Our Happy Family

2009-08-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

2009-08-11T08:25:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that it has already been one month since Rylan was born. He is doing great. We went to the doctor yesterday. He is now 9lbs 5oz and 22 1/2 inch. He is sleeping at least 6 hours on most nights. He's a very good baby!

One month already!

He's starting to smile and I finally caught a smile on camera!

This outfit is too cute. I had to share the back of it too!!

2009-08-11T08:22:00.001-05:00

Here's a pic of Meaghan and Kaiden after church last Sunday. That silly grin is Kaiden's new camera smile!!

2009-08-11T08:09:00.004-05:00

Last week, we took the kids to the fair. We spent alot of time looking at all the animals and petting them. They really enjoyed it! They also got to ride the ponies. It was Kaiden's first time to ride and I was worried that he would be scared. He loved it and was not impressed when he had to get off the pony.

Watching the horses

Rylan chillin at the fair.

Loving the pony ride.

Kaiden's first pony ride.

Upset that he had to get off of his pony!

3 weeks

2009-07-29T15:53:00.004-05:00

The whole time I was taking these pics, Kaiden kept coming over and grinning at me and trying to get in the picture. I thought I would get a cute pic of him kissing Rylan since he wanted to be included. After several tries, this one was my favorite! Pretty sure it's not what I was after though!!

2 weeks

2009-07-22T20:52:00.002-05:00

Can't believe my baby is two weeks old already!!

He's Here!

2009-07-20T16:52:00.010-05:00

Our newest addition to our family is finally here! Rylan Grady was born July 7. He weighed in at 8lb 8oz and was 21 inches long. Meaghan and Kaiden are doing very well adapting. Kaiden wants to kiss him all the time and Meaghan mothers him constantly.

One week before he was born, we had an ultrasound because they thought he seemed too big. By ultrasound, he weighed in between 9 and 10 lbs. We talked about it and decided at my doctor's recommendation to have a c-section. He recommended that to avoid trauma to his shoulders since he was "so big!" On the bright side, at least I would know when the delivery would be! I guess Rylan had different ideas. I went into labor before we even scheduled the c-section. So I had a last minute c-section for not that big of a baby!! It was for the best though because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and his shoulders.

It's a . . . .

2009-02-28T22:06:00.003-06:00

BOY!!! We had our ultrasound on Friday and it seems Meaghan is out of luck this time. She was only going to be happy if it was a girl, but she's adjusting ok. We are excited! With him and Kaiden being so close in age, hopefully they will be best buds!
Everything looked good on the ultrasound. The only problem seems to be that he is HUGE!! He's measuring a week and a day or two ahead of the due date. We will see what happens. Meaghan weighed in at 6lbs even and Kaiden at 8lbs even. If this little guy is 10lbs, there will be no more kiddos for us. I'm not risking a twelve pounder!!!

I'm Back - kinda...

2009-02-25T01:34:00.002-06:00

So, we currently do not have internet service at home so I'm blogging at work. I know you all are enjoying the Valentine's Day background, but the computers at work refuse to let me change it. Not much exciting going on in our lives that you have missed out on.
Kaiden went to the doc yesterday for a belated one year check-up. He weighs 20lb 10oz. I forget how tall. He will soon outweigh his sister!!
We now have a new boxer puppy. Her name is Maggie. She is very cute and very busy! Loves to jump on the kids all the time. Good thing they love her!! I would give you a picture of her, but that's not working out either!! Guess this blog will remain dull for awhile!

Thanks so much!!

2009-01-26T21:09:00.002-06:00

Thanks so much to all our family who thought is was a great idea to buy Meaghan hundreds of stickers for her birthday. Below is a picture of her handiwork on the back of her bedroom door!!

And here is my climber! He climbed up the shelves to get Rook cards out of the bowl. - Oh, and yes, he does own clothes and sometimes even wears them!!!

