Whew! We made it...

This morning was the first morning that we all had to be out the door by 8 am for school/work

Of all the adjusting we have all had to make with a new baby in the house, this has caused the most stress in my life.

We barely made it out the door on time before, and that was only with 3 kids to get ready. 

Now we have to add a 4th, a newborn at that, and there is snow on the ground...

that is beautiful, but adds another dimension to the am (winter apparel and snow removal)

Satan made it almost impossible for us to make it out the door on time..

• Last night I was awake more than I slept, due to poor Miss Liv catching her brothers' colds and being super congested making it almost impossible to sleep or eat, unless she was held upright.

• Due to this extreme lack of sleep, the boys and I slept in later than we should have.

• Therefore I did not get a shower or breakfast (but not a super big deal as I can do that anytime today) Or just skip the shower...

• Isaac slept in for the 3rd time in his life, had to be woken up, and ate his breakfast in the car from a bag.

• Elijah coughed so hard he puked up his 1st breakfast  and ate his 2nd breakfast in the car

• Isaac discovered the vicks that I left out last night and painted most of his face and body with it while we were all running around like crazy trying to get hats, mittens and coats on!

• Olivia expressed her "love" for her carseat by screaming bloody murder from the moment she was strapped in, the entire time it took for everyone to get into the car and buckled, and until both big boys were dropped off at school. (Her crying causes extreme stress for Jonah and Elijah...Isaac doesn't seem to bothered by it)

• Isaac was afraid of the snow and refused to walk to the car himself so I had to carry him and put him in the car.

• Jonah was so sweet and brushed the snow off the car that he could reach, but I realized once we were all strapped in and ready to back out of the driveway that my windshield wipers were on strike this morning due to the snow and ice. Grrrrr!

So despite all that occurring, we somehow managed to make it out the door early enough where I could bring Elijah to preschool first (as I have to walk him into his class) then Jonah could wait in the car with the little 2, and drop Jonah off second (as he can just run into his school by himself)!

As Jonah jumped out the door and sprinted into school I shouted out an Amen (which Isaac seconded) and all I could think was...

Whew! We made it!

I feel like I just ran a marathon and it is only 9am!

As a reward for getting everyone to school on time, and showing Satan what I think of his attacks, I decided to pick up a good friend on the way home...

(Don't worry Richard, it is my 1 for the week, and I used $5 I found in my winter coat to pay for it!)

Now I will enjoy my peppermint decaf mocha friend, and reflect on my 4 greatest blessings who make life exciting and challenging all at the same time!

Cheers to mornings!

I can hardly wait!

This summer, at our local farmer's market, I discovered my friend Ashley makes these adorable baby clothes, clips, and shoes.

She had short sleeved onesies on display at the market and I asked her if she could make me some long sleeved onesies for our little lady.  So I found a pack at Kohls and brought them to her, she let me pick out the patterns I wanted and she got to work. 

I picked them up yesterday and they are beautiful!

She gave me these adorable shoes, some stinking cute clips, and a super fun flower headband as a gift...

I am afraid I will have to get some more items as Miss Olivia grows!

Until then I can hardly wait for her to be big enough to wear these onesies and shoes!

Or for her hair to grow a bit so we can put the clips in :0)

Here is her etsy website with some items for sale.

You should check it out!

I also received another extremely cute and creative gift from my friend Stacy who brought us supper last night....

It is a onesie and diaper rolled up in a snack cup, with spoon and a ball on top to look like a cupcake.

Isn't that cute?

Poor Isaac thought we could eat it.

He was pretty disappointed to discover it was not edible. 

Thanks ladies!  I am very excited for her to get bigger and be able to wear these fun gifts!

Mommy and Me

Last night we were able to go out with some good friends of ours, Nate and Amy.

We have known them for years and our kiddos are all about the same age. 

Amy has 2 girls and made this beautiful gift for Olivia and I...

Matching aprons!!!!!!!!

Aren't they adorable??????  

What a fun gift!  I told her she should go into business selling these. She is a VERY busy lady with 3 kiddos of her own and working full time, so she politely declined ;0)

My boys love to cook/bake with me and they do have their own aprons (with cars and airplanes on them) but I am praying that Olivia also enjoys cooking/baking with mom some day.

I pray we are able to enjoy many things together, in fact I have taken her on a few shopping excursions hoping to get her to start liking this early, as I really enjoy shopping.

The little turkey has slept through most of them.

