Our 4th Valentine's!

Since we were expecting our beautiful little Emery any day, we decided to celebrate Valentine's early, on February 2nd!! Darren did an amazing job planning it all for me! The day before he scheduled for me to get my hair done which turned out so cute! Then, the morning of our Special Valentine's Day, he scheduled an appt for me to get a fabulous pedicure! My feet have never been happier and my toes were painted so cute! While I was away, Darren cleaned the whole house for me!! What a guy! We waited until the kids were in bed before we called our neighbors over and snuck out! We decided to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant we've been wanting try. And let me tell you, it was sooooooo good! We made sure to enjoy the time because after we have 3 kids, who knows when we'll be out by ourselves again!

When we got home, Darren put together a really fun candlelit chocolate fondue and smores date. It was so romantic!

 We used a candle to toast the marshmallows for the smores and for a fun twist we put fresh raspberries in between! I was super impressed with his planning skills! And just when I thought the date was over, he took me upstairs!

 Apparently he had scavenged for large branches earlier that day and made a quick 4 poster style bed frame out of them.

Then he twisted twinkle lights around them! It was so beautiful and completely blew me away! It was amazing! And to top it all off, he left a box of my very favorite, See's Chocolates on my pillow! Then we snuggled down and watched a movie in bed! It was the BEST date ever!!! And I loved my make shift 4 poster bed so much that I requested he leave it up for a week or so! I really couldn't believe how much thought, time, effort and love he put into planning our date. Darren is so good to me and he really knows how to make me fall in love with him over and over again! Thank you babe for such a wonderful night!! I love you sooooo MUCH!

Baby Emery Is HERE!

Last week I was diagnosed with my 2nd kidney infection during this pregnancy. My Dr suggested I get induced on friday Feb 8 and I was more than excited but slightly nervous. I always get worried about inductions as there is a higher chance of something going wrong. I was induced with Kaiden but I was 4 cm and beyond ready. My labor with him was 5 hours. This go around I was starting at 1 cm and I was terrified it would be painful or that I would never progress.

My mom flew into town the night before to watch the boys who were very excited to get their baby sister, FINALLY! Darren and I got up at 6 am to get ready and be at our hospital, 30 mins away. We barely slept we were so excited! I chose to deliver at Methodist Women's Hospital because it is only 4 years old and has excellent reviews, it also has the best NICU in the area if something were to go wrong. This is why I drove the 30 minutes for every appointment, and once we checked in at 8 am, I KNEW I had made the right decision!

HUGE delivery rooms with memory foam beds!

Flat screen tv with cable and a couch that folds into a bed for Darren!

Also, this amazing jacuzzi whirl pool tub! I seriously thought I might wake up and find Darren in here! lol!

Darren joked that the Marriot must have gotten into the Hospital business! lol! It truly was like staying in a hotel! To say it was nice was an understatement and the nurses were all beyond helpful and HAPPY to be there! I loved it!  We checked in at 8 am and at 9 am I was started on a low dose of Pitocin. I was told that every 30 minutes the Pitocin drip would increase. I had never been on Pitocin before and had only heard scary stories, so I was a little nervous. I'm a baby for pain! Well, I'm proud to say I had no problem with it! In fact had the nurses not told me, I never would have guessed I was on Pitocin. It felt just like natural labor! At 10 am, 1 hour later, a midwife came in to break my water. My nurse then suggested I walk the halls for 30 minutes to get things going. So away we went. After 30 minutes of walking my contractions were coming every 2 minutes. They weren't horribly painful yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time, so I requested the epidural. At 11 am my epidural was set and I was ready to settle in for a nap. Well like I said, they had AMAZING nurses at my hospital. My nurse stayed with me and never left my side after I got the epidural. I had told her I progress really fast especially after 7 cm and so she decided to stay and check me every 15 minutes. It was AWESOME! As soon as I was complete, which only took 40 minutes, she called my Dr, whose office is attached to the hospital, and he was over within 10 minutes. I pushed through 2 contractions and lil miss Emery was born at 12:58 pm!!! (YES that was only 4 HOURS!!!!!) She was born sleeping and didn't make a peep until the nurses roughed her up. lol. They like the babies to cry to get the gunk out of their throats. You think that I would be worried, but Jaxton didn't cry when he was first born so I knew everything was okay.

Getting weighed and measured!

My labor was so awesome this picture was literally taken after I gave birth and I didn't even touch up my hair or makeup! Best labor yet! lol (also Emery looks like a thug!)

Looking like Kaiden! We are pretty sure she is going to have Blue eyes too!

Emery weighed in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 inches long. She is now the biggest and tallest baby I've had! This is funny to me because I swear I had the smallest belly and I literally thought she would weigh 5 lbs! lol. Darren and I had a bet that if she was born with bonde hair her middle name would be Paige, my fave, and if she was born with brunette hair her middle name would be Lynn, Darren's fave.

