Who's Who???

I'm guessing you all could probably figure out which one is Ayva...but go ahead..guess.

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Dear Blog,

I've been extremely neglectful to you lately and I apologize.

Life has been pretty crazy since Carina has arrived. Lets see, where do I begin. Well we added a new member to the family, finished up my semester of school, said "good-bye" to our Colorado friends (I miss you guys), moved to Utah, had a missionary homecoming (Josh's brothers), put the girls in swimming lessons, had to talk in church, Carina's blessing, family events, 4th of July festivities, trying to get settled in a new place (going well so far), Ayva will start school this year and Carina is growing too fast. I guess that's just life. So, dear blog, I will try and keep up again with our crazy life. In the meantime, here's a few pictures of Carina in April.

I love watching babies stretch when waking up, it cracks me up for some reason.

Apparently they can sleep in any position. She's a great baby, sleeps all the time.

Obviously, always stretching.

My cute cute baby!!

And she smiles all the time!!

(Please excuse above picture, it's make-up from the day before...shower...what's a shower??)

One month today

I can't believe she's a month already. I've tried to soak up every moment as best I could. She is a wonderful baby. We've been blessed with happy babies! She sleeps and smiles a lot. I love her little smiles, they make me so happy! Her sisters adore her and want to kiss and hug her all the time. Cheyenne says she is the most adorable baby.

I just realized I haven't posted her birth story. It was quite uneventful which was good for us but I'll post that soon.

Carina loves to be around her family. She loves the attention. Her mommy loves to hold her every chance she gets. Her daddy has to fight to get any time with her. Poor daddy! He adores her.

She has been a wonderful blessing to our family and can't wait to get to know her more!!!

Here are some random pictures of her from the time she got home until now.

Thank you Aunt Stephanie for all the newborn clothes. She would be swimming in her clothes if it wasn't for you!!

The girls imitated us with their dolls.

They love their little sister!

I love when she just lays on my chest/stomach.

Little photo shoot

Just a couple pictures from Carina's photo shoot. I got more of A and C than I did with Carina. For some reason I've had issues trying to get good shots of Carina. Why? I have no idea.

I'll try again but I have my doubts.

This picture took so long to get and was very frustrating trying to get it. They just wanted to giggle the whole time. Whenever I'd say serious, they'd giggle. I may be a bit biased but I think it's a gorgeous picture.

random pictures

Here are a few random pictures...

When we got home, I couldn't believe how big Cheyenne is. She's not my baby anymore.

Jacqui got me the best nurse ever!! Thank you Jacqui!!

She's a very smiley baby

The girls love her and are always giving her loves and kisses! It's so cute!!

Daddy and his new baby girl!!!

Carina Taylor Bates

arrived on 4/8/2011 at 8:12am

7 lbs. 12 oz.

20 1/2 inches long

Our little family is already in love with her. She is a very content and happy baby.

The Joys of Pregnancy

Warning...another pregnancy "poor me" story.

I've been taking the anti-nausea medication Zofran for the majority of this pregnancy and I've been getting it from my doctors office. Haven't had any problems except with the last bottle I received. Instead of giving me Zofran they gave me Zoloft. So I was taking it for about a week and knew something was off because I started feeling sick again.

Well Wednesday morning I felt horrible and had a lovely vomiting session. It was so intense it felt like my face was being ripped off...strange description, I know, but that's the only way I can describe it. I didn't notice it until tonight and this is what I found all over my face...ruptured blood vessels!!

Please excuse the extreme close up but I just had to share.

SERIOUSLY

I just fell down the stairs again. It wasn't that bad this time, I'm not worried about it. I'm just a little sore again!!! Josh is not very happy, he took my socks away from me. They were the same socks I was wearing the first time I fell.

Maybe I'll put myself on bed rest for the last couple weeks....ha....ya right, with Ayva and Cheyenne who could be on bed rest.

Wish me luck!

A finished project

I finally finished a project...among many!!!

