June (So Far)

 While we were in UT, we blessed Aila at my family's home.  It was great to have our families there!

Wades

Kujanpaas (how did I end up with no pictures of my brothers??)

My grandparents were even in town for two high school graduations and were able to be there!

(Back in CA) Sometimes we are all in our jammies for half the day...

He's looking too grown up!  (I have the hardest time getting him to smile for the camera--he is a very happy boy though!)

Growing up too fast!

Father's Day...I made philly cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner.  It was the first time I ever bought steak!  They were yummy.

The Sat before Father's Day we went to Napa to celebrate with my extended family...and Aila got to meet Alexis for the first time (my uncle's baby--she's about 7 weeks older than Aila!)

Getting bigger...she weighed 10 lbs 1 oz a few days ago (she's 6 weeks today!)

Fresh & clean!

I caught half of her smile...she's been smiling and starting to coo the last week or so!

A Saturday at the beach

Fingerpainting

More May Pictures

In labor, making sure Aila's heart rate looked good...just like any old L&D nurse would do :)

I have a baby girl!

So happy

Sibling love

We tried to keep Abram from destroying the hospital room...

A cute sign Ben & Abram made for us (they also picked out flowers & roses for me)

A visit from Great Gma & Gpa Eide!  They brought us dinner plus more food for our freezer...we're so lucky to live close by!

Grandma Lorna (my mom) flew in on Mother's Day!

Making cookies with Grandma

First real bath!  (Her cord fell off when she was 5 days old)

We love our swing

Abram loves when both he and Ben wear their hats

Bike ride with Daddy

We flew to UT on the day Aila turned 3 weeks old for Ben's sister's wedding.  She was a gorgeous bride!
(Kenzie (Abram's cousin), Kate, & Abram)

Ben's brother's baby, Aria, is only 2 months older than Aila!
(Me & Aila, Karen (Ben's mom), & Aria)

Smelling the flowers :)

Ben's dad did a great job marrying them

"Cake is yummy!!"

I was exhausted the whole trip, but we were so glad we were able to be there.
(disregard the bloodshot eyes...we flew in late the night before)

Congratulations, Chris & Kate!

Abram Boy

Recently:

-He's been really sweet with Aila.  When she cries he gets a blankie for her (and throws it on her face, haha)
-He loves to hold Aila's little toes
-While reading a book with a page full of animal pictures, "Oh! There's the zebra's bum!" (then proceeds to point to every animal's you-know-what) "And there's a notha bum and a notha bum and notha bum..."
-I bought him some finger paints from the dollar store, "Oh!  Dank you, Mommy!  That's so nice!"
-We usually sing primary songs or hymns at naptime & bedtime and he sings them to himself while he plays-- Music to my ears!  I'm always surprised how quickly he picks up the words.
-He's been really into music in general.  He can pick out the sound of any stringed instrument, "Mommy, that's a biolin (violin)!"
-He loves to have family night.  He's so happy when our whole family is together in the same room.

And in attempt to catch up on a few pictures...

March:  We got to visit Gma Lorna & Gma Eide in Napa

March:  I participated in the temple hill choir presentation of "Lamb of God" in Oakland (many, many hours of practicing & performing...exhausting when pregnant, but a blessing to be a part of something so inspiring)...Abram & Ben came down to Oakland with me on Ben's birthday while I had a rehearsal

At the Oakland temple (the rehearsal was at the stake center on temple grounds)

Golden gate park in San Francisco for Ben's bday

Canoeing

April:  Uncle Erik & Josef came for a visit--Abram was in heaven playing with them instead of his sick, pregnant mother!

We were really bad at taking pregnancy pictures this time around, but this is me 4 days away from my due date (end of the day, no makeup, etc etc...)

My precious littles

Aila Marie

Beautiful Aila Marie made her debut on Thursday, May 9, 2013 promptly at 1:30 pm.  The first things I noticed were her full head of dark hair and her pretty eyes.

Managing a smile in between contractions...

The nurses thought she was a hispanic baby!

So peaceful

Proud Daddy

Love her profile

I was induced that morning at 3 days overdue.  Everything went smoothly and it was really convenient scheduling it and arranging for someone to watch Abram.  I was emotional putting Abram to bed the night before and saying goodbye to him that morning, knowing it wouldn't be just the two of us at home anymore.  I started out at 3+cm/70% effaced (I had been 3-4 cm for weeks).  My nurse started Pitocin at 8:30, my midwife broke my water shortly after, we walked the halls and outside on their little patio for a while (quite the contrast from looking out the window at a blizzard when I had Abram!), I used the birthing ball for a little while, and then I asked to be checked at about 11:30.  I was 6 cm so I decided to get my epidural as planned.  Ben was a great support while I was in labor and I loved having that time with him at the hospital before she was born.  My epidural ended up only working on one side, so the anesthesiologist had to pull the catheter back a little and it ended up helping (the same thing happened with Abram), which I was relieved about...feeling labor on only one side is so weird and I'd say even worse than feeling it on both (plus I had to lay down since I had the epidural, which doesn't help labor pains at all!)...anyway, I finally got comfortable, at which point I was completely dilated and ready to push!  A few minutes and about 3 pushes later, baby Aila came into the world!  I was so happy to hold her in my arms.  She nursed for almost a full hour...my milk came in pretty quick and she was back up to birth weight within 4 days.  Nursing has been a dream this time around, as well as recovery--physically and mentally.

Home from the hospital

Her pregnancy, on the other hand, had many difficult times.  To make it short, threatened miscarriage at the beginning, severe pelvic pain throughout, and a six-week long sinus-infection-of-death that finally cleared up right before I gave birth were not pleasant, but one of the blessings of it all is realizing how well I feel now, even though I'm tired.  I remember talking to my mom when Aila was two weeks old and telling her I felt better than I'd felt in months!

