Like me!

I think she looks like me...

I guess Garett looks like his dad and now Ella looks like me!

Pictures of Ella

I had some updating of pictures to do. So here is Ella all 5weeks of pictures! And yes, it is true, you do take less pictures with the next child.

First picture with his sister

Checking out his new baby sister

He was very curious...at first!

3 generations of Iversons

Our family

Dear Ella

Today, 4 weeks ago you were born. Already you are growing and changing before our very eyes. The sleepless nights and around the clock happenings will be over before we know it. But as I sit up with you at 3am some nights, tired, so badly wanting to go to sleep I remember...this is the way it should be. You here with us, healthy, happy, big.

For 9 months, I worried. I knew it would be a tough road for us before we met you. There was a lot of worry, its was expected Thankfully, so utterly thankfully you were born on August 13th a happy healthy FULL TERM baby weighing 7lbs 8oz. A mere triple the size of your brothers! A tidal wave of relief washed over me, I am sure your dad felt that way too. I heard you cry, loud, clear, healthy cries, and I listened and was relieved. I had waited to hear that sound. And once I held you I knew it was ok, you were here, you were so absolutely worth the wait, and the worry. You, my dear, my beautiful daughter were in our arms and we were in love. You gave us that moment that we didn't get with your brothers, you gave us that time moment, to enjoy and be happy. It was good.

And as you sit here with me, 4 weeks older than that day, I am filled with love for you and your brothers, both your brother here, who is getting to know you and love you and your brother in heaven. And just like we have so many dreams and hopes for your brother, we have them for you, our little girl. I hope when you are older, that I am to you the way my mother is to me, a best friend. I hope for you all the things parents hope for, health, success, love, but most of all happiness. Thank you for being our beautiful girl.

I love you Ella Kay.

First times

** I have neglected posting anything for almost 3months! Yikes! But I guess I do have a good excuse. Here is a post I didn't get posted, because I could not figure out the videos! But, now with a clearer mind (not being pregnant!) and an ability to read directions, I figured it out! So here is the post I was planning on posting before Ella was born! Instead it is posted a month after she was born!

ORIGINAL POST:
Garett just went to his first day of preschool (or p-skool as Garett calls it!). He didn't want us to leave, there were a couple tears (mostly from him and a couple from me). When I picked him up he had been worried I wasn't going to come back, so there were more tears, but overall the teacher said he did good. Hard to believe he is in preschool and almost THREE! Really, where does the time go? I am excited to Garett to have this new experience and to see how he grows. Hans summed it up as we were walking out of the school, "our little boy is growing up." He is right...he is.

Garett has done a lot of firsts this summer, not only school. Here they are...

Along with getting a new bike he has learned how to pedal. He is not the best at it on the big bike, he prefers his trike. But he has the pedaling down on his trike. He absolutely loves to play outside and ride his "krike."

Garett also went to his first movie this summer. We saw Toy Story 3. Well actually, we saw 30 minutes of previews and15 minutes of the movie at that point we heard, "go bye-bye." So...approximately $35 and 45 minuted later, we left the movie theater and really watched previews. Oh well better luck next time. I suppose it was a good thing to try, it was raining outside

Bowling went much better. He loved it...the first game that it. The second game there was some loss of interest, but I guess what do you expect. Garett even got a strike! And as you may note in one of the pictures, Garett's score wasn't too far from Hans' score!! It was fun to see him bowl and I am pretty sure garett had fun too. That is until we had to leave and he had to give back the bowling shoes. Garett is a sucker for good shoes, and he was mad he had to leave those cool bowling shoes behind

There's the strike!

Over 4th of July, Garett went to his first parade...you can see the excitement in his face.

Although that did not go over well, getting to have ice cream at 10am was great. So I suppose he would say the parade was great. He also got to try out some sparklers for the first time. Unfortunately he did not get to enjoy the fireworks...it rained. And the following night when they re-did the fireworks, staying up till 10:30 was not in the cards for the Iverson house. Next year hopefully he can see fireworks again.

Other than that, there has been a lot of playing catch, swimming, talking a lot and taking it easy. Well, I have done a lot of the taking it easy, not garett.

And soon one of Garett's biggest firsts in life will arrive... his first sister.

Bring on summer

Summer is here! For Garett that is great, he is loving all the outdoor activities. For me it just keeps me hot at all times. But thats ok, I'm not complaining (at least I am trying not to complain!) Almost 100% of the time when people ask me when I am due the first or second sentence out of their mouth is, "oh, you are due in August, that is going to be hot!" To which I reply, "yes, everyone says that!" Actually it is getting a little old hearing it, but that's ok. And now that I think about it It is hot though. Happy to have our basement completed so I can spend time down there! And as far as the pregnancy, it is going well! We have surpassed the 27 week mark, the time when Garett and Jack where born. It feels as if that is a huge milestone and a sigh of relief. Often I find it so incredibly hard to imagine that Garett was here by now at 28 weeks and 2 days. So early to come into this world. Each week is a blessing a gift of another week bigger, stronger and older. And although I may not like being hot all the time, I can't sleep the best and I tired all the time, I am so thankful to have made it this far and hope that there are 12 or so more weeks until we meet our baby girl!

