Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very...



Hello everyone!! Hope this year has brought you all much happiness and joy!! We have had a wonderful 2009. We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Russell Family Update

Last year was a tough one for us, and this year has been much better!! We are currently living in Queen Creek, Arizona with family and are loving every moment we are together as a family. Our family grew in July when we welcomed Kiley Lynn into the world!!! And we are doing great. Here is a little sum up of what we all have been up to:

* Kip- Has been busy completing his 4th semester in the Criminal Justice program he is due to possibly graduate as long as we stay on schedule in about a year and a half. He has also been working hard full-time with the same construction company doing flood, and fire repair/remodels for State Farm. He is busy which is a huge blessing today!!

* Jenni- Has been working at a couple different salons part-time. She is loving the opportunity to use her talents. She currently is working at Accents Salon in Queen Creek, AZ. She loves being home and enjoying life with 2 kiddos!!!

* Brody- almost 4!!! And is a ball of energy! He still loves anything to do with Buzz Lightyear, and is anxiously awaiting the day Toy Story 3 comes out. He loves playing with his cars, and has loved his "Sport's Camp" these past few months. He cracks us up everyday with his witty personality, and loves waking up to his new baby sister every morning. He loves her so much and is already protective.

* Kiley- Our new addition this year!! She is 5 months old already, and is the best baby!! She is rolling over, has figured out how to hold and put anything she can grasp right into her mouth. She is always smiling at everyone and everything. "Smiley Kiley" She is doing great and no longer looks like a preemie, she has surpassed our expectations, and her pediatrician. She is a rockstar and has come along way. She is strong and healthy and a wonderful blessing to our family!!

We look forward to the coming year and all that it may hold. We send our love and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The Russell Pack

New Obsession...

My Brother in-law found this website. I am obsessed!! This is an online "Scrapblog" You can get designs for free!!! Create and post anywhere. You can order books, cards, & calendars. The books start out at only $9.99. There is more available for purchase also. Check out what I made with a free kit including 9 backgrounds, stickers, etc. You can make cards, invites, announcements , and so much more and it is simple to use. Then with a click of a button you can publish it, send it, post it. It is great!!! Go check it out!

(www.scrapblog.com)

There is two announcements below, I was just playing...

Kiley's Blessing

We blessed "smiley Kiley" a couple of weeks ago and here are a couple pics of her in her dress!

A little makeshift photo shoot!! Wanna see more visit my Facebook for the complete session!!

Impression

I got this as a gift from one of my old
Bishops wife. So I went and got it done, and I absolutely love it!!!


This is a hand and foot mold. If interested check out the blog Circle of Life Impressions.

Kiley's 2 months!!

Kiley is getting bigger....

2 months old!

She loves her big brother!!

She is starting to grin

and she loves her mommy!! Check out more pics on my facebook profile! Hope everyone is well!! Kiley will be blessed on Sept. 27th!!

Brody's Airtime

While on the topic of my Brother-in-law I wanted to share this post he made with Brody while Kip and I were at the hospital with Kiley.
Side information on this post:
Alan is one of Brody's favorite people's (uncle)
because of this:

Alan has a whole screen on his I Pod touch dedicated with games for Brody to play! It is funny cuz he will play it for hours he knows how to navigate through it, play with pics, and send random email (he gets in trouble for that)

So now that you know that, Alan let Brody make a guest appearance in his blog (click to read it is quite humerous!) and video that I think are funny. The video was for "Steve Jobs" the CEO of apple.

Look-a-likes

I thought this might be interesting...

Brody at birth: 9 lbs. 2 oz.

Kiley at birth: 5 lbs. 4 oz.


Brody at 3 months:


and Kiley at 14 days...

When she smiles I see this...

Brody at 3 mon.

I'lll try to catch a picture of her smiling soon :o)

Pictures!

Here are some fun pictures! Kiley went to the doctor on Wednesday and has gained 10 oz. in 7 days. Surprising everyone! Go girl, keep fighting!! (that's my girl!)


My Little Peanut!!

Sleeping away!

All bundled up!

Kiley Lynn

Kiley's first bath!

Kiley Lynn- Home & loving it!

Kiley came home on Tuesday July 21st FINALLY! It was only a week but felt like forever.

She is adjusting to being home with Mommy, Daddy, and of course Big Brother Brody!!
Look at her dainty little hands- very girl!! And thanks to Aunt Jamie and Aunt Jani for the beautiful fingers, and nails. Jamie & Jani are the only ones in either sides of our family with nails like Kiley has!


I love this picture because when you take pictures of Kiley she looks like any other baby, but this shows just how small she really is at only 5 lbs.



We are so blessed and excited Kiley is home with us and doing great!! She is feeding well and looks like she is starting to chunk up, little by little. Brody is so excited to finally have sister home. He loves waking up to her little noises and is being such a big helper. Kip now has more reasons why he loves coming home: wrestling with Brody always a favorite, a loving wife, and now lots of little cuddles from his "Little Princess." We are all doing good, and hope all is well. We will continue to keep updating!! I'll post something I thought was funny that Brody made with his Uncle Alan while Mommy & Daddy were at the hospital!

Home safe and sound!!

Well Kiley got to come home yesterday morning, and has been doing great!! I haven't put more pics on and will soon in a couple of days so keep checkin'. I had to get on here though and let all know we got to bring her home!!! Brody is so excited to have his sister home finally and have some of his mommy and daddy's attention. We are all doing great!! Hope all is well with everyone!

