The Birth of Baby Laura

Ok, I'm finally getting a little caught up and over being overwhelmed with all the pictures and not knowing where to start so I'm doing a little at a time. Before you know it between christmas and the birth of Laura you've got 100's of pictures and don't even know where to begin.

These are just some firsts at the hospital. I'll post some more precious moments at home with Laura as I get more time. I had to at least catch up on Christmas and the birth.

Mommy before being wheeled to the OR..A little nervous? HELLO...YES!!but excited at the same time!

Craig and I before the moment

Mom and I before I go in

Daddy getting the first look at his new baby girl

Our first real time together other than when they let me hold her for two minutes after...Unreal feeling holding you new baby for the first time!!

The grammas first peak at their new grandbaby

Proud new daddy....again

One of the first awake times

First time as a family of 5!! This is the best!!

First nap together

First picture of mommy and her 3 babies

First visit to see their new baby sister

First time with big sister. She loves her!First time with big brother. I think it was love a first sight!

First time of my three kids

First time Laura had with mommy & daddy

What a whirlwind of events before the birth of Baby Laura. My original due date was January 15th a date that hasn't even arrived yet. I had a routine checkup and ultrasound on December 18th where the doctor said my amnioitc fluid was a little low and she'd do a recheck on the following Tuesday December 23rd. Not a major cause for concern at this point however, my mind started to wander and I was quite nervous for the rest of the day until I got it under control. I went Tuesday feeling like all would be ok and possibly stay on track for the 2nd but the fluids still weren't where she'd like to see them be to wait another week and she didn't want to take a chance so we rescheudled to have the baby December 26th which was 3 days later. My my.....that rattled my perfectly scheduled little world. I started making all the phone calls and kicked into high gear to start preparing. Quite honestly I didn't even know where to start so I just started pulling sheets of beds like a mad women thinking that would never get done again and randomly cleaning. The next few days were spent mentally preparing for the big day and staying focused on what was really important and getting time in with Bradley and Alayna before my hospital stay. My mom wasn't suppose to come until the 1st so her perfectly scheduled world was rattled too, but she didn't miss a beat to get her flight changed and actually had to pay for a whole new ticket to do so, as only a mom would do she made it happen to leave her Christmas plans behind at home with the rest of the family and fly out very early Christmas morning and be here before noon to celebrate the rest of that day with us and be here for the birth of Laura the next day. How cool is that!!!!

Christmas Eve was very casual and simple. We made a stop at the Hewitts for an open house Christmas Eve Party and then got the kids to bed so we could quick play Santa Claus and try to get some sort of sleep. We had a wonderful quaint Christmas morning of ripping open presents and having our favorite tradition of egg bacon casserole and cinnamon rolls. We got everything cleaned up and got ourselves quickly ready to head to the airport to greet gramma who we hadn't seen in 9 months so that was very fun and exciting. We then came home to prepare Christmas dinner where Dave, Sue and the kids and gramma Dennice would join us for dinner. We had a great wild chaotic time as usual with all the kids and excitement. After dinner Craig and his mom brought the kids out to Micheles just in time to pop them into bed. That was a huge help for us so we could just get up the next day and calming head to the hospital without alot of fussing around since we had to be there so early. It gave both grammas a chance to be in on all the excitement of the birth of Laura.

