Introducing Nolan

Born 8:56 AM on 4/12/12 via C-section
7lbs 2 oz
18.5 inches

So this Easter outfit reminded me of another great Easter outfit...

This great Easter egg hunt outfit worn by Ava:

Reminded me for some reason of another great Easter egg hunt outfit worn by her big sister Katrena at the age of 4.

Easter April 8, 2012

Easter was just plain fabulous all the way around this year, I don't think I've ever enjoyed the day and time with my little family more. Every thing just made me happy!

We started off the festivities with pizza and egg coloring on saturday night.
On Sunday morning I was awoken by a complete scream of delight as Ava realized it was Easter! I thought for sure she had already broken the rules and had gone to the kitchen table, but she had not she just remembered and screamed and shouted "Its Easter!" She then asked me where the bunny poop was and I had to explain that the house didn't get vacuumed yesterday and the Easter Bunny thought it was probably best not to leave any jelly bean poop around this year. Ava then quickly ran to wake her sister so that we could go see their Easter baskets. I made a mistake and used the camera instead of the video camera and I should have recorded it because Ava's comments were hilarious the whole day!

Here is their loot


Ava screamed and got excited over everything and I loved it, the hits were the spinbrush toothbrush and rainboots and gum! With everything she picked up she'd scream shout what it was and then say "I noticed it, I noticed it!" Trena was excited but slightly sad that hers wasn't funner. Although they cost about the same and its hard as your kids grow up. She was very excited about the 10th book in her favorite series though.


Gum, who knew right?
Next while we waited for our yummy baked french toast with apples and cranberries to finish bake the girls and I watched some beautiful videos put out by our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on YouTube about Easter. I explained the videos to the girls as it went along and answered any questions and Ava had a lot. I loved how when we got to church Ava was as excited to tell her teacher about the videos of Christ we watched as she was about the goodies in her basket. After we got home from church Ava had a few questions for Trena about death while they were playing outside and she didn't like her sisters answers because she came inside crying that she didn't want to die and didn't want her family to die. She kept this up off and on the rest of the night. She would just out of the blue say she didn't want to die or she didn't want me to die. Its hard to reassure your 3 year old you are not going to die when we have no idea when we will die.

After breakfast and videos we all got ready for church and I have to say I am just giddy over how cute my girls looked! There were so beautiful and radiant and I just love how these photos turned out!

I had to leave this cheesey one of Ava in and I love that I forgot to cut her tag in the first few photos.



And together! The first shot was a total keeper, that never happens!
My beautiful grown up Katrena



Then we were off to Church and my friends baby was blessed on this beautiful Easter Sunday. When we got home we all grabbed something to hold us over until our yummy Easter dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, broccoli salad, and carrots was done. While everything was finishing up cooking we headed outside for a backyard Easter egg hunt. Dad is very good at hiding those eggs, this year they had 32 to find.

The polk a dot wonder woman


Every time Ava would find an egg she'd wave it in the air and yell "Yeah," and then she'd say "I found a ______ one, yeah, a _______ one, yeah" inserting the color of the egg found. It was slightly snotty but super funny.





The great count showed 17 for Trena and 15 for Ava!
of course they then made dad hide them all again and the next time they tied with 16.

An Easter picture with my girls

When we got back inside Ava was very disappointed that I had not done my messages in the eggs asking them questions about Easter and having them do different things like sing their favorite primary song and then telling them to go look somewhere for something special from mom and dad. Mom was just a little bit of a slacker this year and we'll blame it on pregnancy. I felt really bad though because she remembered. So I took 3 eggs out and put places for them to go look and there was a prize for each of them and one for them together. I then hid the three eggs in the family room and had them go find it. They both got a soccer ball and a net to share.


They also had received cards in the mail from Grammy Ann and my mom as well as a package from Brent's mom so they opened those up and got those prizes as well. I think that all in all they had a pretty awesome Easter!

Afgan for my friends baby blessing...

This is my go to afgan pattern for baby girls. I will do it in fun colors or I will do it in white for baby blessings, it is actually the pattern I used for Trena's baby blessing. I used a different pattern for Ava's so that they would be different and I kind of regret it now because I love this pattern so much. Anyways when I do it for blessings I usually put white or a soft pink ribbon down the sides, but decided to use teal instead because this sweet babies room is done in teal and red and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out. Having probably made twenty of these over time, I really think this one is my favorite.


My mother in law asked me how long it takes me to make one of these blankets and I really don't have any idea. I timed it once and depending on the row (because of the pattern) it can take between 5-15 minutes per row and there are 102 rows, plus 5 rows of border and they each take about an hour or so. You can easily put 10 hours into one, but they turn out so beautiful that it is worth every minute.

