underwear...

i have to document this big moment in life... jones is potty trained!!

he has known for a year now that he could use this slip-n-slide when he became potty trained... that day finally came!

brent has been so good with him and spending that extra attention and time with jones in order for this to happen!  we are both so proud... even if one of his favorite places to pee is the corner of the backyard grass!!! 

[our fault... but whatever made him excited to pee... not in a diaper... was worth it to us]

july 19th 2011

thank you!!!

"cheers"

thank you mom for all that you did while we welcomed ellis to our family!!!

july 16th 2011

one week birthday!

ellis ann...

you are one week old today... and every second you are in our lives we love you more and more...

today i am thankful to have two wonderful children!

i couldnt choose just one... however out of 85 amazing pictures... i chose these...

hope you enjoy as much as i...

she was only hours old when these were taken...

[about 22 hours old to be more precise]

 

we are so lucky to have a great sister/sister-in-law/aunt that takes the most amazing pictures!

thank you shauna!!!

i cant tell you enough how i love every picture!

and i have to give credit to jones... i let him pick out 'her first outfit'... i loved what he picked and he was so happy to have chosen it... he is so sweet and so in love with having a little sister... and already protective of her... he told shauna that she could not keep her and then had to make sure that we would not let her do so... [smile] 

i love it!

july 10th 2011

ellis came to the world...

:: the short story ::

july 9th 2011

water broke @ 6:45 pm

checked into the hospital @ 7:15pm [dialated to a 7]

nurse checked me again just before choice of either epidural or intrathecal = dialated 9.5 @ 8:25pm

intrathecal @ 8:30pm

born @ 9:30pm

::::

ellis ann martindale

6 lbs 12 oz & 19 in

:: the long story ::

last picture while prego...

i know... not pretty... i was trying to smile while contracting... 

isnt it so crazy to think about afterward... to know that it was 7:55 pm while taking the above photo and in that moment i wondered how much longer i would endure the pain and discomfort... 

 but knowing so now... that only 1 hour and 35 minutes later i would be holding my baby girl for the first time... it is something so amazing!  i get tears in my eyes when i think of it and although in a moment shortly after this i actually told the nurse -

"i dont know if i can do this"

[she was telling me to hold still while i was getting prepped for my intrathecal... while sitting upright... and all forces of gravity and mother nature were pushing the rest of my bag of waters out and this baby girl down the birth canal]

but right now as i am typing this i wouldnt take any of that pain away if it meant i wouldnt have this sweet baby girl in our lives...

it is truly amazing to me how much love is instantaneously shared between brent and i as a couple, as a family and in our home...

babies are miraculous that they can bring such a sweet spirit with their little tiniest of presense...

we love her so much!

6 lbs & 12 oz

one happy mama!  

i got to hold her seconds after being born... amazing!

[i didnt have that joy when jones was born - i longed for it - i loved it!]

then obviously a little more after she was all cleaned up...

first glances... her daddy loves her very much!

and i know that she loves her daddy!

:: sunday morning ::

loving her pouty face...

can i say it enough... happy!!!

first time meeting... she loves jones... jones loves her... i know she knows his voice... he would talk to her all the time... he is going to be the best older brother!

as he was leaving the hospital he asked brent and i many times: 

"please dad can we take her home... please can we keep her... please!"

he couldnt understand why ellis and i couldnt leave the hospital with him at that moment...

meeting grandma c...

my little burrito...

it is just truly amazing that she is so new and fresh from heaven...

i love the tender feeling i get when i think of her and jones and how i know that our Father in Heaven feels the same for each and everyone of us!

:: the untold story ::

the day started like any other...

we had planned to meet my family that had come to visit at vg's donuts and then the beach...

i had a contraction here or there but nothing crazy or more than what i had been having as of late...

... a few things that may have helped ellis come to the world on her due date...

1- walked down [no biggie] and then back up [biggie] these stairs to del mar shores beach...

[you cant even see the end of the stairs... top right corner... there are more not pictured]

2- ate mexican food for lunch [not too spicy - but heard spicy food can help??]

3- one romp in the hay

4- drank one spoonful of castor oil... disgusting... i couldnt drink the recommended 2 tablespoons... i maybe only had one teaspoon...

5- without meaning to purposefully - drove over a few speed bumps and dips... if youve been to our house you know its impossible to to not drive over one or the other or both to get anywhere...

and that is when my water broke...

so with that chain of events... it may have helped...

 or maybe she just wanted to finally say hello and that is that...

either way... we are happy she is here!

july 9th & 10th 2011

hot days and house guests...

its hot... for oceanside... 85 is a little warm when you dont have ac... so what do you do???  break out the swimming pool!!  jones actually told me he wanted his picture taken... love when that happens...

july 1st 2011

....

a little max and ruby experiment... we thought we would try to see if the birds would come a little closer... 

peanut butter + seeds + one pine cone = a bird treat

its a little hard for them to trust jones so far... he is kinda noisy... but hopefully we will see some birds a little closer soon...

july 6th 2011

on the 4th...

saying hello to his cuzzies... because apparently he is "too scared to ride the ferris wheel"...

[newport ferris wheel]

so he ate his peanut butter sandwich instead...

then to the arcades to "play" some games...

i love that the kids have enough imagination that they can play without paying...

i know im cheap!

too bad that newport beach was a little too crazy that we didnt ever find a parking spot and didnt stay long... but it was fun for a bit...

before we went home and i found the above... we stopped by pinkberry at fashion island and watermelon is back... i was the happiest to be going to pinkberry... its been too long... and then they had my favorite flavor that they had done away with since last summer...

HEAVEN!!!

watermelon yogurt with watermelon, almonds and honey... yum!

i guess he thought he would see if he still fit???

he thought it was really funny... so did i...

....

i told you i was ready... i have my bag packed and the car seat out and waiting...

but still no baby...

that night we went to carlsbad for a fireworks show... 

it was perfect!!!

a huge grassy hill for the kids to run up and down and roll around...

[brent and jones waiting for the show to start]

perfect... except for a creepy ice cream truck that somehow we all bought ice cream from.... which melted before anyone could finish... and not to mention was the single most disgusting ice creams we had all tasted...

family pic...

while we waited i gave the kids some gummies and bubbles...

blowing bubbles...

it was the best!

i was so excited to be able to spend the 4th with brent... it had been three years since we had had a 4th of july together as a family... and it was great!  i loved looking over and seeing jones sitting on brents lap while watching the fireworks!  

it was one of "those" moments... i took a mental picture...

july 4th 2011