We are adding another member to our family!

We are getting another family member soon!

My sister and her family are adopting a boy from Eastern Europe!  

They hosted him over Christmas break for a month through an organization called New Horizons for Children.  Even before he arrived they knew adoption was a very likely outcome for this little boy into our family.  Once he was here that just solidified their decision even more.  He is such an amazing little boy and we are so excited for him to join our family.  Or like he says, "Summer I come to California for life".  As most of you know adoption is very expensive and often times seems nearly impossible! By participating in this giveaway you can have a chance to win one of these bracelets!

These bracelets were made to fundraise to bring this boy home for life!  They are MudLOVE bracelets, they say "live 2 love".  MudLOVE supports an organization that provides clean water in Africa.  A double donation and awesome bracelet, you can't beat that!  

Donations can be made through pay pal.  Email address is toddandamywestlund@yahoo.com.

The winner of the blender bottle will also win one of these bracelets!  Thank you for your support! 

Our family wearing our "live 2 love" bracelets! 

My very first Stitch Fix!

It's finally here! My very first stitch fix! I was on the list for awhile but due to that whole target debit card mis hap and me getting a new debit card and me not updating my stitch fix account I missed out on the box they put together for me a month ago.. But I got back in line and my turn is finally here. I got my box!

For those of you who don't know... Stitch Fix is basically a busy mom's dream come true. You go online and fill out a little bit about what you like fashion wise, tell them your sizes and where you wear the clothes you buy and then they give all that info to a stylist and they put together a box for you. They ship it to your home, you try it all on, keep what you want and send back what you do not like. I love this! It's like speed shopping and you can get the boxes once a month! Or you can schedule your shipments more spaced out if you'd like. They charge you a $20 styling fee when they ship your fix but that $20 will go towards your purchase assuming you keep something. I love shopping but at this point in my life never make it to the mall, and when I do I have no idea what to try on since I feel like i've been out of the fashion world for so long! So I was beyond excited to get this box today.... Here is what it had..

Zouk Tracy Fit & Flare Geo Print Dress $38 I liked this dress and it fit nicely but It was just ok. I do actually have a few events coming up that I'm going to need dresses for but the black and white geo print wasn't really doing it for me. So I am not keeping this one...

Pink TCEC Glendale Embellished Hi-Lo Tank $48. This top was ok. It fit nice but I didn't see myself wearing it often. I'm sending this one back.

Navy Under Skies Milan Lace Print Back Pleat Top $58. I love love love this. Its classy and comfortable and covers my not so flat mommy tummy. This is for sure a winner! I decided I'd post the pictures of me in the things i'm keeping!

Light Green Bay to Baubles Diana Flower Jewel Necklace $36. Cute necklace but I don't want to spend this much on a necklace. I like it though!

Black Liverpool Anita Ponte Pant $78. This was funny since i've been looking for more black pants/skinny jeans. I happened to just buy a pair last weekend and despite my love for black skinny pants, I couldn't justify another pair... for now, so i'm sending these back too. They were great though!

Well out of the five items they sent me this month i'm only keeping one. I have heard the more fixes you get the better the selection gets because your stylist learns your likes and dislikes. I will go on the website and "check out" and write why i'm not keeping the things i'm sending back. An extra bonus, if they ever do send you a box of things you LOVE you get a 25% discount if you buy everything. That makes a big difference. Stitch Fix is definity a treat and not something I HAVE to do but I will definitely be trying to fit this into our regular budget. It's exciting to get this box in the mail and try on things that were picked especially for you! IF you want to try it out I would appreciate it if you signed up under this link so I could earn credit towards my next fix! Thanks

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3079165

Welcoming our fourth bundle of joy! Tenley is here!

So I know i'm really bad about blogging on our family blog.. maybe that will change.. probably not. Either way... one of the reasons I do this blog is because you can turn your blog into a book. Did you know that? So once I get enough posts I can have it printed and just like that it's like a mini journal. I'll have to go back and add bunch for it be a more accurate picture of our life.. but for now I'll blog about our latest addition. Our sweet baby girl Tenley Sandra.

 I had been praying that God would let me have Tenley as soon as she was healthy enough to be born without any complications. I was so tired and my body was tired and feeling the strain of being pregnant for the fourth time in 5 years. So that was my prayer for about two weeks before Tenley made her appearance. Of course I prayed that but wasn't exactly planning on it happening. My scheduled c-section was already planned a week before my due date. So what were the odds that I would actually go into labor on my own before then? Well.... at exactly 36 weeks I went into labor. I had more envisioned something simple like my water breaking, me going to the hospital and then them quickly giving me a c-section.. The reality? Not even close.

