Krew's Blessing Day!

We blessed our baby Krew last Sunday, August 29th.  It was such a beautiful day, as you can see from the sunshine in the pictures. 

All smiles!

Keith gave Krew a truly wonderful blessing.  It was very special and made me think how grateful I am to have a worthy husband.  My sons will grow up having a great example in their father to look up to. 

Krew was a little angle during the blessing, which was a blessing in itself! 

Papa Harrop came out from Utah for the ocassion.  We were glad to have him here to visit! 

Mikkal and Ben were also there, hooray!  G-Ma and G-Pa, and Uncle Jake were all there, too!

The blessing blanket was the same one that we used for Stryder's blessing.  My mom made it for him last year, and we sewed Keith's mom ring in the corner then too.  Now the beautiful blanket is a family heirloom.

Little feet, so tiny and cute!

Krew wore the same blessing tux that my brother, Jacob, wore 19 years ago.  My dear Grandma June gave it to Jacob when he was born.  It was so special since today was also Jacob's farewell.  A full circle moment, as Oprah would say!

We are proud parents, again!

I love this little man!  He is such a joy to have in our family.  Even Stryder is beginning to think so! 

I love our family.....boys and all!

Welcome to our Krew!

Here he is!  Our newest addition: Krew Fielder Harrop!  Making his debut into this world on August 8tth, 2010 at 12:56pm, delivered by his daddy, Keith, who did a GREAT job!  Weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz; measuring 20 inches long.  I'll attempt to blog more about the birth story in a few days, but having two kids is kind of kicking my butt right now :-) 

He is a very good sleeper! Let's hope that doesn't change!

I love him SOOOOO much!

He already has his own little personality.

Keith is such a good daddy!

He is a very handsome baby....lots of dark hair and a cute little face!

Our new family....as you can see, Stryder is thrilled :-(

Nesting....

The word 'Nesting' makes me feel like some sort of animal.....as if pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, and breast pumping doesn't already make a woman feel like an assortment of various farm animals!  Anyway, this 'nesting' that supposedly happens before giving birth is quite amazing, I must say.  These past couple weeks, although I have been extremely tired, I have gotten SO many things done.  To prove it to you, here is a list of all things accomplished by 9-months-pregnant-me (my husband helped too):

For Stryder:

• Bought new crib for Stryder (so baby brother can have his pack-n-play, which has bassinett and changing table attachments)
• Set up new crib in a new room, so baby brother can have his room eventually (it is closer to Mommy and Daddy's room)
• Worked with Stryder sleeping in new crib in new room (this happened for about 2 days)
• Took apart new crib and moved back into old room and set up new crib in old room
• Worked with Stryder on sleeping in new crib in old room (this went on until he chewed the wood of his brand new Cherry wood sleigh style crib)
• Set up second pack-n-play in Strdyer's room for him to sleep in until we could get teething guard for brand new crib that he already gnawed on
• Ordered teething gaurd for new crib that already has teeth marks from Stryder
• Waited for 5-9 days until teething gaurd came in the mail, meanwhile Stryder is sleeping in pack-n-play to avoid further damage to brand new crib
• Put teething gaurds on new crib already chewed and worked with Stryder on sleeping in new crib
• New crib training=many sleepless naptimes and 10:00pm bedtimes, but persistant parenting made crib sleeping better and now, almost back on normal sleep schedule

"Please get me OUT of here!"

For Baby Brother (who still doesn't have a name):

• Cleaned and set up pack-n-play in our room for Baby Brother
• Went to Sam's Club and bought gigantic pack of Pamper's swaddlers (the BEST diapers for baby boys--prevents wee wee from pee pee leaks!)
• Stocked changing station with diapers, creams, vaseline, wipes, etc, etc.
• Unpacked and washed all newborn clothes, bibs, and receiving blankets
• Organized newborn/infant clothes by sizes: NB, 0-3, 3-6
• Packed hospital bag for Baby Brother, complete with disposable diapers, since the hospital here only uses nasty, old, stained, cloth diapers for babies
• Cleaned infant car seat and stroller
• Pulled playmats, boppy pillow, and Baby Bjorn carrier out of storage
• Bought new set of bottles and pacifiers
• Bought a baby book, which hopefully I will have time to complete.....(I never did Stryder's....Don't Tell!)
• Bought BUMBO on craigslist for $10 (just becuase I never had one with Stryder!)
• Bought baby monitor on craigslist for $10 (a must for having a toddler and an infant)
• Bought a Bob Revolution Dualie jogging stroller---the best stroller ever! (vital for dr appts and running errands with both kids and getting back in shape after baby)
• Bought backup double stroller on craigslist for $20 (to keep in the garage for walks around the block or to bring on trips)

"I love my new stroller,
but am lonely in it all by myself!"

For Me:

• Went to Sam's and bought Peanut Butter M&M's and Gummi Bears
• Packed my hospital bag, complete with Peanut Butter M&M's and Gummi Bears, among other things!
• Cleaned out closet to make room for baby stuff
• Painted my toenails--quite difficult when you are this pregnant!

