2 months old already!

Oh Evie Ann........You are starting to smile and make sweet, happy noises. You may still be tiny, but you have grown so much! I love you so much. I didn't know how this was all going to work out, but here we are! And we are working!

Evie had her 2 month checkup and shots on Wednesday. I was worried that the doctor was going to tell me she was too small and that something needed to be done. I worried for no reason. He tells me she is growing fine and that she may just be a petite child. She got 3 shots and the oral polio vaccine and she did SO well. Hardly cried at all and then slept a ton! I am so blessed to have a baby with such a sweet disposition. Here are her 2 month stats:

9 lbs 5 ounces

22.5 inches long

Catching up: 3 am at work style

So apparently I loaded these in the wrong order..........but thats ok! Here is a quick update on our "little" family.
Pierce remains a sunshine and a joy to be around. He just makes everyone around him smile. We are so lucky he came to our family! I dont have any pictures of him with Evie, but he LOVES her. He kisses her head, he puts her binky in her mouth, he "pats" her head and back. He definitely doesn't act like he's been displaced as the baby of our family.

Gavin is the best son and big brother that any person could ask for. He loves the babies so much. He never complains about all the help I require him to give to me. He is a genuine blessing from Heavenly Father.

This picture I took Sunday morning when I got home from work. This was what I came home to.........Gavin took care of the baby because she would NOT sleep for Grandma Bunnie the night before. Little Evelyn slept all night and then when she woke at 6 am, Gavin snuggled her until I got home. I am so lucky.

Rainier just loves his new sister. I was really hoping he would like her after the reaction that he gave us all after the birth of Pierce. You can motivate him to do just about anything if you promise him that he can cuddle Evie.

Addie and Evie in the hospital. Addie is so glad to have a baby sister and not be the only girl in our famly. Evelyn was born in the same room at the same hospital as Addie. Such memories....

Evelyn Ann Alexander

Born: October 9, 2011 @ 10:15 a.m.

6 pounds 7 ounces

She is an amazing baby. We all love her so much. When I was pregnant with her I knew I would love her. I had NO idea I was going to love her as much as I do. She brings calm and peace to me. I'm not entirely sure how that works, being that she is a newborn with needs and demands, but she really does. I feel so much more certain that she was meant to be here for a reason.

36 weeks

I can hardly believe how fast this pregnancy has flown...........it seems like with Pierce, I was pregnant forever. I feel like I have had NO time to get ready for this little baby. Yet here it is, time to have a baby any time now.

I want to thank my dear, wonderful co-workers/friends. I truly could not have made it through the past 9 months without you guys. Thank you for all the support. Thank you for the listening ears. Thank you for the lunch dates out. Thank you for all the wonderful, beautiful baby things you have brought me to use. I feel so loved. Really, I do. I am overwhelmed by how thoughtful and kind you sweet ladies have been to me. I feel like the Lord is watching over me through you. Thank you.

Soon it will be time to meet this baby girl! I can hardly wait!

Starting The Countdown...........

So, here we are. I am 35 weeks pregnant, today. I am contracting like a mad woman and this baby GIRL is such a busy bee inside of me. She is pretty much active non-stop. I can't wait to see her little face, and smell her sweet baby smell.

This has probably been the hardest year of my life. There have been SO many downs, and not a lot of ups. I am really struggling to understand what and why. I know that this baby is going to be a wonderful blessing to me, I just wish I could see into the future a little bit. I need to know that everything is going to be okay. I need to know that I am woman enough to get through the trials that I have been given this past year.

I am afraid. I am very afraid. Maybe this little lady is coming to be my comfort. I just don't know.

I feel the need to tell my children how much they mean to me. I literally would not get out of bed every day if I didn't have them. Literally.

Gavin William: You are my right hand. I in NO way, shape, or form would have made it this far without you. I can always count on you to look out for me and to love me and to help me when I need it. You are becoming such a handsome man. I am sorry that I had to learn all my parenting lessons on you first. You deserve better. You are a blessing............I love you.

Addie Reece: You are such a joy. You are growing so much, you are becoming such a a little lady. You are so beautiful, I can't believe I made something so pretty! You are becoming more independent and sure. I know that you will be a great help when your little sister is born. I'm sorry that I am not always patient with you. You are a blessing............I love you.

