One Month

I can't believe Evie is already one month old! She is actually just over 5 weeks now and time is going by so fast. I hate that she is already so much bigger, I want her to stay tiny forever! She is just so sweet. I could kiss her cheeks all day, and I do because she can't fight me! Ella and Kash don't cuddle with me very much so I am getting my fill with Evie before she has a say:)

Here she is at 1 month:

These pics are of her only a few days old, she looks so small in her crib and car seat.

People are always asking who I think she looks like, and I think she just has her own look. A lot have said Ella and Matt, but some even think she looks like Kash. What do you think?

A long day

This is my son at the end of Day 1 of Potty Training:

Bless his little heart! It has been a rough week, and this first day I think he was especially traumatized. He clung to his diaper for dear life, not wanting to part with it. Yesterday however he did not have a single accident! I am starting to think this potty training thing might just work after all! Although... he is not allowed to leave the kitchen so he is constantly right next to his little potty, so venturing out of the house or even upstairs for that matter is something else entirely. Baby steps right? I am just so excited to see some progress!

Halloween 2010

Ella and Kash were so excited for Halloween this year. They talked about their costumes for weeks and couldn't wait to go trick or treating. Even little Evie walked around with me in the sling before it got too dark. It was fun for us to go around our neighborhood together and talk to neighbors that we hadn't really met yet.

Here are my cute super heroes! Ella as Bat Girl and Kash as Spider Man.

Kash had no interest in wearing this costume when he got it for his birthday but luckily a few weeks later he was all for it! Matt ended up cutting the eye holes bigger because he kept running into things (the worst was when he ran full speed into our neighbors BMW...how do you not see a car??).

I had to try so hard to not laugh when I told Ella to strike a pose and she did this total bat man move!

Trick or treating

Oh how I love my bat, cat, and spider. I know you can't really tell that Evie is a cat-Matt insisted she was too young for face paint:(

Too bad she started crying right when I took this picture! Oh well, two out of three is pretty good I guess.

Carving of the pumpkins

This year we carved pumpkins in Cedar City with our cousins. Everyone had lots of fun carving, painting, and power drilling! Matt got the drill out to use on his pumpkin and it quickly became the favorite tool, I think every pumpkin ended up with a ton of perfectly round holes!

Here is everyone hard at work.

This was Matt's pumpkin with nasty cockroaches climbing all over it!

It really grosses me out every time I look at it.

Ella always gets so into this kind of thing, she could have painted all night.

Kash was more interested in driving the wiggle car around. Here he is getting a ride from Julia.

Sydney, Lauren, Madeline

Lauren's finished product.

If Kash wasn't riding the car, he was using the drill!

All the kids:

We love hanging out with these guys! Although next year we will have to do it in St. George because Cedar is already freezing! (I used Evie as my excuse to stay inside)

So loved

You are loved baby Evie! This little girl has had so many visitors and been held by so many people that love her. I have been such an awful picture taker so I have unfortunately only captured a few of these sweet moments.






I guess its true what they say...your first born has their entire life chronicled day by day and with every additional kid you get the camera out less and less. At least this has been the case for me. I feel so guilty, I need to try to be better.

Their Reactions

I was worried about how Ella and Kash would react to the new baby, especially when they came to the hospital to see her for the first time. I just kept remembering when I had Kash and my mom brought little 15 month Ella to come see us. She wouldn't go near the baby, and worse, she wouldn't come near me! It broke my heart. She would cling to my mom and would hardly acknowledge me.

Well, this time Ella was absolutely ecstatic. I could hear her coming from down the hall. She was so giddy, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. The first thing she said when she first saw the baby was, "Mom, IT is SO cute!" She quickly climbed into the bed with me and wanted to hold her. It was fun to see her so excited. She is always talking about how we are such a big family now, and how there are THREE girls and ONLY two boys.

