Pretty Lucy

I'm so far behind on documenting everything I'd like to on this blog. If I ever get a free moment someday, maybe I'll do that. But in the meantime, I just wanted to share one of my favorite pictures of our sweet little girl.

Isn't that adorable?! I'm so in love with that girl! This is from when she was 3 weeks old I think. Now she's 2 months old. Yes, I'm just a little behind on my blogging!

The photographer is Justin Smith. You should check out his page: http://www.facebook.com/jsmithdigital

He's looking for baby models right now and you can get a free photo session out of it. If you have a baby (newborn, 3 mo, 6 mo, 1 year) and live in UT, you should contact him. We loved the pictures he took for us! He also took Lucy's "Birth Story" photos the day she was born. That's another thing I haven't gotten around to documenting here on the blog. Someday, someday! But since I'm back at work now and my summer's over . . . who knows when that someday will be!

Lucy's Blessing

We held Lucy's baby blessing a week ago (Sun, July 29). It was a beautiful day! And she was so beautiful (despite a poorly-timed outbreak of baby acne that weekend)!

I always forget how much shorter I am than Brian . . . until I see pictures of us. Wow.

Lots of friends and family came to share the day with us. 

I love this picture of Lucy & Daddy. I just wish it wasn't so out of focus. 

 Lucy with Grandma Sudweeks

Lucy with Grandma Nye

Backyard Campout

With Lucy's arrival, we didn't quite feel up to taking a camping trip this summer. So instead, we planned a camping day at home. Porter absolutely LOVED it! Brian and I pretty much loved it too!

Brian set up the tent in the backyard. Porter was thrilled. He played in that tent and didn't want to come out!

We made tin foil dinners on the grill and ate outside.

Then we roasted s'mores (also on the grill). Miraculously, Porter didn't injure anyone with his roasting stick. Seriously a miracle.

Finally, Brian and Porter settled in for bed. After putting Lucy down, I joined them for some bedtime stories and to snap a few pics. Then I headed back in the house to sleep in a soft, cozy bed (this was definitely my kind of camping).

Around 1:30 am, I was up feeding Lucy when I heard Brian and Porter coming into the house. Apparently, the excitement was too much for Porter and he didn't ever go to sleep. And here he was, 5 hours past his bedtime! Crazy kid.

We put him to bed and we all had a nice sleep-in morning the next day!

Attached

The bracelet finally broke on Thursday. Now he's just wrapped around her little finger instead of his wrist.

July 4

We had a great Independence Day!

Parade in the morning. Sweltering heat. Porter loved the horses best. Lucy slept through the whole thing.

Midday naps. I love having a scheduled nap time in the middle of the day. I think I need the nap/break as much as the kids do.

BBQ with Aunt Dawnia and Grandma & Grandpa Sudweeks. With a cute little Jell-o dessert I found on Pinterest. Our holidays are so much cuter now with Pinterest.

Fireworks in the cul-de-sac to end the day. With a nice view of bigger firework shows nearby.

Happy Independence Day!

Two Weeks

Lucy is two weeks old today!

Her daily schedule consists of sleeping and eating.  She currently sleeps for 2-3 hours at a time.

She makes so many different faces while she sleeps. It's endlessly entertaining just to watch her and imagine what she must be dreaming about.

She looks a little different every day.

We think she's a very pretty baby. We may be biased, but we really think she's one of the most beautiful babies we've seen.

Porter was scared of her for the first week. Now he loves her.

We are so in love with little Lucy Grace.

Lucy's Here!

 We are now the proud parents of a healthy, beautiful baby girl!

Lucy Grace was born Monday, June 18th at 12:31 pm.

10 pounds, 3 ounces

20.5 inches long

More pictures to come soon!

Backyard Summer

I love summertime! Now that we have a yard, my favorite moments are sitting in the shade while Brian does yard work and Porter helps him or plays around him. It's so nice and peaceful!

Even though we're renting, Brian's put a lot of work into our yard since we plan to be here for another year. It seriously looked so awful when we moved in. But we've since put in a garden and planted lots of different bushes and shrubs. Brian took out a jungle of weeds on one side of the yard and put in beauty bark and pavers and everything just looks so nice now. I told him he was crazy when he started doing all these projects . . . because we are renting. But I can admit now that it was totally worth it!

Five Days

My delivery for Baby Lucy is scheduled for this coming Monday, June 18th.  At last!

Which means that . . .

in five days, our little family will be grown from 3 to 4.

in five days, I'll be holding a sweet, little baby girl in my arms. So curious to see what she looks like!

in five days, Porter's going to see that the baby we're always talking about is more than a giant bump in my tummy. Won't he be surprised!

We are SO excited and can't wait to meet our baby girl!

Anyone recognize this location? We took a Sunday walk around campus- I love it when it's empty!

In the meantime, there's much to get done:

1. Pack a hospital bag (probably should've done that sooner, I know!)

2. Stock up on groceries and diapers (it's bad enough leaving the house with one kid- NO way I want to try running errands with two anytime soon!)

3. (related to number 2) Find out how people possibly get by with 2 kids. My day is FULL keeping up with Porter. How on Earth does that work out??! I know it must because I see several people with more than one kid. But HOW?!

4. Get a manicure.

5. Get crafty- I have fabric to sew some burp cloths that I haven't gotten around to yet.

6. Sleep- seriously all I want to do these days. Wish Porter took 3 naps a day.

7. Clean/organize classroom: my original plan was to have everything set for next year before the baby came. But I haven't had time till this week . . . and somehow I've lost my motivation (see #6). But that's still on the list because I'm not sure how I'll get it done when I have 2 kids instead of 1 (see #3).

Summer Break!

Last Friday was my last day of school which means I am officially on summer break. And I love it! We got in a ton of family time over the weekend and now I'm getting to spend my days with Porter-- which is just how I like it!

Here are some highlights from my summer break so far . . .

We took Porter to a local fun center place- he rode the rides all by himself. SUCH a big boy! I thought he'd cry, but he didn't. He's growing up SO fast.

Went mini-golfing. Porter's a natural!

Had a Memorial Day bbq with my mom & little sister. Brian & I spent the day trying out new pie recipes for the occasion- Brian made a raspberry pie & I made a chocolate cream. They were both very delicious and worth all the effort. The night before, my little sis and I had seen a picture on Pinterest about cutting a watermelon this way. So when we got a watermelon for dinner, we just had to try it. Isn't that funny?!

Porter spends lots of time outside now that it's warmer (don't know what we'd do without a fenced backyard!). Since he loves it so much, I like to put him to work watering the flowers & plants. He does a great job!

I just had to include a picture of this. On the last day of school, this little boy brought me a hand-carved knife with my name burnt into it. It really is SO cool. The other side is gorgeous too- it has more designs and says "I love you, Mrs. Nye." How thoughtful! And the thing is, I feel so hard-core now that I have this . . . like I could hold my own in a room full of scouts or something! Weird, I know!