Aunt Time

While my Mom was in town from Utah, Aunt Heather (above) and Jenny (below) came to visit!  We all got to meet our new little cousin & nephew, Desmond too! Ellie & Des were adorable together!

Clobbering Aunt Jenny.

Ellie, Joey and his colorful necklace.  :)

Ellie all the Way

Our sweet Ellie. Sigh. :)  These pink jammie ones were taken on March 22nd...2 days old.  Besides the dark hair, I pretty much could be using Abbies baby pictures here. :)

She was happy to be able to really stretch! No more belly limiting her space! lol

Whoa, Dave is a harry monster in this pic!  :)  

Isn't it crazy how newborns look tan at first, like they've been laying out under the sun for 9 months instead of in a belly cave? 

Proof that she was our earliest smiler!  She smiled on day 2 of life!  And she wasn't gassy! :) It was a sign to her momma that she was going to be a happy little sweetheart! 

Elizabeth Claire Meets Her Great Grandma Claire

I absolutely love this picture.  This is my dad's mom...my Grandma Larsen.  This is who Elizabeth Claire was named after.  Claire Betty Mae Larsen.  My grandma always went by Betty, but I love the name Claire.  It was almost a first name, but Elizabeth Claire was simply right. Elizabeth went a couple days with no name.  It was very weird not having a name to call her by.  It drove Dave crazy!  We had several names on the list that we both loved...Lilian, Cadence, Claire..I can't think of them all right now. But we couldn't quite feel right about them.  Elizabeth was nearer to the bottom and had cropped up as a middle name here and there.  But finally, when we had been home a day and the dirt had settled a little, we had all calmed down and felt some peace again after all the excitement... Dave and I looked at each other and said her name out loud and just knew her name was supposed to be Elizabeth Claire!  It felt so very right.  The spirit was so strong at that moment.  I'm so grateful for those moments. 

Meeting Grandpa Larsen too!  She was quite conked out after playing with her Great Grandma! :)

I had to post this...isn't it a cute one? Grandma was tickled pink to have a new little great grandbaby on her lap!

All Our Kids

So we enter the world of being outnumbered.  Oh boy!  It actually hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be.  Maybe it has to do with Abby being 5 and a great helper! Or that Joey is around, so Abby has someone to play with this time?  They just plain don't need me as much.  That sounds bad. I'm ok with it though. I love that they have each other.  They have so much fun together.   

AND....they sure do L-O-V-E their new little sister!

Our daughters.  What a peaceful little picture.  :D

The true side comes out.  :-P

Is it bad that this picture makes me laugh?

And this one makes me laugh even more! They can get so silly when they are together.  I love it!

'Lil Sister Lovin..... ie. total-scream-and-skwoosh-athon.  Elizabeth came out ok in the end, don't worry.   

Hear her cute little newborn cry! (Sorry it's a little dark.)   It only lasts a short while that their cries are cute...you must enjoy it! :)

Backpack, Backpack

I had to put this on here for history sake.  SO hilarious to find this scene!  Our little Joey LOVES his spiderman backpack!  We're lucky he doesn't bath with it on!  LOL

Ellie's First Bath

Lets just say, her first bath wasn't her most favorite time of her life so far.  :) What a mean mom! ;)

Finally warm again.  :)

Big Brother & Sister

Joey really wanted to hold baby sister (she didn't have a name yet) when she got home.  It only lasted ab 30 seconds though before he was saying, "I want you to hold it!"  LOL

Abby LOVES holding her!  She's a natural...although, she's getting a little too brave, so I don't go far! :)

Ellie LOVES her siblings!  She perks right up when they talk to her! 

Elizabeth Claire Omer Meets the World

Welcome to earth little Elizabeth Claire!  

How did it go you ask?  Read on if you asked yourself this.  (If not, just skip down and look at the pictures.)  I went into active labor on Tuesday night, March 20th around 8:30pm and got to the birth center about midnight.  My water broke around 1:40am. And after a couple hours of really long, hard contractions and another hour of pushing, our little sweetie was born at 4:18am!  (Seemed like MUCH longer to me!) She was 8 lbs 12 oz and 21" long.  Sounds big, but she was still just tiny.  She's got a nice crop of dark hair that is kinda wavy in the back and she has long skinny fingers and toes.  I am completely in love!

It took a little time to figure out what her name was to be.  So she was nameless for a while which felt weird.  Once we were home and settled with Abby and Joey with us, we had tried out a few of our 'top of the list' names, and couldn't quite feel it.  Then one night we both looked a little further down on the list and just knew her name was Elizabeth.  It just seemed obvious and very clear.  I love that feeling...the spirit confirming truth.  Names are very important and she is supposed to be Elizabeth Claire. Claire is her great grandmother's name on my dad's side, and just a beautiful name too.  

We are so thrilled to have her sweet spirit in our family.  I feel like she is going to be such a peacemaker and calm influence on our home.  She looks so precious and angelic here.  So much love.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! Dave got us a little microwave dessert thing to have at the birth center to celebrate her bday and sing to her! :) We had another wonderful experience at the birth center.  The midwife and nurses took VERY good care of us.  They are fantastic!

Packed up and ready to go...although, it looks like she is still wishing she was packed inside my belly! 

The kids made (with help from our friend Emily) an adorable "Welcome Home" sign for Ellie!  They were ecstatic to meet her and absolutely adore her!

Desert Museum-ness

A few days before my due date, we decided to hit the Desert Museum to give me a chance to walk around a bunch as well as a chance for the kids to run around and see the animals one last time before our membership expired.  The Harris Hawk demo was AWESOME!

Can you see the hummingbird?  It's right above Abby sitting on a branch.

Abbies Night to Shine

This was Abbies 2nd Ballet recital.  She did A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  No, i'm not kidding.  She is a really good dancer and she simply looks adorable!  These 2 videos are ab 3 minutes long each because they are the full 2 songs that she danced to this night.  But they are really cute videos of her!  Enjoy!

So cute!!!

Isn't she just beautiful?  

Ta-da!

She was ready and waiting and so excited! 

With the proud and happy momma!

Our star!

Getting Daddy loves after the performance.

Award of Merit

A while back, one of the Boy Scout Council leaders called me and asked me for a bunch of info about Dave and his scouting experience/leadership and service, saying he wanted to nominate him for the Award of Merit.  While we were in New York, Dave got a call telling him that he had won the award and was invited to an award dinner!  This is a huge honor, and I feel Dave very much deserves it!  So here he is receiving the Award of Merit for all the service he has given to the Boy Scouts!  I love you David!  You are a wonderful example to us.  We are so proud of you!