Renton River Days

This past weekend, the city of Renton had it's annual River Days celebration, so I decided to take the kids to check it out. I'm so glad we went because there was a bunch of fun stuff for the boys to do and most of it was free!

They had this big thing made out of junk for the kids to bang on with "drum sticks" (aka chopsticks wrapped with tape).







Next was the climbing wall. Evan has always wanted to try one of these and was delighted when they said he was big enough.

Getting harnessed up:


I think it was a lot harder (scarier?) than he expected, but he did really well. He made it about half way up!



After that, they played a game of mini golf.







They were really excited about these giant hamster balls. When it was Asher's turn, a guy from the newspaper asked if he could take pictures of Asher in the ball and then took all his information down. Maybe Asher was in the paper! (I don't know because we don't get the paper.)



After that, we got a hot dog for lunch and then headed over to the youth circus, which was kind of fun. We left early because Ellie got fussy, but it was time for some naps anyway.

On Saturday morning, we decided to go back because we had only seen about half of what there was to see. Besides, it was fun for the boys and a good reason to get out of the house. We discovered the big inflatables and the kids had fun on those until it was time to leave.



When the kids had their turn on this one...


...Asher got to the top and would NOT come down. Evan had time to go down the slide, stand in line and go down again before Asher finally came back down the stairs instead of sliding down.



Silly kid.

After the inflatables, we grabbed a snow cone before heading home.

I had just been telling my mom how I missed all the different summer celebrations they have in Utah, so this was perfect! There was so much to do... we didn't even get to the petting zoo or the free slushies! :)

The first month

Ellie is one month old today. How did that happen???

Randomness from the past month...

All dressed up for her first time at church (10 days old)


(I love this one because of the look on her face... and the bow falling down.)


After her first sponge bath (13 days old).


I can't believe I forgot to post this picture from her 2 week photos. Cute little smile.


First real bath (2 weeks old)


She seemed to like it at first, but then she wasn't so sure.


Going all out with the girliness. :)


This was two days ago. I love the almost cross eyed look.


Ellie sure is a sweet girl. We've had some fussiness to deal with, but we are starting to figure each other out and it's getting better. She's a good eater (she already weighed 9 lbs 2 oz. at her 2 week appointment!) and is starting to put on some chub. She's adored by her brothers (and her parents too, of course). We're so glad to have such a precious little girl in our family.

2 week old Ellie

When Ellie was two weeks old, I decided to attempt an actual "photo shoot" with her. I got everything ready so that it would be perfect. I planned it for the time when she was usually taking a long morning nap, so she'd be nice and sleepy. I put her down for her nap in just a diaper so I wouldn't wake her up undressing her. I got all my props (hats, baskets, backgrounds, bows) out and ready within arm's reach. I put the heated blanket under the backdrop so she'd stay warm and sleepy. I rearranged the furniture in the living room to get the very best light. I had so many ideas and things I wanted to try.... it was going to be great!

But, as she has done from the beginning, Ellie called the shots and things didn't quite go the way I planned.

I got ONE pose in before she woke up. Just one.



It figures that out of all the newborns I've photographed, the most uncooperative one would be my own.



It's a good thing she's so cute.



I didn't even get to put any cute bows on her!


After that one pose, all I got was a bunch of this...


So, I took some pictures of her cute little piggies and called it good.





Better get used to being the subject of my photography, Ellie.... you have a LOT of pictures in your future. :)

Big brothers

I've been trying really hard to get out of the house with the boys once a day to do something fun. We've been alternating through the local parks, walking trails and the pool. I'm happy to say that there have only been one or two days when we haven't done something like this, so I think I'm doing pretty well!

The other day, when we went to walk along the Cedar River Trail, I grabbed my camera on the way out the door and brought it along. I used to lug that thing everywhere, but have slacked off in my picture-taking lately. It's been a while since I've taken some pictures of my boys, though, so I'm glad I grabbed it.





I'm sure grateful for these little guys. They have had their lives turned upside down recently with our big move and now the baby and they've taken everything fairly well. They have been pretty patient with me while I figure out how to be a mommy to three.