That brings me to the 26th. We were up and out of here by 7am and the surgery was scheduled for 9am. My nerves kicked into gear as they wheeled me in the room, but all couldn't have went more smooth. Lauras entrance into the world went perfectly. She was 3weeks early and still a very healthy 7 lbs 14oz 19 3/4 in long. It doesn't matter how many children you have, when they put that new little face into yours it's the most amazing emotional feeling. It's the same little one that thrived, kicked, punched and hiccuped inside you and there she was to greet us for the first time. Our hospital stay was top notch as usual. We always have the best nurses and care one could ask for. We call it our little cocoon for 3 days. Craig always stays with me the whole time and insists on doing so. I love my honey for always being so hands on in every moment of this. We get the 3 first special days of our babies life with just us with our new baby. On the homefront we had 2 amazing grammas holding down the fort for us watching Bradley and Alayna for us which allowed us to have that time at the hospital. We are so thankful for them for all the hard work of reliving their days of having to care for 2 little ones that are a bundle of energy. They cooked, they cleaned, they gave baths, they dressed, they fed and all the other countless things. My mom is still here finding cobwebs and dirt I didn't know I had to get my house back up to sanity. We will be forever grateful for all the hardwork and hours they put in so we can function on a somewhat normal level after having a baby. We are starting week 3 and so far so food. Laura is still predicatable at this point and still feeds every 3-4 hours and still goes back to sleep after each feeding. (knock on wood) Her fussing is so mild she just sounds like a little kitten. I know she is still so new to the world, but we are all amazed at her mildness. It just still seems so unreal to me that I now have 3 children, but the best feeling in the world. Other than being sleep deprived and still a little sore, I can honestly say I'm feeling pretty good and loving my new baby to pieces!!!! We are just so thankful that the Lord has once again blessed us with a perfectly healthy baby to love forever. It just doesn't get better than this!!!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I already wrote a little about Christmas but here are some pictures to go with it. I got a big surprise this year for Christmas. I normally try and convince Craig for us not to exchange gifts between us because he has a tendency to go overboard and I'm too cheap for extravagent things and it's just not my love language to receive gifts, but he never agrees and this year he went way overboard and upgraded my camera to one with interchangable lenses and the whole kit and caboodle. He knew one day I would like to have one, but I never asked and I was willing to wait for the "right time" I have to be careful what I talk about around him because he's always so eager to deliver. I don't have a picture of the moment, but the crazy guy had the video camera rigged behind the plant sticking out just enough to capture the moment. I shrieked more at the fact when I found out I was being taped and how dumb I looked than about the camera. I quite honestly was overwhelmed to say much and my personality wants to know how to work it all right now and not have to learn. I'm not a good student when it comes to technical stuff and like to keep my world simple in that area, but over time I'll learn it and the excitement will kick in more once I learn all the techniques. It has free classes that came with it so a student I must learn to be. The part that does excite me is all the moments I'll be able to capture of my children once I learn it. So a great big thank you honey for my new toy!!!!

Bradley was so proud to give us the gifts that he bought for us at the Awana store. They earn Awana bucks for doing different things and the last day before Christmas they were able to purchase gifts for the whole family. He bought daddy a screwdrive, me a candle and Alayna a little toy. So sweet!

Mommy and her girl

Look what Bradley bought me YEAH!!!

A megazord....can you tell he's excited!!!

Daddy reading the Christmas Story

One of our last days as a family of 4!!

Snuggle buddies!!

Our Christmas Tree

Boot kickin, cowgirl fun!! Gramma & Alayna

The whole gang on Christmas Day Night

Dave, Hamilton, Sue, Alexander, Madeline, Bradley, Heidi, Craig, Alayna, Gramma Cathy, & Gramma Dennice

Sue, Me and Mom before the big day!!Two little mischievious friends

Bradley, Alayna, & Alexander having dinner together

My Hamilton

My sweetheart gave me earrings for Christmas. You melt my heart little one!! Daddy took him shopping and he picked them out himself.
Still very sleepy eyed

I love my new bunny with my name on it!!!

Daddy's girl for sure

Our New Little Blessing has arrived

We are please and excited to announce the early arrival of our new little bundle of joy!! We finally settled on a name because we couldn't leave the hospital without one HA!! Laura Elizabeth Boyer.....LauraBeth for short. We are in baby wonderland over here and I've been lazy about getting to blogging, but figured I'd at least get a header picture up and post more later. I was more concerned about getting all the photos we've taken so far on our picasa web sight. I couldn't find a backround I liked and the coloring is off in the picture, but oh well.....I'm not going to fuss too much right now. I didn't even get her dolled up for this one, but I know Sue you'll appreciate the bow! HA! We are loving having our new little peanut home. She is just perfect and so petite and such a little sweetheart. We are still obviously in the honeymoon phase and so far she isn't too demanding other than just needing to be fed every 3 hours on average and then goes right back to sleep. It's so funny how we can just stare at her forever and she doesn't do anything different. Every little stretch and twist and funny face is something to make a big deal about. Alayna hasn't given her the time of day too much and Bradley is in love with her and loves to hold her and touch her face. We are being spoiled rotten over here with having my mom, and Craig's mom helping out with everything. Other than a few quick trips to work Craigs been able to be here too which has been so nice.

