Remembering Matt Turner

I'm coming back from a [long] break here to say that I'm observing a day of social media silence, as many bloggers are, tomorrow in honor and memory of Matt Turner.

It is our goal to spend tomorrow covering Julee, Preslee, and the Turner family in prayer as they lay the man they love to rest until they meet again in Heaven.

 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” ~ Revelation 21:4

Ryanne's Third Birthday Party

We celebrated Ry's 3rd birthday party this evening. She is obsessed with my little pony, so her party was of course full of cheesy my little pony decor :) 

Ry's sweet Nana made cupcakes because Ry *needed* strawberry "cake" and the cake was already vanilla. 

We got Ry her first bicycle and took her out this afternoon to ride it. She was elated. (I promise her hair is not always in her face, but no matter how hard I try the bows/clips/ponytails always come out) 

Apparently steering the bicycle is hard work & takes lots of concentration

I got annoyed with the plastic tablecloth, so I used an old blue sheet for the tablecloth & made a bow with the pink one. I'm not sure if that qualifies as ingenuitive or? We'll just go with ingenuitive. 

This is one of her current lovely fake smile faces. 

I think she was up to something. I just haven't figured out what it was yet . . . 

Ry and her sweet best friend, Kynlee. I never really had a good friend as a (young) child so it's so special to me for her to. She is always talking about her "sister Kynlee" 

Best Toddler Apps

Team Umi Zoomi Math: Zoom into Numbers
This cute app helps to teach number recognition as well as basic math skills. (Best for older toddlers & pre-schoolers)












Toddler Phone Tap
This is another great number recognition app. Not to mention that it allows them to "call" and dial numbers without actually calling people in your phone.







WeetWoo
This app is a video viewing app that blocks inappropriate content so it's safer than handing the phone over to your toddler to view a video on youtube. You can choose an age range, or a specific topic you want & let your child view several videos that fit that criteria, but feel safe knowing that is all they are viewing



AlphaBaby
Ryanne loves this app because it shows you all the letters in vibrant colors & repeats them aloud. As she learned her letters in school, this has been great reinforcement (but she still has some to learn!)







Kidzongs
This app has several typical kid songs that it will either sing to them or let them sing to the music. It is easily Ry's favorite app, hands down.












Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
This app has matching & puzzle games & is just plain fun to play. Not speaking from experience or anything ;)








Disney Junior!
This is a fairly new app, but it is great! You can watch any of your (or your child's) favorite Disney junior shows right from the iPhone or iPad.

Toddler Shapes
This is similar to the alphabet app, but lets your little one easily learn their shapes.

These are just a few of our favorite apps that we've discovered along the way. I thought I would share since I'm always on the hunt for great apps.

Photo Catch-Up

To say life has been hectic lately would be an understatement. Clearly, we are still adjusting to life as a family of four and I'm playing catch-up on all the things that took a back seat to school & my pregnancy (which was a lot). So in the meantime, I'll just share some pictures of life lately . . .

Ryanne loves to play in her old toys, as I've noticed most older siblings do. 

She is so sweet to Drake. I couldn't have asked for a better reaction (for now). 

Both babies at 2 months. What do you think? They look alike or not? 

I simply cannot believe how big and how fast this boy is growing. It's hard to imagine our life before him now. 

Pony Up!

My Dad and his wife, Karen, just bought a new miniature pony & Ry loves to ride it when we are down there. (Side note: I had nothing to do with the outfit she is wearing) She insists on wearing Karen's "cowgirl" hat every.single.time we are over at their house.

My Dad dug up some old spurs for her to wear. 

She had to accessorize her outfit. 

Ballet

Ry started ballet class a couple weeks ago & is absolutely in love. I, however, have been a failure at taking a picture of her in her leotard. But there is lots of "ballet" going on in our house these days.

(There is also clearly lots of cleaning going on.) 

Big Sister

The big sister is loving her new title & making sure that her brother is well taken care of.




