Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day is typically the first day that we swim in my parents pool. Unfortunately the weather yesterday was very conducive to swimming and the pool was too chilly for everyone except the very bravest swimmers (i.e. Keith who will swim no matter what the temp), but it didn't stop us from having a good time. Ella loved her baby pool and the sun came out sporadically which made me happy so that I could work on my tan. ;-) Here's a few pictures from our day.

Thank you to all the men and women who so faithfully serve our country, especially my dad who's a Colonel in the Air Force. We are so grateful for you!!!

Birthdays Galore!

Since Lori is always so wonderful about doing pictures for us, I got to return the favor by photographing her two children's parties this month. First up was Owen who turned 1 on May 2nd. Helena was in town visiting that weekend so she got to come along and help me out with Ella while I took pictures. We had a great time and Owen did such a terrific job on his 1st birthday cake smash. Happy 1st Birthday Owen!

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Next was Katelyn's 4th birthday yesterday. The weather wasn't looking so hot yesterday morning, but by the afternoon the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful at Lake Jordan which is where the party was. Katelyn wanted a swimming party and all the kids had a blast playing in the water. Even Ella joined in the fun...a big change from Katelyn's party last year when Ella was the only child with dry hair!

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And a couple of random ones of Ella from the party...

waiting so patiently for the group shot...

Look at all these adorable kids!!

Next up on the photography agenda is Anna's birth tomorrow. Lori has agreed to come and photograph the birth for me in a photojournalistic style and I am absolutely ecstatic to have that type of photography from her birth! Lori ~ you are the best! I know the pictures are going to be wonderful and I can't wait to share some of them on here next week.

Cool Things

Look at what my precious friend Emily made for my hospital stay next week:

Are those not absolutely adorable??? And look at the detail in the ribbon around the bottom...little pink baby feet! Love it!!!

Emily makes bows and flip-flops like these and sells them...I have some bows for Ella and highly recommend them! She can custom make bows to match outfits and she does all different solid colors...contact her if you're interested! Thank you so much Emily!

2nd cool thing...my sis-in-law Latricia made a diaper cake for baby Anna. She made one for Ella too and I am just so impressed by how well she does them. She wraps and ties ribbon around each individual diaper...so tedious and time-consuming! Thank you so much Latricia for such a thoughtful gift!!

Birthday Party at Pump It Up!

We had a very fun birthday party at Pump It Up yesterday. Keith had an issue at Frazer to take care of so he met us there a few minutes after the party started. When we first arrived, Ella was a little skeptical of all the big moonwalks and wanted me to hold her the entire time. At 38 weeks pregnant that was no small feat! :-) Last time we were there I was only around 5-6 months pregnant and could get in the jumpers with her and go down the big slide, but I wasn't risking it yesterday! :-) Once Keith arrived he did all the activities with her and she had a blast. Happy Birthday Evan...thanks for inviting us to your party!!

Happy Birthday Keith and Latricia!

May is a big birthday month for us...we have 4 immediate family birthdays...soon to be 5! Even though we had Keith's surprise party back in April, he actually turned 30 on the 21st. Our sister-in-law Latricia celebrated her birthday on the 20th so we got together with Keith's parents, Aunt Jan, and Uncle Mickey to celebrate this weekend. It was a huge surprise for everyone when we heard a knock on the door right before eating dinner and Uncle Kevin walked in! We were all under the impression that he wouldn't be coming back until Thanksgiving or later, so everyone was so excited to see him! He and Latricia planned a weekend home for her birthday and decided to keep it a secret to surprise everyone. It worked! I know Keith was so happy to get to spend some time with Kevin for his birthday. Unfortunately he has to go back first thing Monday morning so he won't get to meet Anna, but we have gotten some good use out of Skype, so he'll get to see her that way.

On Keith's actual birthday we went out to dinner at Miyako's...a Japanense steakhouse in town and one of our favorite places to eat. We took Ella along kind of apprehensively because we didn't know how she would. After an initial fear of the big fire, she enjoyed the entertainment of the chef cooking and she LOVED the hibachi steak. She gets that honest...steak is probably my favorite thing to eat too. :-) Afterwards we headed to Frazer's padded playground to play and then hit Diary Queen for a blizzard (Keith's favorite dessert). At the end of the night Keith declared that it was a pretty great 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Keifer! :-)

Some Ella Pics...

Ella's Godmother Kelli sent her birthday package this week with the most adorable clothes! I put this little polo dress on Ella today and couldn't resist cheesing it up a little bit to take a few pictures. Our little tennis champ. ;-) Kelli - thanks so much for the present!!

38 Weeks and Last Belly Pic!

I took my last belly picture this morning...I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by! I am still feeling good, but getting increasingly uncomfortable so I'm getting very excited and a tad anxious about my induction next week. We can't wait to meet our little girl! Please keep us in your prayers on May 27th! :-)

I realized that it's been awhile since I took and posted some good Ella pics...going to try and snag a few this weekend to share. Check back later! :-)

Dr. Appointment Today

I had my ultrasound and Dr. appointment this afternoon. Keith and I were both off on the weight...they're estimating 7lbs. 8oz. right now! But, Dr. Lawhon assured us that ultrasounds tend to overestimate by 15% and he doesn't think she'll be much bigger than Ella (7lbs. 1oz.). Anyways, my blood pressure was up a little more today (140/80...my normal is 98/60) so I think because of that and because she's measuring a little big, he wants to induce on May 27th which is next Wednesday. I was 2cm and 75-80% effaced today so hopefully it'll be an easy induction and Anna will make her arrival next week! :-) So now I'm off to finish up my to-do list and enjoy a final week of just Ella and mommy time!

A few more maternity photos...

Wondering how we kept Ella busy while taking pictures of Keith and me??

Goldfish did the trick! :-)

37 Weeks - Full Term!!!

I've made it full-term! Yippee! :-) Since I have a bicornuate uterus (heart shaped and small which often leads to miscarriage and preterm labor), I think my doctor was shocked everytime he saw me still pregnant after 20 weeks with Ella and now I've managed to carry Anna to full term as well. I do not attribute this to luck, but to lots and lots of prayers! God is awesome! Anyways, even though I'm officially full term, I still have three weeks until my due date and holding out hope for June 1st since we have so many May birthdays in our family. We'll see! :-)

Anna is the size of a watermelon now. I sure feel like I'm carrying around a watermelon these days! We have our weight check ultrasound on Monday. At this stage, Ella was estimated at 6lbs. 7oz. and was 7lbs 1oz. when she was born 1.5 weeks later. I'm guessing 6lbs. 9oz. for Anna on Monday and Keith is guessing 6lbs. 2oz.

Getting Ready for Anna...

We are just about ready for that little girl to arrive! Keith got all of the baby gear out of the attic and put it together this weekend. While he was working on it, Ella kept pointing to it and saying "Baby Anna?" So she knows that something is going on! Other things I've checked off the to-do list...

Diaper bag packed and ready for the hospital...


Ella's Big Sister present ready to go (that girl loves bags just like her mommy)...

And a big necessity - PINK baby swing hung on the swing set. :-) Pink! I didn't even know they made them in that color! Pretty cute!

Now I need to get my bag packed and I think we're just about done!

Ella's Room

Ok...I think I've just about got Ella's room finished. At least to the point that I want to share pictures! :-) I was going for a simple, but girly look. I think I'm really pleased with how it turned out!





Her memo board is now full of pictures from her birthday party...

And just for fun, because I love before and afters, here's what her room looked like a few months ago. Quite a change!








I have just had so much fun decorating these girls' rooms!! :-)