Thank You!

We want to say thank you to all those who donated or walked with us! We had a great experience and we are pleased to report that collectively we contibuted $2,587.00, in honor of Madison, to diabetes research! We were so touched by your generosity! Here is a thank you note from Madison as well as some pictures from the walk.

Again, thank you so much for your love and support. Madison really DOES have a Marvelous Crew!

Love,Heather, Chris, Madison, Katelyn, Levi, & Bridget Rice

Some of you might not know that our oldest daughter Madison was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in January. This was overwhelming to realize that she will have this disease for the rest of her life, but Madison has made this adjustment very easy for all of us because she has been AMAZING! First, we had to spend 3 days in the hospital learning how to take care of her diabetes. She tests her blood sugar by pricking her finger 4 or 5 times a day. She has to have a shot before she eats anything. After only a week, Madison asked if she could do the shots all by herself. We were so impressed! Soon she will wear a pump that will give her a continuous infusion of insulin. Insulin allows her to stay alive, but it doesn’t cure her diabetes or prevent its eventual and devastating effects: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack, and stroke. (We try not to think about these long-term complications). We are thankful for the medical advances that make it easier for us to manage her diabetes, but we hope and pray for a cure during her lifetime.

We have decided to join the efforts of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Founded in 1970 by parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes, JDRF has provided more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research worldwide. Yep, that’s right, we’re asking for money. :) One of the JDRF’s largest fundraising events is the “Walk to Cure Diabetes”. We have formed a walking team called Madison’s Marvelous Crew and will be participating in this 5K walk at Scera Park on Saturday, September 26 at 9:30 am. There will be live entertainment, face painting, a rock wall, inflatables, and plenty of food and refreshments. We would like to ask for your support. If you are interested, there are two ways you can make a difference:

· You can join our walk team, known as Madison’s Marvelous Crew, and collect pledges and walk with us. Please register at http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87374788
· You can make a tax-deductible donation by credit card online by going to http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87374788 or by sending a check made payable to JDRF to us at 1431 S 730 W, Payson, UT 84651 (we will deliver any donations made in Madison’s honor the morning of the Walk).

Thanks to everyone for your love, support, and encouragement!

P.S. The picture above represents how many shots Madison takes in a month to stay alive.

1st day of school

Madison, age 7, first day of 2nd grade

Katelyn, age 4, first day of pre-school
I'm sure you can guess that Levi didn't want to be left out.

3 months

As you can tell, Bridget is a perfectly healthy chubby yummy baby.
I captured how she has been staring at her hands lately. Who needs toys?
I couldn't pick just one picture. Pure sweetness.
We all adore this baby...
especially Levi...her #1 fan.

Bridget at 2 months

Here is what Bridget looked like at 2 months. She weighed 11 lbs 12 oz. What an angel baby!

1 month already!

We are playing catchup, can you tell? Bridget is actually 6 weeks old now, but here is what she looked like at 1 month weighing in at 10 pounds exactly (she was 7 lbs 10 ounces when she was born). Notice the painted nails? We sure do love this precious baby!

Fathers & Sons

Chris and Levi had their first Fathers & Sons outing. They had a great time! The girls and I had fun painting our nails (even Bridget's), having ice cream sundaes, and watching a movie.

Mastitis

Don't worry, there is no picture included in this post. Just wanted to document that all of the happenings of the previous posts (preschool graduation, dance rehearsals, dance recital, camp invention, and the baby blessing) happened all within 2 1/2 weeks after Bridget was born. Plus, Chris went to scout camp for 4 nights and 3 days during that time. Let's just say I would have died if my parents weren't staying with me for those 2 weeks. So, my first day home alone with all 4 kids (after my parents left) I ended up with a breast infection. I have had this before, so I knew it was coming on. So, that afternoon right when the fever and chills started, I called the doctor, and luckily I didn't have to go in and be seen. They called in a prescription for me so that Chris could pick it up for me on the way home. I collapsed into a feverous delirium (luckily Bridget and Levi slept a good chunk of the afternoon and the girls were playing at a friend's house) The next day I felt like a million bucks compared to the day before. Thank goodness for antibiotics. The moral of the story is...I overdid it the week before. Everytime I have gotten mastitis it has been because I have tried to do too much and not gotten enough sleep. When will I ever learn?

Bridget's Baby Blessing

We decided to bless Bridget on Father's Day. Is there a better way to spend Father's day than to bless your beautiful baby girl? Also, we got to be with both of our dad's that day as well! We're grateful to all of you family members who came and we missed those of you who couldn't (don't worry, we understand)

Look at this good looking group!

Here is Bridget's photo shoot on a pink blanket...she was a little fussy, but we managed to get a few good ones.

