Rhett Shelton

Introducing Rhett Shelton Gunnell
Friday, September, 23, 2011 at 1:22pm
5 pounds 13 ounces, 18 1/2 inches long

Shelton is Phil's Grandpa Standage's middle name. He was such an amazing man and we miss him. He passed away just a week after Max and Kate were born. He performed our sealing in the temple when we were married and we are so happy to have Rhett share the name of such a great man.

The kids coming to the hospital for the first time to see us. Kate was very happy to be there despite her unfortunate face pictured here. She hopped right up on the bed next to me and snuggled right up.
Max didn't want anything to do with me or Rhett. He was very apprehensive about the entire ordeal. We didn't push anything. The Gunnell Grandparents arrived shortly afterward and brought treats for the kids. Rhett and myself were promptly forgotten.

They came back the next day and they were more interested in Rhett, their baby. So cute to hear them call him baby.
Kate holding Rhett for the first time. She was so excited! Max was sad since he wasn't getting a turn then.

My goodness, this day the kids were crazy. Pushing every button in the room including mine and Phil's. The nurse even came into our room to see if everything was okay after one of Max's siren loud 2-year-old tantrums when we asked him to sit on his bum and quit touching everything. I kindly kicked them out shortly thereafter and told them not to come back.
Last night when we arrived home. The kids were so excited to see me and Rhett. They touched his feet, head and good thing he was strapped in tight since they rocked his seat very vigorously.

Max was so sweet and excited to see his baby. He tickled his feet and gets this big grin every time he sees him or gets to love on him. They also get very concerned when they hear him cry and make sure I knwo about it.

Kate loves to hold him and they both take turns pointing out his various body parts with their not so soft toddler fingers. Kate is more gentle by nature and Max just is unaware of his strength and excitement, Phil calls him a bull in a china closet.

This morning. Missing is Max since he was throwing a tantrum. Ah, welcome to 2 years old!
Rhett: 5 pounds 8 ounces
Kate the Great: 21 pounds

This little brother is the sweetest. He is such a great baby. He nurses like a champ, sleeps during the day and eats every hour at night naturally. We will work on that later.

He is darker than Max and Kate and we think he will have brown eyes and hair like his daddy. Even his skin is darker.

He gets kissed endlessly by his mama.
Welcome to the world little brother. We love you!

39 Weeks: aka Delivery Day!

We made it!  Full term. One healthy baby and one healthy mama.

It is surreal that today we will add one more baby to our family. 

The other night we went over to our friend's house to meet their new baby and that night while trying to sleep all I thought about was the reality of 3 little kids under my care and if I was truly ready for another baby. Did I have enough diapers? I should get more newborn diapers since this babe is going to be a bean. I thought about all I want to do in the last few days before he came; clean the house top to bottom, wash everyone's bedding, pack my hospital bag, feed my family each night, read lots of books with the kids, do all the laundry, steam my floors, grocery shopping, etc. I wanted to vacuum out our truck, wash the windows, transfer all three (THREE!!) car seats to the truck...The list was/is never ending!

Miraculously all of the above has been accomplished thanks to some supreme nesting energy. I have felt amazing. The baby has dropped this past week and the relief of not having him right under my ribs thus squashing my stomach resulting in perpetual heartburn and needing to eat mini-meals has been lovely. I can comfortably eat again! 

The babe has a pack'n'play set up in our closet, all comfy and cozy with at least five layers of foam padding, soft blankets and the like.

The freezer is well stocked, the fridge is full, meal plans are made and waiting for grandma to take over.

I am so ready to meet him, see what he looks like, kiss his soft cheeks. I am ready to semi-reclaim my body, shed the 30+ pounds. While I have felt wonderful my feet are ready to not have to bear so much weight. I am ready to stop getting stretch marks on my once clear tummy, dang it, we almost made it through without them. Ah, they will fade, I will work hard to get fit again and all will be well. It is always worth it, that goes without saying.

We are ready. Ready or not, ready as we'll ever be! Stay tuned.

