Ella's Blessing

We had Ella's blessing the first Sunday of September. While I was feeling emotional and sentimental about the fact that we were blessing our last baby, the day seemed strangely uneventful, I think because we didn't have any family members there to share the day with us. Ella did a great job and didn't cry during her blessing, instead saving her screaming for the rest of church. I remember feeling on that day how blessed and lucky we are to have this perfect last baby join our family. I'm so glad the worries we had for her a few months ago, regarding her weight and possible spine problem, are finally over and that we can just enjoy her now. I'm truly loving every second of this little girl's life. Here's a few pics that we took after church. My sister's going to yell at me for not fixing them up, but oh well.

All 3 girls have worn this blessing dress now.

Miss Ella Blue Eyes

Thanks to my sister Jenicca for the great pictures she took of Ella when she was here!! I love them! Here's some of my favorites:

First Days of School

Kylee just started 1st grade, and Makayla just started preschool! Here's my girls on their first days!

All ready to take on that first grade homework!

Showing off the cute kitty backpack

In front of her preschool (an old elementary school)

Picking her up after school - she had a great time!

And here's my Little Miss Smiley Blue Eyes!

Makayla loves to feed Ella every chance she gets

My Baby

Ella's now almost 6 weeks old, so I figured I should get some newer pictures on here. Unfortunately, I don't have many because I just keep forgetting to take pictures of her. Horrible I know, but I guess that's how it goes the more kids you have. As for an update of our lives these days, our baby is doing great and gaining weight. She's eating like a champ and starting to get some decent rolls on her. I think she's even grown out of her preemie clothes now! She's by far the easiest baby we've had, and has already slept through the night (8 hours straight) 2 times, although she usually wakes up once in the night still. Thank goodness, since I've needed all the rest I can get to deal with the other 2 girls. She's starting to smile and is trying to laugh, which we're loving. And I'm finally feeling fully recovered and really good, with no pain anymore. Overall, it's just a fabulous feeling to be done with all that difficult newborn stuff, and know that I'm done with it FOREVER! My sister will be taking more pics of Ella next week when she's here visiting, but until then here's our little peanut:

Posing with the girls' dolls - and yes, I'm aware that the dolls look a little creepy.

If this isn't an Olsen face, I don't know what is!

Just starting to smile a lot

My 3 girls

Green Thumb

I previously posted pictures of my spring flowers; now I want to post some pics of my summer flowers! Last year I discovered the wild and diverse world of growing dahlias. Even though they're a tiny bit of a pain to grow (because you have to dig up the tubers in the fall, pack them in a cool place for the winter, and then replant them in the spring), I totally fell in love with the hundreds of varieties, colors, shapes, and sizes of these amazing flowers. The ones I got last year were some smaller varieties from a nursery, but this year I branched out and ordered some really tall and interesting ones from a website to add to the others. Here's a few of my favorites (although one of my tall ones is still a few days from blooming):

This was my first big one to bloom; the blooms are about 6-8 inches across.

This is a smaller one, but I love the color.

Another shot of one of the above purple ones, not quite fully bloomed.

This yellow one is really fun

This one just bloomed the other day and I'm totally loving it - plus it's HUGE!

This one is my favorite, it's called Tahitian Sunrise - it's about 8 inches across in full bloom.

Brian with my cherry tomato plant. Isn't he mahvelous?? The plant, not Brian, although Brian is mahvelous too.

Ella's Story

Our baby girl is here! Ella Brianne Olsen was born on June 25, 2010 at 10:26 am. She weighed 5 lbs, 14 oz, and was 19 inches long. I had a scheduled C-section, which went well; however, following the surgery my doctor told me that because of all the scar tissue and damage that I had sustained from my previous C-sections, I wouldn't be able to have more kids. Brian and I were kind of thinking that this would be our last, so hearing that basically solidified that idea. At any rate, we're extremely thankful and happy to have this adorable baby girl in our lives. She has been such a good baby so far, with a mellow and content personality. She's a tiny little thing, and getting her to gain weight has been our biggest struggle so far. 2 days after she was born she had dropped down to 5 lb, 4 oz, and we were informed that she would not be allowed to go home until she was at least 5 lb, 6 oz. We started supplementing her with formula, and by the time we were ready to go home, she was up to 5 lb, 8 oz. We're still struggling with her weight as of right now, and it looks like we will have to start supplementing with formula, and perhaps go exclusively to formula in the future. Given my history with the other 2 girls, it won't surprise me. Even though I wanted to breastfeed exclusively for awhile, our main concern is making sure she's healthy and doesn't shrink down to a skinny skeleton, which is what happened to Makayla. Here's some pictures of our little princess so far!

Welcome to the world, Baby Ella! Meeting my baby for the first time. Bonding time with Mom.

Getting her first taste of formula. Daddy and Ella Big sisters were sooo excited to meet Ella! The whole 5 family, as Kylee would say. Home from the hospital, with her flowers

A smile at 5 days old! Ok, she might have been dreaming...

Our Little Graduate

I thought I should get this post done before the baby gets here (which can't be soon enough, quite frankly). Kylee had her kindergarten graduation ceremony last week, which she was super excited about. The classes sang a few songs and the teachers talked a little and then they gave out a "diploma" and flower to each of the kids. It was all very cute, but Brian and I probably had the most fun making fun of the many families who acted as if this was their child's high school graduation or something, judging by the flower bouquets, balloon bouquets, bags of presents, and great-aunt Mabel they hauled there. It's just kindergarten, people!! Ok, sorry, gotta keep those grumpy preggo hormones in check. Anyway, in other momentous news, I'm very proud to announce that Brian successfully completed and defended his Masters Thesis the end of May, so he's our other big graduate in the family. PhD, here we come!!

My big graduate!!

Me and the girls. Hey, it's the Rosenberg clan in the background! Hi Rosenberg's!!

Dad with his girls

Kylee with her teacher, Mrs. Kober

Makayla always seems a little reluctant to let Kylee hug her. Last day of kindergarten. 1st grade-here she comes!