Playing catch-up

In all the craziness of life the last couple of months, I realized that I neglected to post about a couple things. 

KAYLA'S BIRTHDAY

Kayla turned 4 at the beginning of March.  With a baby less than a month old I wasn't in the mood to put together a big, elaborate party.  Luckily Kayla was very accommodating and easy to please, so we had her party at McDonald's.  

 Parents enjoying small talk while kids played

 Kayla opening her gifts.  The little girl next to her is one of her best friends from both church and preschool.

 

Enjoying a birthday ice cream cone.

The only thing I didn't like about having a party there is the fact that they wouldn't let us bring in our own cake.  They said they would provide one of their own for us, but we decided to spring for ice cream cones instead, and the kids didn't seem to mind.  After the party was done we went home and enjoyed the cake with just our family.

EASTER

Again our celebration this year was pretty simple.  Bill was awesome and took over most of the planning and executing of activities.  On Saturday Will and Kayla went outside for a quick Easter egg hunt in our "backyard" (a large square of grass between our building and another building).  The weather has been unusually cold the last month or so, so they were searching for eggs in snow that hadn't completely melted yet.

 Apparently Sarah was not amused by the festivities.  

Easter morning dawned bright and early with church at 9:00, but not before we took the time to take some pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes.

And after church we invited Bobby and Susan and their family over for dinner.  We made some cute cupcakes for dessert and Kayla wanted to help decorate (and eat).

And just because I love showing off how adorable my kids are, here are a couple of pictures of Sarah

2 months

Sarah at 2 months:


Sucks on her hand voraciously when she gets hungry
Sleeps really well at night already
Has started to smile a lot, especially when you smile at her
Has gained over 2 pounds since birth
Can hold her head up and look around
Loves to have Will hold her, which helps when Mommy needs to do other things

Cuteness

Bill and I are not professional photographers by any means (as shown by the horrible lighting), but occasionally we happen to capture some cute pictures of our kids

 This picture was a complete accident.  I asked Will to look at the camera, but for some reason I hit the button too soon.  But this totally captures how Will feels about Sarah

 

 Bill calls this her gang sign pose

One Month

Sarah turned one month on Monday, March 11.  I looked at her periodically throughout the day, wondering where the last 4 weeks went and marveling at how quickly and easily she has become a part of our family.  Here are a few facts about her first month of life

-She is so expressive already and has huge eyes that take in everything
-She LOVES to be held and snuggled, which means the holder (mostly Mommy, of course) has a very hard time getting anything done unless she's sleeping
-Speaking of sleep, the place she sleeps the best is in her car seat.  She starts out at night just in her playpen, but by the end of the night she is sleeping peacefully in her car seat so that Mommy and Daddy can get some sleep too
-She is a very calm baby, but she is also very good at letting us know she needs or wants something
-She is adored by her big brother and sister.  They are constantly touching her, talking to her, and showing her things
-She is a good mix of both sides of the family.  She has a TON of dark hair, which comes from my side, but her face looks a lot like Bill's side.
-She is patient with her mother who is trying to remember how to handle a newborn

We all love her so much already, and are so glad she is ours

And here's a short and sweet little video that Will took

Introducing...

.

Sarah Lynn Evans

She was born on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 at 4:11 pm via C-section.  She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches long.  I will post birth story details a bit later, but for now here are a few pictures of our newest family addition.  

 

Out With The Old, In With The New

As we celebrated the completion of 2012 and welcomed 2013, we decided to do it with style. 

Say hello to the newest member of our family.  We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Ford Freestyle.  We are so glad to have it.  Buying a new car is always a complicated process, but being in a wheelchair seems to make it even harder.  Not only did we need to find a car that would be big enough to fit our growing family, but we had to make sure it wasn't too high for me to get in and out of comfortably.  This car is the perfect solution.  It's called a crossover vehicle, so it's about as low as a station wagon but it seats 6, which means that it will still work for our family if we have another child after this one.

Of course, it wouldn't be fitting if we didn't mention this wonderful car.

Our trusty Chevy Tracker.  Bill and I bought this about a month after our marriage, and it's been with us ever since.  It's seen us through 2 children, 3 pregnancies, a cross-country move, several trips back West, temple trips, and many other wonderful memories.  We were all very sad to have to say goodbye, but we hope that its new owner will be as happy as we were, and we are looking forward to making new memories with our new car.
 

Christmas 2012 highlights

As you can see, we had a lot of fun this year with Christmas.  We made TONS of treats including candy cane brittle, cookies, cake balls, and more; opened presents (Will's favorites were a set of Legos and a magic set); had what is now our tradition of candy cane coffee cake and hot chocolate for breakfast Christmas morning; and spent some fun time with Bobby and Susan's family.  It seemed, as it always does, that the time before Christmas went way too slow, then in a snap everything was done.  We are sad to see 2012 go, but looking forward to all the amazing experiences that 2013 will bring: a new baby, Will being baptized, Bill passing his prelim, and many other fun and exciting adventures.   

