Blake's 4th Birthday

Blake is now 4 and we had a great family day celebrating Blake's birthday! 

Since his birthday fell on a Saturday this year, we kept debating how we should spend the day, and last minute we decide to go to the Colorado Railroad Museum since all Blake wanted to do was see trains. 

When we got there, next to the parking lot were all these old trains parked at the round table and we were free to walk around and peek inside them all. Blake loved seeing "Tidmouth Sheds" and all the diesel and passenger trains. 

We took our time looking around, and Blake was just in his own world narrating Thomas scenes word for word, talking about trains. 

There was a train ride that goes around in a circle that the boys wanted to ride, but since they had already seen all the trains outside we decided to not worry about paying admission, and got them each a small toy from the gift shop instead. (Blake doesn't remember, but a few years ago we saw Thomas the train here and the ride was pretty boring.) So luckily, getting them a toy was a good enough distraction and we considered the outing a success since we accomplished exactly what Blake wanted to do and they were happy. 

Afterwards we were pretty hot, so we decided to head to the community pool for the last hour of the day. 

The boys had a great time swimming, and Jacob loved going down the big slides. I got to sit and relax with a book and sleeping Ava. She basically slept the whole day through all of our outings. 

For dinner Luke made homemade pepperoni pizza, Blake's favorite, and then we finally did presents!

Blake was finally excited this year to open all his gifts- he got lots of trains, ninja turtles, a couple star wars toys, and a new sleeping bag. Then he got one more surprise present downstairs- some new tracks, trains, and a Tidmouth Sheds- he loves it! And it worked out to be a pretty fitting gift since we saw the "real Tidmouth Sheds" earlier that day! I thought Blake would be over his train phase, but he just loves to build tracks and recite story lines from the shows as he plays. It's pretty cute how he gets into his own little world with those trains :)

And I've decided once again I am just the worst at making cakes, but luckily my boys don't expect much from me and always love them. All Blake wanted was a blue Thomas cake, and this pleased him, so at least it makes them happy, ha. 

 Yay for a fun birthday!

We're so excited Blake is 4 and slowly growing up to being a big boy, not the baby anymore! He is a sweet older brother to Ava and a fun companion to Jacob. I love when they play together and are interested in the same things- it's great they have each other. Blake can be a tease to Jacob at times, but also can be really sweet and helpful and full of laughs. We're excited for him to start Pre-K next year and to see him grow more academically, and make some new friends. I can't believe my little guy is already 4 but we're excited to see what this next year will bring for him! We love you Blakey!

Ava's First Month and Baby Blessing

It's easy for time to fly after having a baby! Ava is already a month old and as I've been looking through these pictures, it's already making me miss the tiny baby she was! She's still little (about 8 pounds now) but this time around I find myself more worried that I'll forget how little and soft and cute she is, so I try to take lots of pictures so I can remember this sweet stage!

1 week old:

 Ava stretching and doing superman with her legs

 My sleeping angel

2 weeks old:

Ava in her first outfit to church and then her dressed up a little for Memorial Day. 

3 weeks old:

 

 At one month old, Ava was blessed at church on Sunday, June 7. Luke's parents came in that weekend too. It was a nice blessing given by Luke, and Ava was happy and staring up at Luke through the whole prayer.

 I love blessing days because they look so beautiful and pure and it was special to have Ava wear the same dress that me and my own mom wore at our baby blessings. Here are some more pictures of Ava on her special day!

 

  Overall, Ava has been such a good baby! She's gotten better at sleeping at night and going for longer stretches. She loves to take lots of small naps during the day in her swing and bouncer. She loves to be held, especially swaddled with a blanket and a pacifier. And luckily she is great at sleeping in the car- as long as we're moving! Her brothers love when she's awake so they can hold her and help her whenever she is crying or needs attention. She occasionally will give us a smile and loves to look around and at us. She is our sweet little girl and we can't get enough of her!

