Ballet class

Natalie did a little ballet class through the Town of Gilbert. It was soooo cute! They invited us in on the last day to watch and take pictures. Of course we couldn't find her leotard that morning....

Hannah was wishing she could be a big girl and dance too. I had to keep grabbing her and keeping her on my lap because she wanted to join them. It was awesome and Natalie really loved her teacher. I'm so proud of my little baby who has gotten so big and goes into class so happily! She used to be so shy but is really starting to come out of her shell. Awesome.

Easter/Spring Day (better late than never)

I want to get this on the blog for journaling purposes. We had my lovely sister Melanie of the amazing Crafty Cupboard came over with her chillins and we did some Spring Day activities:

We had a Spring Day hunt at my parents' house which was soooo fun to watch now that they both kind of have an idea what to do.

On Sunday we went to Mark's aunt's house for a quick little egg hunt fun with the cousins, then on to my aunt's house for dinner.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello blog world. This is Mark and this is my first blog post EVER. But it is a fun one because Alisa has no idea that I am doing this or that I even know how to do this, for that matter.

The girls and I wanted to do something for our wonderful mother/wife to show her just how much we love and appreciate her. So why not do something that shows her off to the world, you know? It just makes sense, actually. She is like that -- out there in the world, extrovert galore, ready to talk to anybody and everybody. Me, on the other hand, I'll just sit back and let the words and pics do all the talking -- I'm the "I'll let the world come to me in the corner and say hello as they walk by" kind of guy. But that's why we're married and that's why she's a must-have for any social gathering we go to. She's my lifeline in more ways than I can count.


Since the girls can't write on here themselves, I decided to do a little Q&A session with each of them. I'll start with Hannah. Now just so you understand what her responses mean, and in case you haven't seen her do this in person, if you ask Hannah a question and she wishes to respond in the affirmative, she wiggles. That's right -- she wiggles. We don't know why or where it came from, but she wiggles her whole body for a couple seconds. Maybe she thinks she's nodding or something.

Do you love mommy?
Hannah: wiggle

Is mommy your best friend?
Hannah: wiggle

Why do you love mommy so much?
Hannah: shu-la (Your guess is as good as mine)

Does mommy make you feel like a princess?
Hannah: wiggle


Next up, Natalie. She was really excited to do this "secret" for mommy.

What is your favorite thing about mommy?
Natalie: When she plays with me when Hannah is asleep.

What do you like to do the most with mommy?
Natalie: Play balloon games.

Where is your favorite place to go with mommy?
Natalie: Target -- I love the princesses there.

What is something nice that mommy says to you?
Natalie: I love you.

What is your favorite game to play with mommy?
Natalie: Hide and seek, and ring around the rosies

What does mommy do that makes you feel special?
Natalie: She gives me stickers.

What is your favorite treat to make with mommy's help?
Natalie: Vanilla cupcakes

Why do you love mommy?
Natalie: Because I like to play games with her, and if we don't have a mommy, there's no one to play games with me.


So now it's my turn. I thought I'd just use some of the questions that I asked the girls.

Is mommy your best friend?
Mark: Definitely. I love spending time with her. She understands me, looks past all my weaknesses, and makes me a better person.

What is your favorite thing about mommy?
Mark: I love the fact that when she sets her mind to something, she accomplishes it. Because of that she's an amazing cook, a talented photographer, and a budding gardener. (no pun intended)

What is something nice that mommy says to you?
Mark: She's very good at noticing when I do things around the house, and she'll thank me for it. Not that I deserve any praise since she does a gazillion more things around the house than I ever will, but it is nice to know that she notices my microscopic contributions.

What does mommy do that makes you feel special?
Mark: She puts up with all my idiosyncracies. And trust me, there's a lot. But she'll just giggle to herself and love me for who I am.

Why do you love mommy?
Mark: There is nothing not to love about Alisa. She makes me happy, she is the most amazing mother to our girls, she is sacrificing a ton to put me through school, she lives the Gospel in everything she does, and we are the luckiest family on earth to have her as our mother/wife forever. Happy Mother's Day, sweetie!