Rainier Edgar: My little man. I love you so much, even though you don't think I do. You are so smart and strong and active. I miss your cuddles. I miss having you be my "baby". I hope that you will see the light when the new baby comes. I am sorry that my temper is short with you. You have NOT been replaced in my heart. You are a blessing................I love you.

Pierce Sterling: You are our sunshine. You have the ability to light up any place that you enter. You are warm and happy and full of life. I am so sorry that I haven't been able to enjoy every little minute of your 11 months here. I have been preoccupied. But I love you so much. I hope you will be okay when your sister gets here. I am so glad that Gavin loves you so very much. You are a blessing...............I love you.

Who knew?

My mother in law signed Rainier up to play soccer with his cousin this fall. Aunt A and Uncle T are the coaches. Seeing as I am THE slacker mom, Rainier has never played a team sport before. I wasn't at all sure how he'd handle it because to be honest..............he'd rather sit inside and play video games. Then we got to the soccer game. Apparently if there is a score involved, Captain Competitive comes out to play. He made 6 goals. It was incredibly fun (and funny) to watch.

Pierce made it through surgery! Hurray!

Pierce got to spend the day at Primary Children's yesterday getting his long awaited surgery. I was SO impressed with how efficient, kind and organized everyone was up there. Anyway, we got to put him in these adorable hospital clothes before we met with the doctor and the anesthesiologist. Pierce just looked so stinkin' cute I had to take some pictures. He was totally not bothered by the whole process of prepping for surgery. He even tolerated not eating for 4 hours really well. ( I was prepared for DISASTER to occur on this point as he does not like to wait for his food)

Waiting for him to come out of the O.R. was not as stressful as I imagined it would be either. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how calm and controlled this whole process went. When I got to go see him in the PACU, the nurse told me that he had been super feisty upon coming out of anesthesia. Now this I wish I could have seen! Pierce is not the feistiest of people, he's pretty laid back in general, unless you get between him and his next bite of food.

He only had to stay in recovery an hour and did really good waking up and drinking a bottle of juice for them. We took him home and he really has done well. He had to take Lortab yesterday and last night, but today..........(keeping my fingers crossed)...........he has only needed a little Ibuprofen.

I am SO glad this whole thing is over and I am SO glad that he only needs to have one surgery. I have been EXTREMELY blessed to have 4 very healthy children and I hope that we are blessed once again with another healthy one.

Love you so much Pierce! You are our sunshine!!!

This baby..........

Just when I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to feel this baby move.............now it is NONSTOP! Seriously. The only baby of mine that has ever been this active in utero was Addie Reece. Does this mean its a baby girl? Ugh! Sometimes I want to just find out the gender, and then I remember how much of a thrill it is to not know. And believe me, I need some good surprises around here.

It is getting harder and harder to tote "little" Pierce around. I am afraid for how much harder this is going to get before it gets better. My body is very, very angry at me for being pregnant again. And thats okay........I am very, very angry at it for being so fertile!!!

Irish Twins

So.........the time has finally come to break the news I suppose..................... We are having another baby, in October. Pierce and this new little beansprout will be exactly ONE year apart. This is called Irish Twins ya know. I found out I was pregnant 2 days before I was scheduled to have my tubes done. So everyone go ahead and have a good chuckle at my expense. Heaven knows the people who already know have either laughed hysterically or cried or wanted to choke me. And yes............I know where babies come from...................

A little sunshine for ya

For all the mommies out there. Good thing those kidlets come in adorable packages right?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (late edition)

HAPPY 9th ANNIVERSARY to me and my dear hubster. (Even though I am 100% positive he won't read this)

Ode to Abraham Lincoln

So, Rainier and his craziness strike again. Last week his class learned about Abe Lincoln, and our family was subjected to Abe Lincoln talk for an entire week. And by Abe Lincoln talk.......I mean Rainier style, Abe Lincoln talk.

I picked Rainier and Addie up from school on Friday and Rainier told me, "Mom, Abraham Lincoln is the #1 president". Addie couldn't keep her mouth shut on that one so she said, "Actually he was the number 16 president. George Washington was the #1 president". Rainier was NOT happy about this and informed us that Abe Lincoln was HIS #1 president and that he hated George Washington.

