Summer 2

Another highlight of our summer is that we were able to go out to the east coast to Washington D.C. for a week and have a "skinner" reunion. It was lots of fun. Everyone stayed at my sister Morgan's house including my parents, my 6 siblings and their spouses (well 4 spouses) and all 11 grandchildren. Unfortunately Uncle Corde was busy with the rodeo thing and wasn't able to make it. We went to the D.C. Zoo, got a private tour of the Pentagon ( thanks to my brother in law Tim), and watched the fireworks in front of the U.S. Capital at the National Mall. We also went to Virginia Beach and got a little tan and a lot of red in my case. Bridger loved the beach but unfortunately with his fair skin and bleach blonde hair, he wasn't mistaken for a "local" there. He had lots of fun hanging out with his cousins and playing in the sand. We plan to take a family trip this fall to another beach because we had so much fun.. Each night we stayed up and laughed for hours because of childhood memories, engagement stories, and anything else we could think of. We are looking forward to another reunion and maybe at the next one Jos, Corde and Jewls will all be married and we can listen to their engagement stories and get to know their spouses...

Summer 1

Apparently a few people do read this blog because I was once again reminded today that I need to update it with new pictures. I swore once I graduated I would have more time on my hands and keep up with this blogging stuff, my house would be clean all the time and I would be more organized. Well so far, none of those things have been accomplished.

Summer is flying by and unfortunately between Jers' schedule and mine, we haven't been able to boat as much as we would like. It seems like everyday we have off together the weather isn't cooperating so we end up staying home and just hanging out together-which is fine with us except that we enjoy boating. Last month we were able to take the boat out a few times and we camped over night at Lake De Smet (about 75 miles west of Gillette) with Lucas and his 2 kids, little Grandma, Jewls and her friend, Jordan. The weather was perfect. We took the boat out on the lake around 8p.m. the first night which was chilly yet the lake appeared like glass which is fun to tube on :) Here are the pictures from our boating excursions so far this year....

Well folks....

It's official. I am Gillette, Wyoming's newest RN (Registered Nurse)! I took my boards yesterday and walked out of there thinking I failed. We got home from Denver last night about 9:45 after I stressed the entire 5 hours in the car. Jeremy would try and talk to me and I was in a daze... I woke up this morning and being anxious/curious I checked the Wyoming State Board of Nursing and there was my name and my license number! I am so relieved! These past 2 years have paid off....Now Jeremy can quit his job, NOT! Now I can enjoy my free time with my boys though!

The best BIG brother

Bridger got strep throat yesterday and ran a fever all last night. (Jeremy and I have both had Strep in the past few weeks, no surprise Bridger got it) He is such a trooper when he is sick and luckily the antibiotics have kicked in so he is feeling much better.

Bridger is busy adjusting to life with a little brother. He loves Connor most of the time. He loves giving him kisses and belly blowers- I can't say Connor enjoys them as much as he does though :) He will say funny things such as "Odessa, are you going to get your fussy baby?" whenever Connor is crying. Oh by the way, he is back to calling us Odessa & Jeremy instead of mom and dad. It started around the time Connor was born so I figure it will pass with time. He holds Connor a couple of times each day and loves for me to hold the 2 of them and read books. Bridger gets upset with Connor when he cries because he can't hear me reading the story. He finishes up preschool this Friday for the summer, he has really enjoyed school these past 9 months and really loves his teacher Ms. Danielle.

In the past few weeks, Bridger has asked when I have school again so he can go play with his Grandma Joyce. I need to be better about taking him over there just to play, as it has been a huge adjustment for him to have me around 24/7! We have our moments and I have to remember he needs my love the most right now as it can be hard for him to share my attention with Connor. He tells me almost everyday how he can't wait for Connor to get big so they can wrestle, these words are all too familiar. Jeremy used to say the same thing about Bridger! All these boys, gotta love em'

Coniferous

Sometimes I call Connor, Coniferous (thanks to Jewls and her friend Jordan). Bridger even named a stuffed animal that G&G Jensen gave him, Coniferous. Connor is already 7 weeks old and he's growing like a weed. Here are his statistics which most of them are courtesy of the public health visits (see post below)

April 1st (birth).... 6#10.4 oz.

