carson + ellie

Twenty-four days before Miss Ellie joined our family my sister had her third boy.
I wuv Carson to pieces! He has the cutest round head.

Carson was a 7-pounder at birth and since Ellie was 1 ounce shy of a 9-pounder they weighed almost exactly the same the day my sis brought him to the hospital to meet Ellie.
Fun times!
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And in other news......

She is growing up way too fast

this is late

So, we had a baby.
If you know me in real life this is not news to you.
However, to the blog world it is a different story.

Let me introduce you to my Ellie:

{Her very first photo}

 Born on May 31, 2011
8 lbs 15oz
8:23 pm

I love, love, love my chunky little monkey.
The last 2 months have been tiring, exciting and full of baby snuggles.
Mommy, Daddy and Addie are enjoying her like crazy!

help bring Sergey home

 

Have you heard about little Sergey?
I don't see how you could have missed it.
If you haven't, go here to read all about it.
Look for the little box on the right sidebar to donate.
For every $10 that you donate you get to add a comment to the post.
The prizes are beyond amazing and an added bonus for doing something good.
You could even win an iPad 2!!!
Today is the last day...winners will be chosen tomorrow.
So get over there and donate!!!

we're having another little princess

I am way behind on posting this on the blog but then again I don't really post all that much anyway.

We had our 20 week ultrasound on January 17th. Daddy and Addie joined me for the big day. The ultrasound tech was telling us all the different parts as she was viewing them and as soon as she said,  "And this is between her legs..." I immediately said, "It's a girl, isn't it?" I could tell right away. Daddy and I glanced at each other with big smiles and then proceeded to tell Addie that she was going to have a little sister. She was just as excited!

From the time we found out we were pregnant we really didn't have a major preference on what we hoped for. We knew it would be neat to have a boy just because it would be something different but then we also knew how much we loved our first little princess (or "Squirt" as she is so lovingly called by her Daddy).

As mentioned in the "name" post we had only really discussed boy names. A couple weeks before the ultrasound we started talking more intently about girl names. One night we were all watching the movie "Up" (which we adore) and as soon as Carl met Ellie I said to John, "Ellie is a really cute name, isn't it?" He agreed and asked me to find out it's meaning.

Ellie means "shining light, or most beautiful woman". I loved it! Our hope is that all of our children are "shining lights" that reflect our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We chose Grace as her middle name because I had liked it as a first name but my husband wasn't a fan of it. It also has a great meaning, "God's favor". Besides having a great meaning the word "grace" is very important to us and our faith. Where would we be without God's grace?

Her formal name will be "Ella Grace" but so far we have been calling her "Ellie" more often. We all talk to her on a regular basis so I am sure she will come out thinking she is Ellie. Haha! But don't worry, if we have a boy in the future we will not be naming him Carl.

what's in a name?

Source

John and I have been talking about baby names a lot. For some reason, though, we have mostly only discussed boy names. If we have a boy, he wants his son to have a strong, "country" name. Ideally we would like the meaning to be...well...meaningful. However, we are mostly just thinking of names right now and then we will look up the meanings of the ones that we like the most. I have done my own research online but I really want to hear from friends, family and other bloggers.

So what do you say?

Please leave a comment giving us ideas for "country" boy names AND any girl names that you really like. I have two girl names picked out that I like a lot but I am not set in stone on them.

P.S. The photo above is actually a print that you can buy on Etsy for your child's room. They make them in all different color combos. I love it! Click on "source" to go to the shop or simply search "child of God print" on Etsy (there is more than one seller making them).

~Anna~

we are pregnant

Photo Source

After a year and a half of "trying" we are so excited to announce that our second child is on it's way. I kept a digital journal with Addison and would like to try and do the same for this little one. Perhaps the ol' blog will get more use now. We shall see.

I am 10 weeks and one day pregnant today (and feeling it...blah).

Addie was so nice to me when I was pregnant with her. I literally only had two days of morning sickness and that was it. This one has my stomach unsettled all the time.

I am nauseous every morning and have to eat something right away. Drinking water on an empty stomach makes me vomit. Letting myself get so hungry my stomach growls makes me vomit (or at least dry heave). Eating too much makes me vomit (but I am figuring out the stopping point...I just can't eat as much as I used to). And this part seems so weird to me but I constantly have a yucky taste in my mouth. I can't describe it but chewing gum or sucking on a piece of hard candy makes it so much better.

