First Day Of School

 

The girls started school 5 days after I had baby Genni, and 3 days after I got home from the hospital.  Knowing that the first day of school was going to be so soon after having the baby, we prepared ahead of time and got everything ready a few days before I went to the hospital.

 

The girls were super excited to start school.  They were a little disappointed that they don't get to ride on a bus, because we live 2 blocks away from the elementary school, but we also live right next to the Air Force Base here in Abilene, and the elementary school in our area services all of the kids on the base, and the girls were so excited to go to school with all these kids who had lived in different places, just like us.  Or it could be that their school has a retired Air Force fighter jet in front of the school, donated as a memorial.

 

It's fun (and a little sad) to see how much they have grown and changed over the last year!!

 

Gracie's first day of Preschool 2011

 

Gracie's first day of Kindergarten 2012

Gwen's first day of Kindergarten 2011



Gwen's first day of First Grade



The girls had so much fun at school their first day, and they continue to love school, love homework, and love learning (and I am going to enjoy that while I can).  My girls are growing up so fast!!

Genesis Eva Congdon

Yay!!  I am finally caught up to the point that I can blog about the birth of baby #4.  Most everyone already knows the story, so if you've already heard it, sorry.

 

To start with, I once again had Group B Strep with this pregnancy, and would need to have the IV antibiotics during labor.  Despite me telling my doctor that my labor has never gone fast enough that I wasn't able to get both doses of the antibiotic before giving birth (shortest labor was 8 hours, another 15, another 20), he really pushed for me to be induced so that in the off chance that my labor did go fast, baby girl wouldn't have to have an IV after birth to get the necessary medication.  I figured he could be right, and I went along with it.  Never again, because I honestly think he pushed for me to be induced because it was more convenient for him.

 

Anyways, for two weeks before I had my baby girl, they would check me and I would be at 2 centimeters dilated, then 3 centimeters the following week and almost 75% effaced.  I thought for sure that she was going to come on her own, just like Georgia did a week and a half early, because that's where I was at when I went into labor with her.  Wrong.  I hoped and hoped and prayed and hoped that she would come on her own, but when August 22nd rolled around, and she still hadn't come on her own, we headed over to the hospital at 4:30 in the morning. 

 

I got checked in, hooked up to my IV, and then they started me on Pitocin by 5 am.  The doctor had some surgery that morning, and didn't want to break my water until after he was done because he was afraid my labor would go quickly and he wouldn't be able to make it.  So we waited around for him, waiting for my contractions to get stronger and closer together.  All the Pitocin did for me was give me random contractions spaced more than 5 minutes apart, and hardly painful.  So when the doctor came in 4 1/2 hours later, he finally broke my water and things really started to take off.  When I tell everyone how long I was in labor for, I don't count those first 4 1/2 hours, because it was like having Braxton Hicks contractions because nothing really happened.

 

Right after the doctor broke my water, he decided that I needed to have an internal monitor on the baby and on my cervix.  Note that I was only 4 centimeters dilated at the time, and had not had an epidural.  It only took about 5-7 minutes for him to get one placed on the top of the baby's head, and one placed on me, but it was painful, and I wanted to rip the doctors head off when he said he didn't know why I was moaning and complaining of the pain so much.  I wanted to tell him to try it sometime himself.

 

Shortly after that I had dilated to a 5 and got my epidural.  Fun times, especially as my labor progressed and I realized that the epidural was numbing my legs, but not anything else.  Yup, I felt all my contractions, while my legs were like rubber.  They gave me two boosters of medication, and the first one helped for about 30 minutes (it made the contractions less painful, but didn't take them away), but the second didn't really help at all, and by the time I was crying from the pain, it was time to push.  As much as I may not like how things happened with the doctor, when it came time for him to deliver the baby, he was wonderful.  He was very calm and gentle with me, and helped me work through all the pain.  As painful as it all was, it was an interesting experience and I am glad to have had it, though I think that if I had had a choice, I would have liked the use of my legs as well. 

 

At 3:34 pm, 5 days before my due date (6 hours of real labor, and after pushing for 15 minutes), and on the same day as her Great Nana Jane was born, our sweet baby girl was born.  Now, another reason I will never ever let a doctor push me to induce again.  She had a very thick covering of vernix all over her...even the nurses said something about it.  I don't think she was ready to come, and probably could have benefited from another week or two inside me.  However, what's done is done, and I am so glad to have her here.

