Thanksgiving Day the weather was not very good, but it just kept getting worse! The next two days an ice storm came through and covered everything. The freezing rain, wind and dropping temperatures made sure to put a thick coat of ice on anything left outside! We were blessed because the power never went out at our house and were able to stay nice and warm. There were some people without power for 3 days!! I'm so glad that was not us. Kenney had to work both Friday and Saturday and thankfully he does not have a long commute. However, we were unable to go spend time with the family on Friday, but the roads were safe enough on Saturday we spent most of the day hanging out before everyone went their separate ways.
Being stuck inside all day causes some crazy to come out in these boys!!
Everyone's trees and other plants looked so bad and were so weighted down by the ice!! There were broken branches everywhere. Our house didn't have any thanks to Kenney's Uncle Richie who had just trimmed all of our trees!
This was before the icicles got big!
The branches were almost touching the ground, but nothing broke.
Ice, ice everywhere!
I have no idea why they wanted to play out in this, but I didn't have our winter clothes at the house so it didn't last long. Now that I have since brought them to our house I'm sure there will be no more snow or ice this year!!
Radley didn't get too involved.
Our plants were still green because the day before this ice storm blew in it was 74 degrees outside. Crazy Texas weather.
That's a lot of ice. There was at least 2 inches covering everything.
Here is video of the boys in their crazy costumes. I'm not sure was inspired these looks, but they had a lot of fun!
This year Thanksgiving was extra crazy! All of Kenney's siblings (besides his brother on a mission) were in town which means 17 grandkids in the house!! That also means the kids have a ton of fun and completely wear themselves out! Thanksgiving Day was especially saturated with kids because almost all of Kenney's Keys cousins were in town too! There were at least 30 kids under the age of 10. It was loud, and we were stuck inside this year because of the weather. Needless to say, there were a lot of people in small place!! As crazy and chaotic as it was, it was fun to see everyone and see how all the kids are changing and growing.
Our Thanksgiving blessings for 2015
Tyce and Kyler found some while playing at Nana and Papa's.
Kenney loves how many pies there are every year.
Since all of Kenney's cousins and their kids were in town, it was decided to do a HUGE family picture. We had to take the picture at the gym just to get all of us to fit! It worked out great for the kids too because they had a place to run around!
Here is everyone! I think the total was 84 people. The copy of the picture I got was blurry, but you can at least see how many people were there!
The kids table one night for dinner.
We had a Christmas celebration at Nana and Papa's while we were all together. I didn't get any pictures of the present festivities, but I grabbed this shot before I had to feed Bentley.
Everyone is in love with this little girl and so impressed with her hair. I was very relieved she had hair mostly because all the boys were born with a full head of hair, and I was worried that I would finally have a girl and she wouldn't have hair!! Hair or no hair she is loved! Her brothers are especially in love and that makes me so happy!
The only picture I got of my mom with Oma. I completely forgot, but she was a HUGE help. We were all so happy she came to see all of us!
All ready to go home!
Damon had to hold her real fast before we left.
So cute in her little coat.
Ready to hold her at any moment!
Auntie Shandi got this for Kyler when he was born, but it just looks so much more cute with a little pink bow.
One extremely proud big brother!
Damon picked out her clothes (all blue of course) and asked if I could put her in her bouncer where she could watch him play with is cars! It is really sweet to watch him love her so much!
Wide awake! This girl is not awake very often during the day. The boys always point out when her eyes are open.
The best picture I could get of her eye lashes with the boys around, but I wish I had her eyelashes!
He does love her, but completely on his terms!
Kyler loves to hold her too. The best was right after she came home and spit-up all over his arm. He freaked out a little bit and hasn't forgotten it! It was pretty funny to watch his reaction.
All the boys decided Bentley needed more blankets so they all put one of their own blankets on her. This was a BIG deal for Radley. He loves his blanket and hardly ever shares it. It was super cute to watch them take care of their sister and share with her.
There's nothing particularly interesting about this video, but I love to watch newborns move and wiggle around, and it's cute to watch Damon interact with her. I love the part where her spit-up scares him away!
