A Couple More

I guess it's my turn! How I love this little Emma Jo! I am feeling good, and Emma is doing great. I'll post more later, but I just wanted to add a few pics. Thanks to everyone for all of your love!

Daddy's turn to sleep with the babe!

She's finally here!!! Little Emma Jo

Since Saysha is recovering (and doing a fine job, I might add), I am making my debut blog post. We are so so so excited to announce the birth of little Emma Jo Nielson. She is 7lb 7oz and 19 in long. She is so dang cute, complete with a full head of hair and even a dimple (bonus!!). This birth thing just keeps getting better (yeah...easy for me to say, huh). 1st one was CRAZY....2nd one was so much better...and this one was GREAT!! Saysh got the epidural line put in about 9 am along with some pitocin. Contractions started getting pretty bad while waiting for the anesthesia to kick in. When the doctor came in around 12:30 to check on the progress, she quickly turned to the nurse and said "get that table over here quick - we're gonna have a baby right now". Then 'presto'...15 min later we had a baby! Emma and Saysh both immediately looked as though nothing had just happened. She is already sleeping great, eating great, and best of all she takes a binky - sweet! Here are a few pics of this wonderful day.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came on Saturday to our house, because church is at 9am, and...well...let's be honest...mommy didn't want to have to get up any earlier on Sunday than we have to! Here are some pics of the Easter Fun...
Emma has decided to go against everything the doctor has said, and REALLY last until Thursday. (So far.) So Thursday we're having a baby...keep us in your prayers! We'll post some pics when we have them!

Thanks Bunny Bandit!

Thank you to whoever it was that left a bag of cinnamon bunnies on my porch last night! I was having such a bad night....my back was killing me, and I am going so stir-crazy waiting for this baby. I was flat-out in an ornery mood, and that made my night! Cinnamon gummies are my favorite...so whoever you are, thanks a million!!

The doc says I won't make it through this weekend without having a baby, but it's mid-day Saturday and I'm feeling great. So as of right now, we're going in Thursday morning at 7am (YEA!!!) to be induced...if I make it that long. I'm a little scared to go into labor on my own, since I've been induced both times before, but I've also heard it's easier on your body. So if anyone knows any secrets to start labor or contractions (NOT the castor oil method!!!) please pass them along!!! My next-door neighbor won't lend me her mini trampoline to jump on, so I'm fresh out of ideas! :oD

My Sister, My Friend

We are blessed with the two most precious girls alive! How I love these girls!

In Love with my Handyman...

So I have a confession to make...I'm madly in love with my handyman! I don't see that as such a problem..do you? :oD I had to post a few pictures of the projects Nate has done, especially the headboard he just finished over the break for me. He is so handy...who would have thought a med student could build a rocking horse from scratch, a headboard from scratch, a playhouse, 2 stools, replace the bathtub faucet, among many other things that he does? Nate is so handy and so talented with his hands! Thank you so much Buns for the beautiful headboard, and for everything else you do for us around here! The pictures don't really do the projects much justice, but at least you can kind-of get an idea of his mad handyman skills...

And of course, a couple cute bonus pics of the girlies. They are so excited for Emma to come..any day now!

Finals, Dates, & Haircuts

Nate finished finals on Friday, so this week he has a LONG-AWAITED, MUCH-DESERVED break. He puts his heart and soul into his schooling, while keeping us as his 'girls' top on his priority list. He did a great job this semester, although it was one of the most stressful yet. We are now enjoying having him home, as he has already done projects like install a bathtub faucet (onto an old faucet setup...so it was quite the project), organized closets, brought-in and set-up all the baby 'stuff', sanded and stained the headboard he made for our bed, etc... (And he loves doing these projects...so don't think I carry around a horse whip or anything!)

Headin' out on a date with Mom...

Tonight we had our 1st of two 'date nights' with the girls. I took Abby out on a date, and Nate took Caitlin out on a date. We both wanted to do this before Emma comes, so that we could spend some one-on-one time with the girls. Nate and Caitlin ended up at Pancake City, where Caitlin ordered the 8-piece french toast sticks meal (only she innocently demanded 9, not 8 sticks). Abby's choice of dinner was Dairy Queen...and I think she had the alterior motive of getting ice cream when she was done. So she had a plain hot dog, and an ice cream cone after that. Bon appetit, eh? It was fun, and although these days are crawling by while we are anxiously awaiting Emma, I'm soaking up every minute that I can with my girls.

Headin' out on a date with Dad...

The girls and I all got our hair 'trimmed' by a friend in the ward on Friday...and she did a stellar job. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it was Abby's 2nd haircut, and Caitlin's 1st since she was a baby. Although Caitlin only got 2 inches taken off, it was so hard to part with those two inches of sheer blond ringlets. I thought her hair wouldn't curl anymore on the bottom, but it still does. I didn't want to EVER get her haircut (can't they just stay little forever?). But, alas, it was to the point of pulling it up when she had to use the bathroom, so it had to be done. They were good sports about it, so that was nice.

After the trim...

After the trim...

Everything else is going normal around here. They were supposed to induce me on the 27th of this month (at 39 weeks), but at my last appt. over a week ago I was dilated to a 4, so my doc thinks I won't last until then. So we'll see! It could be any day now, so stay tuned....

Oh, and here's a little sneak-peak at Emma. Just an ultrasound from about 30 weeks that my friend scanned in for me on her scanner...

My Little Abs

I've never been more excited about having a baby than with this one. For some reason I am more ready, and feel such a strong bond with little Emma already. However, the past few days I've been thinking a lot about the changes that it will have on our family. I realized how much I've enjoyed Abby being my little girl for almost 3 years. I decided I wanted to just share how much I love and enjoy this little ray of sunshine in my life.

Abby is a little fireball, yet so sweet and sensitive. She is so smart for her age, it amazes me. She memorizes books, and lines from movies that not even I can remember. Her favorite quotes right now are from Night at the Museum. (Thanks Dad!) They are funny lines anyways, but to hear her cute little voice rattling them off day and night is so fun! The lines are:

"Wanna dance hot dawg?"
"Do you want the job or not snackshack?"
"Put a lid on it butterscotch!"

Abby is so much fun day in and day out. She L-O-V-E-S playing dress ups, and of course she usually is prancing around in her pink 'princess leotard' that Liberty gave her for her birthday last year. She's always having fun and just giggling with Caitlin. Everything she does just makes me smile. Even her tantrums are so funny! When she gets mad if she gets in trouble (or gets a little swat to the rear)...she tries so hard to get mad and she puts her chin to her chest and throws herself on the floor. I always try to hold back a smile (and so does Caitlin), and then Abby will just bust up in fits of laughter on the floor because she realizes how funny the tantrum looked.

I am so blessed that Heavenly Father has trusted me with my sweet Abs. She is such a perfect part of our little family, and I can't even remember life before she was here.

She is always the one to remind me to pray for every meal, and every other time of the day. And if ANYONE ends a prayer without asking for a special blessing on Grandpa Murphy 'to get better soon'...she makes us all say the prayer again until someone blesses Grandpa Murphy. She has such a sweet spirit, and I love my sweet Abby with every piece of my heart. I am so grateful for every minute of every day that I am blessed with her as my own sweet daughter.