Cam & Addy's Trip!

When we were scheduling things out pre-Bryant, Cameron said that he wanted to take Addy with him up to Utah when he went up there for some AEGD interviews... It would be the last time she could fly for free and I definitely wasn't about to complain, so when Bryant was a week and a half old they took off and left us to fend for ourselves!

Here they go off to the airport!
...notice Addy's car seat slung over Cam's shoulder :)

And they were off!

Well, since Cam was off at interviews all day, Addy got some quality time with Gigi and Grandpa!

Enjoying some Crystal light with Gigi...

and some yummy ice cream with Aunt Sherrie!

She even shared some with Cam!

Addy got fashion lessons from Amie...

A wild ride from Gigi...

 

Lots of cheese balls to enjoy...

 and even figured out Gigi's computer!

Even with all the fun and traveling, she was still good at reading her scriptures and finding her 'crush' (Captain Moroni)!

(to be continued... on the next post)

Fun Firsts for our Fam! :)

Don't ask where I got this post's title... because I don't know. :) We have been trucking along since Bryant's joined us and it's now November... so here's to trying to catch back up for Oct and not get too behind again! :)

Here's our first family dinner all together with Bryant at the table too... I actually didn't even have to cook it, because one of our friends brought it over the night my mom left. (Thanks Jessie!)

That night, Cameron decided to start teaching Bryant how to do dishes :)

Addy wanted to wear the baby carrier
especially after seeing Bryant get carried around in it!

Bryant's first bath! He loved it even though it was a little cramped :)

And Bryant got his first piece of mail!

Presenting Bryant!!

I know this is a bit late, but I've been trying to catch up a little so things will be in order on the blog... But! Here's a little bit about our latest addition!

I went to my Dr's appointment on Fri, Oct 17th and agreed to having my membranes stripped, so all Friday and Saturday I was having crampy contractions, not super consistent unless I was standing and moving... (My mom got here Friday night so of course I had a project, making applesauce, to do Saturday in order to keep my mind off the contractions.) :)

Anyway, so Sunday at around 3:00 a.m., I woke up because of the contractions... they were getting painful but still about 8 minutes apart, so I went back to sleep as best I could. (All weekend Cameron kept asking and asking Are these real? Do you think he's coming? How far apart are they? Since I was trying to keep my mind off of them, my answer was usually, "I don't know"... but Sunday I was pretty sure these were real.... He also kept commenting that I was a lot more calm and was handling this a lot better than I had with Addy. This was very true. It helped a ton knowing what was happening and what was coming next.)

So, when 8:00 rolled around, we had breakfast, and then we set up the pack-n-play with the little bassinet and organized some clothes and packed some stuff to take to the hospital while Mom played with Addy. By 1:00, I was having strong contractions every 5-ish minutes, so Mom drove us to the hospital (to make sure she knew how to get there even with all of the crazy San Antonio traffic)...

Here are the pre-birth pictures...

My mom, caught me right in the middle of a contraction...

and the belly shot... :)

I was admitted around 1:30 and got put on some pitocin and requested a magical epidural. After that, there were big contractions, but much less pain as our little guy worked his way into the world. Dr. Flores-Diaz was on call and was great. She broke my water then I worked with the nurses to try to get him ready to come. After some practice pushes, they called the Dr. back in and Bryant entered the world! (My contractions slowed after every time I pushed, which was unusual, but with some patience and a little tearing, he showed up!) The scary part is that he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck 3 times. The Dr's fingers slipped off the cord 3 times before her assistant jumped in and unwrapped the umbilical cord for her... That was scary to watch, but Bryant was soon letting us all know what a rough trip he'd just been on! :)

They had NICU there because he'd passed a stool in the womb...

but he was good to go after they cleaned him up a little.

He was a healthy 7 lb 15 oz and 21 inches long.

And he's been such a good little baby!

So after he showed up at 6:39 p.m., Mom came with Addy and they got to meet our little Bryant Bradley Critchfield!

"Hold baby Bryant"

After a long day of wrangling Addy, Mom got to cuddle Bryant too!

and Addy introduced Bryant to Sophie :)

Well, after I got moved to the recovery room, Cam and Addy went home and Mom stayed in the hospital to help me through the night... Bryant did great, but poor Addy threw up 3 times that night... Cam got all of the clean-up duty and no sleep. He took Monday and Tuesday off, so he and Mom switched in the morning and he was able to get some rest at the hospital with Bryant and I!

I know it's a little blurry, but my battery died
when I was trying to get another one...

I think she approves!

Especially because she can practice naming things on him!

And he had a pretty sweet ride at the hospital!

After a fun day with Grandma, Addy and Cam headed home and Mom and I took the hospital shift :) (I almost escaped the hospital to go eat dinner with everyone, but a nurse came running out after us saying that I couldn't leave the hospital) :) Bryant again was great, but Cam & Addy had another throw-uppy night... only 2 times this time though and one was outside...

By Tuesday, my tailbone was ready to head home! :) We were discharged late that evening and made it home safe and sound!

The discharge pic!

All of our matching bracelets! :)

We are glad he made it in time to meet Grandma and that everything went well! Welcome to the wild ride little mister!

 

The Pumpkin Patch San Antonio October 2014

What is a fun thing to do with kids in October when family comes to town and you want cute pictures? Go to a pumpkin patch, right! Well, Jamie and fam, plus Terrie and Brad (Cam's padres) were coming to San Antonio for a day, Columbus Day, so I was looking for something fun we could do while they were here. I had heard about the Pumpkin Patch San Antonio and so I looked it up online and after some discussion when everyone got here, that's what we decided to do. It however, was not nearly what it looked like online. It was just an empty lot where they had brought a bunch of boxes of pumpkins, with a few games, one face painter, an old tractor, some petting zoo animals, and a little train. Anyway, that was my view as an adult... but we went ahead and I think it turned out alright for the kids. :)

Addy and Azzie taking a wild ride on the tractor! (I love Azzie's face in this pic)

Addy took a little while to figure out how the whole put your face in the hole...

...and look at Mom for the pic worked...

She almost got cozy with the cute little scarecrow... That was as close as she got to him :)

Here are the grandkids with Gigi and Grandpa

And our little fam... plus the pumpkin
trying to bust out of my shirt! :)

Addy was a superfan of the petting zoo! She and Eden spent almost the whole time there!

Petting the miniature donkey...

Spying the chickens...

Target acquired... Ready, set,...

GO!

And she did it!!! She caught one all by herself!

Fed the little cow...

Gave the miniature horse a full physical examination... Eyes,

Nose,

Mouth...

And even checked out the little pig's ears!

We tried to catch the duck, but it was too fast...

This goat became Cam's best friend...

But I do think that Addy's all-time favorites were the little chickens :)

After the animals, the girls all jumped in the barrels for a train ride...

Ocean & Azzie in front...

with Eden, Addy & Haven behind.

Then while the girls finished using their tickets, Cam and Addy played on the tractor! All of the buttons and levers were soo fun!

Even though it was not the biggest most glamorous pumpkin patch, it was a fun little time. I will do more thorough research for future family activities...