Dear Mylie,

Exactly one year ago today I was getting ready to go to the hospital to deliver you. I was scared to death because I would be delivering you Cesarean. You were due January 28th but like all delivery dates it's just an estimate. I had a doctors appointment a few days after your due date and found out that you had turned breech. This meant that a normal delivery wouldn't be an option. So, there I lay in the hospital bed waiting for your planned birth on February 2nd, 2008. Everything about the experience was frightening. The cold room, tying my arms down, the doctors covered from head to toe in blue/green suits, the blood tests to see if I was able to have a spinal. The hardest part was having to be separated from your Dad while I was given the spinal and prepped for surgery. When he returned I was able to breath again. He was my strength throughout the procedure. The moment they cut into my stomach your little hand popped through. The doctors told me that because you decided to do that it made the process of getting you out all that much harder.

Once they finally got you out I didn't get to see you until they cleaned you up, weighed you and made sure that you were healthy. It was almost agonizing to not be able to see you. All I could do was hear you crying. When they finally showed you to me I only got to take a brief glimpse as they put you to my face and then walked you out of the room. Your Dad went with you and got to spend the first few hours with you while I was taken to a recovery room. Slipping in and out of consciousness I recall thinking about you and remembering your little face. After two agonizing hours I was taken to my room and the nurse sent for you and Dad. When they brought you in and I got to hold you and see you I was finally at peace. I held your tiny little body in my arms and knew that you were mine and I instantly fell in love.

This last year has been interesting. Your first few months of life had been a little difficult. You cried a lot. I believe that you may have been slightly colicky for a few months. After those months passed you had immediately transformed into the perfect, sweet, happy little baby. You have brought much happiness into my life and your Dad's life. I am so glad that you are my daughter and look forward to watching you grow and develop your sweet little personality. Just last week you took your first steps. I am not anxious for you to grow up too quickly but I am excited to be here with you and for you as you experience all the new things that your little body can do. I can't wait to hear you talk, see you walk and watch you play. Always know that we love you. Happy 1st Birthday my sweet little Mylie!

Love Always,

Mom

Kelly's New Hobby

Since visiting Bryan in Arizona the beginning of this month Kelly has developed a new hobby. There is a new store in the Ontario Mills Mall called the Lego store. It's actually pretty cool. It's amazing what they can do with Lego's now a days. When we visited Bryan he had put together the Death Star, hope I got that name right. It was actually pretty amazing and took him I believe 22 hours to put together. Kelly had purchased Anakin's Jedi Starfighter while in Arizona. The picture above is Darth Vader's Tie-Fighter that we got a few days ago. With the kids "help" I think it took him a little over an hour to put together.

I had to go to the grocery store last night and when I came home Kelly had finished building his Tie-Fighter and was playing war with Hunter who had his Batman Helicopter. The little red spots on the Tie-Fighter is actually a gun that shoots out when you push a button and Kelly...err, Darth Vader was attacking Batman with his gun. It was funny to see but also very cute. Wish I took a picture of them playing.

Few Weeks in Review

The last few weeks have been somewhat of a blurr. The excited energy of Christmas had come and gone so fast that we almost missed the opportunity to enjoy the season. To enjoy the lights, the shopping and the festive moods of those around us. The week before Christmas however seemed to put us in a Christmas mode as we prepared to enjoy the day that so rapidly approached. We had the pleasure to see family from out of state and enjoy the company and friendship of both families that visited. While we were enjoying family on Christmas Eve we had a brief visit from Santa himself who told the kids that if they went to bed when they got home he would make another stop at their house. He was true to his word for when the kids woke up he had brought Hunter a bike, Kora a new baby doll (daw-wee) and Mylie a musical train. It was a very fun day that was unfortunately hampered by rain. Hunter had to wait till the day after Christmas to finally break his bike in.

The week following Christmas was also a blurr. In fact, I can't really recall much of what happened. Kelly had 5 days off for Christmas, which we mostly lounged around and enjoyed each other's company.

On New Years Eve Kelly flew up to Arizona to visit his brother Bryan and go to a Bowl game while the kids and I drove up. It took me almost 8 hours to get up there. With traffic, 4 stops and losing an hour it really added up. When we finally got there the kids were so anxious to get out of the car and play with their cousin Bryce that they almost made it to midnight to ring in the new year. The adults had a different plan. We put the kids to bed and played Rock Band until a little after midnight. We were in the middle of "Highway to Hell" as midnight came upon us. We had a wonderful time visiting the B Kerr's, so much so that it made it hard to leave because we were having such a good time with them.

