Our New Family of Five

We got home from the hospital and were welcomed by a big sister, big brother, Grandma, Grandpa, Cory, Kristen, Ethan, Parker, Kelli, and Payton. It was a busy few first hours home, but things quickly calmed down.

Ethan holding his new cousin.

The morning we came home Grandpa ran in the Top of Utah Half Marathon. The grand kids were very proud of their super-fit Grandpa.

Grandpa is probably thinking, "I've got one classy granddaughter."

To get our home quieted down Grandma and Grandpa took Rachel and Ian for most of our first week home. As you can see from the pictures, they really missed being with their mom and dad.

Here Rachel is trying to show the boys how to really play in the puddles.

Our happy boy after taking a bath with his cousins.

Here was a rare moment during their time in Farmington - four kids quietly sitting.

Grandma kept the kids hopping and having a great time. They went swimming, to the bookstore, and here they are decorating sugar cookies.

Bridget's parents sent up a beautiful bouquet that we loved.

Our first week for Bridget, Justin, and Josie was very quiet and restful. Right before the kids came home Andrea and Uncle Roice visited the new arrival.

Then, Paul and Kate invited us to a delicious dinner and the kids had a great time playing together.

Josie is a serious cuddler and falls right to sleep pretty much anytime someone is holding her close.

Rachel and Ian quickly resumed their old jovial home behavior. Here Rachel is during "quiet" time using her megaphone on top of her self-made mountain.

Rachel loves playing secret agent lately. Here she is all dressed up in her spy gear to type secret codes into random places in our home. Check out her very functional utility belt.

We knew a big head would come in handy! Here is our boy showing off his unassisted headstand skills.

Ian loves his little sister and for the first two weeks whenever he'd come into a room that she was in he would say in his high voice, "what is is? Baby sister!"

The kids came back from Farmington with a very excited surprise for Josie - her very own Knuffle Bunny (from the Mo Willems books). Both Rachel and Ian are quick to get it for her whenever she's sad.

If they see that she's sleeping without Knuffle, they make sure she gets it close by.

Rachel thankfully is still loving her little sister so much and always wants to hold her. Here she is touching noses with her favorite baby.

For our first big family outing after the baby we headed over to USU's campus green for a festival for families. The kids had an amazing time checking out fun displays, making crafts, and eating food. Here Rachel is playing with air currents at one of the science tents.

Ian's first look through a telescope.

We then had a weekend where we had to stick close to home because of sicknesses. Josie became really congested and had a really difficult time sleeping, so when she fell asleep on the floor after a diaper change we didn't want to mess up a thing. Bridget also came down with something and people were so nice to come and help while Justin was busy with church commitments. It was a weekend where Bridget learned some serious humility and made us thankful to have such a great ward.

To top off the difficult weekend Ian fractured his elbow jumping on the couch! He was so sad and here he is cuddling with his dad trying to feel better.

Why are you taking my picture when I'm miserable?

Thankfully, everyone got feeling much better and Rachel had an exciting first - her first day of preschool! Here she is displaying her first homework assignment where she decorated this cutout like herself.

Her first day she learned a lot about bugs and they made these fun bug glasses.

The Insta-care that we had initially gone to was inconclusive about the x-ray results and referred us to an orthopedic specialist. Because the possible fracture was on a growth plate, he decided to be safe and put it in a hard cast for at least three weeks. Ian was torn between purple and green, but we steered him to green in the end.

Uh-oh, Ian has the honor of having the first broken bone of our kids. It would be so nice if it was the last.

At Josie's two week check-up she was 7 lbs 10 oz, 19 3/4 in long, and had a head circumference of 35 1/4 cm.