Creative Overload!

Wow! I am experiencing a creative overload. Not that it is a bad thing mind you, actually, so many wonderful and exciting things are happening!

Ooh La La Flowers is taking off and I am getting ready for the debut of both the Esty.com site and the blog site. I learned that I can make banners and buttons and backgrounds using different design software. It's amazing! The options are endless when you start designing things yourself. Luckily, I was refereed to a wonderful girl that knows her stuff and she is going to help me create a business logo and design the blog for me. It would have taken me much longer, I'm sure, to do it myself.

Along with that a friend of mine that has actually published books, read an article that I wrote a while ago and suggested that I submit it to the Ensign. So after I have a few people grammar check it for me I am going to send that out and see what happens!

And then I decided to sign up for photography classes! I have been taking photos for friends at weddings, for maternity and new born and decided it would be a good idea to take some classes and then hopefully start doing that professorially.

So between Home School, healing from my surgery, making flowers, designing banners, writing, getting ready to move next month and being Mom, Wife and Friend, whew! However, I am grateful for so many amazing things happening. I have always wanted to own my own business and to have it take off like it is is very fulfilling. Things are busy, but I'm loving it!

I have so many new family photos to post, hopefully I will be able to get to that soon!!

But for a quick update-

-Allana is loosing teeth by the handfulls! Seriously, I think I'm starting to get concerned! She is doing amazing in school and actually tested into the Gifted program. Janzen and I are so excited for her!

-Sarina just got her first "short" haircut and she looks so precious!

She is also doing school (mainly because she sees Allana doing it and wants to do EVERYTHING Allana does!) and doing well in it. She continues to be the clown of the family

(everyone who knows her knows what I mean!).

-Eli is HUGE! he weighs 16 pounds and just turned 4 months! Talk about a happy baby, this little guys is almost smiling non-stop with his little dimpled grin. He is reaching so many milestones I feel like the are flying by!

It truly is such a precious thing to watch the girls interact with Eli. So sweet the way they care for him, it warms my heart everyday!

So thats a brief update, photos to come soon!!

Happiness

Happiness is when the sun kisses your cheek,

love caresses your soul,

laughter tickles your ears,

smiles touch your eyes,

beauty warms your heart and hope fills your life.

Photos With Koenig Photography

These were taken when:

Eli- 3 weeks old

Allana- 6 years old

Sarina- 3 years old

Eli Grayson Van Dyke

Eli Grayson Van Dyke

Born November 17th at 3:44pm

Weight: 8 and a half pounds

Length: 21 and a half inch

Eli on Thanksgiving.

James and Sarah brought over this adoreable bib!!

Snuggling with Mommy

Lost in deep, deep thought!


Daddy and Eli

Sweet sleeping baby boy.

All ready to brace the chilly, rainy weather!

Eli sporting the adorable hat Aunt Rachel made him!

He didn't care for the half naked shots we were trying to get though.

My favorite photo of Allana and Eli!

Eli's foot and Daddy's hand.

Precious, sleepy little baby.

The first time Sarina meet Eli!!

Mommy and Allana kisses!

Hungrey little man!

Pure sweetness.

Eli, right after his first bath!

Eli gave us quite a run for our money! On Monday the 16th we had another ultrasound done because the doctors said he was measuring pretty big and they wanted to check his size. During the ultrasound we found out that Eli was sitting breech! Everyone was pretty amazed that a baby that size had changed positions so late in the game.

Because Eli was breech the first doctor suggested trying to turn him head down and made an appointment for the next day with a surgeon who was going to attempt this and could also schedule a C-section if moving him was unsuccessful.

We showed up on Tuesday the 17th to see if the doctor would try and turn him, the doctor felt my belly, looked at me and said there was no way he was going to attempt to turn such a large baby (the ultrasound was measuring Eli at 9 pounds at the point). But he did have some good news, he said Eli felt as if he was facing down and wanted to do a quick ultrasound to see if this was true (I was pretty sure it was, because that night I had felt A LOT of painful moving in there!!). Sue enough the ultrasound confirmed that he was face down. So the doctor asked us if we were ready to have a baby today! I was already having contractions, so they were going to try and induce me to see if we could go ahead and do a natural birth before Eli decided to flip around again.

