Please Welcome...

Kinley Paige!!

Born July 23, 2012

6lb, 8oz

19 1/2 in.

Perfect in Every Way!!

 

www.sonkissedphotography.com

We had newborn pictures taken by Kristen with Son Kissed Photography. She was amazing and I love the pictures we have and can't wait for the rest. Check her out if you need pictures taken of your family or little ones!

So, I have to make this a quick post, I still can't believe precious Kinley is here, she's 5 weeks old and Mike and I have loved every minute of it. Yes, there have been some rough days, some tears-from her and myself, sleep deprivation...but when I see this face, my heart melts, and I just can't believe how blessed we are and all those bad things area set aside. There have been more smiles, cuddles, oooing and awwing, rocking, baby voices, and so much more!

As Kinley and I get more use to a 'schedule' I hope that I can make time to write more posts and share pictures. I had a wonderful delivery experience that I hope to share soon.

I have also been taking weekly pictures of Kinley to create a photo book on her 1st birthday. Remember how I was asking about Baby Books...well, I got one all ready, super cute...and have I put a darn thing in it...NOPE! :) Oh well...it's so much more fun to cuddle and ooo and aww than to pull it out. I have tried, though to write down a few things in my planner or on her weekly picture to remind myself for the future.

So for  now, I will leave you with our first Family Picture of Three!!
 
God made a lot of wonderful things, this, though, I think is his greatest!

 

Belly Bump Updates!

So, I've been a little MIA...Little Bit is still kickin it though...I'll share more about her in a bit.

So here are my Belly Bump Updates...I don't think I'll have time to answer all my questions I've been answering in the past weeks, so we will see.

July 13th

38 Weeks

I think this is my favorite of all my week pics...

July 18th

39 Weeks

I'm not a huge fan of either of these pictures or my swollen face :) 

Today July 22nd!

One day before D-Day!!

We went for Sunday Brunch with Mike's family at Waterfront Grill, and it was very tasty...I had WAY to many carbs for my blood sugar levels...oh well!

A little about what's going on...we go in this evening to the hospital at 7:00. They will be a cream on my cervix to thin it out (which apparently helps if they have to induce me)...then we wait. Hopefully and prayerfully, I go into labor on my own, but if not, tomorrow morning 6 or 7 I would guess, Dr. Cox will break my water and start the Induce medicine and then sometime tomorrow, we will meet our precious little girl!! I'm so excited!!

Thankfully Mike is feeling better, we went to Urgent Care yesterday morning and he was able to get some antibiotics and cough med...he feels much better!  Praise Jesus and thanks for all the prayers for him too!

I've still been feeling just fine for being about ready to explode. I wake up with Shrek Feet about every morning now. Just about all of me is starting to swell...which I won't complain too much, because I know it will all be worth it.

My last day of work was Friday, which I am so excited about!  I know it's not a break, and I will be working in differnt terms when we come home from the hosptial...but I am very thankful to have a break from that work for a while. For the most part, the kiddos were very sweet and we excited for me to have my baby.

Rick and Mel flew in last night, they will be staying with us for while to help out. Which I am very thankful for. Not sure how long Mike will be able to take off of work, so it will be nice for Mel and my mom to come over and help...and whoever else!

Mom has been over the past two days and a few days in the past couple of weeks to help me clean and get the house all in order...she is a crazy cleaning woman!! And I am so thankful for that. She has cleaned things, I didn't even know you cleaned!! Or how to clean for that matter!

I finally did pack my bag last weekend, just in case. Mike still needs to get his stuff together tonight.

No, we still haven't picked a name yet. We will be choosing one once she gets here...good thing is she has to leave the hospital with a name...so no more procrastinating for Mike!

Alright, well, I'm gonna go get some more things done before we leave for the hospital. Next time I post, I will be a Mommy!!

Mike and I 

 Belly shot

Aunt Jo! 

The Evans 

The Excited to-be-Great-Grandparents! 

Later!!

A Re-Post from Can I Just Tell You?: {The Way}

As I sit her working on Little Bit's Baby Book, feeling her squirm all around like she's having some of Remi's Puppy Dreams, and catching up on some Blog Reads, I ran across Marisa's post about parenting. Marisa happens to be a friend and my Big Sis from the good ol' Pi Beta College days. Throughout my freindship with her and my pregnancy, she has given me advice, encouragement, and been a good friend. Anywho, after reading her post about a parenting article she read, I also wanted to share. Mike and I are so excited to be parents, but speaking for myself, I'm a little freaked out! :) I've had great role models as parents and so has Mike who, his parents treat me as their own. So two great sets of parents! But I still get that fear/anxiety of Holy Crap, am I going to screw her up?! I think it really comes from my field of work and seeing so many hurt children and some parents that really have just screwed them up. But after reading what Marisa shared, I learned, it's a learning process, we will screw up, our children will screw up, and we will all have to learn from it and here are some way's that we can do it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Thanks Marisa for this great post!!