 

She weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce (not our smallest baby though...Gwen has that title) and was 19.25 inches long.  We still hadn't picked out a first name for her yet, only a middle name.  We sat around for about 30-45 minutes, going through all the names on our list, trying to figure out which one fit.  I had known since the moment she was born what I wanted to name her because it just popped into my head and just seemed to fit her, but I wanted to wait and see how Robbie felt.  We got down to 2 names-Genesis or Gillian.  Robbie ended up liking the same name I did.  We named her Genesis Eva Congdon, Eva after Robbie's great grandmother, and call her Genni (pronounced Jenny) for short.

 

My sweet baby girl shortly after birth...look at all that hair!!  Gwen and Georgia were pretty much bald.  Gracie had hair, but not as much as Genesis!!  And it's super curly-yay!!  We nicknamed her Fuzzy because she has SO much hair and since it's super curly it looks like a fuzzy little afro after her baths, at least until she lays on it for a while.

Taking a peek at the world



Sleeping peacefully

The hospital we were at (there's two here in town) work with a professional photo company who come and take some photos of your baby during your stay.  One of the photos goes up on their secure nursery website, and then you have the option of buying some photos.  We bought a small package that had some really cute photos.

 

This is one of my favorites

Me and my Genni

Everyone kept asking who she looked like.  Honestly she looks a bit like all her sisters, but as a newborn she looked almost exactly like Gracie did at birth. 



The outfit we brought her home from the hospital in.

All ready to go home

 One blessing that I had from her birth was that I did not rip or tear this time, like I had with the others.  So it was a pretty easy recovery for me, which I am so grateful for because the girls started school 6 days after Genesis was born, and I needed to be able to do things for them.  I was also really grateful to have my sister Melissa staying here with us...her help was a blessing as we all adjusted to the changes a new baby brings.

 

The best part was that the girls loved their new sister.  We haven't had any jealousy issues at all.  They want to play with her, hold her, feed her...anything.  The love they have for Genesis is beautiful and fills my heart with joy.  Welcome to our family my sweet little Genni!!

 

Pregnancy Photos

 

One of the main reasons I do this blog is to write down all the major, fun, and special events in all of our lives, so that I can print this off for the girls, make it into a book, and share it with them.  So this post is mainly for our newest addition so that someday she can see how my belly grew each month while I was pregnant with her.

 

4 months

5 months



6 months



7 months



8 months



3 days to go



The day before



 

I hope you enjoy seeing how Mommy changed and grew little one!!  I love you!!

Haircuts

 

 A week and a half before school started (about a week before I had the baby), I took the girls to a local hair salon that's specifically for kids.  It was a pretty neat place.  They had a play area in the center of the salon with a movie playing, legos, books, and other toys for kids.  They also had an area at the front of the salon that had Nintendo game cubes hooked up to tvs so the kids could play a game while they waited. 

 

The girls told me the coolest part was that they had tvs at each station, so the kids could either watch a movie while they got their hair cut, or they could play a video game.  We go back there for every hair cut now.

 

I had started to talk to the girls about a month before they got their haircuts about what they wanted to do with their hair.  Gracie had been talking about getting her hair cut short (sadness) for a while, and Gwen liked that idea too, so I made sure they had a long time to think about it and make sure that they really wanted their hair short.

 

Georgia informed me that she only wanted her hair trimmed, and absolutely no bangs.  I am sure I have mentioned this before, but Georgia is in love with the Disney movie Tangled that's all about Rapunzel.  It is one of her favorite movies.  So when she told me she only wanted her hair trimmed, I asked her if she was sure.  Her response was "Yes, because I want to grow my hair as long as Tangled's."  She still refuses to cut her hair short, which is fine with me. 

 

Before picture of Georgia

 Georgia loved sitting in the little car and getting her hair trimmed.

 

Georgia after her hair cut, so excited to be growing her hair long like Tangled's.

 

Gwen had gotten her hair cut to the top of her shoulder blades before, so her hair wasn't as long as Grace's was, but it was still down to the middle of her back.  She was so sure she wanted it short though, and wanted bangs too.  So I let her go ahead and do what she wanted.

 

Before picture of Gwen.

