First Day of School 2012

 Today is Paige's first day of 2nd grade!

 Ashley's first day of 4th grade!

 Michael with the school mascot, Buddy.

Last Day of Summer

 We all got to go swimming on the last day of summer break!

Gracie Ann's Birth

Introducing Gracie Ann

born July 23 2012 at 1:50 am 

8 lbs, 6 oz, 21 1/4 inches

Gracie's birth story starts a few days before her actual birth.  I went in for the regular weekly check up on Tuesday and, even though Gracie had always been head down and ready to go, this time she was sideways.  They sent me immediately for an ultrasound to see what was happening and it turned out that I had lots of extra amniotic fluid and so there was plenty of room for her to swim around and flip whenever she felt like it.  Not good, especially since I was due on Saturday.  The next day, I got a call from the doctor, who said that they had scheduled me for a c-section on Monday.  I started freaking out and read a bunch of information on how to get a transverse baby to turn.  I tried everything except doing handstands in a pool (seriously, folks??), and apparently, something worked because I scheduled an appointment on Thursday to tell the doctor I really, really didn't want a c-section and Gracie was head down again.  The doctor told me just to keep her head down (really--how was I supposed to do that??), so anytime I felt her start to move, I stood up and held my belly.  The doctor said they would either induce or do a c-section on Monday morning, depending on her position.  I really wanted her to come on her own, but also was worried about the complications of too much water and going into labor with her transverse, so I agreed, praying that she would somehow stay head down and come naturally in the next 3 days.  
  Nothing happened Friday, nothing Saturday, and we got through almost all of Sunday, thinking I would just go in and be induced Monday morning.  Well, after getting the kids in bed, at about 8:45 Sunday night, my water broke!  My mother was at our house, so we rushed to the hospital.  I was dilated to a 4 and she was still head down.  I called my sisters-in-law, Emily and Heather, who live about 45 minutes away and they rushed down to come help me.  Gracie was still really high, so the doctor gave me pitocin to try to speed things up so she didn't flip again while I was in labor.  After a little while, the doctor checked again and I was dilated to a 6.  She asked if I wanted an epidural and we decided to have her break my water (apparently there are 4 pockets and it didn't all break the first time...) and see if that changed anything.  It didn't and the contractions were super painful, so I decided to go ahead and get it.  Well, right after he put it in, she checked again (no more than 10 minutes after I was a 6) and I was fully dilated, ready to push.  My toes started to feel a little tingly after she was born--it might have taken the edge off a little bit, but not much!  She was born at 1:50 Monday morning!  Heather and Emily were amazing and helped me get through the pain and James was really glad they were there because it meant that he got to be in charge of all the electronics in the room.  The doctor especially liked his skill with the spotlight :)  It was a great birth and an easy recovery, which was such a blessing, especially with all of little Gracie Ann's siblings at home for me to take care of, too.  
  So far, she has been a great baby.  She's a really good eater--she was back up to birth weight 2 days after she was born and had gained another pound at her 2 week check-up.  She's been sleeping really well, too.  Most nights she gets up once or twice, so I can't complain about that!  We are so happy that she's joined our family and can't wait to see her grow up!

Swim Team Summer!

The kids have had fun on our neighborhood swim team this summer!

Here's the team picture--Ashley's in the center and Paige is in the lower left corner.  Michael's been having fun on the team, too, and has made it 3/4 of the way across the pool!

Paige with the pink goggles:

 Paige almost diving:

 Ashley and her friend, Madison:

 Ashley in the water:

 Ashley finishing up a relay:

 Paige getting ready:

 Paige is the middle red cap:

 Ashley with her knee on the starting block (clear goggles):

 It's been quite a time commitment, but has been a really fun time!

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!  

We went to a fun neighborhood festival this morning.  Douglas was really interested in the bounce house, but every time he got close, he decided he'd rather not get in.

We got out the kiddie pools and tried to cool off when we got home.

And we ended the day with some patriotic Jello :)

Ashley Turns 9!

 The girls had their first swim meet on Ashley's birthday!

 Birthday brownies after the meet :)