Max & Kate: 2 Years Old

** First of all, thank you for all your kind words and feedback on my crazy "get it all done before baby comes" crafty madness. I don't want to come across as Mrs. Braggy Braggerton sharing my projects. I thoroughly enjoy making things for my children and found other's blogs so helpful in looking for ideas and inspiration, I hope I may do the same for others. **

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Waiting for their flu shot this afternoon.

Two years old! For goodness sake, will they just stop growing? They are only going to look bigger when I bring home a baby in a few days. Their birthday was on the 15th and we celebrated again with a drumstick ice cream cone and called it good. I am glad we did their party before school started for Phil and my belly got bigger. I am enjoying this new stage of "bigness" and things are getting easier. They understand so well and are just plain fun. 

They had their well visit today and here are their latest stats. They are still peanuts but healthy and happy. We are happy to have peanuts, makes it easier to still carry both of them together.

Kate:

21.4 pounds-2nd percentile

32 inches-8th percentile

Size 4 diaper

Size 5 shoe

Clothes: 12-18 months-2T some dresses

Kate is a parrot repeating so many words and loves to sing, she can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I Love You from Barney. It is the cutest thing ever! She is vivacious, dramatic, tender and happy. She still sucks her thumb and we will not be addressing that until we are all settled in with the new babe and sleeping. She loves all animals but hates dolls or toys that are animated/make a move toward her. Kate tolerates her dad's teasing and loves to spend time with him. She needs a good 10-15 minutes to wake up before she is happy.

Max:

24.8 pounds-12th percentile

33+ inches- 20th percentile

Size 4 diaper

Size 5 1/2 shoe

Clothes: 12-18 months

Max is a big helper and loves to throw things away. He prefers to be barefoot and as soon as we get in the car his shoes are off and when he plays outside it is only moments before he brings me his shoes. His favorite thing to do is wrestle with his dad. He loves to be tickled and ride his dad's back. Max is kind, energetic and smart. He will play with my hair when it is down, loves a good snuggle and gives the best kisses.

They both love water; bath time, doing dishes, pouring water from one container to another, playing in the hose, etc. Going down the big slides by themselves at the park is no big deal. They both love to go into my closet and walk around in all my shoes. They love to read books, push things around and especially love to be big kids eating at the table with us.

I have been worried lately about how Max and Kate will react to a new brother and my very much divided attention. Tonight we went and visited our dear friends who just adopted a baby boy and I am happy to report the kids did great with me holding him and were excited to see a baby. We pointed out his body parts, they gently touched him and then were more interested in climbing their stairs and seeing their dog. Whew! Hopefully our new baby will be just as exciting.

M & K's Play Kitchen

AKA: The Great Summer Project

I have been wanting to build the kids a play kitchen for a long time. I would haunt craigslist for wooden ones and nothing fit the bill or we were too slow. I have seen so many wonderful DIY kitchens on the web and showed Phil and we decided we could do it too. And we did.

I started by scouting out our starting piece, the foundation, usually a nightstand, cabinet, etc. I wasn't having any luck finding something just right. While hitting up the local thrift store I nabbed a bookcase that looked like it would do the trick. It was $8 and the store was having a 50% off sale, I picked up a few other items for the kitchen at the same time. While at check-out the cashier picked up the intercom and challenged a shopper to sing the Star Spangled Banner and she would give them $5 off. Figuring I had nothing to lose since the store was so busy and no one knew me I jumped on it and sang over the intercom, total price for the bookcase came out to be $2!

Before:
I didn't snap a true before picture. It obviously wasn't sanded down, we cut the hole for the sink and Phil added the center dividers.



After!

Chalkboard menu area for play.

Hooks for storage.

Fridge stocked with fresh fruits and veggies and a few real life empty containers.

Microwave with buttons. We opted for a microwave instead of an oven since we knew that the kids would climb on the oven door if it opened down and I didn't want to deal with that. 

Hanging pot rack for optimal storage. Still need to add some fun kitchen art.
Their kitchen is nicer than mine at this point!

"Granite" counter top with 4 burner range and tiled back splash. The knobs turn and the kids love putting their pots on the burners. We are still working on imaginative play but I see many many hours of play in our future as playtime gets more sophisticated as they get older.

They love it! We love it and I am so glad I pushed to get this done while Phil was on break this summer. Good thing it is cute since it sits in our front room now. Goodness, the kids are taking over the house!