The girls had no idea what I was doing until I finally assembled it all together and they loved them. They could even tell which one was theirs.

Next project....baby bedding! Cross your fingers, hopefully I can get it done before she comes!

Random update

Not much going on here besides constantly getting colds. I'm tempted to quarantine us to our house. I'm so tired of being sick because I get them one right after another. Right now I'm currently suffering with this coughing cold for the past 2 weeks and last night I either pulled some muscles or something from all the coughing. It's now painful to cough and doesn't seem to be going away.

I know I'm complaining, sorry. I feel dumb for complaining too because of my sister and our friend's twin pregnancy experience. Apparently, it takes a physical toll on the body and was the hardest physical (and I'm sure emotionally) experience they've had. So for me complaining about all this makes me feel like a wimp.

I also need to stop complaining about all this because I've been waiting about 2 1/2 years for this little one to come to our family so I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR THIS!!!

So, not much going on here. The girls are in their PJs most of the time, even when I have to run an errand. I try to get them out of the house but gets a little hard. We go on little bike rides to the park down the street and they run errands with me. I finally got Ayva signed up for gymnastics class and she LOVES it! It's been fun to see her try to figure things out. I'm also trying to teach them how to pick up after themselves when it comes to their toys....and boy has that been an ordeal. Lots of crying from Cheyenne telling me that "I'm tired of cleaning up" or "My legs are tired" or "My arms are hurting from picking up". Seriously, this kid can come up with all sorts of excuses, I had no idea it started this soon. It cracks me up, the stuff she comes up with.

I've got my 3 online classes that I work on at night when everyone else goes to bed. They're not bad classes at all, just busy work stuff but still stresses me out because I have to get my assignments in on time.

I'm also trying to work on organizing this house before the little one gets here. 2 more weekly doctor appointments and she'll be here. She's set to be here about April 7 or 8. I have a "to do" list about 30 items long to accomplish before she gets here. I have my doubts that I'll accomplish this list.

We're just trying to live life for the next few weeks so nothing too exciting going on here.

Happy Birthday Ayva!!!

My oldest just turned 5 today and yes, I've been emotional about it. I can't imagine why, my emotions have been quite elevated lately.

She has been a blessing to us and a wonderful little girl. She will be an amazing women and I am so proud and honored to be her mother.

She loves and adores her sister (even though they fight...all the time)! She's very protective of her and will be a wonderful example for her sisters.

Happy Birthday baby girl!!!

Love you!!

More on her birthday to come.

What do I have to do...

to stop injuring myself before this baby comes?

Yesterday I took the girls out riding bikes and to the neighborhood park. We didn't last too long out there because Cheyenne started complaining that her hands were hurting (cold). It was a bit cold and I HATE being out in the cold but I tried to suck it up and stay out there for the girlies. Luckily they wanted to go home.

We got right in front of our house and Cheyenne just stopped, she was complaining that her legs wouldn't work anymore and couldn't pedal the bike. Really. Oh goodness, she's the ultimate diva!

As she was trying to get off the bike she pushed it back so I took a step back and twisted my ankle. Oh it hurt so bad I just stood there, at the bottom of our driveway, trying not to look like a complete fool in front of my neighbors. I'm sure my face gave it away though. So I hobbled up the driveway and into the house. It seemed to be ok after a while so I took the girls to the mall to play there.

It felt just fine all day until last night when I finally sat down for a rest and I could just feel it swell up and hurt whenever I put pressure on it.

Seriously, I think we need to invest in some kind of bubble device (Seinfeld) and just live in that until she comes.

Has anyone else out there been this clumsy when you were pregnant?? Granted, 3 injuries doesn't seem like a lot but it sure feels like it when you are pregnant and can only take Tylenol.

Hello blog

Well it's been a while. Not much going on here, just life. I have about 6 weeks left until we welcome a new addition to the family and it hit me last week....I've got to get all these projects done that I've had lined up for long time now. So here's the first project and I started on these like a year ago. I finally finished and the girls loved them and were so excited to wear them to church.