Well we were shocked when she came out with black hair! So we used another name we loved that is a family name on my side, which is Belle! Yes its super rhymey with our last name, but we just love the way Emery Belle sounds!
Our hospital has a rule that they don't give babies baths until they are 4 hours old. It has something to do with them regulating their own body temp first. So she was still covered in blood and vernix and was only wrapped in a hospital swaddling blanket. She was NOT happy and was super fussy.

Im so glad she loves bows because I've made a TON!

Well as soon as she got her bath and we put her in an adorable gown and bow she was elated! She was so happy she ate and passed out for the night! She is such a diva and we love her so much for it!!!

Mommy and daughter! She feeds like a champ and eats LOTS! lol

She was an instant Daddy's Girl, which is the absolute sweetest thing ever! She already has her daddy wrapped tightly around her tiny little fingers!

Dena and Farrell came to visit us for a bit later that night and they fell in love with her just as we had! We are so excited to take her home tomorrow! Her brothers are so anxious to meet their beautiful baby sister! We can't wait to see her grow and get more beautiful with everyday!

Sweet Shoppe Nursery!

One of our projects while Darren was on break was to finish up lil girl's nursery! I've had a pinterest board just full of ideas, that I've been building upon for months! It feels so good to finally have it finished!

 

BTW, we recently painted her closet, so now its white instead of grey!!!

Darren had the idea of using this sweet little nursery rhyme and I had no problem knowing just where to put it! Its a good thing my mother in law has a super handy cricut!

A close up of my super cute mod podged letters and the vinyl decal!

I loved this super easy, super cute, super cheap way to fill up a whole wall! You cant really tell, but the small white picture frame has a letter E inside made of little white flowers!

Yes we bought her bedding and for a pretty good deal! I found it for half of what Babies R Us was selling it for and thats even including the matching curtains, diaper stacker and mobile!

Under the shelf I hope to put 3 picture frames horizontally with her newborn photos in them! Cant wait!

 

Luckily we were able to re use our glider and changing pad from Kaiden's nursery! Then we found this dresser and the mirror on the side of the road and paid probably $8 in paint. What a find!!

Some of my little projects!

I just love how these turned out!!!! So cute!

And here is a bow holder I made from a wooden frame, scrapbook paper, vinyl letters, and ribbon! I still need to add mini hooks to the bottom for the headbands. My next project is to fill this baby up!!

 

Now I just got to find things to keep me busy until she arrives! Cant wait to see her sweet baby face! I just know she'll be the cutest baby ever!!!

Grampa Mark is Here to Play!!

Since my dad is a pilot he gets to visit us often, the downside is, the visits are short! This time it was a 1 day visit. He flew in late Friday, we played all day Saturday and he flew out early Sunday morning. But thats okay, because we'll take what we can get!!!!!

Mostly my dad wanted to fly out to buy the boys their Christmas presents!!! So we drive to Toys R Us and spent 2 hours looking and playing through all the isles!! Once my dad was satisfied with a FULLY loaded cart we made our way to the 30 minute line!!! My dad just loves spoiling his grandsons! The rest of the day, we played at home. Mostly the boys just wanted to wrestle him for hours! lol. It was a way fun, short little visit and we can't wait to have him visit us again soon!

On an off topic note, I'm now 30 weeks along this pregnancy and feeling pretty good!!! We are so excited to meet our beautiful baby "Emmie" in 2 months!!! I just know the next month will fly by and then January will draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag! It's gotta end soon though because I can't stop shopping for her!!! Thankfully Darren has been a great sport about it! He lets me sleep in practically every day he can and has done almost all the laundry since I became preggo! He is just the best! Not to mention all the late night PB&J sandwiches and candy runs!! He is so excited to be a daddy to a little princess!

Thanksgiving 2012

I've been so busy lately Ive fallen way behind on my blog! I'll try to post what I can rememebr from that way fun week!

Dena offered to have Thanksgiving at her house this year. I know she loves having so much family live so close, as do I! To be honest I remember Thanksgiving morning/ afternoon being kinda rough with the boys, they were both off and by the time we got to Grandma Dena's house they were crazy pants! So right after eating, Darren and I had to leave to put our kids down for naps, which they did oh so willingly! Poor tired boys! And we ventured out later that night with 2 much happier boys, had some Thanksgiving leftovers and desserts and played some fun family games!! The dinner was amazing, and the leftovers, as always, were even better! I'm so grateful she did all the work for us!

(Looks like these boys need a haircut!!!!! And Kaiden possibly needs a smile! lol)

Well, my mother had flown in with her sister to Des Moines to spend Christmas with my Grandma Nonie and Grandpa Jerry the week prior, and on Friday my lil family drove up to get our Grammy Carrie!

