Damon Gabriel

Well, just to make it official: he's here!!! Damon Gabriel Martin was born October 4, weighing in at 7lbs. 9 ozs. and measuring an adorable 19 inches long. He decided to surprise us all and show up 2 weeks before scheduled, but everything went well and both baby and I are healthy and strong. I promised lots of pictures, so I'll try and make up for all the delay. Hope you (and your internet connection) are ready for us!


I couldn't resist showing this one. John doesn't love his babies at all, does he?



Just in case anyone was wondering: Kieran absolutely and completely adores "my baby"!



And yes: he learned to smile!!! He is getting to be sooo fun! Now, if I can just get him to start sleeping through the night...what a Christmas present that would be!

Here We Go Again!

Well, shall I simply make everyone's lives easier and say "Ditto" to the last entry? Suffice to say, yes, it has been that long since we've had a safely and truly fixed computer. It has only taken several months, a brand new hard-drive, not to mention the hours re-loading and re-loading and re-loading yet again all the software, but...we're here! Please send your sites, I'm dying for updates on everyone!!! I'll get on the same vein of updating everyone with all of our exciting news and photos and such in the next day or two.

Heads up

As always, sorry that it has been soo long since I actively updated. I'm afraid that between one thing and another, this is the first chance since we resurrected the computer last weekend that I've had to even post this. I'll include more details as I'm able later.

However, I do have a plea for help out. We had to format our computer to be able to get the whole thing working again, which means that I've lost all my bookmarks for everyone's websites and such, plus other vital info. Would you guys mind sending me your addresses? That way I'm able to check up and bug you all later!

All you help and patience would be appreciated!!!

It's a blob!

Yep, it's official! It is a very active and healthy blob that should finish baking (get this!) October 22nd. That's right, happy birthday to me and Caelen! I knew I shouldn't have had a doctor's appointment today of all days, but the impatient side of me just didn't want to wait. I promise, that really is the date the doctor gave me today. It is actually a little later than originally figured, and the actual due date that they are filing with the insurance company is a couple of days earlier so we don't have a fight on our hands when we try to schedule the surgery as the doc is a little worried about timing (I guess I had actually started labor before Kieran was delivered which he doesn't want to repeat because of complication issues), but I thought it was funny enough to tell you all this one! Happy April Fool's day!

Way past due...

Alright, I know. I'm way past due for an update. So here I am working on one...

In the past month, several things have occurred. First of all, as far as my last post, we no longer have a dog. That's right, after all that (and so much more that I don't want to think about at this point), thanks to the lovely manager at the apt complex here at Hanbury Manor not representing things honestly between us and the owners we no longer have the puppy. We had to find her a new home immediately. Lesson for Rachel: never trust the manager, require full paperwork and a contact with the owners first. We still have the cat, but only because we haven't told them yet about him. The reason: I don't want to be screwed over the same as we were over the puppy. So until after next month, we are keeping mum about him.

Other things that have been occurring: The biggest has been Tia's birthday. That's right, my baby girl turned 8 on the 10th! I'm still reeling a little bit. Her baptism has been set for the April 11th at 11 am at the Logan Tabernacle, and yes family and friends are invited. We're hoping to get the invitations out in the next week. We also had a birthday party for her last weekend, which was of course insane. It didn't help much that Tia ended up inviting her entire class from school, but the kids all seemed to have a lot of fun, and I was sooo grateful for all the adults who showed up and stuck around anyway! We ended up seeing around 20-25 kids (including nieces and nephews of course), so I was terribly grateful we did things at the church. And boy, has Tia's 'little' collection of bobbleheads exploded! I think this was the year of the "My Little Pet Shop" bobbleheads, since almost all of her gifts were various critters from this collection. She of course is terribly thrilled. I wish I could catch her on tape so you all could see how she plays with them all! She's been so fun, and we absolutely love to have her as a part of the family!

One other big piece of news, then I'll end the post for now. And this is big: we just found out that we're pregnant! I'll find out the exact due date at the end of the month, so I'll let you all know then. The kids are all excited (though I don't think Kieran has figured out what he's excited about yet), and absolutely convinced we're having a girl. I don' t know, but we'll find out either way.

Anyway, more details coming soon. Sorry for the absence of posts!