2009-01-24T21:41:00.005-06:00

Here's a few pictures from Kaiden's birthday party. I'm rather slow posting them! The theme was obviously Curious George. I think that my Grandma Hoppy did a great job on the cake. I showed her some cakes that I liked and she put my two favorites together. (I hear that she was extra stressed about this cake 'cause she knew it would be posted on the internet!!)
Thank-you to all of our family that helped put the party together and travelled a long ways so we could all be together. It was great to see everyone again!

Curious George

Hmm . . . What could I do with this?!

Not so good at blowing out the candle.

I love my cake. It's so messy!

Siblings

2009-01-13T17:53:00.005-06:00

Kaiden - almost one year old.
Meaghan - one year

It is funny how much these kids look alike. I would expect similarities between siblings, but this is crazy! Too bad he has more hair than she did. I didn't think she'd ever grow hair!

Mmm. . . cake!

2009-01-13T17:33:00.007-06:00

We are having Kaiden's birthday party on Saturday so we decided to just have a little cake for him yesterday. Not the prettiest cake ever, but he didn't care!

Mmmmmm!!!

Sharing with Daddy.

A happy one year old. Ok, so he doesn't look too happy but that is because every time I take his picture, he studies the camera instead of smiling!!

Happy Birthday Kaiden!!!

2009-01-12T16:09:00.004-06:00

Wow! It's hard to believe how fast time flies! My baby is one year old today. My quiet little baby has grown into a not so quiet one year old. It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home. I added pictures from his first year so you can watch him grow too. Enjoy!

Not sure why they are so big but oh well.

Kids say the funniest things!

2008-12-27T11:47:00.002-06:00

Being the parents of a three year old is interesting to say the least. We never know what she is going to say or do next. Yesterday she came out of the bathroom and informed me, "Mommy, that little poop won't go down. That toilet needs new batteries!"
We hadn't told her about the baby coming because it seemed like such a long time for a little one to wait. We decided to go ahead since everyone was talking about it around her anyways. She is excited but only wants a "girl baby". If it is a boy, she said she is going to cry. At first she just laughed when we told her that there was a baby growing in mommy's tummy, but then she wanted to know, "So can I hold it when it crawls out of your throat?" . . . . Um, sure!

Suprise!!

2008-12-23T17:53:00.003-06:00

Tis the season for suprises!!! Our very busy life is going to get busier - we are going to have another baby in July! I am between nine and ten weeks pregnant now. We had a ultrasound at eight weeks and everything seems to be ok. I'm dreading being huge in the summer, but otherwise, we are very excited. Three kids three and under sounds rather scary though!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T17:37:00.007-06:00

I tried to take the kids pictures for Christmas, but they were less cooperative than usual. Kaiden just glared at the camera and refused to smile!

This is the best smile I could get from him. The only reason I got this smile is because he was pinching his sister!!
Followed by a stern look from Meaghan!

2008-12-15T20:01:00.001-06:00

Got Oreos?!!

A warning for all my friends with babies - this is what you have in store!!!

2008-11-10T16:57:00.005-06:00

Meaghan the day we came home from hospital.

It seems like so many of my blogging friends have new little babies. I love watching them grow on your blogs. I remember that first year with Meaghan. She was so cute (although very bald) and such an innocent little gal. Every day was so exciting to see what milestone we would reach that day. . . . Well, let me tell you, I had no idea what I was in for. My sweet innocent little gal has turned into a very adorable three year old terror!! Every day I still have no idea what she will come up with next! Here's her newest milestone:

Friday night I was sitting in the recliner reading a book. Meaghan decided to come sit by me and read her book. I happened to bump her leg and she informed me to be careful that her legs hurt. I didn't think too much about it. Just assumed she was having growing pains. Later when I put her to bed, she was whining again about her legs only this time she told me why they hurt. sniff, sniff. . . " I shaved my legs with Sarah's purple thing (razor) and now my legs hurt." I looked at her legs and sure enough, the front of both of her legs are shaved bald and just a little razor burned. I knew this day was coming, but honestly, shes only three!!!