Isn't this classic? Levi wanted a turn to get his picture on the pink blanket.

We had everyone come to our house afterward for some yummy food.

It was a hot day, so the kids got creative and ate underneath the tables.

Camp Invention

Madison got to go to Camp Invention for 1 week in Pleasant Grove. This is a program that my sister Annette coordinates. She had a lot of fun using her imagination. One of the activites they do is bring an old appliance, take it apart, and then make an invention with it. First they think of something that bothers them and then they try to invent something to solve it. Madison was bugged by the fact that people are allergic to dogs, so she made a metal dog so that even people with allergies can have a pet dog. I love it!

Our Dancers

Classic Katelyn

I captured Katelyn grooving in the aisle. This was my favorite part of the recital. :)

One of our "Pretty Little Angels"

Here is Madison's dance!

Frogs can be cute!

Here is Katelyn's dance from her recital. Hopefully you can pick her out...she is the 2nd one to play "leap frog".

Stay tuned for Madison's dance...

Katelyn's Preschool Graduation

Here is a gem from our little monster:

Labor & Delivery

I figured it was about time to document some details about my labor and delivery of Bridget. This was the first time I was scheduled to be induced and it was so nice to just wake up, shower, and go have a baby. I got there probably around 6:45. It seemed like it took them forever to get me started (it was one of the nurse's first day) and then once they did get me started, the IV didn't go in right, so my hand and forearm swelled up. That wasted an hour and really frustrated me. But, the good news is that that was the worst part of my labor! So after the 3rd try of the IV, the pitocin started flowing and I labored from 9:30 until noon. This was the first time I had experienced real labor contractions without my water having broken first. They really weren't that bad and since I was afraid an epidural would slow things down, I wanted to put off getting it as long as I could. But then the doctor came after 12 and broke my water, and the next contraction after that was WAY more intense, so I said, "Okay, I'm ready for that epidural" and wouldn't you know, the nurse said that they had 3 requests all at once, so I would have to wait my turn. I was like, "oh crap" and I was having flashbacks of Levi's labor (it went pretty fast and the anesthesiologist didn't come until I was fully dilated and trying not to push the baby out while waiting for the doctor to come, so, no epidural that time). I was afraid things would get pretty painful before he came, but luckily it really wasn't that bad and he came faster than I expected. So I got the epidural and got so relaxed I took a couple of naps! Besides taking longer than I expected or wanted it to, this labor was the easiest. By the time the doctor was on his way, I was feeling some SERIOUS pressure down there and I could lift my legs pretty easily, so I think the epidural had worn off just a little bit. I thought it was perfect. When the doctor came he told the nurse to have me start pushing while he got all suited up. So I pushed once and he promptly stopped me because the head was coming out and he wasn't ready yet. So then he was making me laugh saying things like, "don't cough or sneeze or that baby will come out" and the nurse said the baby's head was going in and out as I was laughing, so that made me laugh even more. Only one and a half pushes later Bridget was born at 4:30 pm...I sure do love that feeling of release when they come out, followed by that rush of emotion at seeing your baby for the first time. AMAZING.

The girls came each day I was in the hospital to take turns holding Bridget. Poor Levi couldn't come to the hospital because he got a fever while I was in labor and had them off and on for a couple days. We think it was Fifth disease (also known as slapping cheek disease) because his cheeks were bright red, so we did our best to keep him away from the baby after we brought her home. It was difficult because he LOVES her so much.

When he wakes up the first thing he does is go see "Baby Bridget". They all love holding her, but Levi definitely loves it the most. He doesn't do it anymore, but the first couple weeks he would totally giggle while holding her...especially if she made noises.

We are still getting used to the fact that we have 4 children! How did that happen? We want to thank all those who have commented and called and visited and given presents. It means a lot! Stay tuned for posts of preschool graduation, dance recital, baby blessing, and more!

Introducing...

Bridget Leah Rice

May 29, 2008

4:30 pm

7 pounds 10 ounces

19 1/2 inches

I will post more details later, but for now here are some pictures. To see the picture they took at the hospital, go here: http://www.utahportraits.com/hospital/index.php?action=view&BabyID=052908blr

Make that 7 days to go!

I think this is my first post without pictures. Anyway, just wanted to report that the doctor has scheduled me to be induced in a week! So, as long as the baby doesn't come sooner, her birthday will be May 29th! We are so excited! Uh oh, now we only have a week to figure out her name.

Aren't we festive?

This is us going to our ward luau. I thought it was fun that we had all of this Hawaiian stuff in our dress up box. I've decided a mumu (I don't know how to spell it...in my case it should be spelled MooooooMoooooo) is a very comfortable option for a pregnant momma. Doesn't my face seem to say, "I wish I were in Hawaii"? Maybe someday.

