Rylee and Jackson

As most of you know, Jennifer and I were pregnant neck and neck. She being due Aug. 9 and myself August 11. Well, me being early and Jenn being late, we had our babies nine days apart, with Rylee leading the way. So when we visited her in the hospital we got some cute pics of the two together for the first time, Rylee 9 days, Jackson fresh from the oven. The next set of photos are when Rylee was 13 days and Jackson 4 days. They were so cute together, I couldn't snap a photo in time but when we laid them down together on the table, Rylee rolled next to him and cuddled up. But as most little girls realize, boys have cooties,(probably spelled that way wrong), so she scooted away. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures...my next goal is to take some of the all 6, Tessa w/Em, Bella w/Allyson, and Rylee w/Jackson. It's totally funny watching us all walk together, we look like copycat families!

Rylee's First Week

Rylee is now one week old. I can't believe it. She is such a good baby. She is still sleeping well at night, I generally have to wake her up to feed her once at night. It's really, really nice. In the a.m. I'm able to get the girls and I ready while she sleeps. She is opening her eyes a lot more, that's been fun. I took some pictures of her eyes open but she looks kind of funny in them, I guess that's a newborn trait! I also included pics of the girls coloring and painting. As you'll see, Allyson couldn't help but to taste the markers! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Rylee Madison

As most of you know, Rylee madison made an entrance into the world a little before 6 on Wednesday night weighing 7lbs 8oz. 20.5 inches. She came out super quiet, never cried and for the most part has stayed that way. I've yet to hear her really go for it. Hopefully this trend will stick around and she won't show her true colors in a few day! She is really cute, we feel so blessed to have such a sweet, cute baby. Emily and Allyson are in love with her too, Ally loves to pet her and Emily is great at holding her. They both have been really good during the huge change in our house. Mike has been an awesome husband as usual, cooking cleaning, playing with the girls to give me a break, and being at my beck and call. There is no way I could do this without him. I hope you enjoy the pictures, I'll do my best to keep them updated.

August 8th!

Mike has been telling me I need to blog, he says its been a long time. But I haven't had too much going on lately. But today, my doctor gave me the go ahead to get induced tomorrow, Wed. August 8th, at 7 a.m. I had asked a few weeks ago because my doctor will be gone for ten days starting the day before my due date. So after meeting with her today, she said I'm totally ready to have this baby, it would only be a matter of time anyway. So hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be welcoming our newest little Littau girl tomorrow. And be praying for her, we still don't have a name. We've always had a name by this time, so hopefully tonight we can figure out a name we agree on! It might be a few days but I'll try to blog some pictures asap. I'll also try to get my mom to blog some pretty quick and if you haven't visited her blog, it's http://devonemyallybragsite.blogspot.com/

Allyson's First Haircut

Allyson had her first haircut today. Only the bangs but she still looks cute. I was trying to grow them out but then she got a cold, and let me just say that long bangs and a runny nose don't mix. So that finally spurred me on to have her hair cut. She did really well, sat very still in the chair while Tricia cut it. She still has forward growing hair and a lot in the back, still looks like a mullet. Oh well, it's still cute!

New Floors

This past weekend Mike installed Pergo flooring. He got it done all by himself in two days. They only thing he got help on was the baseboards from our friend Jed, (thank you, Jed). He obviously learned a lot from our first house because these floors are flawless, he really did a nice job! It is so nice to have them again, with all of the spilling that comes with having children, carpets aren't too practical.

And for a quick baby update, my dr. did another sonogram, she thought the baby might be too small. She wasn't, I guess I'm just hiding her well, she is just below average for this gestation, 36.5 weeks, so she was perfect. She did finally get to confirm girl, YAY! So I guess Mike and I should start at least discussing names seriously. The most we really do right now is kind of joke about names for about 2-3 minutes and then move on. This poor child! Anyway, we're both doing good. Just over 3 weeks!