From:
Can I Just Tell You?: {The Way}: I found this post about parenting recently, and I'm completely in love with it's sentiment. Highlighted are pieces I would like to focus on in our home:

There is no such thing as stress-free parenting.

A reader requested that I share my thoughts on stress-free parenting, as the father of six kids. And while I have learned a lot about being a dad, and finding joy in parenthood, I also know that stress-free parenting is a myth.

Parents will always have stress: we not only have to deal with tantrums and scraped knees and refusing to eat anything you cook, but we worry about potential accidents, whether we are ruining our kids, whether our children will find happiness as adults and be able to provide for themselves and find love.

That said, I’ve learned that we can find peace.

Peace isn’t a place with no stress, but a place where you take the stress as it comes, in stride, and don’t let it rule you. You let it flow through you, and then smile, and breathe, and give your child a hug.

There is a Way of the Peaceful Parent, but it isn’t one that I’ve learned completely. I’ll share what I’ve learned so far, with the caveat that I don’t always follow the Way, that I still make mistakes daily, that I still have a lot to learn, that I don’t claim to have all the answers as a parent.

The Way

The Way is only learned by walking it. Here are the steps I recommend:

• Greet your child each morning with a smile, a hug, a loving Good Morning! This is how we would all like to be greeted each day.
• Teach your child to make her own breakfast. This starts for most children at around the age of 3 or 4. Teach them progressively to brush their teeth, bathe themselves, clean up their rooms, put away clothes, wash their dishes, make lunch, wash their own clothes, sweep and clean, etc.
• Teaching these skills takes patience. Kids suck at them at first, so you have to show them about a hundred times, but let them try it, correct them, and let them make mistakes. They will gradually learn independence as you will gradually have less work to do caring for them.
• Older children can help younger children — it’s good for them to learn responsibility, it helps the younger children learn from the older ones, and it takes some of the stress off you.
• Read to them often. It’s a wonderful way to bond, to educate, to explore imaginary worlds.
• Build forts with them. Play hide and seek. Shoot each other with Nerf dart guns. Have tea together. Squeeze lemons and make lemonade. Play, often, as play is the essence of childhood. Don’t try to force them to stop playing.
• When your child asks for your attention, grant it.
• Parents need alone time, though. Set certain traditions so that you’ll have time to work on your own, or have mommy and daddy time in the evening, when your child can do things on her own.
• When your child is upset, put yourself in his shoes. Don’t just judge the behavior (yes, crying and screaming isn’t ideal), but the needs behind the behavior. Does he need a hug, or attention, or maybe he’s just tired?
• Model the behavior you want your child to learn. Don’t yell at the child because he was screaming. Don’t get angry at a child for losing his temper. Don’t get mad at a kid who wants to play video games all the time if you’re always on your laptop. Be calm, smile, be kind, go outdoors and be active.
• When a stressful time arises (and it will), learn to deal with it with a smile. Make a joke, turn it into a game, laugh … you’ll teach your child not to take things so seriously, and that life is to be enjoyed. Breathe, walk away if you’ve lost your temper, and come back when you can smile.
• Remember that your child is a gift. She won’t be a child for long, and so your time with her is fleeting. Every moment you can spend with her is a miracle, and you should savor it. Enjoy it to the fullest, and be grateful for that moment.
• Let your child share your interests. Bake cookies together. Sew together. Exercise together. Read together. Work on a website together. Write a blog together.
• Know that when you screw up as a parent, everything will be fine. Forgive yourself. Apologize. Learn from that screw up. In other words, model the behavior you’d like your child to learn whenever he screws up.
• Patiently teach your child the boundaries of behavior. There should be boundaries — what’s acceptable and what’s not. It’s not OK to do things that might harm yourself or others. We should treat each other with kindness and respect. Those aren’t things the child learns immediately, so have patience, but set the boundaries. Within those boundaries, allow lots of freedom.
• Give your child some space. Parents too often overschedule their child’s life, with classes and sports and play dates and music and clubs and the like, but it’s a constant source of stress for both child and parent to keep this schedule going. Let the child go outside and play. Free time is necessary. You don’t always have to be by her side either — she needs alone time just as much as you do.
• Exercise to cope with stress. A run in solitude is a lovely thing. Get a massage now and then.
• It helps tremendously to be a parenting team — one parent can take over when the other gets stressed. When one parent starts to lose his temper, the other should be a calming force.
• Mom and dad need a date night every week or so. Get a babysitter, or better yet, teach the older kids to babysit.
• Sing and dance together.
• Take every opportunity to teach kindness and love. It’s the best lesson.
• Kiss your child goodnight. And give thanks for another amazing day with your beautiful, unique, crazy child.

‘You know the only people who are always sure about the proper way to raise children? Those who’ve never had any.’ ~Bill Cosby

Hope you have had a great weekend! I'll share mine later!

It was Showering like crazy!!

