Baby Brothers Arrival!

We are proud to announce the newest member of our family, Daniel Bradley Dover. He was born at 12:43 am September 8th 2011 at Mt Hood Legacy Hospital. At birth he was 7lbs 9 oz and 19 1/2 in long. He is so precious and snugly. We just can't get enough of him! Here is how Daniel's arrival happened. On Tuesday I was feeling a ton of pressure down there and was very uncomfortable all day. I had a feeling the labor would be soon. The next morning I started to have contractions that were uncomfortable enough to keep me from sleeping. I finally got out of bed at 6am. I took a bath, made breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and the contractions were staying. They were not regular though. The time between contractions would go anywhere from 12 mins apart to 3 mins apart in random order. I took a nap around 2:00pm and when I woke up the contractions were much stronger and staying in between 4 and 6 mins apart. At 8:00pm I decided that I wanted to check into the hospital to get in the tub because I was having a hard time relaxing. I was only at 4cm when I check in. I got in the tub at 9:40pm. It relaxed me so much the contractions really started coming more intense. Once they started stacking on top of each other with no time between I had had enough! I made the decision to get an epidural this time. I had such a horrible experience with my first labor and I was realizing that this was not how I wanted this labor to go. I got the epidural at 11:05pm. I was at a 6cm by this point. I was laying in bed and I started to feel a lot of pressure down there. After the 3rd time of feeling like something was coming out of me I told the nurse. My midwife came in and to all of our surprise my bag of water was coming out still in its bag! It had never broke. It was the weirdest thing ever! She moved the bag to the side and there was Daniel's head. She broke the water and 1 big push and a little push later he was out! I didn't even tear!! This time around I was only at the hospital for just under 4 hours by the time I had him. It was perfect. I am so happy with the way this labor went. It was a much happier experience and I don't regret any of the decisions I made.

KaeLynn was really unsure of us when Nana brought her to the hospital. All she wanted was for Nana to hold her. After a while she slowly was warming up to him. She started taking his blankets and hat off and wanted to look at every piece of him. It was real sweet. She even brought a little stuffed dog for him. She came again to see him and was much happier to see him the second time.
Daniel was having a real hard time nursing. We have been working with the lactation consultant and she has been real helpful. He is on the border line of being Jaundice so we are really working hard to get him to eat. We also are waiting to get him circumcised because that can also effect his eating. I have been so happy with Mt Hood Hospital and all their staff. They have really helped me feel taken of.

Last camping trip of the summer.... Sigh

Labor day weekend we had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful and the kids were great, and when they have fun that means the adults have a good time too!

KaeLynn, Eddi, and Leanne played at the large playground at the Hideaway. This place is loaded with fun things to do. KaeLynn got so dirty and had her only accident the whole weekend. She did amazing with her potty training this weekend. I was really worried, but she has come a long way.

I am now going on 39 weeks. I had a few contractions this weekend. Nothing serious and they went a way once I put my feet up in a chair, ate some food, and drank plenty of water.

Our set up on the waterfront was great. The water was really shallow where we were so we didn't have to worry about the children. Only down fall is the prop hit some rocks and damaged it for the rest of the weekend. Bummer! We still had fun. I couldn't play on the boat anyway.
It seems silly to say this is the last camping trip. That is how it usually is because summer weather is supposed to go away. But this week it is going to be in the 90's! Maybe I will have this baby and will be in a nice air conditioned hospital! Lets hope!!

Daniel's Baby Shower

My Wonderful sisters and mother in-law put on a baby shower for me last night. It was nice evening with my friends and family. Everyone was so kind and I got some much needed diapers, boy clothes, and blankets. We had a chocolate fountain and de

licious food to dip. Then Cathy brought out a chocolate and mint ice cream cake roll that was scrumptious! My oh my I look so swollen in these photos!! I had my 38 week check up that afternoon and everything looks to be going fine. I am even dilated 1cm! WooHoo!! All I need to do now is organize the baby clothes and then I am ready for this little man to enter the world. Oh I still need to pack my hospital bag. We are going to the lake this weekend, but I don't plan on playing on the toys. I will let Daniel come when he is ready. I hope the next post will be announcing his birth!

Cavan and KaeLynn Birthdays

This year we celebrated KaeLynn's Birthday early because her birthday is so close to the baby's due date. We celebrated Cavan's Birthday late because me moved on his birthday. And her cousin Celeste's birthday was on Sunday so we decided to combine them all together. It was a lot less stressful that way and KaeLynn did not seem to notice any different. We had a pretty good size pool in the back yard with a little water side that the kids had a blast in it! It was perfect for all the adults because we got to relax in the back yard and eat while they all played. Then Michelle made these really good ice cream cake rolls for the birthday cake. KaeLynn had so much fun with her cousins and friends. I can't believe she is turning 3 years old in a few weeks. She is such a sweet girl with such an outgoing personality. She sings all the time and actually knows the words to the songs. She will belch it out loud and clear when she feels like it no matter where we are. In Sacrament meeting it is the hardest. I feel bad for telling her to be quite because she really is so adorable and she is not being bad. But it is quite distracting for others sitting around us. She is a very smart girl and I plan on putting her in preschool probably in January. She loves animals real and stuffed along with baby dolls and nurtures them with so much love. She is going to be a great big sister. She is also the mother when around her friends. Always telling the kids when they are misbehaving or telling them how to act. It is very funny to watch. She is still a snuggle girl and loves her blankie. She has adapted to a smaller version of blankie which is very helpful. We are also trying potty training again. We are making progress, but it still is such a battle. She loves her family so much and ask daily to see her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I love this girl so much and I am so thankful that I have the privilege to her mother.

Mt Hood Railroad

This year Regency took their employees to the Mt Hood Railroad for a train ride. This was my last official event I had with this company. I quit on Tuesday and we moved back to Gresham. I could not be happier. It is such a relief to not be managing anymore. We feel great about our decision and I look forward to finally being a full time stay at home mom. The train ride was great. KaeLynn and Javen thought it was the coolest thing ever. The scenery was beautiful. The train was mobile as it swayed back and forth and I thought it would make me sick especially being prego but I did fine! Then the had these "robbers" come and steal out fake money. One of the robbers really like KaeLynn and let her keep her money. I don't blame him. Who can resist that cute face? He did steal some of her goldfish snacks and later at our lunch BBQ he stole one of my cherries! It was a nice day and I am really glad to end my job with Regency on a good memory.

Dover Family Pictures 2011

Here are a family pictures for this year. All the kids did surprisingly well. It was nice to have all the family together.

Camping at Mcgiver

We actually went on a camping trip that was not at Lake Merwin! We went to Mcgiver Park with Cavan siblings. It was so much fun and the weather was so perfect! I love nothing more than to relax in a camp chair outside in the beautiful outdoors, let the kids play in the dirt, read a good book and eat, eat, and eat!!! We went bike riding, hiking, and played in the river. The kids had so much fun. Cavan and his brothers also started to catch crawdads in the river and the kids loved it! Then we took them back and cooked them and some people at them. I was not interested. KaeLynn fell asleep on the way home and when she woke up and we were in our parking lot at home, she started crying "I want to go camping!" It was so sad! I forgot my camera so I got a few pics from Michelle to help us remember the wonderful weekend we had.