Ally's First Big Girl Bed

Last night we finally put Allyson in her new bed. To give a little background, I planned on starting her in there during naps around mid June, but I never did figure out how June could fly by that fast. So here it is, into July and I have to make myself realize, yes, there is a baby coming in 5 weeks who needs a place to sleep. So since her room is the hottest in the house and Redding hit 114 yesterday, when it was time to put her to bed it was way too hot in her room. So we decided it was time. I put her in there with her blanket she is used to and her binky and told her nigh night. She got up once, daddy came and tucked her in again and then she went to sleep, AND slept longer than she normally does. She didn't get up until after 6:30, (normally she starts yelling for us at 5:45!). I hesitated starting her at night because of early access to us in the early a.m., but I just didn't want to give up my nap time during the day to make sure she stayed in bed. But it turns out it didn't matter, she did really well. Her crib looks so sad and empty now. My mom says that won't last for long but it's still sad to see your baby hit a new big milestone! My other big worry was her climbing the ladder. Mike, (thanks a lot honey), taught her how to go up the ladder, but now down. But she didn't climb it last night.

What A Week!

This week has not been too exciting for us, but looking back, kind of humerous. My friend and I are both 33 weeks pregnant so we decided it would be great to take the girls 6 hours to the coast to stay at a trailer her family owns, it's much cooler over there. We planned on leaving Monday but Sunday night Allyson was throwing up all night. By monday afternoon she was fine so we figure it's food poisoning. Tuesday, we all pile in the car last minute and head off. Everything runs really smooth until that night. Allyson starts throwing up again and in a small trailer no one gets good sleep. Especially since she needed a bath and the shower/bathroom is all the way across a backyard, (which is difficult enough when you are pregnant and have to go to the bathroom every five minutes). The next day we are really tired but feeling better. But Jenn and I under-estimated our energy levels. So by Thursday we high tailed it out of there a few days early. About 35 miles from home, Emily threw up all over the car, she was in the very back of my moms van so we're pulled over on the highway with cars flying by, cleaning up. Today she is fine, thankfully, but it was crazy. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be home. The girls were even happy when we cut the trip short, which means it really wasn't meant to be! Redding may be super hot but sitting in the kiddy pool while the girls happily play is much easier! And by the way, isn't it June? Aren't stomach bugs supposed to be during the winter?!

Don't Mess With The Girls

On sunday our church hosted a tri tip bbq and car show. To keep the kids entertained, Joel had rented a bounce house. Tessa and Emily spent the majority of their time in there. Tessa, though, kept running to her dad every few minutes to tell him there was a boy in there who kept hurting her. Her dad figured it was just him bumping into her and told her to bounce somewhere he wasn't. So about an hour later, I was over there watching Allyson jump around with the girls when the little boy entered and headed for the corner. Tessa at the time was in the opposite corner when she got a look on her face that I can only describe as a raging bull about to charge. In what felt like slow motion, she jumped really high, threw out her arms and body slammed him into the side. He seemed a little stunned but it didn't phase him. When I told Tessa that wasn't nice and she couldn't do that, she promtly and calmly told me, "It was an accident" and went on her merry way. I was laughing too hard to say anything else, it CLEARLY wasn't an accident. Our girls won't let those boys get them down!
Later, I was talking to our friend when Emily accidently knocked my soda on the ground. My friend said, ooopss! Emily looked at her and very calmy, and with no expression on her face, said, "I meant to do that."then walked off. I have no idea where she learned that.

Allyson's Prayer

This morning I had just given Emily her breakfast, (Allyson had already been eating for a minute), and I reminded Emily to pray. I looked up right as I finished saying it and Allyson, who had been mid-bite, put her food down and folded her hands. As soon as Emily said Amen, she picked up her food and resumed her eating, as though it was a normal occurance. I'm glad she is starting to realize what we are doing, it was so cute! I wanted to get my camera so bad but don't want her thinking prayer is a game so I stayed put and called my mom instead!

My Wonderful husband!

Tonight, as Mike walked in the door from jogging, I immediately told him, "honey, I'm craving cake." He didn't even hesitate, he turned around and went to the store and bought stuff to make a cake. When he got home, he made a double layer confetti cake with yummy frosting. It was SOOO good. He even wrote 32 weeks on there, saying that is what we are celebrating! So sweet! It was really really yummy. We even let Em come down and have some and Allyson got to wake up and have some, she ate it all in her half awake state! Big thanks to my honey for being such a great husband!

