Summer 2016: Mid-Summer

Two months ago I declared to my husband that I wanted this summer to be as slow and leisurely as possible. He laughed a bit because we were already deep into wedding preparation. It was such a joy and privilege to be part of my sister's big day as she married her high school sweetheart at our good friends' house; but having such a large event behind us definitely felt freeing. It was a bit fleeting though because we just moved on to the next thing and the next thing both mentally and then physically. After Amanda + Kyle got married we started planning for our yearly 4th of July camping trip with my family. We were also mulling over whether or not Malakai's upcoming tonsillectomy was necessary or if we should wait and see (more on that later), and preparing for Malakai's birthday celebrations. Remember the part where I said we were going to have a slow and leisurely summer? Well, that hasn't happened yet and we are more than halfway through! I had the best of intentions but life with littles never seems to slow down. We have made efforts to not overschedule ourselves and despite all the big stuff happening we have had a lot more little moments and relaxing evenings to ourselves than in summers past.

I've written several blog posts over the last couple of months (that I had alluded to in my last post) but none of them are quite done. I keep thinking of photos I need to take (and upload and watermark and position perfectly) to finish off each post and thus they sit unpublished. Again, I had the best of intentions. I do think those posts will be shared some day, but who knows when. It all really depends on what happens next. I'll back track a bit to recap our summer...

Starting with May, even though it's technically spring. I have to say that May is one of THE busiest months we've had over the last couple years. It's so full of end of the year activities at Malakai's Elementary school, at our church for the kids' programs and we started swim lessons at the end of the month. There was Mother's Day, Ben went to a Hillsong concert in Portland with the worship band and a guy's night out with our church life group, Desmond had a gymnastics party, Malakai had a limo ride and choir performance (back to back), a jog-a-thon, a skateworld party and we had 3 kids' birthday parties to attend. Plus the weather here was very warm and dry so we started packing in house projects and I got my garden going. I threw my sister her Bridal shower and then got to planning her bachelorette.

In June we started swim lessons and wrapped up church events with a volunteer BBQ, we went to Kid's Garden Club, I woke up at midnight to get my kids registered for VBS (yes, that's a real thing), took Malakai to the dentist for what we thought was a broken tooth (oh no problem, just part of his jaw bone as his 7 year molars came in...), continued swim lessons twice a week, Malakai went on a very long field trip to Wildlife Safari that Ben was able to attend with him, I threw my sister a Bachelorette party that consisted of laser tag, painting and hot tubbing, We attended more back to back events for graduations, camp opening and Father's day, I took a treat to celebrate Malakai's birthday in his classroom, we gathered together with our huge life group, we had a fairly quiet Father's Day that Ben thoroughly enjoyed, then we went through the whirlwind that was my little sister's beautiful wedding day, Malakai had his first friend sleepover at our house, his pre-op that got us wondering if he still needed surgery, I cut my hair off after having grown it out over the last year for the wedding.

At the beginning of this month we took off camping and we started it with Ben having a day off at home to help prepare and that worked out so nicely that I may insist we do that for every trip we ever go on because preparing on my own is pretty much hectic and no fun, we played at camp and the let the kids get dirty and eat too much junk, we watched fireworks from our culdesac with the neighbors, the next night Malakai had an impromptu first overnight at his friend's house, he also came down with an ear infection so we had to go back to his ENT doctor and ultimately decided to have his surgery, I kept attending a Bible study that had started in February and is wrapping up at the end of the month, Ben and I celebrated 9 years of marriage, we went to a garden party that night which was basically a double date with my parents, the next day I got the stomach flu and the rest of the family went to my nephew's 2nd birthday party, we had birthday party 1 of 2 for Malakai with just his school friends which was the rainiest day in July I can remember, then Desmond and Malakai attended a week of VBS, I prepared our house for Malakai's upcoming surgery and planned out the details of his 2nd party, we celebrated Malakai turning 7, took the boys to their first theater movie (Finding Dory), had 2 doctors appointments, a play date and swim lessons and then Malakai's surgery. The one thing his surgery did for us (besides the health benefits for him of course) was force us to slow down. I have had tunnel vision on my sweet first-born for the past 5 days. All my energy was focused on making sure he was healthy and comfortable, and that brings us to today...whew!

