Kaedence Marie Thomas

 This little beauty joined the outside world at 7:50 am on July 11th :)

Laneah and Rhycherd both ADORE her :) Nay always wants to hold/play with her and Rhych always says "She's so adornable" :)

Birth Story:
I had been having prodormal labor for weeks, so when contractions would come on I would not get overly excited and time them for a while. But the little boogers would always go away. At 3:00 am I woke up to the most painful contraction I had felt. It lasted about 1 1/2 min. Then another one came 5 minutes later. They kept coming every 5 minutes and lasting 3 minutes each! All the "exercises" we had been practicing for labor pains (rubs, massages) made me mad! They made the pain worse! So I had Bo put a hot washcloth on my back during contractions while I was in bed or had him pour the hot bath water on my back, stomach, and thighs while I was in the tub. I tell you, I did NOT want to be touched! We timed the contractions for about 2 hours before calling the midwife. She asked if she should come or if we wanted to labor alone for a while longer. We wanted to be alone. At this point I am groaning through these things. They HURT! We called our friends to come get the kids. They live about an hour away and have 4 kids to get ready so we knew it would be a while before they could make it. About 7 am I got into the tub again and felt a new pain, only what could be described as transition contractions. Oh my heavens, I couldn't even get enough oxygen to moan they hurt so bad! Thank heavens, I only had to endure 4 of those before I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, got up, sat on the toilet, and my water broke! Immediately I looked at Bo and said, "Call Rhoda, I feel like I need to push!" Bo called her and she was on her way... But no amount of speeding could get her here in time :P 10 minutes of me saying "Honey, I can't do this!" and Bo calming me down saying "Yes you can honey. It is almost done. You can do this!" and little Kaedence was delivered by her daddy in our bed with her siblings in the next room :) Needless to say, Bo called our friends and told them nevermind :) My midwife and her nurse showed up a few minutes later :) The kids were not freaked out at all, they were actually in awe when they saw her :)

I am so proud of myself for having made it through all natural. It was amazing to feel and see how God has this process happen, BUT I have also realized I am a woman who does not mind being numb from the waist down (I have never had complications from an epidural) and will NOT do childbirth natural again :P

Just A Quick Update!

Sorry I have not posted in a while! Our computer was on the fritz and we finally just had to buy a new one :/

But another reason why I haven't written and for a much happier reason is, we are moving! I am not liking having to move a 2nd time in this pregnancy but it was what God had in store :) We are going to be moving into a 4 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, 2200 sq ft rental home with a basement and fenced in backyard! It is also on Bo's office property so Bo will just be walking across a small field to get to work! It is a lovely home and we are so excited! We have been cleaning it slowly and the landlord (Bo's boss) is letting paint areas we want :) It has been exhausting but wonderful!

Laneah will be doing her ballet recital! It's at the end of this month, so hopefully in early June I can have pictures from that up :)

Just Had To Share :)

Whenever I need to be in the kitchen for an extended period of time cooking, I put on a cd on the computer and play it in the kitchen with me. I started playing the latest mix cd Bo made for me, and Nay all the way from upstairs says, "Mom what are you cooking?!" I love how they know when mom is making something :)

And Our Little Outnumberer Is A . . . .

Girl! The women will rule this roost for a few years! :)

A Good Sunday

This is my almost 15 week old belly :) Big milestone! I actually put on make up for the first time in 2 1/2 months! When I reach this stage every pregnancy, I know the sick period is over :)

Bo gave a wonderful talk on Family Prayer at church today! Good job babe :)

Rhycherd went ALL of church in underwear! Funny story: whenever Rhych has to go potty, he says "poddy" while taking off his pants and underwear... Yeah, there he was in Nursery stripping down! They found me ASAP! It was hilarious!

We are all doing great! Happy Sunday!

Updates!

Bo: Is doing great his last semester so far! He has got all A's and B's :)

Laneah: She has been so good at making her bed (with help) and cleaning her room (with help) that we decided to make her a chore chart where if she makes her bed every morning and cleans her room every night for a week, shown by stickers on a chart, we will take her to the Dollar Tree and let her pick out EITHER one toy or one candy :) She just got through her first week with flying colors!

