Sweet moments

We went home to Waco for Christmas and had a wonderful time with family and friends. There were a few instances that were especially sweet. Rayleigh met her maw-maw and two great grandmothers for the first time. It was so sweet seeing her maw-maw hold her. She usually keeps her hands very close to herself and can be hard for us to move but when we tried to give her Rayleigh to hold she dropped them down into a cradle hold position. She held her tight for quite a while, which is great since she doesn't regularly use those muscles. It was like she really knew and understood who this little baby was. It was a very sweet and touching moment.

Maw-maw with her boys & Rayleigh

Paw-Paw, Maw-Maw and Rayleigh The Leutwyler cousins- can you say trouble??

On Christmas eve we always go to my grandmothers. I have many special memories of these times and am sad that the day is nearing for that tradition to end, hopefully we have another five years or more though. Rayleigh is grandmas 14th great grandchild. While we were there we did a 4 generation picture. I hope Rayleigh can look at these pictures later and see the love in their eyes.

Here is Rayleigh with ma-maw. I can't even begin to count how many great grand kids she has as she even has great-great grand kids! Since she is blind she can't see Rayleigh but loved holding her and seeing her through sweet touches and descriptions. These moments are priceless.

I would love for Rayleigh to be able to grow up knowing these amazing women, but if not we have these pictures to document their love. God has blessed us immensely with wonderful family and friends and we are forever grateful.

The joy of baking

Yesterday the boys and I did some holiday baking. I was not up for the whole cut out cookie thing with the decorating and mess so we opted for a few other yummy goodies. We decided to make some chocolate chip cookies, chocolate no bake drop cookies (my personal favorite), brownies and coconut macaroons. They all turned out really well. Logan's teacher will be the lucky recipient of some of these goodies. It is a great inexpensive teacher gift and who doesnt like baked goods??? They all did really well, they love to help bake and cook. The only thing they are not good at is helping with the clean up ;) The one thing the boys do clean up is the beaters, they do a great job and then they are the ones needing cleaned up. They are also very good at cleaning up all the food! Between them and Dusty I am not sure how long everything will last. Here a few pictures of the cooks.

Dalton is very proud of his creations!

Kaleb is sharing his fun day with Nana, while Dalton contimplates eating yet another cookie.

Logan being very precise in mixing the macaroon mixture.

Mmmm, yummy condensed milk. Can you say fattening??

A little blurry, but a very proud cook.

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This will most likely be my last post before Christmas so I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!! We will be heading out to Waco on Sunday night for a week. It will be a fun time. We will be able to see family and friends who will be able to finally meet Rayleigh. I am really looking forward to getting pictures of her with her great-grandmothers and especially her Maw-Maw (Dusty's mom). I only wish that she would be able to understand and recognize her as her new granddaughter. She always wanted a little girl but had 4 boys instead. I know she would be overjoyed with a granddaughter. We gave Rayleigh her middle name, Marie, in honor of her and my mom.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone, we love you!!!

Rayleigh in her Christmas dress from Aunt Julie.

She is so cute in this, but the hat is huge!

Our little princess.

2 weeks already?!?!

I cannot believe it has already been 2 wks since Rayleigh was born. Time is really going by too fast, or it could be that I haven't slept much so the days are just running together. We had her 2 wk appt on Friday and she is doing well. She is not an eater at all, she eats between 1-3 oz every 3-4 hours, so different than the boys who started out at 4oz every 2-3 hours. So with her light eating habits I wasnt surprised to find out that she has not gained any weight since leaving the hospital, she is still 6lbs 13oz, but she has grown 2 inches to 20.5 in. She really is a great baby. The only problem we are having is she has her days and nights confused so that means no sleep for me, but as Dusty says, we can sleep when we are dead. But, boy can it really wear you down! The boys are still so in love with her. I spend a lot of my time telling them to leave her alone. They always want to touch her and kiss her. Kaleb is the only one who really leaves her alone for the most part. He will give her hugs and kisses but really just isnt impressed by her like the other two. Dalton is my big helper, he is always trying to find ways to help with her be it throwing away dirty diapers to making sure she has her passy when she starts to fuss. We really are blessed to have her a part of our family and to have such wonderful, loving boys. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

This was her first bath, I was surprised she didnt fuss more.

