A little bit of fall...

With a baby named Autumn, I had to make an effort to get some fall pictures...

 

Halloween... Austin was Dumbledore from Harry Potter and Andrew was Steve from Minecraft...

 Autumn is one of her Halloween outfits...

Watching the Cardinals lose the World Series...

Our little girl, Autumn Grace

On the morning of Friday September 27, I was having some discomfort that my wise husband thought was labor... After some prompting and tears, he convinced me to go to labor and delivery.  Okay, actually, he came home and made me go with him... And had already called our parents to tell them we were going, if he hadn't I would have talked myself out of it... In my mind it was still too soon, even though the others came at 36 weeks, I had convinced myself this time would I would go longer.   I would highly recommend Boone Hospital... The nurses we had were great, and I was lucky that my doctor was on call that night as well.  It was like it was meant to be...

I will never forget Randy telling me "it's a girl!"  I absolutely love my boys, but those words, for this baby, were pure sweetness.  We named her Autumn because I love the season of Fall, and have always loved the name.  I knew if we had a girl we had to name her Grace.  In the Christian definition Grace is "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings."  It is the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it.

It is by Grace that I have 3 healthy happy babies, my boys are wonderful kids, and now to have a little girl...

It is by Grace that I have a husband that loves me, and after 13 years of marriage we celebrate with a baby and not a divorce...

It is by Grace that our parents and siblings are all alive and healthy...

I could go on for a long time, but Grace is something that I feel every day, and I couldn't imagine a better name for our little girl!

Autumn being weighed...

Randy didn't tell the boys if it was a boy or girl.  So we brought them in first, and here was their reaction when they saw the pink hat...

They got to go back to the waiting room to tell the grandparents...

It's a girl!!!

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Autumn

On September 27, at 10:29 pm, we welcomed a little girl into our family... Autumn Grace.  She was 6lbs 5.8 oz and 18 1/2 inches inches long, and she has stolen our hearts.

We didn't find out if we were having a boy or girl, so along with being 4 weeks early, she was a beautiful surprise!  I haven't found a lot of time to take or download pictures, but I wanted to share a few that I love...

A few more of my boys

There were a few more pictures of my boys I was going to share...

Maternity Photos!

I've never had photos done while pregnant... So I really wanted to do some this time! I have done our own family pictures before with a tripod and a remote clicker, but these were pretty difficult.  When your pregnant, it's all about angles, and it's hard to see those when your not behind the camera!  The boys both got to try their hand at photography... They took the ones of just me and Randy.  Anyway, I was excited to share!

A night for the boys

As soon as we knew we would go out to California, Randy knew he would go to a baseball game (or games). So when we looked at the schedules for the California teams and saw that we could possibly see the Cardinals play...and it would be the first series played against Albert Who?... Randy got tickets! 

So on July 3, Randy and Doug took all the boys to see the Anaheim Angels play the St Louis Cardinals in Anaheim, California.  It turned out to be a great game for a Cardinal fan, as the Cards won 12-2!  The boys all had a great time (including Randy and Doug)!

Our Vacation

Thanks to the invite of some wonderful friends, our family went on vacation. 

A simple statement, a simple thing: vacation. 

The truth is, we have never taken a family vacation.  I guess the last time we did was our honeymoon (almost 13 years ago)... and that was before the boys were born.  The only time Austin has ever been out of the state of Missouri was a trip to Cahokia Mounds 15 minutes from St Louis, and when we crossed the state line into Kansas to pick up Randy's truck. 

So our trip was kind of a big deal to us!  Our friends, Doug and Christina had told us we were welcome to come and stay with them, so we took them up on it! They have 3 boys that are very close in age to ours, and we only see them when they make it back to Missouri, so it was great to get to spend time with their family.

We flew out there, and I think everyone should have the experience of taking a child on their first airplane ride...it was so much fun to see their excitement!  After layovers going there and back, they are both veterans at loading and unloading, watching for the seatbelt sign, and taking out liquids at security.  I think their favorite part, though, was picking out which drink they would order when the flight attendant came by.... That and take off...

I wasn't sure what I would think of California, and I have to say it was not at all what I expected.  They live in the Temecula Valley, which is about an hour south of Riverside, and an hour North of San Diego... but inland, not on the coast.  It was dry and really reminded me of being in the desert!  It was a great location for going and seeing things, though, as we were about an hour's drive from many places.  We were pretty much on or in the water every day, and even though we went to NO amusement parks or attractions that the area is known for, I think we got to see California for it's beauty and charm.  I think it will be something the boys will always remember....

Our first day at the ocean, we went to the beach by the pier in Oceanside, CA...

The water was kind of cold at first!

Austin trying to bury Andrew in the sand...

A view from the pier

My boys watching the surfers