Summer is here!

It is hard to believe that June came and went. Time is flying by too quickly. I want to enjoy every single moment of Brynley as a little baby but she is getting bigger and bigger right before my eyes. We had a jam packed June with school ending and Trav going back to work after 6 weeks. It was so nice to have Travis around to help out but also just to be with him 24/7. He truly is my best friend, he can always make me laugh and definitely knows when I need a break from my motherly duties. I missed him a lot the first couple of days when he went back to work. He was ready to get back to his "normal" life and I was ready to get us back on our schedule.

On the last day of school we headed to Washington to spend time with Angie and family, Travis' parents and grandparents. He always have a blast at Angie's house. She got out a giant slip and slide, the kids loved flying down the hill in her backyard. We also went to Angie's pool to cool off. We went to Othello so Travis' dad could meet Brynley. Travis' mom had a big dinner at her house on Sunday so we got to see a lot of Travis' aunts, uncles cousins and of course grandparents. We decided to extend our vacation one more day and headed back to Angie's house to continue partying. Our kids love spending time with their cousins and Angie enjoyed nibbling on our little Brynley.

When we got back from Washington, we had the rest of the week before Travis had to go back to work. We decided to have a "stay cation" and went to places in Portland. We went to the zoo, saw a couple of movies and went to a state park for a picnic and hiking.

Jake played t ball and Travis was his coach. Jake can not wait to play baseball because he does not like hitting it off the tee, he think he is too big for that. Half way through the season the coaches start pitching it to the batters. Jake would hit it above every ones heads. He definitely takes after his dad when it comes to baseball. Travis is also playing softball every Tuesday night. The month flew by but we loved spending a lot of quality time as a family.

Jake graduated from Kindergarten!

Jake and Mrs. Philippi

Jake did not want me to take his picture, he was anxious to go outside for recess.

Our little boy is growing up.

Jake is a power hitter!
On the first day practice, not even 1 minute into practice, Jake started swinging his bat to get ready to blow it out of the park and actually hit a boy on his team right in the eye with the bat. This poor little kid got a huge black eye and had it for a couple of weeks. That is our Jake for you. It sounds like something Travis would have done when he was a kid.

Coach Travis

Weekend in Washington

Brynley and I were hanging out in the shade watching the kids do the slip and slide.

Syd was a slip and slide champion.

Baylee kept on trying to knock down her 14+ year old cousin, Derek.


Jake jumping off of a diving board for his first time.

Baylee and Christian

Sydney and Brett catching some rays.

Brynley and Grandpa Risenmay

Grandma Gilbert, Travis, Grandma Risenmay, Brynley and Great Grandma Risenmay
Grandma Gilbert can always make babies smile.

May has been a busy month...

May has been a busy month with sports, end of the school year parties, projects and field trips, a piano recital, music concerts, big projects around the house (re landscaping our entire backyard), etc. It has been so nice to have Travis home for his 6 week paternity leave to help chauffeur kids here and there as well as let me catch up on the limited amount of sleep I am getting with a newborn. We have loved having our special visitors, my mom, Travis' mom and my sister. We are so thankful for all of their help they gave us while they were visiting. Here are a few things we have been up to the last couple of weeks.

Baylee has been playing indoor soccer the last couple of months with her good friend, Addison. The games have been on Saturday nights at 5:00 so after each game we get together for dinner with Addison's whole family, it has been a lot of fun!

Baylee's team has played against some of her really good friends' teams. This is Laikynn, Abigail and Baylee.

Jake had his kindergarten music concert two days after I got out of the hospital so I was unable to go. Travis recorded the whole thing so I did not miss one song, he was so cute at the concert.

Baylee had a piano recital. The song she chose for the recital was "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".

We had a fire pit built in our backyard, we roasted marshmallows and had smores. The weather has been so nice here in Portland, we have had many meals out on our patio.

Baylee has been working on a big country report the entire month of May. Her country was France and she has spent many hours learning about it. She had to make a big poster about France, turn in a written report (which she had to type) and give a 5 minute speech all about France. Our neighbor teaches at the French American school here so she gave her a lot of things to show during her speech. Her shirt says, "Bon Jour! Je m'appelle Baylee. Comment ce' va?" That means, "Hello! My name is Baylee. How are you?" She did such a great job and had a lot of fun learning about France.

This is her class, it is a 2nd and 3rd grade split. It has been such a great school year for her. Her teacher, Mrs. Paladichuk (Mrs. P.) is definitely the best teacher in school. Baylee has loved this class and wishes Mrs. P. was going to be her 3rd grade teacher next year but Mrs. P. is moving to the new school. We will miss her.

Mrs. P, Brynley and Baylee

Sydney giving us her princess smile. She loves this skirt and she wishes she could wear it everyday. Sydney has been busy being a big helper, going to many play groups and story times at the library. She has loved having Travis around every day, she is a Daddy's girl.

Jake lost his first tooth. It was a little loose but he was wrestling with Travis and tried to bite Travis' toe when Travis went to kick his foot away and accidentally kicked Jake in the mouth and his tooth popped out. I was gone but I guess they had to search for the tooth and there was a lot of blood. Jake is so happy that he finally lost a tooth. I am sad because it means my baby boy is growing up.