Kate's Quiet Book

Kate's book went much faster since I was already in the groove, Phil had taken the kids out of town when I began hers and I was seasoned after making Max's book. Nonetheless, it is also a labor of love and an immense time investment.

Soft and sturdy denim cover with hand stitched details. 

Feminine flowery lining and some of my favorite color combinations.

Like Max's her first pages also spell out her name.

K is for kite. It is a puzzle and then she can practice tying the tail as she gets older.

A is for apple, they snap on the tree and can go into the basket. 

T is for tent; zipper skills with princesses hiding under the tent window flaps and inside the tent. Grass ribbons for texture and shiny star brads.

E is for elephant! I love this page! The elephant eats the peanuts when you pull on his tail.

Counting flower petals that velcro on and can go into the flower pot pocket.

Dress up doll with various outfit combinations in her "closet" pocket.

Mrs. Potato Head. Love her! She is so stylin'.

Counting cupcakes and sprinkles. Pretend play with the oven.

Button on name.

Color matching and pretend painting. 

Go Fish page! After making Max's I just made a more curved vinyl bowl opening so she can access the fish easier without stretching out the material. 

Her pages are made of non-fusible pellon since I couldn't match the vintage material that was used for Max's pages from Grandma G. It was really easy to work with and since we are at church I am not worried about dirty hands. 

I love her book; the colors, pages, all of it. I hope she gets as much pleasure out of it as I do!

Some have asked for resources: Google! Google image search for quiet books and you will find oodles of inspiration. Here are a few links that had patterns, others I just free handed from images I saw online.
http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2011/01/quiet-book-templates.html
http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/07/quiet-book-templates.html
http://www.quietbook.blogspot.com/

Max's Quiet Book

It is finished! This has truly been a labor of love and is a project that has consumed many nap times, nights and countless hours. Seriously, each page took at least 3 hours; more so in the beginning stages as I was "designing"/researching the pages or figuring out various techniques, etc. I hope it is something that Max treasures and that he will be able to use with his children like we have with Phil's book made by his Grandma G.

Behold, the Quiet Book:

The cover is made of denim, the same leftover material that Phil's Grandma used over 30 years ago. The lining is from Joann's and I adore it's happy colors.

Barn and finger puppets.

The next few pages correlate an object that spells out his name: M is for mailbox, it opens and there is a love note from mom. A is for alligator; the scales snap off and can go into the pocket body of the alligator.

X is for x-ray. He can make a hand with the bones and they go into a pocket for safe keeping. 

The rocket moves along the string to blast off to the moon. Buttons for texture.

His full name buttons on, something to challenge him as he gets older. 

Puzzle monster, also for when he gets older, for now he loves to take them all off.

Color recognition, they velcro on/off. 

Car tucks into garage and he can drive it around.

Zipper skills, a cute bear hiding in the tent. 

Go Fish! Magnet fishing pole grabs the fishies. He loves this page!

More color recognition. He can use the paint brush for imaginative play.

Another favorite is Mr. Potato Head. All pieces velcro on.

Shape matching and colors. He can practice snapping.

I had to nix 5 more double page spreads as the book was getting huge (it already is!) and I needed to focus on Kate's book as well if I was ever going to finish before the baby came. I will save those spreads for Baby #3. 

Page ideas came from Phil's existing book, plenty of google inspiration and several from my own noggin'. I loved working on it and am so happy it is complete and part of our church bag each week. Love you Max!

37 Weeks Update

Baby is doing fabulous, growing and doing somersaults. 

Twice a week doctor appointments continue and are getting old. I certainly appreciate the attentive care but since my fluid levels have stabilized and gone back up and baby boy is passing all his tests I am going to ask my doctor if we can cut out the extra attention. 

We are only 2 weeks away from deliver come Friday!

I have been busy prepping and freezing meals, finishing last minute crafts and sewing. 

Quiet books, play kitchen curtain and Halloween costumes for all three kids are in the works/almost done. 

Phil is back in the thick of school. The kids and I keep busy with housework, baby prep, daily outings and general life happenings with twin toddlers. Life is good. It is going to get better and even crazier come September 23rd.