kids played with this box for hours.

 A photo bomb by Stewart

 Stew holding Alice for the first time.

 Ryan and his puppies, Fluffy and Sniffy, that Grandma Patsy made out of his old blanket. 

Evie holding the baby for the first time.

 She's awake finally.

 She loves her pacifier. 

 And is the best sleeper. 

There's just something about holding a sleeping baby that makes you sleepy too.

She's two weeks old and so far is an angel baby.  I don't know how long that will last, so I'm just enjoying it for now.  :)

Ryan's 4th Birthday

Our little Ryan is very much like his Uncle Ryan and has been looking forward to his birthday for months.  Every day he would ask, "How much longer until my birthday?".  And following any toy  commercial he would shout, "I want that for my birthday!".  We are all glad his birthday has come and gone. 

He helped make his own birthday cake.

 The cake is lit and on it's way.

 He likes strawberry frosting, thus the pink cake.  And he loved that #4 candle.

 Showing off some of his birthday loot.

Dreams coming true.

The rest of the pictures we took of his birthday were super blurry because he couldn't hold still. He was constantly jumping around with excitement. 

First Day of School

 Stew starting 1st Grade

 Evie starting 4th Grade

Ryan wishing he could go to school.

Where Did The Month Go?

Evie had a birthday.

 Evie waiting for her birthday guests to arrive.

 She wanted donuts again this year instead of a cake. 

 Making their sand art  in a bottle.

We re-stuffed puppy dog since he was looking pretty thin.

 He's a bit of a fatty now and loved more than ever.

Stewart had his annual work BBQ in Green River.

Ryan and Evie taking a break on a swing that is along the bike trail that follows the river.

Do you like the big red stain on Ryan's shirt?  There was Hawaiian Punch at the BBQ and the kid was in heaven.



TOP 5

1. We made it through the summer. School starts tomorrow. Hooray!
2. I'm done teaching Sharing Time for the month of August and won't have to teach again until the  December. Seriously this calling is a breeze.
3. Taking the kids to thepark andit was almost too chilly in the shade with the wind blowing.  I loved it!
4. Ice from Sonic.  Life is good.
5.  Two of my friends had their babies.  It gets me excited.

BOTTOM 5

1. Heartburn has been fierce.
2.  Trying to keep Ryan entertained at the movies.  He has a hard time sitting through a show without doing something else at the same time.  Even at home, he has Legos or some toy that he's playing with when he watches tv.
3. Kids staying up way too late several nights in a row.  Oh, the meltdowns that occurred the following days.
4.  I don't have any good books to read. 
5.  Taking Evie to the Mall so she could spend her money on new earrings.  We got there at 6:50 pm and apparently the Mall closes at 7:00 on Saturday nights.  Crazy right.  Luckily she was able to shop fast.

Birthday Preparations

Evie's birthday is coming up this week.  It is her year for a birthday party.  She is beyond excited.  And I wasn't super thrilled myself (being large with child) but once we made some examples of the crafts she and the girls will be doing, I might be looking forward to it a bit more.  :)

 Little Pom Pom Bunnies

 Evie's favorite part is the tail.

 I like how fluffy the little guy is.

 They'll also be making sand art in a bottle.  And because Pinterest is awesome, I found a way to make sand out of salt and sidewalk chalk.  All you have to do is rub sidewalk chalk on table salt and it takes on the color of the chalk. 

It looks just like colored sand.  We made 9 different colors for the girls to use.  I forgot to take a picture of the bottle filled with the salt sand, but it turned out pretty fun.  I'm excited to see what combinations her little friends come up with.

Hopefully, I'll remember to take pictures at her party. 


TOP 5

1. I've had multiple dreams that I have a baby boy instead of a girl and it's made me super nervous that maybe they were wrong at my 20 wk ultrasound.  But I had an appointment this week and the doctor did an ultrasound to check the baby's growth. And confirmed that we are still having a girl.  Whew! (And everything is perfect as far as size and weight go.)

2. Reorganizing Evie's room to make room for this little lady.  Evie hates to get rid of stuff and saves everything.  2 garbage bags later and a Goodwill run and her room seems spacious now.

3. Going visiting teaching and having to bring all three kiddos with me.  We were gone for 2 hours straight since we had 3 visits back to back.  The kids didn't complain once. 

4. I got all of the kids school supplies and school clothes shopping done.  I just wish school was starting sooner.  We still have 4 weeks to go.

5.  Our church time is being shifted to 10 am in a couple of weeks.  I'm thrilled.


BOTTOM 5

1. We had a centipede in our bathroom this week. I pay Stew to be our bug guy and normally he has no problem getting little pests, but the centipede was a little fast for him.  So it was up to me to kill it.  I may have screamed a little, but I got the job done.

2. Charlie Horses

3. The air conditioning at church isn't working in the chapel. It's brutal.

4. Audio books.  I'm just not a fan. 

5. I ran out of pebble ice from Sonic and I'm going through withdrawals today.

Games and a New Car

 The kids have started getting interested more in playing adult games with Stewart and I.  And surprisingly they hold their own just fine.  We are finally past the stage of tears and melt downs when they don't win and so,  game on!  We're playing Killer Bunnies in the picture above.  Stewart and I loved playing it pre-kids and I'm so glad it's getting a second chance.