At one point, we were outside swinging & I told her that we had to go back inside because Drake was hot. Her response? "But Mommy, we don't need Drake anymore. He needs to go back to the doctor." What are sisters for?

Photo Op

This sweet boy is just melting our hearts & hogging our time :) 

Mother & Daughter Fun

It was nice to spend an afternoon alone with Ryanne for the first time since Drake was born.

First Doctor's Appointment

Drake had his first doctor's appointment. We were happy and blessed to hear that he was generally healthy. He still needed to gain a couple ounces to get back to birthweight, but has since surpassed that and then some!

One Month Old

Drake, I can't believe you are already one month old! You have been such a light in our lives, and it's hard to remember life before you were part of it. Your sister loves you so much and it's so fun to watch the two of you interact. You just stare at her in awe. So far, she's loved {almost} every minute of having you in our family.

One day, we were swinging outside and I told Ryanne we had to go in because you were sweating and getting too hot. Her response? "But Mom. We don't need baby Drake anymore. He needs to go back to the doctor." 

You are wearing all 3 month or 6 month clothes. We didn't get much use of anything newborn. You are in size 1 diapers (and have been since we left the hospital!)

I'm guessing that you weigh around 11 to 12 pounds. You were 10 pounds and 9 ounces at 10 days old.

You are such a laid back, low-key baby. It's a refreshing change of dynamics ;) Happy one month sweet boy!

Family Reunion

What's more fun than a family reunion? A family reunion with a newborn.



At least there are cute pictures to show for it ; )

Happy BIRTHday!

On Friday, April 20, we put Ryanne to bed early because I wasn't feeling super well & was tired. Around nine, I felt a gush of water. Unsure, I stood up and felt more water running down my legs so I woke Trey up and started gathering things to head to the hospital.

We called my Mom to come over and stay with Ry and left for the hospital. My contractions very obviously picked up on the trip there. They were 2-3 minutes apart during the drive. We got there a little after ten and checked in.

At this point, I was 4 cm and 80% effaced. The nurse we had that night was amazing. When I delivered Ry, our night nurse was nothing short of a nightmare and it was such a blessing to have such a great nurse this time around.

Around midnight, she checked again and I was now 6 cm. Before I had been weary of an epidural because I didn't want it to slow my contractions and have to get pitocin right out of the gate, but at this point I decided to go ahead and get it. Afterwards, I tried to get some sleep.

Around one, Drake's heart rate plummeted, and I was put on oxygen and turned to get a better blood flow to him. Thankfully, it quickly resolved and was just an isolated incident.

At three, she checked again and I had progressed to 8 cm. Can I just say that after a 29 hour pitocin-augmented induction with Ryanne, it was so nice to actually be making change on my own (and not at a pace slower than ice melts)?

Around six, I started vomiting (that was fun!) and she checked only to find out that I was complete. The nurse thought Drake was "sunny side up" and still pretty high in my cervix so she had me turn trying to get him to switch to face down and move on down.

With the changing of the guard, the new nurse came in and had me test push, and immediately stopped me to go call the doctor. Apparently the on call doctor also changed then, and it took a little over an hour before the doctor got there. Finally, around 8:30 I started pushing and sweet Drake was born at 8:34!

When he was born, he didn't cry at first and I was totally having a panic attack. The doctor suctioned him well and carried him over to the warmer, and eventually I heard his first sweet cries (and felt a huge sigh of relief!)

He weighed 9 pounds and 15 ounces (which was ironically the same as my birth weight) and was 22 and 3/4 inches long.

After Drake was born, his blood sugar were low, so he was sent temporarily to the NICU for a couple tube feeds and to monitor his blood sugar levels. We finally got him back around 4pm that afternoon. Since then, he has had no issues with it. We were told it is pretty common for such large babies to have low blood sugar levels early on because they can't adjust quickly to getting such little food after they were getting so much in utero. Anyway, we are thankful that we now have a happy, healthy baby!