Best Friends

Here are a few pictures of Leslie and Chloe from their play date. Leslie loves Chloe so much! They are so cute together. They just chase each other and giggle. I am so grateful that Leslie gets along so well with another kid. She talks about Chloe all the time. We will say "Leslie do you want to do something fun?" and she always says "Chloe!". And when she says her prayers she always thanks Heavenly Father for her. It is so sweet. It has been really fun to see them interact more and more as they get older. We met Chloe and her Mom, Jessica, at the park today and they just ran off by themselves and played. They were just running around the basketball court giggling. We love you Chloe!

Sweet Baby James

Here are some pictures of James at around one month. He is such a good baby. He is a little chunker. He weighed 13 lbs at his 2 month check up. I love his cute cheeks and chunky legs. Leslie was always so small. It is fun to have such a sturdy baby. He is still eating great and is sleeping well. He is sleeping for 6 hours at night and then eats and sleeps another 4 hours! We are so blessed.

Hey Mom! I look just like you.

Leslie got a hold of my concealer, which was thankfully almost gone. She hid behind the ottoman while I was nursing James and put it on. Then she showed me the final product. :)

Family Photo Shoot

While my parents were in town we asked them to take a few pictures for us with the whole family. Here's what we got. I think they did a great job! Thanks Mom and Dad.

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year. Leslie was big enough to really enjoy it and we had sweet little James with us. It was great. Leslie was so excited about everything. We went over to our friends the Markos' for Christmas Eve and did a little nativity with them and then after the kids went out and put oatmeal in the front yard for the reindeer. Leslie was so excited. She loved playing with the big kids. Then Christmas morning came. My parents got her a slide and I had set it up the night before so she saw it when she came down. She was so excited. And she got an awesome inside car from Grandma Ruitman and an outside car from us. She really made out like a bandit! We just spent the day relaxing and then we grilled ribs for dinner. They were so yummy! I love Florida weather. It was like 70 degrees outside so Leslie got to play outside after opening presents.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

My parents were able to come a visit after James was born. It was so nice to have them here to help. Everything was much easier this time around but it is always great to have help. They were able to stay for two weeks and we did tons of fun stuff. Leslie had so much fun with them! They took her on walks almost every morning and she loved it. It was so great seeing her play with them. Last summer she was way shy so I was so glad she warmed up and enjoyed them. We got to go to the zoo, beach, park, lots of stores, and Kennedy Space Center while they were here. Here's some pictures of the fun:

James' Birth Story

I want to write down James' birth story while it is still fresh in my mind. We were so blessed that all went well with the labor and delivery. James' due date was on Dec 2 but I was hoping he would come a little early (who doesn't wish that?). Thanksgiving was on Nov 28th this year and I thought he was going to come then but no baby. That night Bryson gave me a blessing that when labor came it would be a safe and quick labor. Bryson and I are not big shoppers and definitely not Black Friday shoppers but there were a few sales we wanted to check out at Joanns and Target this year. That morning I had a few small contractions but I had been having contractions for weeks so I didn't think anything of it. So we got ready and went to Joanns. While we were there the contractions kept coming and I started to think that it may be real labor. The contractions weren't bad at all though so we kept shopping. We finished up at Joanns and headed over to Target. By then the contractions were big enough that I had to stop walking when one came. I wanted to keep walking so when we got home at 12:30 pm Bryson, Leslie and I took a walk around the neighborhood. We stopped and talked to our neighbors Jim and Pam and they were so nice and gave us some of their leftovers from their Thanksgiving. We went home and ate. I wanted to make sure I ate while at home because when you get to the hospital you don't get food and I was so weak and hungry with Leslie. By this point the contractions were getting more regular and intense but I still didn't want to go to the hospital. Leslie was asleep so I figured we would head over when she woke up from her nap. By 3 pm though the contractions were getting stronger so we called the Gibsons, who were going to watch Leslie while I was in the hospital, and Jessica came over to get Leslie. After she picked up Leslie, Bryson and I got ready and headed over to the hospital. The contractions I had in the car were intense but I was lucky that they didn't last too long. We got to the hospital at 4:15 pm or so. Something got mixed up at the check in desk so I was waiting there for probably 10 minutes but it felt like forever to me! When we went back the nurse checked me and said I was at 8 cm and my water was about to break! I couldn't believe it. I had planned on getting an epidural but once she said that I knew it was too late. I was scared but the nice thing about labor is there is no stopping it. So I had to press forward. They took me to the delivery room and my doctor came in. I started pushing right away. It was really intense. That is really the only thing I can think to describe it. I wasn't sure if I could do it but I knew I had to. Thankfully I only had to push through 3 contractions and then he came. It was so wonderful to hear him cry for the first time. They put him on my chest and I felt such an overwhelming rush of love for him. Bryson told me after that James had the umbilical cord wrapped all around him and the doctor was ready to call the emergency people but it wasn't around his neck and he was fine. James was born at 5:20 pm on Friday, November 29th. So we were at the hospital for less than an hour and he was born!

James was a great baby from the very beginning. He nursed great right away . He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz so he seemed like such a big boy to me. Bryson was able to stay the night with me since the Gibsons were watching Leslie. It was so nice to have him with me. The next morning Bryson went and got Leslie and she came to meet her new baby brother. She was so cute. She was interested but didn't quite know what to think. It was so precious to see them together.