Well, we survived the first week (and a half) with little Jaylyn. She really is a good baby. Of course, I have been tired, but overall things are going well. She eats, sleeps, and snuggles and her head is always covered in kisses - from me and all of her sisters. They have all been really good with her and love having a new baby in the family. Jaylyn is so sweet and I feel so blessed to be her mom, and to have four precious girls. Life is good!
Introducing Jaylyn Sariah Colvin!! She was born on Friday, October 8th @ 4:23 a.m. after a long night of labor. The early stages of contractions went pretty slowly and it seemed to take forever to progress, but the last stage went extremely quickly. The nurse checked me and said I was at 7 cm and as soon as she left to go tell my doctor, I told Brandon I felt like I needed to push. (I had no drugs by the way.) Remembering our experience of a quick delivery last time before the doctor made it, Brandon went out of the room to get the nurse and tell her I was ready to push. She apparently didn't believe him because I was just at a 7 a minute ago, but with or without help, the baby was coming! Within a few minutes of her checking me, I was on my hands and knees pushing and the nurse had just enough time to put her gloves on and catch the baby behind me. About a minute later, the doctor walked in the room. She was literally down the hall from us, but still did not make it in time to deliver the baby. 
Anyway, Jaylyn is healthy and weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. The nurses weighed her a few times because they couldn't believe how big she was. I was shocked too when they told me her weight. She's definitely got some chubby cheeks! Her blood sugar was a little low when she was born, which I guess is common in babies over 9 lbs., so for her first feeding they gave her formula because it doesn't take as much effort for them to eat. They checked her a few more times within the hour and her blood sugar levels had gone up, so we were grateful for that, and for her health overall.
On Friday afternoon, Brandon brought Avery and Hayden to the hospital to see their new baby sister. They were so excited to see her!! It was really sweet to see them kiss her head and talk to her. They just can't get enough of her.
We got home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. It was so nice to be home again. Although it's tiring, having a newborn baby in the family is so wonderful. I love just holding her and kissing her and snuggling with her. I know how quickly babies grow up! I look at my girls and it's still hard to believe that I have 4 now and that they are all getting so big.
We are thrilled to have Jaylyn in our family! And I just have to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful, sweet husband. Brandon turned 29 today and unfortunately had quite an uneventful B-day. I did make him some shrimp tacos for dinner and gave him a "Birthday Raincheck", so hopefully there is an actual date for us around the corner :) And he got Guitar Hero from his mom, so that has been a nice distraction from schoolwork! He has been home all week helping me and it has been so wonderful. So, Happy Birthday Brandon and Welcome Baby Jaylyn!!
We were all so excited for school to start this year! Avery is in 1st grade and loves it!! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Kolb and Avery really likes her.
She got this name tag to wear when we met her teacher, and she was so excited to wear it on the first day of school.
The drop-off. I walked her to school that day and by the time I got home, I was pooped! It seems a lot further away when you're walking (actually "waddling") along in the heat!
Hayden also had her first day of school a few days after Avery started. She was very excited for preschool!
Kiley wanted to be included in the picture taking. Notice her crazy hair - I'm not sure what happened to it that day.
Hayden picked out this backpack at Target. She absolutely loved that it had a frog on it and it definitely fit her personality. She pretty much loves anything with animals on it!
Waiting outside for her teacher. Her classroom was in the very back of the school in a portable trailer, and this was at about 11:30 A.M. - well over 100 degrees already. It was sooooo hot! But, Hayden didn't seem to mind. It's really the adults that complain about the weather, isn't it? I remember playing outside in the summer and not thinking twice about how hot it was.
Well, although Hayden seemed to enjoy the first day of preschool, we actually decided to pull her out of it. It was kind of far away and not the most convenient time of the day. We calculated the amount of gas it would take to drop her off and pick her up four days a week, and it was about $100 just there and back! I decided just to do it with her at home and it seems to be going well. Thankfully, she was not too attached to her preschool class or teacher yet, so it was not a big deal for her. We get to do some fun things at home and we don't have to drive anywhere :) Overall, it has been really nice to get back into a schedule for school and life. Things definitely get busy between dropping off and picking up kids, doing preschool at home, teaching piano lessons three days a week at a piano studio, doctor's appointments and getting ready for baby number 4 to come soon! But, life is good and we feel very blessed to be where we are, and we are very excited to meet our little girl soon (6 more weeks)!
Kiley playing upside down in the sand. Needless to say, every inch of her body was covered in sand that day.
The clan (almost everyone): My mom and dad, sister Mallory and hubby Jason, sister Kelsey and her two girls Ellie and Scout, and Hayden and Kiley.
Hayden would not go near the water, which was pretty chilly, but she loved playing in the sand.
Kiley making something in the sand.
Notice Brandon in the background with a huge mound of sand...I'll get to that soon.
Avery was quite the little fish at the beach! She did not mind the water being cold at all, nor the fact that none of the other kids would go out in the water with her. She loved the water and jumping over the waves.
Avery and Hayden buried in the sand, with their cousin Ellie sitting in middle.
Avery's sand castle.
Avery and Brandon have a special father/daughter bond. They love to do things together.
So, the first day at the beach, Brandon decided he wanted to build a sand castle. He had never really tried to build one before, but thought he would give it a try.
As with everything else he "tries", he does an amazing job and this is the final outcome of his castle. 
Not too shabby if you ask me! There were even a few people who stopped to take a picture of it.
On the second day, of course the other castle was no longer there, so Brandon made an even bigger one. He was going to add more to it, but as you can imagine, it took quite a while to build, so he got to this point and was done.
