6 weeks

My little snuggle bug :)

Baby blessing day July 6...didn't get a group picture :(

Cute baby blanket from her Aunt Jen :)

Remember Sierra as "little foot" because of her long neck? (Umbilical cord wrapped around it)...Natalie has it, too.

Fourth of July

My baby's got blue eyes ;)

New year, new baby! Meet Natalie Violet :)

Born 6/10/14 at 3:20 p.m. via c-section.

Weighing 8 lbs. 2oz.,stretching to 20.5 inches

Day before delivery

BC summer update

Gwen turned one in June!

Aspen Grove trip

Nice pen, Matt :)

Sierra likes rainbows

Cowboy Tyler

Volleyball in the sand--Matt also got to play wallyball

We all enjoyed arts and crafts

Tyler turned three!

Wedding in SLC Temple...visited with lots of family...cousins :)

We took a tour of the Conference Center.  Here we are on the rooftop with temple behind us. (More photos on the other camera!)

Nine Months!

That's how old my baby is, in case you were wondering...almost as long since my last post! Time to update photos and background, etc. This whole moving-across-the-country thing really was quite the process and the settling in continues. I feel like I have to reinvent the wheel sometimes, but I'm figuring things out. Slowly. I look forward to blogging more often in the future :) Time to pick up kids from school!

Just for fun

I dressed Gwen in a complete outfit :) Usually, I just skip all the extra stuff like hair accessories and shoes. But since I took the time to do it, I asked Matt to take her picture. The sleeves and the shoes seem to be too long/too big, but her torso seems to go all the way to the snaps. :)

She often tucks her legs up on her belly (something she did in-womb, I'm sure).

A few more pix (this is the 3rd baby Gwen entry):

 Don't know if we can show you (but we'll try): she has pretty lighter circles around the inner portion of her dark blue eyes.

 Gettin' into summer. And, she likes her vibration chair (the first of our kids to do so).

 Outdoor scene: our small backyard is kinda gorgeous with day lillies and hydrangeas and miscellaneous greenery. We enjoyed some yard work with sprinkling during Monday's (yesterday's) heat.

 S, G, K.

 A, G.

Sierra was excited to finally get to hold baby Gwen; she has to be reminded to keep her hands clean, and wash them frequently.

 We like hands shots.

Okay. I'm bored with this. Let's go.

She has a name :)

I'm glad Matt posted the news! We finally decided on a name Friday night! Gwenyth Jenelle Ripplinger is her name. For inspiration, we looked through baby name books, examined our lists from previous pregnancies, asked our kids for their ideas, and ultimately Matt and I figured it out. Gwen is a part of a family name Gwendolyn, and Jen is a part of another family name Jennifer. We had lots of good names; it was hard to choose.    Among those were "Quelleen," Ariel, Brooke, Gwen, Hazel, Zoe, Lauren, Natalie, etc. The first few were the kids' choices, one in particular was very inventive :) So we call her Gwen or Gwenyth or baby :) She is very sweet and seems to be adjusting well. Her older siblings are eager to help keep her happy by holding her or getting her pacifier.

 Raquel is very excited to meet "Gwena".

Raquel (5), Kaitlyn (8), and Adam (10) say hello.

Tyler (almost 2) says "baby!"

Aunt Jen Jensen with Gwenyth, Grandma Ripp, Nadine Jensen, T & Si.

 Grandma, Gwen, Nadine, Si.

It is wonderful to have Grandma Ripp here and Daddy home from work this week! I'm resting and keeping my feet up as much as possible. We enjoyed a yummy dinner last night with family. It's so nice to let others do all the [other] work :) Thanks family!