mama's girl?

Ok...so we have been busy and happy and tired and thankful. That is us in a nutshell :) Really enjoying life with two little girls. One of my favorite things to say is "the girls and I are going to do... or the girls are sleeping... or the girls and I will be home." The plural is fun. And there have been a few times when both girls are crying at the same time and I smile really giddy-like. One of the most precious sounds ever is the sound of my babies crying! It is really a wonderful life!

A couple of fun things: today Jada wrote her name for the first time! She connected the dots that I did and she wanted to keep doing it over and over again. She did great, she didn't want to pick up her marker on the J but really did an excellent job don't you think?
And I thought I would give you glimpse at our sweet Kiva and her mom's baby pictures. Do you think we might have a little one that looks like her mom? We'll see!

Please keep in mind that I was 8lbs 7 ounces, born in the 70's and this was the photo my mom got at the hospital!

And this is our beautiful 4 week old daughter (as of Wednesday!) The obvious is that she is way prettier...BUT maybe people won't ask me if I am babysitting or say things like "she must look a lot like her dad." :)

We would like to introduce...

Sally, Sam & Ollie!

They live with us now. They go everywhere we go, we buckle them in the car and cover them up for bed and they even go to dance class with us! Yep, Jada has some imaginary friends :)

They started off as snails and an octopus in a made-up story told by MiMi, and now if you ask Jada, they are people...little people that we all take care of. Jada has been pretend playing for quite a while now so this next step doesn't surprise me at all. She is so creative and detailed and I will keep you updated on these new friends of ours. I had two imaginary friends when I was about her age...Keykoo and Kondie...and they were a part of our daily lives for a while and then one day they decided to move to New York (I am pretty sure to pursue a career in dance). So, Sally, Sam and Ollie could move anytime or they could be around for a while?!

And on another note...we are all doing well. Settling in and enjoying our sweet Kiva. I have a lot floating around in my brain, but journaling will be my next step and hopefully I can squeeze in some of that kind of healthy mommy time in the scriptures and journaling! Until then...

pics :)

Our friend and our midwife from Kiva's labor gave Kiva this sweet little gown...so I thought I would take her pic in it today. I am having so much fun with this little one!

Dare I say..

Normal?

Today has actually felt "normal". A new normal, that is! We went over to my sweet friend, Shauna's, for Kiva's baby pics this morning and it was just nice to get out with both girls! Jada is such a good big sis and we were all happy most of the time :) So, tomorrow I might blog about how nothing is normal, but today...NORMAL! ...and wonderful to be a mom of two!

Oh My...

Yesterday was a nice break for me. My mom had Jada all day and Kiva and I were on the same eat/sleep schedule :) It was nice. However, I did get to clean up Jada's room...and, well and I just had to show you what I found in her bed!!!

That's right. 10- count em- 10 blankets, 9 stuffed animals and 6 books! That is not showing three pillows and her twin quilt! Where did the child sleep?????

And a quick update on Kiva...she is doing great! Her jaundice is steadily improving and we are settling into our family of 4 well (thanks to family and friends' help!)

happy one week, Kiva!

I love you, Kiva. I love how your legs are wrinkly and how your lips are perfect and your fingers are extra long like mine and how you are easily distracted from crying, and how excited you get to eat, and how you look around really sweetly with eyes that are so bright, and how you fall totally asleep the moment the sun hits your skin, and how noises of all kinds don't wake you up a bit (even when your sis yells in your face to wake up!), and how you you raise one eyebrow when I rub my finger on your neck and how much you make me think of life and hope and so many wonderful things! So, happy one week birthday, Kiva! I am honored to know you already.

We have been in the sun a lot with Kiva this week...her jaundice is getting better every day and like I said before, she falls asleep and goes limp the moment the sun hits her :)

Our friend, Kay, sent us a surprise Moses basket yesterday and it was perfect timing for us to lay her in the sun by the window...she loves it and so do I.

