Merry Christmas

What a wonderful holiday week! Not to mention a crazy month with the birth of Sophie, Ella's birthday, and all of the Christmases. It has been very busy in the our household. Since Sophie has been born, we can get to work on unfinished projects in the house. Right now, Chad and Uncle Adam are gutting out Ella's old room, and that will be Brock's new room. He is also working on turning part of our garage into a butcher shop. Meanwhile, I am finishing up mudding and sanding the kitchen to hopefully get it finished and painted in the next month or two.

Daddy's girl




Brock, Ella, and Sophie made Christmas cards for the family.


Our Christmases started on Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch. The kids raked it in as usual. They loved everything they got. We spent the majority of the day over there visiting and relaxing. It was such wonderful day!












Christmas morning came really early in our house! Daddy helped Brock and Ella set out cookies for Santa the night before and put them right by the stairs/chimney. Brock woke up at 2:30 wanting to see if Santa had came yet. Back to bed he went for a few more hours. A little before 6:00 he was up again, so Daddy got Ella up, and we headed downstairs. The cookies and milk were gone, and Brock freaked out! "Santa came! Santa came!" They were so excited to see what Santa had left them. It made Mommy and Daddy feel good when Brock was really excited to give everyone else their presents. We must be doing something right! The kids were back off to bed a couple hours later for a quick nap before we headed to Great Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Ella kept yelling "yeah candy!" when she would pull it out of her stocking.






We headed out to Great Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch. Brock got to play with all of his cousins and had a blast. After lunch and presents, it was back to our house for another quick nap before we went to Grammy and Papa's.






Our final stop of the day was Grammy and Papa's, and the kids were pooped! They had a lot of fun seeing Maddie and playing in their hideout. It was such a nice Christmas holiday loaded with family and fun. We always look forward to this time of year.




Papa and Sophie


Grammy and Sophie


Auntie Heidi and Ella


Uncle Adam and Erin




Ella and her new kitchen...


and vacuum. She is so domestic!

Ella is 2!

We had Ella's birthday party on Sunday at our house. She was so excited all day for her party and to have cake. I can't believe that she is 2 years old!

Ella and her birthday pretties.


Cat cake - continued tradition of homemade b-day cakes.






Ella helping Daddy blow up balloons.




Christmas cookie time!

Update

We took Sophie into the doctor last week because we noticed a popping noise whenever we picked her up. Turns out she has a fractured clavicle from birth. Doctor said that it is typical in fast deliveries and should heal in a couple of weeks. We have to keep her arm bound in an ace bandage until her next appointment on Thursday. She is being such a trooper with an immobile arm!

1 Week Old!

Sophie is a week old already! She has lost a couple of ounces, but the doctor says that she is looking good. She is definitely a pooper, which is far different from how Brock and Ella were. We are very satisfied with her bowel movements! Yeah, poop! Grammy has been down all week helping me with the kids and housework. She has been such a saint! Brock and Ella have been having a blast with her around. I am really trying to adjust to this whole "resting" thing. Doesn't really work for me, but I have been trying my best.

The kids went and saw Santa at the elementary school. They did very well. Ella was okay with Santa as long as Brock was there with her. Brock wasn't too shy and told Santa everything that he wanted for Christmas. Seems like December is going by so fast!





Roar! Scary bears!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

On Wednesday, December 3rd, we welcomed a new baby girl into our family. Sophie Mae was born at 4:54 p.m. with a healthy delivery. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Her head was an inch smaller than her brother and sister's at birth. Ahhh! Sophie was named after both of her great-grandmas on Molly's side, Charlotte Sophie and Nila Mae.



We got to the hospital at 7:00 that morning, and they began the pitocin at 8:00. I was dilated to 2 cm and effacement was non-existent, which caused it to take longer than anticipated. When I finally reached 10 cm, the doctor was called in and Sophie was pushed out in 3-4 contractions. Hut-hut hike! We were so fortunate to have a GREAT nurse and doctor to take care of us. Our doctor let me deliver Sophie (as well as our other two) when she was half way out, so I was the first one to announce the sex. IT'S A GIRL!!







Loves those fingers just like Ella.










We came home on Friday, and everyone got settled in. Brock and Ella love holding and feeding Sophie. They are very excited to have a new sister. Chad has been so wonderful taking care of me and the kids. I will be so sad when he goes back to work on Monday. Both mine and Chad's family have been SO helpful with preparing meals and helping with the kids. We appreciate it so much and are very thankful!