Hopefully she doesn't listen to her brothers who say "Boo to shopping" (except Isaac who doesn't have a choice yet) and who yells "Yeah Shoppin', Yeah!"

So Thank You Amy, and Yeah to Cooking/Baking and Shopping Olivia!

Just a quick peek...

I am still working on writing Olivia's birth story...weird that I haven't had time to finish it while we are adjusting to being a family of 6!?!?

While you are waiting...

Here is a just a quick peek at my cuties.

Two big brother's who ADORE their baby sister...

The above mentioned baby sister who is adored by us all...

My sweet littlest man who is adjusting better than I thought he would, but still having a hard time sharing his momma with his little sister who he also adores 

and dishes out numerous hugs and kisses all day long to...

A fabulous 5 year old brother who has been so great at helping keep Olivia safe from her 20 month old brother Isaac whose hugs are so tight they could possibly be giving her internal damage!

My little lady who is very laid back, easygoing, sleeps great, eats wonderfully, and allows her momma to dress her in her cute girlie clothes and put on headbands with obnoxiously large flowers on them.

Olivia means peace and it sure fits our Olivia.

So curious to see who she becomes.

Also wondering what color her hair will be to match her dark eyes that look as though they will be brown like daddy and her biggest brother Jonah!

Our house is chaotic, there never seems to be a dull moment, and we are loving it!

Poor Olivia

Poor Olivia

No one ever pays any attention to her...

 No one ever holds her...

She has nothing to wear, especially nothing that's pink!

She certainly doesn't have a momma who is madly in love with her and enjoying every moment of having a daughter...

She also hasn't stolen her daddy's heart either...

Poor Olivia.

Trick or Treat

Halloween this year was a bit chaotic for our family of six!

We came home from the hospital the day before and everyone was anxious to show off Miss Olivia.

I had to bring her in for a weight check and bilirubin check that morning so she and I made an appearance at Elijah's preschool first. 

The class was having a Halloween party so all the kids were dressed in their costumes. 

They all surrounded Olivia and stared at her in awe for about 3.2 seconds and then each preschooler proceeded to tell me about their costume and who they were. 

It was quite adorable!  Elijah was beaming when he announced he had brought his baby sister for show and tell. Made me a little teary. 

Then Miss Olivia and I headed a few blocks north to Jonah's 1st grade classroom for more show and tell.

Jonah got to sit in the rocking chair and hold her while the class surrounded him on the floor in awe of our smallest pumpkin. 

They had tons of questions and sat in silence and stared at her. 

Jonah's teacher has 3 boys of her own and was in love with Olivia too. 

Next we headed to the doctor for a quick weight check and bilirubin level check. 

She was 7lbs 11.4 oz already and her bilirubin level was a little higher than they would have liked, but she was eating well and I felt comfortable keeping an eye on it at home. 

Our final stop was to the middle school where Richard works for one last "show and tell" before heading home.  It was pretty fun watching Richard show off his daughter. 

I had quite a few teachers come and tell me how sweet he was that morning when they had congratulated him.  One told me she had commented on how cute Olivia was in the picture Richard had posted on the school news and he quickly responded, "she's much cuter in person!"

We got home and crashed until the evening when she had her first bath.

I had some "helpers" to make it go faster...

she wasn't a big fan of it.

 she did like snuggling in her nice warm girlie towel after (thanks Mollie)

Then we headed out for a little trick-or-treating...

We had a storm trooper, pumpkin, green lantern, and a monkey

Olivia really looked like a pumpkin with her orange skin too.

Our first stop was Auntie Nikki and Uncle Tom's house.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house

Grandpa snatched Olivia up pretty quickly ;0)

The boys went up and down their block while Olivia and I relaxed with Grandma and Grandpa.

They had a good time going house to house, but the big boys struggled with slowing down enough for Richard and Isaac to keep up.

Olivia wore a sweet superhero outfit under the pumpkin costume that she got from 

my cousin Stacy and her girls

It even had a cape on the back!

We were all pretty exhausted when we got home, but it was sure a fun day/night.

Can't believe she had only been here for 3 days at that point. 

Already felt like she had been here forever!

Miss Liv

My dear, talented friend Stacey Rygh came up to visit us in the hospital 

and got some fabulous pics of our sweet baby girl...

She is taking her pics on Friday and I CAN'T wait!!!!!!

I teared up just looking at these.

I am amazed at how she has only been here 4 days, 

but has managed to wrap everyone around her little finger. 

I am also loving all the pink in my house!