Trip up North

We had the awesome opportunity to take a quick trip up to La Grande, Oregon last week to see our good friends the Lukes.  They rent the MOST AMAZING HOUSE you ever did see/set foot in.  I was in awe the entire weekend at all the fun features, wallpaper and little “extra’s” Heather has added with all her style and skill:)  Here’s a quick trip through pictures…

THE house.  Built in the late 1800’s, it was so fun to imagine the people and experiences that had originated there.  There are even a few attics that have not  been frequented in a while…kind of eerie to even think of what’s up there!

Not scrimping on details, almost every doorway throughout the house had 6” molding and a stained glass window above it.  The door knobs, very ornate and obviously hand-crafted. And check out the incredible wrapped staircase.  A little scary at times, but SO amazing.  Also, every inch of every wall had a different wallpaper – most cool, some not so…

The Master Bedroom right around the corner and to the left of the front room.  Separated by huge ceiling-to-floor pocket doors.  Heather re-finished the awesome dresser on the wall.  Amazing.

The Kitchen and the Play room (my favorite wall-paper)

  Exploring the farm

Our fun dance party the kids planned before we left

Top 5 favorite things about it all…

1. We got to go on a date without the kids

2. Heather and I spent almost 4 hours shopping at the local thrift stores and antique shops without kids

3. We played games/visited well into every night

4.  The kids got to play/sleep with their best friends around the clock

5. Ate delicious food.

We love you Luke family!  We’ll never find better friends – thanks for the fun visit!!

Wesley’s First Birthday

What story is more iconic for children than The Very Hungry Caterpillar?  After searching the web and Pinterest for some ideas, this is what we came up with to celebrate Wesley’s First Birthday party. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty sure a fun time was had by all

Fun Fall

Happy Fall everyone!

Here's our bug family - I found a fun pattern on Martha Stewart for my butterfly wings and adapted it to make a smaller pair for Em,  Jane was a lady bug for I think the third year in a row.  Wesley was a Spider and we decided Kevin could be the bug collector:)

For our ward party, I painted E's and my faces with this cool teal face paint and it took a REALLY long time to take off, so it only happened once:)

 This is a chair that I re-finished for my mom for her birthday.  It was brown and had a tacky striped cushion.  I haven't done much of this, but it was really fun to see the final project!

 And just some fun close-ups of my adorable little friends.  I just love them to death!

Taking the Plunge

I just dropped my oldest off for her first day of Kindergarten. And it's hard to describe all my feelings.  I've always thought I would be so happy and excited for her and I am, but I never expected to feel anxious, worried, nervous and a little apprehensive about the whole thing.  The happy and excited part is the teacher in me and the rest is the mother, I guess.  Last week we went in for her "testing" day and I got to listen to her answer the teacher's questions. Sometimes I was pleasantly surprised by her response and other times I felt like I wanted to say, "Come on - you know the answer to that!"  What I was most happy about was hearing her little voice almost sing the answers -- she's got the cute/pleasant thing down, even if she doesn't know/remember what the number thirteen looks like. 

As I was dropping her off this morning, I watched as a good percentage of her classmates said something like, "hasta luego mi amor" to their parents. And that put my little heart at ease a little - at least she speaks English!!!:)  What I really wasn't prepared for was how badly Jane wanted to go into the classroom with her.  She was sure that's what we were there for.  I think it was a blessing, because while tackling Jane, there wasn't a chance to cry or worry - I just had to convince Jane (and probably myself) that she was going to be OK without her.

And I think we will be, it will just take some getting used to.  Jane starts Joy School next week, so that will help a lot.  So here's to a new year and the beginning of the rest of my life as a taxi-driving, homework-helping, PTA-ing mom.  YAY!

Wesley

I’ve decided I REALLY need to work on the blog now – my dear, beautiful and amazing sister Kourtne has left to live in Chicago for a few years, so I need to keep this updated for her.  She is keeping a super blog here and I love and miss her!  

 

So – here are some of my favorite pictures of Wes --

     Bath Time                                                2 Weeks

               Blessing Day – March 27th – 6.5 Weeks

 

He’s already getting so big – at my 6 week appointment the nurses all asked how big he was when he was born – only 7 lbs 4 oz – but his adorable full face and often-occuring dimples imply otherwise! (we’ll find out next week how much he does weigh and I do feel like he’s gotten big fast!!)

And here they all are – adorable as ever!!!

Wes Is On His Way!!!

I'm not much of a blogger.  Obviously, neither is Erin...hence the huge gaps in between posts.  Since we've got internet here at the hospital, I thought I'd throw a few occasional photos up for your viewing pleasure.  I'm still trying to get Erin to let me webcast the whole blessed event, but so far no success.

Here's a shot of Erin in her lovely gown, and a view of the room.  She's hooked up to an IV, but that's about as exciting as it gets for now...

When we're not giving all our personal info to the nurse, we're killing time by watching the X-Files (you can probably guess whose idea that was).  More to come...

Well, after less than ONE HOUR of being hooked to the IV, Erin gets checked and is already at 5 centimeters and 80% effaced ...she certainly doesn't waste any time.  I just hope we can finish our episode of X-Files first!

Epidural is in place...Erin's feeling much better now.  She's having regular contractions...

Kinda chilly now, but Erin's lookin' good with the hospital blanket:

The Dr. said that the baby hadn't come down far enough, so Erin spent the last hour laying on her side (I guess this encourages the baby to want to move).  The nurse checked her again and now she's fully dilated!

...and we're done!  Well, Erin did most of the work.  Wesley Lundgreen was born at 1:12 pm.  7 lbs 4 oz.  19 1/2 inches.  And he shoots 75% from the free throw line.  Baby and mom are well!  We're so excited he's here.  He's definitely a keeper!  He's got those trademark dimples, too!