We got our new car!  I have joined the minivan club and I love it!  Having certain kids not touch each other is heavenly. And with our Wyoming wind, I no longer have to worry about little people accidentally slamming doors into cars next to us, it has been a huge relief.    And the best part is, that we didn't have to trade in the Camry so we are a two car family again! I can't remember the last time we had two cars and didn't have to coordinate who needed the car when etc.  We are on time to church again.  :)


TOP 5

1.  I am now the 2nd counselor in the Primary. 

2. Having two of my sisters and their kids spend the night at our house on their way back to Colorado.  It's a short visit, but still fun.

3. A new maternity shirt.

4. Wild bunnies and ground squirrels.  Ryan and I are thoroughly entertained when we spot one of these little guys.  Perhaps when we have our own home there won't be as much love for them.

5.  No complaining this week from kids about doing chores or homework.  It's a summer miracle.

BOTTOM 5

1. My friend and her kids have the same schedule of summer movies as we do.  Which I thought would be fun, until I found out that her 7 yr. old is a talker in movies.  My friend has told her son multiple times to be quiet but she just gives up.  I've told him and Evie and Stew have asked him to be quiet during the movie but nothing works.  I don't think we can sit by them anymore.  It might get a little awkward this week.

2.  There is also a dad that comes with his kids to the movie each week and he is a laugher.  Normally, I like laughers, but this guy laughs at parts that aren't even remotely funny. And with only like 20 of us in the theater his laugh is super boisterous and loud. :(

3. I lost my good sewing scissors a couple of months ago.  Boo.  Our place isn't that big, they have to be somewhere right?  Do I just give up and buy new ones? 

4. Our mailman crams packages in our small mail slot even when there is plenty of the big boxes specifically for packages available.

5. I'm addicted to cooking shows.  I might have a problem.

June

 Here's what we've been up to this month:

 We kept an eye on a bird nest and were so excited when the eggs hatched.

 School ended. 

 Puppy Dog continues to join us on our outings.

 The boys chasing ground squirrels while we waited for Evie to get out of her Art class.

 Evie's favorite art project from her class.  It's a real bowling pin that she painted into an elephant.

 Evie made herself a bacon cheese sandwich.  I think she put 7 slices of bacon on it.  And she finished it no problem.  The girl can eat, she's lucky she has Stewart's metabolism.

 We're trying to find new restaurants to go to in town.

 Broadway Burger is a new favorite.

Keeping kids happy while we waited for Stewart to come out at the end of church.

And getting the pool to ourselves on most days.  It's awesome.


TOP 5

1. Soccer is over until the Fall.  Stew was really fun to watch. They never lost a game.  Evie's team was a bit painful.
2. Having a pool to fill summer hours.
3. Homemade mini cookies.  They're just fun.
4. If Ryan needs to go to the bathroom while he's playing by himself, he'll say, "Pause" and then when he returns he says, "Un-pause". 
5. My placenta has moved enough, I can have a regular birth.  Hooray! No c-section for me!

BOTTOM 5

1.  I caught the oven on fire roasting some vegetables.  It was a bit scary.  Lesson learned.
2. There was a ton of smoke and our smoke alarm didn't go off.  That doesn't make me feel good.  We tested it later and it seems to be working.  Hmm.
3. We had ants in our kitchen.  Stewart took care of it, but it still gives me the hibbie jibbies.
4. A 3 yr old that has been waking up with sun at about 5:30 am every morning.  I need to get some blackout shades.
5. Seeing "The BoxTrolls" at our summer movie this week.  I hated it.  Am I the only one?  The kids said they liked it, I thought it was boring and a little creepy. 

Owl Puke and Other Happenings

 Evie worked hard to save up her money so she could buy Owl Puke.

 She was so excited to dissect her owl pellet and ended up finding a mouse skull and all it's other bones.  I was thoroughly grossed out by it myself.  But Ryan and Stew thought it was the coolest and were her little assistants.

Ryan and I were waiting out a thunderstorm in the car, so I let him take pictures with my phone.

He's easily entertained.


And it probably the most exciting news around here.....

We found out we're having a little girl!!!!!  Yay!  We're all pretty excited.  Ryan took a little convincing that a girl baby will be just as much fun as a boy baby, but he's excited now to teach her all sorts of boy stuff.
And I'm happy it's a girl because it makes me feel better about giving all of our boy baby clothes away when we moved.  I kind of wished I hadn't given away the crib, bouncer, car seat and all the other stuff now... but I really thought we were done a year ago.  Lesson learned.  :)

TOP 5

1. My little sister is having a boy after having 4 girls.  I'm so happy for them.
2. Our post office here is awesome.  They always have at least two people working.  I've never waited in line.  It's crazy.
3. The candles my activity day girls made turned out amazing.  Whew!
4.  Getting a new Activity Day partner that's in the Stake Primary Presidency as well.  She has access to our old building, so we can combine groups and meet at the church again.  And a bonus, she's full of new ideas.
5.  Evie's art teacher asked her to do a summer art camp for a week.  Yes please!  It's from 9 am - 3:00 pm everyday for a whole week and only $20 for supplies.  Thank you Wy!



BOTTOM 5

1.  The toys the kids won at the school carnival.  How long do you think I need to wait before I throw them away?
2. Feeding a neighbor's fish for two weeks while they were on vacation, and worrying that the little suckers would die on me.  I won't get tricked into that one again.
3. Evie during Sacrament meeting yesterday.  The girl needed a serious timeout.
4. Ryan singing a song he picked up from a Curious George episode.  I can't get it out of my head.
5. Dreading having to buy a bigger car in the next few months.  Again, wished I had known we were going to increase our family when we bought our new car last year.