Breaking News!!! Chan Clan Update!!!

Holy Cow! We haven't posted since October!?!?! Well, a LOT has happened...be prepared for a LONG post.

I'll try to get you all caught up on the happenings of the Chan Clan!

OCTOBER...

Of course, it was Halloween. We had fun. Almost everyone stayed around in the neighborhood this year so it was fun to see the neighbors and walk around. One stroll around the block and the kids were loaded up with plenty of candy!

Molly was almost 8 months pregnant at this time!

Aubrey with radishes from our square foot garden! Yummy!

Addy getting a good bite into a homemade caramel apple.

Aubrey eating her apple!

Speaking of apples - funniest thing...the girls have watched "Enchanted" about a million times. So now when they eat apples, they will fall on the ground and let the apple drop out of their hands and roll on the ground - like they have just been poisoned by the evil witch. Pretty funny. I must get that on video!

Dad and Addy enjoying a moment together after going out on Halloween.

The two pregnant sisters! I think Emily was due about 6 weeks before Molly.

Aubrey aka Tinkerbell

The whole gang of cousins at J's and Kristi's house.

Hmm...which pumpkin should we choose? The pickings were slim! :)

NOVEMBER...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and got ready for Christmas - our favorite time of the year!

Molly displaying her goods at Kristi's backyard boutique.

The cute pregnant lady - just a few weeks away!

Aubrey and Addy waiting for yummy Thanksgiving Dinner!

Addy's favorite decoration was the colored balls. Most didn't make it much further up the tree.

Addy apparently felt like the tree looked better with multiple balls on the same branch. Some branches had about 5 balls all together!

DECEMBER...

We had a wonderful Ward party for Christmas. We each walked through different rooms where different families were celebrating Christmas. It was very moving and the Spirit was very present.



The kids got their annual photo done at Bass Pro Shop in Mesa. They had fun playing all of the toys available, sitting on ATVs and looking at the fish and the taxidermy.



Then, on December 15th, just after 1 am, Molly started to experience contractions. We were praying that the baby would come naturally as Molly wanted to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean), but the baby was late and we were doing EVERYTHING possible (except castor oil) to get the baby to come. Rylan found a website that recommended acupressure and GUARANTEED that the baby would come within 24-72 hrs. So we tried it and Molly was a trooper for putting up with the extremely sensitivity that developed from massaging the pressure points, but it worked!!!

Her contractions were starting to come on pretty heavy and she tried to "walk" through them. At about 3 am they were about 3 minutes apart. We decided to call Molly's dad to come over so we could drive up to the hospital. As soon as we got there, we were triaged and Molly was already at about a 5. We were moved to a room, where she was then a 7. She got an epidural and Dr. Layton broke her water, after which she quickly progressed to a 9-10 and we started pushing! Molly must be super sensitive to the epidural, because it made her totally numb and they hadn't even hooked it up yet! She pushed like a trooper and at 6:24 am, Brayden Rylan Chan was welcomed into the world! There was a slightly tense moment right at delivery as the cord was wrapped pretty tight around his neck and he wasn't breathing. The nurses said he was being a lazy breather as his heart was beating strong. After a few seconds (which seemed very long) he was crying and breathing normally. Phew. We were so happy. Both of us were crying. It was so quick and so wonderful, except that Molly got a spinal headache afterwards from the epidural. She has since been in therapy to correct a really messed up back! Mom, baby, Dad, and the girls are all doing wonderful!

Funny enough, earlier in the week, Molly had mentioned that most babies don't come on the weekend, but Tuesdays had a higher percentage of births. Ironically, that also happened to be the day of Brayden's birth AS WELL AS Rylan's organic chemistry final! He called his professor to let her know that we just had a baby. Rylan almost decided to take the final that day, but since he hadn't slept, he postponed it until the next day. Fortunately, he ended up with an "A" and a 4.0 GPA! Yeah! Next step...that *!(*$&@ MCAT. :)

Here are some pics of the newest addition to the Chan Clan!






Brayden was our Christmas present, but we still had a wonderful time. The girls were spoiled once again.


JANUARY 2010...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The baby and the girls are doing great! We had a real fun time out at San Tan Flats in Queen Creek. The kids were able to hang out by the fire and make smores. It was a super cool place to go and I hear they have live music on the weekends.

Brayden catching some zzz's at San Tan flats.

Addy being bashful with Grammy and Papa.

Aubrey shows off her rodeo form to the delight of cousin Louisa.

The girls had a blast with the recent winter storm. We got a lot of rain and the girls were able to play with their umbrellas outside in real weather! It got pretty windy, but unfortunately, the pictures don't really do it justice. We have some trees in the front yard that are leaning quite a bit.

Aubrey enjoyed being outside in her new jacket and gloves. She was busy throwing leaves in the air and watching the wind carry them away. Oh - the simple pleasures of childhood!


Our two adventurous girls brave the elements during Arizona's winter 2010 "storm."

The girls love to blow bubbles. Here they are on the back porch blowing away! Coco had a good time too chasing down all the bubbles!


Addy being a big sister!

Tonight we had family night and Smores were the dessert. The girls had a great time, of course, and loved roasting marshmallows.