I had to throw this picture in to talk about Ella's hair (which she did herself). She has been pinning her bangs back any way she can telling me that she doesn't want bangs anymore! I have been hiding the scissors and living in fear that she will chop them off herself! For those of you who know my beautiful daughter know the size of her forehead and therefore know she MUST have bangs:)

Anyways. Kash had a slightly different reaction. He came right to my side and said, "Mom, are you going to be ok, now?" He seemed so concerned about me! It was the cutest thing. He pulled up a chair and sat right by me and kept asking me if I was okay. The next day when I came home he rushed over to me and asked again if I was ok, if I felt better, and then, "are you hungry, Mom?"
At the hospital he stared at Evie through the plastic bassinet and when we asked if he wanted to hold her he said, "NO!" and quickly backed himself into the corner. He kept his distance and wanted nothing to do with her. Even once we were home we would try to get him to hold her or kiss her head and he wouldn't. He wasn't ever mean about it, he just stayed away. After about 2 weeks Whitney rushed into my room to tell me that Kash was holding Ella! He just decided he was ready I guess. He is always very concerned when she is crying and will run to find me and inform me about it. He will give her the binkie and is very proud of himself when she stops crying. I think he will be a protective big brother.

I had gifts for them at the hospital from Baby Evie that they had fun opening. And it was cute because they had brought cards that they had made for her.

So far no one has killed anyone so we are doing pretty good! We are adjusting to this life with 3 kids the best we can. It has actually gone a lot more smoothly then I thought it would. I just keep having nightmares about trying to take all 3 of them to Walmart...I don't think we will be trying that anytime soon.

She is here

Evie Lyn McLaws

Our sweet little girl arrived October 2, 2010 at 11:43 am. She weighed 7 lbs 1 0z (my biggest baby yet!) and was 20 inches.
The Story:

The labor went really fast-she was here in 4 short hours! Everything went really well except for the epideral. For some reason I kept holding off on getting it thinking I could handle the pain for a little longer. Why did I do this you might ask?? I don't know! I knew I would eventually get it so why suffer? I am such a wierdo. So by the time my creepy anesthesiologist came I was at an 8 and that is when the scariest part of the whole ordeal happened. He took forever to find the spot to put the needle and when he did he actually hit a nerve. My whole right side went tingly and then I had the most painful electric shocks start shooting down my body. They were so powerful that I couldn't control my leg kicking straight out and hitting Matt! The pain actually made me scream out loud. I started panicking thinking I would be paralyzed while Matt tried to calm me down. Through out all this my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. The Dr. kept saying, "hmmm this is odd....hmmm I don't think I feel comfortable with this....this is unusual...." HELLO! Get it out of my back!! He finally threw everything away and started over. To shorten the story he finally got it in when I was fully dilated and ready to push. I probably had it for about 20 minutes (what a waste of $1200) and the numbness kicked in AFTER I had the baby.
My sister Whitney who is pregnant with her first decided to come to the delivery so she would know what to expect. Luckily she wasn't there for the epideral part:) She was thinking this labor thing wasn't too bad because everything happened so fast. The only part that scared her was when she saw that little Evie was blue and the cord was wrapped around her neck. She quickly rushed to my side to not be "down there" and gave me the thumbs up sign and a really nervous smile trying not to freak me out. I heard the dr. say to give him the scissors but I didn't really know what was going on. He quickly snipped the cord and finished the delivery. They gave her to me and she was completely BLUE but crying. I kept wondering why they were not rushing her off to work on her....umm excuse me I'm not sure if you noticed that my baby is blue? But she was completely healthy and her color kept getting better and better.

She has been such an angel. She is really such a good baby (she is still in the sleepy newborn stage so we'll see if things change) but she only cries when she is hungry and she is always so mellow and content. My prayers were definitely answered! I was so nervous that she would have colic and I would turn into a crazy lady with 3 kids.

