Surprise!!

We had a big surprise this weekend. Our little girl, who we named Avery Gale Doll, decided to join our family earlier than we expected. She was born 2 1/2 weeks early. She was born Friday, August 29th at 10:26 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. I want to write down the whole birth story but for now I will just add a ton of pictures so everyone can see our sweet new LITTLE baby girl.

Just home from the hospital. We didn't take the kids to the hospital so they were VERY excited to see their baby sister. They were waiting for us outside at Tim's parents house after church. They were jumping up and down when we started driving down the street towards their house.

Caden & Avery
Miles holding Avery. For anyone who knows Miles refused to hold Caden or Alexandra so this is a huge moment.
Caden, Miles & Avery

Our 4 kids. It's a blurry picture but it is the only one that I have of all 4 of them together.
First bath at home.
Alexandra didn't want to feel left out. So she got to take one in the sink too.
Avery's eyes opened!
Big sister admiring her little sister.
Avery: Monday September 1st. 3 days old.
Avery & Brittany. Tuesday September 2nd. 4 days old.


Did I mention she has long skinny feet and long skinny toes?

The day has finally arrived!!!

No, the baby hasn't arrived ... I've got approximately 3 more weeks for that big arrival.

The big day is that Miles and Caden started school today!!

Miles is starting 3rd Grade. He has Ms. Key this year. His friends Brock and Zack are in his class this year.Caden is starting Kindergarten. He is more that ready to go! His teacher is Ms. "Z". Miles also had her for kindergarten. His good friend Logan is in his class. He also knows a few other kids in his class that were in preschool with him. He said his first day was good. He colored, wrote his name and he "really likes the playground."
The pictures aren't the best. We were in a little bit of a hurry this morning getting out the door. Tim and the boys walked to school this morning. I stayed home with the sleeping Alexandra and Sophie. I can't believe how big my boys are getting.

A quick update ...

We moved this weekend. We started Friday night and finished moving everything over on Saturday . Now we are trying to decide where to put all of our furniture and extra "stuff." The kitchen isn't quite finished yet but should be by this week. School starts next week (YAY!) and the baby is due in 30 days. I had a Dr. appointment a week ago and they asked me if I was getting everything ready for the baby. I just laughed at them. Right now I'm taking it one day at a time.

Bowling with Alexandra

"First you gotta pick the right ball"

"Then you pick up the ball and get ready ... don't pinch your fingers"

"Then you roll it down the middle of the lane"

"STRIKE ... This is a piece of cake."

"I love my dad, he is my favorite! Thanks for taking me bowling dad!"

Tim and Aunt Suzi took the kids bowling while we were in Utah.They went to Fat Cats down in Provo. (I wasn't feeling great that day, and decided that I shouldn't be bowling at 7 1/2 months pregnant so I stayed and hung out with my mom for the day.) Suzi took some great pictures that I thought were adorable of Alexandra attempting to bowl.

Kitchen Update

Some of you are wondering if/when we are going to ever move. (I'm starting to wonder the same thing...) We are remodeling the kitchen before we move in.

This is what the kitchen looked like on Monday (8/4/08):

This is what the kitchen looked like on Tuesday (8/5/08):

This is what the kitchen looked like on Wednesday (8/6/08):

This is what the kitchen looked like on Thursday -- Tonight (8/7/08):

It is coming together nicely. Tomorrow a template is being made for the new countertops. YAY!

My baby brother got married!!

The main reason we went to Utah this summer was because Parker & Ali got married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 1st. (Of course we played and visited with family while we were there -- that's anonter post) We are so happy for Parker! And Ali is a sweetheart and is already like a sister because we have known her for years. (She waited for Parker while he was on his mission.) The sealing was beautiful and one of the best I have ever been to. Their reception was at Thanksgiving Point. It was nice area. The best part was we didn't have to do any set-up or clean-up. The kids enjoyed being able to run around outside during the reception. One of the best part's was that we didn't have to take a lot of "family pictures" with the bride and groom that day with the photographer. (I think that is what Tim enjoyed the most, along with not having to wear a tux in the 100 degree heat). It turned out to be a very beautiful and relaxing day.

Here is my dad with Miles and Caden waiting for Parker & Ali to come out of the temple ... I love thier faces ... Classic!

Parker is so happy!

What a cute (and goofy) couple!
Redding Family at Thanksgiving Point.

Me, Parker and My sister, Brianne!

