Making the Honor Roll!

Today Kyle came home with something special from school! He made the A/B honor roll this quarter at his new school! We are so proud of him and of course he was very proud of himself! Hooray Kyle!!!!

He couldn't wait to tell me when he walked through the door this afternoon. He also got perfect attendance this quarter, but that's nothing new to him considering he has had perfect attendance for the past two school years! He loves going to his new school and quite frankly I love that the kids are there this year! I feel the school has so much more to offer the kids and the teachers and staff have been great. Kyle seems to be doing so much better in school this year and he seems to really enjoy school so much more! This is especially pleasant for me, the thing I dislike more is to see my child struggle or not really enjoy going to school. Tomorrow I am going to take him to the store so that he can get something special. I never buy the kids toys or such when we go to the store only when they have really earned it, so he will be excited! He has really earned it!!! We are sooo very proud of you Kyle!!!! Lisa

Two Weeks Old!

Little Miss Lillian you are two weeks old today! Where has the time gone, I guess the saying is true "time flies when your having fun!". You had your two week check up on Tuesday of this week and you got to meet our family doctor for the first time. Of course she said your perfect, but we already knew that! You weighed in at 8 pounds and 7 ounces at your check in, so you sure aren't missing a meal. Last Monday you weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. You have started to work on schedule somewhat, at least you have your bedtime routine down. After Kyle, Lindsey and Jacob have their bath then it's your turn, then of course it's story time and sleepy time for all of you kids. I still give you a sponge bath simply because you weren't so sure about you bathtub when I put you in it the other day. Along with you really don't like to be in the nude at this age because you feel lost, which is normal. Then you usually wake up around 12:00am and of course that is when I end up bringing you to bed with me. Leaving daddy to sleep on the couch for the rest of the night. Your lucky he doesn't mind as long as we get our sleep! Of course you always wake up when Kyle and Lindsey wake up to get ready for school. No honey you can't go to school yet! You are staying awake for longer periods during the day to play. You love to walk around the house while in my arms and look out the windows and watch your silly brother. Your baby shakes as I call them are getting better as your nervous system is maturing. I remember that used to scare me when Kyle was a newborn, but it's perfectly normal your body is learning how to handle the outside world. You love to be swaddled in your blankets when you sleep at night, but to much during the day. Probably because I am usually holding you! When you are crying you tend to calm down when I make the shhh sound and get close to your face and hold you tight. Of course I still check to make sure your breathing when you are sleeping. The funny thing is that I seen Kyle doing the same thing one day when you first came home! He said he wasn't sure if you were breathing! I think we all do that to you, it's somewhat of a natural instinct for a newborn, I seen your father doing the same thing! Here are some cute pictures of you when we came home from your check up the other day! The first one you look like a little baby doll! The second one you were smiling at Jacob! I just happened to catch you at the right moment!!!!Of course Kyle, Lindsey and Jacob love you to pieces and so does mommy and daddy!!!! Blessings, Mommy

First Photo Session!

On Monday I decided to take Lillian's baby pictures and oh my was she cute! We decided not to get her pictures taken at the hospital simply because they usually turn out pretty cheesy and since I spent a lot of money on my camera and lens I could do it myself! Little Lillie (we decided to spell it that way rather than Lilly.) was fast asleep and had no idea what mommy was doing to her until the very end of our photo session! I wanted to take off her onesie but was afraid she would wake up, maybe next time! I have seen lots of cute newborn pictures online from some of my favorite photographers and I hope to mimic some of them with Lillian. I used my 35mm lens, rather than my regular lens, for a softer look.

Below, you can see some her red hair! I held my hair up to hers the other day and Chad said it's like a perfect match!

I absolutely love her facial expressions they are soo cute!!!!

Here are her little heels that would literally stick out the side of my belly!

And her cute little painted toe nails!

Then she woke up with a "what are you doing to me" look on her face! Such a cutie!

Yesterday I took pictures of Lindsey and Jacob with Lillian, Kyle wanted no part of pictures! Little does he know I have a photo session with him and his new baby sister coming soon!

My two girls!

Jacob wanted to hold Lillie!

Lillie wasn't to happy when Jacob was holding her, maybe he was pinching her! Just kidding! He was saying shhhh to her to calm her down! So sweet! Jacob loves baby Lillie and has become an awesome big brother! Of course he learned from the best, his big brother Kyle! Lillian is one week old today and she is such an easy going baby. The kids love to help out with her, talk to her and Kyle and Lindsey can't wait to see her when they get home off the school bus. "Where's Lillie" is the first thing they say when they come through the door, of course I am usually holding her! She is definitely a sweet little baby who is very well loved!!!! Lisa

A New Bundle of Joy!

Our sweet baby girl has finally arrived! In fact she arrived just a few hours after my last blog post found here! Lillian Rose was born at 1:46 in the morning and weighed in at 7 pounds and 9 ounces and was 21 inches long! Lillian's birth story starts way back in February when I found out we were expecting. Honestly it was a surprise for me as I couldn't believe I was pregnant! I had taken three different tests and was about to call the EPT company and tell them they were all three defective tests! Well, I finally came to terms with expecting a bundle of joy and then I needed to tell Chad, but I wanted to do it in a special way since all of our other children it was never really a surprise. I had decided to keep it a secret from him (which by the way was super hard for me to do but I managed to keep it from him) until we went out to eat for

Valentines day which we celebrated on Friday the 12th. Of course I had told my sister in-law

that Superbowl Sunday that I was expecting and to my surprise she had told me that she was also expecting! We had to be really quite while discussing everything as nobody in the family knew yet as they had just found out too. Our due dates ended up being a day apart! When Chad and I went out on Friday for Valentines day I had gotten him a soft cream colored blanket and some white organic onesies in a bag! I have a really fuzzy bad picture of him opening his present!

