Just girls...plus dad

You know you are a true parent when your wife frantically texts you to tell you that your 2 year old stuck her hand in her dirty diaper pants, pulled out a poo, and is in the process of wiping it on her bedroom wall. I felt bad I wasn't there to help but that's also one of those moments I couldn't help but laugh out loud all by myself in my office at work. We have not even tried to get this girl potty trained, but maybe it's about that time to start thinking about it.

Speaking of milkshakes...feels like we've been doing a lot of eating out, when you have 2 little ones sometimes it feels like the options are limited so the times you can get out of the house are typically enjoyed by stuffing our faces. Ellie and I enjoying a chocolate shake at Johnny Rockets, I was able to get a few sips in before she completely took over.

Reese is so smiley, then within a second she is screaming at the top of her lungs. It will peirce your eardrums if you are too close, definitely didn't have that problem with Ellie. I think she is so happy all the time because she always has gas and has 30 year old man toots. They are not dainty at all, I'm so proud of her. Reese's crying literally has 5 levels. Level 1 is louder than most babies at their level 5, by the time you get to 5 she is red and sweating and grunting and choking and screaming bloody murder. It also escalates in pitch with each level change, she is so talented.

Still little baldy, we cannot for the life of us figure out who she looks like, but between her toots she sure is cute. She is starting to use her hands and reach for things.

And...here we are at La Hacienda Del Sazon, our favorite new Mexican restaraunt in town. We have yet to be able to get a picture with all of us looking normal, at least Joni always looks good.

I guess bows make her look like a girl, Joni has taught me that you don't go out in public with a baby girl with no hair and no bow. A little old lady in church told me how adorable she looked in her dress, then she asked me her name and I said "Reese", then she looked puzzled and said, "oh, HE is cute". I guess not everyone is accustomed to Reese being a girl's name. She walked away feeling bad...AWKWARD.

Reese with her sort of cousin Cora, they are 2 days apart. Joni's family came for the baby blessing...

...14 of us to be exact. We ended up moving to our new house that same weekend. We pulled out of the house we were going to buy, long story but it didn't feel right in the end, we found a great place just in time. Moving stinks. I was so worried that Reese would scream during the blessing, she hates to not be held up against you, luckily I had Jim on bottle patrol and he popped that thing in as soon as she started level 1. She was perfectly happy sucking away, then we popped it out right at the end, everyone couldn't believe that she was awake and didn't cry...that'll be our little secret.

cute girls

Hanging out by the fire pit, roasting marshmallows, one of our favorite things to do. It's beard season by the way, but don't judge me as this was week 1.

Tell us who you think she looks like cause we sure don't know.

I know it sounds cliche because everyone says it, but we have been so busy lately. Lots and lots of visitors, buying a house and all of the drama that comes with that and living in a rental that is on the market, busy with church stuff, busy with work, busy with kids...life sure seemed a lot easier when it was just Joni and I.

While we were in the hospital for a week with Reese my mom came for a visit. I'm sad because we didn't take any pictures while she was here, probably because we were all in pajamas and adjusting to a new, chaotic life. She was a huge help to us to mainly just have someone here to entertain Ellie. It's nice to have such strong support, and also nice to taste some of mom's sweet rolls. Between her and all the ward meals that were brought to us, our fridge was full of good food for a long time.

Ellie sure loves her little sister. This is how it usually goes though...Ellie comes up to give Reese a kiss, we say "that's so sweet, thank you Ellie", then she repeats that process 6-7 more times until Ellie realizes she isn't getting Reese's attention so she wacks her, puts weight on her, or squeezes her hand until Reese cries. Since Reese reacts that makes Ellie happy and she laughs. It is stressful to have a 2 year old and a baby, we can't leave Ellie alone in the room with her. We've tried all kinds of solutions but Ellie is just determined enough to do whatever she is going to do.

My dad and Susan also came for a visit. We also didn't bust out the camera other than one short trip to Genoa. We took them up to Inspiration Point. Went for ice cream in Genoa and laid on the grass at Mormon Station.

Ice cream seems to make all your cares and worries go away...as long as you can run it off later. I took my dad golfing, we hadn't seen my dad and Susan since we left Longmont, so it was fun to catch up and hear about all the fun trips they've been taking, and hear about some family we never seem to see or talk to.

Then our good friends from Connecticut, the Barnes, came to see us. They live in Seattle now, and they have 2 girls almost the same age as our 2 girls.

The Barnes are the types of people that make you feel comfortable around them right away, I'm glad they have made the effort to stay in touch because we seem to do a horrible job of that with so many friends. We think about all of our friends from past states we've lived all the time. We just don't make the effort to stay in touch, sorry friends.

We hiked down to Emerald Bay and packed a picnic to eat on the beach. It wasn't crowded at all, I guess the hike scares a lot of people away, we did it with multiple strollers and packs, people looked at us like we were crazy but it worked out.

We all tried paddle boarding to see what all the hype is about, seems like everyone is paddle boarding lately. It was fun but a little hard to balance when you could see 40 feet down to the bottom of the lake, and when boats would come by and leave their wake behind.