Ava May Decker

Our little girl is here and everything went smoothly according to plan! On Friday, May 8 I had a scheduled induction at 7am. My mom was here to watch the boys, and Luke and I walked in to the hospital, did some paperwork and kind of waited around until my midwife arrived at 9am. She immediately went ahead and broke my water. I was a little nervous since I'd never had that done before but it went fast, and despite what I thought, nothing happened. I still wasn't feeling any contractions, but by 9:45 I had my epidural put in and by 10 they had added Pitocin to my IV to start labor. My epidural must have been done well because I hardly felt contractions when they finally started coming. Luke was sure it was going to take awhile though so a little after 11:30 he stepped out to grab himself some lunch. My midwife came back at noon to check on me and she surprised me when she said I was already fully ready to push. I said, "Are you sure? I don't feel a thing!" I could hardly believe it. Luke luckily came back from his lunch right in time. I only pushed for about 10 minutes and at 12:19pm she was born! She was 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.

The first thing I remember saying when they placed her on me was that she was so little! I guess compared to my boys she looked and felt so small but she's perfect. The first thing I remember Luke saying was "You didn't scream at all this time." Ha, compared to my last experience this was so much easier! I feel so lucky to have had a breezy pregnancy and then the easiest labor and delivery so far too! I'm going to have to remember for the future, having a scheduled induction with epidural is the way to go!

Luke and I had a little trouble deciding on a name for her. We came in each with an idea, but eventually we agreed on Ava. The boys had a little help with that decision and since we knew they favored it, that's what pushed us to go with it, and I think her name flows perfectly with the rest of ours.
As for her middle name, we had earlier joked that since we had such a hard time picking girl names that maybe it would be easiest to just call her May since that was the month she was born, but then it kind of stuck and we liked it. I was even more pleased when I realized my grandpa's mother's middle name was also May and I found it interesting that through her we have several pioneer ancestors with great history, so the name has a lot more meaning now to me. So that's how she got her name- Ava May Decker.

As soon as we got moved up to my room, my mom brought the boys over so they could visit their new baby sister. They were so excited- especially Blake who kept saying things like, "There's my baby sister! Ooh look, she's soo cute!" They were so busy watching the baby get cleaned up, Blake didn't even notice me until about five minutes after being there, then he turned and said, "Mom?! What are you doing here?" You would think Blake obviously doesn't have a clue, but then after that he must have put two and two together because he kept asking, "Mom your belly doesn't hurt anymore?" Ha, it was too cute.

They were really anxious to hold and look at her. It was so fun to see Blake now as a big brother. He has been especially excited for baby sister and he was so gentle and sweet with her.

Jacob also liked holding her though he was disappointed when she didn't laugh at him making silly faces at her. He keeps forgetting that little babies can't really do anything yet so he's looking forward to when he can help out more, and he really is a great helper. 

Both boys were so sweet and I know already they are going to be great big brothers who are so helpful and will watch out for their little sister.

Here's my mom with her new granddaughter and some more various family photos with the new addition!

That night in the hospital I only got about an hour sleep, so we were ready to leave Saturday, and finally got out by about 6pm. It was pouring rain, like it had been all weekend, and Ava cried the whole way home, so we were off to a shaky start but it was good to be home.

The next day was Mother's Day, which was quite a fitting day to be pampered. Luke brought me breakfast in bed, the boys brought me cards all own their own and had their dad make me cinnamon buns since they know it's my favorite. Then I got to stay home from church and rest until they got home at noon- it was much needed and appreciated!

It was a special Mother's Day since it was my first one with a new daughter, my first as a mom of 3 kids, and I was grateful to have my own mom here helping me out! I am such a lucky mom to have three beautiful and sweet kids. We are so excited Ava is here and for the joy she's already brought to our family! I know it will be an adjustment with three kids and being a family of 5, but we are looking forward to our adventures ahead!