Of course he has a very confused look on his face! He said to me "what is this a shammy?!" Of course I told him he will get to use that in about nine months! Of course he was shocked but after talking about it he was excited! It was definitely a sweet surprise. Fast forward nine months later and we have me not knowing whether or not I was having more braxton hicks or if it was really labor contractions and not knowing if seeing blood was a good thing or not! So I called my sister in-law, who was due at pretty much any moment also, and ask her what I should do. You would think it was my first baby not my fourth! She said to wait until contractions were around 5 min apart before heading out and that everything else was normal. Of course that put me at ease and then I realized that I should really be packing my bags and getting Chad home from working at the new house. Chad arrived home around 11:00pm and took a shower then we headed off to the hospital arriving there around 12:30 am. By that point my contractions were getting much stronger and when we went to check in at the emergency room they went ahead and sent me up to labor and delivery! The nurse had checked me and said that I was already dilated at a 7 and that I was 100% effaced! In other words that baby was moving fast! Of course all I wanted was some pain medicine and the nurse said that since I was so far along I couldn't have ANYTHING! Oh my gosh, I honestly didn't think I was going to make it, seriously how in the world did women it do that so long ago! She called the doctor along with a getting a backup just in case the doctor didn't make it in time! Thankfully, my doctor made it there and broke my water and not to much longer we had a baby girl at 1:46am!To our surprise after Lillian was born my brother in law called to say that they were on there way to the hospital too! My sister in law's water broke! Both cousins were born on Oct. 7th by the same doctor on the same day, just a few hours apart! What are the odds of that happening! Pictured below, I am waiting for Chad to bring me our sweet baby!In all honesty it was the worst pain that I had ever imagined going through but so well worth it. I can also say that having a complete 100% natural birth was a much different experience then being on any pain medication. I also feel much different with recovering from a natural birth than I have with any of my other children. I feel amazingly great for just having a baby a few days ago! (OK sleep deprived, but great other wise!) Pictured below is Daddy and his newest little girl!

Such a baby doll!

This picture was taken the next day with her pretty new hair bow I had gotten her. She looks thrilled doesn't she!

Yep, I would say she was thrilled to have a camera in her face!

Lillian getting ready for her first car ride home! She had her sweet little feet on the move!

"Seriously mom, get the doll her own car seat!"

With being home now Kyle, Lindsey and Jacob absolutely love having a baby sister! They think she is simply adorable and they love to look at her and of course touch her, but only with clean hands! Chad and I think she is pretty amazing too!!! Lisa

Getting Ready For the BIG Day!

We have been preparing to meet our sweet new baby for awhile now and I am beginning to believe she will be here much sooner than than I thought! Funny how that works out! I do have all of her things ready to go, such as her going home outfit, a special blanket that I had gotten when I found out we were expecting and a sweet little baby doll that Lindsey and I picked up over the weekend, a cute little jacket from Target for her to wear home, along with an adorable hair bow! (Of course since it may be chilly she will have a cute little bonnet to wear outside!)

I will admit everything that I have bought has been pink, so if it does turn out to be a boy Chad will have lots of exchanging to do while I am in the hospital! Lucky for him I bought everything at Target, unfortunately at many different times! He will at least have to make sure he takes the pink car seat back if it is a boy! We do have our boy name picked out just in case we will have to use it! When I had my ultrasound the technician said that it was definitely a girl but you never know!!! I really should be packing my bags as I write this and call Chad to tell him he may need to come home soon, he is over working at the new house! Not to mention get Kyle and Lindsey's clothes out for school tomorrow! Who knows we may have a new family member by the time they go to school! Let's hope so anyway!!! Lisa

Our Barn Tin Ceiling!

On Saturday Chad had started to work on the ceiling in our kitchen over at our other house. Our plan was to put up barn roof tin, of course I came up with the idea when I seen a picture of it in someones kitchen on a blog and also seen one in a magazine. It just so happened that Chad has a friend that had some for us to use, since he didn't need it anymore! When I went to see the house yesterday and see the ceiling in my new kitchen, yikes, was my first thought! What was I thinking!

I have galvanized barn roof tin on my ceiling! "Could you take it down honey, I think I changed my mind!" Ha! Ha! Obviously that won't be happening, but truthfully, I really think it's starting to grow on me! I guess with it being in my kitchen it seemed very surreal. I can't wait until we finish up the dry wall and get the cabinets put in to see how it will all look together! I can guarantee that nobody else in the neighborhood has a ceiling like ours! Ha! Ha! So far, Chad only has half of the kitchen done with the tin, the other half he had to wait on since he is still running the electrical wires upstairs through that half. (Oh yes, we are redoing all of the electricity in the house! Which is a good thing considering how old the wires are and I get to have plug ins where I want them!)On a side note, the pendent light you see hanging in front of the window will hang a little lower once we get the cabinets and counters in! It looks kinda funny being so short! Oh yes, and Chad picked out the ceiling fan, it wouldn't have been my first choose but I kinda like it now! I guess my kitchen went from being shabby chic to more of a vintage/rustic look! We have moved our move in date back once again to the beginning of November or at least before Thanksgiving! We are going to be very busy withing the next few weeks with having a new baby, starting to pack finishing the house and finally moving! Hopefully we will get to meet the new baby, little miss Lillian sometime this week!!! Lisa