Ayva Mae

March 30th, at 1:31pm Robin gave birth to little Ayva Mae. She was 5 weeks early (however doctors were shocked she didn't show up sooner because Robin had a short cervix...the power of prayer is way stronger than any expectations of doctors) but has been doing great. Of course she has fluctuated in her weight but she hasn't needed a feeding tube or tubes of any sort... And last night she was discharged from the hospital! I'm so impressed with this little girl. And can hardly wait to hold her in just a couple of weeks. 

This was the snapchat picture Jen sent before I even knew Ayva had been born, I was in shock! It was a super quick labor and delivery. Which I am thankful for...for Robin's sake and Jen's, as she was Robins support =)

Love you Robin and Ayva, see you soon!

Easter and.....

The Easter Triduum is my all time favorite religious holiday weekend. And we made it to Holy Thursday mass, Good Friday Service and Easter Vigil, even with two little ones. They did great for Saturday nights vigil and Anneliese didn't even fall asleep...although at one point she was very close. I think they were the youngest ones there....there weren't many other kids. =) Andrew and I feel so blessed to have been apart of the whole weekend's festivities and pray that we will still be able to attend in the future, even as our family size grows. That's right, we're a family of 5 now! 

Here's a picture we took right before heading off to Easter Vigil. (Literally seconds before getting into the car). 

So, Andrew and I found out a week and a half after moving into our house. It was a little rough getting used to the idea for me because Anneliese had been waking a lot at night, going to bed no earlier than 10pm and still nursing quite a bit. I just kept thinking, we're going to have two newborns at the same time! Andrew assured me it'll all be okay....and already she has grown up so much since then. She's sleeping through the night usually, it took some teamwork but we've gotten her to fall asleep the same time Malachi does AND they are sharing a room. Which feels like quite the accomplishment....even though it wasn't that hard to do, I just kind of stressed about it before it happened. 

This wednesday we will be 13 weeks and we are due Oct 14th.

I was barely nauseous this first trimester which as me convinced that we are having a boy...I had a lot more morning sickness for Anneliese' 1st trimester than Malachi's and this one. BUT I've been SO tired. To the point where I wonder to myself if I can just stay in bed all day long...haha, which of course is impossible with taking care of two little ones. I'm thankful for Thomas the Train on Netflix and for a VERY understanding husband who has had to wear wrinkly clothes to work because I left them in the dryer (or not have any clean clothes at all), and who hasn't had the most elegant of dinners or clean house cause I can barely do anything. But we've all survived the first 12 weeks and I've noticed more energy coming back.

For a reveal, we ordered quail eggs from Little Elephant Crafts, which is run by a friend of Andrew's brother. She cleans them out and puts notes in them. So we had our parents crack theirs open on Easter. 

We also sent on to Sr Jamie so she could open it on Easter...cause they aren't allowed to open any mail through lent. It was fun to facetime while our parents open their eggs! And I would highly recommend going with Little Elephant Crafts, if you wish to do anything like this. Elizabeth did an amazing job. Very professional, fast and even customized, not only the note inside the eggs but the box we had shipped to Andrew's brother so it wouldn't ruin the surprise of what was inside! 

Photo credit: my sister Jen, thanks Jen!

Easter morning pictures. For Easter dinner we went to my Aunt and Uncle's who live in Pennsylvania. We really enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to sit, chat, relax, and eat some really delicious food!

Crepes for breakfast with Strawberries and whipped cream..oh and fried potatoes with bacon, YUM!

I just realized that I never did a post about Robin having her baby. Yep little Ayva is one week old already! I'll post about it  next but not right now...I gotta take advantage of both kids sleeping and hem my curtains.

9 months

Nine month pictures for Anneliese...not my favorite but they'll do.  She's crawling all over the place now, and pulling herself up. But the biggest accomplishment for her....with Daddy's help, is she's sleeping in the crib in the same room as Malachi. AND this week she's started sleeping till 5am without waking (huge difference from waking 4-5 times last weekend but I think it's cause your top teeth are coming in)...at which point I just nurse her back to sleep for a couple more hours of shut eye. Oh yeah and she eats everything...she eats the same amount of food that Malachi does!

As you can see in the picture, in the past month we've added two houseplants to our home...we love them! They look great, however, the one behind Anneliese is wilting a little bit...I'm trying to figure the right amount of watering still. But the other one is flourishing. I'll have to post a pic later since I don't have one on my phone and its too dark to take one now.  

And she's off!

Of course Malachi has to get in on the action, although what he really wanted was to draw on the chalkboard.