 I started having contractions at about 10:30pm... I was very doubtful they were the real deal so decided I would go to bed and was sure they would go away. At about 2am I still hadn't been able to sleep through them at all and they were about 5 minutes apart, so we decided we should probably go in. Of course because I was only 36 weeks they wanted to stop the contractions and hold me off for another week or two to be safe. I was ok with that, I just wanted the contractions to stop.  I also had a very high heart rate the whole time I was there.  it ranged from 109-140. At one point, for about 5 min my heart rate got up to 170. They ordered an emergency EKG and had a cardiologist read it but everything looked fine... they thought maybe I was having an anxiety attack? One nurse came in and saw two heart rates on my strip at 140 and assumed I was having twins... That heart rate was normal for the baby... not so much for me... so two so close together she thought it must be twins. I think that got Brian's heart rate up!  So at about 12pm my doctor came in, quickly looked at the monitor and said, "We're going to take the baby, your contractions aren't stopping. Let me see at what time we can do it today" I felt such a sigh of relief, I wasn't supposed to have contractions! I have planned c-sections.. not contractions! Then I immediately realized how early I was and what that could mean for Tenley. I knew she would eventually be ok but there was a very good chance she would have to go straight to the NICU and possibly stay there for a few days. So then of course I started to worry a little bit... and cry a little bit... but either way I knew my body was DONE! I was in so much pain at that point so it was mostly a feeling of relief. The doctor came back and said 45 minutes! Brian had just gone to the car to get our camera because the battery needed to be charged... so I called him and told him and the rest of our family and we started prepping for surgery.

So oddly enough the only thing I ever really dread about the actual c-section is getting my spinal tap. I love everything else about the surgery. (I know i'm so weird, but I would seriously watch it if they'd let me... they never did lol) I was especially nervous because I hadn't heard anything about the anesthesiologist I was going to have. In fact I ended up having a different one for each baby. I hadn't had any complications with the others so I was really hoping it would be the same. The lady I had this time was amazing. I don't remember her name, it started with a V, but she was good. It was definitely uncomfortable getting my spinal tap but it never really hurt for more than 3 seconds. Seriously incredible. Even after my back would usually get sore in the area that they put the needle.. not this time! She was great. So they're giving me the spinal tap and my legs start to get all warm and I told my nurse and the anesthesiologist that I loved that feeling.. they thought I was crazy! So your body gets warm from the chest down and then all of the sudden its like weight free... It's relaxing to me. lol I know i'm crazy.. Ok so then after that happens I just keep reminding them Brian still needs to come in.. once he's in there I really can just relax. I like to talk to the doctors and ask them random questions and they always seem pretty surprised that I even care at that point. I asked how my uterus looked... they actually said they were shocked because it looked like I had only had two c-sections when in fact this was my fourth!  (They look at the scar tissue) I asked why some people say when they've had c-sections they thought the doctor took out some of their organs and put them on their chest?!? That had never happened to me... the doctors explained that some surgeons do it that way but that mine didn't. I was thankful. He's the best in my opinion. Then it came time for them to take Tenley out. She was breach so I didn't know if this would make a difference or not from the others... it didn't. The only difference was they confirmed she was a girl before she was even all the way out. lol So immediately my question was, "Is she tiny???" They said she was actually a pretty decent size for being so early. That made me happy. Then as soon as she was out I heard her LOUD cry! That also made me happy! They had the NICU on standby just in case but we didn't end up needing them at all. They wiped her off a little, wrapped her up and gave her to me to hold for a bit before they gave her a bath. While the doctors finished my surgery, tied my tubes, and closed me up I just laid there totally peaceful, thankful, and happy. (Yes I said tied my tubes! 4 babies from my body is enough! If we feel like God want's us to have more one day we will definitely adopt, but I knew my body was done). The rest of the hospital stay was great and the biggest issue we had with Tenley was getting her to poop! God had his hand on me and Tenley through all of this and we are so thankful.

 Now for the fun part.. the pictures... there are some from surgery so I made them black and white so they wouldn't be as gross. I love them though!
Meeting the family...  Papa went first since she was born on his birthday.

Kayley's announcement and family update

We sent this out last week along with our annual update.. Unfortunately we couldn't send one to everyone so If you didn't get it in the mail here is the digital version. =)



Happy Spring! We decided to not send Christmas cards this year since we had so much going on between then and now. So know that you were not forgotten! We just wanted to wait until Spring to send out our yearly update. So here it is!

Since the first of the year a lot has happened for our family. We sold our house in Atwater and moved to Merced. With Brian and I both working in Merced every day we were facing the realization quickly that we were wasting a lot of time driving and a lot of money on gas. So for now we are happily renting a beautiful home less than 5 minutes away from where each of us work. We also now have a pool to enjoy this summer and added an extra bedroom! This definitely comes in handy because we added another member to our family! Our first baby girl, Kayley Bernice, arrived on March 9th 2012!

