My Girl!

She's here! Our beloved Georgianna Ruth, or Anna, made her grand entrance into the world on Monday. This little squishy bundle weighed in at 8 lbs and measured 21 inches. I woke up Monday morning with painful contractions at 6:45 am and got to the hospital at 9:30. She was born at 12:30! There was no time for any medication but at least it was fast. I pushed for 30 minutes and was so excited to see her. She's been my little friend these last nine months and I feel like we already have a relationship. I was so alert after the birth and could think straight, something that took me weeks after the boys were born. I highly recommend having children one at a time and avoiding c-sections!
She's perfect in every way. She's eating like a champ and sleeps a lot. With the boys there wasn't enough food to go around and we were all exhausted and crazy from the crying. She only cries when she's hungry and then feeding her takes care of that for a few hours. What a concept!!!
Hello world! I'm a little sleepy!
Her big brothers are being incredible. They were so excited to see her and have given up their places in the middle of the van so Anna can be there. They are feeling more grown up, we all are, and are helping a lot. That's not to say they're not trying various attention-getting devices, but they are acting more mature sometimes too. It's great to watch.
Josh took the whole week off of work and has let me sleep the mornings away while he takes care of the boys and does clean up duty. Tomorrow my parents are coming for a week and I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy this baby! She is so kissable and makes adorable noises when she nurses. She sneezes sometimes and then kind of screams as if to say, "What was that?" We love her and are so happy she's here!

Happy Easter

Were you this excited about Easter this year? The excitement level at our house was contagious. The boys had completely forgotten all about how we celebrate Easter and everything was new to them. Check out the boy-colored eggs. I don't think I've ever had Easter without a pink hard boiled egg. Blue, green, purple, even brown. We had them all. We dyed them yesterday afternoon and promised the Easter Bunny would hide them so they could hunt for them this morning. We did it all together and Sam was so excited about "what we did with our mom and dad!" When they tried to peel them this morning Michael was excited to find out they had "butter" inside, the yolk. I think he may have eaten 4 or 5 egg yolks. Cholesterol anyone?
The Easter Bunny had to plan ahead this year just in case we were at the hospital or had a new born when the day rolled around. He brought pads of paper and crayons and Sam drew his first recognizable picture today - a pirate ship. I should take a picture of that too. There were bubble wands and, of course, some jelly beans and chocolates. Nothing like a little sugar for breakfast to get a kid off on the right mood for the day!
This is blurry but I love the expression on Michael's face.

After Conference we set to work making our Easter dinner. I decided against ham in favor of a boneless pork loin roast but had the creamed new potatoes and peas, Brussels sprouts and rolls with some sparkling limeade. My helpers made it more fun. I love that he's wearing gloves to scrub the potatoes. Don't want dishpan hands, you know.

I really should be better about letting the boys help me more. They love doing things they see me do and it keeps them from fighting, but it is so messy and stressful:
Stay away from the stove.
Don't touch the knife.
You can't eat roll dough. Because it's just gross.
Be careful not to push him off the chair.
Please don't turn up the mixer so high.
Excuse me, I need to get in there.
Ah well. You get the idea.

But look at the smile on that face. "I am helping! I am big! I can DO IT!" This is the mantra around here these days so I might as well start teaching them how to do more accurately and embrace a certain level of help, precarious though it may be.

You would think they would eat more of a meal they helped make, but the call of the Easter Cake was too loud. All day Michael kept checking on it in the fridge just to make sure it was still there and to decide which jelly beans he would like to eat. I loved it.
I brought out the china plates and put some daffodils on the table. The boys may not like pork roast, but Josh and I did, and it was such a nice Easter. I was able to listen to so much more General Conference than I have the past few years. I actually took some notes this afternoon! So many of the talks were addressed to parents and I really felt inspired in ways I can help my family more and really think about my parenting instead of just winging it so much.

There was a great feeling in our home today and I hope that can continue as I try to be more patient with and focused on the boys, oh, until the new baby comes, that is!

Here are some movie clips from the day. My favorite is the egg hunt when they fail to see the egg on the rug by the door. Hope it puts a smile on your face. Happy Easter!

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