Blessed again

Two and half years ago i got to write about the day we blessed Kendal. Today we have been blessed again with the opportunity to bless Peter. It was a wonderful day and i was so happy to have family with us to celebrate. We were missing a few family members; but we are grateful and happy to have those who could come and share the day with us. 
I am truly thankful for the gospel and all of the blessings i receive through it. I have come to rely on the Lord so much in my life. I've had to learn that i am on my Heavenly Father's plan. Things in my life will work out when and how he sees fit. I just need to live the best that i can and put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father that everything can and will be good. I know that through this gospel i am part of an Eternal family. A day like today just drives that message home for me. I look at the family that surrounds me and my new little one and i just feel very blessed and lucky to have them all in my life.

So i'm ending my day feeling thankful and happy for being blessed again.

keeping busy

Pete turned one month back on July 21st. He is growing and getting bigger. At first Pete seemed to be a calm baby just like his sister was, but he's come into his own now. He moves more than Kendal did, and likes to stand up and hold his head up. Pete is growing out of his sleep all day phase. He now has a good amount of awake time during the day. I wish he would sleep for longer periods of time at night, but i'll take what i can get right now. He has started to give social smiles, and we've heard a handful of coos out of him. Pete likes to grunt, sometimes when he eats he can get so noisy, and when he wants to eat he grunts and blows bubbles till i pick him up.  Pete is only grumpy when he is gassy or tired. Pete never liked sponge baths; finally after a month his belly button closed up and we could give him a bath. He is much more content in a bath than he is getting a sponge bath.

Kendal loves to help give Pete his baths. She likes to pour water on him and tries to get him to kick like she did as a baby. Kendal is enjoying her brother. She always likes to know what he is doing, and what we're doing with him. Kendal is loving her brother, but knows she's not the only one around any more so she tends to show off and be a bit silly for house guests and family. Lately Kendal has been wanting to play games (our board games). Casey has told her that she has to be five to play some of the games we have. So now Kendal announces to us that she is five and begs us to get a game down. Kendal still loves to talk, sing, and read. She's starting to get into pretend play with her animals and pretending she is a princess or other characters. It's cute to see her imagination grow and see all the things she comes up with.
We got to spend some more time with the Spears on the 20th and 21st. They were in Logan so we got to hang out a bit. Our visits are too far apart, but we love getting to spend time with them when we can. We got in a little bit of golf, and some water play with the kids. 

 This past week we celebrated the 24th. For the first time in four years i had the holiday off so i got to join the family for some fun. We went to the North Logan and Logan parades. Kendal had a field day gathering and eating way too much candy. Later in the day we pulled out the pool for Kendal and her cousin Campbell; then we had a yummy family dinner.

The day after the 24th Casey and i took Pete up to Challis to check things out and find a place to live. (Kendal stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, because i was not going to do 9+ hours in the car with a toddler. It was a long enough journey with Pete : / ) We move in the middle of August, and Casey starts school on the 20th. Casey still doesn't have a full schedule lined up yet, but it looks like he'll be making up his own curriculum for some classes, and doing a lot to prep and ready his new classroom.
We got to go to a children's museum last Thursday with my nephew Campbell. Kendal and Campbell loved to run around, explore, and discover things.  It's such fun to see Kendal and Campbell together!
So much more coming up with Pete's blessing, family reunion, and moving. It's all keeping us busy 

Declo reunion

We went to Declo this past weekend for Casey's 10 yr high school reunion. Casey graduated in 02 from Declo High School. He graduated with 85 people. We went up Thursday night and joined the Webb's for a farm dinner. On Friday Casey finished the sandbox with his dad and we got to spend some time with Brett, Vanessa, David and Becca (later on Nicole, Hunter, and Jaxson). Friday night we left the kids at Grandma's and went to the reunion. There were 29 classmates at the reunion. Casey got to see many friends and classmates and catch up on every ones lives. After dinner they played a couple of games about what everyone has done in the last ten years / memories of high school. It was especially fun to see Rhett, Aria, Wade, and Lauren. Saturday Casey rode in the Declo Day's parade with some of his classmates. Kendal went nuts collecting candy and scaring her mom running at floats and cars.  We joined Casey's family at Declo Day's and let the kids play a bit. It was really hot and really crowded, then a storm blew in so we gathered everyone up and went out for lunch. There was supposed to be a family get together for Casey's class reunion Saturday afternoon, however since it was still stormy no one showed up. We ended up spending the afternoon at Aria's parents home with our friends. It was a fun weekend. Casey loved seeing his classmates, and as always we enjoyed our family time!

Pictures below: Kendal and David playing in the water at Grandma and Grandpa's - Reunion pic from Friday night - Casey's classmates at the parade - us at the parade (the girls were way more into candy than anything else) - David and Kendal waiting for a turn at the bouncy house - David and Kendal at the playground.

