Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Yes...

Our newest little one DOES have hair.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Introducing...

Clara Dianne
Born 9/20/09 at 12:06pm
7 pounds, 5 ounces
19 inches long
Mom, Dad, baby, and big sisters are all well!
Thank you all for your prayers for a safe arrival! More pictures to come when Mama isn't so tired. :)

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Game On!

Sparkle had her first soccer game today. Her league plays three kids per team and rotates players every three minutes, so she got lots of field time. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day...
By the way, did you know that the "A"...
...says, "Aaaa"?
She does!



Monday, September 7, 2009

Looking Forward To Welcoming Our Newest Babe...

...and looking back fondly on our first two arrivals.

Sparkle
Sunny

Sunday, September 6, 2009

My Grandma Always Said...

...that it takes a little pain to be beautiful.

For years we told Sparkle that she was free to get her ears pierced just as soon as she wanted... so long as she realized that it would hurt. The warnings of pain were enough to dissuade her for a long time, but about a month after we moved she decided that she could handle the pain. "I know it's going to hurt, but I'll just cry for a few seconds and it will be okay." We called around to find a store that had two people on hand to do the piercing so that both lobes would be done at the same time.

Here's her final photo without earrings...
Marking the spot. And getting a little nervous!
I've never seen anything so sad as the look in Sparkle's eyes right before the triggers were pulled. She was absolutely terrified, but sat super still just like we had talked about.
I unwrapped her lollipop as fast as I could and popped it into her mouth... it worked like a charm!Here she is getting her first look:
Unable to resist more peeks as we waited in line to pay...
In the end, she decided that the pain had definitely been worth it. Isn't she beautiful?

The Big Move

Just a few short days after Buzz graduated, we loaded up the moving truck and got set to head out across the country to our new home. We have very few photos of our last days in Utah... just too much going on to think about picking up the camera!
One of the best moments of our move: the first piece of furniture to come out of the house shattered into a hundred pieces before it was half way to the truck. You should have seen the look on the guys faces! I'm just glad it didn't break and fall on top of our kids while loaded with TV equipment. No biggie, you get what you pay for!
Sparkle and I were the last to leave the house on the way to turn over our keys. I turned to tell her to get into the car and found her like this... hugging our house goodbye. Poor girl. She really had a hard time leaving the house where her earliest memories were made. I don't know if I've ever felt more sad for her!
We spent our last night in town with our small group. We miss these guys more than words can say. Aren't they a good looking bunch?
After a LONG two days in the car, we were able to sign for our house and get our keys prior to the start of the weekend (thanks to Buzz for spending HOURS on the phone pushing things through so that we didn't have to wait until Monday!). The house was in need of some deep cleaning, check out the floor in my kitchen. I spent days on my hands and knees with several boxes of Magic Erasers after discovering that my floor wasn't the color that I had thought that it was.
The girls had a grand time playing in the new back yard with their cousins while we unpacked. It felt good to see them stretching their legs and settling in after so many days and weeks of chaos. I've never seen Sunny look so relieved as when she saw her crib mattress coming through the door. "Hey, that's MY bed!" I'm not sure she thought that she'd ever see it again.
I'm happy to report that we were completely unpacked within our first month in the house. We still need to hang photos on the walls, but we're waiting to get things painted first. We have a couple of rooms done, I'll get around to posting pictures eventually. :) The Midwest is quickly becoming home and we're grateful that our move went relatively smoothly.