Wow, look how slow our summer has been... 

Summer always goes by entirely too fast. For August we have a camping trip with Ben's family, then Malakai goes to day camp, we go to Portland for a weekend trip and then Ben has a week of vacation where we have ZERO planned and I am convinced it will be the best week of the summer. No house projects, no long drives, nothing. Just being together and laying low. Then just two weeks of summer before my baby turns 2 and my big kids are starting school again. If I'm not careful to intentionally keep slowing down I'll blink and it'll be mid autumn! 

Spring Break recap

Monday. It's dreaded for different reasons at different stages of life. When in school I had to get myself psyched up to go to classes after two blissful days of rest. When I was working I had to get myself back in the groove of completing tasks and attending meetings. Since I've been staying home with the kiddos I have to get myself ready to go solo for the majority of the day and the attitude changes that occur in my children when daddy isn't around after a couple days with him here. I still don't understand that phenomenon. Now that I have one in school I have to actually make myself look human and leave the house!

Spring break was a nice break from loading the kiddos up twice a day for school drop off and bus pick up. I was hoping to use the break to gently ease Aurelia in to a different nap routine that jived with Malakai's drop off and pick up times...but that didn't happen in the slightest. She barely napped at all actually. 

We took some time to play outside a little longer than usual. We took a trip to the library to stock up on new reading material. We watched tv before lunch (our usual rule is no screen time until after school). I even went out on the town on a weeknight with just Aurelia and hosted an essential oils class!

On Friday Ben took a day off and we headed to the coast, which was a bit windy but not too bad for Oregon in the spring. The boys have been asking to go to the beach for weeks. My mom came with us (it was her idea to go in the first place actually!). We had coffee at our favorite place, visited with my grandparents, and spent some time on the beach. 

{4 generations}

{attempting an aloof model pose. ridiculous}

{a little better, but they didn't want to stop playing to pose}

Ben played with the boys, my mom took pictures and I huddled up to shield Aurelia from the wind while she dug her toes in the sand for the first time and we watched the boys dig. It was a whirlwind trip but a much needed little getaway. 

The rest of the weekend we spent getting things done around the house/to the car and getting rest for two of the kiddos with colds. By the time we went to bed last night all of the clean laundry was actually folded and put away. I can't remember the last time that happened!

Now today, back to the routine of getting barely anything done before the day is coming to a close. Keeping up with our schedules and the chaos that comes from trying to have a schedule with 3 small children. But I love it. I'll be a little sad when our next break gets here and Malakai will have finished his first year of school, all the kiddos will be a little closer to their first/next birthdays, and our summer will go by in a blur of celebrations as it always does. 

Picking out our Christmas tree

Last weekend was our annual trip to the tree farm. A few years ago we were looking for a place to get a tree that would shake it out (because we'd had two unfortunate issues with infested trees). Not only do we get a great tree with all the crawlies shaken out, but usually there is a horse-drawn ride. Sadly they weren't able to acquire horses this year, so it was a tractor ride, but we still had a good time. 

{the girls: my sister Amanda, Aurelia + I, and my mom Tami}

The weather was perfect, not only dry but actually warm! After these photos I tossed my coat in the car. 

{because, why not?}

{My girl's first tractor/trailor ride}

The tractor ride was decidedly more smelly and bumpy than the horses so we got off at the first stop. Just before stopping my mom spotted this bright green beauty and we snagged it without having to look at any others, which is ideal when young children are in tow.

{our sad attempt at taking a photo with our chosen tree}

{I love this little illustration of our tree coming down}

After walking back to the main entrance we settled in by the fire for hot cocoa and candy canes while Ben took care of the tree shaking and bailing business. 

 {sticky, sticky, sticky}

And we headed back home in record time...

