Keeley River's Blessing Day

Keeley was blessed on June 3rd by her dad. We were glad that Grammy Jo, Bampa, and Grandma Nancy were able to be here for such a special day. We got to church early to take some pictures, which is no small feat when you consider we normally have to leave our house by 8:00 to get to church on time. Grandma Nancy had made beautiful white dresses for all three girls to wear, and Keeley's dress was so gorgeous.

Unfortunately, Keeley wasn't being terribly cooperative for the photo shoot. She was wide awake and required some vigorous jouncing to calm her down in between photos.

After an adorable picture of the other kids, we headed in to church.

At my insistance, we returned during sunday school to try again with the pictures, and I think we got some great ones.

Our family.

The whole group. It was such a great day for our family.

Tia lexi with her fave kids. ;)

Grandparents Keel with the grandkids.

Grandma Nancy with the grandkids.

Sareny wanted to hold her baby sis. She is really such a big help with Keeley and loves her so much.

Not my favorite picture, but me with my precious little girl.

Keely River in the dress made by Grandma Nancy, and the blankie made by Grammy Jo.

Special Moments

This morning in the early just before dawn hours, I had fed Keeley and put her back in her bed, although she wasn't asleep yet and I knew it. It is Saturday as I write this. My thought was that I would wake Keith to take a turn with her if she got fussy and didn't go right to sleep. After a few minutes of quiet, she started crying and instead of following my plan, I got up with her and rocked her in the chair and fed her for just a minute more. When she was done, I looked down and smiled at her. She looked back at me and smiled the sweetest little smile that melted my heart. I held her close for a minute more, then laid her back in her bed where she went to sleep on her own. I was so glad that I hadn't passed such a precious moment off onto someone else, although Keith might be sorry to have missed it.

Memorial Day at the Zoo

Keith and Sareny both had Memorial Day off, so we decided to go to the zoo. We knew it was going to be unseasonably cool with a high of only 89, but the kids wore their suits to play in the water anyway. The weather was beautiful and just perfect for touring the zoo. A little chilly for playing in the water, but the kids didn't mind too much.

More normal weather for this time of year is in the low 100's, so the splash park would normally have been practically required.

They had a fun time in the water.

After playing in the water both here and at the cave playground, we walked around the zoo for a while before heading home. It was a nice day.

fashion show

We decided to try again to get a picture of Keeley in her "going home" outfit before she outgrew it, since it was newborn and she is growing fast! She was a much more cooperative model in this photo shoot.

Everybody comments that she looks a lot like her daddy, and I am certainly inclined to believe them. She looks just like her siblings, too.

She looked so adorable in this little tie-die outfit that I got for my shower.

One minute sleeping peacefully.

Wide awake seconds later.

What a sweet little girl!

Toothless

Isaac had two loose teeth on the bottom for quite a while, but they just weren't going anywhere. Isaac knew that I had made Sareny a special pillow to put her teeth in. About a month before it finally came out, Keith asked Isaac if his tooth was ready to come out, and Isaac said, "Not yet, mommy hasn't made me a tooth pillow yet." I went home and started working on it that day! 

Then Keith noticed that Isaac's new teeth were growing up behind the baby teeth, so we worked hard to get them out of there. Friday, May 11th, he lost his first tooth and the tooth fairy came for a visit. The second tooth came out the next day, so the tooth fairy came again. She was busy, and we can't believe that Isaac is such a big boy!

School Events

Isaac had an end of the year preschool party with a inflatable water slide, and the kids had so much fun. Siblings were invited too, so Finley got to join in. She needed a little bit of help her first time up the ladder.

Going up.

Coming Down.

Isaac going up.

Isaac coming down.

Sareny had a spring concert the second to last week of school. The concert featured patriotic songs, and her grade was assigned to wear navy blue. Sareny was glad that all of us, including Lexi, came to see her perform.

Before the concert.

Singing Do Re Mi.

Sareny got to be a "boomwacker." She was actually listed that way in the program. Those things the kids are holding in their hands make different musical notes. Sareny wacked hers together on the "ti." I thought it was pretty cool.

After the concert. She did a great job!

Getting Settled In

The kids have loved having a new baby sister around. They are all so sweet with her and want to hold her all the time. Even when she is fussy and crying, they still want to hold her and don't seem to mind. Sareny is actually quite helpful and will ask if she can try holding her when Keith and I are tired of holding a fussy baby. I love having a little helper!

I can't believe how tiny Keeley looks in that 0-3 month onesie she is wearing--she is absolutely swimming in it!

And here we have the elusive picture of Grammy Jo with her new grandbaby.

After getting home from the hospital, Grammy and Lexi had a baby shower for me here at my house. It was fun and I got so many cute things for Keeley to wear. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of that event. Here she is bundled up all snug and warm in one of the adorable blankies Grammy Jo made for her.

Rivvy (which I sometimes call her) did the hugest, cheesiest grin and I couldn't believe I got it on film. so silly!

I love that sweet little face.

For the first couple weeks, Finley asked to hold Keeley all the time. And I do mean all the time.

I was trying to get a cute picture of the baby and Isaac ran right over to be by his baby sis.

Then Finley joined in, and they both gave her kisses.

Other than the nightly fussing/crying/screaming, we are really loving having our baby girl around.

Coming Home

I bought this little newborn outfit for Keeley to wear home from the hospital, and my friend Bridgette made the cute bow and headband. I wanted to get a sweet little picture of my new baby girl all dressed up, but she was not cooperating. I got this instead.

Almost the instant she was born, she scratched her right cheek pretty bad, and that is visible in the pictures. We went home on Tuesday May 1st, the day after she was born. Usually I like to stay in the hospital as long as possible eating food I didn't prepare, letting the nurses change some of the diapers, and having other people take over all my normal mom duties. But this time, we were just ready to go home. Unfortunately, we had to sit around waiting for more than an hour for the wheelchair to come pick us up, which is just silly since I was certainly more than capable of walking myself out of the hospital.

I was tempted to just walk out, but instead we sat around waiting...

So we took a few pictures.

Such a sweet little face!

We finally got home, and it was a relief to be there. Bampa and the kids had made some adorable "Welcome Home" signs, and Lexi and Grammy had taped them up to our door. It was so cute! A couple days later, I took some more pictures of Keeley when she was sleeping in the pack and play.

She was so tiny and so cute. She did this tiny little sleepy smile. Those are the sweetest, and I always wonder what they are dreaming about.

My baby girl, four days old.