Liberty's stories

A few weeks ago Liberty wanted me to write down her dream. So she talked and I wrote. Of course it has to start with "once upon a time." 

Grasshoppers by Liberty Bell (age 4)

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Liberty and some grasshoppers. Some were yellow, some were gray and some were black. Liberty and Addie were planting something. They planned to plant a grasshopper tree. A lot of grasshoppers jumped out at them because they wanted the grasshopper tree. The tree grew and grew until it got bigger. Then he grasshoppers climbed up the tree and lives in it forever. And then the grasshoppers jumped out to play hide and go seek. Two of them were counting. They wanted Liberty and Addie to play with them so they counted too. The girls were going to look for the grasshoppers. The girl grasshopper is Bella Stella and the boy grasshopper is named jack. The grasshoppers love Liberty and Addie. 

The end

Grasshoppers part 2

Once upon a time me and Addie planted flowers and the grasshoppers loved the flowers. The Grasshoppers jumped on the flowers. The flowers bloomed. We help them build a nest for the baby grasshoppers because they didn't have a nest. 

The end

Life with 3 kids and 2 month old Eleanor

So I'm getting used to the whole 3 kids thing. We walk Liberty to and from school everyday and there is also ballet and play groups to go to so we are always on the go. Plus you know the regular errands like grocery shopping. Eleanor is so awesome and hardly makes a fuss... ever!

Eleanor was in the 97% for height at 24 inches and 78% for weight at 12 lbs 6 Oz. She is huge! Libby was pretty much that size at 4 months... not 2 months! Crazy! She has been sleeping through the night for several weeks now! I try to feed her before I go to bed and then she sleeps till 7 or 8! It's amazing! She also will go like 3-4 hours between feedings which is longer than the other 2 would go. It's so nice. I don't know how she has gained so much weight though. She is so happy! I love her smiles and coos. It's adorable. Hopefully you have been seeing all the pictures on Facebook and Instagram because she is so dang cute. Elliot and Liberty both love her too. A little too much on Liberty's part. She smothers her in kisses all day long! Drives me bonkers sometimes. 

Liberty is loving school and playing with her neighborhood friends. She is sort of a sassy pants lately and disobedient so we've started taking away "outside" time. She goes out and plays across the street with all the other kids in the neighborhood almost every day after school. There are some of the sweetest kids here. Even though some of them are way older than her they include her in their games. She knows how to play Red Rover now and enjoys looking for snails in all the window wells, climbin trees and making forts with the other kids. She has to stay where I can see her from the window and come in when we call her. If she doesn't follow those 2 rules she can't go out the next day. It seems to be helping. Tantrums are getting a little better. She calls me "stupid head" though when she gets really mad.

smiling as usual

Yeah, my kids still fall asleep in random places, he fell asleep at the worst time. Right when we needed to go pick up Libby from school. It was not a fun afternoon

kisses for Ella

miss sassy pants showing off her candy corn skirt which ahe's worn 3 times since she got it last week



bedtime

sister secrets

on a walk

Libby always tells me Eleanor loves her the most

adorable faces

Libby had a bunch of cavities filled and I swear she is the best 4 yr old patient ever.

Elliot

haircut!

date night!

brought the bouncer outside

Elliot is obsessed with this train book from the library and here is reading it to Eleanor. He seriously brings it everywhere

playing in the fountains



captain hook!

me and my boy

I dunno, but he certainly thought it was funn

Eleanor Amelia

0k I started this right after she was born but I was waiting to add pictures and I guess I was just really busy you know having 3 kids.

Eleanor Amelia Bell is such a perfect little baby! I couldn't be more blessed! She is so sweet! I really couldn't ask for a better baby

Eleanor on her blessing day. My mom worked hard on her lovely dress! (Photo cred goes to my SIL Tomi Ann)

 

yawn!

found this nice basket at DI and thought it would be a good photo prop

sleeping beauty

first family photo



Birth Story: At 38 weeks (wed) I had my membrane stripped, I was at a 2 which is how I was with Libby. I was totally convinced I would go into labor the next day like I did before.  The next night I was having contractions! Yay! Then they went away. On Friday Richard and I went on our last date before Eleanor arrived and Richard made me walk through the entire Ikea. I was having some contractions again and really wanted to sit down but also wanted to not be pregnant anymore. I stuck it through and more contractions during the night... still no baby though. My parents got there Saturday and then finally Monday around 3 am I realized the contractions were regular. I downloaded a contraction counter app and tracked them all night and finally made Richard get up at 7 when they were 3-4 min apart. We got to the hospital around 8 am and I was immediately admitted and then they started me on antibiotics (I was group b strep positive). After a few hours they broke my water and I eventually got an epidural. Penny came and taught us how to play farkle and we played cards. I went from s 7.5 to 10 pretty fast. When it was time to push the dr told me she could see a good head of hair. I only pushed a few times and she was here! Less than 10 minutes!  I was amazed. The cord was around her neck 2x and she was very purple. It was a little scary even though the dr assured us she was fine. We had to stay an extra day because of the strep thing (she didn't catch it but they have to make sure no symptoms show up)

