Two special weeks

I have been wanting to sit down and write down some thoughts I've had. Feel free to just skip to the pictures if you prefer not to read my ramblings:)

Today Brooklyn is two weeks old. It truly feels like she has been a part of our family for longer than that. I am so grateful for the past two weeks. It has been more wonderful then I ever dreamed it could be. During my pregnancy I often stressed and worried about what it would be like to have a newborn again. My last experience with a newborn was Kyson and lets be honest...it was HARD. There was so much stress and anxiety involved and thoughts of "what if I have to do that again?" would creep into my mind. I also was concerned that I would worry about every little thing that Brooklyn did...every grunt, every cry, every everything...and I would not be able to enjoy her. Well, the complete opposite has happened. She has brought so much joy into my life and I have enjoyed her so much. Despite everything being so difficult with Kyson, he has taught me so much about life and living in the moment. That is what I have tried to do with Brooklyn. Although waking up every two hours all night long isn't my favorite thing to do, I have been able to enjoy that time with my sweet baby. This stage just doesn't last very long and I'm not going to wish away a second of it! Although she is only two weeks old, she is already changing. She eats constantly and I can see her already filling out. In a way it makes me sad because the newborn stage is going to be gone so fast but I am also excited to see her grow and see her personality develop.

Here are some pictures I've taken over the past two weeks.

Three days old. In Daddy's arms...







One week old...wearing the beanie Aunt Allison made her. Love it!






A little glimpse of her smile.


Thirteen days old...snuggling with "Yellow." This bunny was given to Kyson by his Uncle Reed and Aunt Melissa when he was in the hospital last Easter and he named it Yellow.


Can you believe I'm a mother of three? I have certainly been blessed!

Four years old!

Guess who turns four years old tomorrow?


Yep...our Mr. Kyson! Birthdays are such big milestones for any kid, but for Kyson it seems more to me than a big milestone. It is a MIRACLE!

Kyson has been looking forward to this birthday for a long time. I often told him his birthday was about the same time as when I had our baby. He came to the hospital to see Brooklyn and he asked, "Mom...is it my birthday now?!?" Ha! I sure do love that kid.

I really hope to make tomorrow special for Kyson. With having a newborn and still recovering from labor and delivery and Jared being quite sick, we aren't going to be able to do too much, but I still hope to make it special! A HUGE thanks goes to my sister who is going to take him to do something fun tomorrow since I'm not willing to leave the house with Brooklyn yet.

Happy Birthday Kyson!!! I hope you know how much you are LOVED!

Brooklyn Alice Gunnell

Thursday, March 8th our sweet baby girl entered this world and here is her story.

We got to the hospital at 5am. We got settled into my delivery room around 5:30 and the nurses got started with everything. Soon I had my IV in and all the paperwork filled out. The pitocin was started about 7am. For the next two hours I just tried to relax and not think about the inevitable. Around 9am my doctor came and broke my water. That definitely did the trick because I began to feel hard contractions right away. About 10:15 I got an epidural. Once it kicked in I was excited to be able to relax for a while. Well, that wasn't happening because about fifteen minutes after the nurse left she came back in saying she was seeing signs on the monitor that the baby was pushing down ready to go. I was shocked. She checked me and sure enough, the doctor needed to be called. He got there about fifteen minutes later. He suited up and within three pushes she was here!


As soon as she was out they put her on me. I just cried as I held her tiny hand and was amazed.

After a couple minutes they took her from me and examined her and cleaned her up. Then I got her back:)


Then Daddy had a quick turn holding her.


Everyone kept asking us what her name was...well, that was still undecided!

She was acting hungry so I fed her for the first time. I was excited that she latched on right away and ate for about 45 minutes. She has been the BEST little eater and we haven't had any problems in that area which I am very grateful for!

Once she was done eating, the nurse was ready to move us to our new room where we would spend the next day and a half getting to know one another. I examined every little part of her body and thought about how much she looks like my other babies. I personally see a little more Kyson than Caleb in her, but they all look a lot alike.


Her first visitor was my sister Natalie. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of her holding her. She left and came back a couple hours later with my boys and dinner.

My boys were not quite sure what to think at first. Caleb was concerned seeing me in the hospital bed. I know he has a phobia of them after seeing Kyson so sick in them. One of Caleb's first questions to me was, "Mom, can you get out of that bed?"

I asked Caleb if he wanted to hold Brooklyn and at first he said no. I convinced him that it would be ok so he sat down on the couch and held her.


Kyson was actually more excited to hold her than I thought he would be. I love the look on his face in this picture.


The boys didn't want to but we convinced them to get a few family pictures.



I'm pretty sure that the child most excited to see the new baby was Natalie's little girl, Claire. She was very cute with her:)


Soon it was late and they had to leave. All of my sisters (except my littlest sister who doesn't live here) came to visit that night. Thank you for the love and support Jamie, Natalie, Christy, and Katie! I have such amazing sisters!

As soon as all of our visitors left we tried settling in for the night. It turned in to a long night as Brooklyn didn't want to sleep and wanted to be held all night long. I didn't mind, I just kept falling asleep holding her and the nurses didn't like that too much.

Friday was just a day full of getting everything ready to go. I got Brooklyn dressed in her first little outfit while Jared was gone to go get our boys.


Jared came back with the boys and we spent about an hour together. Caleb was much more like himself this time and was constantly wanting to hold Brooklyn. I hope he is as good of a big brother as I think he will be!


Here Brooklyn is just before we buckled her up to leave...



The boys couldn't get enough of her this time:)


After leaving the hospital we stopped by Jared's parents house to leave the boys with them. Jared's Mom was headed up to the cabin so she took the boys to Show Low to stay with my Mom for the weekend. I am so grateful for my Mom for taking them for a couple days. It has been the best thing ever. I really enjoyed coming home and being able to just recover and sleep and spend time with Brooklyn. It has been absolutely wonderful!

I spent a little time trying to take some pictures of Brooklyn this morning. I didn't get very much I like because the lighting is awful in our house and she wasn't being cooperative but here's one I like...


I love the feeling of having a newborn. It is indescribable. The newborn stage ends so quickly...I am trying to soak it all in and love every moment of it. I am just so grateful she is here and she is HEALTHY. AMAZING!!!!!!!