Jones Family Adventures

The Jones Family joined us for Thanksgiving and to enjoy some festivities during Kensie's blessing time.  We were so lucky to have them all here and had a blast. We started our adventures with a hike to the wind caves. The girls were champs and Macy hiked the whole way, while Syd had fun getting anyone and everyone to carry her up the mountain. 

 Kensie wasn't as sure about the hiking and the wind caves but we'll add it to her list of firsts. 

 We always look at Tempe Town Lake while we're driving down the 10 and love the look of it but haven't taken the time to stop by.  It's an awesome park and the lake is absolutely beautiful.  We spent a good hour cruising the lake on a party boat while a few of the kids braved the wind in the paddle boats.  Syd thought she would like it but Macy ended up loving it!  Syd enjoyed driving the boat with papa a lot more. 

Perhaps one of the best adventures though, was horseback riding up at Saguaro Lake.  We took an hour and a half ride through the desert and the Mesquite trees.  It was quite beautiful.  Tim felt a little held back when he had to keep his horse in line and wanted to take off for a little trot.

Pilgrim Girl

What can I say besides Macy loves preschool!  She comes home with all sorts of fun things that she's done and this is just one CUTE example.  For their thanksgiving day fun, Miss Peggy had the kids dress up as pilgrims and make pumpkin pie.  Macy was so excited to have her own petite pumpkin pie. Yet after tasting it, she decided that she liked Costco's pumpkin pie better.

Family Pictures 2013

I've been eyeing this cute little barn/store down the street from us for a good month or so, just waiting for Kensie to make her appearance so that we could take new family pictures.  I'm loving the look of the weathered wood.  

Kensie's Blessing Day

Our sweet little Kensie was blessed today by Tim.  He was joined by Arlin Jones, Jim Schmidt, Justin Gorvein, Mike Schmidt, and Arthur Schmidt.  Tim blessed Kensie with many different things which were written down for us by one of our friend's moms. They included:

We bless you spiritually-- to be spiritually attune and regularly exercise

            the power of discernment

We bless you to recognize all that is good, holy and spiritual

We bless you to be an asset to your family

We bless you to know who to trust, befriend and build good relationships

 with—surround yourself with good people

We bless you to easily understand what God’s messages are for you

We bless you to communicate well with others and to be an effective and

Positive communicator--It will enrich your life and the lives of

others

We bless you with a physical blessing—enjoy the talents and physical

abilities and build your talents

We bless you mind that you can think clearly and that you will love the

power of learning and the power of thought

We bless you to be humble and confident.

We feel so blessed to have so many of our close friends and family able to join us for Kensie's special day and for them to sacrifice to be able to be here with Kensie.

 Our happy smiley girl!

Just some of the family and friends that joined us for Kensie's day.  

My mom made Kensie's dress. It's was beautiful!

We love you our little Kensington!

Big Sisters

Macy and Sydney spent the night with Grammy and Papa Schmidt while Kensie and I were in the hospital. They were there for two days and loved it to pieces.  They are such good big sisters and came home with birthday gifts for their new sister.

Meet Kensington

D - Day

Our a couple weeks of high blood pressure, Tim and I have been waiting for the doctor to give us the okay to just go in and have this little girl.  My blood pressures had been high consistently since 36 weeks but they manage to come down with rest and taking it easy.  Mixed with a lot of swelling but no other symptoms, the doctor was concerned but not enough to do anything yet.  

At my 38 weeks appointment, a couple days after my mom got into town, the doctor scheduled us an appointment to go in and be induced.  My appointment was made for Monday night and we were extremely excited!  Unfortunately, that morning, Tim woke up with a bit of the flu bug and went to bed as soon as he got home, hoping to feel better in time to make our 8:00 p.m. appointment at the hospital.  Half an hour before our scheduled appointment, just as we were getting ready to head out the door, the hospital called and delayed our appointment until they had room at the hospital. They said it could be hours or it could in the morning. We weren't really sure what to expect so we headed to bed. At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, we got the call that the delivery rooms had been cleared out and we could make our way into the hospital.  Tim was extremely excited, and was feeling quite a bit better, that she would be born that day. (He had been telling me that she should be born on 11/12/13 for a good month and he was right.) 

We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. and settled while they admitted us and got us settled in our room. They started the pitocin around 8:00 a.m. and we got comfy thinking we had hours before she would make her appearance, as was the case with our other two girls (who both took approximately 14 hours). At 9:00 a.m., Dr. Beck came in and checked on us and broke my water.  He said I was still dilated to a 3 and we got even comfier.  My mom had stayed home with the girls and drove them around to their dance classes that morning and came in for a visit after.  The girls and my mom arrived at the hospital around 11:30 and kept us company for about half an hour before Tim took off with the girls to find a McDonalds for lunch.  My contractions weren't too bad at this point and I could talk through them and was pretty comfortable still.  I could feel them but wasn't concerned that our little girl was coming anytime soon.

Within 15 minutes of Tim leaving, my contractions hit hard and fast.  Around 12:30, I asked the nurse for some IV pain killers and was judging whether or not I wanted to get an epidural.  The nurse started prepping the delivery table, which was extremely surprising to me, and paused long enough to check me again and tell me that I was at a 10 and ready to have this baby.  My mom made a very alarming phone call to Tim, half crying, and telling him that he better come back to the hospital because it was happening.  Tim was freaking out on the other end of the phone trying to figure out if we (The baby and I) were okay because my mom kept crying.  She kept telling him that everything was okay but he better hurry back.  The doctor was called in and Kensie was born within minutes of Dr. Beck coming into the room.  

Poor Tim, got another phone call, about 10 minutes after the first one, from me this time.  He was just getting on the freeway about a mile from the hospital and was surprised when I told him that we had a healthy baby girl and that she was already here.  The doctor was already gone by the time Tim got back to the hospital with the girls....  It was incredible how quick she made her appearance. Start to finish, Kensie was born a mere 5 hours after they started the pitocin.  Tim was even more bummed about the fact that he missed Kensie's birth....  mostly because I had Kensie without an epidural and he missed all of the pain and screaming and everything.  I can't say that I would do it again without an epidural but i'm feeling very blessed that the worst of it only lasted 45 minutes and two pushes.  Someone was definitely looking out for us!

Our little Kensington Schmidt was born at 12:55 on 11/12/13 (a pretty awesome birthday) weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20-3/4 inches long.