April 4th................ 6#5 oz.

April 19th.............. 7# 9 oz.

April 26th.............. 8# 8 oz.

May 13th............... 9# 9 oz.

May 24th.............. 10# 5 oz.

Jeremy always calls him a little chunk but he is a great eater (I must feed him pure cream) and a great sleeper. He sleeps 6-7 hours at night and sleeps in until 8-9 in the morning, it's lovely! He also sleeps most of the day still. He still has a full head of dark hair and more grows in daily. He loves to be held and loves hearing Bridgers' voice. Here are some pictures....

The chubby little legs are my favorite even though I love looking at his cute little feet! This picture was taken last week at my Grandma Gilberts' house. (5/19)

(5/10) There was a picture shortage due to studying for finals.

The picture above was taken on 4/22

These 2 pictures are only a week apart (4/11 & 4/18) I think the chubby little cheeks popped up during this period....

The picture below was taken on 4/4 and the one above on 4/5

I know I know, this is VERY past due

It has been 7 weeks since I posted, I know this because Connor is 7 weeks old! Let's recap the month of April. I had Connor on April 1st, went home from the hospital April 2nd, and went back to school April 4th.

Quick story- Before leaving the hospital after delivering a baby, each woman must fill out this sheet that goes to public health ,because here in Gillette we are fortunate enough to have grant programs that allow public health nurses to make welcome home visits for new moms free of charge! I did it with Bridger and am currently having a nurse come weigh/measure Connor every couple of weeks. Funny thing, my clinical day on April 5th was at Public Health and right when I got there one of the nurses received my paper. I thought her jaw was going to hit the floor when she asked if I just had a baby April 1st. I smiled and said yep that would be me :) I than explained that I was 4 weeks from graduating and just wanted to finish up so I wouldn't have any make-ups and was able to do so because of my wonderful husband, see next paragraph

Jeremy is the most amazing husband ever. He took 2 weeks off from work to stay home with the boys so I could finish my school and clinical hours.

I graduated from Nursing School May 7th, it was a very exciting day :) Bridger and Jeremy pinned me with my R.N. pin, I cried a little but mostly was all smiles as I am very glad to be done! There is no way I could have completed the last 2 years without my family. They were all so great to me. Jeremy pushed me to finish and made fun of me when I would fail a test :( My mother in law Joyce for keeping Bridger & Connor while I was in school and many times while I studied, I couldn't have made it without her! Little Grandma for listening to me cry and tell her I want to drop out and her sweet constant reminders that I could do it! My dad for his "Yippee" texts when I would pass a test even when it was with a C. All my siblings for their calls/texts to make sure I was still alive and kicking. It was a tough 2 years but I made it, I even received the Clinical Excellence Award!

Here are a few pictures from my pinning ceremony and graduation...

I was all smiles as you can see above

The cutest family at my pinning ceremony

This is my friend Janell from nursing school. We sat next to each other all 4 semesters and have grown pretty close. She talks as much if not more than I do so as you can imagine, we had tendencies to distract each other, but we both made it!

Friday night walking across the stage!

My friend Kellie and I.

Jeremy was all smiles as he is just as excited as I am to be done with this crazy journey!

Arbar has arrived...

From This...

To this...
This is "Arbar" except we named him Connor Ernest. He arrived April 1st, 2010 at 12:26 p.m. He weighed 6lbs. 10.4 ounces and was 19" long! (Who would've thought Jeremy & I would have an April's Fools Day Baby?)
Bridger was a little nervous coming to see us after I had the baby. In fact when we told him on the phone that his name was Connor, he told Jeremy "Please change it back to Arbar!" We just giggled. He really didn't want to hold Connor but I think it was because as you can see from the pictures he looked a little rough from delivery. He is very cute and we are excited he is here!

He has a head full of dark hair and has dark complexion. I am trying to figure out where all that came from. I am going to get out our baby pictures as well as one of Bridger so we can compare.

I will post more pictures later, I just wanted to get them out here for all of you who don't have updated cellphones that can receive picture messages :)