We didn't really know what to expect when the boys first met Bentley. They weren't sure of the hospital, me hooked up to all the tubs and wires, or their new sister. Kyler and Damon got out of school early on Friday, and I had the baby around the time they were getting out. My mom brought them to the hospital, and they were all able to meet her within 2 hours of her being born. She hadn't even taken a bath yet! None of them wanted to hold her when the first time they saw her, but they eventually warmed up, especially by the next day.
The next day when they came to visit, Kyler and Damon both asked to hold her. Radley didn't want anything to do with her! Damon was smitten from the beginning. He loved holding her and still does. Kyler was much more interested in the TV and the hospital bed. Radley didn't know what to think of anything. He just wanted treats!
Watching Daddy bring the baby to them.
Radley trying to not let the baby touch him.
Literally running away from the baby.
Rearranged to let Radley sit on the chair, but he was adamant that Bentley was not going to get anywhere near him.
These two were excited to see and hold their new sister.
Eventually he warmed up. He didn't hold her for long, basically long enough to snap a quick picture, but it was a huge improvement from the day before!
He was obsessed once he first held her. Look how proud he is to hold her.
She had to be under the lights to help with her bilirubin levels. The boys had to check out the cool blue lights.
Kyler's happy place. He kicked me out of bed, not really, but he didn't want me sitting there because it was much easier to control the TV and the bed.
The heater made her pretty comfortable under the lights. She did really well until it was 11pm, and she cried until 3am! It was a long night!!
Thankfully the lights worked and she was able to come home on Sunday.
This was right after the boys walked in to see Bentley the first time. They had just gone to Walmart with Oma where they each picked out a present for her, got me some flowers and each got a treat. They pretty much just ignored their new sister!
As Kenney was taking the boys to play, to let Oma have some time with the baby, the nurse walked in to take Bentley's blood sugar. The boys were curious and wanted to know what she was going to do to the baby. We explained what would happen, and Damon looked at Kenney and said, "Daddy can we stay and watch the baby sister get a shot?" He wanted to watch what would happen!! I had no idea how to take that, but Kenney let them stay. This is the video of them watching her get her blood sugar taken. I guess Damon was preparing for some big screams! He later told Kenney, "Daddy the next time we have a baby sister I don't want to watch her get poked."
This video just makes me smile. Kenney took the boys to the park one day while we were at the hospital. He told Radley he needed to sit on his bottom to go down the slide, and Radley was saying "Sit on my bottom" in a really funny way. It makes Kenney laugh every time he watches it!
This little girl finally made her debut on Friday November 13th at 1:42pm. She was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long; our biggest baby yet! One reason she was the biggest was because I was 6 days over due and none of her brothers even made it to a due date! I was really hoping she would be born on Nov 12th making her the 3rd child in our family to be born on the 12th of a month, but the doctor was going to a football game and wouldn't induce me until the next morning!! Really?? I like football, but I was really disappointed. I did everything I could think of (besides castor oil) to make me go into labor on the 12th, but she wasn't going to budge!! She stayed inside nice and cozy until we forced her to come out the next day!
We got to the hospital and they broke my water at 8:30am the next morning. I wasn't having consistent enough contractions by 10-10:30 so they started pitocin. Ugh! I HATE that drug!! By 11:45 I had not made much progress, so I thought I was in for another long day on pit. However, I progressed pretty quickly after that and was ready to go around 1:30. 3 pushes later she came into the world (thankfully, because I don't think I would have made it much longer)!
She screamed and screamed when the nurses were messing with her. She hated them touching her and doing things to her, but she was born with a full head of hair and looks like a mix of all her brothers right now! It was a relief to know that it was for sure that we finally had a girl in our family, and she is perfect!
This was the day I thought for sure the Dr would send me to the hospital. However we had to wait one more day!
As new as they come!
Kenney HATED this big bow! She will never have a bow that big again. Daddy will make sure!
Not sure the glossy eyes are her best look, but we still thought she was pretty.
Cleaned up after her first bath with poofy hair and all.
