Pictures of the kiddos...my oh my how they grow!

3 weeks old....wide eyed.

Cutie pie!

Passed out after a diaper change.

2nd or 3rd bath with water in the tub.

Blaise talking to his older sister.

1st and only bottle so far. He drank 3oz.!

Trying to take a picture of the three. I got some pretty funny ones, but I won't post them all.

Susanna was the one who wouldn't cooperate.

Addy and Blaise did awesome. I really like this one.

I told Addy to take the pacifier out right as I took the picture (Blaise was starting to get fussy). The next one after this one he is balling and both girls are staring at me.

Duck opener.

Susanna wouldn't look at me, but this one is kind of cool. She smiles so pretty but as soon as I pull the camera out she doesn't want anything to do with smiling.

The girls both LOVE apples...even rotten ones :-(.

We were doing dishes and it was very quiet (usually a bad sign). Then I looked in the living room to see Addy laying and talking to Blaise. She just adores him. Some days she could just sit and look or talk to Blaise all day long.

Now both of the girls are reading books to him.

Here's my little smiler man. Blaise has been smiling now for a couple of weeks and cooing/talking.

I just love this little guy to death!

Blaise "Aw dad, not in front of the camera."

Taking a wagon ride to go find our lost cats. Josh and Christine gave us some very nice cats since they are moving. Well, our dog ran them off....still hoping they will come back.

Here's some smiles.

Pretty girl.

Addy wanted to climb up in a tree. She looks kind of scared in this one.

This is my favorite, she posed like this on her own.

Susanna eating raspberries.

I just think she is to darn cute when she is picking raspberries.

Addy showing me her raspberry.

Addy is SUCH a big girl! Sometimes I forget that she is three, and think she is 5 or 6 instead. She is a huge help with Blaise and even Susanna too. Every time I change Blaise's diaper she asks me if he needs a new sleeper or onsie. She is also good at getting things ready for his bath. One time she had set everything out on the table without us knowing (she had heard us mention that Blaise needed a bath). She is not jealous of Blaise hardly at all because by now she is used to being second to a baby's needs (with Susanna being the baby before him for over a year). We have this little wagon that only can fit one small child. Addy will pull Susanna around the yard in it. She also enjoys pushing Susanna in the swing. She has a memory like none other. If I say something just once she will remember exactly what I said a week or so later. She loves to play and sing, remembering the words to most of the songs we sing and singing them on her own at random. She also loves to read books, sometimes she can recite them word for word. It is fun having conversations with her and telling/teaching her about things that are everyday to me but fascinating to a little girl like her.

Susanna is my sweetheart and stinker all in one. She is the quiet, sneaky one who pouts when she gets in trouble. She has such a sweet heart. Susanna likes to read and sing also. I love watching her read a book, sometimes it is quite hilarious. She could sit and look at books for hours and hours by herself. In fact, she plays almost anything very nicely by herself. She also enjoys wrestling and getting into trouble with her older sister ;-). They are very cute when they are wrestling and giggling together....until someone gets hurt ;-). Susanna does this very cute head nod when she wants something. She loves going outside and playing...she is at that stage where if you so much as mention going outside she is already at the door trying to get her shoes on.

Blaise is my little man. I love having a son! The girls love him too...sometimes a little too much ;-)! Susanna always has to give him a hug and kiss before she goes to bed (which is usually her putting her head to his and holding it there for a second or two). He is smiling and cooing like crazy. We call him our "social butterfly". He loves it when we smile and talk to him. That is why he adores Addy back....because she lays down next to him and talks to him. I think her voice is very calming to him also. He has been having issues sleeping because he just wants to stay up and talk/ be with us. We are slowly figuring out his sleep schedule. It is going pretty good. He takes 2-3 very good naps during the day. I have been laying him down awake and that has been going well also.

We welcome our little baby boy Blaise Ronald!

To start off, I would like to share the journey we took for this little man to enter into this world and take his first breath of air.

It all started over two weeks before his due date. I was already dilated 4cm and almost completely effaced (thinned out). I had been doing anything and everything to get him to come: walking miles and miles each day, drinking glass after glass of red raspberry leaf tea, taking herbal supplements, and the list goes on. Two weeks of contractions went by….still no baby. I had gone into false labor twice during that time. Then came my due date. My doctor was completely surprised that I was still pregnant. She then told us that his head was stuck on my pelvis bone, when it should have been on the cervix. She was pretty sure that once my water broke and the baby could be swept down by the flow/force, it wouldn't take long for him to come. I was doubtful that I would go into labor on my own and be able to sustain it. So we set up to have me induced the next week.