We got away!

We didn't get very far, but we still got away! We went to a live session at the Salt Lake temple, a tour of the Conference Center (we are on the roof of it in the above picture), and dinner at the Garden Restaurant.


We got a free night's stay at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake. We stayed in the "Mysteries of Egypt" room. It was pretty cool.

The shower comes out of the snake's mouth.

We had a great time together...a much needed getaway before life gets crazy with baby #4. (or should I say crazi-ER) Thanks to Nanna (& Bubba) for watching our cuties.

I can't believe he is 2!

Levi James Rice

turned 2 on March 30th!

Here he is when he turned 1! He got this Thomas the train that he still loves.

Since he loves trains, we decided to have a train cake for his 2nd birthday. Chris made it and did a fabulous job. (Even with the lame frosting that I made him that was hard to work with)

We love our Little Levi!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

We love the cabin!

Here are some action shots of us playing at the cabin! Yes, even I went snowmobiling and sledding in my pregnant condition. Funny how my back started hurting after that weekend!

We feel so blessed to have this family cabin! Thanks Stewarts for a great time (as always)!

Easter

Why am I always a couple months behind? I think I need to download my pictures on a more regular basis. Anyway, here is a look at our Easter spent at the cabin with my family.

My kids got to dye Easter eggs with their cousin Tanner (Will & Christina's little boy)

Big Boy Bed

So, we might have gotten ahead of ourselves, but we put Levi in a toddler bed. Our reasoning was that it might take him a couple of months to adjust, so we'd rather do it now than after the baby comes. What were we thinking? What 2 year old boy is going to want to stay in his bed? In fact, you may think less of us as parents when I tell you that we have resorted to locking him in his room. I just couldn't deal with him giving up naps quite yet, so I just lock him in. He doesn't cry. He just lays down on the floor and looks under the door until he falls asleep. Kind of sad, huh? But the good news is that SOMETIMES he stays in his bed and falls asleep. We're just hoping that it will happen more and more. The funny thing is...the first 3 or 4 days he stayed in his bed and went right to sleep and when he woke up he would just sit up and cry. It's like it didn't occur to him to get out of his bed! :) Anyway, here are some pictures of his first night in his "big boy bed"This is him pretending to be asleep.

This is how we found him later that night. Good thing we put blankets down. We have since put up a railing to keep him in. I can't believe how big he is getting. I am sure he will seem even bigger after we meet his baby sister.

We're lovin it!

The basement is finished! (Well, except for the bathroom) We are all lovin it! I am so proud of Chris and his determination to do so much of it himself. He did an amazing job! Here are some pictures, but just know that the "after" pictures don't do it justice. You'll just have to come visit and see for yourself! This picture is to prove that I helped where I could (i.e. sweeping and painting). It is also to show the "before" of how Chris took an old brown bookshelf and put it in the doorway of our storage room and added hinges and a wheel and made it look like a built in bookcase, but really it is our hidden doorway.

Here is the after!

This is how it looks open. Chris has always wanted to make something like this and he did it!

Even Madison helped paint baseboards!

Here is our family room/Theater room! Of course it is wired for surround sound...this is Chris we are talking about!

Here is a little play room for the kids complete with an automatic light that comes on when they go in and goes off after awhile instead of me having to crawl in there to turn it off...Chris has thought of everything! They have already done a puppet show for us in the little windows and we expect many more to come. We have 2 bedrooms and the office down here as well. The girls have already moved downstairs and love their new room.

Our little star!

Madison's dance group did the Nutcracker in December and she was a small doll (a Chinese doll). She did a fantastic job!
She was recently in a fireside called "Stories of Faith" at the new Covey Center in Provo. Her dance was to "My Heavenly Father loves me". She even had a solo. (Maybe I'll get Chris to help me post the video) It was the best spiritual "so blessed to be a mother" moment I have had in a while. I was bawling (I'm sure being pregnant didn't help, but the spirit was very strong). I love this dance company! They even had a guest speaker the week before to encourage the girls to dance to uplift others instead of just dancing for themselves and for praise. I certainly was uplifted by this fireside.
I thought this was a very cute picture of my girls. Both girls will be in "Alice in Topsy Turvy Land" at the end of the month, so stay tuned for pictures of both of our little stars!

Better late than never!

Okay, so I knew when I started that I would be more like a "once a month" blogger, but it's pretty sad that I am just now blogging about Christmas. Hopefully I will get better at this. Anyway, here are some pictures from our wonderful Christmas.This is Katelyn with reindeer food that she got from preschool and set out Christmas Eve. She was VERY excited about it.

