Finishing Last week of May

To finish up on the last week of May along with Lagoon Day and Aaron's Oath Ceremony we still had quite a lot going on.

On the Thursday we finally got sod for our back yard. It only covered about 1/3 of our yard but at least we now have something. We hope to finish the remaining 2 sprinkler lines and get more sod put down by the end of the summer beginning of fall. After 3 years of 'weed removal' I am so excited to have grass. It is seriously so annoying how fast weeds grow. I will get some pictures up of the backyard soon! Thanks so much for all who came by and help us put our grass in, it sure did make it go so much quicker.

For the past while Aaron has been training for the Ragnar Relay like I had mentioned before. On May 29th he ran just over 16.5 miles. CRAZY! He was dead by the end of the day. This morning he left bright and early and is out running again - I did get a call from him a little while ago informing me that he was still alive :)

On a side note I decided I would like to do a Triathlon. I have thought about it a few times but never did much to entertain my thoughts until my friend Trisha ran one: SheROX in Tempe! This motivated me to do something about it (thanks Trish!!) So yesterday morning bright and early I got up and ran 1.69 miles. Sounds quite pathetic compared to Aaron's 16.5 miles but hey I did it and it kicked my butt. I was so tired after and today I am really sore but it's a good thing. Having had a baby over 2 months ago I am so need of some good exercise to get my body back in shape. The thing that excites me about a Triathlon is the biking and the swimming (can't say I am fantastic at either of those though...) but the running comes along with it. So I've got to do it! My plan is to do all three in the week so I might split it up, 2 days of running, 2 of biking, and 2 swimming. Wish me luck! If anyone wants to join me I would be happy for you to - more motivation right? :)

Back onto last week - My little Sister's birthday was on Saturday and we celebrated by going to Boondocks. We all had a fabulous time and Josh had his first mini golf experience. He absolutely LOVED it! I didn't golf but carried Rachael around while shooting pictures. I had just as much fun doing that as I haven't gotten to just sit around and snap pictures in awhile. In the end Josh scored 48 and Aaron got a 44. They were both doing a lot better earlier on but towards the end Josh was dancing around like a monkey because he was bursting for a pee. We had a great time and he keeps asking when we can go miniature golfing again.

I am married to a U.S. Citizen...

Yep that's right - Aaron became a U.S. Citizen on

Wednesday May 27th, 2009!

He had the Oath Ceremony that morning at 9:00 and said it went really well. I am so proud of him and so grateful that everything went so smoothly. The application process has defiantly been a major work in progress but we worked our way through it and are so happy we are at this point now.

Aaron has had many questions as to weather or not he has gotten dual citizenship - he does not have dual citizenship. I looked a little into it and couldn't find too much on it, not sure if they are changing it or what but he was OK to just get U.S. Citizenship. When Aaron is asked this question he just says "Read the Oath of Allegiance and tell me what you think."

U.S. Oath of Allegiance:
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.




That evening we went out to dinner to celebrate. We ate at Chili's and enjoyed our first dining experience as an 'All American' family :)

Rachael before and after I told her that her daddy was now a U.S. Citizen :)

Memorial Day

Aaron's work had it's Lagoon Party on Memorial Day!

Last year's Lagoon Day wasn't so great, the weather was horrible and Josh was just too short to ride much so needless to say it wasn't ideal. In the past 4 months however, Josh has grown 2 inches and is now tall enough to ride a lot more.

The day was absolutely gorgeous, not too hot yet not too cold - perfect for a day at Lagoon. It was so fun to watch Josh's face light up with all the excitement and he loved the rides. I was impressed as no ride scared him, if anything he was running to and from different rides in excitement. Aaron had a fabulous time on the rides with Josh while I spent most my time capturing moments with pictures and enjoying my time with Rachael.

Aaron's work also has a drawing with prizes for all the kids while eating lunch. This year Josh and Rachael won new buckets and shovels, sidewalk chalk and a Frisbee. Josh was so happy to win the buckets and shovels as a couple days before I accidentally broke his blue shovel. He quickly reminded me of that and then reassured me that it was OK because he now had new ones. He said "Now mommy don't buy Joshy new shovel from Wal-mart, Joshy got new ones from Lagoon", he sure does make me smile :)

First Bottle

We have had a very busy week and an even busier weekend. With so much going on i've decided it's time to introduce Rachael to the bottle. Aaron has been busy with work and training for the Ragnar that some nights we barely cross paths. Tuesday night I had YW's came home quickly for Aaron to head out for soccer. As he returned home I then left to clean the bank and by the time I got home he was asleep.