2008-11-04T03:58:00.001-06:00

We are still alive and doing well. Wish I could say the same for our virus infected computer. Hopefully we will get it back soon, but until then, no new posts!!!

2008-10-17T23:43:00.008-05:00

It's hard to believe that my bratty little brother is now all grown up, but he is! He is graduating this year!
Jonathan, I am proud to have you as my brother! You have come a long ways since the good old toddler days when you yelled through your teeth at me that I wasn't your mother! I'm so glad that you are doing your best to live your life right! Love you tons!

Love you too Jerms!

2008-10-17T23:16:00.006-05:00

While we were in Illinois, we spent the afternoon at Lincoln Log Cabin Park with my family. My grandparents were all there so it was an extra special day. (Not sure how I managed not to get a picture of a single one of them!)

My Man!

My baby girl is growing up!

The scary "black" cow. Meaghan wasn't impressed with it!

These cute little piggies were very loud! We nearly got kicked out of the park because Scott convinced Jonathan to pick one of them up. The little guy screamed and his mom about came after us. Shelly and I wonder why our parents taught us that pigs have curly tails?!

My redneck family and their cheap entertainment!! They were rolling down the hill. That blur you see above is my dad!

Ummm . . . I'm not even sure what to say about this one! Jonathan and Scott are not a good combination.

2008-10-17T22:25:00.006-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Meaghan! I am rather slow in posting these pictures. She had a good birthday. We went to Illinois on Friday and Saturday to celebrate with my family. We spent Sunday with Scott's family. Other that some serious car problems, we all had a great time.

This was Meaghan's cake with the Hopkins side. She had walked around looking at a picture of this cake on the back of a Taste of Home magazine for weeks. The rest of us weren't too excited about all the candy, but she loved it!

These were her cakes from the Williams' side. She liked her "baby" cake.

Kaiden got to practice eating cake for his birthday! He really enjoyed making that mess.

My little punkins!

2008-09-25T11:22:00.013-05:00

It had been awhile since the kids had pictures taken so I finally took the time and here are some of the pics.

Thanks to Great-Papaw Williams for letting us use his pumkins!

Photo shoot in progress!!!

2008-09-25T10:44:00.011-05:00

Finally, we have power and internet restored! We were without power for a full week. The kids weren't too thrilled with our evening flashlight parties. Thank goodness we have good friends who let us use their camper, their power, and their yard for the week! Thanks Wayne and Tabby!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple weeks ago, we met my family in Greenwood for the day. We had a great time at Chuckie Cheese, playing putt-putt, riding go carts, and just spending time together!

Looks like mom has her hands full! The kids were so happy to see Meme and Grandpa!

Love the bib Jeremy!

Meaghan loved this horse. Seems she takes after her daddy with her love for horses.

Jonathan - "King of Cool"

More pictures of the babies!

2008-09-09T10:42:00.010-05:00

Puppies!

2008-09-07T00:44:00.005-05:00

Well, just when I thought my life couldn't get much busier . . . Hannah had her puppies. Six puppies to be exact! They are so tiny. There are four boys and two girls. We were up most of Friday night bottle feeding the little runt and trying to keep him warm. He seems to be doing better now and I'm really glad! I wasn't looking forward to giving him a bottle every 4 hrs! I'll try to get more pictures of them next week. I thought this picture of Kaiden meeting them for the first time was just too cute! He wasn't sure what to think!

Happy Birthday Randy!

2008-08-23T14:30:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was my father-in-law's birthday. He says that he is 35! They were in Cincinnati bringing Sarah's stuff to GBS so we got together and went to Don Pablos. We went to the one on the river. It was real nice. We wished that we could've eaten outside, but we would've been too busy wiping sweat to eat. It was soooo hot!! Of course someone let it slip that it was his birthday! He got to wear the big sombrero and they sang to him!

