Izzy!!

Our little girl... she is so precious to us!! This is her hanging out in the hospital. It is so hard to see your little baby like this!! I just hated all of the poke-marks all over her body from all the needles! I wanted to hold her all the time but it depended on the nurse... some let us hold her and some wouldn't. But even when we could hold her it was only for a couple minutes so they could keep monitoring her and so that she could use all of her energy to get better! So most of the time we just would sit right next to her and stare at her, wondering how lucky we were to have her!! They never let her have a real full-on bath, so one night Ryan and a super nice nurse snuck and cleaned her up a little. And yes, they did try and give Izzy a fo-hawk!

This is one of the times I got to hold Isabelle. I was so scared that Isabelle wouldn't be bonded to me because I didn't get to be with her after she was born. I didn't get to see her until about eight hours after she was born, and didn't get to hold her until the next day-- let me tell you, that is the most heartbreaking thing for a mom!! Well I shouldn't have worried because the first time I held her, I started talking to her and she opened her eyes and just looked right up at me! My heart melted... I just started crying because I knew that my baby knew me!!

Here's Isabelle (exhausted from getting dressed for the first time!) She's six days old and getting ready to go home from the hospital... Finally!

Ahhh... it feels good to be home! I'm pretty sure we all felt like this when we got home... Ryan was so sick of being cooped up in that Hospital he was about to go crazy!! I, on the other hand, was pretty nervous to leave all of the machines and nurses that had been monitoring my baby. I really wanted to take some of them home with me! I missed them so much in fact, that the first night home (at 2am) we had to make a trip back to the hospital to see one of our favorite nurses... Izzy was giving me a little scare, by turning blue, so we ran her over. It wasn't anything serious, but we are sure glad we'd made friends with the NICU nurses! We are so grateful for all the people that helped us with Isabelle... nurses, doctors, and especially family and friends. We are so grateful for a happy and healthy baby- we feel so blessed that everything is working out well and that Isabelle has overcome her rough start! She is such a joy in our lives and we feel lucky every day to have her!!

She is finally here!!!

Okay...so this is Caryn's friend, Abbey, posting this...but Caryn and Ryan wanted to give everyone a little update on the baby.

Isabelle Blanche Reese was born Monday, April 28th. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 inches long. The delivery was a hard one. At first they found out that the baby was breech and had to make the decison to do a C-section. It actually turned out to be a huge blessing that a C-section was done because when they got in there to get the baby they found out that the cord was wrapped around her neck and body. The doctor later told Ryan that he only sees 2 or 3 babies a year with the cord as tight as it was. So the baby had to be put into Intensive Care on a all sorts of machines to help her. Ryan was such a good daddy and he barely left her side for three days. There was also some concern about Isabelle's red blood cells that the doctors were watching closely. Isabelle stayed in NICU until Saturday afternoon, when Caryn and Ryan got to try having her in a room with them to see how she did... a NICU nurse would come in every hour to check on them. After they could see she was stable, Isabelle was able to come home Sunday afternoon. She is doing so much better and Caryn and Ryan are so glad to have her home. Because of the stressful delivery and other issues, Isabelle's little immune system is very weak right now, so she probably will not be making any appearances for a few weeks. But Caryn and Ryan wanted to thank everyone for all their love and support and look forward to seeing you soon and showing off the little one...but in the meantime enjoy a few photos!

Tagged!

All about ME...with pictures!
I love this, I thought it was fun! I know I have other tags to do and I promise I will do them. For this one, you type your answer into Google images and choose the first picture that comes up!

Age on my next birthday:

28... I am getting old!

A place I'd like to travel:

Who DOESN"T want to go to Hawaii, with all this crappy weather!!!

A favorite place:

My Doctor's Office! (and to clarify... it's just right now, not all the time!) This stage of pregnancy is so fun... going everyweek to see if this baby is ready to be born yet!!

One of my favorite things:

Slurpees...And lucky for me, Leo (the little boy I tend) loves them just as much as I do! We can come up with a good excuse almost every day to go get one! And he mixes all the flavors just like me!!

My favorite food:

Spaghetti... I could eat it everyday!

My favorite flower:

Ranunculus... and just so you know, I didn't know how to spell it until today :)

My favorite color:

Purple- and at one time I even had purple hair.

What city do I live in:

Herriman, Utah.

Name of my last pet:

I'm not sure exactly what "last pet" means... so we'll go with the last pet added to our family, which is our plastic goldfish, Gertrude. I wanted a real one, but I fiqured it would either freeze (since the bowl is in the bay window) or there was a good chance Baxter would eat it. So we got a fake... she's cute and no mess! (PS this picture of "Gertrude" is exactly why Ryan vetoed the name for our baby, I think!!)

A nickname I have had:

Carebear! (That one is much better than Slow!)

My college major: Does a General Studies Associates Degree from SLCC count???

My first job:I worked at Jamsey... a kiosk in Cottonwood Mall. It was all t-shirts and once they had me miss school to work- hello, I was 15!

A hope for 2008: That the Ute's do well so that I will have a happy husband!!

