Updates

So it's been almost 3 months since my last post ... sorry. I've been busy. It's amazing how much less time you have to yourself when you add one more kid to the mix. And when you do have free time you usually want to sleep or you're too busy doing the dishes and laundry. So here's a quick run down of the last few months...

March
*Julie had her baby blessing and we enjoyed visiting with lots of family.
*We went to Wheeler farm and looked at lots of animals.
*Eli got a "cool bike". It doesn't have pedals so he can learn to balance without training wheels.
*We went miniature golfing. I think this is Eli's new favorite sport.
*We dyed Easter eggs. We thought Eli would love it, but he lost interest after the first few eggs.

April
*Spent a lot of time at home. Still trying to get into a normal routine with two kids.
*Trying to break the habit of letting Eli watch so much TV and play Temple Run on our phones. He is actually getting really good at it.
*Playing at the park when it is warm enough.
*Celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary
*We got Eli a cheap plastic golf set from Walmart and he loves it.

May
*Spending more time outside and going for walks. I have to be careful when I take the kids by myself because Eli wants to ride his bike. And he is getting to fast that it is hard for me to keep up with him while pushing Julie in the stroller. Maybe I should get a jogging stroller.
*Planted the rest of our garden and everything is already sprouted. We planted: peas, corn, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries. Hopefully it continues to grow because this is our first garden and we don't really know what we are doing.
*Eli is talking a LOT more and is starting to repeat everything we say.
*Julie is 3 and a half months old now and she is so much fun. At 2 months she weighed 12 lbs 6 oz. She loves to sit and stand up with our help, is always chewing on her hands, rolls over from her back to her front, smiles, laughs, and loves it when you talk to her.
*Another reason (besides having two kids) why I have been so behind on blogging is that I have been spending a lot of time putting together our "Family Yearbooks" for the past 4 years. I took all of my journal/blog entries and the majority of our pictures and made books using Blurb. I made 3 books in total because I combined the first two years. It's funny how many more pictures you take once you have kids. It took a lot of time to make these books, but I'm glad they are finally finished. And I'm happy with the way they turned out. The main reason I made them was so the pictures and journal entries wouldn't just be sitting on the computer forever. Now I have a hard copy I can look at without having to turn on the computer. Now hopefully I can work on a new book throughout the year and not have to try to do 4 years all at once.

A post for Grandma

When my mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago she brought a lot of fun stuff for Eli. Here he is showing off his new Sunday/Pioneer outfit. Too bad it's almost too small for him already.

And here he is dancing to the awesome Hula music that Grandma brought. He only wants to dance to this song. Silly boy

He also loves to play baseball/golf. And he is really good at it too :) 

Julie - 2 Weeks Old

Some fun facts about Julie at 2 weeks old:

Cord fell off at 5 days old

Doesn’t need to be swaddled to sleep

Has outgrown most of her newborn clothes :(

Doesn’t care for the swing unless she is already asleep

Takes a pacifier really well
Grunts and squeals a lot

Weighs 9 lbs and measures 21 inches long

There are also 4 new blog posts below this one. There's been a lot of catching up to do :)

Grandparents Visit

One week after Julie was born my mom came to visit and help us out around the house. My dad was going to come too, but some other things came up. It was nice having a week at home with just Shilo and the two kids. But let's be honest, the house was not very clean that week. My mom stayed for one week and she really helped us out a lot. She cooked food, helped make freezer meals, played with Eli, snuggled Julie, changed a lot of poopy diapers, gave Julie her first bath, and did a LOT of laundry. Thanks for all your help Mom!

On Valentine’s Day Grandpa Peter, Grandma Melanie, and Uncle Collin came for a visit from WA. They left on Monday and took my mom with them and dropped her off in Boise, ID (to visit a friend). Aunt Georgie and her husband Camas, and Uncle William also came from Rexburg, ID to visit for the weekend.

It was fun to have so many visitors and I’m glad they all got to meet baby Julie before she gets too big. I took it easy most of the weekend and only left the house once to go to dinner at Buca di Beppo. The boys played hard all day Saturday. They raced go karts and went golfing.