Thanksgiving weekend

I can't believe our first long weekend of the holidays is already coming to a close. Malakai was off of school for 5 days, and Ben was off work for 4. It has been so nice having them home, especially right when I came down with a rather brutal cold. Now I just need to pray hard that everyone else stays healthy!

After 9 years of double Thanksgivings (both in one day) we decided to simplify and just do one this year. Mostly because it's easier with a baby (who isn't a fan of the car seat anyway) and partly because we wanted to stay in town. We've discussed maybe starting an every other year tradition where we rotate who we celebrate with each year. It was so restful to be able to stay at one location all day instead of having to plan to transition multiple times and figure out what to eat where and all that jazz. Packing up the kids just once to leave and once to go home was one of the best parts. We missed the other side of the family but we saw most of them the next day anyhow. 

Aurelia ate + slept through most of her first Thanksgiving, so she's already pretty much got the traditions down. The boys enjoyed playing with cousins and other relatives all day. It was a nice and relatively relaxing day. 

Normally we go get our Christmas tree a day or two after Thanksgiving but with the forecast of rain and my feeling under the weather we chose to push it back to next weekend. It also gives us more time to clear a space for the tree and pull the Christmas decor out of storage. 

Last year I made an Advent calendar for the boys that they loved. This year Malakai made a chain at Sunday school that we'll start shortening day by day. Each link has a scripture verse and activity. We should be plenty busy learning and celebrating all month long. 

Our 3 littles...

With a new baby and my oldest being 5 I'm seeing first hand how fleeting the baby days are. The saying, "babies don't keep" is painfully true. So I'm not only holding on tight to every little moment with Aurelia, but also each small interaction with Malakai and Desmond. They are growing so fast, too fast, and I want to make sure to remember all of it before I'm longing for these days, no matter how hard they seem (and are).

Aurelia is already 2 months old. It blows my mind that it's possible that we've been a family of 5 for 9 weeks. It seems like she just got here. Malakai is in his 3rd month of school, something that also seems impossible. Desmond just turned 3 last month and keeps us all very busy each day. Watching the 3 of them interact with each other is by far the best part of each day. The boys are sweet + gentle with "baby sister" and ask for her all morning until she's awake, then they clamor to see her and be the first one to make her smile.

Aurelia is cooing and gurgling and just making the best baby noises. She started smiling at 5 weeks old and I swear she's going to bless us with a giggle any day now. She's impossibly ticklish, but she just wiggles and grunts in response for now. She is growing like crazy and the number 1 compliment she gets these days is in reference to her sweet chubby cheeks and her little dimples. Her eyes are a bright blue but we would be pretty shocked if they stayed that way. The boys have Ben's hazel eyes (although Des' have a little green in them like Mima) and since her hair color already favors daddy's, I'm guessing her eyes will be the same. Only time will tell. 

Malakai is reading like crazy these days. He devours any book you give him almost immediately. The words he is able to read and the concepts he understands surprise me often. Ben + I are sad to see the days of spelling things to keep secrets in front of the kids go by, but we know Malakai is much too smart for us to get away with that anymore. I got to visit his class for their fall party on October 30th and I loved being a "fly on the wall" so to speak. Watching him interact with his friends and work on activities throughout the afternoon was such a joy. He loves school so much that he can hardly wait to get to his homework and he will make more "school work" for himself regularly. He's constantly writing letters to people and drawing pictures. He loves learning, but we do have to be careful he doesn't get too much of a good thing because he will get frustrated if he doesn't get it right or do it how he wants it done sometimes. 

Desmond is our imaginative little buddy. He is the best at playing pretend and making friends with strangers. He is talking all the time and any willing participant is a perfect playmate. He loves to make forts or pile blankets into "cars" to drive or  "airplanes" to fly. He loved being an astronaut with Malakai for Halloween and continues to play with his costume. Like Malakai he will quote movies and shows and recite books easily. If you aren't familiar with what he's been reading or watching lately his dialogue can be pretty confusing. Three has proved to be the hardest age in this household for the 2nd time around. Desmond has learned how to be defiant and throw a master tantrum, but boy can that kid snuggle!