Eleanor with the men who helped with the blessing. (Chad, grandpa Hill, Richard, & Ryan)

sweet baby toes



Father-Daughter picture

One of the times Richard was visiting and we were playing cards we looked over and Eleanor was staring at us from the bassinet thing. It was so cute. She was just watching quietly with those big beautiful eyes

I think she looks the most like I did as a baby compared to Liberty and Elliot. She has chubbier cheeks like me. She was 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long. At 4 days old she was already almost back to her birth weight. By 2 weeks (when they want them to be back at  birth weight) she was 8 lbs 9 oz! The dr was very impressed. She is a super efficient eater, way faster than I remember the other 2 and obviously getting enough. She sleeps pretty good still too. Some nights I only get up once! It's great.

Libby and Elliot both love her a lot! Many mornings Elliot asks "hold baby girl?" first thing. It's cute. He gives her kisses and lets me know "mommy's turn" when he is done.

grandma and aunt Diane and ivory visiting

welcome home!

watching us play cards at the hospital

Libby holding her baby sister for the first time

waiting for Eleanor to make her debut

ready to go

almost 38 weeks

Getting ready to meet our baby girl. Last Wednesday I was 2 cm dilated, we'll see if I've changed much tomorrow. I can't really think of anything else to do to get ready. Both kids rooms are decorated, we have diapers and anything else we should need. We rearranged and actually decorated our room so there is room for the bassinet and rocking chair. The baby seems to have dropped down so my ribs aren't so sore, which is nice. I feel ready and nervous at the same time. I'm kinda afraid it've forgotten how to have a baby since Elliot was so different; I never even felt contractions (epidural was in before so my blood pressure wouldn't go any higher) and I didn't push at all-he sorta slid out being so small. I'm sure ill remember just fine and it will go great, but I am still nervous for labor. I actually had to go to labor and delivery Saturday because I was super swollen and couldn't get it to go down, which is a sign of preeclampsia. My blood pressure was fine though so they just monitored me and baby for 45 min and sent me home. They want me to be extra cautious though, so every little thing is important.

Summer in pictures

So I finally uploaded some pictures! This post will probably be pretty random...

Libby took a pic of me and Elliot and it actually turned out pretty cute

Richard in our front room/Music room shortly after moving in

We got a badminton set for our awesome backyard. We've gone through like 20 birdies this summer 

Elliot is helping Tim out

Grandma and Grandpa Hill sent "flat grandparents" and a story for the kids. We haven't  been very good about remembering to take them on adventures, but the kids sure love playing with them when we find them

Elliot wouldn't let Libby have a turn holding flat grandma

Went and fed the ducks a few times. This is a really pretty park

Loving the swings

One of my favorite things Libby learned this summer is how to pump her legs on the swings! I just give her a good starting push and she is good for quite awhile.

Elliot is afraid of slides by himself this summer, but loves to go with Daddy

Libby testing her climbing skills

They had a nice good snuggle before we left

Took the kids to watch Richard's soccer game and Elliot slept through the whole thing

Father's Day after church

Handsome boys

Touring Adobe with Perkins and Egans

Elliot watching Daddy play soccer

Libby watching a movie instead of watching the soccer game

We had a Jurassic Park movie marathon with Thomas and Mary Mann. The kids seemed to enjoy it

Some of our old buddies from Rexburg who also live in Utah met up with us at the splash park! Elliot was too busy to sit for a picture and apparently none of the kids wanted to look at the camera

Loving the water

Backyard sprinkler fun

Elliot thought the play ladle was a good cup

Taking a sand break. Not sure if you can see the glittery sand. Libby thought it needed to be prettier and dumped a container of glitter in there

Elliot goes through hat obsessions and a couple times has insisted on wearing them to bed

Pre 4th of July celebration with the Egans and Perkins

Insisted on sleeping together in Elliot's toddler bed. Very snug.

We got a pool and of course the kids must ride the daddy boat. unfortunately our grass has not recovered from having a pool there for 3 days....We have plans to put it on the patio with some padding under. We need to pump it up again though

4th of July with Chad's family and some neighbors

Richard somehow didn't realize that he bought like 30 tanks but it worked out, the boys loved driving the used ones around afterward. Elliot wouldn't give his up for a few days.

Isaac and Cody doing sparklers.