Dalton was my photographer for this picture.

Introducing Rayleigh Marie Leutwyler

Rayleigh Marie Leutwyler made her debut on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 6:41am. She was a little bitty thing weighing in at 7 lbs even and 18 1/2 inches long.
We went into the Hospital Thursday night, close to midnight, after having contractions from my appointment on. We were admitted right away and I was dilated to a "strechy" 5 almost a 6. They put me on oxygen right away and I had to lay on my side. They said her heart rate was really fast, between 170-185 and didnt have much variability. It pretty much ran in a straight line on the monitor instead of jumping around a bit. Not a big concern. By 2:30 I was ready for my epidural, pain was getting pretty rough and I was super tired. By 3 I was at an 8, but my water had not broke yet. It was super bulgy and the nurse thought it would break at any moment and then the baby would be here so she cut down my epidural drip to basically nothing. Well, my water would not break and it was about 5:45 and I felt everything. She checked me again about 6:15 and I was complete so she called the doctor, who took his time coming. Finally, I was given the okay to push around 6:35 and my water broke and then with the next contraction I pushed and out came sweet Rayleigh in one fail swoop. We are home now and the boys are totally enamored by her, they will not leave her side and want to do everything for her. She is already on the path of spoiled little sister.

This is it!!!!

Okay, so I went to the doctor this afternoon and Rayleigh will be here tomorrow!!! I went in and was 4cm dialated. He asked about my contractions so I informed him of how many and often I have been having them. We decided to strip my membranes to try to give my body a little help. He told me I could have contractions right away and if I didnt have her tonight I could go to the ER at anytime as they would not turn me away. By the time I got home the doctor had called my house and told my mom if I did not have her tonight that I need to come in tomorrow morning after 7am and L&D would be waiting for me. He doesnt think it would take much of anything for me to have her, if he had to he would break my water and that is all it would take. So, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, Rayleigh will be here by tomorrow!!! Yeah, I am so ready and so excited!

Halloween pictures....finally

Our proud hunter

After seeing Logan's gear Kaleb realllllly wanted to be a cowboy. He is so cute!

Not the best picture of our crew, but here is our cowboy, construction worker and hunter.

They walked down the block and to the church (about 2 blocks away) for trunk or treat. Dusty was willing to stay out longer with them but they had there fill.

Our book worm

Logan loves to read, he just cannot get enough of it. He does such a great job with it too. At school he is already where they want the kids to be at the end of first grade. He has moved up two reading groups so far this year. They take AR tests and he is always ready to take his test. His teacher said if all her kids were like Logan she would have a very easy day. He will pull a book out whenever the opportunity arrises. When at school and they have a water and potty break, he does what he needs and then pulls out his book and reads until class begins again. When he gets home, other than playing outside it is his favorite thing to do. He will pull any book he can find and read it. One day he pulled out the bible and started reading Genesis. Not sure how much he understood, but he was doing it. That made us very proud to say the least. The other boys even go to him to read them a story before them come to us at times. If you can't tell, we are very proud of our little boy.

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A quick update on me and baby, no change. I am 3 cm dialated and 85% effaced. I had contractions every 5-10 minutes last night, hoping it would be the night, but they faded away, again. No matter what happens we will have our little girl next Tuesday. I am still hoping and praying she comes naturally on her own before that time.

Leutwyler Stubbornness

Leutwyler stubbornness, that is what this little girl has. I think she is enjoying causing me to be miserable. I am still having contractions, late this afternoon and tonight they have been between 10-15 minutes apart still. My stomach muscles hurt so bad, my back hurts and my calf muscles hurt from all of the charlie horses I have been having and I am exhausted. I am so ready to be through with this part of things. A lot of my family is saying she is waiting to be born on my birthday, which is Friday. I hope she comes very very soon, even if that means we end up sharing a birthday. I don't think I can handle this for two more weeks when my induction is scheduled. Sorry for the whine fest, anyone have some cheese they can spare??? So, anyway, still no baby, please keep us in your prayers, I could use some right about now.