Sunday rolls around and the kids went to my parents for dinner. Rainier said the prayer asked that they would all grow healthy and strong like Abe Lincoln. No biggie, just kinda cute right?

Fast forward to Monday. Rainier is in HUGE trouble for trying to get out Gavin's BB gun. He has been banished to his room indefinitely with no toys. He comes into my room holding The Book of Mormon and says, "Mom. You need to read your scriptures. Jesus is NOT happy with you today..............and either is Abe Lincoln."

Oh my. This boy is something else. My life will never be dull with that kid around!

Valentines

HaPpY VaLeNtInEs DaY!!!

(Not my most favorite holiday but I am blessed to have 5 beautiful valentines this year. And oh did I mention that I didn't get to have even ONE stinkin sugar cookie? I didn't? Well I didn't get any.)

This week

Oh Rainier.......that's about all I can say after talking to my friend who sat behind Rainier in church on Sunday. Apparently in Primary they were doing a lesson about following (the prophet, Heavenly Father? This I'm not clear on) and the lady doing sharing time held up a GPS unit. She asked if anyone knew what this was. Rainier yelled out "I do! My dad has one of those! It helps him to find dead bodies!" I was like, HUH? But when I relayed the story to Russ, he explained that Rainier was apparently thinking of Russ' avalanche beacon. Oh dear. What the people in the ward must think!

Pierce had his 4 month checkup (and shots) on Tuesday. He weighs a whopping 14 and a half pounds! Oh Pierce, you are such a little chunker! I can't believe how much he has grown. Gone is my teeny tiny little newborn. That has been replaced by a roly poly, giggly little boy!

As soon as I get some pictures off my phone I will post our adventures in cooking this week. Russ made homemade donuts and sauteed berries on ice cream. I made an icebox cake that failed BIG TIME due to the recipes suggested addition of chili powder. I thought it would be tasty, like the Lindt chocolate bar with chili that dear Jen Smith introduced me too, but alas it was nasty! Rainier snuck a bite when he was supposed to be in bed and I found him laying on the stairs yelling "SPICY!!!". Served him right. I remade the cake last night and omitted the chili powder. Much, much better. Pictures will come later!

I have patched and retextured the bare spots in my room. Now I just need to primer and paint them. The kids got their pictures taken on Monday night so I will pop those in frames, hang em up, and voila.......semi finished room!

The blahs

So, what is the deal with all the preterm babies that have decided to be born at my work? It's time to keep cooking little ones, not be born!!! It has been very busy here in old L&D this past month. I'm hoping that it slows down a little bit because by the time my work week is over, I completely lose the motivation to do anything else for the rest of the week. Sad huh? I've got to find some motivation!!!

I have decided to start on some projects so that I am forced to get out of bed and DO SOMETHING other than sleep with darling baby Pierce! Project #1.......texturize and paint the patched sections on my walls. Project #2..........find out info about starting in on getting my Bachelor's degree. I also am going to work more on this blog. Get some pictures up, write more often. I've got to get out of this funk!

Here Goes Nothin!

So......I decided it was probably time for me to join the trend and start a blog. I'm not entirely sure what I'll have to blog about, I'm not entirely sure anyone will have any desire to read it. But I'm going to give it the old college try.

Today was somewhat boring. I dropped my phone in the bathtub (yep, you read it right) on Monday night so I have become cell-phoneless. I didn't realize how addicted to my iPhone I had become until I didn't have it. But I am going MAD! I feel so out of the loop! I have completely forgotten how to use a regular computer for regular things like checking my mail. Lame.

Pierce has been so sweet and good today. He woke up smiling at 10:30 this morning after 9, yes 9, hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ahhh........bye bye newborn phase, hello sleep better baby phase.

Rainier is running around playing Transformers (surprised?) and wanting to take a bath.

Addie is ambitiously trying to get a tooth to fall out........and it is NOT ready!

Gavin is laying in bed reading Mockingjay. He has been sick for 3 days and is miserable. He did get a lot of reading done though.

I am now off to cook dinner (joy) and hit the treadmill (double joy).