Rhen's first two weeks

Rhen's two week stats from Dr. Erikson

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz. - 59%

Height: 22 inches - 94%

Head: - 14.6 inches - 77%

Just some cute pictures of my sweet Rhen. What a great time we've had with her the past two weeks!

Dad and Rhen sneaking a nap when there was so much going on at grandma's house. She has the most comfy spot in the house!

I love this pose - it's like she's ready for the camera at any time. Uncle Chad had a pose very similar to this I think - maybe she takes after him!

Beautiful bright eyes! We only get to see those a few hours a day.

First smile? or gas? We'll never know but I'm glad we captured it!Rhen has the best big sister - so helpful!

Kissing and feeding at the same time - good multi-tasking!

Rease and Nolan's excellent adventure

Rease and Nolan - best friends for a week!

It was so great having Chad, Britt and Nolan here for the week - but best of all it was so fun for Rease to have Nolan to play with. And did they play!!

They hugged...

kissed...

held hands... (notice the matching Nalgene bottles and matching carseats - how cute!)

hid their toys...

shared...

and shared...

and shared more...

played a great duet...

entertained themselves with the screendoor...

kissed some more...

played at the park...

fed the ducks...

ran after the ducks...

went swimming...

held hands some more...

And most of all just loved being together!

The rest of the family was around too, but Rease and Nolan didn't have much time for anyone else - they were busy having a good time.

Bye Nolan! See you next time!

The Wedding

We have had quite a time since Rhen was born. I had a couple of very relaxing days in the hospital and have been running ever since. My brother Justin got married Friday and we had two days of fun wedding and family times. Just a couple of pics of the bride, groom and the rest of the fam.

Nolan and Rease had a great time together (many more pics of our weekend to come) and I can't wait until they are teenagers and are so embarrassed about these kissing pictures!

Rease was a flower girl and grandma made this darling dress for her. She was walking around like a princess all day. Who knew our little tomboy who loves cars and rocks would end up being a princess too!

Congrats to Justin and Steph - we love you both!

More hospital pictures

Just a few more pics of the hospital stay.

I'm still waiting for the anesthesiologist to come give me my epidural. I'm trying to be tough, but you can see the tears in my eyes from the contraction I just had.

Rhen's mug shot.

Proud daddy!

Both grandma's were there - Jeanie got there just after the birth. Because the labor went so quick, she missed it by a few minutes. But they both spent most of the day with us and we loved having them there!

Rhen's first bottle - just so you know, she downed the whole bottle the first time! What a good eater!

Girls United

The girls got together late yesterday. Rease didn't quite know what to think but later in the afternoon there wasn't much we could do to keep them apart. Its now officially 3 against 1.

Note Rease's post-kiss smile.

Rhen Has Arrived!!

Rhen Lee Beutler
Born 3/9/09 at 1:51 PM
7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long

Man what a time we've had, Rhen came as quick as could be this afternoon. Mom and baby are doing great. Rease is still sizing up the situation. As you can see, we have a wide-eyed addition to the family. I don't know how we ever lived without her.

Play By Play!

Hello everyone, I'm the designated blogger for the day.
Natalie and I were about to drop Rease off at Oscar, the betrothed one's, house and heard from the hospital that things had got a little hectic and they didn't have room until around 10... maybe. So with a little bit of impatience we went out to waste some time. Breakfast at U Food Grill, getting into a confrontation with the cashier at Walgreens over some coupons then a little road trip to Saratoga Springs where they would give us the deal (yes coupons can drive you crazy). Then we got a call from the Doctor's office. The hospital had been trying to find us for the last half hour because they just had a nurse come on shift.

Now we're here. They got us right in and broke her water. All the tubes are in place and the contractions are getting fierce. The happy Doc should be by any minute. Natalie is just firing up the ipod to watch Lord of the Rings and I'm sitting in on what I'm sure is the most uncomfortable chairs in the entire hosptital. I'll keep keep the updates coming!!

My projects

A few months ago my sister Hayley took me to the fabric store to get stuff to make quilts - one for Rhen and one for Rease's new bed. With some help from Hayley and lots and lots of time, I finally got done with both of them this week. The crazy colored one is for Rease and the other one is for Rhen. I had a fun time doing them and was able to spend lots of time with my mom and sis during the process (I needed their help a lot of the time!) This project is done just in time for Rhen to come!

Snowshoeing with Dad

Josh took Rease snowshoeing up in Suncrest today. One last date with dad before baby Rhen comes. They obviously have a great time together!

Still Pregnant

Well, I am officially 3 days away from my induuction date and even though I was hoping for an early labor, no luck so far. I went to see Dr. Smith on Tuesday and we talked about my induction date of Monday, March 9th. He told me that Monday is starting to look like a busy day and that there is a chance that we would have to wait until Tuesday to induce me (sigh.) He said that in the case that there are too many people on the schedule or others that are in labor then they remove people from the list according to due date. Well, since I am getting started before my due date I am most likely to be bumped first and have to wait until the next day. Oh man! That's like telling me that I have to run 5 more miles after I just crossed the marathon finish line. Not fair! Plus we have this wedding time crunch which is the whole reason that he is starting me early! So yesterday I decided to take matters into my own hands and see if I could start my own labor. I went to the grocery store and bought a bottle of castor oil. I've heard that it works and my mom and my mother in law both said that they tried it on a few of their kids and were successful. So my mom helped me whip up a castor oil cocktail with apple juice and I was ready. Let me just tell you first of all how gross this stuff looks. When we mixed it with the juice the oil just settled on the top and balled up. It looked like Karo syrup that wouldn't mix in (I wish it tasted like Karo syrup too but no such luck.) I knew the side effects of drinking this stuff were hours spent in the bathroom and possible vomiting, but along with that it is also supposed to trigger contractions. I was ready to take on the side effects as long as it would help get Rhen here quicker. So anyway, it took me a few minutes of talking myself into it to finally gulp this stuff down (and almost throwing up half way through because it was so disgusting) but I did it and settled in for a night of contractions. Well a couple of hours went by and I did spend my fair share of time in the bathroom, but after everything was said and done I didn't have many results. No contractions, no pains, nothing to do with getting me into labor! By the end of the night, I ended up being disappointed that it didn't work for me. I went to bed with the hopes that during the night the contractions would start and we'd be off to the hospital. I woke up this morning with a baby still inside and a stomach ache from the nasty cocktail I drank the night before. What a disappointment! I have started to accept the fact that I will most likely have to wait until Monday (or more likely Tuesday) to have the Dr. induce me (sigh again.) It's not all bad, I really have had a good pregnancy and I love feeling the baby move inside my tummy (which I will miss greatly when she is born.) Rease is a great helper around the house and I love spending one on one time with her and I know we only have a few days of that left. I will try and be more patient these last few days of my pregnangy...no more castor oil for me!