She's here!

Just a short post to let everyone know (if you haven't already received our mass emails) that our third child, Rachel Wendy Elizabeth, joined us by c-section on Monday, May 28 (Auntie Angela's birthday, too!).

Thankfully it was not another 24 hour labor like our other two - I was very happy to be quick this time!! We went to bed late Sunday evening without thinking anything was happening, I woke Greg up at 3am, we got to the hospital at 4ish, and by 6:00 I was pushing! Unfortunately, after a while with no progress, they realized she was face-up (as Gavin was) and decided to do a c-section. Rachel was born at 8:01am on Monday.

We came home Wednesday (very different from the five days I was in with Gavin!) and are doing well. My mom arrived last night for a few days and so we are being well taken care of. :) The big kids are doing pretty well so far, Abby is just a tornado by nature so she needs constant watching to make sure she's not swinging the baby around or something! Gavin is a great helper and it's nice that he's old enough that he can still play outside, etc, even though mommy's busy with the baby in the house.

Gavin's latest sport

Gavin started t-ball here in Beaverlodge two weeks ago, and last Thursday we brought the camera to get some action shots of him playing. He really likes it so far! This is the first year he's been old enough, so we thought we'd try it out for a year instead of soccer and then give him the choice. Enjoy!

A few words on Wednesday

What am I doing on this sunny Wednesday morning? Playing hide and seek with my not-yet two year-old, of course! We were sorting clothes in her room when she suddenly announced 'hide seek!' and stuck her head under her crib and started counting - '1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9!' She seems to still be counting...not sure when she'll come looking for me. ;)

In other news, Greg and I went on a 'date' Monday night and I picked up a bunch of flowers, a lot of which I planted last night in the front beds. There's still quite a few annuals to put in, but they shouldn't take very long (as long as I don't have help from Abby - she's not that helpful, it turns out!). That will be one more thing crossed off of my 'to do' list before baby can come!

Yes, this baby gets a quilt :)

There are a lot of things that I haven't gotten ready for this baby yet, but I have my priorities, ha ha - at least she'll have a quilt! (Which of course she won't get to use until she's Abby's age becasue I'm paranoid about her smothering under it...)

Here's the picture of the top of the baby quilt - it's not showing up that well, but the main part of the pattern is pink and green hearts. I still have to pin the layers together (top, batting, backing) and quilt it, but at least the top's done. (And I took the picture upside down so I had to rotate it, so the perspective looks funny.)

This is Abby's quilt - we chose the colors to go together so when the girls share a room some day their quilts will match (Important considerations, you know).

Oh, the cuteness!

We really don't let our kids watch TV very much (well, technically, they never watch TV since we don't have cable and our antenna is completely useless) but...

They're downstairs right now watching a 'Diego rescues the whatever the type of rare animal it is in this episode' DVD, and they're both perched on the couch watching intently, all snuggled up together in Daddy's quilt.

Too cute!

Mother's Day Tea

Gavin's class had a 'Mother's Day Tea' this morning for all the moms. We all gathered into the classroom amidst 16 excited four and five year-olds, and found our designated spot, marked by various crafts and treats including a placemat our child had made, a cupcake, a little flower plant growing in a styrofoam cup, and an envelope.

The highlight of the event was definitely the group sing-song of 'A Tooty Ta' - I have no idea how you would even spell that, but the important thing to know is that it's a nonsense song which adds actions each time you sing it through, culminating in the final verse with 'thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together, bottoms up, tongues out, eyes closed, turn around.' At which point you dance around in that flattering position singing 'a tooty-ta a tooty-ta' over and over.

Also keep in mind that I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant. Yes, a good time was had by all.

Surprisingly, that lovely mental picture is not the point of this post. The envelope sitting at each mom's place contained a picture each child had drawn of their mom, and a page entitled 'My Mom' that the kids had filled in the blanks on. Here's what Gavin's said:

My Mom is: good
She likes to: feed Abby
She always: hugs
Sometimes she: tips
But the best thing about my Mom is: kiss

Sounds pretty good, except I couldn't figure out the 'tips' part. Greg asked him about it tonight, and he said something about 'you know when there's a little bit in the glass and you tip it over...' You mean like spilling? we asked. Yep. My tendency to spill made it into his Mother's Day letter. Some of you will find that hysterical. ;) I'm here to amuse.

Cousin pictures

We had Mischa over for the evening on Tuesday and had a chance to take a few cousin pictures with our kids. (The ones with Gavin and the girls in the hallway are the reason why I initially grabbed the camera - Gavin was upset and crying because he had lost some privilege, and the girls both went running to him and hugged him, patted his back, trying to make him feel better! We kind of had to restage it by the time the camera was ready, so they're all a little sillier than they originally were...)

Happy birthday Gavin!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO GAVIN!!

It's hard to believe our little boy is already five years old! I'm feeling like I'm not old enough to have a five year-old child! We had his party on the weekend since Wednesdays are very busy for us here, but I made cupcakes and went and helped in his class at school this morning for his birthday.

Here's the traditional 'good morning birthday boy' picture from this morning when I woke him up for school (well, really the second time I woke him up, since the first time I went in he just groaned 'NO' and wanted five more minutes to sleep...takes after his daddy!).



Here's a few pictures from his birthday party here on Sunday. His firetruck cake (his choice):



Waterguns from mom and dad:



Lots of help from friends Kaleigh and Devin opening his remote controlled boat from Granny & Grandpa (we ran out of wrapping paper so had to keep it wrapped in a plastic bag!):



Gavin and Devin inspecting a present:



Blowing out his candles:



And Abby being fed ice cream by Kaleigh & Devin's daddy (who I think is her favorite person in the world):



We're so proud of our five year-old! He's working really hard at school and loves to play with his friends there. He's practicing riding his bike (still with training wheels) so he can ride his bike to school one day. He reads practically everything he can find and loves to draw and color and make crafts. We love you, (not-so) little boy!