So yesturday Aaron was out playing tennis and I had gotten a bottle ready for him to give Rachael as I then left for an activity at 7:00. Well Rachael was hungry before he had time to feed her and I wanted someone else to feed her as she might not take it from me. Well in came her loving and very helpful brother Josh. He was so excited to get to feed Rachael her bottle.

While Aaron's mum was here in April she had a bottle ready to give Rachael while we were at the temple but we made it home before she needed it.

The bottle feeding went great, I did have to help her figure it out but then Josh took over. He is a very proud brother and has been talking about it all morning. He did a fantastic job - I just had to take some pictures...

Rachael has also become quite vocal so I had to capture a bit of her making silly noises.

This Morning

I had to post this as it melted my heart. This morning after I fed Rachael she shortly went back to sleep and I put her on my bed while I folding clothes. Minutes later Josh came into our room and climbed into the bed next to her. Minutes later this is what I found.
It was so cute I had to quickly grab the camera to snap a few pictures before either of them moved. I love how Rachael's hand in on Josh's head and his is reaching up towards her. I just love it!!!

2 Months

Rachael had her 2 month appointment last week and it was fun for me to compare her and Joshua's growth at 2 months.
Here are the numbers:

Josh

Weight: 11 lb 14 oz (26%)

Length: 24 in (61%)

Rachael

Weight: 13.27 lbs (97%)

Length: 22.75 inches (67%)

What do you think? Do you think they look anything alike?

They look so different to me....

Mothers Day!!!

Sunday was such a beautiful day! Although Aaron woke up feeling horrid (I think he had done a bit too much Ragnar training over the weekend :)) I resumed usual mothering duties and had a fabulous day. After having breakfast together Joshua was so helpful in getting himself and Rachael ready for church. We had a fabulous sabbath day at church and I loved watching Josh get excited to go up to the front and sing. Although he didn't sing while standing up there, I was so excited to see him go up for the first time.

I just LOVE this picture - I was so lucky to catch them both looking at the camera at the same time... and smiling - or at least grinning :) They are SO Cute!

It makes me so happy to see josh get excited to go to his sunbeam class. After his class he came running up to me with a cute card and inside it said "I love it when you play trains". A true Josh statement :)

After church we went up to my parents house for dinner. We had a fabulous afternoon and I was happy to spend it with my mom. It is such a great day to be able to reflect on how wonderful mothers are. I am so grateful for my mom and mum ;) They are both such wonderful women and inspire me in many ways to be the best mom I can be.

So Much...

Rachael will be two months old here in a couple days; I just can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. So much has happened I have to do a quick recap:

Amongst everything going on and having family here Rachael got RSV. We were right at the tail end of the season and luckily she did extremely well. After two days of seeing the doctor I was confident that I knew what to do and what to watch for. On the third day, I was again worried, Rachael was breathing very heavily and it really concerned me. Once Aaron, Mum and Josh got home from a breakfast with Jess Ben and Jack (Jess and Ben were up here for their graduation at BYU) I asked Mum to go with me to the doctors - yet again.

I loved the way my mother-in-law wrote about the experience on her post so I am including the excerpt here (Thanks Mum ;))

