Life As We Know It

Aleigha and Aubrey about to go play in the snow

enjoying a day in the snow

snow bunnies making snow angels

our beautiful baby

Aleigha recently started dance classes..and she loves it! We can't wait for her recital in May!

Her dance class is a mix of jazz, ballet, and tumbling

Aleigha does great with Kenli...she loves to hold her

for all of you who think Aleigha looks like Chris...well this picture proves that there is a little bit of me in her....many ppl have mistaken this pic for me....she certainly has my profile at least

they are both sooo in love with her...they are great little helpers to me too...now if they would just let me sleep :)

1st time in the swing...loves it...except when Brenton climbs in with her...not so fond of it then

Such a good big brother...he was so proud that he was able to hold her all by himself in HIS chair

such a good big brother that he will find any way to check on her
(he climbed onto the couch and into the pack-n-play changing table...i'm not sure if there is any where in the house that I can leave her for even a minute w/out him finding a way to her)

she's soo small...not even sure if this is safe
by the way, the car seat cover you see here was made by love from Katie and Wade
they did an absolutely amazing job...THANK YOU!

our silly adorable little boy, Brenton

precious angel

waiting to be discharged...running on about 8 hrs of sleep in the 72 hours prior to this pic

even though mommy had very little sleep...she got plenty :)

Kenli might just be as big as Aubrey ;)

brotherly love

3: 3 and under

so in love

Grandma and Kenli

can't stop admiring her

Big Brother Brenton

Big Sister Aleigha

Baby Sister Kenli

Daddy with his baby girl

precious feet

love at first sight

smiles already?

our beautiful baby girl, Kenli

me and Chris walking the halls of the hospital (I have monitors on my stomach...so I look a little bigger than I really was)....false labor

when I went into false labor...trying to walk, squat, and lunge Kenli out of me

All the Thornburgh children at Pat's wedding...we know Jeremy was with us there

Katie, Chris, and Wade para-sailing...I unfortunately was not able to go b/c of being pregnant...too hard to hide my pregnant belly in a bathing suite.

so in love...enjoying a night out while my parents watched the kids

Brenton and Mommy enjoying a nice swim

Mommy and Aleigha enjoying a nice walk on the beach

Let the baby races begin....diaper derby...needless to say, Brenton had no ambition to even join in...he sat here the whole time and didn't budge. (L-R: Brenton, Jaxon, Aubrey, and Ollie...all cousins born in an 8 wk prd)

Aleigha and Lexi...these two little girls had a blast together in Florida. This was about the time they got into Aunt Sue's "Mary Kay" make-up...and locked themselves in a bedroom...silly girls.

our little ball player

Brenton burried his cousin Aric in the sand..he thought he'd be nice enough to let him breath and see all the fun he was missing

family pic in Pensacola, Fl

Well, once again it has been quite some time since I have posted. A LOT has happened in the last few months. I'm not even going to say "I'll try to keep it brief"...because we all know what that means....lol. Now I will be spending a lot more time at home, so I hope that I will be able to post more often.

On November 17th, 2010 our dream finally became a reality. We finally closed on the house that we were so desperately trying to buy. It is a small 3 bedroom house. Even though it is little, it is great for us right now. I absolutely love it. We are now home owners and it feels great. We had lots of help moving from family and friends. The first night in, I finally felt home. It felt like I was where I belonged, that I had lived there for years...it just felt right.

On Nov. 19th, Molly gave birth to her little boy (my adorable nephew), Titan Dean. He is now 2 1/2 months old. He is absolutely adorable and his personality is beginning to show. He is a welcome addition to our family :).

Thanksgiving, like usually, was an enjoyable day spent with family and eating lots of delicious food.

A week before Christmas, we surprised my parents with our annual "sibling gift." Each year all the sibling throw in money to buy a big gift for my parents. This year, we were able to get them a new couch and love seat, an ottoman, and even a new set of dishes (they needed something to open on Christmas morning..lol). They were very surprised and love the couches very much. They were very appreciative, and the couches look incredible in their house! Thank you everyone!! I will post pictures for those siblings who haven't seen them yet. Also that night, we did our annual Christmas caroling. Aleigha was the most excited, but we all had a blast doing it.

We spent the evening of Christmas Eve at my parents doing our annual Christmas traditions. We had a birthday cake for Jesus. Every year since I was a child, we have acted out the story of Christmas from the Bible. A few years, when we were short on characters, we just read the story. This year, our characters (who I might mention, did an INCREDIBLE job) consisted of Mary, mother of Jesus, played by Aleigha Perry; Joseph, played by Brenton Perry; and Jesus, played by Titan Boyce. It was an amazing performance. To end the evening, we each got to open one gift.

