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.