Watch out El Paso!

The Richardson's are heading to El Paso in June!  Ben was accepted into the OB/GYN residency program in El Paso.  We are excited for our next adventure, but sad that we are leaving our friends and family in QC.  Ben received the email telling us where he matched on St. Patrick's Day (note the green outfits).  We were all excited!  He actually got his first choice!  We are so proud of Ben and all his hard work! 

Daisy's Blessing

On March 6th, Ben had the opportunity to give Daisy a name and a blessing.  So many of our friends and family were there.  Ben gave a beautiful blessing.  It was such a great day.  After church we had a lunch for our families.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Thanks to all who came to show their love and support.  We love you all!

Our family before Church.

Beautiful Daisy

I made her blessing dress, and finished it the night before (thank goodness!).

Pinewood Derby

Devin, Ashton, Calvin, Caleb and Carson

Caleb, Carson and Calvin all participated in the Pinewood Derby in January.  They all worked really hard on their cars.  They came up with the designs, helped cut them, sanded them and then painted them.  All of the cars did really well.  Caleb's car won 3rd Place!  Ashton and Devin made cars as well and they had "Richardson Races" after the scouts finished their races.  They all had a great time!

Moments like this...

Daisy - one week old

I love watching a baby sleep.  Little Daisy is no different.  She is perfection and beauty all rolled into one.  Don't you just love newborns?

Daisy's Hospital Pictures

Here are few pictures from the hospital.  We had such a great experience at Banner Gateway!  Everyone was terrific there!  I was induced on January 14.  It's a good thing that I was able to get induced because a few days after I had Daisy, Ben had to fly to Texas for Residency Interviews, but that's a whole other story.  

Now for the condensed version of Daisy's birth:

I went in to be induced the evening of January 14.  Everything was progressing the way it should.  Dr. Huish (who is great!) came in to check on me at about 11:00pm.  I think that I was only at a 4!  Not encouraging for me.  Well, he broke my water and that's when the contractions came!  Dr. Huish stayed in the room and visited with us.  He knew that I would go fast and didn't want to risk it I guess.  Everything did go fast and when he checked me about 40 minutes later I was at an 8, and he said that on the next contraction, I could push!  (Just another reason why he ranks so high on my list!)  I pushed during that one contraction and she was born!  She was born at 11:49pm.  It couldn't have gone more perfect!  After I had her, Ben came over to me and asked how he did.  I looked at him and said, "What do you mean how you did, I was the one having the baby." :)  Then he goes on to explain that he delivered Daisy.  I honestly had no idea!  I told him that I wasn't paying attention to who was catching,  I was focused on other things.  :)  

Just the month before, Ben did an OB/GYN rotation with Dr. Huish.  It was kind of weird going in for a check up and having Ben do it all.  Ben did a great job and we all had a good experience with the Labor and Delivery.  I always enjoy my stay in the hospital so I can bond with our new little baby.  Thanks to all our family who watched our kids so that Ben could stay in the hospital with me.  It was nice to have someone bring meals to me and clean up after me.  I knew I had to enjoy it while I could because the day after I got home from the hospital, Ben left for Texas for a few days.  That really forced me back into life.  And to top it off, when he returned home from Texas, he had a severe case of strep throat!  It was a challenge taking care of all the kids and a sick husband, but thankfully he got better and no one else got strep throat!

We love Daisy!  The boys are all so helpful and so is Lacey.  She is the one that brings me the diapers and wipes and puts them away when I'm done with them.  The boys take turns holding her when I have to get things done.  And they do a great job getting her to calm down when she's crying.  She's the perfect addition to our family!

Mom and Daisy right after delivery.

Dad and Daisy

Look at that hair!

Ashton holding Daisy.

Devin holding Daisy

Calvin holding Daisy

Dad with his girls

Grandpa Reed holding Daisy

Caleb holding Daisy

What if...?

This is what I overheard Ashton and Devin saying to each other while I was folding clothes:


Devin:  Ashton, what if I died?

