I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but first I have to introduce to the newest Armstrong granddaughter, my sweet little niece...
Zoey Rae Tegner
Born: July 5, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Weight: 6 lbs 8 oz
Height: 19 in
Her birth story in one word: hilarious
If this sweet little peanut is anything like her birth story, she will be hilarious, easy going, and fun.
Jenny went in for an induction that morning, got pitocin started around 1 pm, an epidural a little later, and her water broken at 3 pm.
Yes, this is how Jenny looked throughout the whole thing, gorgeous and relaxed
Getting the epidural
Relaxing
Beauty sleep
They checked her at 5 pm and she was 4 cm.
You're complete and ready to push!
At 6:30 when they checked her again she was a 10 and the head was right there. The doctor was paged and the nurse had Jenny roll over, only as she did that we all looked down and saw sweet little Zoey's head and shoulder coming out. As Jenny looked down she started laughing and out Zoey slid, not with a push, with a laugh!
It all happened so fast and we were all in shock. Half crying, half laughing. Did that really just happen?
Is it possible to have such an easy birth?
I guess so, because I was a witness.
Jenny was incredible, Zoey is a sweet little thing and so calm.
I cannot wait to get to know this little girl and see what God and the world have in store for her.
Welcome Zoey, you are so loved!!
We kind of decided last minute to do an overnight camping trip as a family. The girls and I got back Friday from Albany and Saturday morning we left for Cloud Cap to camp. Our plan was to drive there, set up camp and then hike around a little bit.
We are fully equipped for backpacking but we realized we don't have normal camping stuff. So now we are in search of a big family tent. Even though we slept in 2 different tents, we still had a blast.
Both girls completely shocked us by being INCREDIBLE hikers. We could not believe how awesome Reese did. We hiked up a pretty steep trail to the edge of Elliott Glacier and she was just trucking right along. By the end of our hike back to camp she was pretty tired, but she walked the whole way.
We got back and had some dinner and after that Bria wanted to hike more.
Reese was pretty tired though so her and I hung out at camp while Brian and Bria climbed and hiked all over.
Once she got her fill we got them ready for bed. Both girls did great during the night, I slept with Bria in one tent and Brian slept with Reese in the other. We contemplated putting them in a tent together but didn't want them to wake up at night without one of us being there.
In the morning we got a fire going, coffee brewing, and oatmeal cooking. Then we hiked a little more.
Taking in the gorgeous view of Mt. Hood
"Whoa, that mountain is huge."
Once we were all packed up we headed into Hood River. Normally we like to go to Full Sail, but our camping neighbors said their new favorite was this place called pFriem. It was right across from the waterfront park so we figured we would give it a try.
Holy crap I'm glad we did. It was absolutely delicious. Favorite flight of beer ever and Brian's hamburger was out of this world. For real, when you got to Hood River you have to go there, it's awesome.
After we ate and drank we still weren't done with the fun. It was Father's Day after all, so we headed to play in the sand and water.
Once we were good and tired we headed home. Both Reese and I fell asleep on the way home, not sure how Bria stayed awake after all her hiking, but she did. When we got home, Reese walked into the house, layed on her bed and fell back asleep. It was awesome. However, we woke her up because we had to get the girls bathed, we were in the toxic Willamette River after all.
So did we have fun?
Brian and I are still talking about what an awesome weekend it was and Brian said it was his best Father's Day by far. So yeah, it was pretty spectacular.
More camping and hiking for the Holcomb's for sure.
Last week was our first official week of summer and I kept us nice and busy. Partly because I knew the summer was going to take off and be over before I knew it.
Bria's friend, Laneah, came over for a playdate and they spent all day together. They had such a good time and just played and played. Bria did a good job of including Reese, so to reward her I gave them a little while without the little sister tagging along :)
After Laneah went home, the girls and I headed down to Albany for a couple days! I am so glad we did, it was one of the best visits and we got to see so much family, it was perfection.
First we went to my Dad's and hung out, Lance and Kayla joined us and we BBQ'd.
Already looks up to his Grandpa
The girls love their Aunt Abby and Cassidy and kept them busy. They jumped on the trampoline, played iPad games, and played with Bella the dog.
Shortly before bedtime we headed to the Tegners and the girls were thrilled to see Jax. They played and then bathed...
Morning couldn't come soon enough for these kids and they played and played and played...
I took them all to Corvallis at the splash pad so we could hang out with Grammy. They spent the first 20 minutes snacking on all the food I brought...what is it with kids and snacking?! Then finally they decided to run around.
Reese and Jax preferred running in the grass vs the water. And run they did, they raced and raced and raced. I had a couple ask if they were twins, I smiled and said they were cousins but I totally agree that they could be twins. They are two peas in a pod...
Cousin besties
After the splash pad and some lunch, we went to Avery park. They have the coolest train there for kids to play and climb on and Reese has an obsession with trains currently. She loved it.
Seriously, I can't believe my girls were still going strong. They started early and were still running around like crazy. Reese took a 10 minute nap on the way back to Aunt Jenny's but as soon as we got there she perked up and back to playing we went.
My Mom came over for dinner along with Lance and Kayla and we got lots of good Ames time in.
Seriously love getting baby Ames cuddles in! He has the best smile I have ever seen and just makes you feel so special when he smiles at you.
And Bria was getting the best belly laughs out of Jax, it was so freaking cute!
That night the kids slept HARD. I mean, barely moved all night long. It was awesome.
Friday morning we hung out with my Dad for awhile and then headed to the Jensens for some swimming.
So yeah, we had quite an awesome couple days. Obviously we missed Brian, but he got some relaxing alone time/worked.