"Kimmy rightly so was concerned as Rachael’s breathing was somewhat laboured and doing what the doctor said to look out for – her chest going in under her ribs, so off to the doctors Kimmy and I went with little Rachael for the 3rd day running. Surprisingly her temperature and oxygen levels where better then the day before in spite of her sounding worse, the doctor said this was quite common and suggested we take her over to the hospital next door and have her suctioned, at this point I didn’t know what that meant! We were seen there by a doctor who put on a gown, mask and gloves and at this point I felt my stomach churn! He asked Kimmy to put Rachael on bed and told us what he would be doing, which was to put saline up her nostrils before sucking out the mucus from her nose (with this loud contraption) and then he would then be putting a fine tube up her nose, down her throat to continue to remove mucus. He asked Kimmy to hold her down on the bed by placing her arms over hers and then holding her head still with her hands. I thought oh my goodness this is going to be horrible as Kimmy turned to me and asked me to help! So between us we held her down on the bed while the doctor did what he needed to do and I was right it has horrible as Rachael screamed and choked as the procedure seemed to take forever. I couldn’t watch but did peek a couple times and was horrified when I saw the tube coming out of her mouth, but the doctor soon rectified that. I just wanted to cry as I saw poor little Rachael trying to struggle free from the uncomfortable procedure as the doctor went up both nostrils twice and I found myself turning to wall praying silently – please let this end. The doctor stopped and said to Kimmy you can pick her up and comfort her before we do anymore, thankfully her chest sounded better and he didn’t need to do it again. As horrible as it was the procedure did help Rachael and she didn't need it doing again."

Rachael did really well and is now back to her joyful self. She is so interactive and is such a happy baby smiling and cooing every minute she gets. Joshua is a fantastic brother and is so gentle with Rachael. He constantly asks me if he can hold her and he will sit there holding her for 15 minutes at a time - so cute! It melts my heart to see the concern Josh has for Rachael. He is always the first to hear her crying and will notify me that I need to feed her or change her diaper. He also loves showing her his toys; Josh is such a good boy and I am so proud of him - I can't believe how grown up he seems already.



While Jess and Ben were here for graduation we did get to spend an afternoon with them. Josh and Jack have two completely different personalities and in the past haven't gotten along at all. This time they did fairly well actually and went with Ben to do some Geo Caching. Josh loved it and still talks about the 'treasure'. Thanks Uncle Ben!!! Congrats on graduating - you've both done a fantastic job!

Aaron has been training for the Ragnar Relay which is in June. He has been working so hard to get 'fit' and has been running a lot with the guys at work. Aaron was a bit bummed when his 2nd Ragnar leg changed from 6.2 miles to 9.6 miles - ha ha. He will do great - his last leg is also straight up hill. In 3 miles he will have run the height of the Sears Tower. Currently the Sears Tower is the tallest skyscraper in the US. We are excited to go see him and support him in this Relay - I think he is excited as well.

Our Anniversary!!!

Monday was our 5 year anniversary... It's so incredibly amazing to look back at the past five years and reflect on how much we've experienced and grown. 5 years feels like forever but is so small in the eternal aspect of things. It's so amazing to think of how much has happened in such a short time.

Because we have had a sick baby girl we unfortunately didn't really get a chance to go out for our Anniversary :( On the Friday we did get up and make it to the temple to do sealings at 6am so that was our special treat. It was a hard day for me though - I have never struggled so hard to stay awake...

Monday felt like any other normal day. I woke up and found a very cute note and earrings from my adorable husband. I was happy and felt grateful for that simple little note, I didn't expect anything else. That evening Aaron arrived home with a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of my favorite flowers - Stargazer Lilies. He also had another lovely bouquet of roses. The roses look almost just like my favorite called Candia roses. Now my husband knows me very well, having worked in a flower shop from when I was 16 I love to arrange my own flowers in a vase so he bought me ones needing to be arranged. I had so much fun putting them together and they smell and look so marvelous.

This wasn't all though, he also gave me perfume and a huge bag of cinnamon bears --- MMmm yummy. The perfume we had both never smelt but it is gorgeous - I love it and know it wont last long ;) He is such a good husband and definitely does spoil me :)

Here's to many many more years....

Rachael's Blessing

Easter Sunday we blessed Rachael in our home. We decided to do it in our home because it was Stake Conference and we wanted Aaron's family to be apart of it as they were returning to Denver the following day. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we were surrounded by such loving family. We had a wonderful time together and Rachael looked absolutely adorable in her beautiful blessing dress.

We had a fabulous Easter dinner together followed by yummy apple pie and ice cream. Mm mm yummy... It was so nice to be surrounded again by wonderful family on such an occasion. We have decided that Rachael is our 'holiday baby'. She was born on St. Patrick's Day and Blessed on Easter. What do the following holidays bring??? Guess we'll see :)

Family Here...