Thanks again to all of our visitors, and to all of you who are so good to us when we don't always make the effort to be good friends, kids, cousins, uncles, siblings etc.

We are hoping to move into our new house in October but we've run into some issues with a leaking pipe, hope it all works out. It is a foreclosure so there is A LOT of work to do...as if we needed more on our plates right now right?

Reese Marie

Last week I wrote down some of my personal thoughts and feelings about Reese's first week while they were still fresh on my mind. It truly was a week that we will always remember.

Monday morning the 23rd we drove to the hospital for Joni to be induced. As we were driving in we got hit with a huge rainstorm, the first drop of rain we've had for months. As we were driving and listening to the radio the hosts were talking about rainbows and how truly rare they are to see, they said 1 in every 100 rainstorms has a rainbow and that they only show up when sunlight is at a perfect angle during dusk or dawn. Don't know why I remembered that but these are my thoughts again so feel free to stop reading if you are anti-rainbows.

We got into our room and got settled, we had a beautiful view of Carson City (sounds like an oxy moron) and the Sierra Nevadas. Within the first couple of hours we saw a perfect double rainbow where we could literally see the end of it right in front of the hospital and then go up the mountainside. We felt good and felt watched over. The epidural didn't hurt Joni at all like it did last time, and by 1pm she was about ready to push. At 1:54pm we welcomed Reese Marie into the world. She came out eyes closed and mouth wide, ready to eat or scream or...something. It took a good 10 seconds for that first scream but it came. She is long and skinny, 20 1/2" and 7 lbs 1oz. She has long feet and toes, hardly any hair, and she's strawberry blonde. We left the hospital within 24 hours to head home.

Ellie was so sweet, from the first second she saw her she started giving Reese hugs and kisses and kept asking to hold her and give her more kisses. We were worried about how she would react, but she was a doll and couldn't have been more sweet. Joni's milk still hadn't come in the first couple of days so we tried some Fenugreek to get something going, we had formula in the meantime just in case it was needed.

That night I started coming down with something. I thought I was just tired but when I took a bite of a sandwich and immediately threw up I knew something was wrong. I felt horrible and hoped that whatever I had wouldn't be passed on, so I checked myself into a hotel and just laid there in the dark for hours. Joni called me at 4am to tell me Reese hadn't eaten in 24 hours and that she was very pale and lethargic. We took her into the emergency room and hoped for the best.

Hosptials are special places but emergency rooms are the exception, we wanted to get out of there as soon as we could. They conducted so many tests and poor Reese got stuck with more needles than most people do in a lifetime. I had to watch her get a spinal tap, she even passed out halfway through it, then came back and commenced screaming again. In that moment I wished so bad I could switch her places, I felt upset but also closer to Heavenly Father than ever before, as I imagined him going through even more pain watching his Son suffer. I prayed so hard that the Dr. and nurses hands would be guided. When they screwed up and couldn't get anything I felt that my prayer was in vain, and I just wanted it all to end. They still couldn't figure out what was wrong with her but because of some sores and ulcers in her mouth they admitted her to the Pediatric Ward for observation and to await results of the tests. That Dr. had done hundreds of spinal taps and he was just perplexed and annoyed that he couldn't get in where he needed to.

Because her billyrubin count has high, Reese was put under lights and kept on the IV. She did finally eat something but she just couldn't keep her eyes open more than a few seconds at a time. I went home to get some things and spend time with Ellie once Joni and baby were settled. When I was driving back to the hospital I felt an empty pit in my stomach like something was wrong. I didn't like the feeling but I couldn't do anything to shake it. When I got to the hospital and saw Joni alone and pale I knew something was wrong. Reese had gone in for another spinal tap, this time with a more "expert" doctor. She was gone for a while and I dind't feel there was anything I could do to console Joni because I didn't feel right. Again I prayed hard that she would "come back to us" and that "everything would be okay".

The Dr. finally came in and said despite her and another Dr's attempts, they couldn't get in to get what they needed for the test. I asked them if they would do it again and she said "no, they don't torture babies here." She said, "I have done this so many times and this never happens, I was RIGHT THERE, the nurse even saw that I was RIGHT THERE but I couldn't get in". Just like the other Dr. she was flustered and didn't have any answers, she felt it might be because Reese was dehydrated but she had already been on an IV for 9 hours. I immediately felt comfirmation that they weren't supposed to get in. I realized my prayer from the emergency room was answered perfectly, just not how I expected it to be. With all the risks that come with a spinal tap, it wasn't supposed to happen.

I felt something so powerful in that moment, I realized that Reese truly was protected and blessed. I could actually feel all of the thoughts and prayers come together at once. So many people have been so thoughtful in thinking of us, I know her name was dropped in several temples, and prayer circles from friends of other faiths, and even people I didn't think that prayed were praying for her. To even think about how understanding Ellie has been through all of this has been amazing. From that moment we felt peace and comfort, and I have so many people to thank for that. We will never fully understand what she was protected from, but I know that we won't be able to forget the feelings we had in those moments of need. I had a similar feeling once as a missionary when the whole Stake prayed at the same time for the missionaries at 9pm every night. The feeling was difficult to explain, but there is a power in prayer.