These three are keeping us on our toes and the days are flying by faster than ever before. Sadly Malakai had a reoccurring double ear infection recently and we are waiting to hear back from insurance on whether they will authorize his getting tubes to prevent having the doozy of a winter we did last year. If they won't authorize it we may have to wait to see if he gets another infection with his next cold (because sickness is inevitable with kids of this age) and perhaps they will then see a need. We are hoping that won't be the case, so we can avoid him having to endure more pain or any hearing loss. 

Other than that and the boys having a mild cold earlier we've been able to stay fairly healthy so far this fall. I'm so thankful that Aurelia hasn't yet gotten sick but I'm sure we won't make it through the season unscathed. I can honestly attribute much of our healthy days to essential oils. I felt a cold (sore throat) coming on and used some On Guard/Shield/Thieves oil right away and felt better the same day. The boys' colds were relatively short lived and Desmond fared better than he ever has, as he's susceptible to breathing issues when he has any type of respiratory symptoms with a cold. I'm honestly so thankful to Amy for getting us started with eo's. If you have any questions about using essential oils, she's a wonderful resource...find here HERE.

So there's our little update, hopefully I'll be back to post sooner rather than later but only time (and my kiddos) will tell. 

Birth Story: Aurelia

If you'd read my previous pregnancy updates you'd know that we were getting pretty anxious for little sister to arrive. I was also getting nervous about the possibilities of facing a medical induction if the ultrasound showed she needed to come out or I made it to 42 weeks pregnant.

Thankfully, our fears were not long lasting as labor started the very next day at 40 weeks and 1 day. I had been having pre-labor for weeks and braxton-hicks contractions for months. I was discouraged that by my 40 week appointment the contractions hadn't made any progress since 38 weeks. I knew labor could start at any time and I don't usually put much merit into the weekly "progress" because I was used to it being actual progress! 

We were told the entire pregnancy that because of how early (39 weeks) and quickly my last delivery was (6 hours) that this one would likely be earlier, just as quick and possibly faster. So image our surprise when we saw 40 weeks for the first time in 3 pregnancies. It surely made us feel like she was overdue. Although our house has never been more clean and organized (and recleaned and reorganized). 

So back to laboring...last Friday I had tried to take a nap after dropping off Malakai at school and getting Desmond to down but I just couldn't sleep. Once it was time to go pick up Kai I crouched down on the floor to change Desmond and had a pretty intense cramping in my belly. I didn't think too much of it as I'd been having similar pains for a while, I just figured it was ligaments stretching because of my heavy belly. 

When we got to school Desmond announced that I had an "owie on the floor" to a friend of ours and I had to explain what happened. As I got the boys back in the car I had another one, but figured it was just the same cramping from bending over to get into the car. 

When we got home the boys settled into snack time and ironically I was texting with a friend of mine who happens to be a doula, asking her advice for how to get through an induced labor in case that was what the future held. While chatting with her I had a more intense cramping with back pain that made me realize I was having a contraction...or at least I had hoped. It was 3pm and Ben was going to be home in an hour, so I called him and asked if he could come home now but discreetly if possible. He was able to nonchalantly head home early. I didn't call my mom to come watch the boys right away because I hadn't had very many of these cramping/contraction episodes to absolutely convince me that it was time to go. However, it quickly picked up to every 10 minutes so I gave her a call and started to get our bag and the house ready. 

The whole thing felt off as the top of my belly wasn't really contracting, I was feeling all the pressure and cramping in my lower belly and back. I had back labor with Desmond, as he was turned incorrectly, but this felt considerably different. Still, I tried some pelvic rocking in hopes she needed to turn and the back pain would lighten up. I tried laying on my side as well but that just felt terrible. I was doing so when Ben got home and thankfully he was able to explain to the boys what was happening because my groaning was confusing them. Desmond pouted, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging his shoulders saying "I'm scared" which was sad and pretty adorable. They were both fine when we explained that I'm ok and this was good. 

