Child Prodigy

Hi, Daddy!

Kate is 4 weeks old today! We think she is pretty smart.

Anniversary - Graduation - Parties - and more

WARNING PICTURE OVERLOAD. . .

Nick is in Puerto Rico and really missing the boys and Kate. So to ease the pain, I put in way to many pictures.

Kate is still not sure what to think of her three energy filled brother.

We have been playing outside more, especially since school is now out.

(All three boys are there. Corbin and Jaren are on top of Owen.)

Jaren isn't able to get off the trampoline, so once Owen got him on he was stuck.

We were glad that this didn't come in the house till mom was ready to throw him in the tub!

Am I a real boy or what?

Grandpa got the boys bikes out of the attic and pumped up the tires.

Meghan came in for a surprise visit from Virginia. Isn't her little baby bump cute? She is due in September.

After a fun morning with Grandpa Faler, an evening luau, and wedding reception the boys were beat!

Happy Anniversary!

Nick and I have been married for 9 years. He surprised me with a gorgeous flower delivery!

My mom and sisters threw Kate and I a baby shower. I have never seen so many cute outfits and so much PINK!

We had a great turn out. It was fun to see so many friends from different phases of my life. Growing up, BYU, our time in Higley, and Thunderbird.

My mom

Corinne

Shelly

Petey

Cute diaper cake.

Kate is going to be well dressed for quite awhile!

I still can't believe I have a daughter! It is weird doing laundry and seeing so much PINK!

The boys finished the school year at LCBA. They had a graduation ceremony and each class read a poem.

Corbin and his teacher Ms. Wakefield

Owen and his teacher Ms. Ryan

Corbin enjoying the camera.

Mom and Owen

Isn't he adorable!

Sick by Shel Silverstein

Yes that is underwear on his head.

As Soon As Fred Gets Out of bed by Jack Prelutsky

They are such good buddies!

"I a hod KaTe!"

When ever Jaren sees Kate he gets so excited and says, "KaTe" really loud - emphasizing the T. He loves to hold his baby sister!

Corbin got his PBS kids writing contest prizes in the mail. One was a $100 gift card to Bookmans! I think my favorite part about this whole thing is how proud Owen is of Corbin.

Just hanging out!

Before Nick left he and Gary helped his Dad fix the water pressure in their house. They worked really hard and did an awesome job.

DURING

Dillon (Gary's little boy) and Jaren were a big help!

AFTER

Update of Kate. . .

Final day at the hospital. . .

Kate had her hearing test and we thought she looked so cute.

She passed with flying colors!

Headed home. . .

Doesn't she look so tiny

Owen and Kate.

Corbin and Kate.

Jaren and Kate.

She is all smiles.

Our little Kate. . .

Tummy time. . .

All dressed up. . .



Photo time with Petey. . .

Grandpa and Kate.

Grandma and Kate.

Saying goodbye. . .

Daddy and Kate.

Family picture. . .

A lot has happened since we had Kate. I am so grateful to all those helping hands that have been there for our little family.

We were all sad to say goodbye to Nick yesterday. He is back in Puerto Rico till mid June.

Hopefully time will fly. . .

The Baby Is Here!

Well, the baby is here. And it's a girl! Katelynne Brooke Winward was born on April 30 in the early evening. She weighed 7lbs 3 oz and scored 8-9 on the newborn (self defense?) test. I only mention the score because she is going to need some pretty good reflexes to keep up/defend herself against her brothers.

As you know, we decided to wait until the delivery to find out the sex of the baby, and this ended up being a lot of fun. We still can't get over that fact that we have a girl. We're glad we waited to find out.

The delivery itself went extremely well. We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 pm, she was in a bed with an IV by 3:30, and the baby came at about 6:30. Maddy gladly had an epidural and a bit of pitocin, pushed 3 times, and we were done. She made it look easy. The nurses and doctor were great, and we expect to be discharged this afternoon.

Katelynne looks like a member of the family. We can see facial characteristics of all of our boys in her, and she seems to have a pretty easygoing temperament. So far so good.

To anyone curious about our living situation, it's a bit awkward right now. I (Nick) am still working Puerto Rico full-time, but we are hoping to relocate back to the States this summer. As such, it was convenient for us to send Maddy and the boys to Arizona for the baby delivery and allow the boys to be back in regular school. Maddy was having difficulty doing home school for the boys, handling the pregnancy, keeping Jaren happy, and getting bit by mosquitoes regularly at home, despite her willingness to keep doing it all. It just made a lot of sense for her and the boys to get to Arizona for family support and superior medical care, especially since our insurance benefits are the same in the US as PR.

Maddy's parents have been extremely generous to allow us to stay at their place temporarily, and I have continued working in Puerto Rico, but traveled with Maddy and the boys to Arizona and returned again this week for the delivery. I saved up vacation time and will stay here for two more weeks. In the meantime I am looking to transfer within J&J to the States or find a new position somewhere else. If you know of any jobs in the States (preferably AZ or west coast), I would love to learn about them. My LinkedIn profile is here.

We appreciate all your support and prayers. We have received more facebook comments and texts than we could possibly respond to individually, but it has been fun to read them all and feel your support.