IDAHO!!!!/ BIRTHDAY!!!!

We have been back for almost a week from our trip to Idaho. It was great visiting with old friends and anyone we didn't get around to seeing we'll have to next time. We were lucky enough to have both families up there for the blessing of Penelope and also her cousin Isaiah. I have lots of pictures that other people have taken and hopefully I can post them in the next couple of days. I did finally get a updates family photo though I tried to hide as best I could behind my children. The weather was great and I missed it the second I stepped off the plane.
Daphne celebrated her 9th birthday today and we let her choose a restaurant to eat at. Luckily I convinced her that Famous Dave's was better than Chik fil A. Her present from us was a pair of Converse All Stars ( you can tell she is growing up) They are awesome and I would actually wear them. I left my camera in Idaho so I will post more pictures soon. We had a great day all crammed in our Lumina and probably won't do another family trip for a while.

A Tooth for a Tooth

We were visiting our wonderful Grandma Harden who is famous for beating our children. As you can see Kate was especially naughty and granny checked her in the face. Of course she made up for it with a dollar from the Tooth Fairy. So all is well. Hopefully Lily keeps her nose clean because she is too young to lose teeth and Daphne has too many permanent teeth to lose again. Luckily since this event my children have been the most well behaved children and even Ben has been more helpful. Penelope at this time isn't afraid but give her a few months until those teeth come in.

Miss Penelope and the Doctor

Since having Penelope I have begun to enjoy my late nights but I decided the scenery was getting a bit old so Friday night Penelope decided to switch things up and we spent our late night at Phoenix Children's Hospital. We also invited dad to go with us. Now Penelope is a healthy little girl who eats well, isn't too fussy and does her business properly but Friday she had a little blood in her diaper so we thought it best to go up and just make sure everything was OK since we live so far away. After spending a long evening and early morning in the ER we know that she is healthy and the blood isn't from me and there wasn't any indication of her having a fissure ( or tear) in her bowel. Her blood work came back fine also. She isn't in any discomfort so we are just in the wait and see mode. She has her one month appointment on Monday so hopefully whatever it is passes or we will probably go to a GI specialist in Phoenix for more tests.

They look so small in the hospital beds
I also learned that The Waffle House has pretty good waffles and that they taste even better at
3 AM

Just for my mom

These pictures are for my mom so she can download them. Remember my camera stinks and she was not really listening to my directions. I put this one in sepia cause I like the look but the original is also there. I hope some of these work for you.

She Loves Me

Penelope is so thoughtful. This morning she woke me up so that we could watch the sunrise. I can't believe I have been blessed with such a sweet girl. Now she wasn't quite sure of the time so every couple of hours( or half hours) she would check with me so I could tell her if it was time yet. Here is some picks of the sky just barely starting to lighten.

I know the pictures aren't the best but you can imagine how much I want to go retake them and go through this process again with a baby screaming( I mean expressing her individuality)

Sisterly Love

There is no shortage of love in this house. I hope Penelope survives it all.

She's Here!

The girls were a little sick

Home at last!

Everyone meet Penelope Anne Blackburn! She was born Sunday, May 31st at 5:33 AM. Ben did everything he could Saturday to put me in labor and I think the rocky road did it. I started having contractions 15 mins apart and called since we live 2 hours from the hospital and he told us to come in. I found out my water had been broken and was leaking so it was good we came in. Luckily my mom had been home about two hours from her trip to England and jumped in the car and was with me through the delivery and had to hurry back home for work and she was a little tired. I had a few complications but am fine and she is fine. The girls were really excited and hopefully all will adjust well to the change.