When my mom arrived Malakai didn't want me to leave. I hadn't seen him all day between him being at Ben's mom's that morning and school that afternoon. When I explained that we'd be bringing baby sister home soon he asked if it could be tomorrow instead. Bittersweet for sure. I distracted him with an activity with Mima and we were off. 

Ben teased me to be quiet so the neighbor lady who has told us she's been on "labor watch" didn't come running out. I despise laboring in the car but the drive wasn't too terribly long, and while I said "this is the worst part!" I had no idea what I was in for. 

When we got to the hospital we were offered a wheel chair several times but I just wanted to move. Sitting was the last thing I wanted to do during a contraction. They were coming about ever 5 minutes and I'd only been laboring an hour by then, it was a little after 4pm when they put us straight into a delivery room. We asked why we skipped triage but the lady who checked us in just said "they must think you're ready". After she got our info and left we waited a while for a nurse to come get us settled and check my progress but it was taking too long so I just told Ben, get me in the tub! Which ended up being kind of funny because when the nurse came in she said were weren't even checked in all the way yet! They were good sports about it, and I knew I'd be staying anyway so they rolled with it. They were persistent about putting in a "hep-lock" IV, making sure I knew I'd be at increased risk of bleeding with this being my 3rd child but I stayed my ground and got my way. 

When we finally got checked in closer to 5pm I had progressed from 3cm and 50% effaced the day before to 4cm and 80% effaced. Finally, progress! When I was out of the tub I was mostly up and on my feet, leaning over a counter or the bed. I'd get intense shivers and when I was standing my knees would tremble through contractions. I did a lot of side lunges through contractions in additional efforts to decrease the back labor, but nothing was working. I spent a little time on the birth ball, but because the contractions were so low it hurt to be seated at all. 

When I got checked again, maybe around 6:30 pm I was 8cm and 100% effaced. They rolled in the carts and the Dr. and labor nurse were at my side. I was having contractions on top of each other and moving around as much as I could to get through them. They were more intense than either of my previous labors and I kept thinking that we had to be close to pushing if it was progressing this fast. Unfortunately I stuck around at 9cm for a very long time. The Dr. broke my water to speed things up but I barely noticed that she did it, no gush at all. I labored for longer but no real progress so the Dr. had to leave but the nurse stayed in case things picked up again. 

The entire time Ben was at my side to push on my back through every single contraction. He didn't complain once, even though I knew his wrists were aching. I could not have made it through a drug-free labor with out his love and encouragement and his physical support. I also prayed a lot, through each contraction and especially the harder ones I found myself asking God to be my strength in my time of weakness. As things got harder and I got more exhausted I kept asking him to strengthen me, and He did. Although I felt exhausted and discouraged when progress slowed but labor stayed difficult, I had a peace knowing that I could get through it and we'd soon be on the other side. 

By 8pm the nurse checked and there was still a small amount I needed to progress, which she was able to manually move out of the way to get things going. She declared me "complete" and called the Dr back in. When she called I overheard her say something technical that I didn't understand but that it meant I could have a lot of pushing ahead of me. 

As I got to pushing, the Dr. came in and was getting her scrubs on when I felt baby begin to crown. I let them know that it was happening and she rushed over. As I pushed Dr. K said "Oh, there's still membrane here!" meaning, my water wasn't completely broken. Then I felt a terrible pain as I was pushing and she was poking to break the water. I let out the most horrific scream, it was an odd out of body experience for a moment and then she was coming. 

The entire labor Aurelia was moving like crazy. It hurt a LOT when she moved and Dr. K even mentioned that she'd never seen a baby move that much during delivery. She was moving through her entire birth. 

As I delivered her head Dr. K discovered the reason for my back labor, it wasn't that her position was turned, she was actually faced the right way, it was that her hand was at her head, so I delivered her head and right hand/arm at the same time. One more push and then the rest of her was out at 8:27pm. I pushed for a total of 5 minutes. 

