Quilts

I had finished some quilts before Hailey was born and just hadn't posted them yet....

This one was obviously for Brooklyn, my sister's baby

I've had this kit for awhile and had done it. Our ward YW did an auction to raise money for camp, so I donated this to be auctioned. It found a good home!

My favorite part was the ribbon that looked like straw

And this quilt was for my sister-in-law Misty, who's baby is due in June. Becky and I made it and then my mom did the binding when she was here in April.

Due Date

May 22nd was the day that Hailey was due! She's now 6 1/2 weeks and such an angel. She's doing super and we are so grateful for that! I don't know how much she weighs, but it's probably around 7 lbs.

She is nursing every feeding now and does much better about staying awake for both sides. She usually goes to bed about 11:00 or 11:30 and gets up once at 4:00 and then goes back down until 7 or 7:30.

Her siblings adore her! Hannah and Kate love taking short little turns holding her and Hannah is frequently in her face saying (with a high pitch voice)...."Hiiiiii, Sweetie Pieeeee!" Lindsey and Emily could hold her all day. Jack FINALLY held her for the first time (but made me promise that I wouldn't put the pictures on the blog). I think secretly he thinks she's pretty sweet.

One of Emily's friends commented a few days ago and said "Wow! She has a lot of hair!" Hmmm, she seems quite bald to me.

Emily & her cousin, Brooklyn

Fresh from Heaven

When Hailey was 3 weeks (and about 4 1/2 lbs), we took her to Lindsay Wright (www.lindsaywrightphotography.com) and had her pictures taken. Hailey was an angel and was so cooperative. Here are a few of our favorites...with more to come on her birth announcement!

Buckeye Report

One of the things I worried about while I was in the hospital having Hailey, was a huge State report that Emily was supposed to be working on. They had chosen a State and had to do a detailed report and tri-fold presentation on it. She really wanted to do Ohio and thankfully, got that state. We had meant to work on it during her spring break, but didn't, so it was coming up due. Well, then I had Hailey unexpectedly!

So, after getting home from the hospital, her and I spent hours and hours getting her report completed. Thankfully, her teacher gave her an extra 2 days, and we did it. She got 100% on it and did a great job! It was fun to do the report as Ohio is very near and dear to our hearts! Part of us will always be Buckeye!

Mother's Day

Ahhh! Mother's Day! I love this holiday and this holiday also cracks me up! I love it because I can reflect on my own wonderful mother and the incredible blessing she is in my life. I was able to talk with her this morning and she was able to share the fun news that next month, on June 5th, the first Stake in all of Russia will be created - the Moscow Russia Stake! That is miraculous and we're so excited for the great people of Russia! I have a great mom and love her so much!

Mother's Day also cracks me up for 2 reasons.....First, my kids seem to fight more on Mother's Day than any other day of the year. I don't know what it is, but I think the same thing happened last year. Today, it hit full force, while our neighbors (and former Stake President and his wife) were visiting and bringing us a gift for Hailey. It involved Jack & Kate fighting and wrestling over a ball and Hannah (the referee) coming up and clubbing Jack in the back of the head with a bag. Glad the Bowen family could leave such a good impression!

Second, the gifts that come from children are hilarious....I'll let the pictures explain!

I took this picture at 7:30 this morning...I had been up for an hour to feed the baby and had woken all the other kids. That's Jon & Kate asleep. Kate apparently had a bad dream during the night, brought her pillow and sippy cup of water and crawled into bed with us. I guess breakfast in bed is overrated anyway!

This was Lindsey's gift...an entire sheet of coupons. There are definitely some useful ones...cooked meals, babysitting, foot rubs, back "masash" (aka massage) and anythings...however, I'm not sure what to think of the 3rd one from the top "1 free kick me out of my seat." I wonder if she feels like I am frequently asking her to move so that I can have her seat??


This is Kate's card...the front

And the inside! Glad I can buy Kate's love! (She's referring to a junkie thing I bought at Target last week for $5, just so she'd stop asking for stuff).

And Jack's....the beautiful flower in a cup. And then the decorated bag....I'm framing the middle section that reads "Mom is better than dad is!" It cracks me up because it's so not true - that boy can't get enough of his dad!

In all seriousness though, I'm so grateful to be a mom!

Hannah (2 1/2), Hailey (1 month) & Kate (5)

April Fool's - 2011

We had a great trip to Oregon (what ended up being the week before Hailey was born)! We left on the Wednesday of spring break and took Jon's sister, Anne, with us. We had a great drive (although passed a sad, sad wreck with a car turned over on fire...we stopped to see if Jon could help, but it was obvious the man was already dead).

The kids always have a great time with Jon's parents! They are so kind and patient with the kids, so we were able to relax, the kids played, did art projects, went swimming, ate ice cream cones at the Cove Drive-in, visited with Jon's cousin Donni & her cute kids, and had a fun April Fool's dinner. Thanks to Anne, the girls had the funnest day getting ready for dinner. It was so cute (and a ton of work)!

Our dinner menu was:

French fries (they are actually cut up apples)

Mini Hamburgers (a mint pattie between 2 vanilla wafers).

Cold punch (Jell-O, including clear gelatin ice cubes)

And for dessert - Cupcakes! (meat balls with colored mashed potatoes on top - Kate probably are 12 of these)

The cute chefs!!

Thanks again Anne!

Weight Gain

So, Hailey needs to gain weight and I need to lose weight! We are taking her a couple of times a week to be weighed and some times it's good news and some times it's not so good news. These are the highs & lows of a preemie.

She's doing really great though and is trying her best to gain. I nurse her as often as I can and as often as she seems awake enough to do it. Other times (like in the middle of the night), I pump and then give her a bottle.

Here's her weight gain so far:

Sunday, April 17th - day of discharge from the hospital - 3 lbs. 15.8 oz.

Tuesday, April 19th - 4 lbs. 2 oz.

Friday, April 22nd - 4 lbs. 5 oz.

Monday, April 25th - 4 lbs. 11 oz.

Friday, April 29th - 4 lbs. 11 1/2 oz.

We were so excited that she had gained so much on Monday, but disappointed that she hadn't gained much by Friday. But, on Monday, she had just eaten and then pooped right after we left. Today, she had eaten about 2 1/2 hours before. So, we'll go again twice next week and see if we can fatten this little girl up!

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter weekend this year! It was my mom's last couple of days in Utah before returning to Russia (for 2 more years!). On Friday night, my mom, Emily & Lindsey stayed up and made some yummy little cakes that they had sampled at Williams Sonoma. The girls had a great time and it was fun to watch them all cooking together.

On Saturday morning, we let the kids dye Easter eggs. After coloring them, they did their own version of an Easter egg hunt in the yard. Each child took a turn hiding the eggs and then the others would go find it. It took them hours, so it was great!

On Sunday morning, we got ready for Church. My mom stayed with Hailey and the rest of us went to Church. It was good to back and do sharing time in Primary, but it was exhausting! We came home and I was able to take a good nap and then my mom made Easter dinner and we had my siblings over. It was such a treat to have someone else make dinner and to spend time with family! Easter is a great holiday!

Our cute little Easter egg!
(My cute Aunt Pat made this little cocoon for Hailey - it's so cute)

Emily (11), Kate (5), Jack (7), Lindsey (9) & Hannah (2)

Cousins

Last week, we took pictures of Brooklyn & Hailey together. They are both so cute and I hope will be best of friends growing up!! Brooklyn is 3 months old and Hailey was 2 weeks in this picture.

Brooklyn, Hailey & a Barbie (no, I didn't have time to dress the Barbie. We wanted something to compare the size of Hailey to.)