I am going to tag anyone that still looks at my blog, considering I haven't posted for two months!! (Thanks Lindsey for making me post!!) Have Fun!

Welcome Home Alex!!

We are so excited to have Ryan's little brother Alex home from his mission in Spain!

Three Months to Go!!!

Time is going so quickly... we can't believe our baby girl is due in less than three months! We just got out maternity photo's back and are so excited about them! My friend Abby took them... she is so amazingly talented!! She owns her own photography business and she did such a wonderful job! She had so many great ideas and captured tons of great shots! These are a few of our favorites, and you can see the rest on her website at: http://www.akstudio.typepad.com/

If anyone's considering doing maternity photos, do it for sure! It was a blast, and this way we'll never forget how huge my tummy was (Plus, I would recommend Abby to anyone, she really is amazing!)

Tagged- all about my husband!

What is his name? Ryan Erik Reese
How long have you been together? Five Years , Married Four Years!
How long did you date? 1 Year (Almost Exactly)
How old is he? Too young to be bald, poor guy!
Who eats more? That is a sensitive question right now, considering my pregnant state.
Who said I love you first? Ryan
Who is taller? Ryan (by an entire inch...which means nothing once you put shoes on because girls shoes always have bigger soles!)
Who can sing better? Ryan, and you should hear him make up his own lyrics, it's hilarious!
Who is smarter? Ryan... plus he is good at absolutely everything he does!
Who does the laundry? Me, I'm pretty sure he does not know how to turn on the washer or dryer.
Who pays the bills? Me, but he earns the money :)
Who sleeps on the right side? Me. But when the baby's born we'll switch because the cradle fits on the other side... it's going to be a big change!
Who mows the lawn? He does - it's his favorite!
Who cooks dinner? I don't know if the word "cook" really applies, but I guess it would be me.
Who drives? Ryan!
Who is more stubborn? Ryan... after the first year of marriage, I learned it's easier to just give in!
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first... on the cheek, how cute. Then for real on our next date.
Who asked who out first? He asked me out first.
Who proposed? He did. We had talked about getting married, but never looked at rings or anything so I was VERY surprised, and VERY happy when he poppped the question.
Who has more friends? We pretty much have the same friends. I steal his.
Who is more sensitive? 100% me
Who has more siblings? Me
Who wears the pants? Ryan!! But he told me once that I wear the capri's...

I tag Trisha, Kalli, and Abby... have fun!

Top Ten Holiday Moments

Alright, I will start by admitting that I am really bad at this whole blog thing. Next, I would like to ask where December went??? I swear by the time all the Holidays are over; it never ceases to amaze me how quickly it all went by! We really enjoyed all of the festivities, traditions, and fun! We feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to share those times with!! Here is our top ten list of our most enjoyable Holiday moments…


#10: Our (sort-of) Annual Christmas Date!!
Our little group tries to go out every year for Christmas, I think. Except the only other picture I could find was from 2002, and Sally wasn’t even there.. sorry Sally! (This counts as my formal apology, btw) ...Maybe we’ve just been bad at pictures.

#9: Making Christmas Cookies with my Mom!!

We had so much fun making cookies and fudge. I think we went cross-eyed decorating so many cookies. In fact, we were so busy; we forgot to take any pictures!!! So this is a picture of my sister, me, and my Mom at a fun lunch outing right before Christmas (that could count as #9, too... so many fun things!)

#8: Two fun Christmas Concerts!!

We were able to attend the choir concert with Ryan’s parents and a Peter Brienholt concert with his family. Both were lots of fun!! (And our baby totally kicks to the music, so we know she enjoyed them too!)

#7: Ryan in his Fancy Christmas Sweater (AND snowflake turtleneck)!!

He didn’t even win the contest… can you believe it??

#6: My Niece Whitney’s Christmas Songs!!

She prepared a whole performance (with props) for our family… how cute!! And yes, all she wanted for Christmas were her "two front teeth"!!

#5: The Most Handsome Santa I’ve EVER Seen!!

He almost gagged on his beard, but was quite jolly nevertheless!! This year Christmas Eve was at Kirk’s house and it was so much fun!

#4: Derek’s Great Gift Giving!!
He picked out an outfit (with matching shoes), onesies, and a swing for our little baby!! How sweet! I wouldn't have guessed he even knew what a onesie was!!

#3: A Tijuana-Inspired Christmas!!

We had a little help from the “Mexican Santa” this year…Thank goodness the Utes went to San Diego for their Bowl Game!!

#2: Christmas Brunch at my Parents!!

I was sick Christmas Eve and almost started crying thinking that I was going to miss out on Egg Breakfast… Thankfully I got better!!! And I think Ryan enjoyed his new U helmet even more than the Egg Breakfast!

#1: Christmas Morning with our Dogs!!

I promise, they really do get excited to open their gifts on Christmas!!


Most of all we are grateful for all the fun time spent surrounded by family and friends. We loved being able to talk to Ryan's brother Alex who is on a Mission in Spain. We look forward to him coming home in February! We hope you all had a great Holiday Season!