Sunday, July 15, 2012

Paul Bryan Shepherd

Welcome to our new son, Paul Bryan Shepherd!  He was born Monday night at 10:34, weighing 7 lb. 9 oz. and 20 3/4 in. long.  Mom had contractions most of the day and went to the hospital around 6:30 pm.  There was a bit of a scare around 8:20 when the baby's heart rate dropped low and stayed low, so they rushed Mom to the OR and got everything ready for an emergency C-section.  When the doctors hooked the heart rate monitor back up they paused as it started climbing up to a normal rate and stayed there for a few minutes.  After everything looked OK we returned to the Labor and Delivery room and things proceeded smoothly.  We're very grateful that everything turned out well, and especially for a healthy new baby.  We feel very blessed.


 I just LOVE the tummy-to-tummy, head under the chin snuggle.



 Welcome to the family, Paul!




Friday, July 6, 2012

What happened in June?

What happened in June?

Our girls participated in a dance/craft "camp" hosted by some teenagers from church.  They learned some Irish dance steps and made some nifty crafts and snacks.

Mom and Dad celebrated their 10 year anniversary.  Mom decided to try on her wedding dress for the occasion.


It looked better 10 years ago.

Dad brought roses and breakfast in bed in the morning, and in the evening we had a romantic candlelight dinner for six.  Mom made a bouquet of chocolate dipped roses for the centerpiece, which made up for the leftovers served for dinner.  Afterwards we danced to "our song" that we danced to at our wedding reception.  Ashley and Sienna watched with big grins on their faces, while Colby ran into the other room.  Dallin kept calling Mom a "princess."   We also showed them the video we showed at our reception, as well as some wedding footage.  It was almost more than Colby could handle. 

So that was the family celebration of the big event.  The next day we left our kids with a friend and headed two hours away to Chattanooga.  We didn't want to go too far or too long, since Mom was within range of delivery.  We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo (a train converted into a hotel) and went to see Rock City, which was very cool.


 
 

Getting ready to go through "Fat Man Squeeze."

Another highlight from June was inviting three other families over for the "Great American Backyard Campout."  We even built a firepit in our backyard to roast S'mores.  We also went to a Nature Center on June 5 to watch the "Transit of Venus," borrowing special binoculars to look at the sun and observe Venus passing in front of it as a shadow.  The kids continue taking swimming lessons.  Ashley has learned to swim, although it's more of a doggy paddle with her head dipped in the water a few times.  Bryan, Sienna and Colby are still big time into birding.  One early morning outing allowed them to add the great blue heron, wood duck, northern rough-winged swallow, and barred owl to their individual bird books.  They each have something around 40 species in their books.  Bryan has biked the 13 miles to work and back nearly every day this month, combining his exercise and commute in one.  And the kids have done several activities from their "Summer Fun Jar" to keep them entertained.  Such as:

Peanut Butter Play Dough,




 

Sumo wrestling,

Popsicle stick crafts, TP tube train, Glowing fireflies, Milk jug ball toss, and a backyard water obstacle course.  It keeps us busy during record setting temperatures.