Our Little Girl.

These are some recent pictures of Payton and our family. We are pretty lucky to have 2 Grandpa's here, 1 Grandma, and 2 Great Grandma's here right now days after Payton was born. We will have the other Grandma (my mom) here in a couple of weeks. It is so nice to have family around during these special times. Speaking of family, thank you to Bill and Connie who took the kids during the birth and the day after. I know they had a full house with both their mothers but it was nice to not to have to worry about the kids. It was especially nice since they also had the kids the weekend before for Sam and Tiffany's wedding. Well we hope that you enjoy the pictures and I will get some more up when I get a chance.

Hello Privacy!!

I was doing a good job at getting things updated but missed about a week due to being very busy. We got to bring Payton home on Tuesday and I know Jennie was very excited for that. The nurse that she had was right on top of things and very helpful in seeing that we got out as quickly as we could. The previous two times have been a nightmare and had involved a lot of waiting around. This time we were waiting for the plastic surgeon to come and look at Payton one more time before we left but they ended up not making it. We were still able to get out of there by 3:30, which was the earliest we have left after a baby. I know Jennie enjoyed be able to get out of the hospital and back to life at home.

We also have Grandpa Beard staying with us for a week which has worked out perfectly. As usual we put him right to work on projects around the house. It is amazing what he has gotten done in the week that he has been here. We replaced the brakes on the Odyssey, the struts on the Malibu, patched a couple of holes, fixed some ducts, put up some gutter pieces, a few other small things and then our big project, fencing in the rest of the backyard. It only took him about 2 days to finish and makes the backyard look really nice and a lot different. It is amazing how much better it looks with the new fence. We only had one minor set-back when the building inspector came back and asked to see our permit for the fence. Of course we did not have one so I had to run down to the building department and apply for one. It only took a couple of minutes but the lady told me this would keep the neighbors from calling any more. We still don't know who called and reported us but the fence is complete and looks great. Here are some before and after pictures showing the difference from start to finish.




Again, we are so lucky to have someone who knows how to do all this stuff and is willing to spend his whole vacation working on our little tasks. It is amazing the stuff that he knows how to do and the fact that he is willing to do it all. We were glad that he was also her the day after Payton was born and got to spend her first days with us. The other three love having grandpa around so he can throw them around and chase them all over the yard. I hope that he enjoyed his visit as we sure love having him around. I will end this with a picture of him and his new granddaughter. Dad, thank you again for all your help and we love you.

Happy Birthday Payton Marie Beard

Payton Marie Beard born July 20, 2008 at 2:35 pm.
Weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21" long.



Well the wait is finally over. This afternoon we were blessed with our fourth child, Payton Marie Beard. She was born at 2:35 this afternoon and both mom and baby are healthy and fine. We went it at 7:00 this morning for a scheduled induction because Jennie has a history of delivering big babies and she was 4 days overdue. She went in dilated at a 2 (same as the past two weeks) and was started on Pitocin to speed things up. Within a couple of hours she went up to a 3 and then a couple of hours later went to a 4. The nurse then came in around 1:00 to break her water and see if things would get rolling. After they broke her water Jennie began to feel the contractions and they were becoming regular. She called the nurse and told them it was time for her epidural which they gave her around 2:25. They made me leave the room while they do this to keep everything as sterile as possible. I decided to go get some lunch and was going to drive down to Wendy's but decided for some reason to hit the cafeteria instead. As you will read in just a minute it is a good thing I did. When Jennie sat up to get the epidural she says she felt something was different like the baby had dropped down. After she laid back down and just as I was coming back she started feeling a lot of pressure in her bum and not her belly anymore. I think I got 2 bites of lunch in when she told me to call the nurse and she asked to be checked again. When they checked her the baby was ready to come and she was fully dilated. I called Connie and told her that she wasn't going to make it very much longer and about 2 minutes later and 1 1/2 pushes later Payton was out and showing off her set of longs.



