4 Days Old

There is a sweet song sung by Barbra Streisand called "Jenny Rebecca, Four Days Old" that I've heard since  I was little.  Here I've got a video of my mom singing it to Evelyn when she was four days old.  Precious.  (Don't mind the hiccups and the pooing that little Evy does during the video.)

Well, darn, after posting this I realize you can't really hear my mom very well.  Here are the lyrics:

Jenny Rebecca, four days oldHow do you like the world so far?Jenny Rebecca, four days oldWhat a lucky, lucky, luckyLucky girl you areFor you have swings to be swung onTrees to be climbed upDays to be young onToys you can wind upGrass to be lying onSun up abovePillows for crying onWhen you're in love
Ponies for riding onWind in your hairSlides to be sliding onLeaves in the airDolls to be caring forLove to be givingDreams to be daring forLong as you're livingYes, you haveDreams to be daring forLong as you're livingJenny Rebecca, four days oldWhat a lucky, lucky, luckyLucky girl you are...

Welcome, Little One!

39+ weeks pregnant.  2 days before new baby!

 Baby Evelyn has arrived!  Everything went smoothly with the labor and delivery, and she came super fast!  We are so lucky and happy to have this sweet girl in our lives.   More pictures and updates to follow... I'm having so much fun with her that I will have to catch up on blogging later!

7 lbs. 15 oz.
20 inches long

April Birthdays

A couple weeks ago my family had a combined birthday party for my mom and Alan.  Since all of my siblings had just gotten home from vacations the day before, we were the lucky ones who hosted my entire family for dinner and dessert. We were happy to do it, but it was a lot of work to set up and clean up.

Ok, these next two pictures don't have anything to do with the April birthdays, but here they are anyway.

Maggie's favorite stuffed animal is this stuffed monkey from Aunt Shawna.  She tucks it into bed with her every day.  It is super cute.

Jared got a stuffed snake from Alan and I a couple weeks ago to go along with his snake obsession.  He LOVES it.

The Ninth Month (Again)

The Ninth Month

Being a duplex
I have been happy, my dear,
To loan you half the house
Rent-free and furnished
As best I could.

You have been a good
Tenant, all in all
Quiet, yet comfortably there
Tapping friendly on the wall.

But I hear
You have outgrown the place
And are packing up to move.
Well, I will miss
The sweet proximity.
But we will keep in touch.
There are bonds, my dear,
That reach beyond a block
Or a mile or a hemisphere
Born of much love and labor.

I approve the move
And gladly turn from landlady
To neighbor.
--Carol Lynn Pearson

I put this poem on my blog right before Maggie was born almost three years ago.  I think it is very sweet, so I'm posting it again.  I literally have DAYS left until I get to meet my new little lady.  We are getting very excited around here!  I still have some things I need to before she comes, but we are getting there.  I seem to always forget how utterly lame being uber-preganant is.  Every day I feel more and more stretched out and  lousy, and I have been very impatient with my little kiddos because I have been so tired.  Today I am going to try to spend some more one-on-one time with each of them.  

Easter

 This first picture was not taken on Easter, but it was taken last week before church.  Maggie is wearing a dress that I wore as a little girl.  My older sister had a matching dress, too, and my mom called them our "Anne of Green Gables" dresses, because of the pretty white pinafores, I guess.  I actually have lots of memories of wearing this dress.


Jared and Maggie both wore yellow for Easter.  Again, Maggie's dress is one that I wore as a little girl. It is slightly small, so I wish I had found it earlier, but she still looked adorable in it.

I only got one picture of our Easter egg hunt in our backyard before my camera batteries died.  But it was lots of fun and the kids have been enjoying their candy immensely.

Animal Fun

Since our new baby is due VERY soon, I have been starting to feel the guilt of "I'm going to be a bad mother as soon as my new baby comes," so I have been trying really hard to do fun things with Jared and Maggie, even when I haven't really felt like it.  We have been to the zoo, the dinosaur museum, and the planetarium recently.  These past couple of weeks we went to the aquarium and to the aviary.

Alan's parents actually gave us passes to the aquarium a year ago as a gift, and we have loved it!  I have taken the kids probably once every 3 weeks on average.  We went twice this past month, including the day before the passes expired. I plan to renew our memberships once the "bigger and better" (and closer to us!) aquarium opens around Christmas time.  

Jared making a snake face (???) in front of the green tree boa.  He is OBSESSED with snakes.

You can see one of the South American tarantulas in the bottom left corner of this cage. Yuck.

Maggie loves the turtles, big and small, at the aquarium the best.

Jared is officially taller than the Emperor penguins.

These next pictures and videos are from our trip to the aviary.  I feel like the aviary is totally underrated!  It is actually quite interesting, I don't consider myself a bird-lover by any means.  This is our second time there, and we will be sure to go again soon when Alan can come with us. (P.S. It was fun to run into you there, Crystal!)

This is the southern hornbill making its noises in its throat.  

In front of the southern hornbill

This candor was gracious enough to show us its wingspan

Tiny birds that can be found in your backyard if you lived in Argentina, apparently

More "backyard birds" of Argentina

Flamingos

Crane

Peacock on roof

Peacock on fence

I asked Maggie what the peacock says

This toucan was making a racket

Trumpeter swans

We paid a quarter for food and fed the ducks for a few minutes