Friday, October 30, 2009

TAIKA'S BABY BLESSING

We had Taika's baby blessing on the 18th. Yeah, I know, it was really early, he was only 3 week old, but Kyle had to leave for basic train on the 26th. Yes, for those of you who haven't heard Kyle enlisted in the Marine Corp. He left the 26th, and I am missing him like crazy! Anyways, it was a great day, Kyle gave a beautiful blessing, and we enjoyed the visit with friends and family.





Miss Simone and her Brother. Simone is sporting her battle wounds, brave girl!

The Stud!

He is just the cutest guy ever... and he's sporting his Van's, thanks Auntie Chanele!


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

TAIKA'S FIRST BATH

Taika's umbilical cord fell off so with the help of Símone and Kaiden, I was able to give Taika his first bath. He LOVED it! If he stayed in long enough I think he would have fallen asleep!



The helpers!

Probably brings back memory of being in the belly!!! Ahh... the good ole days!

Happy clean baby!

SIMONES FIRST HAIRCUT

I gave Símone her first haircut last week. She sat as still as an 17 month old could, and the end result came out pretty well. She looks all grown up now! I forgot to take a picture of the "Before", but if you can imagine her bangs past her eyes, and the back of her hair growing past her shoulders... this was so needed! Well, here is the "After".


Thursday, October 8, 2009

TAIKA TANGIORA BLOOD

Taika Tangiora Blood arrived September 30, 2009 at 2:03am. Weighing in at 6lbs 2oz, and 19.5 inches long. Humm... Where to begin?

Kyle and I headed for the Hospital at 10pm on the 29th, we were scheduled to be induced because of my high blood pressure. We got there at about 10:30pm, and started all the paperwork, medical history questions, and got me all dressed up in my gown. Finally at 11:45pm they checked my cervix, I was already at 4cm. They then broke my water, and started me on the smallest amount of pitocin. My contractions started immediately, they were strong and consistent, about 2 minutes apart. Once the nurses got me settled, they left us to ourselves, and said to call when we were ready for the epidural (because I was dilated so far a long I could have it whenever). I decided to tuff it out for as long as I could handle it, but by 12:30am, I was screaming mercy. Thinking I had several hours left, I didn't think I would make it with out a little relief (little did I know)! So we called for the anesthesiologist. Then they gave me more paperwork to fill out, which by the way is not easy to do when your contracting. A few seconds later Mom and Chanele walked in, I throw the paperwork to them to fill out for me, while Kyle was relieving some of the pressure of my contractions by pushing on my knees. This helped a lot!!!!! Thanks Auntie Ang for suggesting it... The doctor came in shortly after to give me the epidural. And as soon as I laid back down I had the urge to push. The nurse checked me, and I was complete! I had to labor down for a good half an hour before my doctor showed up, after a few pushes Taika arrived safe and healthy! We were all shocked at how fast everything went, but so grateful!

It has been 2 weeks, and we are all home and healthy! I'm adjusting to being a mother of 2 children, nursing is getting more and more LESS painful everyday. Taika, is a really good sleeper and very passive. He eats about every 3 hours, and sleeps well at night. He's gaining weight really fast. When we left the hospital he weighed 5lbs 10oz. And at his doctors appt. a week later he weighed in at 6lbs 8oz... and grow an inch! Simone is still adjusting slowly, she does love being a helper, but does get jealous sometimes.


Blood Family... minus one!



Chanele thought this was funny... Like I said, it was not easy filling out paperwork while coping with contractions!


Our Little Man


This was the first time Simone meet her new baby brother. She was scared at first, but eventually warmed up to him.



She is going to be a great big sister!


2 days old, and wide awake!

Getting his hearing test done... looks more like he's jamming to so music to me!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Baby Update!

Well, there is still no baby yet! I went to the Doctor last week, I was dilated to a "Good 3"(as he put it), and he says my cervix is pretty soft too. He stripped my membrane, in hope to help induce labor naturally. That was Wednesday of last week and still nothing. My blood pressure has been going up for the past few weeks, and my Doctor is concerned about that... so we set a date to be induced. I will be going in this Tuesday at midnight, which means I'll be delivering at 38 weeks. I have been waiting all week for this little guy to come in hopes that my water will break or I start contracting regularly. The last thing I really want is to be induced... I think it's more because I don't know what to expect, and I only have the experiences shared to me by friends and family. So today and tomorrow will officially be the last couple of days being pregnant! Good bye, big belly, big butt, heartburn, pain in my ribs and back! Hello, Beautiful Baby Boy that I have been waiting 91/2 months to meet!

Also some good news, we officially found a name for our little man. We have had the hardest time finding a name for our baby. Kyle came up with all these crazy names that I can't stand... like Bear, Bruin, Danger, Ruckus... and those are just a few! (with names like that our Son would end up in jail, or people would be for sure expecting a naughty child). Then there was me who came up with names that were too common, or not strong enough for his first son! (Whatever!) I swear, I was sure our child would arrive and still have no name at the rate we were going. But I will have to give Daddy all the credit. He came into me one night , I was asleep, and he woke me up and said... "What do you think of the name Taika?"... of course, half asleep I rolled over and said I'll have to sleep on it. It took a few days to be sure but we loved it. And most important we both agreed! So officially... Taika Tangiora Blood!

Well, we will keep everyone posted on how this next week goes. I can't wait to meet our little Taika!

