A few recent photos of the itty bitty one...

I realize that not everyone I know has Facebook, and is therefore missing out on the everyday moments that I post over there. I really ought to get better at blogging again - it's a better record keeper of our life than Facebook anyhow.

I love, love, love this one - Layla is infatuated with Great Grandma Jean's diamond ring.

From just this morning - all smiles, even when it's bright and early and cold out!

And my current favorite video of the little bug - 

A little bit tough...

Today wasn't blissful. I don't really want to start blogging again on a sour note, but since today was a very real life day, and my blog can sometimes make it seem like our life is perfect, we are still real people living a real life with real struggles. It's just that I have pretty solid perspective on what a true bad day is - and none of these tough days are truly bad. Just a little rough.

Layla has been super fussy for two days. I don't know why. I hate not knowing why she seems so out of sorts and I really miss my smiley, happy girl. Matthew left for his father's house with a frowny face and would barely hug me. Just the fact that the boys leave for the weekend is heartbreaking to me. And then the neighborhood kids are playing right outside the boys' bedroom window, which is so awesome that they play here - but even more heartbreaking that my little monkeys aren't out there doing what they love most. And then Layla continued her screaming until literally 4 minutes before her daddy is due to come home. So - that's not a fun, joy-filled day. It's just not.

But that's okay - because tomorrow, Layla will be full of smiles (or not) and Matthew will call us and be his silly, giggly self (or not), and we will probably have a great day. But, no matter what happens, it'll be different than today. There will be awesome days ahead, no matter what. And it's all okay.

The pictures don't lie, though - this is my real life, and it's all cherished.

And yeah, they're mostly baby photos - but she's the only one of my kids that I don't have to beg and bribe to get a photo of. :)

Our Journey to Layla (slideshow)

We spent years dreaming of this little person joining our family. We spent months planning for her arrival. The whole journey was so magical and it's proving impossible to properly recount it in pictures or words. I keep trying, though!

I have yet to string enough minutes together to put my beautiful birth story down in detail for others to read. It's an amazing story, though. I'll give you the cliffsnotes version followed by a little slide show:

• Noonish - Contractions started, but I had no idea that they weren't the same Braxton Hicks contractions that I'd been having for weeks. Went on with my day as normal.
• 5 pm - I started timing contractions, because I finally admitted to myself that they were quite regular and seemed to be lasting longer than usual (at this point, they were coming every 5-7 minutes, lasting 90 seconds - but I STILL didn't believe I was in labor).
• 6:30 pm - Texted Keely (our doula) letting her know I was having some activity. She offered to come over and I said no - there was no way I was actually in labor. I told her I'd text her before I went bed to let her know what was up. I kept insisting that it wasn't labor because these contractions didn't hurt!
• 7:20 pm - Texted Keely back and let her know that contractions felt a little "burny" now. She suggested I call Mike at work and give him a head's up. I was still in denial and didn't want to bother anyone. I really wanted to wait to let Mike finish with his client at 7:50.
• 7:40 pm - Had a little adrenaline rush with a powerful contraction and considered that this may be the real deal after all. Called Mike the second the clock changed to 7:50. Told him to come home soon. He came home quickly and called Keely to join us.
• 8:30 pm - Went for a walk around the neighborhood. Had to slow down and stop talking through contractions. Still smiling in between, though!
• 9 pm - Contractions got stronger, I was no longer comfortable staying in any one position for long.
• 10 pm - Headed to hospital, wondering if I'd be sent home because I wasn't in labor.
• 11 pm - Walked the parking lot at the hospital. Started to feel pushy. Still in denial that I was having a baby anytime soon.
• Midnight (June 8th) - Tried taking a bath to relax, didn't work. Back to the bed. Contractions were getting really intense, but I still didn't think anything was happening soon, as I wasn't in any sort of excruciating pain (like I'd expected with a natural child birth). I was tired, though, and a little overwhelmed at how fast my contractions were coming.
• 12:50 am - Felt an intense urge to push. Couldn't have stopped even if I'd tried. Water burst. Massive pressure. I finally thought, "I'm having a baby!"
• 12:55 am - Head out, shoulders stuck. After a gentle nudge from our midwife to release her shoulders, Layla was born into her daddy's hands less than 3 hours after we arrived at the hospital.