She has a little bit of lighter hair and very long fingers. She also has some pretty big feet. You may be able to see in the pictures a little clef that she has on her upper lip. The doctors have assured us that this is fairly commons in babies and because hers is so small it should be easy to correct. It goes about half way up her lip. The roof of her mouth is complete which is a very good sign. Usually the problems arise when the roof of the mouth doesn't close all the way and the clef goes up to and inside the nose. They will have to operate on Payton but it is a very minor procedure. They will basically push the top lip together and sew it together. They say that it should heal up perfectly and we most likely won't even be able to tell it was there. She has had no problems latching on and eating so they are not really worried about it at all. They tell us that they usually do the surgery pretty soon after the baby is born. Usually within the first 2 weeks and sometimes before the baby leaves the hospital.

Bill and Connie brought the kids in to see their new sister and I think they were excited but it only lasted for a little while. Maybe once we bring her home and they can really see her, they will be more excited. I know that Brooklyn was very happy to have a sister. Nolan still has not met his new sister as he crashed on the way over and slept the entire time he was there. Brooklyn and Maddux each held her so grandpa could take a picture but as soon as they discovered the closets and some of the other things to climb on and play with they lost interest in a hurry. I think once they get home and Payton is with us they will want to be around her a little more. I know Nolan will be all over her as he is with everything else.

Well I need to get some sleep before heading back over in the morning. We are picking up Grandpa Beard from the airport tomorrow so he can meet his new granddaughter. It really is perfect timing as I will be off work the whole week that he is here and he can spend the whole time with his grand kids, except the time that I have him put to work. Before I go I will leave you with one more picture of our newest addition. Stay tuned as there will be more to follow.

Horray for Roller Coasters

Well there is still no baby yet but that is not for a lack of trying. We were out walking all over today trying to get things going but to no avail. We ended up going to the Strongsville Carnival to let the kids ride some rides and play some games. Nolan loved the Pirate Ship and wanted to go over and over again. The other two wanted nothing to do with it but Nolan loved it. I tried over and over to talk one of the other two to go on because I knew if I could get one the other would go but no such luck. Nolan on the other hand had no fear of it and would still be riding it if he could. He even put both his hands up during the ride all by himself. It was funny because once we got to the highest point and started to drop you could feel it in you belly and he would start to giggle. The second we got off the ride both times he went over and grabbed Jennie's hand and tried to get back in line. It is amazing that the kid has no fear of anything. Jennie and I were talking tonight at dinner and decided that he will most likely be the first one of the kids to break a bone.


Now here is a ride that was more to Brooklyn's liking. She loved the Merry-Go-Round. She also rode on the super slide as well as the Dizzy Dragons, which Maddux also rode. Maddux was a little more daring and also rode the Dragon roller coaster with Nolan. Nolan was the only one who put his hands up but I think they both liked that ride. The kids also got to see how fast they could throw a baseball and try to guess their speed to win a prize. Maddux was first to go and topped out at 29 mph. Brooklyn then followed that with a 25 mph heater. Neither guessed the final speed but the man was nice enough to give each of them a giant inflatable bat. I am sure that we will be thanking him later on when they start beating each other with them. We finished the day by riding the merry-go-round one last time.
We almost had a full crew but do the size of someones belly and the warning sign posted on all the rides Jennie had to sit everything out.
Well we go in tomorrow morning at 7:00 am to begin the induction process which means she should be hear something later tomorrow morning or early afternoon. We will be calling a lot of you to spread the news and will also post some pictures once she comes and I get a little free time.

Just another day at the zoo.

These are some pictures from our latest trip to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. The kids love going and seeing all the animals. Brooklyn and Maddux were able to throw some little fish to the seals and loved it. Nolan liked all the animals, especially the zebras, but wasn't into it as much as the other two. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a lot of fun.

Our Home Remodel Project

This is for Aaron and Jessie who have not seen all the improvements that we made to our house. In January my dad, Ted, was gracious enough to come out and spend about 3 months with us and boy did we get our money's worth. He remodeled our entire kitchen taking it down to the studs and knocking out some walls, he remodeled both of our bathrooms, change all the doors in the house, redid our laundry room, added recessed lighting throughout the house, refaced our fireplace, added a wood burning stove, changed out all the windows, and insulated the attic. Needless to say we have a new house thanks to him. I could not begin to thank him enough for all that he did. I hope he had a little fun while out here. I know our kids loved having Grandpa Beard stay with us for awhile. He will actually be here again in a couple of days to help finish fencing in the back yard while he visits his new granddaughter. We are extremely lucky to have someone who knows how to do anything to a house and who volunteers his time for nothing. Dad, we thank you for all that you did and love you.