I reached for her and she was up on my chest and still wiggling wildly as the nurses looked her over and wiped her down a bit. She let out a scream and I asked "is she still a girl?" because no one had mentioned her gender and I could only see the top of her head at that point. They laughed and Ben helped me flip her over to confirm that we had a daughter.  Ben cut the cord and she settled against me under the warm blankets as we marveled over our little girl as the nurses and doctors worked around me.

A few moments later the room went from loud and crazy to calm and quiet, just the three of us and our labor nurse. Around 9pm I attempted to nurse for a bit, she latched but didn't nurse at first. She got frustrated a few times so I gave her a break until trying again and she got it soon afterwards. Meanwhile Ben called up family to announce her arrival and let them know we'd be taking visitors the next morning after the boys got a chance to meet their sister. 

After 9:30 Ben + our nurse took her stats, footprints, and bathed her. Aurelia was born at 7 lbs, 15.2 ouches, 21 inches long, 14 inch head (plus that fist!). She screamed through most of the bath, but then settled once she had some skin to skin time with daddy while I got to take a shower and get ready to move to our room for the night. 

We moved just after 11pm and were settled in just before 1am when Ben went to sleep. Aurelia nursed often and in between I couldn't really quiet my mind to sleep. I was having a lot of contractions while nursing and the adrenaline rush of childbirth kept me wide awake. Nurses were in and out of our room all night for stats and labs and such, so it was probably a good thing I wasn't asleep anyway. I took a small nap somewhere between 5-6am and then I was wide awake again.

I handed Aurelia over to Ben and they took a little snooze together. I texted my mom that we were ready for the boys to come see us whenever they woke up that morning. A little while later I texted our news to some friends + family, but waited to share her name until Malakai + Desmond and our immediate families had come to meet her. 

Later that morning my mom came with the boys and waited with the rest of my family while Ben brought Kai + Des to meet Aurelia for the first time. They walked in with such excitement, this picture of Desmond's anticipation at the chance to hold her perfectly portrays their feelings. 

Malakai got right down to business and wanted to know her name. He wasn't sure about it at first but he's grown to like it. They marveled at her tiny hands + feet and then quickly asked for a snack. 

Shortly after the rest of my family came in and then Ben's family. It was crowded and noisy but that room was so full of love for our sweet baby girl. A lot of photos were taken and the nurses did tests all around us to prepare us to go home. We were in the car by 1:45 Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours since we had arrived to labor and delivery the evening before. 

That night, at the boys' request, Ben's mom had them over for the night. It was almost luxurious to be able to focus on just caring for her and getting some rest for ourselves that first night home. Ben made dinner, we watched the football game and even had some evening visitors before crashing hard. 

Ben had a week off of work, which was so wonderful while settling in and recovering from delivery. The boys loved having him home so much that the following Monday was ROUGH when they had to say goodbye. Such a bittersweet moment. 

It's been 3 weeks since our little sweetheart was born and we are falling more in love with her every day. I have felt an overwhelming feeling of completeness since her arrival, especially once our boys were back home with us and settled in. We are getting into some sort of routine with taking Malakai to school in the afternoons, although Desmond has decided this week that he doesn't want to nap. I'm hoping it's a phase but being that he's nearly 3, we could be seeing the end of his naps around here. Malakai has loved helping out, he'll bring me anything I need while I'm nursing or changing a diaper and while it took him 3 days to be ready, he now wants to hold her all the time. 

Thanks for all the well wishes, to those of you who brought meals or are signed up to bring them in the coming weeks, the gifts for baby girl and all the love on social media. We feel so supported and blessed by our community of family and friends. 

Introducing Baby P #3...

Well it's all over Facebook and Instagram by now so it's likely not news to anyone that our sweet baby girl was born this past week. Still, here is the official blog announcement with photos that we haven't yet posted anywhere else.

Our 3rd child and our first girl was born on Friday September 5th at 8:27pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 15.2 ounces, is 21 inches long with a 14 inch head circumference. She has plenty of fuzzy hair that is a light brown/dirty blonde sort of color, and big grey blue eyes. 

