Farmers market

So all summer we've talked about going to the farmers market here in Davis on a Wed. They have it on Saturdays and Wed and we've gone a lot on Saturday and ridden the carousel but on Wed in the summer they have live bands and horse rides and bouncey houses. We tried to go several weeks ago but the girls were bad and we had to cancel the trip. Well today we finally made it and despite the heat the girls had so much fun! (A of course slept the whole time!!). I've been home trying to recover from the stitches for almost a week (BORING!!!) so this was our first time out together and it was so wonderful!

We picked Daddy up and enjoyed a picnic dinner there first.

We happened to be there when they were having a small childrens craft fair and the girls enjoyed that, too.

They always enjoy the carousel - the animals are suspended and the carousel is powered by someone sitting riding a bike-like contraption. The schools take turns getting people to ride the bike and it is a school fundraiser.

bath time!

So it was time to give A her first bath and of course all the girls were interested...until they found out how noisy it was! A was NOT impressed by this little ritual and cried the whole way through...and her big sisters giggled non-stop and kept their ears plugged! We all had a good laugh (except A)!

At least she stayed awake for a little bit!

A favorite pasttime of these two!

growing fast!

A had her first check-up on Friday. She has been so sleepy I was nervous about her weight. No need for concern...they like for them to be back at their birthweight by 2 weeks old. At less than a week she is 1 ounce off of being there! She was born 7 lb 3 oz and yesterday she was 7 lb 2 oz, so life is good. The lactation specialist called from the hospital to see how I was doing and she said obviously there isn't a problem! She has started to actually spend a little time awake (usually when she has the hiccups...which is at least 3-4 times a day!). The girls really get excited when she is awake - especially as she first wakes up and stretches and makes funny faces :) Here are a few pictures from the last few days...enjoy!

So cute and little - but how did she fit?

Finally - a girl with enough color to look good in white!

A happy Daddy :)

Happy girls (popcorn and cookies - what more is there for a tea party!!!)(and yes Scott this is still the tea set you gave them years ago for Christmas...believe it or not they haven't been destroyed despite all their use!)

We're home

So we stayed a little longer than planned at the hospital - two nights of not sleeping due to labor and probably too many drugs caught up with me Sunday morning (when I planned to go home) and I felt quite sick and dizzy so we stayed one more day at the midwifes request (I was happy to comply!). I slept most of the day Sunday and they switched my drugs and I was ready to go home Monday. The girls and Daddy decorated the house for our homecoming and it is nice to be home. I am SO happy to not be pregnant anymore (those last few weeks are killers!) although I'm annoyed with still being tired and sore :) I have no patience. :) It is nice to spend some quiet relaxing time together before the chaos of school starts and to give everyone some time to just relax and adjust to life. Although A is sleeping well I am still so exausted from several days of not sleeping (it's rather difficult to sleep in a hospital where either you or the baby is getting their temperture checked every couple of hours!!!) that I haven't updated this or called hardly anyone so I apologize to all those we love who don't feel loved! A is so sweet! She has been very sleepy the last few days - the girls all get really excited when she actually wakes up! We really don't have any great pictures of her yet - especially pictures of her being awake! I can now burp A and Mg's pretend baby at the same time successfully. M loves to be a big help for Mommy and E is always aware of where A is and makes sure she has on a hat :) Life is good and we're grateful for all of our blessings and for all those that help us out in so many different ways! Life is good and we're grateful! Enjoy some more pictures!

She's here!