Poor Nana!

My mom was over eating dinner before women's group the other night and she got to have a lovely conversation with Emily...

E: Nana, do you have a baby in your tummy too?
N: No, just your mommy. I don't have a baby in my tummy.
E: Then why is your tummy big Nana?

This would be somewhat my fault...a while ago I was explaining to her that my tummy was getting big because I have a baby in my tummy. I guess she took that as anyone having a tummy had a baby. Don't worry mom, you don't look pregnant!

Em also got to go to my 30 week sonogram...yeah, I said 30 weeks. Where has the time gone? I feel like I should be 20 weeks! This baby is coming FAST! The baby is looking good but Em, in typical Em fashion, really didn't care about the sonogram. All she kept asking the Dr. was, "is this book a kids book?" " Can I look at this?" She's four and a half and still in Emily land. At least there's no jealousy. However Allyson is going to be a different issue. All I can ask for is prayer, please pray! I don't think Allyson will think this little sister is something she wanted!

Waterworks Park

We got our annual waterworks passes this year. It is SO much easier this year with Allyson walking and pretty self sufficient. Plus, Emily is much easier at 4 1/2 than 3 1/2. She is perfect, waits her turn and for the kids to get all the way down before she goes. It's very nice. Allyson loves the froggy slide, she can climb it by herself and just needs a little pull to get her going at the top. We spend most of our time there. I was going to make Allyson wear a life jacket all of the time but found that it actually made her fall more and gave me more work. She thinks it's funny though. So we just put it on for the big pool and the lazy river. The last picture shows the effect waterworks has on Allyson at the end of the day!

New Bed

Emily and Allyson have a new bed. It's perfect as one side has drawers all the way up, one side is a desk and the other is shelves. So it really helped our storage problem with joining the girls in one room. The lower bunk is also on wheels and pulls out. Emily loves sleeping on the top bunk, I think it makes her feel like a big girl. As you can see, Allyson also likes it up there! I will say, it will challenge the clean freak in me. I think changing the sheets could possibly put me in labor! Ally isn't going to move in right away, starting in mid-late June, we'll put her down for naps in there and when she gets used to that we'll try her in there at bedtime. She goes to bed 30-60 mins. before her sister so I'm thinking it will be okay. We'll see. By the way, anyone want Em's bed? Mike needs to fix one minor part on it but is willing to put it up if someone is in need of a bed.

Out with Billy and in with Katie

My mom said that Emily has been talking non-stop about her friend Katie. Even saying that today is her birthday and insisting on getting her a present. I didn't think too much of it as she always is talking about made up people. But Katie is special, Katie is like Billy. If you remember, Billy was her beloved imaginary "son". Katie just as real to her and while we were at Target she kept finding things for Katie's birthday. When we told her no, she would get so upset. Not because she couldn't get the item, but that she wouldn't have a present for Katie's birthday. Emily truly has a lot of passion. It is wonderful most of the time. She truly believes with all of her heart. I'm sure every mom feels this way, but I think she's going to have a full life. Nothing phases her, she loves everyone and everyone loves her. I love that about her, as long as it doesn't eventually break her heart, which I'm sure it will. Anyway, just so those of you know who she is talking about...Katie is a hot topic with her!

Bahamas

Well, Mike and I have returned from just over 5 days in the Bahamas. Mike made Farmer's Championship this year, a huge feat for a first year agent, and Farmers sent us to the Nassau Island in the Bahamas. It was awesome, however Mike and I quickly realized that this is not a place we could possibly ever afford to go on our own. One breakfast at a buffet cost over $50 for the two of us. But we had a fabulous time. They had an amazing water park that on the fourth day we were still finding new areas to. Mike, however, didn't put sunscreen on the first day because we weren't expecting to be out long, and got burned really bad, blisters and all. So he was miserable the remainding time and is still recovering. Farmers put on an amazing event, they hired the dooby brothers, (the dooby who?), still not too sure on that. My dad would have loved it. Also had Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac, he was nutty, not in a good way! And Bill Cosby, he was awsome, so funny. They also fed us like royalty the whole weekend, totally free. It was great. There were over 500 agents and their spouses, so about 1200 people from Farmers. We met some nice people, in the picture with us is Dean and his wife Janele, we hung out a lot with them. Next year is Maui, and is rated one of the top five resorts in the world. Mike said he is on pace to make it, I'm sure he'll get some proding from me! The other pics are of the view from our room and our hotel.