A couple days before the induction I woke up in the middle of the night with a side ache. Now, having gone through weeks of stomach pains and contractions I didn’t think anything of it. I went back to sleep only to wake up later. The second time I woke up it was 3:30am. This time I was in really bad pain and I was rolling around so much I woke up Jake.  We started to time them. The first two were 8min apart, then after 7min went by I had another, the next one came after 6 min, and then 5 min. As they got to be closer and closer Jake started running around packing the truck. Then the question was…..do we wake the girls? Do we even have time? Jake called a lady from our church and asked if she could come out to the house. While he was on the phone with her (just after 4am), my water broke.  Right after my water broke I had the urge to push. For those of you who don’t know what that means…..it means the baby is coming….NOW! Jake told me not to push. Not pushing is harder than dealing with contractions. Contractions you can breathe through and let the natural course of your body do its work. Not pushing, on the other hand, is fighting your body….eventually your body wins.  I started freaking out! We still had to finish getting everything ready and drive over an hour to the hospital. I told him I didn't think we we’re going to make it. He asked me what we should do. I told him if he didn't want to be the one delivering this baby he better call 911 and get an ambulance. We got into the truck and headed towards interstate to meet the ambulance. When I got into the ambulance I was already feeling very faint. They started an IV and gave me oxygen. Jake said I was very white looking. The contractions/pushing urges were coming every 1 to 1 ½ min. apart. They gave me something in my IV to slow down the contractions. I asked the paramedic if she had ever delivered a baby, she said she had. That made me feel better. With each contraction she would check to see if she could see the baby. When we were half way to Fargo she reported that she could see hair…..scary! Then when we were 10 min or so from Fargo she said it looked like the baby was crowning (about to come out!). She was calm and cool up to this point, which she started to look worried- telling the driver to speed up. Finally we got to the hospital. They wheeled me into a delivery room accompanied by more nurses then I have ever seen in the same place at one time. Now, I couldn't see (because I didn't have any glasses or contacts in), but I am pretty sure there were 7 or 8 nurses running around getting things set up. Then I heard the most blessed words come out of one of their mouths ….”you can push now”. After 10 min of pushing…..Blaise came out and was in my arms! I hope to never have that exciting of a birth again!

Now, what you all have been waiting for.......the pictures :-).

Blaise Ronald

Born 8lbs. 2oz. 

22.5 inches 

Getting comfortable in our postpartum room.....it was nicer than a luxury hotel!

The proud big sister.

Grandpa Gapp 

Uncle Thomas

Our "little" family of 5!

Precious...

Going home.

I wanted a pic of the boys in their green and yellow.

At home....and comfortable.

Blaise loves it when Addy talks to him.

Taking a nap....

.....and another nap :-).

Grandma Gapp

Grandpa Gapp fell asleep.

He likes to frown. 

Grandma Loegering and Uncle Josiah came to visit for a couple days.

Silly girl

This was taken today. They both are feeling much better :-).

Both Addy and Susanna love their new brother. But of course, there have been moments of jealousy and of acting out. Addy helps with a lot and even does things that we don’t ask of her….like getting all the things we would need ready for a bath for Blaise when she hears us talking about giving him a bath. Susanna is very helpful too. She will throw the dirty diapers without being asked and get things ready for a diaper change for Blaise without being asked. She has grown up sooo much in the past month! A couple days ago they both did something pretty funny. I was nursing Blaise but could smell that Susanna needed a diaper change. I told her and Addy to get everything ready for me to change her diaper. They laid out the pad and got a diaper and the wipes out. Then Susanna proceeded to lie down on the pad while Addy started preparing to take her diaper off and change it. I told Addy not to change it…..both girls were giggling and laughing.

Friday after we got home from the hospital sickness came to our house. We noticed that Susanna had a rash in her diaper area that wasn't a diaper rash. This continued until Monday when she got a high fever of 103.2. The next day it seemed like the rash had gone all over her body- arms, legs, hands, feet,  and face. We started getting worried that it was the chicken pox (worried that Blaise would get it). Then Jake’s mom came for a couple of days so I wouldn't have to be at home by myself at all last week. Wednesday night Addy tells Jake that she has a fever. We “jokingly” took her temperature to appease her. She actually did have a fever of over 102! That night Jake got up with her to check her temp again. While he was doing that she threw up on him. She was fine until the next morning when I went to take her temp and she threw up again! I had an appointment set up to take Susanna in for the rash. Right before I left (I left Addy and Blaise with my mother-in-law), Addy threw up again! To make the story short…..we figured out that the girls both had Hand-foot-and-mouth virus. So they have been out of sorts the past week, to say the least.

Many THANKS to MANY PEOPLE!!!!!!

Thanks to Deacon Joe and Deb for coming at a moments notice in the middle of the night to watch our girls!!!!!

Thanks to my parents for driving out to Valley and back to bring the girls to Fargo!!!! And for watching them while we were in the hospital!!!!

Thanks to Jake's sister Katie for taking off work to watch the girls the day Blaise was born without prior notice!!!!!

Thanks to my mother-in-law and brother-in-law for coming and staying with us after Jake went back to work......but especially for helping to take care of my sick children and helping me keep up with the house and garden!!!!!!

We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends!!!

Old Pictures from the past month and a half.....

Susanna eating cheerios for snack, sitting like a big girl at the little table set.

Pony tail! I have been putting Susanna's hair up in a pony lately. It keeps the hair out of her face. 

This is the classic "Susanna cheesy grin."

Katie and Thomas came out to visit (this was a long time ago!). We had pancakes and coffee over the fire, which is always a nice relaxing way to start a Saturday morning. We weeded the garden and picked the produce that was ready. Katie and Thomas watched the girls while Jake and I went to give a short talk at church Saturday night. Then Jake side tracked to DQ to get a blizzard.....I guess he had made plans of doing that the week before. I have a very thoughtful husband :-).

Thomas and Susanna

During a weekend at the end of July- Jake, Jared and Josh steel roofed Jake's shop.

The finished product looks very nice!

Addy and her tall tower, she asked me to take a picture of her.

Grandpa and Susanna.

Grandma and Addy - Roger and Sue had come to our place the second weekend in August expecting that the baby was going to be born already. Well....the baby didn't come till later :-(.

Cauliflower.....and that wasn't even the biggest head!

Speaking of Susanna.......she has finally decided she is going to walk! She has been walking very good (and now running) for the past 2 months. It is a huge blessing! I thought she would never walk, not knowing exactly how we were going to go places once the baby came (I can't carry her and a car seat at the same time).

More to come on the new addition to our family!