So, here we are in 2009 with much to anticipate. Mylie will be turning 1 in February. We have a new niece to be born in May. Kora will be starting Preschool in August. Hunter will be starting Kindergarten in September. We hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and are excited to hear about your 2009 adventures as we share you ours.

Happy New Year!

Let Me Know

Hunter's favorite phrase lately is "Let Me Know". When he asks if dinner is ready and we say not yet his reply, "Let me know". If we tell him he can't have candy right now, his reply, "let me know"...when it's okay. He really is a hoot.

As we were driving home last night Hunter asked Kelly a little bit about his work. Here is a little on how the conversation went.

Hunter: "Dad, you have to go to work tomorrow?"
Kelly: "Yes, I have to go to work tomorrow."
Hunter: "You go to work all day?"
Kelly: "Yes, all day buddy."
Hunter: "What do you do all day?"
Kelly: "I'm an accountant. I count money."
Hunter: "Let me know when you count to 40, okay!"

I'm still interested in why 40. I love these every day conversations. They make me laugh.

I Peady Mom

When I put my makeup on it isn't unusual for the girls to go through my makeup bag and play with (but not put on) my makeup. Yesterday as I was putting my makeup on, my phone rang. Kora left the bedroom while I was talking on the phone and then I hear Kelly knocking on the outside of the bathroom door upstairs. He opened it and I heard him say "go get the camera". Kora comes running up to me and says "I Peady Mom" as she handed me my tube of mascara. All I could tell her was "yep, you're gorgeous!"

The Start of Something New

This picture was taken a little over 2 years ago when Kelly completed his Bachelors degree from University of Phoenix. Kelly and his brother, Bryan completed their Bachelors degrees just months apart and had the opportunity to actually walk together during the University of Phoenix graduation ceremony. In May of 2007 Kelly started classes at University of Wisconsin Whitewater to get his Masters Degree via the Internet. Today he is officially done. His final test was today and he is now, done with school. He opted to not walk in Wisconsin so I will have to settle with the graduation pictures I took when he received his Bachelors degree. We are so proud of him. He has worked so hard and he is finally DONE. Yay! This is actually very new for us because he has been going to school since the day we dated. I wonder what he will do with all of his free time?


Kelly, we are so proud of you. Congratulations! Thank you for all your hard work. We love you!

-Nicole, Hunter, Kora & Mylie

It's a Boy!

We have just adopted a 15 Month old BOY. He's Blond with Brown Eyes and very BIG. He's already Potty Trained and gets along well with the other kids. Kora is scared to death of him but she's getting better. Hunter is absolutely in love and Mylie crawls all over him. Kelly is so excited to have this new addition to our family that you can literally see the excitement and love on his face. It's adorable. Here is a picture of him and Mylie.

We were in a store up in Carson City, Nevada when a woman walked up to Kelly and I and asked us if we wanted a 15 month old, Potty Trained, Good with Kids, Golden Labrador....for Free. Kelly and I looked at each other and told her how very tempting the offer was. We got her number and talked it over and called her almost 15 minutes later telling her we wanted him. We drove up to a meeting point and picked him up. His previous owner called him Chico but we decided to rename him. Because we were made the offer in Carson City we decided that he should be named Carson. He really is a great dog. After being around a psycho, hyper, destructo dog named Joy, I was a little hesitant about getting a dog but Carson seems to fit in perfectly. He's very tame and the fact that he's already potty trained made the choice even easier. He actually made a 9 hour car ride home without going once (even though we stopped several times so he could go). Once we got home Kelly took him for a walk and then he went. His previous owner said he's a chewer but as long as he has some chew toys he wont destroy anything else. I'm hoping this is true. We'll have to see.

As for our trip up to Minden, Nevada to see Kelly's Nani and Papa...it was great as usual. The kids loved being with Nani and Papa and cousins and family. Hunter's favorite part was playing with Nani and Papa's dog, Sunny. He spent the entire day playing with her that he actually got sick Friday from being out in the cold. He was heart broken when we told him that he couldn't play outside with her any more because he was sick. You could only imagine his excitement when we told him we met Santa and he brought him (and our family)an early Christmas present. When we were getting ready to leave he kept a good hold on Carson's leash asking if we could get him and take him to "our house". He was going to make sure we didn't forget him.

We had a wonderful time with Nani and Papa and as usual it was way too fast. We had fun with the Perucci family who also came up to visit. Going up for Thanksgiving has been sort of a tradition we've kept for a few years. We love it. Hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!