Rhycherd: Is what I call "day" potty trained! We started less than a week ago, but this little boy already wears underwear all day, except for naptime, and tells us everytime he needs to go potty before he does in his underwear AND it's on the BIG potty! He still wears a diaper to bed as well, but I seriously do NOT care changing only 2 diapers a day :)

Me: I have had this homemaking bug lately. I have been making all our bread from scratch and making our cookies from scratch as well. Oh my goodness, last night I made cherry-chocolate chip cookies.... DIVINE!!!

Of course, God just showing us His hand in all things :)

Life is wonderful!

Homemade Fruit Snacks

I tried my first batch of homemade fruit snacks today! (Thank you Pinterest)

1 cup of juice
3 tbs of Knox gelatin
1 tbs honey (optional)

Heat up juice and honey and slowly add gelatin until fully dissolved. Pour into mold or square pan. Put in fridge for 1 hour until solid.

They didn't turn out too bad! They tasted a little too bland so I will add the optional honey next time. But the kids have loved them!

This Couponing Lady Struck Again!

I got SEVERAL $1 off coupons for the single bounty basic rolls. They are currently 97 cents at Walmart. I bought 4 rolls for the cost of JUST the tax... 12 cents!!! Thanks Lara (sp?) for the coupons!!!

The Latest

Laneah is now riding a tricycle very well! Grandma Cooper gave her Uncle Justin's old one and she loves it!

Rhycherd is talking so much now! He is starting to get all his colors down and many others.

Bo loved his internship and is looking forward to being a full fledged engineer after he graduates :)

I am still loving couponing and homeschooling Laneah's preschool :) I was able to pick up an awesome book from Barnes and Noble to help me!

Life is still wonderful :)

Fort Wayne Will Become . . .

Our permanent home December!!! Bo got extended an official job offer to come back and work full time as an engineer for Primary Engineering!!! I am so proud of him! We are so excited! We love this place :) Just had to share this wonderful news :)

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo (Where we were for 4 1/2 hrs today :)

This Giraffe was in petting distance!!!

                                                                      Cute babes :)

They let the peacocks just wander around the park!!!

Laneah brushing a goat. One came out of nowhere and sniffed her, then bit her hair and pulled it out! She looked at him and ran out of the pen so fast XD 

                                                               Rhychie brushing a goat.

This zoo is voted as Indiana's #1 zoo! We got to walk AMONGST the kangaroos! We went on a carousel ride, a log ride, a train ride, and you can also ride a sky safari and little ponies! Just an absolute fun place to be!

Updatessssssss

The kids and I were supposed to leave for Indiana to join Bo this past Saturday. But because of the wonderful woman I was serving with for Girls Camp, she said family is more important and said I could leave early if I wanted to! So we did, the kids and I made a 2 day journey to SURPRISE Bo a week and a half ago :) That was a long drive...

I am so amazed at how well my kiddos have done with this trip. Rhychie had some screaming fits on the drive here, but he is 19 months, totally expected. But they did really well on the drive and sleeping in hotels and did just fine adjusting to our temporary apartment here in Fort Wayne. They go to bed and sleep just like back home in Wyoming :)

Bo is doing WONDERFULLY! He has received MANY compliments on how well he is doing! His boss has even said, if everything goes well, Bo may have a job with this company :)

We went to our ward for the first time today. My oh my is this ward wonderful! So much kindness!

We go to the mall every weekend just to walk around and let the kids ride the double decker carousel and eat while we are there :) We even enjoy a little bit of shopping :)

I was raised in cities, so it is SO nice to be in a city again! We love the interstate driving! I love how much higher the speed limits are! :P We love the choices of restaurants here that Laramie does not have: Long John Silvers, Panda Express, Steak N Shake, etc.

We are really hoping this is where God has our future set :)

AAAAHHHHH!!!!! :) :) :)

Great things for us seem to always drop into our laps! Bo and me meeting and marrying came out of nowhere. Us getting moved into better apartments came out of nowhere. So did this latest thing...