Our labor was so joyful. Mike and Keely held me up (literally at times) and kept things truly peaceful. The hospital staff left us alone almost entirely. No needles, blood pressure checks - nothing. I labored in my own clothes. Nobody touched me except to hold my hand while I was pushing. Our wishes were honored the entire time. I have the highest respect for our birth team at Willamette Falls Hospital. I had heard that they would support a natural childbirth, but I had no idea to what extent they were willing to do so. I truly feel like we had the best experience possible. I got to have the undisturbed home birth that I had dreamed of - but in the hospital. I'd do everything exactly the same in a heartbeat.

Here's a little video of our journey - 

Outdoor Photo Shoot - 8 days old

...someday soon, I'll post a blog version of Layla's beautiful birth story and some incredible photos from that day. For now, we're soaking up every second with this sweet little squeaker. I do have some photos to share that took in the backyard when Layla was 8 days old, though.

Our sweet baby girl.

I absolutely love the contrast of Baba's scratchy face with Layla's velvety head in this photo.

Newborn fuzz.

Hula Hooping at 9 Months Pregnant

Mama is ready to play with Layla - if she doesn't want to come out, that's okay! We'll just play while she's on the inside. :) These were taken yesterday at the boys' field day (38 weeks, 4 days pregnant!)

And a video of this awkward event :)

Mine is bigger than yours!

That was a seriously good (and large) watermelon, too!

More from our 37 week (full term belly!) photo shoot...

My baby boy, wanting to pose with mama...

A family belly comparison...Lucy wants hers rubbed!

I LOVE my boys (and little Lucy, too!)

Sweetest Boys

Last night, Baba brought out his childhood memorabilia to share with the boys. It included a lot of sports memorabilia - from the World Series game in 1991, even! The kiddos were completely enamored by his stories and artifacts. I absolutely love these two photos - it captures the evening so well...big smiles, looks of awe...

Layla is a sweetie, too - well, at least we're manifesting that quality in her! She'll be joining us anytime in the next 4 weeks or so! Here's my monster belly after being pregnant for 36 weeks (yup - do the math - I am officially NINE months pregnant from now until I pop!)

Working on baby girl's room - she needed a little something to look at over her changing table - so I went to my usual place of inspiration (Pinterest) and found something similar to this and made it happen! I love the final product. I kind of want to put glitter on it, but I'm restraining myself....for now. :)

Just another shot to show you all how very sweet my boys are...snuggled up as close as they can be while they eat breakfast. There is room for four other seats at that counter, but this is where they choose to sit! These two have such a special relationship - absolutely makes my heart melt.

...and for good measure - here's what Mom is spending half her week dealing with. Any other baseball moms can relate, I'm sure! Time to buy stock in Oxyclean, Baba!

More latest and greatest...

Just some random shots to share from the past few weeks...

Ninja Matthew rediscovered his dress up bin.

Mama rests the belly beast while Andrew gets ready for baseball. LOVE our new  bedding/curtains. It's so cozy in our room now...figured I'd be awake in there more often in a few weeks, so we may as well make it look nice.

Silly boy is obsessed with Goldfish S'mores.

Andrew was starting pitcher at the opening of the season - his first 6 pitches were strikes. He struck the first two batters out! He also hit what would have been a triple (had he not *just* barely missed the first base plate) and was an amazing catcher when not pitching. So proud of our boy!

Some awesome video of Andrew's opening pitching...

The latest in Layla's room - I saw a butterfly mobile on Pottery Barn Kids, but it was $55 - I made this one for less than $15 and LOVE it!

34 week belly - still moving, walking, yoga, stretching - anything to keep this mama and baby heatlhy!

The latest and greatest...

The springtime in our neck of the woods is absolutely magical. Our afternoons are spent chasing chickens, tending the garden, jumping on the trampoline with friends and walking to the river to enjoy the sunshine.