Baseball

Last Tuesday April 3rd just for fun while playing in the backyard the girls and dad decided to play baseball. All we have for "equipment" is a splash bat and a big (well it was big once upon a time, so a shrunken big) ball.

This was Ava's first time playing and she had so much fun! Here are some photos of Brent pitching her the ball. I absolutely love the joy on her face every time she makes contact with the ball.


Sister took over pitching and Dad gave her some pointers:

And then Trena pitched to dad:


And dad pitched to Trena, I didn't get many pics of Trena at bat because A) she would hit the ball and it was gone faster than I could take the picture and B) the kid was way too serious:


And then Ava started to pout that it was too hard:

So sister pitched, daddy took over with the camera and mom assisted:

It was such a fun 45 minutes and I found myself wondering why we don't take more opportunities to enjoy these simple but unforgetable moments!

Trena's gift to her brother...

Trena is so excited for her little brother to arrive and wanted to make something for him, specifically a blanket. So together we decided to do a one sided flannel receiving blanket. It gets pretty hot here in the summer and with the baby being born in April I wanted to have a few light weight baby blankets on hand. First we washed and then ironed the fabric, she then cut the fabric to square it up.

Next she would roll up the edges 1/2" and then iron the sides to give it a crease and then rolled another 1/2" pinned it and ironed it again.

She then cut and mitered the corners so they wouldn't be so thick. And sewed the edges.

She sewed this all on her own and I was so proud of her. She did a great job for her first project and I know that she and her brother will treasure this blanket always.

monkey fabric:

Trena I am so proud of your hard work, you did a great job!

Goodies I've made for baby, part one...

So preparing for this baby is sad, sad, sad. First off this is my last baby I should be making things like crazy and have the cutest decked out nursery: NEGATIVE!

One: This baby doesn't even have a nursery!

Two: He won't even be sharing with his sisters. Trena's too old too share and Ava's room literally has one wall to put any furniture on and there is NOT even a closet. So where will baby sleep you ask, mom and dad's room until we move, when he's almost two!!!

Three: I spent weeks 28-34 pretty much on bed rest.

Four: My history prevents any preparation from being done because we are terrified. So I sit here typing this with the knowledge that I have made purchases, the bare minimum of clothing, diapers, bottles, etc, but every single thing purchased still has its tag on it (even my stuff in the bag for the hospital) and the receipts are all together. The bassinet is set up, some decor has been made but is not put up. He doesn't have a dresser yet, Ava's dresser (file cabinet wall) is piled high with tubs of stuff for the baby. If this baby came home today this just sliced open mama would have a hard time finding anything!

Everything piled on Ava's "dresser"
All things clothes and burp cloths, bottles, bibs, and blankets, etc.
All things diapering:
Fun basket of goodies we just got from my aunt and uncle:

This is where his dresser WILL go:

bassinet and eventually the cribs corner w/ toy bucket and laundry basket as well as my packed bags:

Here is the inside of the bed with papers to be filed and no sheets:



So we are officially 8 days away from baby and this is what my house looks like, nice huh. Doesn't it look like baby is just days away!?

I honestly show this in humor, not for sympathy. This baby is SO wanted I don't know if anyone can fully comprehend the loss and longing we have felt in our hearts each time we have lost a baby. I just think its funny that a baby that is so wanted and has been longed for for so long that we are so totally unprepared for it. I'm sure that it is very similar for adoptive parents only they have a little more of an excuse than we do :)

The last few weeks I have been making things slowly but surely, I am down to 7 things I want done before baby gets here and about 5 that can wait until after.

The first thing I made was nursing covers, I made two. This is really funny because if you know me, you know that neither of my girls would latch. Trena was put on premie formula after 3 weeks of pumpking and with Ava I pumped until she was 3 months old and then called it good. I am VERY hopeful that he will be bigger and know what to do.

Second thing I made was a carseat cover and I LOVE this fabric! We also bought a new car seat as ours disappeared somewhere between Salt Lake, Phoenix and here.


I painted a basket for his future dresser:


Diaper case and wipes case for the diaper bag:



couple of blankets:



Burp cloths:

I also made a binky holder, but its getting snaps put on it by my friends hubby.

I also painted his name for the wall above his bed, but I will wait to show that when its up and when I am 100% convinced that it is REALLY his name. This mama just ain't feeling it!

So what's left on my list before baby; a couple of changing pad covers, a couple more blankets, a gown for the hospital and a mobile, and I'd like to paint his hand me down dresser. We actually bought a new dresser for Trena and he's going to have hers. Trena's new dresser is supposed to be in on the day he's born, see how on top of it we are :) we'll have to see if all these great projects actually get done.

And after awhile: sheets for his crib, crib skirt, quilt for crib, and make him a blessing afgan.