Happy Half Birthday Kate Girl

There really isn't a reason to celebrate Kate's half birthday since her real birthday is during the school year, but since we do it for Allison we have to do it for each of them so this week we also celebrated Kate's half birthday. Besides, a whole year is a really long time to wait for your birthday so she requested her cupcake type, frosting color, and our course we had to have "Prinkles." On Tuesday, we made cupcakes and had a low key family dinner celebration and now Kate is 2 1/2 and pretty good at telling you too.

Sarah even woke up for the celebration

The Stork Came to Visit

Thanks to Nana, Papa, and the Martin Family for our stork visit announcing the arrival of Sarah Reagan.

Sarah's First Checkup

Monday morning we took Sarah in for her first checkup. She is already back to her birth weight and Dr. Bud said she looks great even though she screamed during the entire examination.

Sarah was happy once it was over and we told her it was time to go home.


We always leave behind a piece of artwork for Nurse Lisa


Kate couldn't wait to play with the tongue depressor once she knew it wasn't going in her mouth


Allison takes the doctor's words very seriously

My heart is full

Sarah had her first doctor appointment on Monday so that morning we packed up (I forgot how much gear you need anytime you set out with a newborn), loaded up, and set out for the doctor. During our 20 minute drive to Folsom, Kate and Allison sang the entire way there. Sarah slept while Allison and Kate sang everything from "The Good Morning Song" to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with ABCs and counting in the middle. I love those drives that I can just zone out and listen to them converse. I also love listening to them work out their differences. At one point Allison started counting and Kate started after her thereby distracting her. Alli got upset, but I told her to ask Kate to wait until she was done before she started counting and she did. Allison counted to 100 while Kate waited and then Kate started singing the ABCs. It's moments like that that make me smile and I know my heart if full. I love being a mom and I cherish my three girls more than anything. I'm a lucky girl!

It's all in a name

We really struggled with finding just the right name for Baby Girl Myers #3. I must admit that with my OCDness I did set a prerequisite. I wanted a name that started with a letter at the end of the alphabet. I have an "A" in Allison, a "K" in Kate, and while "Z" would be most appropriate, we are not a Zoe type family. So while the name didn't have to start with Z, I did want something near the end of the alphabet so I was focused on R, S, or T.

For most of my pregnancy, we had no ideas. Then one day Sarah came to mind and was stuck in my head. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the name and it wasn't that I didn't like it but it didn't stand out to me as something spectacular so I made a point NOT to tell Ryan in fear that he would really like it and Sarah would stick. The next day Ryan says to me I had a dream that we named her Sarah...in the hospital you said, "This is my Sarah." Later that week the girls and I went up to Cindy's for the afternoon and I told her about it and she said that she thought the name should be Sarah too. Goosebumps yet?

There continued to be discussions about names sometimes involving the girls and sometimes not. Over Easter, I decided I really liked the name Victoria and we'd call her Tori for short. We had already decided on Reagan as a middle name. While I won't go into a major political discussion here, let's just say naming her after a far more conservative president was intentional. There was something quite regal about Victoria Reagan...or so I thought. By Monday, Ryan had completely ruled out our only option.

About 2 weeks ago, I was playing BUNCO and somehow Ryan got to talking over names with the girls. Allison liked the name Molly because another family had just had a baby and named her Molly and Allison is quite open to persuasion. When he asked Kate, she said she liked Sarah. Once again, some of our discussions included the girls, but I don't think we included Sarah as our options in these discussions. And so Sarah Reagan she was meant to be. While it's only been a couple of days since we brought her home, but Sarah is definitely the right name.

Delivery Day

So most of you know how stressed out I have been during the whole pregnancy. While Kate's birth turned out fine it was just a little too fast. I know a lot of people are in favor of home births but I think we let our bodies do the work, and we have medical professionals there to help when things go wrong.
Throughout my doctor visits I shared my concerns with Dr. Hiuga and the other doctors in the group. Each recommeded that we schedule an induction about a week before the due date to prevent a what they called another rapid delivery. I agreed but was apprehensive. Maybe Kate's delivery was a fluke and I didn't want to rush things along unnecessarily.
About 2 weeks ago during my weekly checkup Dr. Finnegan said that things were starting to soften and I should be getting ready. Those words sent Ryan and I into high gear. We set up the nursery (ha-ha it's just the pack and play and dresser in our room) and Ryan went to the hardware store and bought plastic and string in case the delivery happened in the car. This whole time I needed some positive scenario to have in my head. I knew I couldn't control when or how the birth happened but I needed some sort of plan that I could at least visualize. I finally came up with it...during my weekly doctor visit I would go in and find out I was two to three centimeters dialated and they would tell me go straight to the hospital. I would be ten minutes from the hospital instead of 55 minutes and the girls would be taken care of because they would be with someone for the appointment.
Another week goes by and not much changes so we both take a deep breath. Last Sunday I was out running errands by myself and I sent Ryan a text saying I felt like it was going to be this week. He jokingly asked for a day and time so that he could get it on the calendar. I told him Thursday afternoon. Maybe I could make a business out of it???
Thurday morning I woke up not feeling quite right. I told Ryan I thought today as the day. The girls were set to spend the late morning with Cindy while I went to my doctor appointment but Ryan packed the girls bags for the night just in case. He called in a sub and we set off to meet Cindy and then to the doctor. I wasn't having contractions but I still didn't feel quite right. At 11:30, we got to the doctor and I was two to three centimeters but without contractions they weren't ready to send me to the hospital. Dr. Speigel said I think this baby will delivery closer to 38 weeks than 40 but was ready to send us home. I didn't want to go home. Just the doctor checking me had started contractions so we set off to walk around the mall and see if we could get things going. We walked for about an hour and then the contractions were coming about every three to five minutes so we set off to pick up lunch and then off to the hospital. When they checked me at the hospital I was still only two to three centimeters but contractions were still coming so they told us to stay and see if I progressed. About 4 o'clock they checked me again and to my disappointment I was only 4 centimeters but since I was progressing they admitted me and called the doctor. At 5:10 Dr. Speigel got there and checked me again. I was still 4 to 5 centimeters but she broke my water and said she thought we'd deliver within the hour. At 5:42 I called the nurses in because I felt pressure. Now to me pressure and the need to push are pretty similiar but she checked me and said I was about 7 centimeters and she'd come back and check in about 20 minutes. I remember thinking you'be got to be kidding me. 3 minutes and two pushes later baby was out on the bed. No doctor, no delivery nurse, just the attending nurse standing at the computer inputting information. I was still covered with the sheets so I had to tell them "Baby's Out." Then the mad rush of nurses and my poor doctor come charging in. The baby was dark pink and let out a good cry after a few seconds and we knew things were fine. So in the end, I predicted it (although I said afternoon and technically it was evening), we made it to the hospital, and we now have another beautiful baby girl to run our house. God was looking down on us and He truly answered my prayers that day.

