Summer Sunday

Scroll down to follow the action shots. Whatever was said in her little sister's ears, it was not Happy 4th of July!

I think all she said was 'Hi'.

Trading a smile for a frown.

Gracelyn Arrival

Our little Gracie is two weeks old and I wanted to get down the facts before I forget them. I always forget, you feel pregnant for so long that on the big day it seems to fly by along with the details. Her due date was March24th and the Dr changed it to April 2nd so I got her to put me on the schedule for March 28th. Grandma came into town the day before, Easter Sunday, and we enjoyed a great meal and the two bros were there to celebrate.
That night was worse than a kid on Christmas. I was so uncomfortable and just couldn't seem to stay asleep so I got up at 6 something and luke and I were out the door before the sun came up. Stopped off at my favorite hot chocolate spot, Maverick and were at the hospital by 7:30.
I got hooked up to all the machines and This hospital was a lot more relaxed feeling than the last ones, they had a huge fireplace upon entrance and big gallery style baby pictures from a local photographer, they let me have crackers and juice.I got my epidural after trying to see if I'd progress on my own. After I was checked and thought I would have been further along. I was still a 2 I opted for it. Once I got it he gave me medicine that was supposed to last about 2 hours and after feeling the contractions still I had him come back in and hook me up to the pump and wow, that was the best epidural I have had. Except the insertion was the worst. Kept having to poke in different directions and felt like bee stings every time he'd move it and ask which leg I felt it in. So I was worried when I could still feel the contractions that I had gotten a bad one and was going to feel ALL of that baby.

noon I was a 3, 1:30 4, 2:30 7 and 3:15 10!!! she was born at 3:30. She was the fastest one I pushed out. Luke got a video of the whole thing and it was funny watching it and seeing things that I forgot, like the Dr saying "holy cow" when I pushed. My mom even watched it and couldn't believe she came that fast. What can I say...other than I have been feeling it for the last 2 wks.

Gracie was 8.11 and 21 inches. Lily was 8 and 21 and Madi was 9.6 and 22. So little sister is right in the middle. We've been so blessed to be surrounded by fabulous giving, neighbors and church members since she has come. She got her 2 week visit today and measures 21.75 inches and 9.5 lbs. Can't believe she has grown that fast.

The girls watched daddy and the nurse give her a bath and the hospital gave us this cute hat and headband to keep

And at this point we were pretty sure we were going to call her Abigail but the next morning I saw ...
This little face I said that is a Gracie :)















ready to go home she looks so little in that car seat and I made this car seat cover to block the wind here and it's been a great thing, a must have I'm glad I thought to make it before hand.








And the carriage awaits!!!

Preschool

 Someone is excited to go back to preschool

 She has been waiting a very LONG summer 

and has been asking every morning if it is a school day

 And today it was. What is my little grosume twosome going to do without her big sidekick for two hours???!!!! Get into more trouble :)

7 Years

We've been married for 7 years. And time does fly. I picked up Luke at the Oakland airport and we made a stop to the temple with my brothers to do some sealings. It was so quiet, not busy at all and they had redone the interiors so it was neat to see how it had changed.

 Do not miss traffic, granted it was 'rush hour' still. Where do all of these people come from. I was excited to get back to my little podunk town :)

 I have never spent a night away without my kids so for the official anniversary I decided to take the opportunity and we spent a whole night away. I couldn't believe the bathroom tub and the whole hotel smelled like the spa. It was right on the river and looked like a wedding was getting underway, took a dip in the pool and went out to dinner on the river.We made it back in time for brunch to find out the kiddos slept better than when they were with me.

 This was a bunch of individual plants stacked together. Really cool looking.

Raspberries

 A little dirt from helping me pick the berries and then a little watermelon an PBJ for lunch to top of the mess. She is the one who gets the most baths in this house so you'd think she would be the cleanest. 

 I GOT IT...she has this little squinty eyed smile that she will do every now and then that makes me laugh, since it's intentional, love her.

 The character those little chompers give her ...cracks me up

Game of peekaboo

Next time I will have to pick them at nap time so I can freeze them....now you can see why they don't last!

The Wall

I'm not talking about the wall runners hit in races, I'm talking about the ugly one that I just couldn't stand. Luckily paint is paint and nothing structural so here is the progress from stripes to stripes.
(I know I painted over stripes to replace them with stripes but you'll see)

 Perhaps if it was 50 shades of grey that would be better

 Just reminded me of camo prison design

 The part that really got me was I would see it everytime I walked by the stairway and really wanted something more subtle. So I took the leftover paint can from the rest of the walls and got a dilutted version at 50% and painted the whole wall that color. I thought they might have mixed it wrong because with the lighting the wall to the right is supposed to be the darker color but it looked the same.
So I did a finger swipe of the paint and put it on top of the color I had just done and it would look great. I didn't want it white vs color so I WAS excited!!

Now what to put on the wall ???? Black and white frame collages? White table with big metal artwork?? 

Ice Cream and Berries

 Idaho has some of the best skies I have ever seen. They are simply majestic.

 And our raspberry patch, they are the best, they take up space look pretty and green and give us sweet treats. They make little drumsticks which are the perfect size for the little ones. Lily likes them lots.

We have gotten a sandwich filled ziplock bag of berries every week but unfortunately we eat them so fast that we wont be doing any jam this year.