I wish i would've gotten more pics of the family, and our friends. : (

Adventure is out there

I am happy to report that Casey has accepted a teaching job!! After a long and hard search, Casey was able to obtain a job teaching Social Studies in Challis Idaho.

I am so thrilled that Casey finally gets to be a teacher. We have searched high and low for jobs, and were a bit nervous when school reps kept saying there wasn't much out there for social studies teachers this year; thankfully Casey was lucky enough to get a job.
 Challis is a very small, out in the middle of ? type of town. Challis is known for its outdoor recreation of fishing, hunting, hiking, etc.
Now it's time to think about moving, and other decisions for our little family.
This will be an interesting year; time to live by the moto - "Adventure is out there"!

Growing

Pete is two weeks old today. He is growing well; he now weighs 8 lbs 1 oz. (50th %). It feels like Kendal has grown a lot too, but that's probably because we are comparing her to little Pete. Kendal has done very well adjusting to her little brother. She is helpful (as helpful as a two yr old can get), and sweet to her little brother. She wakes up asking where he is and what's he doing. She is always wanting to know what's going on and what we're doing. Everyone who comes over has to see Kendal's new bed (she loves showing off the fact that she's in a big bed, and she helped paint the bed). I have been on the mend, and am doing pretty well so far; thankfully Casey has been very helpful and so good with the kids and my roller coaster emotions. Pete has been a sleeper from day one. He can even sleep through his sister and all of her noise (i would call that a miracle). I would love it if it didn't affect his feedings. He tends to eat well for part of his feeding then he dozes off, and we have to agitate him or change his diaper to wake him back up. The last couple of night's he's started to sleep for longer periods of time (about 5 hours at a time), so finger's crossed i can start getting a bit better sleep. Just like Kendal was as a baby, Pete is a relaxed little guy, he's only worked up when he's hungry, and isn't a big crier. I've been grateful to have Casey at home the last couple of weeks, i know i can manage with two kids, but it's been nice while I've been recovering to have him here.

Pictures below: Kendal talking to Pete during tummy time -  Pete chillin w/ Daddy -  Pete's wet / curly hair -  first family walk (very short because i was in pain) -  Kendal at the local splash pad -  Pete awake!

For Pete Squeaks

After weeks three weeks of my doctor going back and forth on his recommendation of a c-section or v-bac it was decided that we would end up with a c-section at my appointment this past Wednesday. It just so happened that the next available time to have a c-section was the next day at noon, (the same day i would've been induced if i'd had a v-bac). (I was less than thrilled at the prospect of a c-section; not only is it major surgery, but i have a month and a half of painful recovery with an active toddler, and a newborn). Thursday morning i had major abdominal cramps; it made me worried but more annoyed because i was going in for a c-section. We dropped off Kendal with my Mom and sister (p.s. thanks for watching her so much it was a big blessing!).  I got prepped and what seemed like a very short time later Peter Kenneth Darrington joined us at 12:39 pm. He weighed in at 7 lb 10 oz, and stretched out to 20 in. in length. My doctor and the staff on hand were wonderful through the whole thing, i felt a lot less anxious this time around. Pete came into the world bright pink and crying (cried way more than Kendal did). Once he fully got his lungs tested out he was a content little guy (and has been pretty much ever since). Casey, Kendal and i were all baldy little babies, so it surprised us to have Pete come out with a full head of dark long hair. It's cute hair though! Casey and i got to enjoy Pete for a bit, then Kendal came with my mom and sister to meet Pete. Kendal is in love with her brother. She constantly wants to know where he is, what he's doing, and what the nurses / others were doing with him. She's given him loads of kisses and loves, and enjoys hovering around him to see what he's doing. I had some : { side effects from the c-section; but once those passed i've been doing better. I still have a road ahead of me on healing, but i have a couple of sweet distractions to help me along. Pete is doing very well, he's been a healthy and good little boy since he was born. My only issue is that it's been hard to feed him well because he is such a sleepy eater. Pete doesn't cry a lot (yet); he has made some very cute squeaks though.
I have a saying i've said for years "for Pete Squeaks" i use it like i would the phrase "for goodness sakes"- I think if fits well with this post!

We are so in love with our little Pete!

For "Pete" Sakes

Peter  Darrington joined our family this Thursday, 6/21/12. He is pretty much awesome! He weighed 7lbs 10oz, 20" long, and has all his fingers and toes. The nurses kept saying they couldn't help but call him beautiful, but hey, he is our kid, what do you expect? Marianne is doing fine, but the c-section recovery is never very nice. Sorry this is so short. I (Casey) am not usually full of words though. More details and pictures will shortly follow! Wish us luck!