CONGRATS TO MOM!

Dad here -

Kanyon Bryant Ridgway was born around 1:13 pm, 7.65 lbs, and 20 inches long. Mom is doing great, she went for a little run this evening logging in a quick 20 miles... okay, just joking... she's sitting up and in good spirits!

After a long few months we have some rejoicing in our home... a boy at last! I want to thank all of you out there for your love, support, and prayers.

The Final Countdown!

It really is the final countdown as our little man will be here exactly one week from today!

I can not believe how fast this pregnancy has gone and how nervous and anxious I get as we get closer. I can remember like it was last week how I was feeling the week before Eden's birth. So many emotions floating around in my head and in my heart. It is much thee same this time, but the feelings and emotions are so very different. I still worry every day that everything will be fine with our little guy and I guess I can say I am still a little skeptic, maybe I just don't have enough real faith or maybe I am a "doubting thomas" by nature.

It is so interesting that the closer I get to this birth, the more I miss my sweet Eden. I miss holding her and kissing her and smelling her. I miss touching her little hands and feet and rubbing her cheeks. Sometimes I think what I wouldn't give for just 5 minutes with her again to see and hold her. I try not to feel cheated or robbed of my baby, it just is what it is and I have to make the most of it and be a better person for her. She is spending her last days with her brother and then he will not remember her here on earth. The girls have started talking about her more lately as well and they tell everyone that "I am having a baby brother, but we also have a baby sister in heaven." I can't wait to watch the girls with their brother to see how sweet they will treat him. It's so cute to see because they are literally giddy when we talk about him coming in one week. I want this to be perfect for them, just as it should be.

His room is ready, his clothes, blankets, towels and bedding and washed and placed. However, I will not let Marcus install the car seat yet and I have not moved the bassinet into our room just yet. I probably won't do either of those things until the day he comes home. We had Eden's car seat in place and didn't take it out for over 2 months. What a crappy day that was! Her bassinet sat in our bedroom until the week after she passed. Even in the final days/weeks when I really knew she would not come home I could not bring myself to move the bassinet because to me that was a sign of giving up in my mind. Will I cry next Thursday when he is born? Probably! Will I see Eden in him and think of her? Maybe! Will I feel Eden there that morning as we welcome her brother into our family? Boy, I sure hope so!!!

This journey is hard, it is strange, it is wonderful. Most important though is that it is my journey and I am so thankful to have a wonderful, loving husband and friend and special children to share it with me. They make each day worth living for me.

Betty Crocker Lives!

Since we will be in the triple digits again this weekend, I thought it still wasn't too late to give a re-cap of our summer festivities.

We did not take any real trips this summer, rather we stayed home and spent just about everyday in a pool. Since we do not have our own pool we went to friends, grandparents and even neighbors houses to swim and loved every minute of it. The girls really took off with their swimming and for a while I thought we had two little mermaids living with us. It's a big relief for me to see them swimming so well and so comfortable in the water.

I like to say that I played Betty Crocker this summer. As you can see from the photos, we (which I use loosely as I did most of the work) did a TON of canning. I spent three different days canning jam and one day doing peaches. We made strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and triple berry jam and have decided that raspberry is our favorite this time. I prefer to make the low-sugar jam as it has more of a berry over sugar taste. Not lying, I probably have over 60 different sized jam jars and that is after giving lots away. However, since I make fresh whole wheat bread each week there is nothing better than a slice of fresh bread with butter and jam. Now that is a piece of heaven to me!!!! My mom and I spent one whole day canning fresh Utah peaches and they are delicious. We canned 40 jars worth and only had 1 1/2 bad peaches in the entire bunch. So yummy!!!! I have always loved to bake, but I can honestly say that I really enjoy canning and baking each week. Ask me to bake something over cook a meal any day!

Just the beginning of the jam-o-thons!

Emerson washing the loads of jamming dishes (of trying to at least).

I think I wore that outfit for every canning session!

Ainsley's job was to unload the clean jars from the dishwasher, with daddy's fishing hat on of course!

So many peaches.

Do they look beautiful or what?!?

The girls and I did go away for a weekend with my parents to a family reunion and while we were gone my fabulous husband did some serious cleaning and re-organizing. For those of you who had seen our office and toy room before (bless you for surviving the experience), you will be amazed at the transformation. The office, which was once a pit of despair is now my favorite room in the house for relaxing and reading. We finally organized the toy room with containers for everything and are in the process now of having a loft built for the girls. The ceilings are very high in the toy room so to utilize all of the space Marcus thought a loft, or indoor tree house as he calls it, would be so fun. I can't wait to have a few sleepovers up there!

The toy room finally ship shape.

Our living room, which we also call the reverent room. We added some furniture to make it more complete.

The best for last, the office. I could not get the full desk in the picture but it's a corner desk on the left side.

The summer passed much too quickly, but we really did have fun. Now, I'm off to make some dark chocolate chip cookies, YUM!!

"Nothing to Worry About!"

While at my OB appointment yesterday I heard these infamous words, "Don't stress, it's nothing to worry about!" They came after we heard something different while listening to his heartbeat with the doppler. I laid down like normal not thinking anything and then when we started listening to his heart we heard what sounded like an extra beat, or half of a beat. I wanted to ask him immediately what that was, but couldn't because my heart was in my throat. However, he told me not to worry at all it is a type of irregular heartbeat called a Premature Atrial Contraction (PAC) which is quite common in fetus's and 99% of the time corrects itself before birth. He went on to explain that most adults have 1-5 PAC's per day and that number rises with age. He did not seemed concerned at all, but I think he could see the stress on my face because he reminded me quickly that it has nothing to do with the structure of his heart, which is perfect, but just that it is young and we may never hear it again. "Don't Worry!" Easier said than done especially for someone whose last baby passed away from a heart ailment. I guess I have to take his word for it that it is not a big deal, I was just hoping for no drama at all from here on out. Oh well, life keeps us on our toes I guess!