 It's less than a 2 hour drive and we spent about 3 hours visiting before we grabbed my mom and drove on home! We got home and put the kiddos to bed and then my mom suggested Darren and I go Black Friday shopping! How awesome!!! We didnt expect to find much but, surprisingly we did and it also turned into a really fun date night!!!

We were lucky to have my mom for about 5 days!! We took her to the Gingerbread Display at the Tabernacle, we baked lots of sweet goodies, we shopped our hearts out, my mom gave us a second date night (yay movies!!), she cut our hairs, and we spent lots of time just hanging out! lol. I'm pretty sure she had a great time and the boys really love it when their grandparents come to visit!!!

We are so beyond blessed and so very thankful for everything in our lives. It seems like everything has just fallen into place and we are so happy and comfortable where we are at. Family, Friends, our beautiful Home, our Crazy Happy Kids, Darren who works so hard in Law School, our Ward, our Health, just so much to think about! And although times can get stressful with our wonderfully busy/ messy kids, at least I can say we are all HAPPY! And that's definitley something to be thankful for!

(Blurry pics courtesy of a camera phone!!!)

Our first Omaha Halloween!!

Yes, this post is a little late, but better late than never!!!!
Other than all the fun trunk or treats, we also had a way fun time at the Cousin's Halloween Party Dena threw!! She planned fun games and had such cute treats for the kids, the cousins sure had a fun time! Later we went out to a a corn maze which was unfortunatley closed, but we had fun on the  hay ride and the jungle gym that was there!!! And as if Dena hadn't done enough, she planned her famous Halloween Dinner! We all got a babysitter and it was so nice to have a little date night with my hubby!!!

The night before Halloween, Darren's Law Professors planned a special trick or treating event for families, but more importantly for the kids! Although it wasnt a big turn out the kids got a bit more practice at the whole trick or treating game and Darren got to introduce his amazing and simply charming family to his teachers! Everyone loved our boys costumes!!!
On Halloween Day, we went down to the Botanical Gardens and trick or treated a bit. It was cute and fun but probably not worth going next year, note to self!!
As it turns out, Village Green is one HAPPENING place to be on Halloween! I stayed behind to pass out candy while Darren took the boys. We got our first trick or treaters around 6 pm and were out of candy by 7 pm and I got ALOT of candy because I was told to prepare! lol. Kaiden had only been out 1 hour, filled his bucket to the brim, and only been through half of Village Green before telling his daddy he was tired and ready to go home. With the loot Kaiden and Jaxton scored we were able to completley refill our big bowl of candy that we had emptied for the trick or treaters!!! Had Kaiden made it through all of Village Green, we would have doubled the candy that we bought! So crazy to think! =D
The kids had a great time this Halloween season and still, in the middle of November have been askingif they can go trick or treating again! lol. My boys are so great!!

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

I dont know if I have mentioned how much we love Omaha yet or not. Anyways, here's another reason! (As if we need more!) Vala's Pumpkin Patch! I love our ward they are always making sure we know all the fun things to do in the area and since Sepetember when Vala's opened for the season, its all they've been talking about! It seemed like the perfec tweekend to go since the weather was so nice and my dad was here, so away we went! We literally waited in traffic for an hour and a half but it was all so worth it!!!

Jaxton in some pumpkins!

Kaiden in some Pumpkins!

At Vala's they had lots of livestock around the park to pet and feed!

Vala's also has lots of large familar characters around the park for the kids to climb on and pose with! Kaiden got so excited to see Mickey!!

Vala's also has lots of these cardboard cut outs! Which for some reason Kaiden in obsessed with! I can barely get him to smile for pics but when he's in one of these he screams and begs for me to take a million pics of his sweet face! lol

Jaxton's first time in a cardboard cut out!

I thought these were the COOLEST! THey had animatronic characters all throughout the park! This one is a goblin, but they also had skeletons, pirates, draculas, etc! The boys were really into these!

The stocks for "Troublemakers, Malcontents and Lollygagers!"

These were singing pirate/ skeleton animatronics! They were also Jaxton's favorite!!

And of course we couldn't sneek past the "Balloon Lady" without the boys begging us for one! Kaiden begged for a Spiderman and Jaxton got a little Pumpkin Man! The boys got VERY attached to their balloon men!

Vala's also had lots of old Tractors to play on! I'm telling ya, we barley hit up half the park in the 3 hours we were there, but it was so much fun! They also had hay pits to jump in, Pony Rides, Fudge Shops, Candy Shops, ALL kinds of delicious foods (Darrens favorite being smore sandwhiched between 2 warm chocolate chip cookies,) Corn Mazes, Haunted Houses, a Pumpkin Cannon, lots of games, a Large Pumpkin Patch, lots of kids cars for them to ride around in and MORE! They even sell season passes, and now I can see why! Everything we ate was delicious, everything the kids got made them happy, and all the games/ activities kept our boys very busy! Such a fun experience! I think we need to go again to finish the other side of the park!!