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!

our BIG 4 year old

Whitney turned 4 today!  She is a very sweet girl with a mind of her own. She gets the cutest ideas in her head, and then uses her imagination to make them happen.  We are so glad to have her and couldn't imagine life without her.  This morning Whitney woke up with a runny nose and a cough :(  But instead of wanting to stay home she wanted to go do what we had planned.  So we tried to go to the zoo in El Paso, but it was too cold.  So instead we went to Krispy Kreme donuts, Babies R Us and the outlet mall.  Whitney and Brooke got to choose their own donut.  Whitney chose one with chocolate on top and Brooke got one with chocolate and sprinkles.  At the outlet mall we went to the Disney store and spent a long time in there looking at all the Disney stuff.  Whitney had a hard time choosing a gift from there, but in the end I think she made the right choice.  She and her Snow White doll have been inseperable since.  Later, we went to Chuck E. Cheese and used a bunch of tokens. Then we came home and had candles on a cake and watched Snow White.  Whitney did open a couple of presents, but she wanted to wait until her party with the cousins on Monday to open the rest of them. 

I will post pics soon

Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming too!

My handsome husband celebrated his birthday this past week.  It was decided to go with the Wonder Pets theme because there is no better cartoon out there and Whit and Brooke love it to death.  Brigham wanted it to be totally themed out, but it was surprising how difficult it is to find birthday supplies for the adorable trio.

Well, a good time was had by all and the little ones fought over who got one of the three cupcakes with the figurines.

On a side note...my husband just gets hotter with age.  Team Brigham all the way.  Much more desirable than Jacob or Edward.