NEWBORN PICTURES!!

Jaelyn took some really great pictures of Aydri today. Words can't even describe how pleased I am with these. Check out her blog and her website to see more amazing pictures.

Yard Sale - Tomorrow

Sunset Ridge is having a yard sale tomorrow. We are cleaning out our print inventory and will have a lot of prints and mats and frames to sale for way cheap. We got some prints up to 16 x 20 for $1. Some 16 x 20 frames for $5. Great mother's day stuff. Come check us out.

Baby Aydri - Birth Story

Aydri was born April 18th at 7:37 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. Labor started about 2 am when contractions kept waking me up. I started watching the clock and realized they were about 4 minutes apart. I got up to see if it would make them change. They got to be about a minute apart for about an hour. Jared got up a 3 am to make waffles. We ate and got everything ready. After eating I noticed the contractions slowed down a little so I went to lay down to relieve the pain in my back. Contractions slowed down to about 10 minutes, but they were still intense so I knew this was for real. Got back up at 6 am. Contractions picked up again. My parents came and got Kendi at 8:00. We decided to go to the hospital so they could tell us how I was progressing. I originally wanted to stay home as long as I could because I wanted to go completely natural. My labor with Kendi was so quick and easy I thought this would be a possibility. I was glad we went to the hospital because as soon as they hooked me up to the monitors they could see a dip in the baby's hear rate with every contraction. The nurse immediately said that it looked like a "cord problem." She turned out to be right, but at the time we didn't know what kind of cord problem. She just suggested that the cord was tightening or getting pinched with the pressure from the contractions. The baby was not facing the right way and was causing a lot of back labor. I tried a lot of different things to get her to turn and she never did. My doctor was gone so the doctor on call suggested breaking my water to speed things up. I was surprised to learn that I was at 4 centimeters when I got to the hospital. I let them break my water and things did speed up fast. Contractions got harder and I started dilating quickly. A half an hour later i was 6 centimeters. They even got the room ready for the baby to come. Back labor got worse and wouldn't let up and the baby was still facing the wrong way. I stayed at 6 centimeters for a long time. At 6 pm there was still no progress from a 6. I was at my pain limit and felt like I was losing my strength and was going to pass out. The doctor came and told me they had to start pitocin because they had broke my water so long ago. I had been in labor for a total of 15 hours. Jared had talked me through every single contraction for the last 5 hours. Jared was the best coach. We were using the Bradley Method and it made all the difference. I told them not to start pitocin until I got an epidural. I had to wait for the anisthesiologist to get to the hospital. I got the epi and they started pitocin and I immediately started to feel that familiar pressure of the baby coming. After a half hour of the pit my progression was complete. I'm not sure what finally made her descend and face the right way, but it felt like a miracle to me. By then my doctor was back and was able to deliver Aydri. We found out that the cord was wrapped around her so tight that it wasn't letting her turn the right way or descend like she was supposed to. The doctor had to cut the cord off her before she was all the way out. She wasn't breathing so the respiratory therapists took her to get her breathing quickly. She was fine after about a minute. She scored well on all the tests and is doing really well still. She nurses all night, sleeps all day and seems to be pretty content. She looks a lot like Kendi did when she was born.

Just Born
After 18 hours of Labor.

Kendi absolutely loves Aydri. She told us that mom and dad can stay at the hospital and she was going to take Aydri home. She kept running off to the nursury to look at her. She kept calling her "My Baby."

Proud Daddy. So willing to help.

Baby Update!

Sorry, no baby news. Just got back from the Doctor and I've had very little progression toward labor. I'm not surprised. It was the same way when Kendi was born. I didn't show any progression until the day we had her. Kendi was 9 days early. If this one comes 9 days early it would be about thursday of this week. I'm not in any hurry. I want her to be good and done before she comes.

Who Needs a Doll House?

Who needs a doll house when you have FISHING WORMS? We were able to enjoy watching conference this weekend. We watched the Saturday afternoon session at my parents house. My dad was reorganizing his fishing tackle and let Kendi play with a bag of worms. Kendi played with them the whole time. The cute little worm voices didn't bother me while I listened to conference because it was so funny. She even gave them a ride in her baby buggy.

Jared is able to focus on conference when he is drawing. He always has a pad of paper and a pencil with him during conference. He usually draws whoever falls asleep, but no one did this time. I told him I would sit for him if he would make a quick, non-serious sketch.