It feels so right to have Aila in our family.  I'm still adjusting to taking care of two little ones, but amidst the frustrations and overwhelm, I am experiencing some of the most joyous times of my life so far.  I feel so blessed to be a mother and to have a knowledge of the importance and eternal nature of families.

Abram is Two!

(This post was written back in January and I just came across it...so I'm posting it 5 months later)

The best way to describe Abram is:

 100% pure sweetness.

I feel like my heart has been breaking lately as I realize how much he's growing up!  Since when did he have permission to turn two and start saying things like "awesome" and "let's say prayer"?

He got to have two birthday parties: one in Napa at my grandparent's and one at our house.  

Abram, you were in heaven!

-Lately, you've been saying, "Uh-huh" and "Mmm-hmm" like it's been in your vocab all along.

-You request to sing Silent Night every naptime and bedtime and you love to sing along!

-You love singing ABCs and counting; you know some of your colors and love pointing out circles, stars, and hearts.

-When asked what your name is, you say, "A-bum!"  

-When asked how old you are, you reply, "Two!"

-Every time I check on you when you're sleeping, I can't help but whisper, "sweet baby..."

-I am in heaven every time you fall asleep on my lap and I just hold you and cherish these special days we have left with just the two of us.

-You notice when I am sad "Eh sad??" and will rub my arm and give me a hug.

-You are still in love with cars/trucks/motorcycles/buses/airplanes, of course.

-You still love taking baths ("take a baff!"), and especially love taking your entire toy box in the tub with you.

-You love to help me in the kitchen--the other day you pulled out all the pots & pans and told me you were "cookin' grapefruit" and it was "hot!"

-You fetch my purse and shoes for me when we're trying to get out the door.

-You still love hide-n-go-seek (you put a blanket on your head and yell, "A-bum, wher arrre you?")

-You like to reminisce about when you got to have orange juice and pretzels on the airplane ("Eh wore juice -airplane!  Eh petzels!  Yummy!"), and when you got to blow the candles out on your birthday along with (great) Uncle Mark-- "Eh candles! Cake eh Marrrk! Alright!!"

Abram, you are my handsome, sweet little boy and I love, love, love you!

Sweet Abram

It's high time I posted a few words (update: many words) about Abram lately:

(**I tried to post some pictures but it says I ran out of storage space...not sure what to do about that, but here's my Abram in words)

He Loves:
-Helping me in the kitchen (aka hangs on my pants until I hold him on my hip and let him help pour spices in the bowl...quite the feat)
-Spotting babies in public ("Babeeeyyy!")
-Bubble baths
-Playing with and spotting cars/trucks/motorcycles--anywhere and everywhere
-Singing songs with all the hand actions--he even pipes in when he knows the words! (eensie-weensie spider, wheels on the bus, the Sunbeam song, snowman song, popcorn popping, ABCs)
-Reading books...especially my I Spy book--"I Pie!!"
-Watching himself on video
-Going to my grandparent's house in Napa--he makes himself right at home!
-Brushing/flossing teeth (...not!  But he's getting better about it)
-Getting a hold of something he knows he shouldn't, then saying "Bye!" and taking off around the corner
-Cracking himself up in his crib after he wakes up ("Eh bike!...yeah!  Eh car!...Yeah!"...then laughs...)
-Playing ball
-Playing chase with daddy after work...usually at bedtime when he should be winding down.  :)
-Cleaning up to the clean-up song
-Sitting on his potty ("pah-ee") when I go and "wiping" himself (with his pants still on--we have a potty for him but haven't started training yet)
-Helping fold the laundry (shaking it out, then scrunching it up and handing it to me)
-Doing animal sounds and naming body parts
-Stalling at bedtime (asking for water, then sipping slowly while peering over his sippy at me)
-Nursery at church
-Bringing me my shoes when we're getting ready to go somewhere (so sweet!)
-Giving hugs and kisses

Most-Used Words:
"marrrrr" (more)
"car" (car and Carter (Abram's favorite friend who's 3 and shares his cars :)
"duh" (truck)
"day-doo" (thank-you and here-you-go)
"mee-mee" (excuse me and amen)
"co-eey!" (cozy)
"boo!"  (comes around the corner and tries to scare me)
"mie" (vitamin--he loves his gummy vitamin)
"ba-key" (blankie)
"warry" (water)
"go-gur" (yogurt)
"burrbry" (blueberry)
"ca-car" (cracker)
"owie" (owie--this means he wants a kiss)
"Daddy, wherr-you?" (when we wait for Ben outside of his office after work)
"Bett" and "Marrk" (Brett and Mark, my uncles that live out here)
"eye-bow" (eyebrow...a body part he's been interested in lately...?)
"two, two, GO!" (1-2-3 go)
"wet"  (we've been getting a lot of rain lately)
"dark"
"yum" or "mmm"
"bess" (bless you, after I sneeze)
"Whoa! Eh big!" (when something is big or a lot--like giving him a big bowl of smoothie)

Favorite Snacks (most of the time he is a very good eater!):
bell pepper or carrot strips with hummus
banana with peanut butter
yogurt
frozen blueberries
crackers, of course
sunflower seeds
oranges

All in all, Abram is the sweetest little boy and I feel so blessed to have him.  He is so easy-going, happy, and content.  I love my baby boy.

Our Latest...

This is a little movie of Abram I made a few months ago.

We sent it to our families then, and now I've decided it's time to share it with the world (aka the few readers we have of our blog, ha).

(I just watched it again and I'm shocked at how much older he already looks now!)