Jake got this new shirt and loves it. I can not believe that he is almost done with kindergarten (only 3 more days). What happened to my little Spider-man loving, big beautiful eyed boy?

Brynley's first 4 weeks of life.

We have loved having this little girl in our family. We all just want to eat her up and can not give her enough hugs and kisses.

Jake is a very protective brother.

She loved to suck her fingers the first week she was born.

This was her first sponge bath at home. We found out that she has attitude just like her big sister, Sydney.

Brynley right after she is done eating.

Aunt Tina and Brynley

The kids loved having Aunt Tina visit but they said next time she comes Madi has to come too.

Sweet Angel

Abigail and Amanda could not wait to come and meet Brynley.

Just before bedtime after family prayer and scriptures.

My wonderful midwife, Jodi and Brynley.

Brynley loves this bouncy seat, it is so soft and cozy. (Thanks Grandma!) Travis wants one just like it for adults.

Our 4th Little Angel

Brynley is 3 1/2 weeks and I do not know where the time has gone. She is such a sweet little angel and has brought so much joy into our home. Having a 4th child has made my life a little busier so I apologize that I haven't posted pictures of her yet on our blog.

The morning of the scheduled delivery, we were supposed to be at the hospital at 7:30am. However, I got a call at 6:30am saying they had to bump us and I could not come in until noon because they had a busy night with deliveries. The same thing had happened to me when I had Baylee. It is so frustrating to have to wait even an hour longer after months of discomfort and emotional roller coasters. .

We got to the hospital right at noon but finally got hooked up to the monitoring machines at about 1:30. My midwife came in and since I was already having contractions and was dilated to almost a 4 we just decided to break my water and see if it would put me into regular labor. By the time this happened it was 2pm. Our other kids got out of school at 2:15 so my mom picked them up and brought them to the hospital to see me. I was supposed to get up and walk around the halls to get things moving so the kids took turns walking with me. My contractions were picking up a little bit but not enough after all the walking I had done in those couple of hours. I finally told the nurse it was time for the pitossin since that is what worked with the other 3 kids. I guess my body does not go into labor on my own -- 4 births and no luck. They started the pitossin at 5:30 and I was ready to go.

The contractions came on strong and regular and before I knew it I was very ready for an epidural. I was able to relax for a few hours despite the contractions getting stronger and stronger on the monitor. At 10:30 I began to feel a lot of pressure so I had the nurse check me Sure enough, I was complete.

When Jodi, my midwife, came in she asked Travis if he had ever caught one of our babies. He never had, but had always been able to cut the cord. She asked if he wanted to put on gloves and help out, He was like a kid in a candy store, he was so excited. While he was trying to figure out how to put on the gloves without contaminating them, I was so ready to push. It took him longer to put the gloves on than it did for me to push her out. The nurse and midwife were very amused at Travis. Having a midwife was such a wonderful experience. It is such a natural, relaxed process--no stirrups, no bright lights. If I ever have another baby, I will definitely have a midwife again. When we were finally ready to go and I started to push, Travis was right down there helping the entire process. As soon as her head was coming out, he helped ease her out as well as the rest of her body. He is the one that handed her to me. The pictures are priceless with all of his facial expressions (I am not going to post them on the blog, when you come over you can see them). I am so happy he was such an intimate part of the delivery.

I pushed for less than 3 minutes and she came out a whopping 9 lbs. 3 oz. and 21 inches long. I was able to hold her for a long time and really get to look at her. It was such an amazing experience. She was born at 10:46pm. After everything was done and cleaned up, Travis and I were able to just enjoy her alone since it was so late. What a blessing it is for us to have a beautiful, healthy little girl. We are so grateful for the increased amount of love she has brought into our family. We are also so grateful for the calls and emails we've received from loved ones who've demonstrated an overwhelming amount of love and support for us. This has truly been an experience to treasure.

The night before she was born.

On the way to the hospital. Travis always wears red at the births of our kids, he had been searching for the perfect one.

Right after she was born.

Proud Papa

Big healthy girl

After her first bath.

All better.

Baylee holding Brynley for the first time. We let Jake and Baylee and Jake skip school so they could come see her in the hospital.

Sydney loves her new baby sister. Now she is a big sister.

My sister, Tina, flew in the night after I had her to surprise me. I had no idea she was coming. I am not easy to surprise, if you know me really well because I always ask so many questions and I analyze everything. Travis was supposed to come to the hospital around 8pm so I could go home from the hospital. Usually I like staying in the hospital but the bed was so uncomfortable, I barely slept and I knew I would have more help at home with my Mom and Travis, I also love my bed. Travis was late picking me up so I called him at 8:30 wondering where he was. He said he had to run to Target and then make one more stop before he would be there. I could not understand why he was running errands when I was so ready to come home, I was getting really impatient. Finally at 9:00 he came and said that he bought something for me and I had to close my eyes. He came back in and told me to open my eyes and there was my sister. I was in complete shock, I could not believe she was there. She had worked all day and then flew in that night. Travis drove all the way to the airport to get her, that is why he was so late. I was so excited. She was going to stay with me for 5 days. Now I had my mom, Travis and Tina to help me. It was the best surprise ever.

Yea! Aunt Tina is here to spoil me!

All ready to go home.