I was excited and scared at the same time, we weren't planning on having a baby that day, he was two and a half weeks early after all!! So Janzen made some phone calls and asked the wonderful people watching the girls if they could hold on to them for the rest of the day, thankfully they said yes and then we headed upstairs to get this little guy on out!

Up stairs things went pretty quick, they inserted a balloon type thing (I can't remember the name of it) that blew up once inserted and put pressure on my cervix to get things moving along. I asked them how long it could take for this to work and they said on average 6 to 8 hours, but because I was contracting already maybe less. Well..... after an hour, I was already dilated to a 4! I was felling a little better about things and getting excited because it seemed like my labor was really going to move along fast... when... I felt a whole bunch of kicking, turning and just very painful moving in my belly. I looked up at the doctor and told him I thought the little turkey flipped again. They were hesitant to listen to me as it's so unusual for babies to do that when they are so far along... but the ultrasound proved I was right. He was not head down, he was now laying transverse. A baby that is laying transverse is even more dangerous then a breech baby, because they are sideways, if my water were to break he would land on his cord and suffocate within minuets. So my natural delivery turned into an emergency C-section.

I was pretty nervous on the way to the operating room, I had never really thought I would have a C-section since my previous two births went soooo well. I didn't know what to expect, I hadn't read up on C-sections and I was nervous because I knew if my water broke things were going to get scary!

So yep, they take you into this HUGE operating room, strap you down and pull a baby out! LOL

I had a spinal block which worked very well and allowed me to be awake through the entire procedure (although it took 6 pokes to get it in right and those things hurt!!). I don't know how to describe the feeling when the pulled Eli out, it was... well... just VERY FREAKY. It felt like all my guts were being taken out. No pain, just weirdness.

But I can describe the first moment I saw Eli, when the whisked him to his little table. I couldn't believe the wave of love that swept over me. I had a baby boy now! I felt this unconditional love for him, this pull, this feeling that let me know we were bonded forever. I couldn't stop crying, I was so happy and so in love at fist site.

All in all this pregnancy has been the hardest for me, the delivery was a surprise and this has been the hardest recovery. But I can tell you, it all was so worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat (and those of you close to me know that I didn't feel this way a few weeks ago!!).

Thank you to everyone who has visited, brought dinners, gifts and for all the messages and calls. You have made us feel very loved and have helped out so much! Special thanks to the Lovell's and Choate's for watching Sarina and Allana on such short notice! You guys are awesome!

*** Official announcements will be sent out very soon!!***

9 month prego belly pics and new haircut and color!

So this is me at 9 months! I waddle, I sometimes tip over, I can barley roll over and sometimes it feels like I have a giant trying to kick his way out. lol

But over all, I must say I am proud to be sporting this belly. It means I have a little, healthy guy growing like a weed there and I can't wait to hold and cuddle him!

In the first photo you can see my new haircut and color! It sounds like such a simple thing, but it really does boost your spirits to get a new do! Thanks Sarah, you did an awesome job!! =)

Halloween- 2009. Pirates, princesses, rain, pumpkins and candy!

Halloween this year was very eventful!! We had a lot of fun get togethers, some cookie decorating, pumpkin carving a party and the kids got to trick-or-treat two days in a row!

Pumpkin carving with the Veaters!

A few of the cookies we decorated at our Halloween preschool.

Trick-or-treating with the Veaters at Microsoft. Microsoft did an awesome job with their Halloween fun house. There was a whole building dedicated to themed rooms like Candy Land, Pirates of the Caribbean, Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and many more!!

Sarina had a fake spider touch her and it freaked her out! Poor thing!!
The dessert I made for the Halloween Dinner, nice and creepy!

All of us ready for the church trunk-or-treat!Sarah and I at the Wagners Halloween party with our big bellies!

Ashley, Stephen and I at the church trunk-or-treat.Eileen and I, braving the rain at the trunk-or-treat. It was amazing how many people turned out despite the rain!
Janzen looking super rad awesome as pirate!! He even let me do his makeup. =)


Me, getting my prego pirate thing on.......Allana and Sarina in their adorable costumes!!

Playing around after all the festivites. Eileen thought I would make a good Middle Easterner. LOL