Summer BBQ's

So, I'm not very timely when it comes to blog posts these days, but eventually I hope to catch up again and stay caught up. And so with that said, here are some pictures of our summer fun.

We headed to the Sohlman's for a Housewarming BBQ. We had a great time at their new house and I was just proud that we managed to get out of the house with a 2 year old and a 2 week old. And the hit of the party? The ice bucket of drinks, of course!

Henry made sure to keep his milk cold when he wasn't drinking it . . .





The toddlers (Henry, Colton and Harper) loved playing with the ice. The weather wasn't warm enough for a kiddie pool, but the ice bucket kept them occupied for most of the BBQ.



And to prove that Owen was really there :) . . .



Henry loved running in the grass and playing with his friends . . .



Such a fun BBQ with friends!

And last week we were fortunate enough to get together with the Church family while they were in town. Henry had a great time with his cousins and loved to imitate everything that Ashtyn was doing. Owen was excited to meet his cousins and took turns being held by everybody.



The cousins!



Henry also loved blowing bubbles with Brenna outside and showing everybody all his toys.



It was Brenna's 12th birthday and we helped celebrate with a BBQ and of course cake. :)



So happy for summer and family visits!

My Big Fat Catch-Up Post

The last few weeks since Owen's birth have been wonderful and crazy. And because of that, I've been a bit slow in my blogging. So, I figured a big catch-up post was in order. :)

It starts the evening before Owen's birth. We went for a walk around the neighborhood. We decided to take Henry in the wagon, which quickly (as in, before we even left the driveway) turned into Henry wanting to pull the wagon. While this led to a very slow walk, it also gave me the opportunity for some cute pictures. We stopped to let Tilly run around and Henry had fun imitating her rolls in the grass. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get the two of them rolling together, but trust me, it was cute.


A quick picture before Henry began to lose patience riding in the wagon







Henry helping put together the double stroller (by playing in the box - someone had to do it!) and hanging out with his monkey blanket. It's been so helpful with a new baby to have Henry happy playing on his own from time to time.



Me and my boys!



Henry helping take out the recycling . . .



And lots of water play on the deck. Henry loves to "water the plants" which basically just gives him permission to use the hose as he sees fit. Surprisingly he has not tried to spray Tilly or us yet, but I'm sure it will happen when we least expect it.


Practicing with the hose by filling up his old tub


Tilly helping herself to a drink

Eventually Henry decided to help clean the windows. I'm not sure the windows are much cleaner, but he sure had a great time!





And on to the kitchen window . . .



Henry also loves to "run in grass!" and kick a ball around the yard.







And while Owen hasn't taken a huge interest in his play mat yet, Henry has been happy to check out all the toys and pictures on it.





Having Owen really put into perspective how much Henry has grown. It's hard to believe he was ever as little as Owen!



And Henry helping the giraffe give Owen a kiss.



There's still more to post, but at least I'm caught up through Owen's birth now! :)

Owen Wesley - His Birth Story

Here is the story of Owen's birth. Feel free to skip all the details, but I wanted to make sure to write it down for myself while I still remembered!

Around 2am on Friday, July 1st, I started having regular contractions. They weren't painful, but Nate and I timed them anyway. After timing them for about an hour and the contractions becoming more intense, we decided to call Grandma to come stay the night with Henry. Unfortunately a similar scenario had played out the weekend before only to end with no more contractions and definitely no baby, so I was nervous about making her come spend the night again. (Although, the bright side of the false alarm was it forced us to get our bags finally packed and ready to go - this process certainly didn't need to happen at 2am the weekend before, but it worked out).

Finally around 4:30am, we decided to head to the hospital to get checked out. This is the decision that I hate making, because with all the Braxton Hicks contractions I have throughout the 2nd half of pregnancy, I'm never sure if it's the real thing or not. But, being a 2nd baby, I wanted to make sure I made it to the hospital on time since the births tend to be much shorter. (So not something I needed to worry about in this case!).

I was 3 cm dilated at my last Doctor's appointment, so I was excited to find out how much further along I was. Boy was I disappointed to find out after all those painful contractions, I hadn't progressed at all! They had me walk the halls for awhile hoping to progress labor and then the Doctor on call checked me again. Still no progress. So, now the discussion began about whether we should head home or not. We decided to hold off on that decision until my doctor began her shift and could check me out herself. She came to check me out at 9:30am to find still no progress, but contractions painful enough that I was already wishing for an epidural. She asked if I thought I should head home (I didn't, but really didn't know for sure if this baby was coming that day or not), and finally decided that if I was in that much pain, we'd have the baby that day one way or another since I likely would have headed home and then turned right around. And so I labored on, with the hope that things would start to speed up so that my Doctor would be able to deliver the baby before her shift ended.

A few hours and an epidural later (Ahh, relief!), my Doctor came by to check on me. Certainly I must be much much further along, right? She checked me and I was 3-4 cm. Seriously?? So, she decided to break my water to see if that would help things progress.

And progress it did, but still slowly. By about 3 o'clock I was around 6 cm, but still nowhere near the 10 cm needed. At this point, I really didn't think I'd be able to have my doctor deliver the baby and was starting to wonder if I'd even have the baby before the next day. I no longer wondered that about half an hour later when my body decided to dilate the final 4 cm within an hour. The epidural no longer was able to hold off all the pain and I was really hurting. A few extra doses of the epidural, along with the confirmation that I would never want to have a natural childbirth, and I was feeling much more comfortable before it was time to start pushing. The doctor checked in with me at the end of her shift just in time to deliver the baby. After 45 minutes of pushing, Owen Wesley Reagan was born at 5:14pm weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces, measuring 21 inches long and with a full head of dark hair.






His first bath at the hospital

Later that evening, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mike brought Henry to the hospital to meet his new little brother.



He wasn't sure what to think at first about Owen or the hospital room. . .


Sneaking a peak at the baby in Grandma's arms


Figuring out how the bed works

But a gift from Owen helped him warm up to this little brother thing.


Henry loves his monkey "packpack"



A few family shots . . .







Henry even gave baby Owen a kiss . . .



But eventually Henry announced, "All done baby. Go home?" So Henry went home to stay the night with Grandma and Grandpa while we got to spend the night with Owen.

The next day Owen had a visit from Uncle James and Aunt Robin. . .



And another visit from Grandma and big brother Henry . . .


Yummy lunch with Daddy!

More Owen pictures . . .







And on Sunday we packed up and headed home from the hospital.



Welcome home baby Owen!!

Introducing . . .

Owen Wesley Reagan

Born July 1st, 2011 at 5:14pm
8 pounds, 10 ounces
21 inches long



Henry is still trying to figure out the whole baby thing, but is doing a wonderful job at being a big brother.





You'll notice Henry's matching band-aid on his heel. He saw Owen's and informed us that he also had an owie that needed band-aid attention. Seemed reasonable to us.

More family pictures and details to follow as we find the time. :)