Mama's getting big! 6 more weeks or so to go before little miss Layla joins the fun!

Matthew Thinks of Grampy

After a rough day of sassiness and attitude, the tears started to flow at bedtime. Matthew misses his Grampy. It's been about two years since he passed and the boys still talk about him and cry about their loss on a regular basis. Lately, Matthew has talked a lot about Grampy's favorite color - purple. Two days ago, he declared it his new favorite color. Last night, as the tears slowed down, Matthew told me he wanted to draw a picture. He woke up early this morning to finish it. I can't even put words to this, other than to let you know two details that will make this picture even more emotional: Grampy loved dragons (purple and green ones, according to Matthew - and I think he may be right on with that) and Grampy called the boys "buddy". I'll let his art do the rest of the talking:

Caption reads: "My budy it's ok" (loving Grampy's totally bald head!)

Back of the page

Andrew writes to the school board...

There is a proposal to close our beautiful elementary school. None of us are happy about this proposed change - Andrew has been especially distraught over the possibility. He asked me if he could donate his own money to help save the school, and if he could write a letter to "cast his vote". Over the past two days, he's been working on this letter:

____________________________________________________________________

Dear school board, this is Andrew Tanner from Riverside Elementary. I'm a 4th grader in Mrs. Lightbournes class. I heard you were talking about shutting down our school. I think this is because of budget cuts, however I think you should give kids a chance to vote and the answer is different, that would be great but I guarantee you that the vote will be more fair. I vote to keep it open.

     Concord elementary is a much older school and they are putting in a Wallmart, and there's bars close to there, and it's not as safe because there is no drop off lane for parents, but there is a small no very very small parking lot. When on the other hand, Riverside has a beautiful parking lot and a really nice drop off lane. There for in my opinion, Concord should close.

     If you don't agree well just consider it. I know in two years I'm going to Aldercreek Middleschool, but I want for there to be years and years more to come of new kindergartners to come and enjoy the beauty of Riverside, and if you don't let us vote, I think it's unfair but just consider it please. And I know many people are going to say this but what the heck, It's your school district and you can decide what to do with it. Although I don't want to see teachers doing this the day we close.....

 He also included this picture: 

____________________________________________________________________

I couldn't be more proud of my boy for being brave and having a voice.

New Chickies

Meet our new babies.

This is Lily. She's a Gold Laced Wyandotte. We picked her because our prettiest bird is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, and happens to be a great layer as well. She was instantly named Layla by Matthew, as mama predicted would happen - but after the suggestion that baby sister Layla would be here soon and maybe she wouldn't want to be named the same as a chicken, the boys quickly switched her name to Lily. Lily was instantly Andrew's favorite bird and the first one he goes for every time.

Here's Mary...a Cuckoo Maran. She lays chocolate brown eggs. That's the entire reason we picked her. She was also our impulse chicken this year. Don't all chicken owners have an impulse chicken or two? We said two birds. After we picked our two, Mike said, "Do you want to get three?" Yes, you heard that right - MIKE suggested it. :) Oh, and as for the name? I have no idea how she got that name. I'll have to ask the boys again how they came up with it.

And last but certainly not least, here's little Peach - named by Matthew. Peach is a Silkie. She's the most unique bird we've had so far. Silkies have feathered feet, an extra toe on each foot and black skin! She will look furry like she does now indefinitely. Silkies have very fine feathers, hence their name. Matthew adores Peach - it's his special little chick. It's the first time he's willingly touched a bird (minus being bit by a duck last year after sticking his fingers through the chicken wire!) - he runs in to check on her after school and likes to pet her head until she falls asleep.

Here's all three little ones on the day we brought them home - none of them could have been older than a week. Pretty sure Lily is the oldest, based on the amount of wing feathers she has going on. She's also a bit flightier than the other two, which could also be her breed. Rio has always been our flightiest bird, too!

Last night, we let the chickies hang out with us while we played UNO. They're a bit distracting, though...and they don't really hold their cards very well.

A fun video from last night's UNO game with the chickens:

So - who needs eggs? :)