The Name:
Evie is pronounced EV, not like Evelyn. It actually came from Whitney. She reluctantly told me her girl name that she liked, and I fell in love with it, much to her dismay:) I knew I couldn't have it so I forced myself to not think about it but a few months later she told me that her husband didn't like it and they were not going to use it so I could have it! Matt and I literally did not come up with a single name so I guess it was meant to be. Her middle name is Lyn, after my Mom, Stacey Lyn. I am still trying to get used to it but when Ella and Kash say it it is the cutest thing. Ella sweetly calls her Baby Evie and Kash says BeeBee E-B.

We are just so grateful for her and feel so blessed. She just fits right in and I couldn't imagine our lives without her!

SATURDAY!!

Saturday is the big day! I have decided to be induced so this baby is going to be here before I know it! I am really nervous and excited at the same time. It seems so crazy that on Saturday I will have a new little baby. I will have THREE kids. Wow, that is a lot now that I think about it:)

I am so ready to no longer be pregnant, this has for sure been my hardest pregnancy. I have just been so BIG and uncomfortable and pretty much miserable. I cannot wait to no longer have back pain-that has been the hardest part. My back has hurt the entire 9 months and it has been almost unbearable. I have had aches and pains in the weirdest places-pretty much my entire body! I have had lots of cramping, especially in my legs. Oh to be able to bend over to pick something up, to have my kids sit on my lap(I haven't had a lap in quite some time), to be able to walk up the stairs without passing out, to be able to take a deep satisfying breath, to be able to paint my toenails, to be able to sleep comfortably....... the list goes on and on.

I think I have been so focused on getting through this pregnancy that I haven't really focused on the fact that I will be leaving the hospital with a NEWBORN. haha that part hasn't sunk in yet.:) I don't even remember what it is like to take care of such a little person. How will I know what to do? Will I have the patience that I need to take care of three kids? How will I function on no sleep? The only thing that gives me some comfort is knowing that my mom will be here! I don't know what I would do without her that is for sure.

I keep telling myself I have done this twice, I can do it again. It will all come back to me right? Let's hope so, there is no going back now!

Kash turns 3!

I can't believe my little boy is 3 years old. We were lucky to have a lot of family there for his big day, and of course we had to have a Spider Man theme!

This was the first thing he opened, a big basketball chair-him and Ella love to spin each other around in it.

He got a Spider Man backpack and when I took Ella to preschool he insisted that he wear his backpack. He kept saying, "please Mom can I go to school? I have a backpack!" He didn't understand why he couldn't go too.....I told him that you aren't allowed to go to school when you wear a diaper so he has to go in the potty first! You think that will work?

Yes, they each got one of these...what was I thinking?

His grandparents "Bob and Bo" got him a scooter and Aunt Robin and Braden gave him a helmet.

His cute cousins gave him this fun race car track.

Nana gave him this Spider Man costume which Ella quickly put on. They are both obsessed with Spider Man and Batman right now, and Ella really wants to be one of these super heroes for Halloween.

Here she is shooting her web.

He loves his T-Ball set and is really good at hitting the ball.

He had been asking for a Spider Man cake for weeks!

He got a little nervous with everyone singing and telling him to blow out the candles so with Ella's help he finally did it!

It was a fun party with the fam! My mom and Whitney and Nikki came from California, Mandy came from Provo, Kim and Heidi and cousins came from Cedar, and St. George family too.

After the festivities Matt set up a movie outside for the kids to watch in the jacuzzi.

Happy Birthday Kash! We love you so much!

Back to Dance

Ella has started dance again! Her teacher is really cute and when I picked her up from her first lesson she told me that Ella has improved a lot. She told me that she is almost doing cartwheels now. So who knows maybe we have a little dancer on our hands. I tried to take a few pictures before we left but we were running late and NONE of them turned out! Here they are anyways:

This was the pose she kept doing with her hands...

Poor Kash is always feeling left out with Ella going to preschool and dance. I need to get him signed up for something soon.

I don't know why they were making such weird faces!