Photo Shoot

Yesterday Olivia and I went to visit Auntie Kate for a photo shoot. I am so blessed to have such a talented and generous friend to capture my sweet little girl! Here are some of my favorites from the many, many pictures she took.

Batman!!

Grammy and Bop came for a visit a few days ago and brought some things for the kids. They gave Charlie these Batman pajamas which were a BIG hit. They gave them to him around lunchtime, and he put them on immediately. He reluctantly let me wash the shirt after he threw up on it, but kept the pants on while he waited for the shirt to come out of the dryer. We have seen a lot of these jammies this week, and I just love watching him play Batman.

Oh yes, there's even a cape!
My favorite thing is that the pants are WAY too big for him. As he walks, they go lower and lower until he just steps out of them. Then he sits down, pulls them back up, and starts all over.

Showing off his big muscles

I just love this boy of mine!

Picture Overload

I can't have a sweet baby in the house and not go a little crazy taking pictures of her. Here are a few of my favorites from her first few days of life...

Welcome Olivia!

Olivia Brooke

Born February 5, 2011 at 7:55 pm

9 pounds 12 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long

Last Saturday our LONG wait to meet our sweet Olivia finally came to an end. We were scheduled to go in for an induction early in the morning, but when we called, we were told there was no room for us. We were a little disheartened because the same thing happened to us with Charlie, and we ended up waiting 3 days to get in for the induction. Luckily our wait was much shorter this time, and at noon we got the call to come in. It was baby time!!

Once we were settled in and the pitocin started dripping, Jeff's parents brought the kids for a visit. While they were there, my contractions started becoming really painful, so as much as I loved the visit, I was a little relieved when they headed home and I headed for the epidural. :)
It only took about 2 hours from the time I was in "active" labor until it was time to deliver. Here is Jeff in his gloves waiting to CATCH THE BABY! Our midwife asked him if he wanted to deliver the baby, and at first he just laughed because he thought she was kidding. Once he realized she was serious, he jumped at the chance. I was a little concerned when I heard the midwife say, "It's okay. Even if you drop her, she'll just fall right here," as she pointed to the table below. But he didn't drop her. He caught her like a pro and put her right on my chest.

She weighed in at 9 pounds 11 ounces! I wasn't kidding when I told everyone she was going to be a big baby! And she is STRONG. Those little legs are extremely muscular. It's no wonder my ribs were so bruised! Of course Jeff was smitten from the start. I have almost this exact same picture of him and Grace. Not only is she big, she's LOUD, and as she got cleaned up, she let the world know of her arrival!

The kids came to visit again and were the first people to meet their baby sister. Unfortunately, Charlie had skipped his nap that afternoon and was beyond tired. I love that he's wearing his Big Brother shirt over his pajamas.

Olivia's first bath... After she was all cleaned up, Olivia got to meet a few family members who were still there.
The next day, Olivia got to spend more time with her big brother and sister, her grandparents, and her Uncle Ryan, Aunt Lindsay, and cousin Parker. I love these pictures of Charlie checking out his sister.
Our new family of five! Welcome Baby Olivia...we love you!!!

Christmas Day

(I know, I know...Christmas was nearly a month ago. Give a pregnant lady a break!!)

We had a really fun Christmas morning at home. Charlie, as usual, woke up long before anyone else, so he and I played upstairs until we couldn't stand it anymore and woke up Jeff and Grace at 7:00. We headed downstairs and the kids rushed right to the plate of cookies we had left out for Santa to make sure he had in fact come and eaten his snack. There were lots of presents, a new (egg-free!) breakfast tradition of monkey bread instead of the usual cinnamon rolls, and many fun moments watching the kids faces light up as they began playing with their new things. I purposely didn't take many pictures so that I could be more involved. Plus, Jeff and I received a new video camera the night before, so I was having fun using that! But here is one picture of the kids about to dig into their presents...
Then we headed over to my parents house to celebrate some more. It's so fun to see the number of stockings expand every year! They are just about out of room!!

All the cousins in their matching pajamas Charlie opening his stocking with Boppo
Super Grace! My mom gave all the kids capes and masks. So fun!

Grace got a real (as in I have no idea how to use it!) sewing machine. Grandma is going to teach us both!
And Charlie got a super fun wooden garage which he plays with ALL the time. It was really quite the site watching 5 kids under 5 and 8 adults (including 2 pregnant ladies)exchange presents. By the end there were empty boxes and scraps of wrapping paper everywhere and big smiles on everyone's faces. We spent the rest of the day playing with our new things and eating a delicious meal. Such a special day!!

Christmas Eve

We started our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve with Jeff's parents, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Lindsay, and baby Parker. In the afternoon we attended UPC's "family friendly" service which was fabulous as always. Grace has never sat so still and paid such close attention during a church service! Charlie, on the other hand, decided he wanted to be a lion half way through the service and started roaring quite loudly. Luckily, there were lots of other kids making noise and he just blending in.

After church, we headed back to Grammy and Bop's house for lots of fun. The stockings were hanging when we got there, and it didn't take long for the kids (and adults!) to dig in and find lots of fun surprises inside. You can barely see it, but Grace is holding on tightly to her new My Little Pony. It was the number one thing she wanted for Christmas this year and was definitely a theme that continued through all our celebrations. After we opened stockings, the kids had planned a performance for us. It was one of my all-time favorite Christmas memories!

Getting ready to announce their first number..."Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." As the kids sang they also "danced" which basically meant they ran around in circles. Grace ran in a large circle, and Charlie spun in the middle. Next came "Away in a Manger." Grace was Mary and Charlie was Joseph.
And for the grand finale, "Jingle Bells!" After the planned program, Charlie, our little musician, played his own "song" for us.
We spent the rest of the evening being spoiled with so many fun gifts and eating tons of delicious food. Such a great Christmas Eve!