Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The long awaited and much anticipaited post!

 
 Reddic Steven Allen
Born August 24th, 2011 at 4:22pm
8lbs. 11oz. 20in.

Well, I am finally getting around to sharing the news of the arrival of our 3rd son. I went into my doctors appointment at 40 weeks very ready (mentally) to have this baby. The doctor asked how I felt about getting induced and I told her I was all for it! I was worried she would say that the hospital was booked solid for the next week, but instead she said "how about tomorrow?". Of course, I said yes. I had never been induced before, but I wasn't really worried. I was very overjoyed at the prospect of not being pregnant anymore. We went into the hospital the next morning, and the doctor broke my water at 9:15 am. We were all expecting it to go a little faster, but it took a few hours before I finally got any contractions. They did let me walk around the hospital which was nice. Although, the Mount Graham Regional Medical Center is one very very small hospital, so it did get pretty boring walking up and down the same hallways 20 times. I got my epidural about 1 hour before he was born when I was dialated to 8-9cm. I love epidurals! So glad we didn't have a repeat of Grady's birth. Then at 4:22 he finally arrived! He was way bigger than all of us thought, even the doctor. At 8lb. 11oz. he was a full pound bigger than either of his brothers! Reddic (pronounced RED-ick) is a family name from Ty's side of the family, who was a pioneer who helped rescue the stranded handcart pioneers out on the plains. If you ask Luke, he will tell you the baby's name is Blobster Reddic Allen. He was very upset when he found out that we were going to name the baby Reddic and not Blobster after his favorite ipod game. We tried to explain that Blobster would be a really good nick name, but he insists that the baby's first name needs to be Blobster. Oh well, Blobster is kind of growing on me. I think Ty's grandma and mother of 5 boys herself said it best "The only thing cuter than 2 boys is 3!".  Since I tell stories better with pictures than words, here's a glimpse at his first few days of life.




Luke and Grady got to meet Reddic when he was only 2 hours old! They loved meeting their new little brother almost as much as they loved running around my hospital room. Thanks so much to my brother Jeffrey for taking all these pictures of Luke and Grady meeting their brother!






A family picture!

My brother Jeffrey and Ty's brother Aaron, who is a doctor at the hospital, were some of the first people who got to meet Reddic.


My mom came down the next day. Let me just say that Reddic is one ver alert baby. That is the nice way of saying he never slept! None of us ever saw him with his eyes closed at night for longer than 30 seconds for the first two nights! I am not exaggerating at all. By nights 3 and 4 he would sleep for a little while if he was being held, and finally by night 5 he learned how to sleep on his own! Needless to say I have been feeling very sleep deprived this week!



Dressed up in his going home outfit. This is the same outfit that both Luke and Grady wor home from the hospital. We spent a whopping 24hours and 30 min. in the hospital after his birth before we went home. While it was good to be home, I did miss the nurses, the quiet, and the room service at the hospital.


Reddic with Ty's sister April and his mom.

Loved having my sister Emily come and stay with us for 2 days!
A couple random pictures from his first day or two home.

So handsome after his first bath!

An elusive sleep smile!

I was so happy to have the help of my mom, Ty, my sister Emily, and lots of in-laws these first few days. My mom went home yesterday, and somehow I have made it through a day and an half mostly by myself. The hardest part is just trying to have enough patience for Luke and Grady being so sleep deprived. One afternoon Ty took the boys out to the backyard for some fun on the slip-n-slide.


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Vacation!!!

Last weekend we had our annual Smith Family Reunion (my mom's family) at Zion's National Park. We had a great time hiking and spending time together. I look forward to these reunions all year, since our family is so spread out we don't get to see each other as often as we would like. The whole park is just breathtakingly beautiful! I'm just going to forewarn you that this is going to be a really long post, but hey, this trip has been the highlight of our summer!

Luke and Grady with my youngest cousins Michael (10) and Ryan (7). I think they look like they could be siblings. They had a blast together. Luke kept up with the older boys amazingly well, and they took good care of him. Grady loved them too, and referred to them always collectively in one word as MichaelRyan.

The boys watching some deer before our first hike. 

Well, our first hike was to the Emerald pools. Grady and I hiked at about the same speed. He kept on telling me "I a good hiker, mom!". The second half of this hike turned out to be somewhat scary and treacherous. By the time it was time to turn around and go back it was already starting to get dark outside, and it got dark fast with the sun setting behind the canyon's steep walls. Before we knew it we were hiking on steep and slippery terrain in complete darkness. I kept thinking as we walked about all the horrible hiking/survival stories I had heard. In my mind I pictured myself being interviewed by talk show hosts. They'd ask me "What were you thinking leaving for a hike with such young children so late in the evening, and how did you make it out alright?". (I have a very active imagination.) We ended up making it down just fine though. I am grateful for my Aunt Mari and Ty for caring my boys down safely.

 This is us waiting for the shuttle to come pick us up after that first hike. See how dark it is!

 The next day was the Narrows hike for most everyone. I went on that hike back when I was 16, and it is definitely the most amazing hike I had ever done! This year though, Necia and her baby Traejan hung out with me, Luke and Grady. We did our own hike. We hiked the River Walk which was 2 miles in and 2 miles out. I was so proud of Luke. He hiked that whole thing without being carried once. Grady was a different story. I spent about half that hike with Grady on my shoulders. I must have been quite a site, with a backpack on my back, Grady on my shoulders, and my hugely pregnant belly! I'm not sure who was more tired at the end of the day me or Ty! At the end of everyday we spent some quality time in the pool. These next few pictures are from that hike.

Grady loved the squirrels. We stopped to look at every one. It was almost better than being at the zoo!


Stopping to snack.

Re-hydrating

 

Me and my boys


 Grady crashed on the grass after that hike.

 He did the exact same think at the same place the next day too. :)

Ty, Tyson (Necia's husband), Devin and Emily (my siblings), Megan Kathleen, Jessie, and Jed (my cousins) on the narrows hike. The next 5 pics are from that hike.





That evening we had a birthday party for my mom. She turned 50!!! We also had a little family meeting. My grandparents rented out a room in a nice restaurant and we had some really awesome food!

Top left is my brother Jeffrey with his girlfriend Renea!
Bottom left is my whole family minus baby Traejan.
We also had lots of fun trying on my Great-grandma's jewelry!

Grady with his 2 favorite lovies Lamby and Doggie.

 Grady and Jed up to no good together in the hotel. :)

 Grady with his hiking stick entering the park.

 Grady and Luke, no doubt driving all the other passengers on the shuttle crazy! We got to ride a couple shuttle buses every day in and out of the park. The boys love it!

 Our hike to Weeping Rock.



 Just the 4 of us spent some quality time together playing in the Virgin river that runs through the park.


 King of the Rock

 A family picture!

 On the way home we stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of hours. It was a really nice break from driving. We went to M&M world, Coca Cola world, and saw some lions too!
We order this tray that had 16 different Cokes from all around the world to try. Most of them were pretty weird, but it was fun!