First Piano Recital

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Will started piano lessons at the beginning of the school year.  A friend of mine gives lessons out of her home for a very reasonable price, so I jumped on the chance to get Will started.  A couple of weeks ago was Will's very first piano recital.  He played two Christmas songs and did a great job for his first time playing in public.  One really cute thing that I feel I ought to record happened a little before it was his turn.  I was sitting next to him, and I could tell that he was getting increasingly nervous.  He took out his music and pretended that his lap was the piano so he could "practice" his songs.  It made me smile to see that small bit of dedication at doing something well.

"Up On The Housetop"

"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" (Side note: There was an error with the original video, so this is an audio clip with still pictures from the recital.  The other people in the video are Will's piano teacher, his best friend, and his friend's sister)

The budding musician

Random pregnancy thoughts

I'm not the type of person to share my innermost thoughts on this blog.  Usually it's just a place for us to share the happenings of our lives and post cute pictures of the kids.  However, today I've been thinking about a few things related to my pregnancy and I felt like sharing them, if not just to have them on record. 

1.  This pregnancy seems 10x harder than the last two.  I'm sure I've got selective memory or something and I'm not letting myself remember the bad parts of the last two pregnancies, but this one seems to be so much harder.  First of all, I've been sick pretty much nonstop for the last month.  Bronchitis, sinus infection, stomach bug, etc.  And as I'm sure other moms can attest, being sick AND pregnant is worse than just being sick or just being pregnant.  It seems like it takes FOREVER to get over an illness.  It's caused me to be lazy, unmotivated, and grouchy, which is no fun for my poor family to deal with.  Bill, of course, has been endlessly patient with my mood swings, and has picked up the slack a number of times with either the housework or taking care of the kids.  Luckily I haven't had things like morning sickness or other pregnancy-related problems to deal with on top of all the illness, so I guess I should be grateful because it could be worse.  Still, I'm looking forward to being healthy again.

2.  I'm more fearful and nervous about this pregnancy.  With Will I was super excited and ready to tackle motherhood head-on, mostly because I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting myself into.  When we had Kayla I thought to myself "Ok, I can do this.  2 can't be that much harder than 1, right?"  There were obviously things we had to change when transitioning from 1 to 2, like figuring out rooming situations and buying more things, but it seemed manageable (again, I probably have selective memory, but that's how I remember feeling).  However, with this pregnancy I'm a lot more nervous, stressed, and overwhelmed.  For example, after the fiasco with Kayla's birth (24 hours of labor with no epidural, followed by an emergency c-section), I'm more worried about what this delivery is going to be like.  We're doing our best to prepare ahead of time and talk to the right people, but I'm still super worried.  Second of all, for some reason I've been thinking about where I will be (and where Bill will be) when I go into labor.  I don't know why this is making me nervous but it is.  I keep thinking "Ok, what if I go into labor during the middle of church and everyone sees me freak out" or "what if Bill is teaching his class, or is in the middle of a meeting and can't get home in time and I have to deliver at home or go to the hospital in an ambulance."  And of course there are the fears of how the kids will adjust to having a baby in the house.  Both Will and Kayla can be super hyper and crazy at times, and I worry about how the baby (and I) will handle that, especially on the days when I am sleep-deprived, or the baby is sick or something.

3.  I'm worried about me.  Like I said before, I've been really grouchy and moody during this pregnancy, and it doesn't always have to do with being sick.  I'm pretty sure I've got some sort of depression, plus being overwhelmed with housework and taking care of my family.  I know that some of my problems are probably my fault, because I'm not always the best at making sure I get enough sleep or that I get the right nutrition, but it just feels like life is spinning out of control at times and I don't know how to stop it or slow it down.  I've asked Bill for priesthood blessings a few times, and I try to pray and stay close to the Spirit, but there are days when all I want to do is sleep or veg and let my family take care of themselves.

Now in writing all this, I don't necessarily want people to feel sorry for me or write an epistle in the comments on how to deal with these problems.  I am excited about having this baby and seeing how she fits into our family.  Mostly I'm just venting and writing things down for posterity, especially if Bill and I decide to have more kids in the future.  Getting these things off my chest makes me feel a little better, so I think this post was mostly for me.  You are welcome to comment, call, email or visit if you feel the need.  I do appreciate it when people try and make me feel better.  Thanks for listening.   

Happy Halloween!

If you can't understand the words of the song, here's what it says

Old MacDonald had a ghost who lived behind a post.
On Halloween he came to play.  He scared the kids away.
With a boo, boo here
And a boo, boo there
Here a boo, there a boo, everywhere a boo, boo
Sun came up, the ghost ran fast for Halloween had passed.