Little Girls and all the Frills

I think I can get used to this...

What we've been up to ....

Bringing Claire home from the hospital!


Daddy/daughter bonding time


Experiencing the Bilirubin lights. I dont recommend it to ANYONE.


First bath at home


Daddy/son bonding time at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden


Big Brother Dallin holding baby Claire


Goofy time with Dallin


Hanging out every day with this adorable bundle


First Father's day as a family of 4

We have totally enjoyed having Claire home. It was a rough first few days because as you can see by the picture, she had Jaundice and had to be put under the lights. That was sure a bummer, because you are not able to hold them except for feeding so I really felt like I missed that bonding time. After that was resolved, we have been adjusting to having two kids, trying to give Dallin quality time which Andy has done wonderfully. I have had a lot of help from family and friends, so thank you to everyone for your help. Andy's last semester of school starts tonight, but the good news is he changed his classes so he only has tuesday/thurdsay night classes instead of M-Th. I am so excited that he will only be gone two nights a week! Yay! Claire has been a great baby so far. She is eating well and sleeping pretty good at night only waking up twice to eat. Its been so fun adding another little one to our family and I feel so blessed that she is healthy and so beautiful. She has the darkest skin, and dark hair which I totally was not expecting. Well off to go get some much needed rest while Big Brother Dallin is napping!

Introducing....

CLAIRE ALDINE SYLVIA

JUNE 11, 2009
3:09 PM
7 LBS 8 OZ
20 INCHES

Our sweet baby girl made her grand entrance into this world yesterday! She is SOOO adorable and looks like her big brother, except the black hair of coure. My delivery was so amazing, she came out with two pushes! I feel great, and Claire is adjusting to life quite well. She is so content, I have only heard her cry twice. She absolutely LOVES to nurse which has been such a blessing for me. I could not have asked for a better experience. Here are some cute pictures.

Changes

Things will be radically changing in our house come this next week. I will admit, I am totally freaked out about adding Claire to our lives, mainly because I have spent the passed almost 3 years living my life the same way. I have been able to hang out with Dallin, I've been able to just hop in the car and run errands, sleep when he sleeps, etc. I dont know what I am in for. I know I will absolutely LOVE having Claire here, dont get me wrong, I am just a tad nervous which I am sure is a logical feeling! All I can say is "Let's get this show on the road". One thing I am most looking forward to is Andy being done with school. Come August, we will have what some might consider normal lives. For as long as I have known Andy, he has been in school. I cant wait for "Daddy" to come home for dinner every night, and play with us. I think Dallin will be the most excited. He sure loves his daddy, and every night he cries that he misses and loves him so much. Come August we will be seeing lots more of Andy! Well I am sure the next thing I post will be a picture of my new baby girl so check back. Cant wait!

Did that really just happen?

So tonight Dallin was playing outside with his friend Audrey while I was sitting on the porch. All the sudden Dallin started to take his clothes off and within seconds he was naked. He started booking it and was just laughing and laughing as he ran his naked litte bum around. I attempted (9 months pregnant mind you) to chase after him, but failed miserably. We live in a town home community and the front of our house is just grass, giving him plenty of room to run. There were some guys out on their patio across the way just cracking up, I think they thought it was the funniest thing they have ever seen. I finally caught up with Dallin at the huge water fountain as he was just about to get in the water. Seriously? I was so embarassed. Needless to say, it was freaking hilarious, but I tried to teach Dallin that we dont get undressed in public.

The Nursery!

Here is a sneak peak into my sweet Claire's nursery. There are still a few finishing touches to be added, but I thought I had better post now in case I dont find time later. I am in love with the way it all turned out, and thanks to my mom, there are adorable pink walls and even more adorable curtains! The pictures dont really give it justice, so feel free to come over any time and check it out.

BELLY TIME

I have hit the 37 week mark, so I decided it was time for a belly shot. Dont mind the fact that my face is not in the picture, I just hate myself in pictures right now. Gotta love the fact that I am in Pajama pants too. I dont really care, I admit I live in them when I am at home! I went to my doctor today where she checked me. I am dilated to a 1+ and 50% effaced. She said her head is down low, so I am excited that my body is preparing for this babe. I was able to schedule my induction for June 11, so that is perfect! I cant wait to meet this sweetheart!

