Girls day out

For the past couple of years it has been our tradition for the Riddle girls to get pampered with pedicures for Mothers day. We usually go with out the little girlies, but they were so excited that we just had to take them along! I think they ended up having a great time! Kaylee was amazed by the massaging chairs, the cool fish tank, the complementary drinks, and the fact that she got to pick out whatever nail color she wanted. We will just have to make sure this only happens once a year (other wise I could have a very spoiled 4 year old on my hands!!) 

*Special thanks to Papa for watching Brooks!!

Zoo Days

On Friday we decided that since the weather was so nice we needed to get out an do something, and since all the camp grounds are still closed we settled for the zoo. Right now Hogle Zoo has Lego structures of a bunch of animals... it was pretty cool to see. We also got to watch the bird show that was pretty good... Kaylee loved it.  We ended up only staying a few hours (since I still get tiered pretty easily these days :) I guess its a good thing we have a seasons pass, that way we don't feel like we have to see everything all at once when we go.

 I thought this monkey picture was funny - we have one of Brooklynn doing the same thing!

 Kaylee loves animals more than anyone I have even known... would not be surprised if she one day becomes a veterinarian.

 Brooklynn slept the whole time... only waking to eat of course!

 It was fun to watch the elephants playing in the water.

 This monkey looked like he really wanted out of his "cell"

They even had Lego's for kids to play with.

big sister, bows. & babies

Today we took advantage of the nice weather, and had a little photo-shoot for the girls.... here are the results...

7 lbs 11 oz!!!

Meet our new addition.... 

Brooklynn McKenzie Witzel

Born: April 25th 11:23 pm

Weight: 7 lbs 11 in

Height: 20 in

Well, we did it!! Our little baby girl is here, and we are loving every second! I started having contractions around 1:00 pm on Thursday, and told Nick that he should probably stay home from work. I was so sick, that at first I thought I had the flu. We ended up at the hospital around 4:00 pm, and was hooked up to a bazillion monitors... and then the contractions stopped... just my luck! Since I was scheduled to be induced the next morning at 6:00 am they just decided to keep me there and get things started. 

During the labor process, I had 4 big hurdles coming in the back of my mind...

1. The IV (I hate needles, and if anyone knows of all my problems not being able to get my blood drawn during my pregnancy, I had a pretty good reason to hate them!) However I only had to be stuck twice before they got it in... check!

2. The epidural... I knew it was necessary, but the thought of having a huge needle in my spine always makes me a little green. I did have some pain when they were doing it, but it was worth it in the end .... check

3. throwing up... for some reason after I get hooked up to all the drugs I usually throw up... this time it was only once!... check

4. obviously is the delivery... once things got going, I started shaking horribly (I probably had the shakes for over an hour!) After that the pain wasn't manageable for my wussyness, and I had to have an extra dose of pain meds, which resulted in complete numbness from my stomach on down. Even though it was supper weird to be that numb I didn't have any more pain!!

CHECK!

All in all it went pretty smooth, and at the end I did have something pretty amazing to show for it!

We think she looks just like Kaylee did... I guess I'm really good at making doubles!

My family was watching Kaylee, so once they heard that Brooklynn was here they rushed over. Kaylee is such a proud big sister! She did a really good job keeping Brooklynn's name a surprise for the whole pregnancy! (even after being bribed a number of times... and with peanut butter m&ms!)

It's crazy to think that in one day we doubled the amount of children we have!!

Kaylee got to pick out Brooklynn's bow, and even got an extra one that grandma then sewed onto her stuffed animal.

Our hospital was amazing, the nurses were so attentive and nice, we even got a candle lit dinner for 2 (which turned into dinner for 4 now!) complete with martinelies, and crystal glasses.
They even had complementary spa services... how could I ever say no to a foot rub and pedicure?!

Nick and Kaylee surprised me with a "push present"... 

Brooklynn did end up being Jaundice, and we had to do 6 hours of light therapy at the hospital, and take home lights as well... I think she looks cute, kinda like she is just working on her tan!

I'm so grateful for our beautiful little girl, and her big sister, and her daddy... and so grateful it is over and we are home and resting!