Aurelia Ann 

Aurelia is pronounced aw-rey-lee-uh and means golden in latin. Ann means grace and  is a family middle name. It's my mom's middle name and is part of the name's of all the girls on that side of the family (mine is LeAnn, my sister's is LouAnn, etc). 

My mom submitted her birthday to the local news and the anchor pronounced her name correctly so for those of you wanting to hear it pronounced watch this little snippet. (The other birthday is her uncle Cody! )

We were so surprised at how much she resembles Desmond when he was brand new and joked that her name was Desmond 2.0 when the family came to meet her. She is developing her own look as the days go by but is still very reminiscent of her big brothers. 

We came home Saturday afternoon and have been enjoying our time as a family of 5. I feel so complete.  I'll be sure to post more about labor and delivery soon. 

family + maternity photo shoot

We haven't been great about documenting this pregnancy in photos, especially consistently posed and timed ones. Also, in an ideal world we would have done some updated family photos at least a year ago, and then some maternity photos much earlier in this pregnancy when I wasn't feeling so swollen...but all those things aside I really love the photos we got today.

My mom came out to our place to take photos this afternoon. We simply went down the street a few blocks to an orchard right next to our favorite park. The lighting was perfect, the weather was comfortable and the boys were cooperative. It was some kind of blessed event!

So here are pictures of my sweet family; Malakai at 5 years old, Desmond at nearly 3 (in October), and baby sister at 37 weeks 2 days. 

a shower for our baby girl...

Weekend before last a dear friend of mine threw a baby shower in honor of little sister's approaching arrival. I've been looking forward to Liz coordinating a shower for me since she offered back when Desmond was still a baby! She is incredibly talented in myriad ways, and throwing a party is surely one of them!

She also happens to be an artist {you may remember her from the Big Dandy Designs feature} and designed these gorgeous invites- the photo does not do them justice!

{I'm obsessed with this watercolored peony she did!}

Another wonderful friend, Amy (who has also been featured here!), offered to take care of the food for the day. Amy is also one talented lady, and she happens to be a chef so I knew I would be in good hands. She was so sweet to ask what I would want and asked again closer to the shower to cater to my current cravings. She even drove me to the shower, since she happens to be my neighbor. When we pulled up to Bramblefield and saw all the girly coral decorations in the garden she said "you're having a girl, I'm going to cry!" and I found myself feeling the same way. 

Everything was gorgeous and perfect. The weather was a bit hot but the wind helped with that and we made sure there was shade for those who really needed it. There was a ton of great food (thanks again Amy!), a gorgeous and delicious cake thanks to my mom, yummy drinks and pretty decor by Liz. Liz also put together games and a craft. Thanks also to Elly, Liz's daughter, for helping with preparations!

{Liz made the the wooden arrow art for our nursery!}

I can't get over how perfect this ruffled cake is, my mom is amazing! To the right are some family pictures. My sister Amanda + mom Tami at the top, my mother in law and my mom in the middle, and my sister in law Kristi, mother in law Debbie , and soon to be sister in law Vanessa at the bottom. Thanks to my mom and my sister in law, Kristi for taking photos!

I helped a bit with food before guests arrived and then went out to greet once they started to trickle in. After visiting some we started in on the wonderful food and I was able to catch up with friends and family who came from near and far. I was just so blessed to have so many women I love in the same place to celebrate baby girl with me!

The guests crafted hair accessories for little sister that I later voted on for a prize, they played bingo while I opened their numerous, adorable, and generous gifts, and a few other games after that. Liz had put together fantastic potted plants as decor + prizes. I even got to take one home!

Here I am with my amazing hostess friends, Liz + Amy...

