The BIG Kindergartener!

I can't believe it, but Jacob has started Kindergarten!  He LOVES it!  I was a little worried about him doing all day kindergarten because he hardly even did preschool (we just did a neighborhood joy school last year) and he was still taking a nap off and on up until school started.  It was an adjustment for him but he is doing great!  One time before bed he told me that he was maybe getting sick.  I mentioned that maybe he would have to stay home from school the next day and he quickly changed his mind about not feeling well.

Here are some pics of the first day of school:

Johnathan got asked to do a presentation for Safety Week for the Kindergarten classes.  He did really well

I also signed up to go on a field trip with Jacob's class.  We went to the big red barn in Santaquin.  It was a lot of fun learning about their little family farm.  They took us on a hay ride out to one of the fields where the kids could pick a pumpkin and do several fun activities like a maze, riding a bike thing, playing in the sandbox, sliding down a big slide.  It was really crazy.  So. Many. Kids.  I finally had to let go of my control issues of needing to know where all my kids were and tried to enjoy the chaos.  I was only in charge of 4 kids too.  Then the kids got to have a picnic lunch.

 Crazy Kindergarteners

 They got to eat a yummy apple from the tree at the farm

 The maze I lost Jacob in

 Our little picnic

Jacob's class put on a Christmas Program.  They sang several Christmas songs.  I thought I was so prepared and remembered to bring the video camera and the camera, but realized I didn't bring the battery (that was charging) for the camera.  I only got 2 pictures from my phone because I was way back.  Oh well, I got a video of most of it.

What a cute little reindeer!

Ashlyn is 9

In September, Ashlyn turned 9.  Brynn was only 1 month old then, so we didn't do a whole lot.  She got a cake that she wanted to decorate all by herself. 

I went to grab the candles and realized I didn't have a full package.  Ashlyn wanted to put all the candles we did have on the cake.  So, if you add the 5, the 1, and all the single candles together, it adds up to 9...  Lame-O.  I know...

We also gave her a birthday present that didn't end up working out.  It was horse riding lessons but the girl that does them only does them in the summer.  So, then we got her a new present.

An alarm clock (that she asked for), hair things, and gum.  The 2 packs lasted about a week.  Maybe :)

I feel really bad that her birthday didn't turn out the best, but I feel like I had a good excuse.  Anyways, we are so happy to have Ashlyn in our family.  She adds a lot of spunk to our house.  We love you lots Ash!

Brynn Ruth Allen

Brynn Ruth Allen was born on August 21.  She was born at 11:51am.  I ended up having to be induced.  Again.  It all went really well though.  I had to be at the hospital at 6:30am, and was hooked up to the pitocin at 8am.  She was born less than 4 hours later.  I always need help getting started, but once I get going, I go pretty fast.  Luckily, the epidural worked amazingly well, unlike the last two times.  Probably because I made sure to ask for it very early.  There were a few complications during the labor, but they worked out fine luckily.  We didn't know, but the cord was wrapped around her neck.  Every time I would have a contraction, her heart rate would dip way down.  The nurse kept having me change positions, have an oxygen mask, and finally I had to have fluid pumped back in around the baby so she could have a little cushioning again.  That seemed to help out.  She was also in a posterior position, which we were worried about.  I had been having lots of uterine ligament pain, which the Chiropractor said typically leads to the baby being posterior.  But, everything worked out safely and we finally have our sweet baby girl here!

 My last photos being pregnant!

 She's here!!!

She was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long

 Brynn's first visitors

 The kids came RIGHT when school got out to see their new baby sister

 I don't think Ashlyn's smile could be any bigger

Seriously one of my favorite pics

 Going home!

 She really hated being put in the car seat.  She cried all the way home too

Some things I want to remember about Brynn:
She has the most hair of any of our kids when they were born.
She has two cute dimples that I can't stop kissing.
She has the smallest head of any of our other kids. Her head size is only in the 60% range, and the rest were born with head sizes in the 97%.
She had the funniest sneeze the first couple days after she was born.  It was sort of like a soft yell or a bark.
In the hospital especially, she was constantly smacking her lips.  She still does, but not as much.
For the most part, she is a pretty mellow baby.
Her favorite place to be is laying on or by mom.
She loves to pee whenever Dad is changing her diaper.  Haha!
She loves having a bath.  She totally relaxes in the warm water (until we start washing her anyways).
She really hates being swaddled because she loves her hands free to be close to her face.
Every time she cries, she snorts.  A lot. 

The kids really love her.  Especially Ashlyn.  She follows Brynn and I around wanting to hold & feed & change & dress her.  She is already a diaper changing pro.  She can change any diaper without any help.  She carries her around really well too, actually better than Jayden.  Can I just say how much I LOVE having older kids to help out?  It really makes such a HUGE difference.  It's also fun to watch them interact with Brynn and enjoy her rather than being jealous of her.

I love all the faces that newborns make when they're sleeping.  Here are some of the many faces of Brynn when she was 10 days old.

 

We love Brynn so much!  We are so excited to have her in our family!