Qucik update

Just wanted all to know there is still no baby. I am still having contractions but they had tapered off a bit. Dusty wouldn't let me walk or do things to keep them going and strengthen them because he was afraid of the wrath of Nana if I had the baby before she arrived. She is here now so he says I can do whatever I want, and I have been. I have been staying super busy today doing things I probably shouldn't but am ready to meet her and get my body back. I will try and get on before we head to the hospital, whenever that may be.

Will this be the weekend Rayleigh makes her debut?

So, I just wanted to write a quick update. I went to the doctor yesterday and I dialated just a little more, now at 2.5 cm, but my cervix has ripened quite a bit, went from 0 to 80% in a week and she is engaged. I have had contractions about 10-15 minutes apart all day and they are begining to become a little stronger. Rayleigh may just decide to make her grand appearance this weekend. If this is the case, I am more than ready. I will try to keep you updated and write a note before we head to the hospital if I can.
Also, pics of the boys halloween will be coming soon. I need Dusty's help and he has been working crazy hours this week. Love to you all!

My 35 week appointment

Well, yesterday I went in for my 35 week ob appointment. I was 35 weeks 2 days. Things are looking good, Rayleigh has a strong heartbeat and still is measuring a little large, about a week and a half to two weeks. You know I can't have an average size baby. Well they also had to do the group b strep test on me so I got ready. When the doctor came in we were chatting about things just a little and I told her that i have had a lot more pressure and the braxton hicks were getting more frequent and uncomfortable. She decided that she would go ahead and check my cervix while she was at it. I have had contractions for about 7-8 weeks now and she said she wanted to know what was going on and not end up surprised. Well, we were both a bit surprised at what she found. Rayleigh has already dropped and is very low ( I could tell, I feel like I have to hold her in at times). I am also 2cm dialated already! My cervix has not thinned out any yet, but that is not a big deal. She said I could have her at any time and that they would not stop labor if it was to happen, though they would like for me to get to at least 37 weeks. So she wants me to take it easy until that point and then I can do whatever it is I want to try to further things along. Not that I could do much, I can barely walk at this point. We went to Wal-mart this morning and it about killed me, pathetic I know. So that also means I do not get to go out with the boys tonight for Halloween. I will stay home and pass out candy while Dusty takes them around. He was out of town last year and missed the whole thing, so this will be his year. Anyway, back to Rayleigh, she may make her appearance sooner than we expected, but if she wants to be a stinker and stay put they are going to induce me on Tuesday November 25, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. So please keep us in your prayers that everything works out for the best!

Logan is a big boy now

Logan is 6 years old now, which means he gets to do more big boy things. He really wanted to help his daddy mow the lawn so we let him have a go at it. He loved every minute. He was so proud of himself. He is still a little short, but he made it up with heart. Now Dalton is biting at the bit for his chance, but he will have to wait a bit yet.

A day at the park

I thought I would start off by showing some pictures of the boys. We have a cute little park by us and we decided to take the boys for a picnic about a month ago. The park has a littel pond that is full of ducks, and the boys loved it! They fed them all of the bread we had plus half of their lunch. Logan and Dalton were a little skiddish of them at first but, of course Kaleb had no reservations at all. He chased them all over the place and would feed them right out of his hand. He even fell in a couple of times while trying to get closer to them. Good thing it was still 80 and the water was not deep at the banks. I don't know what I will do with that boy, he is fearless! Enjoy the pictures!

Whoops! I fell in!

When Kaleb ran out of food he tried sharing his juice.

Our first post

Hey everyone! I have finally ventured to the world of blogging. Please be patient with me as this is all new to me and it may take me a little while to get everything in order. Once Dusty get's the camera loaded back onto the computer I will add some photos.