(full names have now been deleted) A. safely and quickly made it here early Saturday morning. We went to the hospital after our friends Amber and Chrisana made it to our house to spend the night with the kids. By 10PM that night I was still not having any decent contractions and J and I decided that we were both exausted and that I was obviously not in labor so we would go home and go back to the hospital in the morning to be induced (even if it was 3AM and I was just impatient). On our way home from the hospital I finally had a decent contraction...go figure. J fell asleep as soon as we got home and I began labor and just as I was starting to think about maybe going to the hospital I had an incredible contraction and realized I was in trouble. This was at 12:45AM. J quickly woke up and drove me chattering and shaking out of control to the hospital with instructions to NOT stop at the stop signs or stop lights (except for the one with the photo radar!!). Yes, this sounds exactly like E's birth story. Funny...it has the same ending, too!!! The contractions went from 7-10 min apart to 3 min apart in the car and they were nasty and I was fully aware that I was in transition and that I would probably not be getting an epidural. We got to the hospital and the midwife and nurse (who had just seen us a few hours before and knew that I was clearly NOT in labor) did not realize how close I was and were in no hurry to come and check us in or to check on my progress and I had to call them into the room and convince them that I was close and needed attention. I realized I was starting to push and I called them in and they quickly set up for the delivery! Despite my begging from the moment I walked in the door for an epideral it was quite evident there was not time. I begged and begged but I have to admit recovery has been much easier without all the needles!!! A was born at 1:58AM and weighed 7lb 3oz and was 19 in long. She was almost 2 weeks early and is absolutely beautiful!!! She looks more like E and Mg although she is definately her own little self. She has J's long fingers and toes. The girls absolutely adore here! They love that A will grab their finger and hold it. We're so happy and here's a few (okay, a lot if I get them all done) pictures to enjoy!

water!!

As I was finishing putting the final touches on the dinner table I got all wet!!! After a long evening at the hospital we finally decided to go get a good night sleep (hah hah) at home and go in first thing in the morning to be induced. I've finally started having contractions and things are progressing so I decided to wait until we got some sleep to start the fun. So Chrisana and Amber are here spending the night in case of a midnight run back to the hospital and if not we'll finish things up in the morning!! We're SO grateful for Amber and Chrisana and we'll let you all know when there is something interesting to know! Love, me

Ballet

Okay, so there really is balance in my girls lives :) They absolutely loved to get dressed up and dance and sing and have lots of girl fun, too. One of their recent highlights was being in a real ballet...a friend from church taught a younger and older girl's class and put on a recital in May. Each of the girls in the older class got to have a little solo and M got to be the fairy in the fairy dance - she was in heaven. E's favorite dance was the flower dance (to the nutcracker song) and they loved getting dressed up in princess dresses for the "Beauty and the Beast" dance. They did such a great job!!! I was impressed that neither one seemed to have to deal with stage fright (that did NOT come from their mother!!) and it was a great recital.

M's solo Just before the recital

With this being a church group thing all of the parents pitched in. The teacher and another friend and I spent most of a Saturday painting the backdrop and others made the tutus and decorated and set up and stuff. It was SO much work but it was so worth it...the girls just loved it and still love to dance to the music.


The princesses

Two more notes...

So question for all you experienced bloggers out there...is there any way to have an email sent to people to let them know I updated the blog? Just curious. Also, if you click on the picture it will open the picture up so you can see it bigger and better...may I suggest trying the first picture of M and her backyard findings :) I think you'll be entertained. Better yet, try clicking on E's picture and try counting her findings!!!! Also, I changed the settings so anyone can comment - you don't have to log in or have an account or anything. Hopefully that is easier for those who care to comment that way! Enjoy!

Under Construction

So after a long and busy week to get things done on my big "to do" list I finally had a chance to sit down and fix this up a little more. There are still some problems to work out but it's getting there. Of course, this was not the planned activity for the night but my feet have been swollen since I got up this morning (grr) so this seemed like a nice put your feet up but still do something fun kind of activity! Hope you enjoy! I have several more sets of pictures I plan to put up in the next few days and I hope to have updates and pictures up soon after the little one arrives...stay tuned!

One of our Favorite Things at our New Place

One of the first things the girls discovered about our new apartment was the snails. We hadn't even moved in yet and they had discovered them. They had only seen a snail once or twice before and liked them but there wasn't any at our old place. At first they would collect them and at the end of the day I would have them throw the snails over the fence. Then we were running out of their favorite backyard activity - snail hunting. So now we empty them back in the shrubs for another fun day of hunting! Such girls!

They collect them in buckets and then wait for the snails to come out of their shells. There's lots of excitement when that happens! And why limit yourself to one when you can have TONS!!!

They are really good at sharing with their sister and Mg just squeals as they crawl up her arm! We went through a LOT of soap our first few weeks here! They've done some landscaping and there aren't as many snails as we had at first but there's still lots of excitment whenever they find one!