Lydia Elise

 Lydia Elise was born around 5 am, Thursday April 25.

She was born in a surprise unassisted birth at home in our tub. Matt caught her.

 Does it count as unassisted if your husband is a nurse?

Then we went to the hospital where they said we couldn't leave for 24 hours (which was more like 28). The hospital was the most annoying part of her birth. Seriously.

Oh yeah...she was 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches long. Our biggest girl yet!

Things To Write About

I could write about a lot of things.

Like how I've been working hard on the house since January. I painted the entire thing except the upstairs bathroom and living room (Matt did those). It also means that I learned how to change out an outlet and light switch (and got zapped a little in the process), caulk and now I'm a great painter, if I do say so myself.

Or maybe I could write about how the bathroom is done except for the door, so we still don't have a door on it. Which is weird.

Maybe I should write about how Matt got accepted into a grad school. And how we are planning on moving this summer. How after 5 years here, I am ready to move forward with our lives and yet...I am so sad about leaving all the roots we've grown and things we've established. How I never wanted to live here my whole life, but now that we're leaving, I realize all the things I love about my life here.

Should I write about Charlotte's birthday? She is two now. And definitely acts like it. Adorable, feisty, a little spoiled. We're working on sleep training (again) and she just loves to be near me. Actually, I will write about that next time. Her favorite part about her birthday was when they sang to her in Primary.

I could write about putting our house up for sale today. And how it makes me sad to see the sign in our yard because I love our house. Matt and I have both said that we would take the house with us if we could. Moving seems much more real now. And I'm nervous about the house-selling process. What if no one wants our house? How am I going to keep it as clean and awesome looking as it was this morning?

Baby bunnies are also a topic I could write about. Because we have four new little ones, about two weeks old. They're my favorite age now-- and so adorable! They can't quite hop, so they walk/hop; their ears are short, their noses and ears are starting to turn gray (like their sire) and they are sweet, sweet, sweet.

What annoying habits do your children have? Nathalie burps. She swallows air and burps on purpose. She also plays with her hair, and Nathalie's hair will stay however you mold it (without any products at all). I can always tell when she's touched her hair because it's straight up. Emily makes a slurping sound when something sounds yummy to her and Charlotte won't go to sleep on her own. I could write a book about their behaviors. It makes me want to go ask my mom what drove her crazy when I was a kid (because I know I drove her crazy).

Do you want to hear about the end of this pregnancy? How I'm getting closer and closer...and with putting the house on the market and moving, I am starting to wish that I were only a few months pregnant. I'm nervous about maintaining house, about labor, about four children.

Flowers. I could write about flowers. About how there are so many flowering trees here in the spring and it's beautiful. How I planted some marigolds this morning to make our front yard look pretty and marigolds were my great-grandma's favorite flower so I always think of her.

Nathalie's birthday is Saturday. She is so excited. I love birthdays with my girls because they are a huge thrill and I love seeing their excitement. It's hard to believe Nan is almost 4. A spunky, loving four year old. And such a sweetheart. Loud, but sweet.

So much to write about and so little energy. So for now, I'm writing, "Good night."

Kids and Puppies Go Together

 My in-laws' dog had puppies (SURPRISE!!). 4 of them. Four roly-poly, soft little adorable balls of fur.

 We went up for one last getaway from town this last weekend. And what did we do all weekend?

 Play with puppies!

 They are so funny. They would play with us for 30 minutes and then sleep for an hour or two. They fell asleep anywhere.

 Sometimes the kids were put off by their sharp little puppy teeth. But soon they (the girls) discovered that their teeth tickle more than hurt and would play tug-o-war with the puppies.

Black puppy (with Charlotte) doesn't have a home yet. All the other ones do. Matt and I would love a puppy...if we weren't going to be having a baby. Two babies in the house would be two too many for me! But we all loved the puppies. What can I say? Kids and puppies are meant to be.

Living Room: Before and After

 

 Above: Living room when we bought the house. After the initial wood refinishing we did when we bought this house, this room needed to be rewired. Because our house is 70 years old, it still had the original wiring in some parts (knob and tube wiring). We had to have it completely rewired. Then we had to plaster the big hole in the wall where the electrician cut in. After that though, the room just needed cosmetic fixes.

 

(Below: Living room yesterday.) The floors are beautiful now. We replaced the chandelier with a fan (chandelier went to the dining room). We rewired the light switch recently and removed the dimmer for the chandelier. Matt painted the room a few years ago and lightened it up and I caulked and did the trim. The trim was painted "Fired Earth", a Valspar color.

If we were to live here forever, we would remove the fireplace (it doesn't work). But for now it will just be the center of the room!

A few more adventures

 Two days after we got back from UT, the girls and I headed to Columbus to have an Easter/birthday party with Matt's family. (They were not happy to be in the car again). We made a stop at COSI where we spent an HOUR playing doctor dress up. Emily looked so cute in her doctor outfit.

 And Charlotte? FREAKING ADORABLE in these glasses.

