3 Months Old

My baby girl turned 3 months old yesterday - time is going by way too fast!

I took these pictures while we all were out for a Sunday in our neighborhood. We stopped to say hi to one of our neighbors and Ilyssa just loved all of the attention. As you can see, she just loves when someone makes eye contact and talks to her.

Last Day of School

This school year seemed to go by just way too fast. After school today we stayed to say goodbye and thank you to the kids' teachers.

Ian really enjoyed kindergarten and LOVED his teachers. In fact he told me he doesn't want to go to 1st grade next year because he doesn't want to have a different teacher. It was fun to see the growth Ian made with his reading this year and the confidence he gained with making new friends.

Isaac's favorite things about 3rd grade this year was science, social studies, and recess! I think Isaac did a lot of growing up this year, too. He wasn't quite sure about riding the bus at the beginning of the year and only rode it home after school because I was able to take him in the morning. The last few months however, he was running out to the bus stop to catch the bus in the morning, too and would get worried if he was running late. I think he liked getting to school early to play with his friends. I was really proud of him for having the confidence to be a little more independent. It makes me sad to think about the fact that he only has 2 years of elementary school left.

After school, I took the kids out to Dairy Queen to celebrate their last day. As you can see, they really enjoyed their ice cream for dessert. (Isabelle was a stinker and wouldn't let me take her picture.)

2 Months Old

Yes, this cute girl is already 2 months old! She is starting to give us some really cute smiles now. It is fun watching Ilyssa start to get a little more interactive with us.

Isaac, Ian and Isabelle were having fun with Ilyssa's smiley mood and decided to get in on the pictures, too. I love my cute, silly kids!

These are some pictures I took of Ilyssa a few days ago. (I wanted to get a picture of her in this shirt and hat before she grew out of them. )

Ilyssa really is a GOOD baby! She always wakes up happy and only cries when she is REALLY hungry or REALLY tired. Most of the time she is happy just sucking on her hands or fingers and often falls asleep doing just that. Oh, and to top it off - she slept through the night for the first time just two nights ago!

Not only is Ilyssa a good baby, but she has cute cheeks and rolls everywhere and is just beautiful. So, I would have to agree that Ilyssa is "perfect in every way"!

7 weeks old

5 weeks old

1 Month Old

We still love to just sit and watch Ilyssa. The last ultasound I had of her she was sticking her tongue in and out the whole time. I noticed she did it right after she was born and I think it's funny how much she is STILL always playing with her tongue. I like how these pictures show how much dark hair Ilyssa has. All of the other kids started out with dark hair as babies, but then ended up going blonde. Since Ilyssa has so much more hair, we'll have to see if she does the same thing or if she gets to keep her brown hair like me.

Spring Piano Recital

There were many times this winter/spring when Isaac got tired of practicing the piano and wanted to quit taking lessons. We made him stick it out and I'm so glad he did. Isaac did really well at his recital and didn't even seem worried about going up and playing in front of everyone. Isaac played Battle Hymn of the Republic for his recital. I sat with him to help him turn the pages to give him one less thing to be nervous about.

It was hard to get a very close up shot of Isaac while he was actually playing. He was a good sport about posing for a few after the recital was over.

Good job Isaac!

Ian's first lost tooth

Ian lost his first tooth this morning during breakfast. He was a little worried when it came out, but he is definitely excited for the tooth fairy to come tonight!

He also thought it was pretty cool that he earned his "tooth" necklace today at school. Everyone in his kindergarten class gets one when they lose a tooth.

Ian has a handsome, "toothless" smile now!

Thanks Mom!

My mom left today to fly back to Arizona. I got to have her here for two and a half weeks which was so nice! All of my other pregnancies/deliveries have been so unpredictable, but I don't think I could have planned it any better this time around. My mom was able to help me with so many things while she was here. Among many other things, she helped me entertain the kids during spring break, finish get everything ready for the baby, was there for the delivery, took care of the kids while I was in the hospital, and helped me rest and slowly adjust to having 4 kids, (although I'm sure that will take a little more time). I was definitely sad to see her go!

(My mom doesn't always like to have her picture taken so I took advantage of her sitting down with the baby to get a cute shot of Ilyssa being held by her grandma.)

Coloring easter eggs

The kids were really wanting to color easter eggs with grandma while she was here. Some years we never got around to it or did it after Easter because I was too lazy to want to deal with the mess. Having my mom's extra set of hands to help with this project sounded good to me.

The kids patiently waited while we got everything set up to color our easter eggs. Each kid was in charge of two colors at a time. Notice the plastic table cloth on the counter to help catch any spills. They all did a pretty good job - we only ended up with a couple of cracks. Of course we only gave them the hard-boiled eggs to color.

Look how pretty the eggs look!

My mom and I got the easter eggs that the kids colored cleaned up and put away and then we colored the rest of the eggs in the fridge while Rian put the kids to bed. Why let all of the dye go to waste, right? Plus eggs are so much more fun to eat when they are pretty!

One week old

Ilyssa turned one week old yesterday! While Rian was at church with the other kids, my mom and I played "dress-up" and took lots of pictures of Ilyssa. She still really likes her tongue! This is the same dress I took picures of Isabelle in when she was one week old which happened to be Easter Sunday. Ilyssa is pretty good at finding her hand and fingers to suck on.

Big Sister

Isabelle is ALWAYS asking to hold Ilyssa or try to take care of her. Sometimes she sounds like a broken record that she just drives me nuts. I had some extra milk that I had pumped so I thought that would be a good time for her to "help" take care of the baby. Isabelle was SO excited to feed her baby sister!

Isabelle wouldn't let me help her hold the bottle, but she did a pretty good job all by herself.

Sponge bath

It was time for Ilyssa's first sponge bath at home. All clean! Eventually I'm sure she will love her baths.

Welcome home!

We were actually able to bring Ilyssa home from the hospital today. Ilyssa and myself were doing pretty well so our doctors gave us the okay to go home if I wanted. We just had to wait until Ilyssa was 24 hours old and had another set of labs done. I debated whether or not to stay one more night so that I could take advantage of getting one last night of rest before having to take care of a new baby at night at home. In the end I decided I would be more comfortable and relaxed at home. So, after having to wait 10-11 weeks before being able to bring Isaac and Ian home, and the normal 2 days to bring Isabelle home, we set a new record with Ilyssa and brought her home only one day after being born. First, my mom and Rian brought the kids to the hospital in the morning to visit. Isabelle already loves holding her baby sister. Even Isaac and Ian are a little more comfortable holding her. The whole family - now a FAMILY OF 6. Ilyssa and I are now dressed in real clothes - getting ready to go. (I don't think you can ever give babies enough kisses, especially when they are this cute!) Rian got to take a quick nap with Ilyssa while we waited to finish getting everything ready to go home. I think he realized this was his last chance to get any extra sleep. Sleeping in Daddy's arms! First time in her car seat - all ready to go. She looks so little in there! We are now officially ready to go home. We've taken a picture like this with each of the kids as babies in their car seat right before we leave the hospital. My mom helped the kids make a cute sign and decorated our front door to welcome home their baby sister. It feels so good to be home!