 

Gwen loved her haircut!!  I was so glad that she wasn't upset or disappointed with it.  She looks so much more grown up now.

 

Gracie's the one I had a really hard time with.  Besides cutting her own hair a few times, she had only ever gotten her hair trimmed.  She was determined to cut her hair short though, and get bangs, and after making her wait so long and giving her lots of time to make sure that's what she really wanted to do, I let her cut her hair short.

 

Before picture of Grace...her hair was so long!!



It was really hard for me to watch Gracie's hair get cut.  I absolutely LOVED her long hair...it was so much fun to do and it was so pretty.  When they were done cutting her hair though, she looked so cute, and she loved her hair!! 

 



 It's sad to see my girls growing up so fast (and looking grown up too), but I couldn't be prouder of them!!

Gracie's 5th Birthday Party

 

When we moved here to Abilene we noticed that they had a Chuck E. Cheese in the mall.  So when Gracie's birthday came around, and we started talking about her party, we decided that we would let her decide where she wanted to have her birthday party-at our house or at Chuck E. Cheese.  We already knew what the answer would be, and sure enough she wanted it at Chuck E. Cheese.  So we invited some new primary friends who live just two streets away from us, and some primary friends who had lived in Vermont when I was in college and had moved into the ward a week after us, and we got ready for some fun.

 

We got there the day of the party and the girls were so excited.  They have this little dance area up by the stage where the robotic Chuckie does his show, and you can dance or sing or anything in front of this screen and you will show up on one of the tv screens above the dance area.  Georgia absolutely loves to dance.  She breaks into dance everywhere and anywhere we go.  She does it in grocery stores, department stores...anywhere with music playing.  The best part is she just doesn't care who's watching her.  She will do all sorts of moves in front of tons of people and just doesn't care-she loves to dance, and I love that about her.  Anyways, she was in heaven there on that little dance stage.

 

 

The kids got to run around and play games while we waited for the pizza, and they got to dance with Chuckie to earn some extra tickets, and just play on the slide and ladders in the little play area they had.  They all had a blast!!  After eating some yummy pizza, we sang happy birthday to Gracie...

 

...who got this really cool crown that she was so proud of.

 



Chuckie even made an appearance to wish Gracie a happy birthday, and she was so excited to take a picture with him.

 



 

One of the things that came in the party package we got was the chance for Grace to go into the ticket blaster and collect as many tickets as possible. There were even giant tickets that were worth 500 and 300 tickets.  It was so funny and cute to watch her in there...she had so much fun.  She didn't actually grab any tickets, but the manager (who was in charge of hosting and helping with our party, and ran the ticket blaster for us) let Grace grab one of the 500 and one of the 300 after the blaster ended (we think it's because he had a crush on my sister and was trying to make a good impression).

 

After all the fun, and before turning in our tickets for prizes, Gracie opened her gifts.

 





 

All the kids seemed to have a wonderful time (even though Gwen looks bummed...it's because she wanted a present too).  Gracie certainly had a wonderful time and was so happy, and I am so glad that she had such a great time with some wonderful friends!

Grace's 5th Birthday

 

Gracie really seemed to have a wonderful birthday this year.  She was happy at least.  We didn't really do much that day because it was just so hot outside but we did a few fun things inside, and I made sure to hug and snuggle my Gracie girl as much as possible. 

 

Each year on their birthdays we let the girls choose their favorite home made meal and I cook it for them.  I wish I could remember what she chose, but I just can't.  I can remember that she wanted a Belle cake, and that instead of putting a toy on top of her cake like I have come to do with others, I decided that I was going to use my cake decorating skills from taking all the Wilton cake decorating classes and do something else. 

 

I was tired (8 months pregnant at the time) and decided to try and take the easy way out and use the tubes of icing that grocery stores sell instead of making the icing.  Everything was going good until I got to the face.  I will never try to cut corners again, because the face came out terrible.  I was really upset with it, but Grace didn't seem to care, thank goodness.  She was just really happy that there was an icing Belle on her cake that she could eat.

 

The cake with Belle and roses around the edges.

Getting ready to make a wish!!



 

She was so excited to open her presents (though it doesn't look that way in most of her pictures)...of course, what kid isn't?  Every year we get them a new outfit, a toy or book from us, and then their sisters get them something.  Everything else they get comes from relatives.  She got some nice things, some fun things, and some really good books.

