Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Taun!

We started the day by taking balloons and pie to Taun at work. Benjamin was so excited that it was daddy's birthday. He helped serve pie to everyone at Taun's office and we "made" the office staff sing Happy Birthday with us. (Taun was a good sport about it and didn't go hide in a hole.) Benjamin insisted on having hot dogs for dinner and Taun didn't mind so we had hot dogs for his birthday dinner.

He got a new shirt from me, wire cutters and a book from Benjamin, vice grips and candy (nandy) from Alex, and Nutella and candy from Gracie. The boys were so excited to wrap their presents for daddy and even more excited to help him open the presents.

We love DADDY!

Taun is such a great daddy and an amazing husband. He is so supportive and helpful. The boys love him and won't leave him alone from the minute he walks in the door til bedtime. He never complains when I ask him to do things for me. He tries to do his best in everything.

Benjamin's favorite thing about his daddy is that "he is so fun and he will play with me."

Alex's favorite thing about his daddy is that "he reads choo choo stories to me." (I had to guess what Alex would have said in response to this question.)

Look at how happy they are.


Nothing better than piggy back rides from Daddy.

hAlLoWeEn (Way Late!)

We had a great Halloween this year with ...

a PIRATE (arg, mateys!)

a NINJA (hi yah!)


Benjamin wanted to be a pirate again this year (fine by me) and Alex actually ended up being a dinosaur.

and a BUTTERFLY.





GRACIE & COUSIN CALEB


My sister Pam and I had our sweet babies on the exact same day. Here are the stats:

Caleb Davis Konopka

*October 12, 2009

*12:41 p.m.

*7 lbs. 8 oz.

*18 inches


Gracie Lucile Beddes

*October 12, 2009
*7:43 p.m.

*6 lbs. 9 oz.

*19 1/2 inches

Pam called me at 1:30(ish) to give me the exciting news and then at 2:30 I received a call from my doctor to let me know that the labor and delivery department was waiting for me to come and deliver my baby. (I was pre-eclamptic)

We took the boys to Meggin's (Taun's sister) and headed to the hospital. Before I knew it the doctor was in telling me that my platelets had dropped and they needed to brake my water and get going on the delivery. She checked the baby and realized that she was breech and suggested that we try to turn her. The doctor pushed on my belly with such force that I thought I would die and to no avail. She tried and tried until she felt she could no more and the baby was still breech. It was time to start prepping for a C-section. The anesthesia numbed me from the chest down and I felt nothing but pressure. (Thank goodness for modern medicine!)

We are all so glad to have these beautiful babies here and part of our family. It is neat that they get to share a birthday. (Benjamin and Kade-Pam's oldest-also share a birthday 2 years apart.)

Welcome Home Gracie!

(Before reading this post please realize that it was written by a very tired mommy.)

We finally got to bring Gracie home on Thursday October 22. She spent 10 long days in the NICU. She was on a CPAP for 2 days and had an IV for 5 days. She also had a feeding tube for 8 days. I drove to the hospital 3 times a day to nurse her and then they fed her a bottle the other feeding times. Taun had to go back to work so the only way it was possible for me to spend some time with her was because my mom came and stayed with us for a week. She watched the boys, did laundry, cleaned the house, made meals, did laundry, took Benjamin to preschool, did laundry, and provided emotional support.

Gracie in her hospital bed.

Every day I went in to see her she was all dolled up with an adorable outfit and a bow in her hair. The nurses loved bathing her and dressing her in the latest fashion. They really took great care of her there.

This is the day they took the feeding tube out. It left a red mark on her face for a few days but she is tube free!

She has some chub on her cheeks and chin but that is it. Her legs and arms are just skin and bones but she is getting better at eating, so it shouldn't be long before they fill out too.

My mom says that the pictures make her look bigger than she really is. She is really very tiny.

Here she is all ready for her first car ride ever. They had to do a car seat trial the night before so she was buckled in her carseat for an hour and a half to see how she would do. They do this with all babies in the NICU before they get to go home. She did great!

Big Brother Benjamin adores Gracie. He is always asking if he can hold her or check on her when she is sleeping. He sang her a lullaby when he was holding her, it went like this "Gracie, Gracie you're such cute. Gracie you're such cute!" It was SO CUTE. He can't get enough of her.

Alex loves to give her kisses. He insists on having his turn to hold her every time Benjamin is holding her.

here are the proud brothers. This is the first time they have seen her because no children are allowed in the hospital anymore. They waited the 10 long days to see her. I think Benjamin told me 100 times that I was crazy because we did not have a baby like I told him we did.

My three beautiful children.

Grandma Davis and Little Miss Gracie.

Thank you all for your support, thoughts and prayers in her behalf. She pulled through this trial great and she is lucky to have such wonderful people in her life who have not met her yet but have a great love for her anyway. We are grateful to have this little princess join our family.