Memorial Day at Liberty Park.. who knew?

On Memorial Day we tried to think of something to do that we havent done before. We decided to pack a lunch and head down to Liberty Park to check it out. I hadnt been there in FOREVER, in fact I had no idea what to expect. We met Nate and Lacy there and Grammy and Granddad too. We had such a blast. They still have the old school merry-go-round, ferris wheen and mini airplanes. Dallin was in heaven, and he even got to ride the ferris wheel with his favorite person ever, Granddad. We let Dallin and Lyla run around and explore. After 3 hours, we hadn't even covered half the park. I am told there is a fun water feature the kids can play in and playgrounds. Guess we will have to go back another time for more fun. Here's some pics from the day. Enjoy!

Bye Bye Binkie... it's been real

The time has come that I have been DREADING for months now. We decided to take Dallin's binkie away this weekend, although it all happened without any planning. I have never really minded Dallin having a binkie. When he was little it soothed him, and as he got older he used it for sleeping which has always been an issue for him. I really didnt want to disrupt his sleeping habits in any way in fear they would only get worse. Well on Friday the only binkie we could find was this one that glowed in the dark. Andy was excited as he was showing Dallin the cool binkie, but Dallin wasnt too hot on the idea. In fact, he was so terrified of it that he told us he didnt want the "glow binkine". So we took it away and he went to sleep without one. Seriously. Was it that easy? THe next night the same thing, he didnt want the scary glow binkie so he fell right asleep without it again. Naps were no trouble either, we just told him he didnt need binkies any more. So its been 4 nights and 3 naps now that he has sucessfully gone down without a peep. I love my life right now!

The Countdown

I am freaking out a little bit with the thought that my baby could realistically come any time now. I went overdue with Dallin, but I know so many people who have gone into labor 2-3 weeks early. That is NEXT WEEK. Kind of a reality check when put into that perspective. Needless to say, I am sooooo excited for her arrival and am actually feeling ALMOST ready. My body this week has completely stopped functioning (12 hour shifts at work are really a struggle). I cant wait to be able to sleep on my back or stomach... or sleep at all for that matter. My pelvis feels like a bowling ball is sitting right inside of it (basically there is!!). Physically I am so ready, I go to the doctor on Wednesday where she will check my cervix to see if I have dilated. I would be shocked if I hadn't because I have contractions ALL DAY LONG. We will schedule my induction for 39 weeks on Wednesday, which will make everyting even a bit more real. I am hoping for Thursday June 11. I will let everyone know if that ends up being the date. Of course I am secretly hoping that I will go into labor on my own, just for the whole experience. We shall see. Emotionally I am still a bit unsure of this new journey I am about to embark on is going to change our lives. I am scared because I am going to be alone for the first 13 or so weeks with Andy working full time and then having night classes M-TH. Its all going to work out and be fine, I just am nervous. I hope Dallin isnt a terror and even more so I hope Claire isnt!!!! Overall this pregnancy has gone by incredibly fast, even with my due date getting set back a whole month. I really do love being pregnant, it is an amazing thing women are blessed to experience. I am super excited for the delivery, mainly for that moment when the doctor will lay her on my chest and I get to see her for the firs time. I go through that moment in my mind a million times a day. (Lets just hope I acutally have a good experience and hopefully no C-Section). Less than 3 weeks BABY.

My Boys

I cant say much about this picture except aren't they freaking adorable? I love my boys, and in honor of Mother's day I just wanted to express how much I love being a wife and mommy. Having Dallin has been the most amazing accomplishment/challenge/reward/gift that I could ever imagine. I cannot wait for Miss Claire to arrive in a few weeks so I can experience new joy and new challenges.

Graduation

Andy walked at the University of Utah, despite not being quite done with classes. He has a few more classes to take this summer, but since they dont offer commencement after summer semester, they allow those graduating to walk early. It was a really nice day and a quick and easy ceremony. After we all went to lunch for some yummy Olive Garden to celebrate!

