Jack Ian Ardern

Jack is such a good baby. He's so adorable and we love him so much. I had decided to be induced on Wed. So I went in at 7:15am to the hospital, started me on pitocin around 8am. Had an epidural. WHICH I LOVED! I was only in labor for 5 hours and pushed for 25 min. We were shocked at how fast I had him! Even the nurse and dr. were amazed. The anesthesiologist came in to check on me and I was already holding him in my arms and he certainly didn't expect that!! I had him at 1:25pm. But during the delivery, Jack was face up and so he needed help being turned around. They used the vacuum (which unfortunately mishaped his head! It looks sore too!!) to help turn him but he was too stubborn. But thankfully, at the very last second he turned around and things were better from then on. He is completely fine. There was a bit of nervousness when he first failed his hearing test but several tries later he finally passed! A little miracle for us. Needless to say, it was a tough few hours that first night. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. We are so thankful for all our family and friends.

Jack asleep on Ma.

Charlotte had to try out her old carseat. Sorry sweetie, doesn't fit!

Grandpa getting to hold Jack. He wasn't able to due to a cough but he's much better now and he looks great holding Jack.

Jack's in his car seat! All ready to go. Just had to wait for the nurse to take us to our car. I love this outfit! It's from Aunty Tracy. He looked great in it.

Here we are! We are at home now. And Charlotte is loving it.

Last day in the hospital. Had to take some pictures just before we left for home. I love the picture of Jack and Wade. They're so cute!!

Well, if Jack didn't have great skin already...He wanted to tan! ha ha. He's got a little bit of Jaundice so we are having to keep him under lights. We get rechecked again tomorrow and if all goes well, he won't need the lights too much longer. They say the lights and pooping is what gets rid of it. I think he's got the pooping down. I just changed diaper #12 in 2 days. He sure is a Chandler!! ha ha.

Grandmother and Aunty Tracy came up from Draper to meet Jack. Grandmother is visiting from New Zealand and were so happy she was able to meet Jack. Tracy is just awesome coming up for a few hours with Grandmother. She really does spoil us!

Charlotte meeting Jack for the first time. She just loves him and gives him kisses all the time! She love to rub his head too. She's going to be a great big sister.

Jack is here!

Jack Ian Ardern. July 23rd, 2008. Born at 1.25pm and weighs 8lbs 8oz. He is also 20.5 inches long! He has black hair and he sure is handsome!

Charlotte's glasses

These are the rare photos of Charlotte wearing her glasses. It has been a struggle. I think half the problem is with the hearing aids and she doesn't like that it makes them flap around. But I am really trying to stay positive and hope that it will help her eye. We are needing to get a strap so she can't take them off! Then once she's used to them, we won't have to use a strap anymore.

I love this picture! At the Mt. Timpanogos temple.

Charlotte with Ma and Granpda. They're so much fun!

Ma and Grandpa are here!

Ma and Grandpa arrived from New Zealand on July 16th. They are here to see the family and of course to help with the baby. They've been so wonderful and have grown close with Charlotte. She just adores them and loves being with them all the time. In fact, she didn't even miss me when I had the baby!

Lots o' posts, again

Sorry for the posting bombardment! ha ha. I have about 2 and 1/3 pages of new blogs, so be sure to keep on looking at the older posts! I hope you enjoy them. Sorry for any grammar mistakes! I'm hurrying to start Charlotte's bedtime routine. The baby is due in less than three weeks! I thought I'd never make it this far but I did and will keep on going! I'm sure all will go well. Plus I'm already dilated to a 2 and I go to the dr. again tomorrow. I wonder if anything has changed....When I was in my last 4 weeks with Charlotte, I was dilated to a 1/2 cm. to 1 cm depending on the dr. Frustrating! but things feel different at this point than with Charlotte's pregnancy so maybe I won't have to go 12 days past the due date this time. ha ha. I hope you enjoy all the pictures of Charlotte! We love her so much! We can't wait for her to see her baby brother.

Charlotte today after church! She's such a wonderful girl. I love her soooooo much.

Charlotte's Braces

Charlotte needs braces for her legs. They only are around her feet and ankles to provide support and also to correct the way she walks. If we don't use them, eventually she will end up with deformed feet and ankles because of the position she walks on them. It is really hard to see her use them but she loves them. She thinks they're shoes and that she gets to wear two pairs! She went from a size 3 to a size 6 shoe. So of course, have to buy new shoes. Only bought two pairs so far but I'm sure that will change cause she loves shoes! haha. She hasn't had a problem wearing them, like I said. The dr. said that she needs to ease into it but she's been wearing them all waking hours (minus the bathtime, etc.) which is what she's supposed to do. I'm so proud of her even though it is hard sometimes. She's such a trooper.

Phase 2 of our peninsula project. This isn't the countertop we are using, just placed the existing one on top. We are saving our money for a nice countertop. But the rest of the wall is gone from the fake wall that a previous owner put in. We placed cape cod wanescoting/paneling around the island. We copied Aunty Tracy on this one. She's a great decorator! All that needs to happen for the peninsula(besides the repair/painting on the wall) is to paint it, put hardware on the drawers and doors and put flooring in. It will take a while, but it's easier on the budget to do it in phases!