4th of July

This year for the 4th we were able to spend it with family which was great! We started the morning going to a parade with my brother Mike and his family, my mom, Nate's brother Jake and his family. Then we went to Jake's house and had a BBQ and Jenny was able to join us. We hung out there for awhile until the fireworks in the neighborhood started. They put on quite the show!  

 All the cousins together again! 

 Hallie's face after dunking it in water....

 Jordyn, Marcus, and Adalie 

 Caught them all being crazy downstairs (four 5 year olds {Adalie soon to be}and two soon to be 3 year olds-Maggie is hiding behind Carter) It gets a little CRAZY!

 Marcus, Jordyn, Adalie, and Carter--I love the 4 of them together!

 The Hill family

 Mommy and Reid

 Nate had all 3 girls on his lap during the show

 My sweet little man

 The big kids

 

My big girl! Can't believe she is almost 5! 

Crazy going on here.....

 So life has been crazy since my last post. About a month after graduation we packed up our lives in South Bend and drove out to Utah. At the time Reid was 6 weeks old (excellent for traveling 24 hours in the car) he also had been in 7 states at that age. He was born in Indiana, made a quick trip to Illinois, then to Michigan, then during the drive to Utah he went through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally Utah. He is still such a sweet boy! Much like Hallie was as a baby, only cries (or makes a little noise) when hungry or tired. However, I hope he does not stay in her footsteps because she has been very difficult lately!! Anyways enough of that....We are staying at my moms house while Nate continues his job search. We are hoping he lands a job in the next few weeks--but still trying not to get our hopes up! Yesterday was Reid's baby blessing. It was good to see all of our family. We also attended a family reunion which was a lot of fun (did not get any pictures sadly). Other than that we have just been hanging out with friends and family.

 

 Remember Hallie being difficult?

I had to throw this in of Adalie's preschool graduation. Aimee and I made these cute little hats!

Notre Dame Graduation

As if we haven't had enough excitement in our lives ha! Nate graduated with his MBA 3 days after Reid was born. People kept telling me I was crazy for being so active after having just given birth, but I have felt so good and recovered so quickly! Anyways, I am soooo proud of Nate! He has worked SO hard! I am glad we are opening a new chapter but still so sad that this one is closing. I can't believe school is over. Life has been so crazy lately so I haven't had time to process much, so it may set in this week. Nate and I have loved it here and met some amazing people that we will forever stay in touch with. We did it all in 500 sq. ft! :) 

 

                                        

Reid Garth Hill

Reid finally made his entrance into the world! He came four days after his due date. We all love a good birth story right? Well Wednesday morning at 4:12 am I had my first contraction and it hurt for being a first contraction. I was almost positive this was it. I got out of bed and 6 minutes later I had another just as painful. I woke Nate up and was so scared. For some reason I was scared of this labor and delivery. Nate kept telling me I would be fine. My friend Liz was my doula for this birth and so I knew I needed to get a hold of her right away. About 2 contractions later they were 2 1/2 minutes apart. I was freaking out inside because I knew he was coming so soon. We were in the car and driving away 45 minutes after my first contraction. I got to the hospital and I was really calm and collected trying not to think about it and so the lady at the front desk thought I was checking in for an induction so of course I had to tell her I was in labor. When they checked me in the triage room I was dilated to a 6-7. I told them I wanted an epidural, but the doctor who checked me told me I was so far along and that since I had only been in labor for an hour that it would come so fast and the epidural would only take the edge off. I didn't care, I was not mentally prepared for a drug free labor :). During all of this my contractions never got any worse from when they started and were totally manageable (WAY different than with my girls). I got the epidural (which worked fabulously), was dilated to an 8 and pushed shortly after. He was born at 8:22 am. It was such a different experience and easy compared to labor with my girls. He weighed 8lbs 8 oz and was 20.75 in. long. He has already had his first appointment and gained 3 oz and .25 in. Reid eats and sleeps like a champ so far. I don't want to get my hopes up but he is so easy going. He LOVES to snuggle! If he cries or whimpers you just have to snuggle him and he is good for hours. The girls love him to death!! Adalie is so good with him and Hallie has good intentions. She often squeezes him too hard or shoves his binky in his mouth, she basically won't leave him alone....just as I suspected! 

My friend Shelly came to the hospital and took some great pictures for us! 

  

 Nate, me, and Liz right before the delivery

 Reid's first bath

 

Family of 5

 

 

On our way home

 

 Home and loving on brother

End of April

Here are a few pictures to wrap up April...

 The girls practicing holding baby brother in the rocking chair

 

After church one day the girls made a car and made Nate get in the back seat to pretend to be baby brother

 Hallie just chillin' in the bouncer eating pear watching tv

 Adalie, Hallie, and Oaklee being cute in the rain

 Hallie and Hannah tormenting a little dog at the Blue and Gold tailgate 

 These two make me laugh so hard--so sad that they only have a little bit of time left together

 The guys--last ND tailgate :(

 Amy and Nate as happy as ever!

 Do I look huge or what?! I have been reassured I don't look this big.....the camera adds 10 lbs right?!

 Adalie and Oaklee on their 5th or 6th cotton candy......

Nate is 30!!!

Nate has joined a new club--the 30 and over club! I don't know that it has really hit him (or if he even cares) since he has been so busy with school--did I mention he is done in 6 days!?! 6 DAYS!!! Anyways, since he was so busy the girls and I made him squeeze in a little bit of time for dinner and present opening. The girls each picked out something for him and were really good at keeping a secret. He tried and tried to get it out of them and they kept saying, "its a surprise you have to wait for your birthday". Hallie managed to make to his birthday because as soon as she woke up she ran to tell him she got him a "squishy thing" aka whoopie cushion. After dinner a few of our good friends came over.