Reese ended up being in the hospital for 7 days. She went through many more needle pokes, blood tests, throat cultures, antibiotics and antivirals, and even a CT scan. Her IV leaked and the needle was bent so they had to replace it but couldn't get into a vein, they finally put the IV in her scalp. We were never told what she had but by process of elimination we were finally cleared to come home, it was exhausting to say the least, for everyone including Reese.

We are happy to finally be home with our little family of four. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers, meals, grandma helpers around the house, and just for your support even from afar.Here's hoping for a less eventful week this week, we love you Reese.

For the 4th of July this year we decided to go up to Tahoe for fireworks. A lot of people told us how crowded it was and told us stories that made us question why we would go but we knew we had to try it sometime. It actually turned out to be really fun and not all that crowded. I've found that when you go into something with low expectations (especially a movie) that it always ends up being a positive experience. I'm not preaching pessimism, but sometimes low expectations can be good.

Our friends the Millwards invited us to go with them, we brought sandwiches and snacks up to Nevada Beach. Their youngest girl is such a cute little thing, she is over a year old but she is so small, I'm afraid Ellie will eat her sometimes.

This was the first time Ellie has seen fireworks and she loved it, she was clapping the whole time and was so happy. We were in Logan last year and they don't have fireworks on the 4th.

You have to go early to get a good spot, so we played on the beach until the fireworks started. The fireworks were so pretty with the mountains in the background and the reflection of the lake. I was scared a boat would catch on fire in the middle of the lake but everyone was safe. We will definately be back next year.

We've come to love Tahoe being so close and we definately need to take more advantage of being 13 miles away from such a pretty place. We really love it here and never associated northern Nevada as a cool place to be until we got here.

Joni went to a Michael Jackson tribute show in Reno with her Zumba friends, so Ellie and I stayed home and ate ice cream. They stayed out late and had fun, Joni does need to get out every now and again. I can just see the look in her eyes that she is ready to be done with this pregnancy but she has the right attitude about everything. She is at the stage where every little movement makes her uncomfortable. We have a name picked out but we'll reveal it when we see the baby and Joni confirms it is the right one. If not we are back to square one.

I love all the trees around our house that provide shade, but within every tree lies a bird that wants to poop on my truck. Ellie helped me wash it, she is obsessed with my truck for some reason so she had fun cleaning it with me. I could just feel the birds watching and waiting as I put on a fresh coat of wax...

Washing Daddy's truck is awesome!

Joni just finished our 3rd blog book, that's why we do this in the first place, it is so cool to have all of our pictures and blogs in books now. This one came out to be 180 pages. We wanted to start fresh with a new book right now, the next "chapter" in our lives involves baby number 2.

It is fun to look back on the last couple of years in a book. From North Carolina, Colorado, to Nevada...and our Oregon, Europe, and family reunion trips, it is so fun to think about where we've come from. Just a couple more weeks...or less...and our lives completely change again.

June happenings

A couple of weeks ago for our anniversary we all went up to Tahoe for the weekend and stayed in a place we've wanted to stay as long as we've lived here. We took Ellie along with us hoping that she would be able to sleep through the night being in the same room with us. She is a light sleeper and only sleeps when it is completely dark and quiet, plus the last time we went to Tahoe she stayed up the WHOLE night giggling and playing.

She did sleep this time, but funny thing is the first hour we were there she ended up throwing all of her toys out a crack in the 3rd story window. We noticed when she said "the toys are gone". So we rummaged through the bushes and found everything from the unplugged phone receiver, to her toys, pillow, and the hotel welcome packet.

We took the Heavenly Gondola up to the top of the mountain for the first time too.

Ellie was very clingy on the way up, she seems to be afraid of a lot of things, especially heights. It is a beautiful ride on the way up, you get to the top of the first mountain and there is a lookout that overlooks the entire lake.

Then you get back on the gondola and it takes you up to the lodge at the top of the resort.

On the way back down Ellie found her confidence to sit all alone, it was fun to just sit on the opposite side and enjoy the view.

We ate Mongolian BBQ at a place called Fire and Ice. The cooks were fun to watch, and there are a bunch of fire pits outside underneath the gondola.

We swam a lot and just had a good relaxing weekend, we'll definately be going back soon.

One of Joni's friends here threw her a baby shower, even though Joni told her not to, it was nice of all of her friends to do something for her. We got a TON of diapers for the new one because everyone who brought diapers was entered into a drawing for a special prize.

There has been a lot of random parades and carnivals in town and we try to be involved with stuff like that as much as possible. Here we are at the Carson Valley Days fair.

Today we went to watch airplanes at the airport and there happened to be an open house to see a bunch of warplanes, gliders, and helicopters. Ellie loved every bit of it since she tends to like boy things more than girl things right now.


Last week I went to West Point for some work training. It was a cool place to see and has a lot of history. This is what they call the "million dollar view".

I arrived at the hotel I stayed in at 2am and it totally gave me the creeps, I was half expecting to see 2 twin girls in the hallway like the Shining.

Well that's it for now, happy 4th of July everyone!