{also, opening a darling dress my mom made and other gifts, and my great aunt Gladys measuring my belly as part of a game...you know, every pregnant gal's favorite part!}

{Ben's mom made this beautiful bear quilt to match the nursery colors}

I'm glad that I had two people taking pictures and they helped me remember to take the time out to get photos with as many guests as possible. I wish I got a picture with everyone! There were 5 pregnant ladies in attendance including myself, so I had to get a picture with all the mama's and their baby bumps...as well as with other gals of course.

{Left: friends from church, Asha and Monica; my sister in law, Kristi; my high school bestie, Lindsey + I. Right: My college roommate, Carina; my cousin Angela + her girls, and Lindsey + I again}

{Ben's grandma Helen + his mom Debbie, his aunt Lori, cousin Heather + her baby boy Otis}

{my mom + I with the cake, my aunt Deedee, and with my Grandma Rhea + mom}

I wished I could have visited more with everyone, things like this always go by in a blur like that. I'm extremely thankful to everyone who came and the wonderful gifts for our new addition. As things were wrapping up Ben + the boys came to say hello and pick me up of course. Once everything was cleared Liz + her husband Mark (who I also should thank for his hard work because their property is ALWAYS gorgeous!) turned on the sprinklers for the boys to run through. They had a blast and Liz + my mom even joined them. It was a delightful end to a fantastic day! 

Easter 2014

Easter usually happens for us in 2 parts, so we get to celebrate all weekend. It's a mix of rejoicing with our church and our families in different settings. 

The past few years on Saturday we've had a egg hunt for the boys and then brunch at Ben's parents' house with his siblings and my parents + siblings as well. Everyone gets a chance to see the little guys do their thing and then we all eat and fellowship. It's a great time and something I really enjoy every year. 

Egg hunt in Grandpa + Grandma's backyard

Opening their eggs and Easter "baskets" (book bags!) 

Usually we try to have the boys decorate eggs during the week before but we just didn't get to it this year, so we brought a kit with us and did it after brunch. It worked out okay but it was rather rushed and Kai didn't really seem to be in the mood. 

Sunday morning the boys woke up early and I was planning on sleeping in a bit until I realized their Easter baskets were set out for them to find. I popped up quick to snap a few pictures, but they were so fast I didn't get anything good. Shortly after we headed to an earlier service at church. This was our first Easter at our current church and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards we headed out to Florence where later that afternoon we would celebrate with my extended family at my Grandpa + Grandma's house. Prior to that though we met up with some friends at one of our favorite coffee shops since we don't see them nearly enough and any day now they are moving too far away. It was a nice visit, albeit quick. 

Later that afternoon we gathered at my grandparents' place to eat and watch even more kids hunt for eggs. The beach is only a couple blocks away from their house so we all walked down and had the egg hunt right on the beach. We added beanies and water shoes to the boys' Easter outfits, which I found hilariously adorable. 

For the most party I followed after Desmond and Ben kept an eye out for Malakai while they ran all over the place. Malakai took off with the bigger kids up the hill. I love that he's getting old enough for adventures like this. While Desmond was easier to follow, he had a harder time keeping his eggs in the basket. His method cracked me up, he would pick up an egg, open it and put the candy in his basket and put the egg back in the sand. Pretty smart, but I had to follow after grabbing all the empty eggs so his unsuspecting cousins didn't run along to grab the empties. 

They had a blast running around after all the eggs and playing in the sand at the same time. We got quite a bit of sand in our baskets, but thankfully most of their candy was wrapped. They also took about half the beach home with them in their shoes. I'm not the biggest fan of sand, but it was all worth it. 

Desmond enjoyed finding driftwood and "digging for treasure" with Malakai. I'm told in the picture below where my sister and Ben are laughing that Malakai handed Des an egg that was filled with sand. Brothers. 

 

We had neglected to get a family photo the day before so I'm thankful that my mom snapped this one on the beach, even though we are disheveled and mis-matched, it's a great memory. 

{April 20th, 2014}

We headed back up the house to "de-sand" and the boys got another set of Easter baskets from G'Pa + Mima as well as more treats from Great Grandpa Rob + Great Gram Rhea. We stayed to visit for a bit and then headed back home, tired and content.