Kymberlee Mychele

Kymberlee, you are our oldest child. You were born in Red Bluff, California on Saturday, April 6th, 1996. You were born the day after Easter that year. You were 8 lbs & 21 & 1/4" long i believe. You were actually born 1 week late, and born via "emergency" c-section . . I didn't find out it was really an em. c-section, until a yr later, when we were back there having your sister. I developed toxemia (pre-ecalmpsia). You were named after your grandma, and her best friend, who has now been dead for several yrs - since before you were born. She had a tragic end to her life, and left behind 2 beautiful little girls, whom I hope to one day get to see again. They would probably be @ 15ish? 13ish? I am not even sure now. But, she was a very close & dear friend to grandma.

This photo is from early June 1996. We were getting ready to go to NY and visit your grandparents! You were @ 2mos old. Mostly, you were a happy, good baby. But we went through this period, probaby 3-4 mos, were you cried, every night, M-F, for many hours!! I sat in the rocking chair & rocked you & patted your back.. . and you cried. I only let you cry because I had tried everything else. . . and nothing worked or made a difference. . . just for some reason. . you just wanted to cry!

And even though you went through this period of crying so much. . . you were actually a very independent, happy baby. You were content to lay & observe the world around you. You played with your toys. As long as you could see me, you were content to lay on your blanket & do your thing.

You did most things at an early age. This photo of you, to the right, was taken in July 1996 after getting back from our trip to NY to visit grandparents. You were 3 mos old. Very independent & determined:) You were breastfed only about 2 wks & we ended that. You were off a bottle by 10 mos, and potty-trained by the time you were 1. I could take you out to the stores in undies at 15 mos & you stayed dried. You used your potty on your own, from 11mos. More soon. . . We love you so much!

Rayna -- the beginning

Rayna, this is you - in the beginning. You were just a little bean back then - 7wks6days gestation grown here. This was June 2001.

Then, a few months later, brings us to this.

This is Sep 2001. Here you are 22wks grown.

And here you are. Into the world - with daddy. Jan 2002. You were supposed to be born Jan 18th. You were not patient then, and not so patient now either:)

Rayna Skye 12-24-05

This is our Miss Rayna on Christmas Eve, 2005 - which was your 4th birthday.

This is at grandma & grandpa's house. They have that big singing, dancing santa & you loved it, LOL. You held his hands & sang & danced with him.

Your favorite color is green.

You are a funny, happy child. . . mostly good-mannered & well-behaved, but you definitely have a wyld, uncontrolled side. You are usually friendly & outgoing, but always stubborn as can be.

You still don't talk at school. Although, lately, you seem almost like you really want to. For the first time. You told me the other day, "I want to talk, but I don't want to." Silly girl.

Rayna - you are a HUGE animal lover. You are amazing with animals. . . they take to you like no one I've ever seen before!

You were born on Monday, Dec 24th, 2001 at 9:39pm. You were 6lb 2oz. Our smallest baby - but you were also born at 36wks 3days. Which was the earliest (gestation) of the 4 kids. You were born in Redding, CA. You were give a native american name, to honor part of your heritage. You have a lot of native american ancestry, and we hope you will be proud of it. "Rayna" means wise guardian. Currently, you are 5 yrs old, almost 6. You are 38lbs. You are in Kindergarten.

You are a wyld, in-your-face, free-spirited child, who is funny & so curious & interested in the world around you. I hope you always keep that. We love you so much!

Somethin' Else I have Decided . . .

I have been looking at older photos of the kids & have decided I am going to start posting some to my blog & talking a bit about the kids personalities, etc. For now, this is "somewhat" permanent, so it's kind of a good "scrapbook" kinda thing. I am working on the "real" paper kind of scrapbook for them too, but it's taking a bit to do those;) lol

My kids are so crazy & definitely keep me busy & hopin'. . . there are always things to do here. . . as I am sure any of you with kids know;)

So, I am going to start that now, in a new post. . .

Dariyn. . .

Dariyn brought home a letter from her guidance counselor today, stating that she is eligible to participate in the 2008 Talent Search, sponsored by the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) of the John Hopkins University. It helps gifted/advanced etc students. I still don't really know much about it, but we will probably let her take the test. They have different programs for the kids that pass the exams with a certain score. . . summer or distance learning programs.