Our last family photo of 5

So this is it...the next family photo we take there will be a tad bit skinnier Mommy with a sweet new baby girl in our arms. I also need to blog about the new baby's name. For most of my pregnancy we have been calling my belly Taylor. About 3 days before we had her, Luke told me that maybe she wasn't coming out b/c she didn't like her name. What??!! Surprising enough, I was ok with changing her name. But to what? Luke has named every single baby we have had and when he says the name and I know it's suppose to be that, I cry. When we decided on Taylor, the tears never came, but I liked it anyway. Back when we made our list of girl names, Brynlee was on there, but we never really talked about that name. So, Taylor it was. We were driving home one afternoon and Luke said what about Brynlee? I the more I thought about it, the more I liked it, no..I LOVED IT! When I said Brynlee Reese aloud the tears came! So it was official, Brynlee Reese. The poor girl though, for the first week of her life we all called her Taylor out of habit!

I'm in love with her name! It so fits her too and I love that it is not a common name.

Want to know what doesn't work when trying to induce labor?

JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE!!!

Oh those looks....

When I was younger I would get into lots of trouble just for the looks I would give my parents. It looks like Mackenzie has inherited this quality from her Mama!!

I'm sure we told her NO for something. These sad faces soon turn into mad faces, and then the 2 year old temper tantrums begin! She stomps her feet and then lays down and the rolling around starts. Its such a great site to see!

Tae Kwon Doe

Ammon took it really hard when Luke deployed this year. I won't go into all the details, but he really really missed Luke. I was at a loss when it came to cheering him up! So...I let him play too much wii, let him sleep in my bed almost every night, and bought him way too many treats. Then, he asked to take Tae Kwon Doe. The hours of this class are hard on us. It's 3 days a week from
7:00-7:45pm!! You try doing that with a gigantic pregnant belly, chasing an almost 2 year old, and it's right at bed time that the class starts!!! But, I gave in and I signed him up. It was just what he needed. He is so good at it and he loves going to class. It make me so happy to hear him tell me how much he loves TKD after each class. So, that makes it worth it! These photos were taken when he was a white belt, now he is a yellow belt!! Just look at his smile in this first photo!!!

October Craziness....

Ok, so October was not crazy, it was a VERY good month for our family!!! Towards the middle of October, Rich, my father in law came to stay with us since Luke was deployed. It was so great having him here. My house has never been so clean and the dinners I enjoyed were so yummy! Mackenzie went on daily walks to the park with Papa and she soon had Papa wrapped around her little finger. She loves him so much and he adores her! Not too many father in laws will drop everything and come stay with you for over a month and a half just to be a helper around the house while you sit and bake a baby. The picture below is of me headed to the hospital, thinking I was in labor. My contractions were 10 minutes apart for 7 hours. They weren't too painful, but they were there! The last thing I wanted was to be sent home. Since this was a repeat c section, I thought for sure she would be making her grand entrance on this day, October 29! If she came at 37 weeks LIKE ALL THE OTHER 3 DID, this would be THE DAY I would go into labor. With Luke being gone, my sweet neighbor, Trina Norton, took me to the hospital, and Luke's dad stayed hom with the babies. Well after monitoring me for a few hours, those crazy people sent me HOME!!! My contractions were now 7 minutes apart and they wanted me to come back when they were 3-5 minutes apart. I couldn't believe it!!!! So, home I went. I called my mom earlier this day to tell her I was headed to the hospital to see what was up. She immediately got in the car and started on her way to GA, although I told her to stay in Texas until I found our for sure what would happen that day. (Looking back I'm so glad she came, there are times were you just want your mom....with Luke being gone, I wanted my mom!!
So, she is there to help, Rich is there to help, it was wonderful. So the next day October 30 was a fun day. The kids painted my belly like a pumpkin, we just enjoyed being home. That night we went to bed and about 11:30pm my mom tells me someone just walked into my house!! What?!! Someone is in my house? I peeped down the hallway and my sweet hubby was standing there. He made it home for the birth of the baby!! What a fun and exciting time. So I'm glad Brynlee did not come on the day I thought she would! Now Luke would be there for everything!! The best part was that the kids had no idea he was coming home or that he was home. Going to bed that night felt like Christmas Eve. I was so excited to see thier faces the next morning when they saw Luke!! (We captured everything on video, sorry no photos of that sweet, tearful reunion) Ammon was so happy he cried. Talk about melting someones heart!!! That boy go to me see his reaction.

The morning the kids saw thier Daddy! Luke hid in the covers in our room. It was Halloween morning so I woke up the kids extra early and told them I had a Halloween present for them in my room. I made them close thier eyes and count to 3, then when they opened thier eyes, Luke jumped out of the covers..priceless!!!

Look Daddy, I have about 4 loose teeth!

Happy Halloween! We had a ladybug, Rapunzel, and Bobba Fett. Mackenzie was a little clueless about the whole ordeal. However, when she realized candy was invloved, it was one of her favorite days ever!

Just plain MESSY...

Luke's parents told me that when Luke was a baby they had to let him eat in the kitchen in his high chair. He was too messy to be near the dining room table, which I'm assuming the dining room was carpeted. Well, now I know where this girl gets it. She is the messiest eater than any of our kids COMBINED. She has always been like this! This is Mackenzie enjoying



some yogurt. She loves yogurt, but I do not love giving it to her. She can't be neat with it. She immediately goes straight to the tub when she finishes her nightly dessert.

Her First Mini Dance Recital

Last weekend Oktoberfest was celebrated here on post. Hailey's dance class performed on a "real, fancy, stage" (according to Miss Hailey). She was excited to get up there and dance. I felt like the proud parent with the camera and the camcorder all draped around my neck. I had to get lots of pictures and videos for daddy since this is just one of the many many things he is missing. (thanks US Army) Anyway, she did great and even got to bring home her wand she used in her dance. After the dance recital, I treated them/me to a funnel cake and they got to go pick out a pumpkin. Notice Mackenzie is not in any of these photos. She stayed home with Papa during this day. I just couldn't see chasing her around crowds of people, trying to take pictures, make a video of the recital, and deal with this belly of mine that just plain HURTS. Good, happy day!