 Then we went to do the Easter Egg Hunt, put on by Matt's mom.

 She loves egg hunts. She hid about 100 eggs for the little kids and then had a second egg hunt for the big kids!

 Nathalie loves egg hunts too!

 It was a little chilly out there, but this didn't stop the kids from finding and consuming copious amounts of sugar.

 The big kids, starting at age 5. Emily is first in line because she was the youngest of the big kids. This baby will be grandchild number 25 in Matt's family, and number 26 is due in July. Family gatherings are, well, crazy. But my kids adore their cousins and there is always a cousin to play with.

 Emily got tired of taking pictures when there were eggs to be found!

 An uncle with Charlotte.

 Delicious candy! Emily and a cousin.

Here the girls are on Eater morning. My mom bought them coordinating dresses in UT and they looked so cute! They didn't have a baby size, or else we would have gotten that too. Matching girls is lots of fun.

Hitting the Mark

I am due at the end of this month. This picture (above) is 37 weeks, just a few days ago. This belly is getting big!

 Here is me pregnant with Charlotte, the day I was induced at 41 weeks. I was so tiny....

 And here I am with Nathalie, around 36 weeks, although I grew fairly significantly the last few weeks with her.

Getting closer! Like usual, I haven't had a single contraction. I've got no signs of impending labor besides hip and nerve pain and general crankiness. I'm hoping this baby comes this month, but am trying to mentally prepare to go into next month. Nesting is in full force and I'm just trying to go with it instead of fighting it. That doesn't really help my hip pain, but oh well.

Hopefully you'll hear about a baby in the next few weeks!

Wild Wild West

 Here is documentation and proof we were out there!  Halfway through March we took our annual trip out West. This time we went to Provo, where my sister and brother-in-law were blessing their new baby.

One hour before we left, Emily was twirling and fell against the fireplace. Matt had to do a little stitching. What a way to start!

 After driving for 24 straight hours to the other side of CO, we stopped in a hotel and then the next drove to see some amazing friends near Richfield, UT. We had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day with them (check out my "Bless This Mess" button to meet these amazing people!) and then headed to St. George to be with Matt's grandparents. This picture of Nathalie is taken the day we were in St. George. The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we took a great walk to a park where the kids were in heaven.

 Matt's grandparents are phenomenal. Nathalie really loved Grandma. They potted some aloe vera plants together.

 Since Nathalie loves gardening and planting she was enthusiastic about helping Grandma.

 At the park.

 We did a little workbook time while Charlotte was napping. Emily only went to school 4 days in March because of illness/travel/spring break. I thought we should keep up some learning, so here we are learning about money.

 Emily played a lot with Grandpa. She still remembers him from the last time we saw him.

 Grandpa is missing his right hand. It didn't bother Emily or Charlotte, but Nathalie was really concerned about it and didn't want him to touch her at the beginning.

 Then we took one last picture and headed up to Provo.

 Nathalie's workbook time.

 In Provo, my parents had rented a house for the week. It cost a LOT of money for them and it was worth every penny! It had 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, nice kitchen, living room, family room with big screen TV and a play structure in back.

 The girls especially loved this swing in front. We are so grateful for my parent's sacrifice. They put Matt and I in charge of food, which we enjoyed.

 Then it was my family time. Here is Charlotte with the man of the hour, my nephew, and the only grandchild other than my girls on my side of the family. She called him "Baby Noni" and now all her baby dolls are called Baby Noni.

 Grandpa is really good at horsey. Look at Nathalie's face!

 Emily is showing Baby Noni how to work his mom's iPhone. The girls loved that everyone had an iPhone and they played them all day. Such a contrast from our house where they have limited media time--that's why they love vacations.

 Matt's dad is called "Papa" and my dad is called "Grandpa". These distinctions are lost on Charlotte, who calls both grandfathers "Papa" and who called Matt's grandpa "Papa". She also calls Matt's mom "Papa", so apparently it's just a general term for grandparent.

 Nathalie holding Baby Noni.

 Charlotte in a bumbo, which she fit surprisingly well.

 My mom is a wonderful grandma. Emily adores her and spent a lot of time following her around.

More iPhone time.

 The girls were sick most of the trip. We're not sure if it's because we pushed them too hard or what, but they weren't themselves. We had lethargy, fevers, vomiting scattered throughout the trip. It was hard for us sometimes since we couldn't do all the things we wanted to do, but there were sweet moments, like Nathalie falling asleep on Granny during church. (Nathalie is usually not quiet during sacrament meeting, so we KNEW she was sick!)

 Nathalie had woken up from a nap after throwing up on the way home. We did not style her hair like this-- it simply looked like this when she woke up! Nathalie has coarse hair and it will quite literally stay in whatever position it is put in. We thought this was so funny!

Precious time with Granny.

All in all, it was a whirlwind of a trip. I know that some of you live in UT and we would have loved to see you. We are sorry we didn't get to see very many people-- family activities and illness made sure we stayed in the house a lot. The next time we come we will have a big party! Providing no one throws up, anyway.