Sweet Sophie

My two sweet girls! Gracie doesn't care too much about Sophie yet. She will only hold her for about 1 second. Literally! Lately though, she has been saying, "Oh Sophie is so cute!"

One day Sophie was crying and Gracie started panicking, "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Sophie is crying!"

Sophie was blesses on Lisa's birthday, December 4, 2011. She looked beautiful in her long white dress from Grandma Kim, her pink satin slippers, pink and crystal bracelet from Grandma Julie and her homemade headband with pink and white rolled roses. She was an angel during the blessing. Mike did an awesome job. I'm grateful for him and the priesthood he holds and honors.
Here are the girls in our family that came to the blessing.
Our little family. It's hard to get us to all look at the same camera!
Sophie is such a happy, smiling baby. She has been smiling since she was 3-weeks-0ld and only wakes up once a night at 2:30 am. She is up for the day at 7:30. Her big brother would hold her all day if I would let him. She is so fun to have around and I thank my Heavenly Father for her and our whole family every day. I have the cutest kids ever.

Dear Sophie,

Dear Sophie Julieann,

You are 2 days old and we are loving you to pieces! When I left for the hospital on Thursday morning, I was so nervous! I didn't know what to expect and the anticipation was killing me. I woke up at 5:45 and called the hospital to see if they had room to induce me. I was relieved when they said they did. I though I would be able to fall back asleep for a half hour, but I was wrong! I slowly got ready and at 7 I headed over to the hospital.

When I left the house that morning, I was surprised to see snow on the back patio. It was chilly and it had been raining really hard all night. Luckily, I was bundled up in one of your dad's jackets, because mine were all too small.

When I got to the hospital they were very friendly and hooked me up to the IV around 8 am. Your dad had to get Max on the bus for school and drop Gracie off at Beth's, so he didn't get to the hospital until 9. The nurses teased me about being alone, and when your dad finally came I was relieved to have some company.

Things went slowly only for the first 2 hours. Then the doctor broke my water around 10:30. That's when the fun began! The contractions started getting harder and I made your dad hold my hand.

Around 11:30 I decided I couldn't handle the pain anymore so I asked for my epidural. Luckily, I was almost a 5 and completely effaced at that point so they called in the anesthesiologist and got me my drugs! I was so happy after that!

After I had the epidural, your heart rate started dropping a little and the doctor seemed nervous so he made me use oxygen . The nurse made me lay on my side and told me to relax. She kept saying I was going to be a 10 in no time, and I didn't believe her. About an hour after that I started feeling a lot of pressure so I called the nurse in. I was ready to go!

At 12:58 I started pushing and you were here by 1:14 you were here! The doctor said the cord was wrapped around your little neck two times, and that might be why your heart rate was dropping a little. I cried like a baby when they laid you on my chest. I was so happy and relieved to have you here! It was amazing! I told the nurses you were my favorite child, because the labor was so much easier than your siblings!

About 2 minutes after you were born, Grandma Kim came in the room. She didn't even realize that you were here until she got close. She couldn't believe you had come so fast! I couldn't believe it either! I was so glad I didn't have to have another c-section.

I got to spend a lot of time alone with you after you were born, and the spirit was so strong. I was so grateful to have another gift from Heavenly Father. I feel so lucky to be your mom!

You have been a great baby! You sleep all day and you even slept through the night last night! I woke up in a panic at 7:30 because you were still fast asleep in Daddy's arms.

Max just loves you to death. He thinks you are the sweetest little baby ever! Gracie seems to be unsure of what's going on. When you cry she gets a look of panic on her face!

Day at the lake. -By Mike

That's my boy! I know everyone who has met Maximo knows he is an awesome kid. He is always nice to his litter sister (who has been calling him Maximomo lately). He has such a good attitude about everything. His imagination is one of a kind. Now that we have established that I think the world of my boy, let me say, he went the extra mile and made me even more proud of him today!! He is a man after my heart!

About a three months ago he pinky promised me that he'd ski with me this year. He came through today.

He ended up loving it after I told him I'd give him ten bucks that he can use to buy anything he wants!

There are my beautiful girls! I've got a good lookin family. Great morning, now off to watch some college football! Who could ask for anything more?

Gracie's Eye Surgery!

Gracie went in for eye surgery last Thursday, September 8th. She did so well. She seemed nervous when we got to the hospital, but she didn't complain about anything. She only said she was 'hungee' once, and she had to wait until 12:30 before they took her back.

They had toys for the kids to play with before they went back, and this was the only one that Gracie was interested in. She seemed very passive and apprehensive. She was sad when the nurse gave her a blue hospital bracelet. Under her breath she whispered, "Oh, I want a pink one." It was so cute.
Right before they took her back they gave her a sedative so she wouldn't get separation anxiety when they took her back. It made her so loopy! She started slurring her words and saying funny things like, "I'm a baaabby! You're Jeeeessssicca!" Her little head was wobbling back and forth like she was drunk. It was pretty funny.

Gracie was also pretty sad about the blue gown she had to wear and the yellow socks. She kept saying, "they buggin' mom!"