My First Shower!!

Mom and Mel gave me a shower for family on April 21st...I know it's almost a month gone by now, but better late than never, right...Mom, this is expecially for you since you just so happened to mention it this week :)

Mom had WAY to much fun planning this shower, there were times I wasn't even allowed over to the house because of some of her shananogans. She loves doing things like this and I appreciate it so much!

We recieved SOOOO many goodies at this shower. Mike and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that support us and love us. And they already love Little Bit so much, I'm so excited for her to meet all her family!

Some yummies that we had were Cake, of course! I chose Strawberry and Italian Cream. Italian Cream is usually my favorite, but on this day the Strawberry was Amazing!! The cakes were from Merritt's Bakery. They did an amazing job on the cake and the design! More yummies were fruit and veggies with dip, Artichoke Spinach Dip, Cheese, Pinwheels, and fabulous Punch!!

Little Bit recieved wonderful gifts, including super cute clothes---lots of clothes, adorable socks---again, lots of socks, car seat and base, tutu's, toys, her Chicco 360, gift cards, shoes, OSU headbands, pack'n'play---which is a funny story, bath time stuff, diaper bags, blankets, sleeping stuff, Bouncer, and so much more...I'm starting to draw a blank...I think I did really well coming up with all that out of my head :)  She is a spoiled little girl already! Especially from Grandma's!!

So here are some pictures from the shower....there are still some that I haven't finished while I'm opening the gifts...what I learned is I make some pretty funky faces when I'm really excited! Enjoy!

Umm, if you need a diaper cake...my friend, Amber (she didn't attend this shower, but she makes super cute ones) and my Mom are your people to call!  Mom and Dad aka, Grandma and Grandpa made this one for us, we still have it all together in her room.  It out of the cloth diapers, hooded towles, adn washclothes we registered for with other goodies too like pacifiers, spoons, teething rings, toys, and lotion stuff.  So stinking cute, I don't know if I'll ever be able to take it apart!

Grandma Combs couldn't wait to try the cake so she let her purse try it first!

Jo showing off the icing accessory on the purse...

Grandma's opening thier gifts.

Cousin Holly! She helped out so much by taking pictures, cutting the cake and scooping sherbert for the punch!  Thanks Holly!

 Aunt Jo!

Mel, Me, Jo, Mom 

Grandma Combs, Jo, and Mel

We were finally able to get the Pack n Play together!! It took us a long time!! In fact, we didn't 'pack' it up to move it, Mike put it in the back of his truck and it sat in our hallway for the longest time til we had people over and had to finally 'pack' it away...It's not very playful when your trying to pack it!  But I am really excited to use it. I believe we will probably put it in our room when she first comes home for a bit and it will be so convenient!

So there ya have it! So much fun with my family. Thank you all for all your love!  I love you so much!! Now, I'm just so excited to get to use all the fun stuff we got!!

Family Pictures!

I got to take pictures of my best friend, Amy, and her wonderful family.  Her sister and family was in town for Christmas, so it was so fun to see them all together and see the sweet cousins together.  Thanks for letting me share this time with you.  So sorry it took so long to get these up!

Bam Bam

The Whole Fam!

Grandparents and Grandbabes

Amy, Eric, & Ms. K

with Boone

Anibal & Bam Bam

Lisa, Anibal, & Bam Bam

Lisa, Amy, and Trent

Cousins!

I just think this is so cute!

Thanks so much! I love your family just like they are my own!

Get Carried Away!

At the Tulsa State Fair!!

It's been a while since I've been to the fair...possibly 10 years...the last time I remember, Casey and I did the Freefall 'ride' which was so much Fun!  So this year, Dad, Casey, and I headed out to the fairgrounds to check it out.  We went on a Thursday, and surprisingly, I don't really recall any 'typical carnies'.  Everyone looked pretty normal for the most part...so strike out on the people watching...my second favorite part of the fair. 

My favorite part is the FOOD!!  I had a gigantic corn dog, a funnel cake...which I wasn't completely satisfied with, some delish spud spirals and I think that was it for me.  Dad had a Rubin that he really liked and some type of ice cream.  Casey went all out and tried the corn dog, spud spiral, two caramel apples, fried pickles-which I tried and made the eww face because they were dill pickles.  We were both able to walk away from the scrumptious chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough. 

We didn't ride any rides, but had a great time watching others ride them!  We walked around the Expo and Dad got a cool sign made for his hanger and we also got The X-Dream-X-Sticker Speaker.  I got the orange one.  It's pretty cool and seems to work pretty well if you don't already have speakers...you can stick it just about anything and it turns the object into a speaker! We also saw all the animals, one of my favorites!

All in all, it was a fabulous time with my dad and brother!  Love you guys!

Here are some picks!

 In the Expo, we went to the Butterfly exhibit...A. Mazing!

 This little lady really like Casey and hung out on his should about the whole time we were in their.

 The Midway!