Now on to a change in subject...Garett. He is good. He has taken a liking to baseball. He continues to call it golf once in awhile, but I can see why he get confused. When my mom and dad were out to visit they bought him a T-ball set and lets just say he likes to hit the ball and take turns!

The other day he hit it so hard, it hit Hans in the stomach and took him by surprise. Unfortunately I didn't get that one on camera, but I got a couple of other good hits.

Other than that, there has been a lot of playing in the pool, going to the park, riding bikes, driving cars and being outside. And Garett has finally warmed up to the idea of wearing shorts. Still wants to wear boots with the shorts, but its a start. Probably by the time fall rolls around, he will only want to wear sandals.

The happenings of May (and April too!)

Again a month or more has passed and I need to update! Both of my brothers have asked for some pictures and an update...so here is what has been going on in our household.

We are working on rearranging, which is a big task. It is amazing the stuff you accumulate after five years of being in a house. We are getting rid of stuff, organizing and making room for the newest addition to come in August...our little girl! Which means Garett is getting a new room and a new bed. And it also means taking down border. Which is no simple task. I am fairly certain the previous owners used super glue to glue down the border. It has been a 3 day project so far to get the stupid border off the wall. And I do have to say, it doesn't help that I have no patience or stamina for this project. So that means Hans is doing the bulk of the work. But we do have the paint ready to go when the border is finally off! And Garett picked the color...orange. Yes it is his favorite color, just like his Uncle Nathan who's favorite color was orange as a kid too! As you can see Garett has enjoyed "helping" get the border off too. He loved climbing the ladder, cleaning the windows and vacuuming the floor. Really oddly enough he likes cleaning! If only that would last for another 15 years...if only. And you can see by the pictures and video what happens when a 2.5 year old is left with a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and his own time...

We are excited too that my mom and dad will be coming to visit and hang out (and help paint!). Garett will get lots of grandparent time which we all know equates into lots of spoiling time! As for me I am looking forward to the help with getting everything ready too. They are great organizers!

We have entered (barely) into the world of potty training. It has hit a lull, but that is ok. The first time we tried he actually went in the toilet and wow was that a big deal. So much so we were quite successful for the next couple days when we tried at night. However that enthusiasm has not been maintained, so we will try again. That's ok, we aren't going to push it...we have a lot going on and a lot of changes on the way. We successfully converted to a big boy bed after a second attempt so we will take the potty training as it comes!

Garett is talking up a storm! Hans and I just used the term chatter box yesterday! He is full of words and phrases. Currently his favorite response is "cause." I have started to catch a couple,"whys" here and there too! He still absolutely loves his colors and knows all the main colors plus black, white, silver and maroon! He loves to talk about shapes and does pretty well with circle, rectangle, triangle, oval, star and heart. He likes for us to know it is always "my turn." Garett and the neighbor boy Christian play a lot in the evening outside, and Garett is real good about offering Christian a turn, BUT if the offer is not accepted within 5s it becomes, "MY TURN" for Garett.

He also loves to wear shoes! Most kids are quick to take of their shoes and run barefoot...not Garett. He absolutely has to wear shoes and he has to pick them out. Now Hans and I also must at a minimum wear socks, but the preference is to wear shoes that Garett has picked for us. It is a funny quirk him and his shoes (kind of like the cup obsession of the past and the current obsession he has with cars). His favorites are boots, but he loves his "tinny" shoes, crocks and sandals too. He just likes to have his say! That goes for what he is wearing too! I am not quite sure how summer will treat Garett since right now all he wants to wear is "bu jean" and long sleeved shirts. I am thinking that this will change, or it will be forced to change due to the heat...we will see. He definitely 100% has an opinion about everything.

Garett never used to like being photographed...that has changed. He now loves the camera and when the camera comes out he says, "please cheese!" The only problem is he doesn't always sit still long enough for the camera to catch the smile. These are some pics of us practicing.

And finally, we talk about Garett's baby sister coming. He doesn't get the concept, but I suppose it is a rather difficult one to understand! He will understand in August. What he does know is there is not a baby in Garett's or dad's tummies, only mommy. I figure that is the start of some life lessons to learn! Anymore than there being a baby in mommies tummy he is not interested in the least. He is however taking note more often of babies and their stuff. He is very good at distinguishing baby clothes from his clothes, baby toys from big boy toys, baby's crawl and big boys walk. It goes on and on...which is probably a good thing! He will get it soon enough.

As for me, I am feeling good, 26 weeks and thankful for every week that we get! And of course hoping for many more weeks to come! We take it one week at a time. We are excited at the thought of there being a little girl in the house and interested to see how different it is. Time will tell.

I think that's it! Man, there was a lot of catching up to do! Just a couple more pics and a video...

I know this picture is blurry, but I just think he looks so tall in the picture!

Riding in his car, one of his most favorite things to do!

This just makes me giggle. It also makes Garett giggle when he watched it too!