As for the night of Christmas Eve, Chris, the kids, and I came home. It was the first Christmas that I have spent some where other than my parents house. But it was nice to spend Christmas in our new home. Aleigha is 3 now, and we figured that magic of Christmas needs to be in our own home. The kids got lots of presents and were so excited that Santa came to our house. Later we went to my parents and then onto Chris' mom's house. The next day we spent with Chris' dad. We had a great time at everyone's house. We love being able to spend so much time with family.

New Year's Eve, like every year, falls on our wedding anniversary (lol). My parents watched the kids while we went to the movies and out to eat. We watched Little Fockers (the 3rd movie of Meet the Parents) and ate at Oliverio's. It was a nice, much needed date away from the kids. We then spent the rest of the evening at my parent's house. We watched the ball drop, and ate cheese, steak, and chocolate fondue...a tradition that my mom has been doing since a child.

On Jan. 5th, we received the sad news that Chris' grandmother had passed away. She was a great lady. She will most certainly be missed. I was very sad that Kenli did not get a chance to meet her while here on Earth, but we all know, they have met :). Chris flew out on the 8th for a few days for her funeral. I couldn't go because I was too far along in my pregnancy to fly.

Jan. 7th, I finished my last term as a long-term substitute. For the whole 1st semester of the school year (minus the last week), I taught 7th grade English. I had a great time teaching and really enjoyed myself. I loved the people that I worked with and look forward to working with them again. I made a lot of good friends. The students were great, and I really enjoy teaching. When I first started thinking about teaching and substituting, I thought that middle school was the last place I would want to teach, but honestly, it was great.

On Jan. 24th, I was scheduled to be induced to give birth to our 3rd child...Kenli Marie Perry. I wrote the following on the day she was born. Since I consider this my journal, I decided I wanted to post it here:

Jan. 24, 2011:
Well...the day has finally come. I was suppose to be induced on Friday Jan. 21st...when the doctor called to officially schedule the induction, the hospital said no b/c there were no open beds. They decided to schedule for Monday (Jan 24) morning. I was instructed to come into the hospital at 11 pm Sunday (Jan 23) night. Plans were to give me "cervadil" to thin my cervix at midnight, followed by petocin at around 6 or 7 am. However, in the wee hours of Saturday morning (Jan. 22), I was pretty sure I was in labor. We made the trip in -2 temperature. I was having regular, strong contractions, and everything was pointing that it was the real deal. After about 1 1/2 hours or so, they asked me to walk to see if we could just get it moving a little faster. My contractions got a lot stronger...and then I laid back down. My contractions came to a complete STOP. I was soo frustrated. They had me walk some more...the contractions came back, but has soon as I laid down again, they stopped again. I was sent home.

Now to put us at 10 pm on Sunday (Jan 23) night, Chris and I headed back to Camden Clark. At 12:30 AM they gave me the cervadil. The contractions started immediately, and I was getting uncomfortable rather quickly. At 2:30, knowing the anesthesiologist was still in bed and wouldn't be in for awhile, I asked for some pain medication. It started working almost immediately, and for about 15 mins, I was pain free. Those 15 mins. came to a sudden stop though. I was getting contractions about every 45 seconds. By 3:30 I called for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came at 4. At this point I was dialated to 5 cm. Unfortunately, the epidural did not take. However, the anesthesiologist stuck around and was able to reinsert another one. Between the two epidurals (20 mins), I increased to 6 cms. Then my water broke all on it's own. The anes. was working as quickly as he could to get the second one in. Before he was finished, I was telling the nurses that I was pretty sure I needed to push. They checked me again, this time I was at a 9, and the baby was starting to crown (only about 15 mins. had passed since I was a 6). The doctor was called, and the nurses ran around like crazy to get everything together. I tried as hard as I could to not "push." The doctor walked in at 4:42 am. Literally, after 1/2 a push, she was out, on my chest, and in the baby "wamer" before 4:45. I was amazed at how quickly everything went. The second epidural kicked in about 10-15 mins. before the nurses allowed me to push. So needless to say, I pretty much did a natural child birth 90%+ of the time.

Kenli Marie Perry was born at about 4:43 am, weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz and 18.5 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful.

She is a precious little addition to our family. The kids are absolutely IN LOVE with her. They are doing well adjusting to the change. They are both great little helpers in getting my diapers, wipes, burp cloths, bibs, you name it. Aleigha is obsessed with changing her clothes, so poor little girl wears about 3 or 4 outfits a day...and doesn't need to (not yet anyways)! Some battles are just not worth fighting...so Aleigha picks out an outfit, and then together we change her. Luckily, since Kenli doesn't need quite that many outfits in a day, I put the clean ones back in her drawer b/c I don't have all the time in the world to do laundry. As for Kenli's disposition, it is great. She is not much of a crier, just when she's hungry, or in a dirty diaper. She is nursing well, and sleeping just as great. She is def. a joy to have!

Things are going great in our life. I couldn't ask for anything better. I love my home, my husband, and my children! I have great family and friends. LIFE IS GOOD. We have a lot to thank God for!

Enjoy the pictures.