New Year, New Baby!!!

Introducing...

Kendall Noelle Mann

Born December 29th, 2012 at 8:34 am

Weight: 6 lbs. 11 oz., Length: 20.5 inches

First picture with Mom and Dad

Two doting sisters came to meet their new baby sister. I am convinced that no matter what method of birth you go through or how much make-up you put on in preparation, you will still look like you just woke up after an utterly exhausting and dreadful night.

Our doctor, pictured above, who has now delivered two more babies of mine than I would have liked. (Read: her birth date was more important to me than having a doctor that I loved deliver me.) Pompous, arrogant, and belittling are my favorite adjectives for him. I will not go into the details of it all, but I will say that if we do have a 4th child, his face WILL NOT be the first one she sees upon entering this world.

Guess who is absolutely and completely in love with her baby sister from the second they met? Doe eyes and butterfly kisses we have not been short on around here.

This one surely loves her sister as well, but is slightly less enamored by her 24/7, which is the case with Makenna. Addison has, however, taken to competing with me for how much time our babies get in the swing, car seat, etc. One can find a baby, real or stuffed, occupying our swing or being fed at all times of the day.

Our first family portrait. I think I like the look of a family of 5.

Have I mentioned my amazing mom who's been here the past 2 weeks, taking care of our every need and whim? She has been a lifesaver in every way possible. Not to mention how much these two girls love her. Tomorrow will be a sad day when she finally leaves us.

New papa of 3 and his little peanut. And peanut she is, weighing in at 6 pounds even upon leaving the hospital. It's hard to believe that Makenna was 4 lbs. 12 oz. leaving the hospital.

Mom let Drew have a break one of the nights and stayed with me over night in the hospital (am I the only mom out there who doesn't like being left alone in the hospital after having a new baby?). To say we were both exhausted is putting it lightly. 

Growing up, we Birds had a New Year's Eve tradition of sub sandwiches for dinner. It doesn't sound very glamorous, but the day wouldn't be same without it. My sweet husband knew how much the tradition means to me and, unbeknownst to us, smuggled in all the trappings for a perfect sub sandwich dinner for all of us, complete with sliced tomatoes, peppers and avocados, chips and dip, and even my favorite See's candy for dessert. It's the little things that have me wondering how I got so lucky.

Going Home Day. Went in on a cold, snowy day to have her. Took her home on New Year's Day. I'd say that's a pretty perfect way to start off our New Year. We couldn't be happier to have sweet Kendall as part of our family. She is so peaceful and serene...and SLEEPY. I truly forgot how sleepy babies are the first couple of weeks home. I'm soaking it up, though, and counting my blessings because Heaven knows it won't last forever and it will actually feel like I'm chasing after 3 girls sooner or later. For right now, I'm counting myself as one lucky girl, blessed with 3 little girls and one incredibly supportive guy. Life is good.

Christmas Eve

You can't really tell, but it's snowing fairly hard right now, the first snowfall of the year...on Christmas Eve. Does it get any more perfect than that?

Nothing much stuck and it ended up turning to rain a couple of hours later, but we ate it up while it lasted! Literally...

 

We were going to go see the temple lights last night but by the time Drew got home from his meetings, it was late and we were all already in our cozies. So we opted for a Christmas Eve trip up to see them. Lo and behold, we should have checked the weather report, because it decided to rain, a lot, and be generally freezing. On the upside, we were told there were 8,000 visitors there last night. Tonight there were maybe 80. 

We rushed home after dinner to take baths, put on matching jammies, read Luke 2, and set out a little treat for Santa. I honestly can't think of anything more magical than going to bed on Christmas Eve as a child, waiting anxiously for Santa to come. It's nights like these that make me incredibly grateful to be a mom, sharing in their pure and utter joy of the simple things. I feel truly blessed.

Merry Christmas!

Getting Down to the Wire...

I am officially 9 days away from giving birth. Ready or not, here she comes. I know I signed up for this whole pregnancy deal a third time, but what I'm not sure of is whether or not I was on drugs when I signed up. Maybe because it's my third time doing it, or maybe it's because I'm chasing after two adorably high-energy girls all day, or maybe it's because I'm getting old (32 years old is getting up there, my friends). Whatever the reason, this baby-in-the-making has thrown me for a loop this time and I am gladly counting down the days until she vacates the premises.

However, in a feeble attempt at nesting, I wanted to update the blog one last time before I ride into Crazy Town, population 5.

Everything that follows is from Thanksgiving to present, not in any fancy fashion.


Thanksgiving Feast at preschool. I got to help out and serve the kids. Can I brag for 1/2 a second and say how incredibly grateful I am that my kids will eat just about anything? I may take it for granted as I'm usually not attempting to feed other kids on a daily basis, but I think I may have it easy in the eating department.