I had an ultra-sound on October 29th (8 1/2 weeks) and we got to see the little tiny peanut in there. It was so neat to see his/her heartbeat already beating strongly.

Addison seems to understand exactly what is happening and she is very excited. She is "preparing" to be a big sister. She was sleeping between us a lot and when she wasn't she had to have one of us sleep with her until she fell asleep. But now she is falling asleep on her own, in her own bed! I am so, so proud of her and never would have dreamed that it would have been such an easy transition. She has also started cleaning on her own. She will pick up her toys that have been dispersed through the house and also clean up her entire room. I made a little chart for her and when she earns seven stickers she gets to pick out a small toy. She earns one sticker for sleeping through the night in her bed and for cleaning up her room and/or messes. She loves that chart!

Mommy and Daddy miss her sleeping in our bed from time to time so we have nights that we call "special nights" when we let her sleep between us. Daddy and Addison are major snuggle bugs! Addison molds right into him. It is the sweetest thing!

~Anna~

addie's 3rd birthday party {with friends}

My hope is that this blog can become more of a means for documenting events in our family as well as for sharing projects and ideas.

Back in April I had a little birthday party for Addie with her friends (the children that I babysit during the week) on her actual birthday. Then the following Saturday we had a birthday party with family.

I loved making it an extra special day for her with her friends. We played games, had a special lunch, ate mini cupcakes and ice cream and played games. Here are some of the photos from that day:

I love colorful ribbon!

Instead of goodie bags I sent the kids home with a big bottle of bubbles.
I used the ribbon to pretty them all up.

A fun little lunch!

Some of the decorations that I (quickly) made.

Happy girl!
She had been wanting this game for a long time and one of her friends got it for her.
They immediately wanted to play it.
So we did.

Her gifts

Fun mini cupcakes

My pretty birthday girl!

Silly girls playing dress-up.
A Princess, Little Red Riding Hood and Dorothy

It was such a fun day!


~Anna~

flowers & mason jars

One of my favorite things to do is put fresh flowers in old, blue mason jars.
I have a collection of these jars.
There is just something so refreshing to me about that perfect aqua color.
I also love that they are old and have their own personal history.

And yellow flowers...don't even get me started!
These just scream "HAPPY" and "SUMMER" to me!

~ Anna ~

three

Today you are three.

I can't believe that you have been in our lives for three whole years now.
Three years ago today our lives changed in a way that we never imagined.
Now we can't imagine life without you.
Life just wouldn't be the same.
We love you so much.

1 week

1 month

1 year

2 years

1 week ago

Happy birthday Addison!!!

a fun way to display Christmas cards

This year I decided to do something a little more "fun" than just
taping my Christmas cards to a door frame, wall, window, etc.

For the string I used jute twine, but you could
always use ribbon or some other type of rope/string.

I bought some mini clothespins at Hobby Lobby
{under $2 for about 20}
The first half I painted with red craft paint but
it took forever to let it dry and it was a messier process
than I cared for. The next half I gave a quick spray with
Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Colonial Red {in satin}
and it was dry within 10 minutes {bought at Menards}.

Then I sprayed the clothespins
with Elmer's Spray Adhesive
{can be found at Wal-Mart or your local craft store}.

Then I sprinkled on some white glitter, tapped the excess off and
sprayed with Patricia Nimocks Matte Clear Acrylic Sealer
{can also be found at Wal-Mart or a craft store}.

And voila, I had some cute, sparkly clothespins
to hang my Christmas cards with.

{Note: All of those sprays require that
you be in a well ventilated area.
I did mine in my garage and opened the garage
door a bit to allow some air flow.}

It seems like it is a long process but it really isn't.
In between, when they are drying you can get other
things done {like wrapping gifts or baking}.

I have also seen this done with an old window or a big mirror where
you hang the string across the front and then hang your cards up.
This year I didn't have a window or a big
mirror...so maybe next year at the new house.

This would also be neat to do in other fun
colors to use to hang your kids' artwork.


To recap what you'll need:
1.String, ribbon, jute twine
2. Mini clothespins
3. Spray paint or craft paint
4. Spray Adhesive
5. Glitter
6. Spray Acrylic Sealer

Have fun!