Welcome Sarah Reagan

More details to follow but on Thursday April 15th we welcomed Sarah Reagan Myers to our family. She was born at 5:45 pm and weighed 7lbs 1 oz and was 19.5 inches long.
The calm before the storm

Fast and furious! The doctor broke my water at 5:10 and I was about 4 cm. At 5:42 I was 7 cm and at 5:45 she was here

Weighing in at:


1st bath


Baby Feet


Dad's choice of going home outfits...notice the blue pants and purple onesie. Hopefully Sarah isn't color blind too


Sometime during the middle of the night


Another Daddy's girl

Local Fishing

The local Kiwanis and Fishing Clubs put together a Fishing Day for the kids once a year. We didn't formally participate this year because Alli is officially too young and the weather was awful but later in the day Ryan went out with friends and caught some huge trout.

Fairy Tale Town with the cousins

One of the girls favorite local amusement parks is Fairy Tale Town. They always have a blast and occasionally we like to meet up with Auntie Shane, Logan, and Whitney to share in the fun.
We always stop to take pictures inside the cheese.

Say Cheese

Kate's first Fudgesicle. She loved the chocolate but isn't crazy about really cold things so she refused to bite it and it made a huge mess. Thanks goodness for Kirkland Wipes. I never leave home without them.

Alli and her snow cone

Kate as Dorothy of couse!

Alli as the scarecrow

Easter Morning

We had our first taste of the early wake up call on a holiday. Most days the girls sleep until abou 8 but Easter morning Allison came in a little before 7 ready to see what the Easter Bunny had brought.

Kate's gifts


Alli's gifts

Easter 2010

The girls had a great Easter with many celebrations and egg hunts. Here's some moments from them all. Not your typical Easter Bunny but Alli will go for anything...Kate not so much The Egg Hunt for the 3 to 5 year olds...look at all of those eggs Just about the only thing Kate would agree to was getting a balloon and a cookie from Miss.. Jenni

Lucky the Leprachaun Strikes Again

Last year Lucky the Leprachaun paid us a visit and left Alli her first pot of gold. He sent her on a scavenger hunt to find the pot of gold and turned our milk green throughout the day. This year he returned with even more tricks up his sleeve. He played a trick in every room and provided the girls with lots of laughs. Allison decided to set a trap for him this year but he somehow managed to escape the trap but not before making a mess of the house, making our milk green, and leaving another pot of gold for the girls.

Can you believe that Lucky made Dorothy sleep in the rocking chair all night?


He ransacked the Barbie house



He put all of the bath toys in the garbage



He turned the kitchen around in the playroom



Hope to catch you next year Lucky!

Fisihing with Dad

Another of Alli's favorite pasttimes is going out to one of our local lakes to fish with her daddy. It is a really special time for them and they usually head out in the golf cart and come back with some great stories. This particular day, the weather was beautiful and Kate wanted to tag along. I thought it might be a little much for Ryan with both girls so I tagged along to take pictures and entertain Kate once she became bored with the fishing experience. We took the batting tee, a bat, and ball and while Alli and Ryan fished, Kate and I played baseball. Some of the scenic shots show just how beautiful our surroundings are. We love Rancho Murieta and this was just a perfect day out here.

Alli practing with her new Barbie Fishing Pole


"What you doing Dad?"


Fishing with Dad


What a view


Our future cross country runner. She preferred to run most of the way around the lake as we followed or led in the golf cart.

Fun Girl Times

One of the girls' favorite things to do is play in water. In the summertime, it's great because I can fill up our little plastic pool in the backyard and the girls will play forever. The winter poses a bit of a challenge, but the girls have found tons of fun in giving their dolls and Barbies a bath. It's clean fun and they have a blast. The only clean up is the pile of towels when they are done, but that's a piece of cake compared to some other pasttimes. Looking forward to Spring!

Here's Alli getting ready for baby bathtime...she squeezed into an old 18 month bathing suit...don't ask me how