Blaze Christian Ardis

Blaze Christian Ardis was born Tuesday, December 20th @ 5:14 am.  I was so happy he was finally here!  We had an amazing delivery, couldn't have asked for a more perfect natural birth.  And he wasn't a small baby to have either.  Blaze weighed in at 8 lbs. 9 oz., 22 inches long, with a 14 inch head.

My sweet little man right after he is born and cleaned up!  My sweet midwife gave me a tiara to wear after he was born.

What a little cutie!

My perfect Christmas gift!

Little sweetie in a stocking! 

Daddy and Blaze exhausted after a long night!  Blaze tired from delivery and Bryan tired from being up all night.  I was getting dressed so we could go home and I looked over and daddy and baby were both passed out.  Priceless!

Getting ready to go home!

Meeting Blaze for the first time!  The kids were super excited to meet him and were very blessed they got to meet him when he was only 3 hours old.

Before Blaze was born Brayden asked if he could be the first to hold him.  He couldn't wait to hold his new baby brother!

Sierra loves her new baby!

Savanah loving on her new baby!

Proud big brother Bryce!

Mommy and her sweet boys!
I am truly blessed to have such an amazing little family!  I love my 5 kids and feel so blessed to have Blaze join our family!  He is truly a blessing in my life!
I will post more pictures later.  You can also go to this link to see more pictures of Blaze that my doula made.  Go here: http://thadenpierce.org/doula/sg/?g=Baby%20B

DONE!

I am so DONE!  I am so ready to have this baby!  Do you get to that point in your pregnancies?  And if so, when? 
Last Monday I was put on bed rest because I was having contractions every 5 minutes and since I am having a little boy (they develop slower, or so they say) they wanted me to wait atleast 10 more days to have him.  Well, I did it.  I kept him in and was released from bed rest today.  I pray he comes soon!  I wasn't done until about Thursday, when my little guy started pounding me in the ribs.  He has pushed on my ribs, on the right side, so much that my liver and gall bladder are now bruised and hurt really bad.  Just what I need going into labor, to already be in severe pain!  Life is so fun sometimes! I guess we need to have a tough time at the end of our pregnancy to makes us ready and even excited about the pain of child birth.  
So, I am now at the point of begging and pleading him to come because after 10 days of bed rest and 7 days of it in intense pain in my liver and gall bladder, I am soooooo DONE!

Fun Fall Pictures!

I love fall!  The cool weather, the changing of leaves and baking halloween cookies with the kids!

Bryce gets creative and makes Frankenstien.

Brayden and his creations!

Savanah making sure her cookies are frosted perfect!

Sierra loves decorating with the frosting!

Something else I love about Fall is carving pumpkins with the kids.

Brayden loves digging in and pulling out the guts!

Savanah not loving the guts so much!

Sierra thinks they are pretty fun too!

Their creations!

I also LOVE dressing up for Halloween!  Bryce wanted to be Marvin the Martians from his favorite show, Looney Tunes.  I think our homemade version turned out pretty good.  Brayden is a ninja, Savanah a lady bug, and Sierra is Sharpay from High School Musical!

Something else special happened this Fall.  Bryce earned his Religious knot and his Webelos badge and...

His Arrow of Light!  This is the highest honor you can earn in Cub Scouts!  I am so proud of him.  They had a special ceremony for he and the other 3 boys that have earned it.  All the other boys just turned 11 and Bryce won't turn 11 til February.  So they were pretty impressed that he already earned it. 

Brayden also had a big night.  He earned his Wolf Badge early also.  He is now ready for Bears when he turns 9 in January.  So now he gets to work on all the fun stuff til his Birthday.

I love Fall and I am thankful for all the good memeriors we have been able to have this fall! 
Happy Fall ya'll!

The Beach!

We went on a family vacation to the beach a few weeks ago.  It was amazing!  Going the first of October is the perfect time to go.  It is still warm, but not too hot, and their are hardly anyone on the beach.  We haven't been back to the beach in 3 1/2 years and we loved every minute we were there.  The girls had fun playing in the sand!