First time I noticed she pulled herself up to standing! Malachi's bed is the perfect height

Also, we've added a beta fish to our family...we were going through some old boxes and found my old fishbowl so we let Malachi pick one out. The kids like to watch him while we eat...the dining room table was the only place we could think of where the kids can see him but not be tempted to grab the bowl. Is that weird to have it on the dining room table? I'll keep you posted on a name....

I love this one of him...he was so excited to be watching Thomas!

She's adding a couple teeth to her repertoire, of course, like Malachi the fangs are the first to come in on the top...

In other news, Andrew attended a Mens retreat put on by St Bartholomew's Catholic Church...the church that we've decided to make our own. He really enjoyed himself and we both appreciated meeting some families from the church (there was a reception last night that the kids and I were able to attend). Thanks to those who wrote letters to Andrew, he really enjoyed them!

Alrighty, well most likely next post will be Easter (didn't I just post last years Easter like a month ago? Where did the year go?)...Although I'm super behind on our dumping debt series....MAAAYBE I'll get around to that this week. But no promises. 

Hope you all are enjoying some spring...we're still waiting for it to show up around here. 

Snow day

Well we got quite a bit of snow today. I thought it would be fun to take the kids out into the yard but they didn't seem to like it much. Malachi really didn't like moving in the sled so they just sat there and before I knew it Anneliese had reached over and put her hand right in the snow...so she didn't last long in the cold. 

Little cold missy?

I shoveled twice today! This was after the first time.

Brownie time!

Girl after my own heart...she wants to lick the beater too! Unfortunately for her it had peanut butter and honey so she has to wait a couple more months before she can have some.

8 MONTHS!!

Can you believe it!? I'm posting one day early! =)

Anneliese is 8 months tomorrow and I've already gotten her 8 month pics done AND posting them all in one day! Well, it helps to go to bed early, and wake up to sunshine. So I was motivated to get em done...but she's such a cutie maybe I'll do another set of pics tomorrow too. Na, I'd rather enjoy having Andrew home for the weekend and spend our Valentines day finishing up unpacking and organizing...which will then help in making this house feel even more like our home....I really look forward to getting our pictures on the walls.

Thanks to Auntie Marjon for the adorable outfit; and the headbands are from her as well, handmade from a friend of hers:

She's quite the crawler these days! And you gotta love that tongue & drool =)

Malachi always has to get in on the action too...he looks quite adorable...uh I mean Handsome.

In other news, Malachi has graduated from crib (and packnplay) to toddler bed...for good this time!

We found a great deal on craigslist which also included a TON of free toys, books and a Thomas bookshelf. He's had a good time playing with all his new toys and seems to be adjusting to the bed much easier than our last attempt. 

7 months and Storm Juno

Well, just like Malachi's eight month pictures we are in a hotel for Anneliese's 7 month pictures. She getting around alot but not technically crawling...and she has a new friend that she is smitten with, Froggy. You'll see him in the pictures. 

Also, Storm Juno hit the east coast last night. Predictions said accumulation of 20-30 inches of snow...there was concern that this would be one of the biggest storms in history for this area. Boston was hit hard but our area wasn't as bad. We got approximately 8 inches of snow....but it's still snowing and could snow for the rest of the day. Kids and I love having Andrew home from work...we already went out and did a little sledding on a hill right behind our hotel. 

As long as the storm doesn't put a stop to it, we'll have our stuff delivered to our house thursday. A cute house in the little town of Gillette. We are super excited to make it our home. 

Her froggy friend

Waiting for Mommy to get off the phone with Daddy

She's always getting up on all 4's and rocks back and forth but hasn't moved the hands and knees yet. But that sure doesn't stop her from getting around, she's all over the place!

Yesterday afternoon

This morning...doesn't look hugely different

Goodbye Canada, Hello New Jersey!

Well last week was a whirlwind but felt like a month long all at the same time. 

Movers had everything boxed up and loaded in 2 days...we drove down to Portland to drop off our cars and said our goodbyes to family and friends. Took a redeye flight sunday night/monday morning and now we're living in a hotel till we find a place. 

Here's our traditional picture we like to take, on our last day in Canada. It's funny to think the last time we took a "goodby home" picture we only had Malachi and he was the same age Anneliese is in this picture!

For those wondering, we rented the top portion of this house. We're standing next to the door we used which opens to stairs that take you to our apartment. The big window next to us was rented separately. Yes we used the little porch above the downstairs window. 

Even though we are happy to be back in the US, and only lived in this small place for a year and a half, it was still our home and I teared up seeing it all empty. 

But now it's time for a new beginning (and adventure!) and we pray for graces to find God's new home for us here in New Jersey.