Grandpa Allen came to visit us for Thanksgiving. The girls LOVE him and were quick to snuggle up with him at any given chance. 
 

 Thanksgiving dinner with Drew's cousin, Ryan, Drew's dad, and our friends, The Ripas. 

 Makenna and Addison with friends Gavin and Andrew. Notice the pilgrim hat crayon holders...once again, thank you Pinterest for making me look creative.

Picking out our Christmas tree at Costco. Can't beat the price. Last year you couldn't beat the tree; this year left little to be desired. If anything, it has character...oodles and oodles of character. (Note: all Costco trees are tied up. As Makenna would say, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.")

These precious girls took great responsibility in decorating their little pink tree for their bedroom. Each ornament was placed with great care. 

 Makenna channeling her inner Christmas tree.

Most important job of the season goes to the eldest child...this year. She had no one to fight her on it. 

Afternoon scavenger hunt for pine cone treasures. Who knew a much-needed hour outside would cure all cabin-fever grumpiness?

Her preschool Christmas program. Too cute. This may have been the first year of her three that she actually sang and did the actions. Proud mama moment.  

 Makenna with her beloved Mrs. Kramer. This teacher is nothing short of amazing, which makes us all the happier we decided to hold her back a year. 

Gingerbread houses, as per Bird Family tradition. This gingerbread is 100% authentic and tastes amazing. On another note, I kind of can't believe I'm even posting this to the World Wide Web, but it's mostly for documentation's sake.  Beached whale, anyone? We're getting a baby out of it. We're getting a baby out of it. We're getting a baby out of it.

 These two were incredibly creative and detail-driven. Drew and I were wide-mouthed the entire time, watching them come up with their decorations. We held the icing bags, but they decided everything and placed every single piece of candy. I especially like Addison's forest of trees.

 The finished products. Makenna's on left. Addison's on right. 

And now the countdown is on! Christmas on Tuesday, my birthday and Mom comes on Thursday, baby girl comes on Saturday!!! Drew is starting his Christmas vacation/paternity leave on Monday and we are all too excited to have him home for a good stretch of time. Exciting times, people. Exciting times.

Thanksgiving Daily

My brother passed on this Mormon Message to me this week and it reminded me of my very favorite scripture, Alma 34:38:   

That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

I'm not perfect at this, but I try. I'm incredibly grateful for my many blessings, including my wonderful family and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

A Few Months Ago...

We celebrated our darling girl's big 5th birthday. That was August. It's mid-November. Remember when I had time to do things like update our blog? I kind of can't. Fall is crazy anyway. This year, add on nesting for baby girl #3, a hubby in full-swing-trial-mode, doing work for Makenna's preschool, taking an impromptu trip down to Disney World, and one busy church calling, and we've been a tad bit busier than usual...to say the least.

But better late than never, right?

Makenna and her bestie, Neve, are less than 2 weeks apart. Her mama and I thought we would throw the best-ever ballerina birthday bash for the both of them and started planning it a year ago. We wanted to do the works, complete with fun crafts, cupcake decorating, a ballet lesson, a ballerina read-aloud, and darling outfits for each girl. I have to say, everything went off without a hitch and these two girls relished in all the attention together. No surprise there.

Setting the scene: pink and gray galore. Tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling throughout the room. Tiered cupcake stand. Happy Birthday banner. Goodie bags for the girls. Pink and gray ensembles for each girl to wear during the party.

The backdrop for each girl's ballerina picture, which was printed and put into a personalized frame for them to keep.

Neve's mom, Brynn, and I are in YW together and we got one of our dancing Beehives to teach the girls a few ballet basics, which they were all quick to eat up! We made make-shift ballet barres for the girls to keep their balance on. 

 

Sisters. 

Lined up to practice their grande jetes. They each loved leaping across the floor and strutting their stuff!

A few didn't quite make it all the way across...

Ballet exercises. Oh, to be that flexible. I was tempted to get down there with them and show them what I was made of, pregnant belly and all... (NOT). 

Guess which party-goer took to ballet like a complete natural? (Hint: she was the only 2-year-old on the guest list.) I was 100% impressed.

Frame decorating with fancy jewels and accessories. We took a pretty ballerina picture of each girl doing one of the ballet positions, had them printed and put into these personalized frames. 

Makenna's favorite show is Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Her dream party wouldn't be complete with a cupcake decorating challenge. She took it all too seriously, as evidenced by this picture.

Opening presents together. She loved all her ballerina gifts!

Hello Kitty Caboodle's kit with fancy lip gloss. 

Classic Neve and Makenna. I love this picture. They had such a fun 5th birthday together and we loved throwing it for them. Now the pressure's on for next year. Chuck E. Cheese's anyone?