We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

Brownies!

Pumpkins and Pokémon

School Pictures - 2nd Grade!

Violet: Week by Week

3 weeks

4 weeks

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

First Day of Second Grade!

Scroll down for a way overdue birthday post.  Hey!  I've been a little busy!

Introducing...

...our new baby girl!

Violet Mae
Birthday: August 3, 2012
Weight: 5 pounds, 12 ounces
Height: 18.5 inches

Violet entered the world at 9:18am via scheduled cesarean at 36 weeks and 1 day gestation. Having never really heard her sisters' cry, Violet's sweet voice was like music to our ears. Her Apgar scores were 8 and 9. Results of all prenatal testing were "normal." She passed her newborn hearing screening and her carseat test with flying colors. Spot checks of her blood oxygen saturation were 100%. We visited the NICU where Holland and Eden spent 110 days, but just to say hello and to show them our pretty new baby who would not be checking in. One of the neonatologists, who was there on the day that H and E were born, was rounding and cried happy tears seeing our new baby girl with her big sisters. Violet and mom were discharged after 48 hours, and our family of five rode home from the hospital together.

We have a take-home baby!!!

36 weeks...and loving it.

Lest I forget, I want to document here that beginning at about 27 weeks...once the nausea and exhaustion passed (around 14 weeks), and the anxiety over having another micropreemie passed...I have enjoyed every single moment of this pregnancy.  I love, love, love my round tummy, and I savor every second of feeling my little one squirming and rolling, and kicking inside of me.  I feel more beautiful and energetic than ever.  I have an overall feeling of well-being and at times almost giddy elation.  I am sad that my pregnancy is ending.  I know I will love my sweet baby, but man...I am going to miss that tummy!

Happy 8th Birthday!!!

For their 8th birthday, Holland and Eden chose to have a Pokemon themed party at the beach with our family. I was hesitant to commit to any major party plans just days before our new baby was scheduled to arrive, but all was well and we were able to pull it off!

 The girls are majorly, MAJORLY, M.A.J.O.R.L.Y into Pokemon these days, and received as gifts every Pokemon toy that has ever existed. They were in heaven. I was elated to have one last *Hurrah* for the "big" girls before they have to start sharing their bday parties with a little sister.

Last photo as a family of four!

Bike Riding Superstar!

From the PEAC newsletter...

"Eden E. is our super star of the week! After showing up on Monday with an adaptive tricycle to assessment and wowing the staff with her abilities to steer and her endurance on that bike, on Wednesday she was ready for a bigger and better adventure. After taking a few laps around the parking lot in her adaptive bike, she asked to ride the tandem bike. With the help of mom, we were able to get her out of her adaptive trike and onto the back of a family tandem. We took a few laps in the parking lot and then were off to ride the loop around the playground. Now, Eden has set her sites even higher and wants to try to ride the tricycle and take longer tandem rides into the community. Great Job, Eden! We are looking forward to see how many more gains you make this summer! "

Last Day of First Grade!

Sniff, sniff.  My babies aren't babies anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think I am going to need another one ;-)

The girlies had such a great year this year.  They learned SO much, it's actually really quite amazing.  We were so lucky to have a really great teacher, and of course, Eden's awesome helper who has been with us for the past 4 years.  Thanks to all of our (teacher, helper, parents, Nana, and of course, Holland and Eden)  hard work, both girls are now "readers."  Their math skills (definitely an area of relative weakness) have come along by leaps and bounds as well, even though there have been times I wanted to bang my head against a wall trying to work on counting money!!  They are showing a much better grasp of the number line and number concepts, and are able to do pretty well with basic addition, subtraction, simple fractions, and yes, even money.  They made lots of great friends, both have a couple of "BFFs," and I think those friendships will continue to grow over the years.

We were sad to find out that Holland and Eden's teacher is moving to another school in the district, so won't be "looping" with the girls for second grade as we were expecting.  However, I am hopeful that next year's teacher will be wonderful as well and we will continue to progress.  It's just going to be a lot more adjustment in the fall than I was originally hoping for - mostly for my own sake.

But, I am going to put that worry out of my head for now.  It's SUMMER VACATION time!!!!  So much fun to be had between now and August 3 when Baby C is scheduled to arrive (and of course, more fun to follow).

In the words of Max, "Let the royal rumpus start!

Fancy Girls!

We attended our cousin Jenny and her new husband Jake's wedding reception on Saturday.  The girls were SOOO excited for their first really "fancy" occasion with new dresses, new shoes, a DJ, a dance floor, and disco lights!  Added bonus that they got to stay up waaaaay past their bedtime!!  They were so funny talking about it all week and counting down the days until the "dance party."

They both had a ball, and both have some great dance moves!  Holland crashed a little early, around 9:00, but could still be coerced back onto the dance floor when one of her favorite songs came on.  As always, she was a little shy, and was happiest when Mom was out there with her.  Eden, on the other hand, rocked her pony walker on the dance floor ALL NIGHT LONG.  She danced to every song, even when it was just her out there.  She tried the hustle, and was happy to be in the center of the circle dancing with complete strangers.  That girl is a ham, without a shy bone in her body.

I love watching both of them having new experiences, all giddy and full of joy and excitement over the simple things in life.  It makes my mommy heart feel super happy!

Rite of Passage

Looks like the tooth fairy will finally be visiting our house for the first time tonight!!!!

Eden is beside herself with excitement :-)

Random Acts of Cuteness

27 Weeks

Out of the "micro"preemie woods, and Hello THIRD trimester!  So nice to finally meet you...

24 weeks and 3 days

Holland and Eden at 24 weeks and 3 days...

Baby C today at 24 weeks and 3 days...

It was a Happy Mother's Day.