The sombrero seems a little big for Meaghan!

And WAY TOO BIG for Kaiden!!

Kaiden is enjoying tortillas or maybe it's his napkin. He tasted both!!

2008-08-23T12:56:00.010-05:00

Finally, at long last, I am posting new pictures. They are all from the cell phone so not the best quality.
Two weeks ago, Kaiden had a minor outpatient surgery at Children's Hospital. I was a nervous wreck, but all went well. Here he is in his hospital gown right before going to surgery!

Last weekend, we met Jason and Shelly and took the kids to Chuckie Cheese. We say that we went for the kids, but the adults had alot of fun too! Jason and I had never been there.

The rest are just misc. pictures of the kids. I really do comb Meaghan's hair! The pics of her were taken when I wasn't home. She is obsessed with trying on all her old clothes, thus the size 18 month pj shirt. Kaiden is now crawling, pulling up to everything, and has his first tooth! Enjoy!

2008-07-19T19:44:00.006-05:00

Today our church had an outreach picnic at the church. It turned out real nice although it was unbelievably hot!!! There were around 44 people there besides our church people. A couple of families were looking for a church so we are praying that we will see them tomorrow. The father of one of these families asked the men to pray with him. That makes the sweating worth it!

Here's the kids. Not sure what they were doing. They had knocked down the volleyball net by then. My hillybilly daughter is there in the front without any shoes!

The kids loved this moonwalk thing.

Face painting.

Poor Sis Forsee was worn out by this time!

The men found some shade. This picture cracks me up. Apparently Bro. Forsee's legs were hot! He has his burghundy pants pulled up halfway to his knees! Too funny!

2008-07-19T09:59:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so!
This is Meaghan and Snickers. Snickers will be coming to live with us in a couple of weeks. He's not quite seven weeks old.

It seems that Kaiden enjoys exercising about as much as I do!

Last Saturday we went on a picnic. The kids loved being outdoors!

They went wading with Daddy! My favorite part of the day was when a crawdad crawled across Scott's foot. He wasn't expecting it and hollered pretty loud! I got a good laugh out of the whole thing!

Here's my little man! He is getting so big. He's sitting up good and now trying to crawl. I feel old saying this, but it's hard to believe how fast they grow up.

2008-07-12T01:03:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking about putting this pic on my refrigerator to motivate me to diet!!

2008-06-30T09:24:00.006-05:00

Finally, at long last, I am back!! Its been a busy month! At the end of May, we moved. We are enjoying our house and our yard! It is so good to not have to worry what the neighbors around us think about my noisy kids.
Meaghan and Kaiden are growing fast! Kaiden is just learning to sit up on his own. He is doing real well. He also discovered his tongue again!! I haven't found my camera since we moved so these pics are a little blury. They are from the cell phone.

This weekend we went to Pilgrim camp meeting. It was good to see my family again!! We got to see my parents and brothers and my grandparents. It was also good to see my cousin Crystal and her family. It is sad how the miles keep you from the people that you are closest to.
This is Grandma Hopkins and Kaiden.

My brother Jonathan has most of the talent in the family! He sang tenor in a youth trio for missionary service. I think he did a great job. This pic is pretty far away and blurry but that is Jonathan on the left!

Well, hopefully I find my camera soon, but at least now Sarah and Jenny will be happy!!!

Redneck Baby

2008-05-16T21:28:00.003-05:00

My poor son! He is already being turned into a redneck. He is a cute redneck though!!!

2008-05-16T21:18:00.002-05:00

Not much has been going on around here. We have been busy working and getting ready to move. We have two weeks left and not much is packed yet. We have managed to sort through alot of stuff that has accumulated. Fun times!
We were able to go back to Illinois for Mother's Day and suprise my mom. We hadn't been home for about six months. It was very nice to be home!! Meaghan really enjoyed harrassing their kittens! We also stopped on the way home to see Scott's mom. My camera batteries died so no pics. Mom got some good ones so I will have to get them from her.