Monday, September 7, 2009

BABY SHOWER

I had my Baby Shower on the 29th of August, it was a nice little gathering of family and close friends, it was perfect. We had some yummy food, and fun games. Many thanks to Mom, Chanele and Dixie for all the help in preparing for it. We provided lunch, some yummy chicken salad sandwiches, chips and dip, fruit, and some awesome chocolate cream cheese pie that I made... it was super yummy! Games were provided by Mom, Chanele, Azia, and Auntie Jenni. We played the belly measuring game, I measured 10 toilet paper squares, baby bingo, name the baby animals, and a matching games where you had to match the candy with the baby terms. It was fun! I got a ton of baby boy clothes, handmade burp cloths, quilts and blankets, which was exactly what I needed. I'm so grateful for all the friends and family who came to celebrate with me the arrival of our second child, even when it's not traditional to have multiple baby showers after your first child. It's just fun to get together and enjoy each others company, eat some good food, and play some fun games.

Simone and her cousin Colton keeping each other entertained.

Baby Shower favors. I made the tags, they turned out super cute. They were bags filled with Peanut M&M's. MMmmm...


...another picture.

Chanele and I made a diaper cake the night before... it was a last minute thing, and it turned out way cute. Also had a few pictures of the baby ultrasounds out for display.




Mommy and Simone. I think she was a little jealous that the party wasn't for her :(....

Friends and family mingling.....

... and eating some yummy food.

Opening the gifts, this is a Afghan made by my mother-in-law... absolutely love it!


More cute clothes.

Like I said before, I was so thankful to everyone who came to support me, we had so much fun, and I feel so blessed to have such awesome family ad friends!!! Thanks!!!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

FAMILY VACATION

This last week we went on a little family vacation. It has been a really long time since our family has gone up to visit my Dad's grave site. So we all crammed into a minivan and head up to Utah and Idaho for a little vacation. Thanks Mom for letting us all tag along, Chanele and her boys came up as well. We had such a blast. We went up to Utah Monday night. This was my idea, but not one of my brightest, I will admit! My thoughts were that if we went up at night the kids would fall asleep and traveling would be easy. YEAH RIGHT!! Never again will I attempt that. Simone was so uncomfortable and fussed on and off the whole way. Thankfully we made it to Uncle Jerry's and Auntie Ang's safely. This was the first time I had seen their new home, and it was beautiful. Their kitchen and living room windows over looked the lake. It is amazing!


Kyle taking the kids for a ride on the long boards.

I was cringing everything he did... praying he wouldn't crash.

We couldn't keep Símone off it after that, she loved the ride!


Tuesday morning, after a good nights rest we headed straight up to Idaho. Mom rented a little cottage, in McCammon, ID, where Lava Hot Springs is. So we stopped there first to check in, and then made our way up to Shelley, ID, where Dad is buried. It was so nice to sit and think of Dad. And also see some of our other families grave sites. The kids loved it too. They ran wild and free. After a few hours of visiting we headed back to Lava Hot Springs. And took a late night swim. We went to the Hot Pools, which were HOT! They were well over 100 degrees. Of course with little kids we didn't stay long. The next day we swam at the Summer Pool there, which had slides and platform diving. We all loved the pool, and had so much fun. Kyle was the only one who enjoyed the slides and diving though. At nap time we took the kids back to the cottage, and Kyle took the tube ride down the river. We were all going to go, but were told that it can get kind of rough. Thankfully I didn't cause when I picked Kyle up at the bottom of the river he had fallen out of his raft and scraped his back on the rocks. But it didn't stop him from going again.


Mom and Dad's headstone! One of the nicest ones there!

The back with our names.

Grandma, Grandpa and the Grand kids.

Attempt at a family picture... that's as good as it gets!

Good morning sleepy heads. The grand kids, at the cottage.

Símone, all ready for a day at the pool.

The Family

Attempt at a self portrait, and snacking at the pool.

Kyle, heading down the river... this was his second time around.



Later that evening we headed back to Utah, and spent the rest of the week with Uncle Jerry and Auntie Ang's family. Thursday we spent the day at Utah Hogle Zoo. Friday we just relaxed from all our adventures. Spent sometime at the park and went to a fundraiser dinner for the local high school that a few of our cousins will be attending this year. Then Saturday we assisted my cousin Nathan at his eagle project. They painted the USA on the black top of their elementary school. We were so glad that we could be there to participate in his project. Sunday we headed home...


Daddy, Símone and the oldest elephant in North America.

Another family picture at Hogle Zoo.

The lake down from Uncle Jerry and Auntie Ang's house. Símone wanted to get in. We didn't stay long cause we were getting attacked by swarms of mosquitoes.

A day at the Park for Símone and Kaiden.

Tayvion, Deighton, and Ammon getting pushed by Kyle.

The Kiddos.

It was such a nice trip the weather was great, nice and cool. They even had a couple of rainstorms which was a nice change, and we are so grateful to Uncle Jerry and Auntie Ang for allowing us to stay in their home.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTON!

We just wanted to wish our nephew Colton a Happy 1st Birthday. Thanks Sherrelle and RJ for the good food and fun time. We just can't believe how fast they grow!

We enjoyed our time celebrating it with all our family. Símone had a blast too. She had her first horseback ride on Fling, thanks Grandpa. She did really well! She didn't freak out at all. She makes the cutest little cowgirl! Check out the picture of her first horse ride, and more!

Our little Cowgirl!
Her practice attempt before the real deal!
More Cuteness!
And some more!

And there she goes. I am a proud Mommy.
The end!!
We couldn't get her to smile. I think she was just watching Fling the whole time. Making sure he didn't do anything crazy.
Her second time around... with Daddy this time.

Relaxing with Grandpa, after all the birthday celebration.