For the Greater Good of Every Family Member:

• Traded our sentimental little Honda Accord in and bought a Chrysler Town and Country Minivan (yes, can you believe it?)  We did this a few months ago after I was done working for the school district as a school nurse. The money I earned put us in a position to purchase this necessity and we got a great deal on this family friendly minivan.  We LOVE this car!  The auto doors make my life easier and it is super comfortable and oh-so-awesome for having two kids in car seats.  And for the record: I really don't care what driving a minivan does to my reputation....It is worth the Soccer Mom stereotype!
• Vaccummed out and washed our van and stocked the Stow'n'Go with diapers, wipes, etc.
• Stocked 3 other diaper bags with diapers for both kids, toys, changing mats, and hand sanitzer as back-up bags for those times when it is so hectic and we need a stocked bag on the fly!

"Yes, my mom drives a minivan....and is PROUD of it!"

And Here's The Latest:

So...here is a pregnancy update....At 38 weeks I went into my dr and was only about 2cm.  I was extremely disappointed, because I desperately want this baby to come before my due date of August 14th!!!  I am measuring 2 weeks small, which is also strange since with Stryder always measured right on.  Anyways, I went back to my dr this week and am at 4cm and baby's head is literally RIGHT THERE!  This, of course, makes me very nervous because I had what is called a "precipitious labor" (extremely fast labor) with Stryder and it seems this baby may be the same.  I really don't want to have this baby anywhere but in the safety of a hospital, so my dr is going to aim for inducing labor this SUNDAY!!! 

I hope:

a.) The hospital will actually be able to admit me on Sunday and I will not have to wait even longer!

b.) I may actually get to make the decision whether or not to have an epidural (and not by default)

c.) We will know what this baby should be named when we meet him!

Alas, here is what could be the final photos of me pregnant with "what's-his-name"....

37 Weeks

38 Weeks

5 Years of Adventure

The adventure began 5 years ago today and hasn't stopped since.  Here's a look at our journey so far:

Our Courtship was memorable and full of fun!  It was love at first sight, literally. 

 

One day, you took me skiing on an April afternoon.  Then, you took on the most difficult run at SnowBird, where I cussed you the ENTIRE time down the slope :-)

But later that night, you made up for it and surprised me with a question and a ring!

Thus.....we were engaged!

We had the most beautiful wedding.....

on a gorgeous July day......

.....and it was really classy, too!

We went on a tropical honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico....

....and got sunburnt....BAD!

Our First Year....

We bought a starter home.......

......And put countless hours along with blood, sweat, and tears fixing it up!

Keith got his degree from the U of U!  Go Utes!

We celebrated our first anniversary with a Hot Air Balloon Ride.....

....And followed tradition by eating the top tier of our wedding cake!

Our Second Year....

Les started nursing school.....

Keith made dinner almost every night, because he loved his very busy wife!

So it was smooth sailing.....

....and we still managed to have some fun!

Our Third Year....

Keith's job in sales made him feel like he was in JAIL,

So he made the decision to go to medical school to become a doctor.....

....Les was not so happy about that at first...

.....but we promised to always support each other no matter what!

So Keith took the MCAT and got accepted to Ross University.....

but there was one small catch....

We had to move to the West Indies and live on a little tiny island,

called Dominica.

Our Fourth Year.....

Keith started medical school in Dominica.....

.....Les graduated nursing school and became a nurse!

But the most important accomplishment was......

Our pregnancy!

Living in Dominica was an adventure....

 

....Keith lost weight...

.....probably because of Lesley's cooking :-(

The sights were amazing....

.....The fresh fruit and seafood market was delicious...

...The scuba diving was amazing...

....the people were friendly...

.....but the pets were creepy! 

Keith spend most of his time studying....

...and Les went to the pool! (when she wasn't too deathly sick)

It was very romantic at times....

.....because we saw the most BEAUTIFUL sunsets!

Other things were not so beautiful,

but they were part of the adventure, too!

Then, we had the opportunity to live in the bahamas for a semester...

....where the was civilization!  (and fresh milk, and air conditioning, and real grocery stores!)

The beaches were pristine....

....with the softest sand you can imagine!

Keith studied ALOT....(even if it was on the beach sometimes)

...while Les grew and grew and grew!

Then, Les went back to the states to get ready for baby....

 

....Luckily, Keith made it back for the birth!

 

And we welcomed Stryder Keith Harrop to our family!

Then just 6 weeks later, we moved to Miami for Keith's 5th semester....

...where we went to the beach every week!

Lesley loved being a mom.....

....and Keith loved being a dad.....

....and we had entirely too much fun that summer as a family!

Our Fifth Year...

We blessed our baby Stryder....

....moved again.....

....to Wisconsin, where Lesley is from!

Keith studied super hard and slaughtered his board exam....

....And started clinical rotations in Wisconsin!

Then another blessing came our way....

....a few weeks later, Les discovered she was expecting...AGAIN!

It was like Christmas morning, especially when we found out....

....that Stryder was going to have a baby BROTHER!

So...

 .....Happy Anniversary with another 5 years of adventure to come.....

....We love you very much!