Friday April 3rd we greeted Aaron's family. They flew into Denver and spent a few days there and then came to us. Josh was so excited that 'Mama, Pops, and Beth' were coming that Aaron took him up to the airport to meet them there. He was so excited. They spent just over a week with us and in that week there was a lot planned, most of it with Josh.

Conference weekend we enjoyed the company of each other while listening to conference. Aaron and his dad went to the Priesthood session of conference and them mum, dad,and Beth had tickets to the first session on Sunday. We had a lovely Sunday dinner together after they returned home and then Marcus and Nichole greeted us with games and dessert.

Monday began a week of fun events, Aaron had the day off and spent the time helping his dad build a 'cat hotel'. Yep, that's what we call it... Our cats would not stop climbing on our car so they built a nice cat home for them. So far they love it and it's working perfectly.

Tuesday Pops and Beth took Josh to the zoo while Mum did some shopping. They had so much fun at the zoo and Josh still talks about the 'scary' animals he saw there...
Wednesday Pops took Josh to see the new movie 'Monsters vs. Aliens' and Thursday took him to the Dinosaur Museum. Josh had so much fun with his pops he will surely miss him. After the dinosaur museum on Thursday we headed up to my parents house for dinner and to play the wii. It was a nice evening and I enjoyed spending it with both my parents and my in-laws. It is such a neat experience to see our parents interact and to also have them both together with Josh and Rachael. They are lucky grand kids :)



Friday afternoon we went to spend the afternoon with some friends and on our way down got stuck in a huge accident. It literally happened minutes (possibly even seconds) in front of us. We (along with quite alot of other cars) immediately had to slam our breaks on to stop. We waited for a long time as we watched numerous ambulances and fire trucks rush past us, it wasn't long before life-flight landed on the freeway. They began exiting everyone off the exit we were planning on taking anyway and as it was our turn they stopped us right in front of the horrible accident. We sat there as they hauled a dead body off in the ambulance and then watched the firefighters pull out their tools and cut the top half of this white explorer off. As we watched them peal the hood back we could see what looked like lifeless bodies crushed in this car. They then gave us the clear to exit and as we pulled away we could see two small children in the back. I lost it then and was in tears - it was seriously one of the worst things I've ever seen and it took a lot to get it out of my mind. We said a prayer for the family and headed on our way. Later we saw it again on the news. There was so much damage there and I couldn't believe the mess all over the freeway just from one car rolling 3 times after a tire blow out. Scary... We did eventually make it to our friends house and enjoyed their company.

On Saturday Aaron and I went out and did a little shopping while stopping for lunch. We had a great time. Josh went with his Mama, Pops and Beth to a horse show. We then met up briefly before they left for the Real Game.

We will miss Mum, Dad and Beth very much, especially Josh. He has already asked me "Will Pops, Beth, and Mama be coming back in 6 days?". He also said to me on Tuesday "Mommy, I don't have any friends here anymore" he was very sad that everyone left. I guess I am not as exciting...

So adorable!!!

Things have been a little crazy around here lately but all is well. A week after Rachael arrived Aaron was having horrible pains in his mouth - after visiting with the dentist it was evident that he needed to have his wisdom teeth out in order for the pain to subside. Unfortunately he had the worst case scenario but luckily was scheduled in for Friday the 27th. So needless to say our house was turned upside down for a few days with a new baby, husband recovering from wisdom teeth extraction a toddler wanting so much to be played with and then me trying to keep things in order while recovering myself.

We are very grateful for all those who have done so much to help us out. We are all doing really well now and getting our feet back on the ground. Aaron was horrible swollen after having those teeth removed but is feeling much better. I am doing great and Rachael is such a fun and adorable baby. These photos were taken a week ago, Josh had so much fun helping me take some photos of his 'little baby Rachael'.

Introducing...

Rachael Jane Presbury

Well she is finally here and I could never be more thrilled. I swear those last few weeks leading up to delivery are the worst, the feel like the last FOREVER (amongst the 9 months I've already experienced).

Everything from delivery to now has gone so perfectly, I couldn't have asked for more and our new little addition is simply adorable.

