Welcome Elizabeth Grace!

Making her appearance 9 days early, just as Chris had predicted, Elizabeth Grace came to us on March 15th at 11:49am. She was 17 inches long, and weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

A few days before Elizabeth came, Chris captured these sweet pictures of the girls kissing their baby sister. As the time drew near for their sister to arrive, there were lots of emotions running through our house. Emily wanted to be held all the time, needing constant reassurance that Mama loved her. Addison got more and more excited as Mama's belly got bigger and bigger. She would ask to see Baby daily, lifting my shirt to give the belly a kiss or a hug. 

On the morning of Thursday the 14th, after a night of semi-sleep and increasing contractions, Chris left for work only to be called back 20 minutes into his drive. I was sure the baby would be coming very soon and wanted Chris to be home. We spent the day timing contractions, going for walks in the neighborhood, and waiting. The girls were pretty excited to have Dad home on a day that he would normally be at work.

Reading in the "Prepared Childbirth" book about timing contractions - Emily was very interested to see what this book was all about

While I ate lunch inside and rested, Chris entertained the girls out in the backyard with a bit of snow that remained after a big snowstorm the weekend before. Chris had made a 6 foot tall snowman with all the snow, and four days later, this little pile was all that remained.

At 9:30pm, the contractions were finally coming regularly enough to head to the hospital.

One last picture before loading up to head to the hospital

At the hospital, the contractions petered out again, so we rested for a couple hours before waking up to stronger, more intense contractions. It wasn't until about 8am on Friday the 15th that the nurse had me start pushing. Here's a picture of Chris and I just before the pushing started (I had an epidural by then, if you can't tell from the smile).

Elizabeth ended up needing to come to us by c-section. She was facing sideways and just wouldn't turn. She was born at 11:49 on Friday morning.

Because she had been in some distress during birth, she needed to get a little extra oxygen right after she was born. 

Chris likes to call this one the shot of his little astronaut

About two hours after she was born, I got to hold her. It was such a relief to see that she was strong and healthy.

Chris and my mom were also relieved to see Mom and Baby healthy and happy.

 

After having some snuggle time with Mom, Elizabeth got her first bath.

And spent some time relaxing with Dad.

We are so happy you're here Elizabeth! 

 

We're Two!

Emily and Addison turned two on February 27th, and there was much fanfare and celebration!

We began celebrating at the beginning of February, when the Mom's group got together to celebrate all our twos at a place called the Little Gym in Westminster.

Starting Out with Some Circle Time

Basketball!

This girl's got game!

Monkeys!

The girls got to swing with their old gymnastics buddy, Zander

Cupcakes and a Happy Birthday Song for Everyone! 

On the actual day of their birthday, both girls were getting over really bad colds, and they started the morning looking like this...

I decided to make them a birthday cake, and thought it would be fun if they could watch. Emily misunderstood and thought she was getting cake right away, and was sorely disappointed to get in her chair and not get cake.

So I gave her a cookie to ease the pain. It worked.

Addie enjoyed her cookie as well.

Note the lap full of stuff - that's pretty typical of Addie these days. We call her the hoarder. She picks a few things to carry around with her, and she's very careful to bring them all around the house.

The recipe "One Bowl Chocolate Cake" I guess I was thinking simple and easy, but it wasn't too tasty. As for the decorating, hmmmm, Britney likes to refer to the green as seaweed and another friend asked what shape pan I used, squoval?

When the girls woke up from their nap, their presents were on the table, and boy were they excited to get a closer look!

Emily and Addison got to come with Mom and Dad to Mom's 36 week appointment, where an ultrasound was performed to make sure Sister was still head down. They were pretty amazed to see a picture of their little sister on the screen. 

Then it was off to Red Robin for a special birthday dinner.

Emily got mac n cheese and Addie got pizza. Yum!

Delicious!

More please!

Woo hoo!

Then the Red Robin folks came and sang their special birthday song, and the girls got ice cream sundaes!

Chris looks pretty excited.

When we got home, it was time for presents, and before ripping in, the girls waited patiently for a photo.

Dress up dresses! Woo hoo!

Emily the butterfly ballerina

Addison the Sea Princess

Emily was very into the headband that came with the Sea Princess costume

Tonka Truck! This thing's gonna be great in our future sandbox!

Now that they're two, we figure it's time to start training them on chores

Emily found that the Tonka truck served perfectly as a changing table

Mom and snuggle bunny Addie

Hey, there's that cake we helped make!

Both girls dug right in when they were given their cake.

After about two bites, Addie decided she was all done.

Emily, on the other hand, has a less discerning sweet tooth.

 

And after cake comes....you guessed it, bubble bath time!

The actual birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, and the weekend after the big day, we had family over to celebrate with a party.

Saturday morning, the girls came down to find the house decorated with balloons and streamers. It was all very exciting.

Emily: "ball!" Addie: "bloo!"

The cake duties were left to King Soopers this time around

Grandpa John

The Greats came to help celebrate!

Great Grandpa is a firm believer in animal crackers. He is always sure to have the treats for his great grandkids.

Grandma the Great and DeeDee

Callie loved our keyboard with built in microphone, and serenaded the crowd.

BG and Annalea

Lots of love from Aunt Britney

Playing chase with Dad

Annalea was all smiles all day long, and her smile is infectious!

Yes, it was only the 3rd of March, and yes, there was snow on the ground, but it was also over 60 degrees. Perfect for some outdoor fun!

Presents!

DeeDee got the girls this precious tea set, that had to be used immediately for an impromptu tea party

Big Girl Callie. I asked her if the girls were big girls now that they're two, but she said not until they're three. We'll wait another year.

 Cake!

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