Cow Appreciation Day 2010

Well, we did it again this year!! Anything for free and definitely anything for free Chik-fil-a!! The girls were so excited to dress up this year...it took them a while to take their nap knowing that when they woke up it would be time to dress like a cow! They dug out their Chik-fil-a cows we got a long time ago at the Chik-fil-a opening day to go along with their ensemble. I didn't think I'd need to convince Nick ONCE AGAIN to dress up, but yes, of course I did...he forgot how great of a deal it was last year. All four of us got to pick out ANY value meal we wanted...we even got the 12 count nuggets for the girls!! It was weird going as I knew this was the actual due date of Rex...instead of being pregnant for the event, I was carrying around a 1 1/2 week old baby! I decided not to dress him up since he only drinks my milk and not cow's milk!! He'll get to join in on the fun next year though!! It was fun and good food and I have to say we make pretty cute cows!!

4th of July Bike Parade

Rex Nicholas Bell

Well, now Rex is over a week old and I'm just now getting to posting about his birth..oh well, I guess that's what having a new baby does to you! Rex was due July 9th and my doctor gave me the option to induce early. I was induced with Cora and everything went smoothly, so I jumped on the option at first. However, then I realized that Cora was induced the day after her due date, so it got me worried that I would increase my chances big time of having a c-section if I induced early. My doctor assured me I wouldn't, but I still stressed. Finally after much diliberation, I did decide to go ahead with it as I had been REALLY uncomfortable with this pregnancy. So we went in the morning of June 30th. I got my antibiotics for group B strep, they started my pitocin, and then my doctor came in to break my water. As noted earlier, I had extra fluid with this pregnancy....and the ultrasounds were not kidding! Without going into too much detail, let's just say that all my uncomfortableness I felt during pregnancy was easily explained with all the water that came out. Anyway, everything did actually go smoothly with the induction. I actually got my epidural earlier than I had planned. (Call me crazy, but I like to go as long as I can without it so that it doesn't possibly slow things down.) But the anesthesiologist had to go and do a c-section, so it was now or wait 2 hours longer. I got the same guy who did Cora's epidural, so that was sort of a relief, although he still kicked Nick out while he did it and it was just him, the nurse and I. But, luckily the nurse was someone who had floated a lot over to Radiology so Nick knew her, so she was great! Funny story with that...she knew we were going to be induced on Wednesday, so on Tuesday she put in a request to have me for the day. Scheduling couldn't find me on the schedule, so she insisted that I was coming, etc. Finally they realized that I had been scheduled, but someone had accidentally erased my name. It was a good thing that Jennifer had checked otherwise it would have been a mess with us coming in that morning checking in.

So about noon was when I started pushing. It took a little longer with him to get him out than it did with Cora. My epidural must have sort of worn off too...at least in the birthing area because I could really feel him coming out, which was different than the girls. It was really hard to relax between pushes because it hurt so bad. Then in between the last set of contractions, I felt something and wasn't sure if it was him or not, but didn't want to push until they said for me to. The doctor asked if I felt him coming, which of course I did and within seconds he was here. I did actually have to stop pushing as the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, but Dr. Trout got it off his neck very quickly and all was well thankfully! As the pictures say Rex Nicholas Bell was 7 lbs. 8 oz and 21 in. long (my biggest baby yet.) He came at 12:40pm. They had to try really hard to get him to cry throughout the cleaning process...he just kept making the cutest little baby sounds. Even now he is a pretty calm baby. The only time he cries is when he is hungry, when we're changing his diaper, or when his sisters (mainly Cora) are moving him around too much!

Here's some pictures of when he was first born...
More pics of when he was first born and some pics of him with the proud Daddy. I know some people have made comments to me like, "you finally got your boy!"...like it was some contest or game or something. I have to say that yes, it is a different feeling having a boy, but it is just as special as having our girls. There is just something special about adding a new baby to your family. Although it's already proven to be just as fun to have boys as it is to have girls!!

