More Birthday Fun!

We celebrated Grace's birthday as a family on Monday. Mike stayed home an extra day before heading back up to Kansas. Grace got to open her presents on Monday morning (her favorite being make-up!) and then headed to Incredible Pizza. We ate, played games, got lots of tickets, and even tried miniature golf. It was great fun.

This is Grace's version of miniature golfing. She did this on every hole, silly girl.

Then after dinner, Grandpa Jeff, Grandma Stacey, and Aunt Sarah came over to have cookie cake and homemade strawberry ice cream. Yummy!

And that wraps up our birthday celebrations!

Four Years Old!

I like to tell my kids the story of the day they were born on their birthdays. I'm sure this comes from my Dad always telling me the story of the day I was born on my birthday. So here's the story of the day Grace was born.

June of 2005 was a stressful time for our little family. Mike had just graduated from Sac State and was looking for a job, but hadn't found one yet. I was still working at Sutter Health and the job was very stressful at the time. Benson was just a little over a year old and was a handful. Oh and my mom had just had surgery that left her with a HUGE blood clot that went from her knee up into her abdomen, so I was a little worried about her too.

The week Grace was born I was supposed to already be out on maternity leave but I decided to work one more week for financial reasons and also because a lot of people were out of the office that week. I went to the doctor on Monday, June 13th and my check-up was normal. Wednesday, June 15th I had a pretty stressful day at work and came home that night really not feeling well. I had pain in my upper right side and my shoulder was killing me. I took a couple of baths and made Mike rub my shoulder, but I couldn't even get to sleep I was in so much pain. I was hesitant to call the doctor because I didn't want to be a wimp, but after several hours of feeling like something was really wrong I finally did. When she called back she told me to go right to the hospital. We called our friend's, the Williams', that lived in our apartment complex to come stay with Ben and we went to the hospital around 1am with NOTHING, no bag, no camera, NOTHING! We told Sean we would probably be back in a few hours. And we learned the hard way that when you are that pregnant you should NEVER, EVER go to the hospital without being prepared for the possibility you won't leave without a baby.

Anyways, at the hospital they set us up in Triage and ran a bunch of tests. Turns out my blood pressure was through the roof so I had pre-eclampsia, but what was most concerning were my liver enzymes. I had developed HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes, Low Platelets) secondary to the pre-eclampsia. That was the pain in my abdomen and shoulder, it was my swollen liver. Who would have guessed. So at about 3:30am we realized we weren't leaving the hospital without a baby. And I fell apart. I was not ready physically, mentally, emotionally. We made several phone calls making arrangements for my sister Jenny to come out and help with Ben and also making arrangements for other friends to care for him during the day. We had some of the best friends who did so much for us doing those first few days and weeks, we never would have survived without them! By 5am I was on my way to surgery. And then Grace was born at 5:54am on Thursday, June 16th. She weighed 5lbs, 1oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. She was so tiny and had so much hair and she was perfectly healthy! It was a miracle. She was a champion eater from the very start. Such a good eater that she was never jaundiced at all which is extremely rare for a baby born before 37 weeks. She also only lost 2 ounces in the hospital and had gained 1 back before we were discharged. She was a fantastic eater and sleeper and the most easy going baby ever. Which was such a blessing because I was a mess! I had to be on magnesium for 36 hours following her birth and they wouldn't let me get out of bed. I hadn't even washed my hair before I went to the hospital so by Saturday I was so desperate for a shower I thought I would die. One of the nurses aide's stayed after her shift on Saturday night and washed my hair in bed, which still brings tears to my eyes to this day.

The story of Grace's beginnings is definitely not what we wanted or expected, but I can look back now and see the strength and increased faith that I gained from the whole experience. And our family was doubly blessed because we also got Grace as part of the deal. She is such a special little girl. Her enthusiasm and excitement brighten our days. Her forgiving nature and concern for others set an example for not only her siblings but for us as her parents. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to have her sweet spirit in our home.

And here is her life in pictures, month by month, so far...

And here is a picture of her today on her 4th birthday! I can't believe how old she looks! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Grace's Princess Party

We had Grace's Princess Party last Monday. We went to My Little Dollhouse and then to a McDonald's close by for lunch, cupcakes, and presents. Grace had a great time with her little friends from ballet and church.

