My Sweet Kienna!

It seems as though the summer flies by and blogs get neglected more than normal.  I get to blogging about birthday parties of my other kids, but Kienna and Saryn seem to get neglected a little on their birthday.  Just the fact that I'm writing this blog almost two months after the fact should be proof enough that I've let things slide.  So I hope that Kienna forgives me as I attempt to make it up through this blog.  (Just to prove how bad I am, Saryn's birthday was yesterday too, and I'm writing about Kienna's which happened July 6th....yikes!)

Kienna,

You have been a little monkey from the start.  I went in to get induced and you had flipped and refused to turn back.  You had been doing flips in my stomach for the entire last month of pregnancy and finally settled on being born through a C-Section.  I remember longing to hold you - I remember paging the nurse and saying, "Um, can I have my baby now" after they had taken me to the recovery room.  You were my tiniest baby at only 19" long and 7lbs 7oz.

As you've grown, I've noticed your great love for everyone around you.  You are such a sensitive little soul.  If you see anyone in need of a friend, you're the first one there.  I especially love this about you because you are very shy.  It's not easy for you to reach out, but because of your great love, I see you putting your arm around new friends and making them feel cared for.  I've heard you standing up for people left out many times and it makes me so proud.

You have a special place in my heart, and I understand you quite well because you are so much like me.  This fact also works against you, however, because I lose my temper faster than I should.  I hope that you know how much your mother loves you.  I love it when you want me to snuggle with you (which is almost every night).  I love how much you give hugs and kisses (even when it's during a music lesson).  I love that you kiss my stomach so that the baby knows that you love him/her too.  I love how you go out of your way to make special pictures and letters for people.  I love it when you play with Saryn and Jaymeson - even when it takes some serious patience.  I love seeing you get excited when your Dad comes home from work.  I love your enthusiasm, your silliness and your crazy fun personality.  I love your testimony.  I love it when you try really hard to learn something (although once you decide to learn something, it really never takes long)... and am so proud of you when you achieve your goal.

I couldn't be more proud of you, sweetheart, and I hope you have a fabulous year (or 10 months now) ahead of you before you turn six.  I'll sure miss you this year as you start Grade One all day long.

Love, Mom

Enjoy some pictures of our fun day at Calaway Park from your 6th birthday!  (Last year we went to Calaway and got rained out, the year before we went to a park and got hailed on.... this year was chilly and had some rain, but just enough to keep you cool.  Next year we might even have SUN!)

After Calaway, we all headed back to Gran's house for a fun party!

Alive and Well...

Despite common belief, I can go to many activities and forget my camera.  I can also go for a couple weeks with an insane schedule and not have time to really blog about anything.  Almost a month ago, my friend, Liz, took some pictures of my kids and I love them!  You may have noticed the new banner on the top of my blog.  Those are courtesy of Liz.  It was a really fun photoshoot and I was able to be annoying and take a million pictures at the same time (when the kids are dressed up with hair done, I really just can't resist).  Thanks Liz!  Anyway, I thought I'd share some of these pictures to prove that we are, indeed, alive and well... My favorites (besides the ones up top) are:

It's a.....

SURPRISE!!  Yep, I haven't found out the baby's gender.  Me!  I don't know where this patience has come from, but I was able to get through a WHOLE ultrasound without finding out a gender.  Just in case I change my mind, I had the technician write the gender on a card in an envelope that I can open and see later.  I really hope to have the endurance not to.  I want to be able to experience at least ONE surprise!

Everything in the ultrasound looked wonderful.  It never ceases to amaze me how miraculous the formation of a baby is.  How all these cells know where to go and how to assemble properly absolutely blows my mind.  I still don't know how ANY baby is born, nevermind a healthy baby.  So far, I'm measuring right along where my dates show, except on the high end of the range (aka - another big baby).  The kidneys, liver, bladder, stomach, brain, heart, eyes and everything else seems in order and is measuring well.  The spine, legs, arms, hands and all the skeleton is perfectly formed and (surprise, surprise) our baby seems to have a really long back!  It is such a special thing to see this beautiful baby inside of you and realize that you are really doing something while you're feeling sick and tired.  It never stops being an incredible experience.

PS - I'm too cheap to spend $20 on a really blurry picture of my ultrasound.  Just trust me that it was super cute and I'll be sure to put that money towards getting really good pictures as soon as this baby is born!!

To know, or not to know....

THAT is the question.  I have always said that I want to be prepared for a baby when it comes.  Therefore, I have always found out the gender.  I NOW have boy AND girl clothes and bedding and everything.  I have no more excuse and I am discovering that it really could just be that I want to know.  I really am curious as to the difference to the experience when you know what you are having vs. not.  I am having a really hard time deciding whether it is more fun to prepare and be able to plan names and have an assigned gender in your mind or to wait and have a big climactic surprise at the end.  Thoughts?  Comments?  Experiences?  I need feedback.  I only have 1 week until the Ultrasound...

Elbow Falls

We took advantage of one of the few nice days so far this year and we headed out to Elbow Falls in Kananaskis Country to enjoy nature and have a nice wiener roast.  I must confess that I had the grumps that day and I find that I don't have as much patience with kids to get nice pictures when I have the grumps, so this is my best product.  We walked the falls first (there weren't any picnic tables) and then we searched for a picnic table again.  Still no luck.  After a LONG time, we finally got one and really enjoyed our little outing.  It was fun to have Mom and Dad, Alanna and Dustin and their crews along (well, technically it was their idea... so it was nice of them to invite us along).  The kids sure slept well after all this!!

This was before the kids got tired and hungry.  The rest are wandering around and taking the hike.  It really was a LOT of fun!