For some perplexing reason Jared can never get my face in a live picture. I have sat multiple times and it has never worked out. He doesn't understand why either. Its odd because portraiture is his specialty.

I was especially grateful for conference this weekend. Its getting harder and harder to find something to wear to church. I always end up looking ridiculous and I get the strangest comments from people at church. I hate to admit it, but it was nice to sit at home and watch it on TV.

Must Be Some Bulloch

Last week we had some amazingly beautiful weather. I know all kids like to be outside, but Kendi love, LOVE, LOVES it. I had the back door open so we could enjoy the fresh air and Kendi was going inside and out. She had told me that she was making a bed. I assumed she was just playing with her dolls. After she had gone completely quiet for a while I went out to check on her and I found her asleep on the porch.

Yes, she is drinking from a bottle. We are trying to break a lot of bad habits that were formed when I was really sick. Kendi gets constipated and this is the fastest way to get fluids down her. She must be part Barnes too. hehe. She actually just told us yesterday that she wanted to be a big girl and get rid of the bottle, but then when bedtime came she told us she wanted to be a baby again. I'm happy to report that she went to bed without the bottle. I think we will try to get her to give the bottle to the Bottle Fairy tonight.

Kendi also told us yesterday that she wanted to learn to read. The fact that she understands what reading is and that she knows she will learn how amazes me. I'm feeling a bit inadequate with the speed that Kendi is developing intellectually.

One Year Older

We celebrated Kendi's birthday yesterday. We had so much fun. Jared took the afternoon off and we took Kendi to the park for a picnic. Kendi enjoyed wandering around Park Discovery. She didn't care to play on the slides or the swings she just wanted to explore everything. After the park, we took her home to have a nap before her party.

Kendi loves Care Bears and it was easy to have a Care Bear themed party. She had some cousins and some friends come to play games. Then the rest of our family members that could make it came for cake and ice cream.

We had each of the kids' pick a Care Bear Tummy Charm to have painted on their faces.

We really took advantage of Jared's artistic skills. He also painted a Care Bear poster to play "Pin the Tummy on the Care Bear." We had so much fun getting ready for this party.

Kendi picked Harmony Bear.

While each of them took turns having their faces painted, they colored a tummy symbol to play the game with. They also went outside and played "Had a little Care Bear and He Won't Bite You" while we waited for the rest of the family to come for cake and ice cream.

Kendi is definitely spoiled.

Kendi and Aunt Stacia share a love for shoes and clothes. Stacia spoils her thoroughly. Look at how happy Hope and Halle are for Kendi. They are amazing cousins. I was impressed by them because Kendi has had issues lately with giving instead of receiving.
We tried to make the birthday party as home made as possible. This cake turned out okay and was a ton of fun for Kendi and I to work on. She loved being able to lick several sets of beaters.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this day a special one for Kendi. We are very blessed. I had many mixed emotions on this day. All of a sudden three seemed like such a big number. I'm really enjoying the stages that Kendi is in right now. I seem to always be saying this. But it seems that so much will be changing in the next month. I just want to enjoy Kendi right now.

These Last Few Weeks

One really great thing about Kendi is that she knows when she is tired. Her favorite place to lay down and take a nap is on the floor by Jared while he works. She has to have this blankie that my Gma Koami made for her. Kendi calls it "the one with all the colors."

After the last snow storm, Jared took Kendi out to play. They started to build this snowman together. Kendi was singing a song that went like this: "Snowman, snowman, snowman. . . Had a very shiny nose."

Jared spent a lot of time on the face. When he was done, Kendi looked at it and said, "It looks kinda freaky." We laughed because we've never heard her say freaky before.

Kendi entertained herself by throwing snowballs in the water and then running down the sidewalk to see them pass through all the holes. When we had to back the car out of the driveway she got upset and said, "Don't run over the snow. I won't be able to play anymore." We had to explain that it would melt before we got home anyway.

Kendi does a great job and dressing herself. I love the outfits she comes up with.

New Paining by Jared

Jared is working on TWO paintings this week. One is a commission for a friend. Its of a little boy with Christ. He is still priming the canvas and getting a model for that one.

The other is a still life for next years calendar. This picture is just a color study of the real thing that he is just barely starting now. He won't finish this color study so I'll post the real thing as soon as it is done. Color Studies are fun because he doesn't stress about them and experiments with them a little.