Ashton:  Then I would be really sad.

Devin: Yea, and then there wouldn't be Mr. D anymore.  (I made them capes with their first initial on it and they call themselves Mr. A and Mr. D.)

Ashton:  That would be sad.  If that did happen, then I would hang your cape on the wall in our room and I would look at it and remember you and then I would cry.

Devin:  Yea, that would be sad.


Then they started talking about watching The Monkees on YouTube.  Wow!  Sometimes their little conversations turn out to be all grown up.  I'm so glad that they are such good friends.  We moved rooms around a few weeks ago and now Ashton and Devin share a room by themselves.  Sure they have their moments and may argue and fight.  But it's the sweetest thing when they get along.

Daisy May Richardson

Announcing the newest member of our family...

Daisy May Richardson

born: January 14, 2011

11:49pm

Weight:  7 lbs. 3 ounces

Length: 21 inches

She is beautiful and a wonderful baby.  All the kids just love her and are big helpers! 

Here are a few pictures...

Upgraded?

Out with the old, in with the new.  Now these aren't the best pictures, but they do the job.  Since we are expecting a new baby any day now, we had to upgrade are vehicle.  Our Yukon XL didn't have any more seats left for our new little baby, so we have looked for months at big vans.  It was just so much more practical and we felt that's what we needed to do.  (I never thought that at age 30 I would be driving one of these.)  The boys were all so excited and love it!  

We are now the proud owners of a 2008 Chevy Express.  It is a 1 ton, 15 passenger van.  Crazy!  But I'll tell you that this "Great White Shark" can get up and go!  It has way more power than our Yukon!  The boys even go and play in it after school.  They call it their fort.  :)  Caleb and Carson love to vacuum it and wash it.  They are really good at keeping it clean.  (They had lots of practice with the Yukon as well.)  So there you have it!

Goodbye Yukon Cornelius

Hello...we are still trying to come up with an appropriate name.

Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful Christmas this past year!  Every year the kids open one present on Christmas Eve.  They love wearing their new pajamas to bed.  On Christmas Eve's Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Richardson's and had our traditional Red Chili Burros that we all love so much.  Then on Christmas Eve, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Reed's house and the boys loved listening to Grandpa's stories.  On Christmas Day we visited lots of family.  We stopped by Grandpa and Grandma Reed's, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Bear's, Grandma and Grandpa Richardson's and then visited Great-Grandma Stanford in the hospital.  We loved it, but we were definitely exhausted!

Run, Caleb, Run!

The Middle School took the best runners from every class and had a big race, called the Candy Cane Race.  Caleb was chosen to run against the 5th grade boys.  He did really good!  Carson and Caleb would go running around our neighborhood to train for it.  Carson never got a chance to qualify because he was sick that day.  But we all cheered hard as Caleb ran the last stretch to the finish line!  I can't remember how long the race was, I think it was a mile or so.

Kids and Santa

We went to the Extended Richardson Christmas Party.  They hold it every year and have a nice little Nativity Program, lots of singing, treats and then Santa comes.  We always have a lot of fun!  Here are a few pictures of the kids...they all loved it, except Lacey.  (She stills gets scared when we mention Santa's name. )

Ashton

Devin

Calvin

Caleb

Lacey

Carson

Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking

On November 13, we attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gilbert Arizona Temple.  It was such a neat moment to participate in.  We made sure to get there extra early to get a good seat.  I'll be honest with you, it wasn't easy with all 6 kids to get there an hour early without Ben, but I really felt like it would be worth it and something that they would always remember.  

After the meeting, they let everyone who wanted to use the golden shovels and dig part of the ground for the official ground breaking.  Each of the kids were able to dig for a little bit.  (It was hard to get any good pictures of the kids digging because there were so many people.)

Every so often we drive past the future site of the Temple just to see how they are progressing with the building.  The boys always get so excited to see how far they are coming, and I get a little excited as well.  :)