 

Her toy from Rob and I...she wanted this doll so badly.

 

 A fun Hello Kitty card...Gracie loves Hello Kitty.

We took the girls to see Brave when it came out, and they loved it, and she was so excited to get the game for her leapster.



 

Gracie went to bed one happy girl that night, and I am so glad that she had a great birthday!

A Letter To Grace

 

My sweet Gracie.  I wrote this letter to you a while ago, and I'm glad I finally get to post it for you.  I cannot believe you are 5 already!!  It's so crazy!!  You're growing up so fast, and I am so proud of the loving and sweet little girl you are.

 

July 2011

 

Right after you turned 4 we came home from a nice summer vacation in Vermont, and prepared for preschool!!  You were so so so excited to finally get to go to school, and though you were scared and sad to leave me the first few days, you got used to it quickly and loved it so much!  You had wonderful teachers who helped you learn and grow so much.  Even better was having your friend Xoe from Primary in your class with you.

 

September 2011

 

You started bringing home homework and felt like such a big girl for having homework like Gwen did.  You loved to practice writing your letters and numbers, your name, and learning all the sounds letters can make.  You also had a blast when your friend Xoe started coming home with us every Friday after school for a couple of hours.  You were also very excited when Halloween came around and you got to wear your Belle costume to school.

 

November 2011

 

We saw such a change in you in those first few months of school.  You loved to learn, and you loved to go to school.  You were so proud of the artwork you brought home, and proudly sang all the songs that you learned to us.  You got to fly on a plane for the 3rd time ever when we went to Vermont for Christmas.  You had so much fun playing in the snow-sledding, snowball fights, and snow angels.  That was something you had really missed while living in Oklahoma.

 

January 2012

 

The next few months were lots of fun but busy.  You did lots of fun activities at school, made lots of cute art projects, and enjoyed doing stuff with us at home.  We had lots of sleepovers, movie parties, and other little things to keep busy during the cold months.  It really helped having friends live right down the street from us.  You loved to play with them.  You did lots of funny things that made us laugh and continued to be our little snuggle buddy.

 

March 2012

In the next few months we experienced what it was like for one of our kids to cut their own hair.  You did this several times over the next few months, and we are still not sure why, but it was pretty funny.  We spent Easter together as a family that year and we had so much fun.  It was really exciting when Grandma Congdon came to visit in April and we got to do lots of fun things with her.  We also started to prepare to move.  Through it all you continued to shine at school and at home.

 

May 2012



 In May you finished preschool and participated in a wonderful preschool graduation.  You sang so beautifully and remembered the words so well.  We were so proud of you and all that you had accomplished, and I even cried when you walked up to receive your preschool graduation certificate.  I couldn't help crying-you were so grown up and completing another step in life, and you were so proud and happy that I couldn't help but feel the same.  A few days later Aunt Mimi came to stay with us for a while, and a week later we moved to Texas.  You were sad to move away from all the friends you had made the past year, but you were so excited to move to a new house and meet new people and make new friends.

 

 July 2012

 

A few weeks after we moved we went on a huge vacation.  We went to the Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, visited with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Sessions in St. George Utah, went to Zion National Park, then to Wyoming to see Uncle Quinn, Aunt Diana and your cousins (and even Uncle Matt and Aunt Jamie), and finally to Idaho to spend time with our friends the Butikofers and Uncle Matt and Aunt Jamie.  It was a long trip but you enjoyed all the things we did so much, and you loved seeing all your Aunts and Uncles and cousins again.  It was a great experience for you.

 

This past year was chaotic and hectic, and while you had a hard time adjusting to things sometimes, your bravery, love and friendliness to others continued to grow and shine.

 

Your love for learning and joy for school has grown so much this past year, and the depth of compassion and understanding you have towards others continues to amaze us.  Your sweet spirit and your testimony touch our hearts and fill us with joy each and every day.

 

You are so willing to help out everyone, and go along with any game and activity so happily.  You are such a smart girl, and catch onto things very quickly.  Your smile cheers up everyone, and your hugs brighten up our days.  You are a wonderful girl Gracie-we are so very blessed to have you as a daughter and we thank Heavenly Father for you every day.  We love you so very very much sweetie-thanks for being a special, important, and fabulous part of our eternal family!!

 

Love Beyond End,

Mommy