The girls could not be more excited for their brother to come. Oftentimes when going to doctor's appointments Cora would ask if the doctor was going to take out her baby brother out of my tummy. She has anxiously awaited the day for him to get here. Sadly when they first came to see him, he had to stay under the warmer to get his temperature up. So she had to leave and come back to hold him. She was just as excited then. Still to this day she cannot get enough of him. It's the first thing she asks for when she wakes and the last thing she wants to do before going to bed. Kayley is just as excited. She doesn't want to hold him as much as Cora, but she always is right by him stroking his hair whether I'm nursing or changing him or Daddy's holding him. She calls him "Rexy" all the time. One of her favorite things to do is hold his hand when I'm changing his diaper to help calm him down since that is one thing during which he cries.

Here are some pictures of the day of his homecoming. We started out in the cute striped outfit from the Felkers, but ended up in the cute doggie outfit as he spit up all over the other one...even though he's really not a spitty baby.

Here are some pictures of 4th of July festivities. Our neighborhood has a bike parade every year. We decided the girls could participate this year as they've both mastered riding their bikes pretty well. Cora didn't make it more than 25 feet...but in her defense the route was on a bit of a hill...Kayley on the other hand road like it was nothing! I was for sure that she would complain about having to peddle harder, but she did great! They had popsicles afterward at the pool and a little pot luck lunch. Ashlyn and Preston joined us too and they all had a blast! We also went to the fireworks display at the Visitor's Center in Independence that Saturday night. The girls absolutely HATE fireworks, so Nick let them use his shooting earphones and they still cried. In fact on Sunday evening we tried to go on a walk in the evening. The girls had their headphones on and Rex was in the front pac to cover his ears. We didn't last but 100 ft as the neighbors were shooting off fireworks and each time one would go off, it was a toss up as to who would react the most, the girls would be screaming and Einstein would be cowering like crazy!

More pics of the girls with Rex. He did have jaundice, which is no surprise to us as the girls both had it. So we were given a billi blanket to lower his levels. It was frustrating since it was hard to hold and cuddle with him while he was on the blanket, but luckily it didn't last long. On his appointment on Tuesday of this last week, which was when he was only 6 days old, he had already gotten back up to his birth weight at 7 lbs 8 1/2 oz. I will be anxious to see how much he weighs next week at his 2 week appointment. I've never had a baby gain weight this fast! So he's definitely a good eater!

Here's some more cute pics of him. It's hard to catch him with his eyes open, but I was able to get a few good ones. And Cora has loved on her brother so much that it wears her out! We really do love having Rex in our family now...he is such a great addition!!

Rex is Home!

I'm in the long process of updating the blog and facebook, etc with pictures, but it is a slow process now that I get to juggle three kids!! :) So, until I get around to posting his birth story and other pictures, this video of his homecoming will have to do. Enjoy!

Lots of Family Fun!

Time to unload the camera with all the pictures...so here's what's been going on the last couple of weeks. We have been lucky enough to have Andrew and Sarah come up a couple of times to play and the girls have absolutely loved being able to see their cousins more! The first time Sarah and I took the girls to the pool and didn't realize it, but we ended up spending almost 4 hours there. It was such fun just relaxing by the pool and snacking when we wanted to...the girls had such a blast! We had a fun picnic with lunch and goodies and everyone showed their skills to each other with putting their hair in the water (which to my girls means putting their face in the water!) Audrey and Lauren are a bit more brave than my girls in actually going under when jumping in...but we're working on it slowly!
The next week we were lucky to have them here again so we ventured out to Crown Center doing Kaleidoscope, the Clifford display, and the fountains. It was yet another fun day and the girls all had a blast. Sarah and I even survived the heat of outside while they were playing in the fountains!

Lots of water fun in the fountains! It was the perfect day for it, but just not for us who didn't wear our suits, but some of the kids playing there (not our girls) made sure we were wet as they kept trying to splash everyone.

Then last week was Kayley's last day of her swimming lessons. Daddy was able to come to Monday's lesson and told her that if she jumped off the side of the pool with all the other kids to her teacher that she'd get to have a treat and pick out a toy from the store. She got in line everyday and chickened out everyday. So, finally on the last day, she got up enough courage to do it. She didn't jump off the deeper part like all the other kids, she asked the teacher to go to the more shallower part, but she made sure we knew that the water was still up to her waist when she got in. Cora of course still hated the fact that she couldn't be in the water, so I let her soak her feet a couple of times and that seemed to appease her.