The main gift that Santa brought was a trampoline. Santa was up until 3am on Christmas Eve putting it together on top of snow WHILE it was snowing! For some reason Santa was too tired to put up the safety net. We put it up 2 months later when the snow melted. The kids love it! Mom loves it too! Thank you Santa!

Long Awaited Ultrasound!

Yep, that's right....it's a girl!!! We are very excited! I was wrong, I totally thought it was a boy. Katelyn was the only one that knew all along it was a "gril baby"! Sorry Chris and Levi, the girls have the majority in this family!

Tagged!

What is his name? Christopher, but I’ve always called him Chris
How long have you been together? 9 years
How long did you date? 6 months (3 months dating, 3 months engaged)
Who eats more? Sadly, it’s a tie
Who said I love you first? I think he did
Who is taller? He is
Who has more speeding tickets? That would be me
Who is smarter? I think he is
Who is more sensitive? I am, but he IS sensitive
When there is a fight who usually wins? We take turns
Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but he pitches in a lot
Who does the dishes? We both do
Who sleeps on the right? Me
Who pays the bills? Automatic bills baby! But I pay the couple that aren’t automatic
Who mows the lawn? He does. I’ve done it a handful of times just for a change
Who cooks dinner? I do, except for grilling
Who drives when you are together? He does
Who is more stubborn? Probably me
Who kissed who first? It was so perfect that I would say both of us at the same time
Who asked who out first? He asked me out, but I had to flirt with him a lot first
Who proposed? He did of course-on the Las Vegas Temple grounds
Who has more siblings? He does. He has 6, I have 4
Who wears the pants? I pick the pants-he wears them :)
I tag.... Raquel, Mary, Sarah Dodson, Jen Stewart, and Nancee

Little Levi

Levi has discovered the water dispenser! AAAAAHHHH! He pushed this chair over, got a cup out of the drawer, and filled it up three times. I'm impressed (and grateful) that he even bothered to use a cup.






I love this second picture, because it shows how proud he was of himself. He felt so big. I love my little Levi!

We're having a Rice Rice baby!

Yep...we're pregnant! We will have baby #4 the first week of June. Actually, it will be the end of May...my doctor said he would induce at 39 weeks (since Levi came pretty fast and I didn't get my epidural), so I'm planning on it! Anyway, we are excited. Katelyn thinks it is a "gril" as she says it, and has already named her Cassie. I think it is a boy because I have been pretty sick and I have only been sick with Levi so far. But we will see...we will let you know when we find out!

Haloween (finally)

We went trick or treating at Novell, then went to a ward party, and then Chris took the girls trick or treating around the neighborhood---way too much candy!

Halloween Party

Chris and I got invited to a Halloween costume party...we took the cheap and easy road.

Can you guess?

I am white trash and Chris wore his birthday suit! We got an award for Most Original Costumes. (I think that is just a nice way of saying Cheapest and Easiest costumes...what do you think?)

Mummy Pizzas and Pumpkin Carving Fun

The Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pictures of when we went to the pumpkin patch before Halloween (I'm a little behind).

Progress in our basement!

Chris has been working hard on the basement in his few spare moments. We decided to hire someone to do the drywall and texture, so we are almost done! He has finished our office, so I think it's time to show off some before and after shots. I am very proud of him!

This was his uniform to install all of the insulation.

Office, Before

This is how he looked after using the paint sprayer. He used a mask and eventually wore goggles over his eyes and a t-shirt on his head so that he wouldn't look like the above picture.

Office, During

Office, After

Office, with furniture! (Her workspace)

Chris bought this furniture from an online auction. It was used at UVSC and was originally a dark burgandy color. It turned out great!

His workspace (far right)

Levi's 1st major haircut!

BEFORE

(I should have taken a picture of the back of his hair, but it was basically a mullet)

DURING

(Notice the strip of shaved hair down the middle)

AFTER

Isn't he cute?

First Day of School

I can't believe we have a 1st grader! Madison loves 1st grade so far. She loves that she gets to see and play with her friends everyday!

Katelyn is going to pre-school twice a week in the afternoon. The morning of the 1st day she asked me at least 20 times, "now can I go to school?"

Our Dream Vacation

I thought I would get on the ball and give this blog thing a try. This is such a great way to keep in touch. I wanted to show some pics of our fun summer vacation to the beach and Disneyland. We had such a good time!

Catchin some waves! What a fun Dad!

This is Madison boogie boarding all by herself!

Our princesses!

The girls got to meet 5 princesses!

Da boys lookin cool in their 3D glasses getting ready for the Muppets 3D movie.

Da girls lookin even cooler in theirs.

Once again, what a fun Dad!

sunscreen + sand = one happy, sandy boy!

That's it for now!

Love, Heather