Some of my favorite pictures from the wedding

Youth Conference

Last weekend Tim went to our Stake's Youth Conference. He left EARLY Friday morning and got back home Saturday evening. He was in charge of the service project, the music for the dance and a survival game. We missed him while he was gone. I found this picture on his laptop. I thought I would share.

Happy Fourth (plus, a year)

San Francisco Zoo

Teri, Teri's sister Cindy, and I took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo on Wednesday. The first Wednesday of every month is "Free Day." So since the admission was free the zoo was PACKED with YMCA summer groups and such. Oh well. I guess you can't complain too much since you didn't have to pay anything. I have never visited this zoo. We always go to the Oakland Zoo which is closer to home. Anyway, we got there shortly after the zoo opened. And slowly made our way around the zoo. Here are some pictures of our day:

Alexandra was happy to be at the zoo. (On a side note: She had an eye infection that hadn't cleared up after 2 weeks. I took her back to the Dr. Thursday morning and she now had a double ear infection on top of the eye infection. She is now on Amoxicillin and she is finally feeling better after 2 plus weeks. Poor baby!)

Does Miles measure up to a gorilla?? Not quite!
Miles, Kyle and Caden enjoying the baby bear.
The kids.
Alexandra fell asleep right after we saw the bears.
As we were looking at this Lion, it was just sitting there and started roaring. I have never actually heard a Lion roar in real life (movies and TV don't count.) It was very loud and almost erie. When he finished the roar he sat there and panted for a few minutes and then stopped and was quiet again. And he never moved from this position. I think the favorite animals of the day were the penguins. Even though it smelled like fish they were the most entertaining to watch. The kids loved them.

The kids also liked the big birds. There was an eagle, falcon, raven and a HUGE owl.
This is Miles -- just being Miles.
It took us a while to drive home that night because of traffic. But we had a good afternoon, once all the kids got fed and making several trips to the bathroom!!

June Happenings

So I haven't posted anything in over 3 weeks. Ummm.. Yeah.. We are alive and have actually been quite busy.
1. We had family come into town from Utah and Washington.
2. We had Caden's baseball team end of the season party.
3. School ended.
4. Caden & Miles went to Old Sacramento with their Grandpa Doll, Uncle Nick, and their cousins Carson and Spencer. They went to the train museum there. They also rode Amtrak to Sacramento and back. They also met up with their Great-Grandpa Doll who decided that his great-grandsons all needed ice cream cones. It was a "boys only" trip that day. While the boys were gone Tim, Alexandra and I drove up to Rancho Cordova to scope out the area for the YM river rafting trip, which Tim was in charge of, for the following Saturday. We then went to Chili's for lunch. We ordered way too much food ... but when you have a gift card you can do that, right?
That night we celebrated Kati's birthday and Father's Day with a BBQ. The boys swam in grandma's backyard. We also had German Chocolate cake from Sweet Affair, which Alexandra loved.

Cousins & swimming at Grandma's backyard

Enjoying the German Chocolate Cake
5. Miles went to scout camp.
6. I took Caden and Alexandra to the Contra Loma swimming area. I forgot to take my camera that day. Caden had a blast swimming with his friends. And I got burned on my back and my legs.
7. Tim took the boys with him on the Stake YM river rafting trip. They had a great time and were really good. I was worried because Tim was in charge of the whole day but it sounded like everything thing went well, and everyone who went had fun. Tim didn't put any sun screen on that day. He came home bright red.
8. Miles started summer school for the next 4 weeks.
9. Tim went to San Diego for a computer program conference. I don't know if he played more or learned more. He and another co-worker flew down Wednesday night and went to a Padres games. Thursday night the conference paid for them to go to Sea World. He flew home Friday evening. (I was glad that he was back.)
10. Alexandra's molars decided to come through. She has not been very happy lately.

You can see she has had a runny nose for the last few weeks.

11. Tim and the boys have gone to 3 A's games for the month. (I've only gotten to go to one this whole season.)
12. And we are still moving. We have had the inspection and the plan is to close once Tim's dad gets back from Peru (the middle of July). Then we are going to remodel the kitchen before we move in. So we are hoping to be in the house the middle of August. I have been slowly packing. I have also been throwing things away and making piles for the DI truck.
13. We are still undecided for a baby name. Peyton and Avery are both out. Tim really wants Bailey. We'll see if we change our minds again by the time she actually gets here.