They sure love their little sister, too. They are constantly trying to kiss and hug her and they ask me about a million times a day if they can hold her.

She actually quite likes Evan. He can often get her to fall asleep.


She's not as patient with Asher, but he likes to hold her anyway. :)


We have our not so great moments (or even entire days), but for the most part, Evan and Asher are such good, sweet little boys and I'm so grateful for them! :)

6 Days

I'm a little behind, since Ellie is actually 17 days old now. (Eeek! Where does the time go???) Little miss princess doesn't like to be put down, though, so it makes it just a bit hard to find time to edit photos and write blog posts. :)



I took these pictures when she was 6 days old. She was already looking so different from when she was born and I wanted to capture her before she changed anymore.


{You can see how peely her skin was from being late!}

I wanted to capture all her little details... like her arm chub and the swirl in the back of her dark hair...



...and her pretty long lashes.



I wish there was a way to capture her yummy newborn smell or the sweet little sounds she makes. :)

Grandma

My mom was in town last week to help out after Ellie was born. She had booked her fight for the previous week, but when that Sunday rolled around and I was still pregnant, she bumped her flight back a week. I'm so glad she did!



It was a HUGE blessing to have her here. The boys had some quality grandma time and were able to get out of the house to run around every day. Mom did my house work and made dinners while I recovered and snuggled baby girl.

She brought Uno for the boys and ended up playing about a million games of it with them because they loved it so much. I don't think she'll ever want to play Uno again. :)







By Saturday I was feeling really well and getting up and around just fine, so we decided to head over to Seattle for the afternoon and show my mom some of the city.





It was such a beautiful, clear day. We could even see Mt. Rainier. Look closely and you can see it!








I'm so glad my mom was able to come for a visit. I just hope we survive without her. ;)

Introducing Miss Ellie

Well, she made us wait (impatiently) for 8 days after her due date, but little Ellie finally made her dramatic entrance into the world on Thursday, June 23rd. She took her time deciding to come, but once she decided, she sure was anxious to get here. She was almost born in the car!

Here's a quick timeline of our morning:

4:30 ish- My contractions woke me up.
6:09- Called the midwife.
7:20ish- Kids were picked up and Ben and I left for the birth center.
8:11 am- Arrived at birth center.
8:17 am- Got into the tub.
8:19 am- Ellie was born.


{Minutes Old}

So, from start to finish, my labor was only 4 hours. From the time we arrived at the birth center to the time Ellie was born was only 8 minutes!



I don't remember the drive to the birth center in great detail, but I do remember yelling at Ben to "GO FASTER!" and "I do not want to have this baby in the car!!". I also remember him telling me "Don't push! think about something else!" Yeah. Right.

I was so glad we decided to have this birth take place in a birth center rather than the hospital. The experience was a hundred times better. After Ellie was born, I was able to relax in the warm water and then get out and rinse off in the shower before snuggling in bed with my new baby.





After snuggling and admiring to our hearts' content, they finally did the newborn exam. She was healthy and perfect.... and the biggest of our three babies!



8 lbs. 7 oz.
21 1/2 inches



After the exam, Ben got her dressed and ready to go home.





She wasn't too sure about the headband. Her temperature was a little low, so we ended up switching it out for a hat anyway. :)



We left the birth center around noon and stopped to grab lunch and a bunch of Redbox movies on the way home. Ben and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and snuggling baby girl. It felt good to be at home instead of laying in a hospital bed.

After dinner, the boys came home to meet their new little sister.









Most of you know, the naming part ended up being a lot harder than we expected! We finally officially decided on her name on Wednesday when she was 6 days old.

Her official name is Ellette Michelle and we'll call her Ellie.

She is such a sweet little girl. We are all quite smitten with her. The boys just love her to pieces. They want to hold her and kiss her all the time. She loves to be snuggled and doesn't want to be put down... she's our spoiled little princess already. :)





And of course, I'm having fun with cute pink clothes and headbands and stuff. :)




Yaaawwwwnnnn.

I think we'll keep her. :)