COME BACK FOR PICTURES!
(I've got some really cute ones, you won't want to miss it!)

Update on Kiley Lynn...

Well everyone as you know Kiley decided to come early. She arrived on...

July 14th at 5:18am


via C-Section. I was possibly ruptured and leaking fluid, so my doctor ultimately decided to get her out. My due date was Aug. 20th so Kiley was born at only 34 weeks and 4 days!

She was 5 lbs 4 oz. and 18 3/4 "

She has been in the Special Care Nursery (NICU)- at 34 weeks the babies lungs are not fully developed so she had to be on a breathing machine (C-Pap)

for a couple days and had a tube down her throat that helped expand her lungs and also sucked out excess fluids. She also had a an IV that provided her all the things she was lacking- (Electrolytes, and saline, etc.) After that they told us she would not have developed her sucking and swallowing and may have a hard time feeding and have to have a feeding tube. But she didn't she sucked down her whole first bottle and nursed like a champ. Which surprised everyone!! She has been eating great since then. The C-pap and all the tubes came off on day 3, and didn't have to go back on. Which is typical for preemies to do very well and work too hard and then poop out and go backwards. Then she was put under the Billie Light for a few days for Jaundice, also typical for preemies.

She has came off that and has kept up her levels.
I was released on Sat. morning and I am recovering quickly. I visit Kiley twice a days to nurse. She originally was supposed to stay at the hospital anywhere from 1-2 weeks. But she is doing fabulous and it is miraculous to all those involved. She is a fighter!! In the nursery the nurses call her a "Rockstar."


Today is Sunday and in a couple of hours I will return to the hospital to stay over night with her (they call it "nesting"- you stay the night in a room with the baby. The nurses checks on her every 3 hours.) It is to help with the transition in coming home with Kiley. She was due to come home tomorrow around 4. But the doctor wants to see her weight stabilize before giving her the release. She is now at 4 lbs. 13 oz. she has lost a little weight which is normal for newborns to lose 10% of there body weight in the first few days. So now that she is 6 days old the doctor wants it to level off or go back up. So as of tonight her and I may have to stay 1 more day to have the doctor watch her weight. I believe me being there with her may also aid in her staying stable. So I am excited to go stay with her. And will let everyone know when we are both home, safe and sound!!

(and Brody is soo excited! He says "Baby Kiley is fake, cuz she is too small." But he loves holding her hand and giving her kisses.)

Life as of late

We have not been up to much, I have been working three days a week and on my off days I take Brody swimming,to the park, to the library. One day while waiting for my oil change we took a trip to Krispy Kremes and enjoyed a tasty treat...

On the Saturdays when I am not working we go to the lake and cool off. And ride, "Gma and Gpa jet ski fast." Brody loves to go for little rides on the jet skis, but mainly loves to sit in the water with his life vest and noodle and just swim. His new thing is everywhere we go he always happens to find a "Y" stick. I am serious everywhere he finds sticks in perfect Y formation. It is funny.

And since this semester is over Kip has some free time until he goes back to school in August. So he has found time to go fishing and has been taking Brody along with his new "Diego" fishing Pole while mommy is working.

Kip thinks he is a "Bad Bass!!"

Brody too..

Brody couldn't hold the big one. he dropped it, and it flopped all over the ground.

I am now 29 weeks and counting. (Due date: Aug. 13th) Monday we got some new ultrasounds of "baby sister" (that are not very clear.) Doctor estimates 7lbs. 5oz. at birth, give or take. She is head up for now but we are having a scheduled C-section on the 13th so Doc is not worried.

This one is her face you can see her chubby cheeks in white, an eye, her nose, and her little lips. In the ultrasound she kept opening and closing her mouth and the doctor kept talking about her chubby cheeks. (We may have a little Christiansen in here- maybe she'll look like the girls??)

...28 Weeks...


And we have finally decided on a name...

Kiley Lynn Russell

and Brody is sooooo excited! he asks my belly button every morning if, "Baby Kiley come out and play with him yet?"


Other than anxiously waiting on Kiley, we have been enjoying being home all together in the evenings. Making homemade dinners, (it's been awhile.) Watching Kip play softball onTuesdays (wishing I could be playing.) We have as much fun with brodyas we can- he is getting so big, too fast. He loves having Daddy home in the evenings, it's like WWF when dad comes home everynight. They love to wrestle and play till they can't stop laughing. I love it.

Anyways there is a little Russell Pack update.

Until next time!

Spontaneous Mini- Vacation...

Memorial Day - Beach Trip

We decided on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend that we wanted to go somewhere and do something. So that night we booked a hotel and packed our bags and left at 7:00 Sunday morning on a 6 hour journey to Long Beach, CA. We were on the beach a little after lunch time and the weather was TERRIFIC!

(click on pic above to view it bigger. Or go to facebook to view all the pics.)


Although getting the cheapest hotel in Long Beach was not the best idea but we had a blast anyways. It turns out there is a nice part of Long Beach and a "downtown" version (where the hotel was) but we found a beautiful beach 30 min. away. (Sunset Beach) So we played at Sunset Beach all day got to the hotel to shower and sleep, then woke up and we were on the beach again by 7:00, played on the beach for hours left about lunch time and arrived back at home about 7:00pm. We had so much fun and even though it was short it was a fun little break from life!!