Bo was calling different firms to find a job for after he graduates. Well, he came across one that was not hiring for then but were looking for interns now! They remembered Bo from February when he called them about internships then (They were not taking them then) but they were now! They were only taking 1 person! After Bo's webcam interview, they had to interview one more person. 2 hours after Bo's interview, he said Bo had the internship!!!! We will be spending our summer in Fort Wayne, Indiana!!!! Bo will be leaving this weekend cause his first day is June 2. The kids and I will be joining him 2 weeks later immediately after Girls Camp :) Oh life is good!!! :)

Laneah's Potty Training Journey

It all started 2 years ago...

She had turned 18 months and so we bought her a pink potty and training pants. We left them out just so she could see them and hope they sparked her interest.

It took a little while until she wanted to try things but eventually she was interested. We started placing her on the potty several times a day. Then we started placing her on there at specific times during the day (before and after baths, etc). This lasted a couple months until she started actually going on it. We were happy!

Even though she would go those specific times, she was still wearing a diaper and going in it the rest of the time. So we bought her panties and put them on her occasionally. She would still pee and poop in her panties quite regularly.

After this went on for a while, I finally was done changing pee diapers and panties so I put her in the panties all day everyday. She started fully peeing on the potty in 2 days! I was so happy!

So now she was wearing panties all day except when she had to poop (Which she would tell us) and for bedtimes. We were like this for quite a while.

Then we tried many different ways to make her go poop on the potty, all of which failed at some point. But I jumped on this 2 weeks ago.

She said she was done with diapers so we threw them away. But she was really constipated cause of how much she would hold her poop, so we gave her stool softener, nothing. Fed her fiber, nothing. She had not pooped in weeks, so we went to mineral oil. No matter how hard he tried to hold it, out it came! But she would cry the whole time. So I came up with a rewards system:

-she pees: small candy
-she gets a small poop out: big candy
-she gets a big poop out: BBW had sanitizer (she loves them)
-she goes poop without crying: a hair bow/flower

It's been less than a week since I did this and she now poops quickly and without crying on a regular basis :) So nice to be at the end of our first potty training journey... :)

GO NAY NAY!!! :)

I Love This Calling!

I was given a 2nd calling on Sunday, Assistant Ward Camp Director! I JUST LOVE IT! I get to go to Mutual and YW on Sundays and go to camp for a day :) The loving atmosphere from the other women and the young women is just so wonderful! I really hope God has Young Women in my future of callings :)

Call The Midwife

This is a show I just started on Netflix and am loving it! The show follows a small group of midwives in 1950's England. I seriously am never bored with anything on pregnancy, births, or babies so this show satiates my appetite :)

Loved Conference!

That was amazing! It is always awesome, but a lot more talks than usual brought me peace and comfort and guidance. I love this gospel!

Go Nay Nay!

Laneah still wears a pull up at night. Well, apparently I forgot to put one on her last night...

Nay: I slept in panties, I need new panties mom
Me: Huh? (Realizing what she said) Oh!
(I check her butt, I feel nothing)
Me: What a good girl! You slept in panties and did not go pee pee or poo poo in them!
(Laneah smiles)
Me: Go to the potty!
Nay: Ok! Yay!

Such a wonderful surprise for me! :)

Another Plug About Couponing!

If you have an interest in saving money and have the determination to do it, couponing is AMAZING! Right now, our Albertsons has a great deal going on! They dropped some of their General Mills cereals down from $5 (A price I would NEVER pay) to $2.49. THEN, we have a deal in their circular: Buy 4 participating General Mills cereals, they become $1.98 each AND you get a Shoppers Value Milk for 75 cents! I also had a coupon for $1.50 off on any 3 General Mills cereals. So, I will do the math for you :) I got 4 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk for UNDER $11! And then, the register printed off a new coupon for cereals for me! :) I LOVE COUPONING!

I GOT IT FREE!!!

I had this Colgate coupon for $2 off on 2 products. The coupon did NOT specify size! (Couponers dream!) So I printed off 2 coupons (The amount the website allows) and picked up 4 TRIAL SIZE toothpastes (97 cent each) and got them all for completely FREE!!! I am just super giddy right now :)