Little Man

I think my favorite part about raising a boy so far is seeing him admire and want to be like his dad. This might be the case since Whitney is very much not like me (ex. : crossing her legs, wanting to be a ballerina, wearing "prissy things"). I love that he pretends to be "Aaron" going to work, playing basketball or football, or fixing things. Besides pretending to be a prince, Aaron is his #1 pretend to be person.

Travis' attire usually requires a football shirt and/or basketball shorts. I got a good laugh the night he insisted on wearing b-ball shorts to bed for pajamas, just like dad does. Every morning and evening he welcomes the sight of dad with bright eyes and excitement. So when I saw them both "working" together outside my heart had an "ahhhh" moment, and I to take a pic through the window.

In other news...Hailey had her 2 wk. check-up today. Weighing in at a little over 9 lbs. Way to put on that weight little woman! She has been so great, and hopefully the good-natured girl in her right now continues. I actually am getting some sleep and might remember the what the first month was like with this kid.

Happy Birthday Whitney

Happy Birthday Whitney!!!

Whitney turned 5 on Saturday. With Hailey's arrival - and her being a replica of baby Whitney - I am revisiting what it was like raising Whitney all over again. I have so many great memories of this girl already. I couldn't ask for a better helper around the house. She has been amazing these last nine months. How many kids will color and entertain themselves while staying by your side so you can get a nap in everyday? This past year has been another filled with princesses, dresses, dress-ups, friends, family, crafts and entertainment. I love that she is so prissy and yet is still very coordinated when we play sports.

After waiting for Travis' birthday, then Valentines Day, then Hailey's arrival, Whitney's b-day FINALLY came. She's been counting down for a long time. Thanks to family to support her in her birthday wish of going swimming. I'm still in lockdown, so it was so nice of family to come to the occasion and make it feel like a true party. Whitney was more than happy!

Here she is in her new princess nightgown, with all her presents. She has already played with every present multiple times - especially the crafts, this girl could color and cut for hours!

After the swim party we met at Aaron's office nearby for pizza, icecream and cake. And of course... opening presents.

Happy Birthday Whitney - you add so much sunshine in our home with your excitement for life.

She's Here!

I'm finally taking a moment to post about our Hailey making her grand entrance! On Monday we went to the hospital to be induced - oh, what a beautiful procedure. No pain on the way to the hospital, no pain while putting on the gown, no calling anyone at 2 in the morning. Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen came down Sunday night and we had Lindsay and Jared and Bethany over for our last grand meal before the baby.

Everything went smoothly I endured a few contractions to feel like this labor thing was for real. About an hour into contractions I was at a 4 and got an epidural. An hour later - at a six, 2 minutes later - at a nine, 1 minute later - at a ten! And then..... an hour hanging out at a ten waiting for the doc. Thank goodness for epidurals! At about noon Hailey came out as a xerox copy of Whitney as a baby.

A highlight for me - watching my kids come to the hospital and see Hailey for the first time. Their eyes lit up like Christmas morning! And despite that excitement lasting maybe 2 minutes for Travis, Whitney still begs to hold her all day, she's already a mom in training - way ahead of me!

She is such a cute, good baby. We've all bonded pretty fast. I'm so excited to have her here. In the past I've counted down how long until they are one and can walk. But for now, I am completely content with my newborn. I want to freeze time.

Random

There are so many random things I could post about. To sum up a little of what we have been doing while waiting for Hailey to come - here is some video. The first is Travis showing us the football course. He is constantly wearing basketball or football clothes and playing like his dad. I love that he wants to be just like his dad. Whitney is still her dancing self...although the dance you see Travis loves to do too - it's captain huggiefaces' dance from WordGirl. Love it.

Football and Dancing

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Swimming Lessons

Oh how I wish I had pictures of this event, but being that we just got a new camera a couple days ago (our old one quit Christmas morning), words will have to do.

In an attempt to let the kids have something to look forward to and get some much needed winter energy out, I signed them up for swimming lessons. This lady in Spanish Fork does them out of her indoor pool, and let me tell ya, it was perfect.

Whitney was in a class with four other girls. It was amazing to me what they learned just by going twice a week for a month. Whitney could jump into the pool and then swim (doggy paddle) back to the stairs by herself! I would hold my breath every time watching her -making sure she came up fine. She is so brave, didn't even hesitate. She learned a few strokes, how to float on her back and how to jump in correctly. My favorite is when the teacher tried to get them to go under water and pick up a weighted ring. Whitney was pretty proud of herself when she picked it up with her foot, thus, negating the necessity of holding her breath under water. :) On the last day of class Whitney surprised everyone during the last event. Once again they were jumping into the pool and swimming back - but Whitney wanted to go out with a bang. She did a 360 into the water.

Travis was hilarious. Watching his little legs kick a thousand miles an hour made me laugh inside the entire time. His teacher loved how grown up he talked and he cracked her up a lot. His favorite activity was finding rocks underwater on the stairs. He would go under for an extended period of time making sure he got that rock. His teacher commented that he was so determined to get the rock that she lifted him out of the water a couple times just to make sure he was still ok. Funny guy.

A highlight for me - I don't know why but I would laugh everytime I saw my kids in goggles.

Anyways, nothing too exciting, but it sure added some flavor to our month of February. We're counting down for Hailey to come now. Hopefully sooner than later. Life is still good.