Bowen Jared Stokes

Our little guy made his appearance just over a week ago. We are so glad to have him here!! It has been a tough pregnancy filled with more aches and pains than I expected! I felt better towards the end of my pregnancy than I did at the beginning! The first couple of months were spent with visits to several doctors to try to find the reasoning behind my joint pain and swelling. No one ever did figure out what was wrong. It was similar to an inflammatory arthritis but couldn't officially be diagnosed since some of my symptoms could be pregnancy related. All of this pain has been worth it though and I would do it all over again for this little guy. Anyways we were scheduled for a repeat c-section December 10 at noon.  My doctors office called me that morning and told me they had moved me back to 1pm so be up to the hospital around 11. My parents picked up brinklee and Jared and I headed up to Ogden regional to have our baby boy. We got all checked in and ready for surgery. At 12:45 they wheeled Jared and I back to the OR. The anesthesiologist gave me a spinal and it worked pretty fast. I was so scared about being nauseous because I was throwing up during my c-section with brinklee and remember being miserable! They made sure to medicate me and luckily I wasn't sick during the delivery. My doctor and her assistant showed up around five after and got started. Bowen was born at 13:14. Jared was watching over the drape and said he's got so much dark hair with tears in his eyes. I started to cry when they held him up. He was perfect and beautiful!! He started crying and Jared followed him into the receiving room where they weighed and measured him. When Jared and Bowen were finished they came back in and sat with me while they finished up. Bowen weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 19.7 inches. He had the prettiest hair and these big chunky cheeks!! I kissed his cheeks as soon as Jared brought him over by me. They wheeled me back to my room and Jared's parents were waiting for us. They were followed by grandma and grandpa stokes, grandpa Samson and aunt Angie. Brinklee and my parents showed up not too long after. Brinklee didn't know what to think and didn't want to hold him at first. Aunt Staci and uncle buck came with Corbin and Taylor and we finally got brink to hold her baby brother. Later that night aunt Cami, uncle Jared and aunt Darcie came to see him. They had just taken bow to the nursery for his bath so it was awhile before he came back. That first night was pretty sleepless because we were right by the nurses station and could hear everything going on!! The next night they moved us rooms and we were able to get a little more sleep. Bowen has been a great baby!! He usually gets up twice during the night to eat. I decided this time around to not put too much pressure on myself about breast feeding so we are pretty much switched completely to formula since he seemed to be starving when he was just nursing. It puts me more at ease knowing he's getting enough to eat. He has such big bright eyes like his sister and some pretty awesome hair that I hope stays dark! Brinklee has been adjusting great and loves her baby brother! She just hates that mom wants to sleep all the time! Jared of course is an amazing dad to both our kids! He is so good to them and I and I know how lucky I am to have him!! I have felt a lot better this time around and feel like I have been able to keep my pain under control! I am one blessed mommy and am so glad I get to be brinklee and bowen's mom!

Samson family reunion 2014

This year the Samson family reunion was held at the goodfellow house in kanab. We went July 23-27.  The days were spent at the pool and the nights we were catching up with family we haven't seen for awhile!! One day was spent at lake Powell playing on the beach and in the water. It was a great trip and we loved spending time with family!!

 

Lava

No summer would be complete without a couple trips to lava!! We went up the first part of August with some of our friends and my family. We ate good food, sat around the fire, went on rides on the trail, went to the pool and the hot pots! The pool was a little disappointing! They closed it four times while we were there for "clean ups" and medical emergencies. Since we couldn't swim for very long we ended up leaving the pool early. We had a great time with some great company!!

Fair week

This past week we enjoyed several days at the fair in tremonton! It's one of my favorite times of the year! Such a great way to end the summer. We went out Wednesday night to the parade and spent all day Saturday at the fair and auction. We got rained on both days we were there! Brinklee slept for four hours on Saturday so it was nice to be able to walk around and look at things. She loved all the animals of course!! Saturday morning before we left I got brinklee dressed in her cute button up shirt and boots. She hated it!! She kept saying mom I don't like this jacket! She then went to her closet and got a dress and said "wear pretty dress??" She was pretty mad I wouldn't change her!! I think I'm in trouble already!! We had a great time at the fair!!

Summer Fun

This summer was super busy and we jam packed it with as much fun as we could get in! My little sister Abby left on her mission so we spent some time with her before she left. We took Brinklee to the zoo. We saw all the animals and got to ride the carousel.

 

Abby left for the Baton Rouge, Louisiana mission in the middle of June. She spoke in church the Sunday before she left and we had a big dinner at my parents afterwards. Brinklee and Abby sure have a special bond and it is hard to have them apart!

Jared and I ran Ragnar Wasatch Back with his family. We were in the suburban with Mont, Darcie and Jared's cousins Scott and Kristin. We had a blast! It is so much more fun when you run it with family!

Angie and Tyler bought a boat so we went out several times. Brinklee liked it for the most part!

 

We made several trips to Lava. We camped on my parents property, rode four wheelers and went to the pool and hot pots. Brinklee loved the kiddie pool, especially the slide.

 

No summer is complete without the Box Elder fair and fair parade. Brinklee loved to sit and watch all the floats go by and was really good!

Finally Jared's parents started building a house close to ours. Brink loved to go help and play in the dirt. Jared helped with a lot of the framing and is currently helping tile. It has been a fun process. We've had a great summer!