She sat very still as they checked her vitals before surgery. She was a very good girl.
When Gracie came out of surgery she was very sad and kept saying, "I o.k. Mom, I o.k." She ripped out her IV and blood went everywhere, it was so sad. She kept crying and I had to help the nurse hold her down so they could put the IV back in to giver her morphine to calm her down. While the nurse was telling her she was going to give her medicine to make her feel better, Gracie was crying,"NO Thank you!"She was a sweetheart the whole time.

Doctor Hoffman said everything went technically well. He said it would take months before we know if it was successful or not. It takes a while before the brain can adjust to what has been done. So far, so good. Her eyes seem to have straightened out and as of yesterday she seems to be completely out of pain.

I have a Kindergartner? What the?

I thought I would cry when Max started school, but I didn't. He was way too excited and I was too busy comforting Gracie. She was so depressed that he got on the "big oange car" and left. She said again and again, "We are coming brother, Maximo, we coming!" We followed his bus to school so we could meet him at the door and when he finally got off the bus she was so happy to see him, but he was too excited to notice.
Max is so funny. The thing he was most excited for was his new Airwalks! He was convinced they would make him run twice as fast and would help him beat Mikey to the mailbox. He is always posing! He is so cute!
Max's teacher met him at the bus stop. Her name is Mrs. Lee. When Max walked up to her, I heard her lean over to the principal and tell him he better meet Max because he is hilarious! The principal bent down to meet Max and the only thing Max could tell him was that he had awesome new shoes that were going to make him super fast. s

I was nervous to put Max on the bus the first day, but his teacher said she preferred for them to ride the bus the first two weeks of class if they were going to ride at all, because she meets them every morning and puts them right on their bus everyday for the first two weeks. Max was so excited to ride the bus and it only takes 10 minutes for him to get to school after he gets on in the morning.

On the way home from school it took a little longer for him to get home because the bus driver had to make sure every kid was getting dropped off at the right stop. Max said he was getting nervous because the driver was going home in a "jumbled way, but when he saw our church he got the clue that they were on the right track" and he stopped crying.

It was hot on the bus and Max wanted to change right when he got home, because he said, "my bum is soggin' wet, and I gotta get out of my underwear!"

He loves school and, although he can't tell me what he's learning cause he forgets, he says he is having a blast.

When I asked him if he made any new friends he told me yes. I asked what their names were and he said, "I don't know, who needs names anyway?"

He is a laugh a minute and we are so proud of him!

Gracie's Birthday!

I am SO in LOVE with this little sweetie! Gracie had a great birthday. Her birthday was on a Sunday this year so we had to hurry to church before presents and cake. Gracie did not want to wait. She took one look at her cake and shoved her face into it! It was so cute, and it was even better that it didn't get all over her dress.

Gracie loves princesses all of the sudden so she had a princess party. She told me she wanted a pink cake, so that's what she got. She got lots of fun presents.

Mom and Dad got her pretend hair styling supplies, and a doll house. Max her a Rapunzel. Grandma Kim and Grandpa Mike got her Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dress ups, and Grandma Julie and Grandpa Dave got her fun bath time supplies and a swimming suit.

There are so many things I love about Gracie! She and Max play so well together. Today he was giving her horsey back rides. When she fell off though, she hit her head on the table. Max said he was sorry, but that's why he was using "safety precautions" (Daisy's leash as a seat belt). It was hilarious.

Gracie has known all of her colors for months now and knows most of her shapes too. She is a very smart girl and speaks in sentences. She has been very interested in potty training all ready. The only bad thing is that she likes to take her diaper off as soon as she feels the need to evacuate and pees all over the floor, it's awesome! I have gone through a bottle of Spot Shot already following her around the house. She loves to be naked and knows how to dress herself so no outfit can outsmart her.

Gracie loves to sing and dance! She knows all the princess songs and requests me to sing them to her daily. Her favorite song right now is Part of Your World from Little Mermaid. She knows all of the words and it's so fun to catch her singing when she doesn't think anyone is listening.

Gracie is also learning how to manipulate us! Every night she tries to tell us that she needs lunch cause she's "hungee" or "firsty." She also tells us, "but I'm happy! I'm 'wake' mom! Good Morning!" When we do give in and let her stay up a little bit she says, "Yay! Mommy happy today!"

Gracie is getting to be more and more fun everyday and she seems excited for her little sister to arrive. She kisses my belly and tickles it. She is a sweet heart! I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have two sweet beautiful daughters. We are going to have a blast together.

Only 5 more weeks!

Catch up time

Jessica says it is time for me to post on our family blog, so here we go! Life is great! Today is Max's 5th birthday. Jessica is feeling great in her 2nd trimester. Gracie is a sassy little lady in her pink glasses. I am loving my new job with Cambridge Financial. There you have it. For the best part of blogs see the pictures below!

Max's Transformer cake

The party






Birthday Morning


Max's G Q


Preschool Graduation. Max got the "Big Hunk" award from his teacher, Ms Connie.




Us at the Zoo






More of the G Q
Easter Sunday





There you have it folks. Happy Blog Stalking!!