Gracie Lucile Beddes

Gracie Lucile Beddes was born on Monday Oct. 12, 2009. She is a little stinker and decided to come 4 1/2 weeks early and breech. The doctor tried to turn her but she would not budge so she was born via C-section at 7:43 p.m. She was early but she still weighed in at 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is in the NICU because she had a hard time breathing on her own at first so she was on CPAP land on IV fluids. They took the CPAP off at 8 yesterday morning and she has been doing great. We just pray that she will continue to improve and get stronger. The doctor says she will be in NICU for at least a week and we will just play it by ear to see how she does. She is a cutie and we can't wait to bring her home. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers in her behalf.

Our LIFESAVER!

This is Taun's sister, JeriDawn. We LOVE JeriDawn! She is our LIFESAVER! She has been the one who we call when we need to take Alex to the hospital or when I have needed to go there myself. We have called her in the afternoon, evening, or in the middle of the night. Her response has always been something like, "Sure, bring them over anytime." She watched Benjamin when we had to go to the hospital both times for Alex's seisure episodes and when I went to the ER for the first kidney infection attack. She has 4 (beautiful) children of her own and has never complained about "having" to help with ours. My children LOVE JeriDawn and often ask if they can go play at her house. I mention that we are going to play with Sierra, Mialee, and Nikell and Benjamin always asks if JeriDawn will be there too.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go get my blood pressure checked at the Dr.'s office (I had had a headache all day and was pretty swollen.) The first time it was checked it was 161/58 so the nurse checked it again with another machiene and it was 152/54. Both high! Protein level was negative but the dr. wanted me to go have the contractions monitored at Labor and Delivery. Taun dropped me off at the hospital and went to let the kids play at JeriDawn's house. I realized I would be there for awhile so I called him to come sit with me incase anything happened. The kids stayed at JeriDawn's house.

After 4 hours at the hospital my blood pressure dropped and protein level was still negative. The blood work came back normal and the headache had gotten better. The dr. did a strep B test and checked for dialation and effacement. I was dialated to a 1 and 50% effaced (normal for someone with 35 weeks and previous pregnancies.) The dr. said to treat the headache with lortab or foricet and he put me on BED REST. I go in Monday or Tuesday to check up and will probably have to go in twice a week untill I deliver.

We went to JeriDawn's to get the kids and she was out walking with Alex and her 2 year old. Benjamin and Mialee (5 yr. old) were in the house painting and JeriDawn was doing grape juice. She has so much on her plate already and she is willing to help me with my children. I am so grateful for her and her ability to love my children as if they were her own. She is great and I don't know what we would do without her.

Thank you JeriDawn!

While we were gone...

Two weeks ago Taun and I went to Portland for a work conference he had. We were able to go for a whole week and while we were there we had a great time.

Taun designed this poster and had it printed for the conference. (It cost $120 to print) He then presented on his poster and another 30 minute power point. He did a great job and it will help him in his job.

When we got to the car rental place they said that they had reserved a 2010 Mustang for us to drive. Taun was all excited and I was not that thrilled.

We rented it anyway and it was fun for the first drive and then we both decided that it was not all it's cracked up to be.

It did feel like driving a race car and we felt pretty cool but we will never be spending our own money to buy one.

Taun skipped the last day of his conference so that we could go spend some time sight seeing together. We went to The Japaneese Botanical Gardens in Portland and to The Grotto.

This statue was at the JBG right after the entrance. It was pretty amazing!

The JBG was breathtaking with all of the beauty.

They have raked the sand around the rocks to make it look like ripples in the water.

At one point we were able to look out over the city of Portland. It was a very overcast day so it is hard to see but in real life it was beautiful!

Again, they have raked the sand to make it look like this... I would hate that job.

This is at The Grotto. It was beautiful as well.

While we were gone my parents watched this little munchkin and...

this little munchkin. We are so grateful to my parents for offering to watch them and spend some time at our house so that Benjamin did not miss a day of school. While we were gone my parents did some projects around our house.

My mom made cutrains for the boys room and for the new babies room. She also painted in the babies room and made some basket covers, carseat cover, nursing coverup, and carseat blanket. (Pictures to come) My dad replaced the brick in the back of the house, fixed the fence gate, and filled in some holes in the garden.

We moved Alexander's bed into Benjamin's room and put his new bedspread on it. (When Benjamin started sleeping in a "big boy bed" I had my mom make him a bedspread and then I found the same fabric and had her make one for Alex.)

We had to move the dresser into the closet so that both beds would fit. (I figured that they are not big enough to need the full length of the closet.) The boys love being in the same room and it is so much easier to put them to bed.

32 weeks!

I am officially 32 weeks along today. Just 2 more months to continue getting bigger and more uncomfortable. I am starting to get anxious about labor since I have always been induced and have no idea what it is like to go into labor by myself. I am also very excited about the new baby! Thanks to neighbors and sisters in law, she has more clothes than I ever expected...and I have not spent one penny. We love hand me downs!