It was a much needed family vacation and it couldn't have been better!  The boys digging in the sand.

The waves were awesome and the kids loved jumping up as they came splashing onto the beach!

If you know my boys and Bryan you know they can not go anywhere without a football.  They had so much fun playing football on the beach, in the ocean, in the pool, and in the grass by the condo.  Every chance they got they were playing football.  It was so fun to watch them have such a good time playing football.  Boys will be boys!

Bryan and the kids shelling.  Yes, shelling.  This happened to be the best place to shell.  Right out in the water you could find perfect shells and really big ones two.  We shelled for about an hour on the first 2 days and filled up a complete beach bag, so we had to stop after that.  We have been to the beach alot and have never hit the jack pot quite like this. 

Sierra loved having mommy make her a mermaid in the sand.  She had me do it so many times I finally had to tell her no, after about the 15th time during the stay.  She does make a cute mermaid though!

Savanah loved the sand.  She would roll all around in the sand.

Our family at Sand Key Beach, Florida!

Bryan and the kids getting ready to shell again!

Football in the ocean!

Did I mention we scored big in the shell department?  Yes, Bryan found this huge conch shell in the ocean and it was in perfect condition.  We were all so excited, like kids in a candy store, when he found it.  Locals couldn't believe we found it close to the shore.  They told us you usually have to go out deep to find shells like this one.

Have you guys seen the movie Dolphin Tale?  Well, we happened to be staying right down the road from the aquarium where Winter, the movie star, lives!  This is the house boat from the movie right outside the aquarium.

They let the kids hold one of her tales.  It was such an amazing experience going to see her and hold and feel the tale that she wears.  I don't think the kids will ever forget this experience.

This is Winter swimming without her tale.  It was truly amazing to see her!

My silly man Bryce!  He loves to learn about sharks and couldn't pass up playing with these shark teeth.

The truck that picks up marine animals that people find that are hurt.  This truck was also in the movie.

Sierra found a heart shaped sand castle while playing on the beach.  It was such a sweet photo opt I couldn't pass it up.  My little sweetheart!

I love sunsets and I love pictures where you capture people in the sunset. 

My girl Savanah at sunset!

Bryan and Brayden walking along the beach at sunset!

My cute boys goofing off being silly!

The girls! (and Blaze)
We had such an amazing trip at the beach!  This summer was crazy, with moving, Bryan's job, and having a hard time being pregnant in the worst Texas summer on record, so we werent able to take a vacation.  I am so glad we got the chance to go together.  There were so many pictures I wanted to share, so thanks for taking the time to look at so many.

It is getting closer!

I can not believe it is getting closer!  I went to the midwife this week and will now start going every 2 weeks.  But it may be closer than my due date, I think so anyway.  The last 3 or 4 visits I have been measuring 4 weeks bigger.  So, I think he will come earlier in December than my Dec. 30th due date.  When I found out I was pregnant my date was different than the sonogram.  I thought my last period was one month but the sono said another.  BUT, my measurements are going along with what I thought.  SO, we will see which one is right.  I sure hope it is me or I may have a really big baby.  I did that twice and hope not to do that again.

This pregnancy has definately been my craziest.  I got sick sooner and then stayed sick longer than all the other pregnancies.  I am sure the Texas heat this summer did not help me out in that department.  Then, I had problems with my blood pressure and not your typical pregnancy blood pressure problems.  NO, I had to be a very rare case where my blood pressure kept bottoming out.  As in, at times, 79/44.  Very low!  So, I had to stay at home and resting the whole summer so I didn't pass out.  Then, I started having hip problems with my hips popping out all the time.  It is getting better, I only have to be adjusted every other day instead of everyday.  So I am starting to feel like myself again, which is really good since I only have between 8 and 11 weeks to go.  I have lots to do to get ready for my little man.  And it will be fun to see which date is more accurate.