Granted, I know they look homemade but my girls loved them and that makes me happy. Now, I'm no where near the level as my sis-in-law Leisel but maybe if I keep working at it.

Now here's a little baby lovin'!!!

Just look at those adorable little girls, Steph says that they love to snuggle with each other.

Is that the cutest thing ever??

Twinners are here

Payton born at 6:53 19 inches 5 lb 10 oz
Brooklyn born at 6:54 19 inches 5 lbs 15 oz

My cute little nieces are here!!! Their mom is a real courageous woman, Love you Steph!!!

Congrats to your new family!!!

Stairs are hard!!!

Warning: Humiliating Story About Me

Today the girls and I had a play date with a friend. The girls played with her little girl while we talked photography (my fellow photographer). While walking down the stairs with my cameras and computer my foot slipped on a step and I hit the stair right on my bum and then the next stair and the next. My friend (poor thing) had this horrified look on her face as I landed on the bottom step. I'm sure I had this look of pain but trying to smile and laugh at myself.

So I continued trying to keep a straight face and play it off, all the while just wanting to scream and cry. It hurt!

So we talked and talked about photography and I wasn't feeling too bad. When we left the pain just kicked in. I tried to ignore it and keep going with my day but I couldn't ignore it anymore. I called my doctor...Oh, I guess I should explain a bit more, I wouldn't have had a big problem with it but when I fell and hit the stairs I felt it in my stomach as well and it hurt there as well. So I asked my doc if I should be concerned with this. He told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. Apparently, even if you fall on your bum hard enough you could do some damage to the placenta. Oh man, really, my clumsiness could do some real damage?!!! Well duh, I knew that but it sure doesn't make you feel good about yourself when it happens.

Well to ease your mind, the baby is just fine and everything is good...except for my bum. Have I told you that it hurts? So now, I'm sore and in even more pain than what normal pregnancy pains bring.

I know, I know poor me! Boo Hoo, right!!

Note to self...you are going to be very sore tomorrow so stop whining about it tonight!

To demonstrate more of my clumsiness, this is the second fall I've had. On our way to Utah, we stopped at a gas station, I was outside doing the gas and decided to play with the girls through the window. Well, I had to step over the hose. I miscalculated how high the hose was and my feet got caught up and I fell on my knees. Knees hit the pavement first with my feet up in the air and then the hands came down. Oh the pain!!

Tonight when Josh walked in our little room at the hospital, the first thing he says sarcastically, "You need to stop falling." HaHaHa!!! Poor guy, he's had to take me to the hospital so many times. He's such an amazing guy, I love him for always being there for me and even in my clumsy moments. It's got to get to a point where he just rolls his eyes when he hears of these things.

A new favorite

I did a photo shoot for my friend and her new baby born on Christmas Eve.

Just wanted to share my favorite from that shoot.

TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE...

On your special day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Where do I even start and how do I put into words how amazing you are? (you know me with words...not very good with them)

In our 5 1/2 years of getting to know each other you've been extremely patient with me (and I'm sure that's been difficult). You continue to amaze me with your drive and motivation, your knowledge and the way you learn, your perspective on life and your love for your girls. It melts my heart to see you play with your girls, to see the joy on their face when their daddy plays with them. It's such a wonderful sight!!!

I pray everyday that I can be the best wife that you deserve, even though I have a long way to go! I'm excited to continue to grow and learn with you and from you for the next 50+ years! hahaha Yes 50+ years!!

You are the love of my life and the most amazing person I know!!!

Love you babe!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

A little bit of Christmas...

I must be a little burnt out from taking pictures because I've been slacking but here's a few that I managed to get over the holidays...

The girls absolutely loved the big box of "white stuff" and had a blast playing in it.

Watching cartoons in the box.

Cute little girls.

Me and my 3 girls at Temple Square.

The girls got their big Santa gifts and love them...

Ayva got a bike.

CRASH!!!

And Cheyenne got a scooter.

Ayva loves her bike and is doing very well with it.