Ribbitt, Ribbitt

While camping down South for Sam and Tiffany's wedding the kids found some little frogs to play with. The pictures are actually kind of funny. Our kids aren't all that fond of holding, catching, or having anything to do with bugs, animals or reptiles. Judging by the look on his face Maddux can't wait for this picture to be over so he can put the frog down. Nolan on the other hand is our one brave boy. He doesn't seem to be phased by much and doesn't seem to mind holding the frog.

And this is about as close as Brooklyn will get to holding the frogs. In case you can't tell they are in a plastic container with a lid. This will probably be the only way that will ever see her hold a frog. I will have to say that the kids have gotten better. I think Penny has made them a little more comfortable touching a dog but still aren't that crazy about it. The one thing that they have picked up lately is catching fireflys. They love to go out at night and catch them and all three have no problem holding them. It is funny to watch Nolan run around and try to catch them even though he hasn't quite gotten it yet. But he does run around yelling "I can or I do"chasing them all over. Brooklyn and Maddux are pretty good about catching a couple and letting him hold them for himself. Well just thought I would put some more pictures for you all to see.

Bath Time

Well no baby yet so I posting some pictures of the kids the other night in their bath towels. Brooklyn has a duck and Maddux and Nolan have frogs. The towels came from Grandma Kerr and the kids love them. We'll keep everyone posted on the baby. Should be any day.

The wedding

Maddux and Brooklyn were in Sam and Tiffany's wedding. Maddux was a flower thrower and was one sharp dressed man as you can see from the picture. Maddux and I will both have to wear our suits one of these Sundays to Church. As you can see Maddux has the pose down. He is not one to shy away from the cameras.

Brooklyn also got to throw flowers with Maddux as the bride and groom walked down the aisle. You wouldn't know if from looking at this picture but Brooklyn was very excited to be a "flower girl".

Here they are again waiting for the order to start walking down the aisle. Jennie and I just wish that we could have been there to see them in person. I am sure that Bill will have some good pictures and videos for us from the whole weekend. We can't wait to see them. Well our next entry will hopefully be the birth of Payton as we are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Camping / Wedding Trip part 1......

The kids just got back from their camping / Sam and Tiffany wedding trip. They had a blast and I don't think were ready to come home. From what Jennie and I hear Nolan didn't even ask for his mom once. He was still asking where Grandpa and Grandma were after they dropped the kids off. I do think that Nolan is wore out as he has been pretty cranky since his return. Hopefully a good nights sleep will cure that. Here are some pictures, thanks to Tacie, of the weekends events. It looks and sounds like they had a lot of fun. They are already asking about the next camping trip. If we are smart we can get some more hard work out of them. For those of you who don't know, they did a lot of odd jobs to be able to go on this trip. Part of the deal for them going camping was that they had to do some work to help pay for the camper and the trip.

Grandma Elaine Weekend.

We have spent the last four days watching Grandma Elaine and Penny as Bill and Connie took the kids with them camping down to Sam and Tiffany's wedding. She has been spoiling us as she treated us to dinner on Thursday, ice cream on Friday and pastries yesterday. We have enjoyed the time she has been here and I think she enjoyed herself.

Jennie and her have been out shopping a couple days to help pass the time and they usually take Penny on a walk at least once a day. Grandma Elaine is always keeping an eye on Penny. I do feel kind of bad as Grandma Elaine has become our designated laundry folder. I don't think she minds as it gives her something to do but I feel bad having her do it.

It has been kind of strange not having the kids here this weekend as we have had to find other things to do to keep busy. Although I must say it is nice to sleep in a bed without them. We'll have to ask grandma and grandpa Kerr if they agree. We did get a lot of house cleaning and other things done which was nice. It is a lot easier to do it without the kids here and with Payton coming any day it was perfect timing for us. Well the kids should be back anytime now so we will put some pictures of their camping trip up once we get them from Bill. They had been working hard for the last month or so to be able to go camping. I am sure it was fun for them.