Brian is still working for UBS Financial Services and is enjoying his job. He’s started teaching the freshman and sophomore Sunday school class at our church on Sundays and is enjoying spending time preparing for his lessons and ministering to the class. Our desire to do foster care has developed into something a little different but just as rewarding. We helped get the Safe Families ministry started at our church and are currently serving as the ministry leads. It is an incredible ministry and we are learning a lot about how to show God’s love and grace to others. Camden and Andersen absolutely adore Brian and want his attention every minute he is home. He’s hoping to get a stand up paddle board soon so he can have a water activity to enjoy here in the Valley. It’s not quite as good as living near the ocean like he did growing up, but it will do for now.

Mary- I am currently on maternity leave and I am enjoying being home. When I go back to school in a few weeks I will only have about a month and a half left of being a preschool teacher. Next year I will take over the position of administrator for the preschool as my sister is moving to Redding in June. I am looking forward to this role at the preschool, but I’m not looking forward to my sister and her family moving four hours north. I know it is what’s best for their family, and at least now we have a beautiful place to visit often. We already have monthly reunions scheduled through October. After Christmas, I took a long break from photography. I’m looking forward to getting started again in May for family and friends. I am loving this stage in my life… Something I always wanted was to be married and have a family, so I guess you could say I feel like we are living the dream, my heart is full!

Camden will be four in May! He has turned out to be quite a social little boy. He loves preschool and can identify all of his letters and sounds. He has also mastered electronics and it’s absolutely shocking how good he is on the Xbox. His favorite games are the Lego games, the newest addition to his collection is Lego Star Wars. He would play all day if we let him so we had to come up with a “crystal” system. He has these little marble-like crystal jewels that he has to spend in order to buy minutes and he can only spend so many at a time. So far it works great! He also loves riding his bike outside and he cannot wait for it to be warm enough to start swimming. He gets to start playing Soccer in the fall on an under 6 team and Brian is hoping to coach. It’s been especially neat to see him and Andersen start playing together more.

Andersen is just about 2 and a half years old. He talks more and more every day. He isn’t nearly as outgoing as Camden, much more reserved. He loves his puzzles, cars and trains and gets his fair share on the iPad and Mobigo. He is such a bright little boy and can count into the teens (not always in order) He also loves playing outside, rain or shine, and he asks us multiple times a day to go out. He’s recently become attached to whatever shirt he is wearing for the day and gets so upset when we change him into anything different. He’s a funny little guy and adds so much to our family. It took him a week or so but he is finally warming up to baby Kayley. He walks around saying “baby baby baby” and smiles when he sees her for the first time each day. He’s even given her a handful of kisses!

Kayley is 10 days old now. It’s already proved to be so fun having a girl! I’m loving all the things that come along with that; pink clothes, bows, tutus… now she just has to grow a little bit so she can fit into all those things! She’s a champ at nursing and has blessed us with much sleep at night. I’m excited to watch her grow and to see what kind of personality she will have.

Well, that’s our yearly update in a few paragraphs. We hope everyone is having a great year so far. To get more regular updates on our family visit our family blog or find us on facebook. Below you can find our most current contact information.

Much Love,
The Gudgels

Kayley is here!

Well the Gudgel family added one more! (Need to think of a new name for this blog.. any suggestions?) Moving on..

Kayley was originally Scheduled to arrive today, March 13th 2012 via c-section. However due to an opening in the doctors schedule her arrival date was moved forward a few days. On Friday, March 9th 2012 at 8:24am our little girl Kayley Bernice was brought into the world. She came out and quickly showed us how strong her little lungs were. Nothing quite beats those first cries you hear, it makes me tear up every time.

She weighed 6 lbs 9oz and measured 19 3/4 inches long... now for the fun part, PICTURES! (I made the delivery and post op pics in black and white since there are a few pics of her straight out of my tummy, makes them a little less gross. So if you think that will be too much for you to handle get ready to scroll down a little quick through those, I however am amazed by them!)

Getting ready to go into surgery


So blessed to have both sets of parents there to pray with us before.


And she's born! It truly is incredible.


It's amazing what a spinal tap can do. All I could feel during all of this was pure joy. I was so happy, one of the best times of my life.


Getting measured


She was soo alert!


Like I said, pure joy!




















Moved from recovery to our room where we stayed for the next two nights.





Meeting Camden, Ander was not willing to sit still for a picture.











Going home..


We are so happy to add a little girl to our family. I can not wait to watch her grow and show us her personality. God gives us as parents just a glimpse of the kind of love that he has for us by giving us children to love. We are blessed.