Emily riding and bike and Allyson jealous

Emily has become quite the bike rider. She loves to go outside and ride her bike, she asks all of the time. The picture of Allyson is her chasing her sister on her bike. She wants to ride too. Emily rides up and down our driveway and Allyson follows Emily up and down the driveway. Today, we were out for about an hour and at 10:30 both needed a nap/quiet time. Gotta love it! By the way, don't you love Allyson's "bootiful" (her necklace)? She loves them.

New Stroller and New Toes

Mike and I love to take the girls on walks at one of our local walking trails. So we decided to get a double stroller. After all, we have another one on the the way so this will allow us to do two strollers when we have the little one. Emily was so excited to try it out so we put them in it pajamas and all. Ally wasn't super thrilled, just another thing to be buckeled into. But she does love to go on walks. We really like it but it was a nightmare going through that particular company that we found via ebay. So if you are planning on buying one, beware the bebe brand.

The other picture is of all the "girls" getting a pedicure. I was painting my toes on Saturday, (which I put off because I don't like doing), and Allyson wondered into my bathroom. She was so excited. She would point to my toes, then point to her toes and stretch her little legs out towards me. Then she would giggle. So I gathered she wanted her toes painted. Well, it didn't take Emily long to figure out that sister was getting pretty toes so she joined in on the action. When all was said and done, I thought we looked very nice! Hopefully it will last, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to paint my toes with my ever growing belly.

And speaking of growing belly, the other day I asked Em, "do you know why mommies belly is getting big?" She said, "because they just do" so I asked her if there was a special reason for my belly to get bigger, she said the same thing, "that's just what belly's do" So I said no, there's a baby in there. And her response, "oh, okay" and off she went.

My Valley Girl

Lately Mike and I have been saying Emily is our teenager. She stays awake in bed until late and then sleeps in until 9. What four year old sleeps until 9? She is also sounding like a valley girl from the 80's. She says stuff like, (and you totally have to remember what valley girls sounded like)...
I'll ask Allyson and question and Emily will respond for her...
Em:"Ally's like, I don't think so mommy"
or
Em: "Ally's like totally a mess mommy"
It's so funny. We have no idea where she gets all of this. If it weren't for her love of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse we might have to question her age.

Simply Michael....

Every other Tuesday I have a group of women over for bunco. It's part of our women's group so we can have quite a few women in our house. So Michael is in charge of the girls upstairs while I am hosting. Every night I tell Michael to get what he wants BEFORE it starts as he doesn't like to come down when everyone gets here. And every week, I get a special "message" asking for more tea or coffee. The first week, it was notes on a paper floating down the stairs, which had the women laughing. Then the following week I was playing and the phone rang, it was Mike on his cell phone upstairs calling me to ask for more tea. I nicely told him I didn't have time and hung up. So a few minutes later, much to all the womens enjoyment, Michael had found a tape measurer and had attached his empty coffee mug to it and was lowering it down from upstairs. I felt that had earned him the tea...plus I didn't want to see what he would do next.

Then last night, we had friends over for dinner and the girls decided to go get ice cream for everyone. So while we were gone, some meat salesmen came to our door and hit Mike up. They sale meat like Omaha Steaks does, in bulk, lots of steaks, chicken, hamburger etc. Anyway, I pull in and there is Mike, outside with the credit card. And to top it off, the guy selling had no teeth and my friend said her brother had bought some from that company and it was awful. We told Mike this but that didn't deter him. You see, Mike is the best saleman I know, by far. But he is also a sucker to a good sale too. So I enclosed a picture of all the meat he bought, which by the way he made me put away and we had just bought groceries, it was great trying to find room.