Hours of Fun

It surprised me that Kendi was able to navigate around on my old desktop computer, but since I haven't been using it she hasn't been able to play on the computer much. Today she came and sat by me on the couch and asked if she could do pbskids. I put the laptop on her lap and thought that I was going to have to do all the scrolling and clicking for her. To my surprise, she could use the touch pad like she's been doing it for a while. Kendi always surprises me with all the abilities she picks up on just by seeing.

New Sketch of Christ by Jared

This picture does not do this sketch justice. Pencil sketching is one of Jared's specialties. He loves to draw and he's very good at it. We are offering these original sketches on the website for $45. If you would like to know how to earn a free one and you're not already on our mailing list leave a comment or email epicart@mail.com.

I've also added most of the products from the "art blog" to the website so you can pay through a secure checkout. There's always special deals and products so contact me personally if you have any questions.

HAPPY BALENTINES DAY

Kendi used to pronounce very word exactly like a grown up. It surprised everyone that someone so young could talk so well. Lately she's gotten into some habits of replacing V's with B's and Y's with L's. Maybe she'll be a normal intelligence child after all. :o)

We have been very sick lately so we've been stuck at home trying to entertain ourselves. We started to make valentines, but Kendi got tired and layed down on the couch and went to sleep. Wish every night was that easy, but I'd rather have her feeling well.

We also made valentine cookies, but with all the coughing we decided to not give them out to anyone. Hope you all understand.

New Items

There are new items on the art blog. I'll be adding more all day long so keep checking back.

Also, I want to give everyone 50% off any one item on the blog. This includes canvas prints of any size. Just mention it in your email.

When do I get my brain back?

With my first pregnancy I remember feeling a bit absent minded. At first we thought it was funny when I was cooking and emptied a can of chili into the garbage and set the can in a pot. I couldn't believe how stupid I was throughout the entire process of emptying the can, I didn't once realize what I was doing. But then it got even worse when I did it AGAIN with a can of soup!!


Apparently, the absent mindedness never went away because it has been far worse with this pregnancy. I had made sugar cookies on Christmas Eve with Kendi and they didn't really turn out real great. Recently, Jared needed something to take to his home teaching families so, since I have an achievement day activity coming up that I will be supplying cookies for I thought that I had better practice. As I was making them I realized that after you add all the dry ingredients it says to add a tsp of baking powder for every cup of flour. I figured out that that must have been where the previous cookies went wrong. After I pulled the first batch of cookies out of the oven, they looked even more flat then when they went in, and I realized I had forgotten the baking powder again. I knew they were still edible, but I was feeling bummed about it for making the same mistake twice. I couldn't find a good icing recipe either and I hate it when it tastes like powdered sugar, but Jared seemed to like it so I let it go. After icing the first batch of cookies, I looked around and couldn't find the last batch. I even asked Jared, "Where did the cookies go?" in a very impatient tone. I noticed the timer on the oven was off and I even remember turning it off. Then I realized that the oven was still on. I opened it and there they were. BURNT!! I wanted to explode, but then I realized that at least I can throw them away now and be done.

On another occasion, I had loaded a large batch of towels in the dryer. Ten minutes after I had turned it on, I heard it stop. I wondered if it was broken, but I decided to try it again anyway. After ten minutes it turned off again. There were no other signs of something being wrong so I decided to just keep turning it on every ten minutes. I eventually forgot about them until the next day when I went to load another batch. The towels were still quite wet so I figured that maybe the load was just to big. So I ran them another three or four times before I decided to spread out the towels all over my house to dry. When I went to put the next load in the dryer I noticed that the setting was on the fluff cycle instead of the high heat cycle. I can't believe it took me two days to figure that one out.

Yesterday, I had to fill out my sale tax return. I knew this could turn out badly, but I've done it dozens of times before. I noticed that there were a lot more lines than usual. For some reason they sent some extra forms to fill out this year. I was supposed to fill out Schedules A, B & X besides schedule TC-something something. What in the world is Schedule X? I've never heard of it and they didn't send me one. After reading the instructions over and over and over I think I figured it out. My father-in-law would die if he saw how many scribbled out lines there were on all these forms.

Jared has finally admitted that it is the pregnancy that is affecting me somehow. He told me that there have been times where he'll go into the kitchen after me and turn off the oven or a burner that I've left on. I can feel myself hesitate when its time for me to do anything even a little bit challenging.

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