my sweet little man

I am totally obsessed and in love with the new man in my life. Im referring of course to my son but seriously he is such a sweetheart and we are so glad he is part of our family. He is turning into such a big boy already and at 11 weeks has nearly doubled his birth weight. He is of course also very tall and has the most yummy little chub legs. He smiles and coos all the time and just loves to watch his mommy. So cute! Last night he also slept from ten until six this morning. What a champ!

A day in the life...

The following photos chronicle one day in the life of my little toddler Gabriella.. Heaven help me I am exhausted.


climbing in bed with brother



playing dress up with not one but three princess skirts... and a backpack


yes that is ice cream on her forehead and come to find out also on her shoulders.


making a mountain of pillows on top of the baby.





climbing trees in Kolob among other things. Yes that is dirt on her face mixed with Dorito cheese.

Finally a cousin!

Lindsey came down to Cedar to visit with the new little niece Haven Claire Barker was born on the 10th and took some darling pictures. Most are from this morning before church with the kiddos looking quite nice in their Sunday best. This is obviously before they had eating anything or thrown up (this is Olivers favorite thing to do on mommy). It was fun to see Linds even if just for a bit. Our new little niece Haven is a doll and we are loving finally having a cousin. I spent this last week at my parents house in Richfield and it was wonderful to regroup a bit after Gabbys sick week last week. I spent days researching online to find out what she had and even a trip to the doctor yielded no diagnosis. She definitely had a virus and the doc said flu which I knew was wrong. She had fever, blisters in her mouth, red painful gums, loss of appetite and the poor thing hardly slept for a week (yes poor mommy as well). Thankfully my mom took her for a few days so I didnt completely lose my mind. She is all better now though thankfully and gaining back some of the weight she lost. Im pretty sure I need to thank the nursery at church for infecting her with this nastiness. Good times!
Despite feeling ill Gabby was still a chatty little lady and is absolutely darling with her brother. She will stop whatever she is doing when he is in the room to hug and kiss him and talk to him. He smiles and coos at her and it is just precious. She is hilarious and makes us laugh constantly. Really the girl is a witty little thing and comes up with stuff that is pretty amazing. She also loves to sing and make up her own songs. Definitely need to get that on video.
Oliver is a sweet little man and really loves his mama which I also love. He is getting so big it is incredible and is in high percentiles for his weight and height. So funny! He is sleeping great at night and has such a sweet happy personality. Always smiling and trying to talk. This is unless he is hungry, tired or in his car seat. Once he decides he is sad about something the little guy cries so hard it breaks my heart. This usually takes about 10 seconds to go from smiley to heartbroken. Very pathetic!
Brian is doing great with school and work and is getting transfered to Cedar city for work so no more hour commute. This is a huge blessing as we can finally see a bit more of him as well as save a bundle in gas every month. Hopefully this will be the start of us actually having a real life together instead of our normal "ships passing in the night" routine.
It is late and Im off to bed. Here are the latest pics!

Fun pics!

Here are the latest pics of the kids and some of Jessicas baby shower. Oliver is getting so big already and is almost 12 pounds. He loves to be held and is pretty pleasant when he is eating... sleeping and right after he has eaten and if you are holding him. Not a fan of his car seat, swing, bouncy chair, crib or his sister at times.
Gabriella is hilarious and is always keeping us on our toes. She calls her brother "tooty pie" and she wants to love on him constantly. She talks nonstop and is constantly saying "mom look at this" when she wants my attention. She loves cookies, candy, her brother, her binky (the bane of my existence), nursery, her cousins, and the swing. She woke up this morning saying "cousins, cousins, play". Which is funny since her cousins have been gone for two weeks. She must have had a dream about them. So funny!
We love our little beans! They make us laugh every day.
We had Jessicas baby shower on Saturday and it was really nice to sit, eat and look at darling baby girl clothes. She is due on Sept 11 and we are all really excited. Finally some more kiddos in the Bird family. We are all thrilled to meet her!

Busy

Things have been crazy busy lately. Time is flying by and every day that passes reminds me that I have yet to send out my thank you cards. How much time has to pass before its pointless to even send them out? I think Martha would say I have already blown it by a few weeks.. all I have to say to that is "kiss it Martha.. Im doing my best!" Having two kids is not just twice the work its like six times the work and I promise I am not exaggerating. Just you wait!
This last weekend I took both kids up north with me by myself to go buy our new family wagon. Yes we are officially cruising a minivan. Never thought I would see the day. One day Ill have my dream car but until then we are in the mom mobile. Traveling by myself with two kids was the killer though and I barely made it back home alive. My family was a big help though as was Keri who fixed us a lovely meal and watched Gabby for me. Apparently it was love at first sight between Gabs and Keri's little boy Jett and they played like rock stars together. I dont think they fought once which is amazing for two little toddlers. They even shared the water hose. Amazing! It is a match made in heaven for sure. Heres to the future and the hope that finally Keri and I will be related.

Olivers Blessing

We blessed Oliver this weekend and had all of Brians family here (minus Kimberlee and Shayna) along with most of mine (minus Megan). It was super fun and so good to see everyone. Brian gave our boy a beautiful blessing and overall it was just a neat weekend. We love our family and Gabriella has absolutely loved playing with all of her cousins. I think she will have withdrawals once everyone leaves and she is left with just me at the house. Here are some pics..

Here is the latest

Gabby in some cute shades looking cool and also eating... looking not so cool. The girl still hasnt gotten the whole food in mouth concept. Oliver is sleeping as usual. Actually he is awake a lot of the time but has been kind of fussy so only photo ops are while he is asleep. Blessed sleep. Love the little man!

Oliver is here!!!

On July 13th we welcomed our little boy Oliver Michael Holmes into the world. It was a pretty quick (3 hours) labor but was probably more pain than any person should have to experience. Needless to say it just might be my last un-medicated delivery. Not only was our little guy large 8 pounds 4 ounces but was also transverse which means face up and not down as he should have been. My poor husband had to literally hold my leg and push on my belly at the same time to get the little kiddo to turn. This was all while my midwife was doing her best to turn him internally. Can someone say ouch! Enough about that.. I cant talk about it too much for fear of nightmares. Our little man was perfect and lovely so it was all worth it. Just might not do it again... EVER!
His big sister loves him to pieces and gives him hugs and kisses CONSTANTLY. She calls him Oldivar and also cutie, honey and buddy. So cute! She is a great helper and loves to help me change his diaper. Her help includes standing on his changing table and gagging at his poopie diapers. Funny and yet challenging all at once. This two kids thing is rocking my world and if I never see or talk to anyone again I do apologize. Im doing my best but there are some days when I feel like I will never see the light of day again. Definitely will never get a good nights sleep again. This is where my friend Cherry Pepsi comes in. Thank you caffeine.
Brian is working constantly so for 5 days out of the week I feel like a single parent. But he is definitely a huge help when he is here. He works so hard and will be starting school soon so we will see even less of him if that is possible. So if any of you want to come and spend some time in Cedar we have a lot of time alone and would love visitors.
Here are the latest pics.. Enjoy! Ill post again soon.. heres hoping.


Maybe we should stop giving her pudding.