Eli got spoiled by everyone. He wasn’t too sure about all the visitors at first, but it didn’t take him long to warm up. He especially loved playing with Uncle Collin. Grandpa Peter and Grandma Melanie took him to the Living Planet Aquarium and let him pick out a stuffed animal. He picked a penguin. Grandpa also bought him a little baseball glove, but he is still trying to figure out how to use it. He finally figured out how to put it on his hand, but he still tries to throw the ball with the glove instead of with his hand.

We really enjoyed having so much company and we are excited to have them all back when we bless baby Julie in March!

Be Mine

Our Valentine, Julie at 5 days old

Shilo got me flowers and fruit for Valentine's Day. I got him a baby. We were both really tired :)

Eli was lucky enough to get a few Valentine's from some of his friends. Here he is drinking his kool-aid from Max. My excuse for not doing valentine's this year? I just had a baby :)

Eli is 2!

It's hard to believe that Eli is already 2 years old! This year for his birthday we gave him a baby sister :). We also gave him some books and trains. And from grandparents he got some clothes, Hot Wheel cars, and  a Leap Frog alphabet school bus pad. Since his baby sister was born 4 days before his birthday we didn't have much of a celebration. Good thing he is still to little to understand the concept of birthday parties.

Trying to show us that he is 2

Enjoying his cake :)

 Here are some fun facts about Eli at 2 years old:

He loves ...
Curious George
trucks, tractors, cars, trains
balls
books
playdough

He knows most of the letters of the alphabet. Some of them include...
B, C, D, E, I, K, L, O, P, U, Z

He loves to eat ...
yogurt
apples / apple sauce
pbj sandwiches
fruit - pears, peaches, bananas
cereal
juice
chocolate milk
chicken strips and potatoes with ketchup

We weren't watching close enough and he dumped the rest of the cereal out

He is very independent when it comes to eating. He doesn't want to use his little plastic spoons and bowls anymore ... he requests a big boy spoon.

He is starting to throw tantrums/fits when he doesn't get his way.

He gets embarrassed/shy in front of strangers.

He likes to play with his friends Max, Lily, Oliver, and Connor.

He tries to play baseball and golf.

He pretends to put his monkeys and other stuffed animals down for a nap in his bed.

He loves to play games and watch videos on our phones. He says "giggle giggle" when he wants to play.

He points to lots of objects and tries to say their names: chair, bed, door, ball, tree, snow, etc.

He tries to grab pictures out of books like they are real objects.

He does not like to take naps anymore. When he does take a nap it usually takes about an hour to get him to sleep and you have to rub his legs and back.

He gives really good kisses.

He is officially a Big Brother! He says "Baby Julie" really well. He likes to play with Julie's pacifier and tries to give it to her when she cries. But he doesn't care to hold or touch her very often.

Stats:
Weighs 23.8 lbs (5%)
32 inches long (3%)
Head circumference 50cm (80%)

Julie Marie

After weeks of feeling like I was going to be pregnant forever our sweet baby girl has finally arrived! I had my last doctor's appointment on January 31 which was 2 days past my due date. I was still only dilated to a 1, so Doctor Barton tried to strip my membranes to see if that would get things started. We decided that if baby girl didn't come on her own then I would be induced on Tuesday February 5th. The end was finally in sight! After my appointment I kept feeling like I was having menstrual cramps, due to the fact that my membranes had been stripped. So I kept hoping that baby girl would come before the 5th so I wouldn't have to be induced. With my first pregnancy I had to have a c-section because Eli was breech and my water broke 3 1/2 weeks early. So with this pregnancy I really wanted to had a vbac. I was worried that if I had to be induced my chances of having another c-section would be increased.

Luckily baby girl decided to come on her own. Contractions started at 11 pm on Sunday night and got more consistent and stronger from 4-6 am on Monday. We went to the hospital at 8 am  and I was dilated to a 3, but we got sent home at 9:30 because my contractions had stopped. As soon as we got home they started again, go figure. By 1 o'clock they were coming 3-10 minutes apart so back to the hospital we went. This time I was at a 4 and the contractions kept coming so I was admitted to the hospital. By 3 o'clock the contractions hurt too bad so I got an epidural. I felt SO much better!

After pushing through 6 contractions, with a few breaks here and there, our beautiful baby girl was born at 6:25 pm on February 4th! She weighed 8 lbs and measured 20 inches long. A big difference from Eli at birth who weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and was 17 inches long. But he was 3 1/2 weeks early and she was 1 week overdue.

A few minutes old

One day old

First family picture

Bella Baby Photography - One day old