Here's some pics of her getting her award and popsicle. She has slept with her award a few times and is pretty proud of it! The bottom right picture is proof of her jumping off the side to her teacher for Daddy's sake since he wasn't able to come to the last day of lessons with work. She did get to pick out a toy and was pretty excited about it. Cora made sure Daddy knew that during the week she jumped off the side of the pool to Mommy so she could get a toy too. She is actually a lot more brave in the water than Kayley so she does do great jumping off to me or Nick.

This last weekend some friends of ours came up from Columbia for some girls' weekend fun. So Michelle treated me to a pedicure since we're getting ready to have our baby. It was my first professional pedicure and let me tell you it was a bit of heaven! Well, when I got home Cora and Kayley noticed my pretty piggies and the next day Cora told me that "I wish someone would paint my toe nails!" Who can resist a cute request like that!?! So on Sunday after their morning bath before church I painted all their toe nails and finger nails...they thought that was the best! I guess I should do it more often for them!! Anyway, Cora was the only one the only one that would pose with me, Kayley was too embarrassed! But aren't they the cutest little feet you've ever seen!?! (Cora's...not mine by the way!)

Then also on that same Saturday, Nick took the girls to the fireworks stand to pick up a few sparklers and snap poppy things and snakes. We did the sparklers last night and of course the girls were freaked out just by the sparklers since they are in the category of fireworks. Sadly though as soon as Kayley got the courage to hold one, we only had one left and she accidentally dropped it before Nick lit it and it fell underneath the deck. So, now we'll have to get her to get the courage up again and maybe buy more boxes next time! We'll see how 4th of July with fireworks goes at our house! We may have to buy them some ear plugs!

37 Weeks!!

Ok, technically I won't be 37 weeks until Friday and today is Wednesday, but it is definitely close enough for me to call it 37 weeks! I had my 37 week Dr. appt today and all was well, thankfully. I had my second biophysical/ultrasound with my amniotic fluid still being high. Everything measured out well, fluid and all. My fluid actually lessened a bit from the last one 2 weeks ago and of course he has grown more. I'm a little nervous if the measurements are correct with him, if he goes full term, he will definitely be my biggest baby! Kayley was 4 weeks early and weighed 5 lbs 14 oz. Cora was one day late and she was 6 lbs 10 oz. This boy at 37 weeks is already measuring at 6 lbs 6 oz...already surpassing Kayley's weight by far and getting close to surpassing Cora's. I'm crossing my fingers that he does come early, not only for my sanity, but in fear of having a really big baby! Other than that, things are going well I guess...or at least as well as it can be at almost 37 weeks. My back pain is constant now 24/7 as well as upper leg pain. It's harder to walk or to re-position myself whether in bed or sitting in a chair or going from sitting to standing. I feel like an old woman! I definitely have this pregnancy waddle walk down pat!! I'm definitely having more pain with this one than with either one of my girls so I will be so glad and relieved to have him here, even if that does mean sleepless nights...although I'm sure I'll say otherwise once he's here and keeping me up all night!

I tried to be cute and get the girls kissing my belly as they are extremely anxious for their brother to get here too. Cora asked me if the doctor was going to take the baby out of my tummy today at my appointment...if only Cora!! My doctor is back in town for my next week's appt so I'm anxious to see what she will say on if I can be induced early or not. There is also a pic of our baby boy...we only have about a million now with all the ultrasounds we've had to get with him. I think I'll have a full baby book filled with just his ultrasound pictures!! Oh well...here's to making it to 38 weeks, unless he wants to grace us with his presence beforehand!!