2008-04-30T08:33:00.007-05:00

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we couldn't stay in the apartment. Joey and Jessica and their three little girls came over for a picnic. It was Kaiden's first picnic! We had a really good time until Scott and Joey decided to go fishing. We were pretty sure that with four little girls age 3 and under that someone was bound to fall in. We ended up bringing the kids home to play. Here are a few pics.

Kaiden's Dedication

2008-04-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

Finally, I have found my camera! I have been wanting to post pictures of Kaiden's dedication service but the camera was missing. The service was March 30. We were very lucky to have all of our family there (except Sarah who was on band tour and Scott's grandma who is not able to climb up to our 3rd floor apt.) The service was very nice!

Tag!!

2008-04-14T05:09:00.000-05:00

Rules: Answer the following questions, then tag 5 other people on their blogs.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
After reading what everyone else was doing 10 yrs ago, I feel really old. Ten yrs ago, I was in nursing school. I was busy learning the functions of the human body by poking around on a cadaver!! Nice, huh?!!

5 things to do today:
Laundry - we are officially out of clean clothes.
Dishes
Spend time with my family
Sleep (I worked night shift all wkend)
Grocery shop

Snacks I enjoy:
Double stuffed oreos, peanut m&m's, doritos, and anything chocolate!!

If I were a Billionaire:
I'd pay off all my bills.
Buy a house!
Buy a brand new SUV (too hold all the car seats) and then spend the rest of my billion on gas!!
Help open an orphanage in Haiti.
Share with my friends and family but it seems that they have all already been tagged and are already billionaires themselves.
Shop, shop, shop!!

Bad Habits I Have:
Procrastinating
Eating too much (obviously)
Speaking before thinking

Places I've Lived:
Bloomington, IL
Terre Haute, IN
Greenup, IL
Cincinnati, OH - GBS dorm
Columbus, IN
Back to Cincinnati

Jobs I've Had:
Nurse's aide at Sarah Bush Hospital
Nursing jobs in pediatric private duty, surgical services, and orthopedics.

5 people I'd like to know more about:
Charity
Jenn E.
Valerie
Jenn W.
Erin

Sprinkles' Stories

2008-04-04T00:15:00.000-05:00

It seems that our little rabbit is in for a hectic life. She does have a name now thanks to my Grandma Tom. Her name is Sprinkles because she has brown spots "sprinkled" over her back. Meaghan still calls her Bunny most of the time. She is very patient and does not try to nibble on the little fingers that are always poking at her.
Kaiden is not coordinating his hands quite yet but has discovered his tongue. I put Sprinkles up to his nose to see what he did when her whiskers tickled him. He tried to lick her!! Yuck!!
Scott was home with the kids Tuesday night by himself. He heard Meaghan giggling in the other room and found her standing on a chair with the fish tank lid open. She was trying to cram Sprinkles in the tank. Poor thing!! Seems she is in for alot of excitement!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T07:20:00.000-05:00

We had a very nice Easter. Meaghan wanted a bunny for her "surprise". Since Scott loves rabbits and used to raise them, he was only too happy to get her what she wanted. So far the little gal's name is Bunny, but we hope to think of something more creative soon. (I could use your help on this one!) Luckily she is a very patient bunny and doesn't bite little fingers. I think she is going to have rough life. Meaghan's last pet was a guinea pig. It was fed well (Doritos, cereal, candy), but I never knew where I would find her. I looked all over once and finally Meaghan took me to her hiding place - the dryer! This poor bunny is in for an exciting life I'm afraid!!

Our new Home!

2008-03-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

We are excited to be getting a house to live in. We have wanted a bigger place to live having the kid's. Apartment life isn't for a hyper two year old and a new baby. We will still be renting but, will be doing some remodeling such as adding an extra bath, putting a new wood floor in the kitchen and dinning area as well as our entry way. Scott will have a job this summer tearing out the big bushes in front of the house and putting a new landscape in. So even tho we will still be renting we will be doing some things to improve the looks and be able to some what call it our home!

