Whitney Ballerina

This month Whitney started attending a dance class.  The class includes ballet, tap and hip hop.
 
The first week of the class she was so excited to go that she didn't stop talking about it from Saturday when I signed her up to Wednesday afternoon when we finally went.  And the first day of the class Whitney wore her tutu all day, and couldn't take a nap because she was sooo excited!  She went right inside the dance room and started making friends right away.  Her teacher said she was a natural at dancing and that she followed directions perfectly.  While Whitney is in class, Brooke plays in a little kid play area and I sit outside the class on a chair and watch Whitney dance on a TV.

Today all the parents got to go into the class room and watch the girls dance for us.  Of course the girls were all distracted because every mom (including me) had her phone out filming or taking pictures.  Whitney also insisted on wearing her cat ears from Halloween :)

Hoppy Easter!

Easter this year was lots of fun.  The girls had a party at school and brought home lots of candy from their egg hunts.  The Easter bunny visited us, and Sunday morning the girls hunted candy filled eggs.  They each got a chocolate bunny in their Easter baskets too.  At church Whitney gave her very first talk in primary.  She talked about the Easter bunny and also about the true meaning of Easter.  She did a really good job too.  Sunday afternoon we went to my parent's house for dinner and an egg hunt.  Brooke found the golden egg and got a dollar and Whitney found the biggest egg that had a huge marshmallow peep inside.  We all ate candy til we felt sick and then ate some more.  The weather was perfect and all the kids (and adults) had a super good time!

A visit from Texas & Car-Car

This weekend Brigham's sister Texas and her little boy Carson came to visit.  They mostly came to see baby Ryan, but I think the girls enjoyed having Carson here to play with more than Ryan did.  We went to fun places everyday, and the kids played in the backyard in the evenings while Brigham, Texas and I sat on the porch enjoying the great weather we had.


Thursday:  After we picked them up from the airport we went to the El Paso Zoo.  I had never been there before and was surprised at what a nice place it was.  It was large enough to have lots of animals and not too big not be able to walk through before the kids got too tired.  It wasn't that busy either, which was nice.

 

 Bird watching

This sea lion was really entertaining.  We watched him for about 1/2 hour.

 It was scary how close this tiger was to us...luckily there was glass.

Riding the train around the whole zoo.

I can't believe this tiger actually let Whitney sit on his back!!  

She is so brave!

Friday:  The next day we went to the bounce-house place in the mall.  It only took about an hour for the kids to get tired and ready to go, which was a shame because we spent a ton on admission.  Before we left the mall we went to eat at Chick-fil-a and then went to the most amazing dollar store ever.  The store has make-up, hair bows, jewelery and much more and all for only a dollar.

 My new triple stroller.  Since we had so many car seats in my car I wasn't able to fit my double stroller, so the single one had to do for this trip to the mall.

 

Saturday:  Texas and I loaded up the kids and went to the farmer's market that is held every Saturday.  We ate hotdogs and kettle corn.  After we had walked around for about an hour we went to the park to play.  Aunt Texas entertained the kids while I fed Ryan.  Afterwards, we went over to the pond to feed the ducks.  The kids started throwing bread into the water and the ducks weren't even interested! :(  I guess on a Saturday when the park is full of people, the ducks get plenty to eat, and probably things that are a lot better then bread.  Next time we will have to go on a weekday when the park isn't so busy.

Sunday:  Brigham and the Texas took the kids to church while I stayed home with Ryan.  After church and naps we broke the sabbath and went to White Sands National Monument.  We got there with plenty of time for the kids to wear themselves out going up and down the dunes.  The kids enjoyed sledding too. The wind was perfect for Whitney to fly her new cat kite.  Before we left we stripped the kids down to nothing and washed them off with a jug of water, put them in their pj's and they were ready to fall asleep on the way home.  Whitney was asleep before we even got out of the park.

 Brooke really enjoyed filling up her bucket.

 Carson and Texas

 Daddy giving the girls a ride up the dune...I honestly don't know if it would be possible even for such a strong guy.

 Ryan enjoying the sand :)

 Brooke kept bringing me trash she found in the sand...luckily she didn't bring me anything too disgusting.

 Riding down the dunes with daddy.

 This is how I spent most of my time there.  Since I'm still recovering from my c-section, I didn't think I should be climbing up any sand dunes even though it would have been fun.

 Brooke and Whitney flying the new kitty-kite.

 Car-car and Whitney had so much fun together.

 This little girl had so much energy it was exhausting to watch.

Monday:  We had to wake up way too early to take Texas and Carson to the Airport.

Thanks Texas and Carson for coming to visit!  It was great getting to know Carson better.  We had a wonderful time and hope to see you all again soon!!!!

Ryan Truitt Dunn

 Our sweet little guy has a name!

 He already loves his Boo-Boo.

Peacefully sleeping.

 Wide awake and ready to eat.

Welcome Little Man

We're happy to announce the birth of our sweet baby boy!  He was born today 2-24-12 at 11:16 am, weighing a healthy 8.1 lbs, and 21 inches long.  He loves to cuddle after he eats and grunts and groans when he sleeps.  He's nursing well so far and seems to have wonderful sleeping habits!

This is the story of how our whirlwind day went for anyone who wants to know....my water broke at home on Thursday evening.  My mom was out of town so we made quick plans with my brother Abe and his wife Cody to drop the girls off there for a sleep-over.  We thought for sure the baby would be here that night but we were so wrong!  I was only dilated to 2cm when we got to the hospital so the nurse started me on pitocin. The contractions started and I was progressing but I guess the baby wasn't tolerating the contractions so they turned off the pitocin to let him rest.  We were told to get some rest, but it was difficult because of all the cords hooked up to me, the beeping alarms that seemed to go off every 20-30 mins, and the not so comfortable beds.  By early morning, they started the pitocin again, and by 10am I had dialated to a 10cm.  I started pushing, but the baby's head wouldn't move at all, and his blood pressure got dangerously low.  I didn't want a c-section, but it ended up being the best choice to get the baby out safely.  We didn't understand the seriousness of the situation until we took some time to talk about it and decided it was the best thing to do.  After I gave the OK it was like everyone kicked into high gear and frantically wheeled me out the door and down the hall to the opperating room.  From the time I gave my okay and the time our baby was 'born' was about 10 mins.  The baby was out and fine, but I guess the Dr. cut a vein or something because I started loosing a ton of blood and almost had to have a histerectomy.  Luckily a specialist came in and was able to stop the bleeding and get everything under control.  The team of doctors spent about an hour stitching me back together.  I am grateful that all turned out well, the baby is doing great, and I have minimal pain(thanks to the meds). I am also sooooo grateful that I will still be able to have children after today!