Kayley's Swimming Lessons and the last two weeks

I was so proud of Kayley today on her first day of swimming lessons. I signed her up last week and almost missed the cutoff to do the first session (pregnancy brain here!) But I wanted her to get her swimming lessons in before the baby gets here. This is her first year of lessons so based off the descriptions of classes, she was between two different classes, so we just took the one that was open, she ended up in the class maybe a bit ahead of what she was ready for. She was actually the youngest in her class at 4 1/2, all the other kids were 5 1/2 and up to about 8. They all knew how to put their faces in the water and even go under, which I knew Kayley was not really ready for. But her teacher was very patient with her and she did great and was very willing to at least try to put her face in the water. The class even took turns jumping into the water to the teacher and the teacher kind of let her go under and had her pop right back up. She cried of course and I was fully expecting her to not want to do anything else with swimming, but her teacher kept making a big deal out of what she had accomplished and Kayley still did everything else for the class. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but I think she had fun cause she did tell me she wanted to go back tomorrow. The top right pic is of right after she went under and her teacher is consoling her a bit. And Cora had a hard time with not being there with Kayley in her class. We are just having Kayley do swimming lessons this year, we may have Cora do some next year, but she's still in the age where the parent has to get in the water and this prego Momma is not getting in the water with her this late in the pregnancy! I'm lucky to get a few days a week at the pool in our neighborhood! So she was very good with not fussing too much, but still had fun!
Last night we had a huge storm that woke up both the girls. Kayley got really scared so we had her go down and sleep with Cora. I was fully expecting someone to fall out the bed as it's only a twin bed, but all was well and neither one of them woke up again with the storm until the morning when it was time to wake up. I have a feeling we will be doing this quite a bit now.

Yesterday we went on our typical Sunday walk in the evening. Usually we just go around the block, but this time we ventured out on some trails. The girls loved it and Einstein loved all the new places he could mark his territory with! We actually got to see a Beaver taking supplies to the Beaver Dam he was building. The girls really liked seeing that. It was fun, but awfully humid thanks to Missouri weather. Cora kept saying she was going to run faster and more so she could get more "weaty" It was cute!

Earlier this week Michelle came up with the kids and we had a playdate together. We had promised the kids we would go swimming (Michelle has the swimming pictures) but when they got here it was very cloudy and rainy looking. It wasn't raining so we decided to venture out anyway and packed our lunches. We were the ONLY ones at the pool, but it was probably better that way and the kids had more fun having the pool to themselves! Then by the time we were ready to head home, the sun decided to come out...oh well, we'll have to get a tan later! Although Kayley still managed to get a slight burn...I guess there is no skipping sunblock on her!

Also earlier last week we went to the library's special tiger day. There's a Big Cat refuge in Eureka Springs, AR that comes up every year to do a presentation. It was neat for a library activity. They had a presentation about their facility, a table with souveneirs, a place for face painting, and then two full grown tigers in the parking lot for the kids to look at. They were in a cage of course, but it was really neat! Cora was the only one to be brave enough to do the face painting, Kayley didn't even want it on her arm. This is a picture of it a few hours afterward, but it still had most of it on there. It was pretty cool watching them paint her face. She loved it!

The girls were just excited to use some of the swimming stuff that's been packed up since last year. These are actually mine and Nick's goggles, but they liked playing with them anyway.

Then a couple of weeks ago we went to the Bobal's house to see Baby Anderson and play with Kaelyn. It had a been a while since we had seen Kaelyn, but the girls picked up playing with each other like they had only been apart for a day or so. The girls loved being able to hold Anderson, especially Cora of course who LOVES to hold babies! Kayley is into this thing where she hates her picture taken, so I couldn't get her to smile at me for a good one. Maybe with our baby she'll get over it! But the girls had a fun picnic (pretend and for real)...they were playing upstairs before lunch time and on their own got out a blanket and some cheerios and had a picnic, then we had a real picnic after playing in the sprinkler/water table. On the way home, Kayley told me that she loved playing at Kaelyn's house because Kaelyn has toys that she likes to play with and Kaelyn lets her play with her toys. It was cute and I'm so glad they are all such good friends. I'm excited that Anderson will be close in age to our little boy and they will now be able to develop a friendship as well!

