What a nice holiday July 4th is-

If Matthew had a favorite, the 4th of July would probably be it. When we were talking about what we wanted to do for the weekend Matthew said he didn't care as long as he got to grill some meat and watch some fireworks. With the 4th being on Sunday it actually turned into a whole party weekend! I didn't do a good job getting many pictures but Friday night we enjoyed some good grilled hamburgers at the Huff's. With Isaac being so little we didn't get to enjoy a quick bike ride to our prime firework watching spot but instead drove up above our house to a spot that was pretty awesome too.

This girl was a big fan of . . . , well, pretty much anything around her and luckily with her encouragement I was able to take a few pictures of the excitement :).

We love fireworks.

On Saturday we had a yummy brunch. Then Isaac, Ava & I got to enjoy a nice nap. That night Matthew bought a few cuts of different meats and he grilled them up for a fun, yummy dinner.

The kids got to play and play. Of course when it was time to go Owen didn't want to and said that he didn't even get to play very long even though it had actually been all day!

On Monday we were able to clean up our house a bit then we headed to the river that afternoon. It was a nice day and the kids of course had a blast!

This was Isaac's first trip to the river

He was pretty relaxed about it.

Fireworks!

Happy to be home

It's just so nice to sleep... anywhere but especially at my own house.

I got to meet my cousin Cora Jo for the first time- 3 extra weeks have been good to Cora :).

Love having visitors come and love me.

Isaac is here!

Ava was so excited when Isaac was born, she would say over & over again, "My baby brother come out!" And even still 3 weeks after he's been born when Matthew comes home from work Ava will tell him in an excited voice, "Isaac is here!"

Pictures from the first couple hours being home-

Holding Isaac for the first time-

Coming Home!

On Saturday June 26th, after 2 weeks in the NICU we were able to bring Isaac home and enjoy our family all being under the same roof. It was so awesome to walk out of the hospital and have Isaac with us! When we got home and Owen, Ava & Isaac were all in one room together it hit me for the first time that I was the mom of 3 kids! Isaac came home on oxygen but we are hoping to get rid of that next week. And man, after all the cords the poor kid had before with IV's, leads, the nose feeding tube, oxygen and the oxygen saturation monitor to only have the oxygen seems like nothing although I am looking forward to the day when we can loose the big heavy tank and see all of his cute cheeks!

Isaac's First Baths-

Because we working through some bigger things, Isaac didn't get his first bath until the next day, which was kind of cool cause I got to be a part of it, something I've never even been able to see with Owen or Ava.

Isaac loved getting his hair scrubbed and washed.

Visitors

Owen & Ava got to come and see Isaac through a window in Isaac's NICU room. They were excited to come and see their baby brother for the first time. Ava was especially interested in his blankets. Notice Owen's hair- we told him Isaac had spiky hair and Owen wanted to have spiky hair just like his new brother.

With a doctor's order siblings can come into the NICU one time for a visit. Isaac was the only baby in the NICU for a day or two so it was the perfect time. Owen & Ava were a little unsure about the whole thing- Isaac had an iv in his head, the nurse was way chatty and the whole NICU is a little overwhelming but after a few minutes they warmed up and got to enjoy Isaac and some of his cute faces he makes. Owen came with spikes again, just like his new brother.

It was hard to be away from Owen & Ava for so long even though I knew they were being taken care off so well by family but it was to much for me to stay composed when Owen said, "Dad, do you miss me?" and Matthew responded, "Ya, I miss you a lot." After that Owen got a big bottom lip and teary eyes, then he said, "When you say that it makes me feel sad inside." It looked like he had a hard time figuring out why all of the sudden he got so sad. It was sweet and hard when they had to go. It was hard to be away when usually I get to be with them all of the time.

Isaac is lucky to have so many people that already love him. He had lots of visitors during his stay at the hospital.

When my parents told Patrick that Isaac had Down Syndrome he was a little angry and sad until he was reassured what a blessing he has been to all of us. He was happy after that.

This is the window where Owen & Ava got to see Isaac from for most of their visits.

My Aunt Cathryn also came but it was at a crazy time and I didn't get a picture.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy...

Isaac is doing really well. He has gone more than 48 hours without using the feeding tube- in fact we took it out yesterday morning. It's fun to see more of his cute cheeks. He is still on oxygen but we were able to decrease from 150 to 50 today and he can come home on oxygen. His belly button got an infection so he started on an antibiotic for that last night. So... from talking with Dr Visick this morning, the plan was if his belly button looked good and he had another good day of eating & he gained weight then it was looking really good that we could probably go home tomorrow (Saturday)! His eating was great today, his belly button was looking better & the nurse weighed him and he had gained some weight! So we'll see what our doctor says in the morning. I can hardly wait for our family to be together in one place!

Welcome Isaac James!

On June 13, we welcomed our baby boy Isaac! It was a little crazy and intense getting him here that night and the delivery was very different from what I had expected. I'd been having contractions a lot throughout the Saturday before and weeks before that. Then around 10:00pm on Saturday they really started to pick up and increase in intensity. Around 11:45 or so we headed to the hospital. Because I'd gotten a picture standing outside with both Owen & Ava, I asked Matthew if he'd take a picture of me before we went in.
So, we went to the second floor where the check-in nurse asked us what seemed like a million questions that were very unnecessary about old secondary insurance that we'd had like 5 years ago and a bunch of other lame questions that I'd already answered like twice when I preregistered and they'd called me a couple days prior. Anyways, we walked through the doors at 12:02 and finally got into a room. The nurse took forever coming back in after I put the gown on. So, I was in the bed and the nurse also asked us a bunch of questions. Then she finally checked me... I was fully dilated ready to deliver a baby! So, they rushed around, called the doctor and got the room all ready. There wasn't time for an IV and especially not time for an epidural. So not because I wanted to, I got to deliver a baby all natural and I've got to say it wasn't my cup of tea but our little boy got here safe at 12:32 weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces. When Matthew first saw him and from what he felt in his heart, he knew that our little guy had down syndrome. After I kind of pulled myself together after delivery, Matthew came and whispered in my ear that he looked like his Uncle Patrick (who has down syndrome too). I knew what he meant and was amazed at how peaceful and calm and happy we both felt about it. I just kept thinking if Heavenly Father trusted us enough to send our little guy to us then we'd do our best. I got to hold him for a few minutes but because of his coloring & blood sugar levels they took him to the NICU. He got an IV to give him sugar water for his blood sugar and some oxygen to help him breath. He also had a really high red blood cell count so his blood was super thick so they gave him some saline water to try and thin it out.

We are so excited our Isaac is here!

We love this little face.

Here's Isaac doing something he's very good at- sleeping. Also notice his awesome hair it just naturally grows in a faux hawk. It's pretty cute.

A Guest for Breakfast-

So one morning for breakfast I was calling Ava to come and eat. After a few minutes she came in carrying a pink piece of felt all wadded up. She sat down and unfolded the felt and showed me her friend ant that she had just caught. She said "ant hungry." Then tried to feed the ant some of her breakfast. Throughout breakfast she would look over at her ant and say, "ah, her's cute!" And then after breakfast was done she folded the felt back up and said, "take her home."