Jen Cavin made Jada and I matching slings for our babies. Jen sent it a while back, but I just let Jada open it last night. It was such a beautiful night and we decided to go on a walk together. Jada was SO excited when she realized what it was and we walked for a really long time. Thanks Jen! And yes, I am wearing pj pants on a walk and oh how I want to do some serious photoshop work on my body...but all vanity aside...I love this pic of our sweet Jada mommy!

oh how we love our girls

Out of our sleepy fog, we are in love with these little girls! Kiva couldn't be more precious...she is a great eater, she is so fun and alert at times :) and she is such a sweet little snuggler. Big sis, Jada, has also been amazing in her transition so far.
There have been some really especially sweet moments that we have all experienced the redemption and kindess of the Lord. Hearing the noises that Kiva makes; crying, squeaking, cooing, sighing...they are priceless to my soul! I love them and even in the middle of the night find myself laughing out of utter joy! Another, when they were wheeling me out of the hospital we were reminded of how empty and horrible our previous experience was leaving with empty hands...BUT, how wonderful it was to be holding our precious Kiva heading home now knowing the Lord in ways that we have never known before.
Another was sitting in the back seat with both daughters on our way home and literally GIDDY with joy and excitement that this is really happening...we have two daughters to raise!
And there are so many little moments of thankfulness as I have watched Jada be a complete joy through singing, playing lots of pretend, patiently waiting while I feed Kiva, helping with diaper changes and reading books to all of us :) She is such a gift!


Tomorrow Brian goes back to work and we go to the doc for a jaundice test (since I am rh negative) ...hopefully we can get a little bit more sleep than we have, but let's be honest?!

Kiva Victorie!!!!

Kiva is here! We are blessed! Just look at her! Today was a magnificent day and an exhausting day...

I would love to write all of the amazingly sweet and powerful things that we experienced with the Lord today, but for now, you get the facts...that is until I have a little more energy!

Kiva is beautiful. Really. She has light brown hair, deep blue eyes, is 5 lbs 15 oz and is 19 1/4 inches long. She is perfect with her sweet tiny feet and hands and we could just stare at her all day!

Labor was a gift too...I labored for 4 hours and it was so so tough, but God was so kind in letting me have a natural birth quickly! Our good friend, Nanci, is a midwife and was so key in the labor and delivery. Contractions were tough, I only had to push three times, but boy was that hard :)

Brian, my mom and his mom were all a part of the laboring too and I was so grateful for all of their love and prayers in those moments!

Jada came up to the hospital with all of our parents this afternoon and that was a really special time too. She climbed into bed with me and Kiva and was literally giddy. One of the sweetest moments was when Jada sang a song for Kiva "From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord shall be praised"... just smiling and staring right at Kiva the whole time. I wept such happy tears. My two daughters in bed with me...what a gift!!!

We are about to go to sleep after a very eventful day, praising God for the gift of life! Enjoy the photos and we will write more later with more fun pics!...AND THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS FOR US!!!

fall festval and rest!

We went to the fall festival in downtown Bryan on Saturday...it was a full day of fun, Jada had a blast and we also were able to see the dancers perform which Jada could have watched forever :) Here she is in the bounce castle, the race car, obstacle course and painting a van. We had a great time! The downside was that I have been "overdoing" it a bit and my blood pressure is a bit low...so I am resting while MiMi takes care of me and Jada! Actually Mike and my mom came over and did so much around our house with Brian while entertaining Jada...I am so grateful!

As for me...other than two episodes of my heart feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest, I am feeling great and Kiva is moving around wonderfully. We get to meet her in TWO DAYS!!!!

normal people do this kind of thing...

Tonight is an absolutely beautiful night here! Brian and I were officially putting off all sorts of stuff that we need to get done around the house so that we could enjoy eachother's company and enjoy the evening. So...about 9:00 we decided to make hot chocolate and go outside with the fresh crisp air and just talk. We took two lawn chairs into our front yard. That's right, our front yard. As we were sitting there enjoying the moon and stars we got a good laugh as we realized together:

Normal people do this kind of thing in their BACK YARD!

Not us...see, our back yard has a massive hole in it with crumbled up cement and lots of clay. There are remains of what used to be our pool in different areas and somehow the hole collects nasty rainwater. Yep, it is nasty and grose and if we had extra thousands of dollars we would totally have a normal backyard...with land and grass...but until that extra money comes in, we are working in stages. Most days I ignore it...sometimes I get pretty sad, irritated and totally frustrated...and sometimes I get a good laugh out of it...today was one of those days.

We were totally happy in our front yard. Strange as we looked, we are so thankful to be together and talking about all sorts of stuff, including the fact that this time next week we will have TWO precious daughters asleep inside. We are blessed...and a bit ghetto too!