On the morning of March 17th, 2009 we got a call from Labor and Delivery at 6:45 a.m. calling us in for induction. We quickly got ourselves together and headed in. By around 8:00 I was in my delivery room where they were hooking me up to all the exciting equipment along with going through all the paperwork. I was still dilated 3 centimeters and 60 % effaced (same as at my appointment the Thursday before). The monitor also showed I was having regular contractions but they were not phasing me much as I had been experiencing them constantly for the last week or so.

Around 9:00 the doctor came in and broke my waters and I was dilated to a 4. By 9:30 the contractions were coming every 3 minutes and were very strong. The doctor said at that point I could easily have her by lunch time. I was so excited at this point but didn't want to get my hopes up. I have always been told that it takes awhile being induced so I was thinking... 'no way would it be that quick - I remember sitting in the delivery room for hours waiting for my son to be born after being induced. '

10:30 I had just gotten my epidural and when they checked me I was already dilated to an 8. What? I should have had them check me before the epidural... I do have to say though that this time the epidural was perfect. I had nothing to compare my son's birth to but now I do. The epidural was just enough to take away the strong pain. I could still feel all the pressure and could move my legs and body. With my son I was completely numb, could not move an inch. This time I was still experiencing the contractions and even had the urge to push. It was fantastic!!!
I was dreading the epidural experience this time because of the horrible experience with Josh but it turned out better than I could have ever expected.

Only 15 minutes later at 10:45 I was at 9 centimeters. 11:00 they called the doctor over for delivery and by 11:10 I started pushing with contractions. It was the most relaxed (as relaxed as childbirth can be) and calm as I could ever imagine. My nurses were fantastic and I just love my doctor. He is brilliant!

17 minutes of pushing and she was born. Throughout delivery she was coming down posterior so the doctor had to turn her, she also came out with the umbilical cord around her neck. The doctor was fantastic through everything though and Aaron even got to cut the umbilical cord.

Rachael Jane

Born at 11:27 a.m.

Weighing 8 lbs 7 oz

20 inches long

This experience was so great - compared to my first I would have to say it's 100 times better. Everything from the facility to the nurses and doctor were better. I loved it and my whole stay in the hospital was so nice, I felt great and still do! The most pain I have had is strangely in my tailbone. Seriously it's painful to sit on and I am convinced it's because she was posterior.

I came home on the Thursday and things have gone well here. I could never be more grateful for all the wonderful family and friends we are surrounded by. I am so grateful for everyone that has done so much to help our little growing family. Everything from taking care of josh to the fantastic meals and gifts to the wonderful congrats. I have never felt so blessed to be surrounded by such fantastic people. Thank you everyone!

Once coming home we did have to take Rachael back in for bilirubin testing a couple times but it was never anything we had to end up treating under lights. I took her in on Monday to be weighed and she was already back up to 8 lbs 5 oz. When we left the hospital she had dropped to 7lbs 11oz and in 4 days she had gained nearly her birth weight back. I was shocked because she has been spitting up so much but she is a very happy and content baby. The other thing I had checked on Monday was her eyes. From birth she has some pretty bad hemorrhaging in both eyes. Her right eye is the worst but doctor said they should go away. Other than that she is doing so well and is such a good baby.

Joshua is so thrilled to have a little sister and is always concerned about her well being. He asks questions all the time and loves to be involved. He especially loves holding her until his arms are numb. One of the days we had to take Rachael back into the hospital for a test he fell asleep in the car, when we got home he was so upset thinking we had taken her back to the hospital and left her. I had to show him that she was happy and asleep in her bed. He then got a huge smile on his face and said with a giggle 'Oh... Baby Rachael stay at Joshy's House?' He is so cute.

2 men and a little lady

Rachael Jane Presbury

Born at 11.27am

Weighed 8lbs7oz and is 20 inches long

Learning to process oxygen! Kimberly had a blast this time and enjoyed the experience, which all happened so fast. Kim is eating and feeling on top of the world. More photos to come...

Regular contractions

3 mins apart doc said could have her by lunchtime :) will let you know when she's born!

Waters are broken

Still no need for epi but kim has progressed to a 4

Still a 3

Dialated to a 3 (same as last thursday) and 60% efaced. Contractions are happening though kim is notnoticing them!

At the hospital

Kim's got the gown on and is getting hooked up while receiving the question drill-down.