The first three days in the life of River Jane Allen

Friday morning started with Bryce and I rising early and heading out to the hospital.

 Our new little baby girl was delivered via c-section at 7:59 a.m. on June 27, 2014. 

She was 7 lb 2 oz and 19 inches long.

 By the time she'd been cleaned up and Mommy had been taken care of, baby girl and Daddy had already had some good bonding time.

After getting checked out by the doctor, Mommy and baby got to have some time getting to know each other better.

By this time, we finally decided on a name: River Jane Allen.  

Here's Bryce's explanation of why we picked the name River: "We have had a few questions as to where we can up with the name River.  Jennie and I are fully aware of the current science fiction characters that carry the name.  Though we are SciFi fans, the fact that these characters share a name with our daughter is only a coincidence.  The name River came to us because of the last seven years we spent living in the Mississippi and Missouri River Valleys. It is a way to honor the time we spent and the home we made in the Midwest. Most importantly it is a way to honor all the wonderful and amazing friends and people we met while we lived there. Thank you for becoming a part of our lives and thank you for being such good friends, colleagues, teachers, students, examples, and neighbors. Most importantly, thank you for being our family away from home. It was an honor to live, serve, learn, and love with you all. Thank you."

Her middle name, Jane, comes from her grandmothers - Jane Royer and Dora Jane Simpson.

Later that afternoon, River got to meet her brother Owen, sister MayLynn, Uncle Garrett, Grandma Allen, Grandma Royer, and Aunt Nita.

 The rest of her first day was spent getting to know Mommy and Daddy better.

 Saturday morning started out right with another visit from her sister and brother.

 Uncle Garrett stopped by again as well and took the plunge and held her.

 Later that afternoon Aunt StacyAnn, Uncle J.J. and cousin Jack stopped by as well.

 To top off a good day, Aunt Liz and Uncle John came to visit.

 Sunday morning was nice and quiet with cuddle time for Mommy and her little River.

 Aunt Nita stopped by just after lunch.

Our evening ended with another visit from Grandmas, Owen, and MayLynn.  We had a nice little visit, without the camera making an appearance, and then I finally had a few moments to look through the pictures that show our precious little River's first three days on this earth. We have had good chances to get to know each other better and to visit with our family.  She is a very loved and welcome addition to our family.  Welcome to the Allen Family, River! We love you!

Summer Activities

I figured that it would be nice to get caught up on more of our summer's activities before the baby comes, because then I know that everyone will want to see pictures of her. So, here's what we've been up to the past couple of weeks:

The Friday following Owen's birthday we had a party for him at Heritage Park in Kaysville.  We had yummy cake that Aunt Liz decorated for Owen and that featured one of his favorite things: dinosaurs.  All of our kids' cousins except for Glen were there (we didn't get a picture of baby Jack, but he was at the party with his parents). After cake and presents, the kids had fun playing at the splash pad, and then we had an "after party" back at Grandma Allen's house where we had fun eating pizza and visiting.

Although it wasn't a huge event, a week or so ago we gave MayLynn her first baby doll to help her learn how to be gentle with babies.  I'm not sure how successful our purpose was, but she loves her baby and she will have a baby to carry around and take care of while I take care of our baby after she comes.

I took this picture of MayLynn and Owen this past Sunday before church to show how big my kids are getting to be.  As I get ready to have our third baby, I have constant little reminders of each of the other two and how I felt when they were about to be born.

And last, but not least, my youngest brother, Benny, was married and sealed to his wife, Kayla, last Saturday in St. George, Utah. Because of how close I am to having a baby we weren't able to make it down to the wedding, but I did steal this picture off of Facebook so I could share the moment with my readers and eventually my scrapbook as well.  

Now we're down to just about 3 days until our baby comes and as soon as I get my hospital bag packed we'll be ready to go. We have our room set up and ready for the baby, I have all the clothes cleaned and sorted, and the car seat is ready to be installed in the car.  I feel more prepared for this baby than for the other two and I can't wait to meet our little baby girl.

Splash Pads

My kids have found a new favorite summer past-time: splash pads.  Since I currently have no desire to try to fit into a swimsuit, find a swimming pool, and chase my kids around in the water while pregnant, we have found a couple of splash pads here in Utah to help the kids stay cool while having fun outside.  The first set of pictures that I have is from a small splash pad at the City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City.

It's a small fountain that kids can play in - and both my kids really enjoyed it.  MayLynn was content to stand near the water holes and wait for the water to come shooting out, but Owen thought that it was more fun to try to chase them around and try to guess where the water was going to be next.

This second set of pictures is from a splash pad at a park here in Kaysville.  We had fun having a picnic lunch for Owen's birthday, followed by having fun playing in the water.

Owen has never liked getting his face wet, so this is a good way for him to enjoy the water without being too afraid of the water. MayLynn just likes getting wet any way she can. I just like the fact that I have a place where the kids can have some good, inexpensive summer fun close to home.

Owen is 6

Yesterday was an important day for our family.  Owen celebrated his 6th birthday.  This little boy has just finished kindergarten, is a great help to his mom and dad, and absolutely loves life.

When Owen grows up he wants to be a paleontologist, an engineer, and an Air Force pilot.  For over a year now he has absolutely loved dinosaurs and I am constantly having to find information about them and new ways for him to learn this information.

We love our Owen and we're very glad that he came to join our family 6 years ago!

Outside Fun & Scavenger Hunt

We have been having a lot of fun playing outside this past week.  With temperatures in the 80s with little or no humidity and no mosquitoes, it's been a summer paradise.  

We had one fun day last week playing in the backyard at Grandma & Grandpa Christensen's house in Brigham City. Owen had fun making roads in the pine needles for the matchbox cars to drive on, and MayLynn loved playing with Grandma Christensen's lawn ornament animals.  Her favorite was the dear that she pretended to ride.

We've also been down to Gailey Park (near Grandma Allen's house) a couple of times.  Yesterday we took Emery (Craig & Lindsay's daughter) to the park with us. Both girls really liked the swing and Owen and MayLynn loved playing in the sand of the volleyball pit.

Grandma Allen's front porch has also been a nice shady place to play and has given Owen an opportunity to take more pictures with his camera. He even got a picture of "Daddy's Mountain" as viewed from the front porch of Grandma Allen's house.

Today, Owen went on a scavenger hunt around Grandma Allen's house.  Here are the things that he found:
mirror, hose, purple flower, yellow roses, evergreen tree, dandelion, tree stump, pile of red bricks, push broom, and a flat trailer.  He had fun taking pictures of the items as he found them.

Also, since Owen was having fun with the camera today, and because I may appreciate having the photos at some time in the future, here is a picture of me at 35 weeks, 5 days into my pregnancy with our little baby girl that we'll be getting to meet sometime in the next month.