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!)

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