My cute hubby in his cap and gown. I am so proud of Andy for reaching this point in his life. He has been such a great example and I am glad that he accomplished his goal.

Here is Andy with his brothers.

Dont you just love the fattness in this picture. Oh well, I guess that's what you get being 9 months prego! I figured we needed a picture of us together for a keepsake, despite the fact I hate my picture being taken right now.

Some randomness....

I feel like I have been totally slacking in the blogging world. I think I have so much else on my mind, I forget to update sometimes. Well I am now just about 32 weeks prego (by the way I cant believe I am already this far). I feel pretty good, but have been really having a lot of pelvic pain. It is hard for me to get around and working 12 hour shifts are sure posing some problems. I have also sufferred from a few good ankle swelling bouts. Some days are fine, and others they are sooo HUGE its disgusting. I have talked with my Doctor and she is planning on inducing me at 39 weeks because of the nature of my last delivery (for those who dont know I wont go into much detail... let me just say Dallin had a huge head, I had a small pelvis and there was a vaccuum involved and a huge man pressing downward on my belly trying to get him out. Not fun.) I really wanted to go into labor on my own, and am hoping I still do. If not, I understand the concern for wanting to an induction so that works too. Especially since Andy will be in school, it would be nice to be able to plan a day that works best for him. We are thinking something like June 12th. We shall see! Speaking of Andy's school, he is winding down this last semester and getting ready for his FINAL SEMESTER before he graduates. I cant believe the time has finally come for him to graduate. I am so proud of him, and am excited for him to have a somewhat normal life!!! I am just getting started on the nursery for Claire. We had to wait to clean out the office from Andy's old job, and now I am just taping walls off getting ready to paint. It will be a bit more real when I walk into the most adorable pink and brown shabby shic room. I cant wait to be done and I will post lots of pictures. Not much else is going on in the Sylvia world. Dallin is so excited to be a big brother. He loves touching my belly and talking to Claire. We will see if the excitement stays when she actually comes home with us!!! Im not sure if he understands that aspect of it all yet! Well off to go tape!

Happy 27th B-day Andy!

Thursday was Andy's Birthday but I worked and he has class that night. So the big day wasnt full of much fun. However, I had something up my sleeve for him, and I was so excited to surprise him on Saturday. I arranged for my mom to watch Dallin and we headed out without Andy having a clue what was going on. We headed up the street to Tsunami, which is an awesome sushi restaraunt. I am not a sushi fan, but he is and hadnt been forever. It was way yummy and it was nice to enjoy a dinner without having to entertain a 2 year old. After dinner we ran home for a second, and while Andy ran in the house I slipped his Jazz Jacket on the seat. When he came out he realized the next part of the plan. We headed down town to the Jazz game where we enjoyed an AMAZING game. We had been ahead at one point by 20 points, but with 2 minutes left we found ourselves down by 7. Well basically we sunk some amazing shots and ended up tieing the game sending it into overtime. We eventually won so that made it even more sweet! We played the Suns so I got to see Shaq in person. He is huge, and because we were on row 13 I got an awesome picture of him and Boozer. Sunday we celebrated his birthday with his family and yummy German Chocolate cake. Tonight we are headed to my parent's house for more fun and food! I just wanted to say how much I love my hubby. I am so proud of him, he has been working so hard with school, and 2 jobs. I cant wait for him to graduate this summer so he can have some long awaited free time! I love you babe.

Candid Moments

For most of us who blog, it seems that the blog is more about our kids, and less about us. I had some random pictures I wanted to share that really captures Dallin's personality. Enjoy

Here is Dallin and his cute cousin Lyla. They are showing off the gold coins that Grammy hid for them to find on St. Patricks day.

I love this picture. Dallin decided to climb into one of his toy bins and lay on his blanket.

This was Dallin at the zoo. I caught just the perfect angle for this shot!

Dallin and his new cousin, Grey. He is so cute with him and always gives loves and wants to hold him.