I wonder . . . .

2008-03-10T02:42:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we wonder the strangest things at our house. After washing my hair, I spent alot of time combing the tangles out.
Using the very large amount of hair that I pulled out, we solved this one! "I wonder what Kaiden would look like with hair?" Sounds crazy I know, but you have to realize that I have been cooped up in this house for a week now. The poor baby had no idea what was happening.

I also wonder. . . why do we buy our kids so many toys? This cardboard box is Meaghan's new favorite toy. In this picture, I was told she is "taking a bath." The burp cloth that you see in her hands is a "losh cloth." We have wasted so much money on toys when apparently all you need to have fun is a good imagination.

The "Bug"

2008-03-06T20:48:00.000-06:00

This has been a long week at our house. Our little throwing up episode on Saturday set the mood for our entire week! We have now passed this flu bug through our entire family. (Too bad Meaghan doesn't share her toys as well as she shared this little "bug".) Kaiden held out the longest, but now he is sick too. We actually had to take him to the doctor today because they were afraid he was getting dehydrated. It seems he is dehydrated, but is still well enough to manage with Pedialyte for now. His weight didn't help them evaluate him very well. He is up to 10lb 14oz. That's almost a 2lb gain in 3 weeks! At that rate, he will pass Meaghan up before he is 6 months. She's only 24lbs!
I will be going back to work next week - like it or not. This is not really how I imagined spending my last week off. At least when I go back to work, I will get paid for cleaning up these messes!!

"The Greatest Show on Earth"

2008-03-02T19:30:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy weekend! Friday night Jenny and Wesley, friends from our college days, came over and we took Meaghan to the circus. (I say that as if we weren't all looking forward to it!) It was alot of fun. Meaghan was on the edge of her seat - literally! She sat so close to the edge of her seat that it flipped her out at one point. Every time I looked over at her, she was smiling from ear to ear. She wasn't much into the tight rope walker though. She watched him with her hands over her mouth. Seems she inherited my fear of heights. Her favorite part I think were the "elphaphants"! I think I was as amazed by the prices of the things they were selling as I was by any of the acts. Who in their right mind would pay $15 for a snow cone in a cool circus cup?!!

On Saturday, we met my parents in Indy for supper. They had not seen Kaiden since he was a week old. We went shopping for awhile and then to Chic-fil-a. It was a wonderful evening with lots of laughter and kisses for the kids. We ended our nice little evening with Meaghan throwing up all over in Chic-fil-a. It's much more distressing when you are the parent of the puking kid because then you get the pleasure of cleaning it all up!

Finally a Picture!

2008-02-28T01:20:00.000-06:00

Finally we have a picture on our blog. It gave me alot of grief! Thanks so much Sarah for your help!

This is the picture that we took for our Valentine's Day cards. It took me hours to get Meaghan to smile and Kaiden to hold his head up at the same time, but it was worth every minute of my time! When Daddy saw his card, he was very surprised and happy.

I can't believe how big they are getting. Tonight Meaghan came over and rubbed Kaiden's leg and said, "I like him. Bubby is cute!" As she walked away she added, "I'm cute too!" So humble!

Late Nights!

2008-02-01T02:29:00.000-06:00

I have decided to try to share the happenings of our little family with you since I am up a good part of most nights anyways with nothing to do! My new son Kaiden has yet to get his days and nights straightened out - maybe its because I worked third shift throughout my entire pregnancy!

Kaiden was born Jan. 12, 2008. He weighed in at 8lb 0oz and was 20 1/4 inches. That was quite a change from Meaghan's size at 6 lb and 18 inches! I started my labor on my way to work and somehow made it through the first nine hours of my shift before coming home at 4:30am. Kaiden was born at 1:17pm. I will try to put some pictures on here but no promises since I don't know what I'm doing yet!!