Baby Alyssa...

Our sweet baby Alyssa is here!! She was 7lbs 12oz and 19.5in long. She must have been pretty excited to get here because she was a week early from her due date and 5 days early from my scheduled c-section, and we are so glad because we were so excited to meet her! She is an absolute joy to have in our home and I can't express how much we all love her! Especially Caitlin, she has taken to being a big sister so much better than I could have even hoped. She loves her so much and always wants to protect her when she is crying. She will get right by her face and say so soft,"oh heavens, oh my goodness Alyssa, its ok..." She kisses her head so soft and loves when Alyssa holds her finger. It has been such a gift to all of us to be able to love someone else this much and we are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for sending her to our home.

The Story...

So the night before Alyssa was born, a bunch of my friends decided to do a "last" girls night before I had Alyssa, apparently, just in time! We just sat around laughing really hard and eating awesome food. I was joking before I left that I thought I was going to go into labor that night...little did I know. I got home about 12:50am and got ready and went to bed. I didn't sleep very good and woke up at 3am feeling pretty uncomfortable. I just tried to sleep, thinking that would make me feel better, but with no luck. At 4:30am I woke Jeff up and told him I thought I was in labor. He started timing my contractions and they were coming 1.5-2 minutes apart so he told me we better get to the hospital. We called my friend Laurel (yes, she was out till way too late the night before too!) and she came right over to stay with Caitlin and we headed out. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were pretty intense and the nurse asked if I wanted to try a VBAC or do a c-section. Up until this point I was so unsettled on what to do and couldn't feel peaceful about either decision, but I looked at Jeff and we both just knew she needed to come c-section. After they finally got an IV in me (with the aid of an ultrasound on my arm and 4 attempts...I have the battle scars to prove it) I was able to get the epidural and it was definitely as welcome this time as last! My doctor and Jeff were able to give me blessing and we were set to go. They took me down to the OR and got the c-section under way and at 7:04am our little girl was born, beautiful and healthy. She didn't even cry much at all, just looked around at everyone and made a couple little noises. I got one look at her and it was love at first sight. Jeff was amazing. He gives me so much strength and peace when he is with me and I know that he will keep us safe and provided for. I love him so much and am so glad I have him to experience this life with. He is pretty smitten with this new little one as well! Jeff took her to the nursery with the nurse and I headed to the recovery room. An hour later, Jeff and Alyssa joined me and I found out quickly that she was going to be a pro at nursing...yay! We left to our room and we got to spend time with our new little one. Laurel was awesome and took Caitlin to church and brought her to the hospital later that day. Caitlin didn't want too much to do with me in the hospital bed, but she instantly took to daddy and "baby Alyssa" (if we call her anything else she will correct us!) After spending a while with us and warming up to me again, Laurel took Caitlin back to her house and she spent the rest of the day with them. Jeff's parents left Utah and headed to Washington to see us as soon as they got the call I was in labor and we are so grateful they did! They spent the whole week here and took such good care of Caitlin. It was such a relief to have them here so Jeff could stay with me and spend more time at the hospital. Our house was cleaned, food prepared...We love Grandma and Pa! While I was in the hospital some of my really good friends came to visit and made my stay that much more enjoyable:) Overall, this experience has been so amazing. I love my husband and girls more than I could ever imagine and am overwhelmed with gratitude for my blessings. This is why we are here, to bring families to this earth and have our joy be full, and mine is very full! We love you Alyssa and are so glad we have you forever!

Biker Babe...

Little Miss has been wanting a bike forever! Every time she goes to the park and sees all the kids on their bikes she wants to ride them or just stand by them even! So my friend Laurel told me about these balance bikes that don't have any pedals or training wheels and they are supposed to be awesome for teaching balance. So in October Jeff and I finally ordered one and it was an awesome purchase! She LOVES her bike! She is already starting to be able to pick up her feet and balance on two wheels. It is so fun to watch her grow up and learn new things! And luckily, Laurel lives in a house in a super quiet neighborhood and there is a perfect little route around their block that they can ride their bikes and wear themselves out. Little Miss loves Hank and Charlie, so it makes for a perfect day...especially because she goes to bed so easy on those nights:)

Halloween 2011

So Halloween was not the ideal holiday for us this year, but we still had a great time! Little Miss was starting to get sick but we were able to make it to our ward trunk-or-treat on Saturday night and we had so much fun! We have such awesome friends up here and the kids have so much fun together! She was supposed to be a ballerina, but my friend had this super warm butterfly outfit that she let us borrow and I was so glad she did...I didn't have to worry about her freezing all night. So we decided she would be a ballerina on Monday for all the indoor Halloween activities we had planned...little did we know. On Monday, Jeff came home from school to play with Little Miss and I headed to a doctors appt. When I got home we were all so excited and dressed her up in her pink ballerina outfit and headed to the Halloween carnival. After the carnival we were going to go to the mall to trick-or-treat and then to a few houses, however, right as we pulled up to the carnival, she threw up all over herself, her car seat and our car. We didn't even get to park. We just kept driving and headed back home. She was such a good sport and asked if we could go home and clean her up and then go back to the carnival...she said she felt better:( It was so sad and I kept telling her how bad I felt and that I was sorry. She just kept saying, "its ok mommy, I'm ok". I love this little girl so much. So hopefully next year will be our year for Halloween...right?!