Since Grace was the Birthday Girl when they did the runway show at My Little Dollhouse she was the last girl to come out and the other girls did a drumroll on the stage. I thought I was recording the whole thing but realized afterward that I missed it. She walked down to the star, got down on all fours and did some hilarious poses, sticking her arms and legs out. It was pretty funny and I'm sad that I didn't preserve it for posterity.

We almost melted at McDonalds because the air conditioning wasn't working in the play area! So if the girls look extra hot, rest assured that they were. Between all the glitter and sweat everyone needed a bath after the party! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make Grace's day special!

Grace requested Princess cupcakes, so this was my best effort. The design was actually all Mike's idea, I'm sure he will appreciate me giving him the credit! :)

Since we did her party so long ago, Grace thought her birthday was over. We had to spend a lot of time convincing her this weekend that it wasn't over yet. I think the promise of more presents is what finally got her!

Ballet Wrap-up

Last Friday Grace had her final ballet class. She has LOVED every minute of it. The Friday before last they had Parent's Day where all the parents could sit in and watch and even participate in the class. Grace astounded me by being very shy and crying for about half the class. It was a little disappointing because I really wanted to see what she had learned but between the sitting on the floor and crying I didn't get a very accurate picture.


But last Wednesday made up for it! The dance studio had their big recital on Friday which Grace's class didn't participate in because they started the end of February and not in January. But they did a little demonstration on Wednesday afternoon at the same location as their recital for the classes that started later in the year. There was a big stage and bright lights and Grace showed her true colors and was the little star performer that I was expecting on Parent's Day. It was adorable and I was so impressed by everything she's learned.

I know Grace will really miss her teacher, Miss Krystal, and her friends from her dance class; they've had so much fun the past few months!

I'm trying....

Well it's almost the middle of June and I'm finally caught up with my May posting. I'm hoping to get current before we actually move, wish me luck! We have been trying to pack in the fun with all our friends and family before we are a half-days drive away, so there are many posts to come!

Bye Bye, Aunt Jenny!

Sunday, May 31st we had to say good-bye to Aunt Jenny because she headed out to Utah to go to college. We just got back tonight from our first trip to Grandma's house since Aunt Jenny left and I think we can safely say that she is missed! Before we go to Bartlesville, the kids and I always talk about who we are going to see and this time when they said "Aunt Jenny!", I had to remind them that she is in Utah now.

Aunt Jenny has done so much over the years to help with our kids. She's always been so good to help take care of them without even being asked. When Grace was born, my mom was recovering from surgery with a massive blood clot in her leg and obviously couldn't travel. So Jenny, who I think was at a basketball camp that she had to leave early, came out to California the same day. She really helped to relieve our stress by helping take care of Benson since Grace's early arrival was very unexpected and found us unprepared and totally overwhelmed.

So Aunt Jenny, we love you, we miss you, and we hope you are having fun at college!

We told the kids to give Aunt Jenny a kiss and they attacked her which is pretty normal

I thought I'd throw in a picture for comparison. This is Aunt Jenny with the kids about 2 years ago when we had first moved back to Oklahoma!

Grand Lake

A few weekends ago before Aunt Jenny left for college we got to go out to Grand Lake with my Aunt Julie, Uncle Ryan, and their boys and my family. We had lots of fun. The weather was so gorgeous that weekend, perfect lake weather. It also happened to be the weekend that Mike decided to stay up in Kansas and work on Saturday so it was nice to have a distraction since he wasn't home.
Benson has always loved the water, so no surprise that he didn't hesitate to swim in the lake and he loved tubing. Grace really surprised me though since last year she was quite hesitant. This year she probably spent the most time in the water of any of the kids. We also got both Grace and Sabrina to go on the tube which really surprised me.



I especially enjoyed Tube Wars: Wet Suit Twins vs. Dark-Haired Cousins. Sarah, Austin, Sawyer, and Jenny could go FOREVER on the tube. Their stamina amazed me.



A big THANK YOU to Aunt Julie, Uncle Ryan, Sawyer, Austin, Jack, Grandma Stacey, Grandpa Jeff, Aunt Jenny, and Aunt Sarah for helping us to have such a fun weekend!!