Bug's Christmas Program

Bug had his Preschool Christmas Program this past week.  We were all very excited about it, but you wouldn't have known he was if you were to have seen the performance.  He was sooo shy and scared looking up there.  It was pretty, dang cute.

 I never realized how short he is compared to other kids his age until I saw him up there with the rest of his class.  Granted, some of them are already 5 and almost a year older than him, but some are still four.  Looks like he's got his Poppi's genes. :)

 I do have to give him some credit though.  He sang most all of the songs and did most of the actions.  The boy to the left of him looked exactly the same as he does in the picture below the ENTIRE performance.  He didn't move at all.  It was HILARIOUS to me. 

 LOVE this picture.  My twinners.

Cloud 9

We are so blessed to have this precious, sweet, beautiful little angel in our family.   She is such a GOOD baby! Every day I look at her and feel truly grateful that she is making this transition to three so easy.  I am keeping my fingers crossed she stays content and happy. 

Akward Family Photo

"State of Play" meets Locks of Love

For a couple of years now, I have been wanting to donate my hair to Locks of Love.  Now that I have a newborn I get out of the shower and braid my hair or put it in a ponytail and it stays like that until the next shower....which at this point is sometimes not for a few days. Gross, I know, but all the moms out there can relate.  If I leave my hair down it is either in Belle's face or hands.  In another few weeks my post-pregnancy hair will begin to shed like crazy.  I knew a haircut was in the near future.  The other night we were watching "State of Play" (really good movie, if you haven't seen it) and Rachel McAdam's hair gave me the

last nudge I needed to chop it all off.   Bondy was not thrilled at the prospect, but he said he would still love me, so I took that as the go ahead.  

I am happy to say Bond and I both like the results.

 

The Locks of Love Donation.

Precious Smiles

 I adore seeing our babies learning to smile.  Such tender moments.

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can!

 I remember making gingerbread cookies once as a kid and really not liking how they tasted, but I was in the mood to do something Christmasey with the boys the other day and thought gingerbread cookies would be fun.  The boys loved decorating them and they actually taste really good, even the boys like them.  Generally I think cutout cookies take a lot more work than they are worth but my mom held Belle while we decorated them and it went A LOT more smoothly than it would have otherwise.

Belle's Newborn Pictures

 

The little swirl on the back of her head is just PRECIOUS.

4 Weeks and First Snow

(I made Belle's jean skirt out of one of the cuffs of some of my old jeans, and Grammy sent her the TN onesie and bow.)



 Where have the past four weeks gone?! Seriously they have FLOWN by.  Sooo sad. :(  I wish I could hold onto this newborn time forever.  We took Belle to church for the first time yesterday to see Daddy get sustained into his new calling in the Bishopric.  By the time church was over I was almost positive I had come down with mastitis and the rest of the afternoon was not fun. I had to call Bondy home early from his meetings at church so he could pick up my antibiotics and help with the boys because I literally felt like I could not get up off of the couch. Luckily by evening I was feeling more like my normal self. Thank heavens for modern medicine.

 We finally experienced the first snow of the season a few days ago.  Hallelujah that it held off until December!!!  The boys were very anxious for a snowball fight with Daddy. 

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a small, quiet, relaxing, and delicious Thanksgiving.  The weather was beautiful outside, so the boys lived it up outside with Daddy and the leaves.

I think Thanksgiving is quickly becoming one of my favorite Holidays: family and good food. We had a dairy and chocolate free meal (because of allergies and nursing), which ended up being really good.  I made sweet potato casserole, rolls, and pumpkin pie using almond milk and coconut oil as dairy substitutes.  The pie wasn't as creamy as usual but the other two tasted totally normal.  My dad was in charge of the turkey and my mom made homemade cranberry sauce and her traditional stuffing.  Bondy made mashed potatoes with olive oil instead of butter and milk.....what a sweetie, he would have majorly preferred them the other way.

Belle sitting on the sidelines during dinner, well at least until I had my food dished up.....then she was ready to be held again. But that's okay, we'll take all the snuggles we can get. 

After dinner stories.

The day after, we decorated for Christmas.  Bug gets so into holiday decorating.  He is a pretty intense kid and gets very serious and down to business.  He got the stool all by himself and went to work.  I love that he enjoys stuff like this. 

Bear is our tender, care free kid. His commentary while he "set-up" the nativity scenes went something like this:

"Oh, baby Jesus, do you want to sleep here?"  Soon followed by one of the people or animals saying, "Mary, do you want to wrestle?"  To which Mary replied, "Yeah!"....wrestling sounds begin. 

I struggled to contain my laughter, I love the innocence of a two year old.

Here, Bug is making Belle dance in her boppy to our Christmas music. 

Hope your Turkey Day was spent with those you love.  We will be glad when we get to be with even more family at Christmas!

Happy 3 Weeks, Baby Girl!

 Don't you just want to eat her up?

Siblings

My Angel Girl

Baby Belle

Here is the almost 40 week belly.  I was scheduled to go in last Monday morning to be induced

 but ended up going into labor around 2 that morning. By the time I showed up for my induction I was already to 5 cm. 

 By that time my labor drastically slowed down even though my doctor had broken my water when I arrived so they started a slow drip of petocin and I got my epidural....heavenly.  Labor picked up quickly from there. Once I was ready I only had to push through about 2 contractions and in less than 5 minutes she was out.  Can I just say how much EASIER labor and recovery gets with each child? 

First seconds of life, first breaths, first screams. I am amazed at how instantly you fall in love with a new child.

She has a perfect tiny head and lots of chub!

She weighed in a 8 lbs 6 oz and 20" long.  Right in the middle of the sizes of Bug and Bear.

    Daddy with his little girl.

Excited big brothers, but they couldn't get too close because they were sick. :( Talk about bad timing!

Bug was sooo proud to show off his shirt at the hospital.  He took his jacket off as soon as he walked inside so that every one could read it.  Bear's didn't make it through the day without getting dirty.  Thank you Grammy and Pops!

My mom and dad took care of the boys for us during the day while I was at hospital and Bond was with either with me or at school.  I was nervous about staying overnight by myself but our hospital was SO good and I was feeling really well compared to the last two deliveries so it ended up being a lot better than I thought. 

Belle a couple of hours old.

After her first bath.

Chunky Monkey!  Ready to get dressed and head home.

I still can't believe that I actually have a little girl. She has stolen our hearts already.

If you want to know her name, you can FB or email me. :)