Bradley's Christmas Breakfast Party

Alayna and I went to Bradley's last day of school for 2008 christmas breakfast party. We were able to stay through the breakfast and made it through the craft, but quickly had to escape as the eruptions took place and she went bizerko because it was clean up time and the glitter was taken away. That's a story in itself!!! Needless to say we enjoyed the time while it lasted.

Christmas Concert

Bradley had his Christmas concert at school last week and did such a good job!! He was so animated with all the little actions and sung his little heart out!! He kept waving and smiling and stifling yawns at the same time. So cute!! We videoed it, but weren't close enough to get good camera shots. Here were all the handsome boys in his class before the concert.

Coolwhip, Cantaloupe and my friend Jake

This was one of the moments that just tickled me to the core and can't believe this little girl. I left her downstairs to watch Barney while I went upstairs to get ready. I came down the front stairs and peeped over the couch to see no Alayna and all was quiet. I then heard some chatter and tiptoed up the back stairs to the playroom and there she was sitting at her table with a bowl of cantaloupe and a thing of whipped cream talking to her lizard "Jake" They looked like two little best friends the way she was chattering to him. She didn't even see me so I sat watching and listening. "Mmmm, Jake, you want some cream?" and she'd dip her finger in it and put some in his mouth and said "is that good cream Jake?" and on and on. I slipped back downstairs to grab the camera and took this one and then she noticed me. AHA!! caught in the act!! "Look, mommy...I feed Jake some cream." Oh, I love this baby!! She knows just what she wants and knows exactly how to get it. I can just imagine her little mind going into the fridge knowing I wasn't around to catch her and then sneak up to the playroom to indulge. It was after the fact that I thought...shoot, I should have videoed it on my camera when she wasn't looking and then took the pictures. Priceless!!

Two little monkeys

Oh these two are something else!! They can fight and irritate each other like no ones business, but can be equally if not more sweet with each other. When Alayna gets up in the morning there are only two people on her mind....daddy & Bradley. Of course not me, the one who carried her for 9 months and is there for every little demand. She's usually up before Bradley and wants to go right in and wake him up and pounce all over him and he'll welcome her from a sound sleep with "Hi, baby!" and rubs her cheek. Sniff, sniff, makes a momma want to cry. This particular time I said "don't move, let me get the camera!" Had to capture it just once anyway!! The gap between them is quickly closing in and I find them off playing more and more. They love chasing each other around the island or through the dining room and around to the kitchen. Round and round they'll go. They love to wrestle on the couch together too. I hope as they get older they'll be little confidants even though they are brother and sister. I pray they'll always have a special bond.

Christmas at the Triple R Ranch

It was called "Christmas in the Country" and how cozy is that. It was a little chilly so we weren't sure how long we would last, but there were many opportunities to escape the cold. They had a few fires set up along the way to warm up and different buildings you could go into to do different things. We had dinner out there and a place where the kids could do a little craft and pony rides and this separate horse for just pictures and we ended the night with a hayride. Right before Bradley got on the horse he poked his eye so he went from crying to trying to smile for the picture so he's got a laugh/cry going on. It was a very quaint old fashioned night.

Santa Time

It was so great!! We didn't have to even leave our house this year to see Santa Claus!! He came to us and no waiting in long lines..... Yeah!! The neighborhood Home Association hosted a little Christmas thing right in the field next to our house. It wasn't a party but they set up a big white tent and had hot chocolate and goodies for anyone that wanted to stop by. Bradley went out and then after Alayna woke up from her nap we took her out so. She looks a little unsure, but didn't cry. For the next few days she would look into the field and ask about Santa. She wasn't quite sure where he went.