Andrew's Graduation and other pics

Over a week ago we got to go to Columbia/Jeff City to see lots of my family and celebrate Andrew's Law School Graduation. It was a quick weekend as we left Saturday and headed home on Sunday, but it's always nice to get anytime with family, especially family you don't get to see very often and new family members like this cute Baby Emme below...Cora could not get enough of her, which I fully expected! We got a few cute pics of her smiling too! She is just so cute, it made me so excited to see our baby soon!
Then Sunday was a very busy day starting with Stake Conference for the Columbia Stake. The Stake Presidency was being restructured as President Reall has recently been called to be a member of the area seventy, so we were privileged to be there when Elder Richard G. Scott was there to call the new Stake Presidency. It was such a sweet experience to hear from him, the new and old Stake Presidency. Then afterward we ate a quick lunch and headed straight to Jesse Hall to watch Andrew graduate. We were so proud of him and his accomplishment! Although I'm sure we weren't as excited as Sarah was!! The kids had a great time playing with cousins and spending time together, I just wish we had more time to play with them all. All the Felker siblings and their respective families were there except Mary and Jess and their families. We missed them dearly and look forward to when we all get to get together again!

I've also tacked on a few other pictures I had on my camera. Nick was shooting at the shooting range at Bass Pro the other day so the girls and I decided to do a small photo shoot while they watched the fish and ducks waiting for Daddy to get finished. I think they turned out pretty good and of course, my girls are my girls so they have my blood in them and they have to do silly face pictures! Nick swears it is in our blood to do silly pics as all my nieces and nephews on my side are this way and it's often difficult to get a good pic of everyone smiling and no one making silly faces! I guess it makes it more candid that way!

Here's their normal pics (or semi-normal with Cora's cheesy grin!)

Here's their silly pic again as well as another pic from me testing out my new camera. They are growing way too fast and I know time will fly even faster when this baby gets here! I just love my kids so much!

More Garrett & Rainy Day Fun

We had a great time celebrating Mother's Day a day early with everyone being here to meet Baby Garrett. Mom Bell was still here so we gave her the gift for her. The boys cooked and cleaned (although Quentin conveniently left before the clean-up!) for dinner. We had ribs, pasta salad (that was yummy since Nick made that part!), potato salad, baked beans (one of my favs!), and yummy cheesecake...we were lucky to be sent home with leftovers from this, Nick's clock is ticking on him eating his share before I tear into it...I've been battling not eating it ALL DAY!
Then of course all day we took turns holding Garrett...or should I say holding Garrett with Cora's help. She couldn't get enough of him and whoever was holding him, she had to be right by him. In fact, Natalie asked her if she thought Kayley would want a turn and Cora replied with a "no, I don't think she would want a turn." Then when Natalie asked Cora if I could have a turn, Cora said, "I can hold him with you." She just adores him so much!

Then yesterday was my mother's day. We didn't do a whole lot being on a Sunday, but Nick did lots helping with the girls/cleaning/cooking/everything to where I pretty much got to relax all day! It was nice to have such a relaxing day. We are so lucky to have such a great husband/father that is such a loving provider for us all! Evidently Cora wore herself out and made herself a bed before bedtime and just fell asleep! It was cute.

Then today it's been rainy all day. So what more fun to have than to make a fort, have a picnic in the fort, and then have a dance party! Now this momma wasn't dancing with the extra belly, but the girls had a great time and they played so nicely with each other. It turned out to be not such a boring day with all the rain! Now to think of activities for the rest of the week as it's supposed to rain all week!!

Meeting Baby Walker

Yesterday our newest nephew was born. He came in at a mear 7 lbs 7. oz and 18 in. long....which is a really small Walker baby! He did have to come c-section, but all ended up going well thankfully! He is as healthy as can be and Mommy is doing well when we went to go visit her. The girls talked about holding him all day, Cora especially couldn't wait! In fact, once we found out it was a boy, her baby that she carries with her everywhere (which is usually named Baby Alexa) is now referred to as a baby boy! We are excited that they had a boy so that our boy can have a cousin so close in age to him and we are also lucky that they are so close in proximity too only living 30 min away from us! Here are the pics we got of him, we did have to wait patiently to hold him since as soon as we got there the nurse swept him away to be under the heated lamp for a bit...but it was worth the wait as you can see from the pictures since he's awfully cute! Cora didn't want to stop holding him! Can you tell how excited she will be to have a new baby in the house soon!?!

I did get a few holds in too, but Kayley really impressed me with how well she held the baby. She's getting to be such a big girl and I think she will be a big help when our baby arrives. The current question of the day from both girls has been, "Mommy, when is your baby coming out of your tummy!?" They can't wait...neither can we!