I witnessed a miracle

So now that my sister has posted her version of her baby's birth, I will now share mine. I feel so blessed that I could watch this amazing event take place. This was the first birth besides my own childrens' that I've personally watched. It helped me decide that I really do want to be a doula someday. I could watch babies be born every day. Anyway, Katie was absolutely amazing and I'm so grateful she invited me along.

Thursday morning, Katie called to say she had been admitted to the hospital. I finished up an errand to Target, dropped off my girls at my parents' house, and booked it (I had gotten a text en route that they had broken her water) to the hospital. She was sitting on the bed, uncomfortable through contractions about 4-5 min apart. She was dilated to about a 4 if I remember correctly.

We decided that she should try the birth ball, so she situated herself thereon and Ryan and I jumped to position for each contraction. I massaged her back, and Ryan held her hand and helped her breathe. We reminded her to relax all different parts of her body and she was doing awesome. Pretty soon the contractions were coming about 2 min apart and they were pretty big (according to the monitor). After a while of this she decided to get checked. She was disappointed to find that she was still at a 5, so decided that would be a good time to get an epidural (this was about 12pm).

I came back after her epi had been administered to find her resting on the bed, almost asleep. I got on her laptop and Ryan went to get some sushi for lunch. He brought it back and showed me how to eat it (I've never had it). Katie was having some pain/pressure in her bum (prob the baby's head) so she and I were watching HGTV to distract her. Her doctor came in around 1:15 and checked Katie. She sort of ignored him since we were so deeply involved in the real estate show we had on.

Dr. H looked up and said, "shall we have a baby?" Katie said, "sure." Dr H: "You're complete. I'll go get a nurse." I jumped up, closed the laptop, grabbed my camera and turned off the TV while Katie and Ryan looked at me sort of confused-like. Katie: "Wait...how far dilated am I?" Dr H (walking out of the room): "You're complete." Me: "Katie, that's a ten! You're ready to push!"

It was hilarious. We all looked at each other and giggled nervously and excitedly, and Ryan quickly put away his lunch stuff. In less than an hour and a half she had gone from a 5 to a 10! It was amazing and so unexpected that Katie was a little overwhelmed by the thought that she was ready to push out her baby and meet him.

Ryan comforted her and helped her visualize her special bundle that was about to make his entrance.

So she pushed for half an hour.... (isn't this the best pushing shot?)

And little Tommy was born!

I know I keep saying how amazing it was, but seriously, it was incredible. I watched Katie go from an unsure pregnant woman in labor to a strong woman who knew she wanted to be a mother and she was going to bring her baby into this world.

The happy family.

Tommy meeting his grandparents for the first time-both sets were there.
My dad and his little namesake. I can see that they will have a special bond.

Tommy is the most perfect little baby ever. I have to say he ranks right up there with my babies in cuteness (every baby is the most beautiful baby on earth to his own mother as we all know). You can see a few of the newborn shots I took of him here.

And I have to say...watching a baby be born makes me want another one! hee hee....

Catching up via cell phone pics

A few of our recent adventures: Natalie is taking a little dance class through the town of Gilbert. Their little "show" will be this Wed. Watch for better pics!

The girls playing in our compost container before we started the compost. We have since quit composting. It was a short composting attempt.

Natalie modeling the latest fashion for today's teen at Forever 21.

This was months ago, but the girls both love this princess doll display at Target that plays clips of their songs. We spend lots of time at Target, can you tell?

Proof that the girls really can play happily together. This is happening more and more.

Took the girls to Kid's Club in the mall after not going for about a year or more. My kids are overstimulated easily. Large mall+tons of noisy kids+loud music+big scary prairie dog character=major overstimulation. But once in a while is fun. They let you ride the carousel for free which the girls really enjoyed.

A few weeks ago Natalie got really sick and was throwing up every half hour or so. She would immediately vomit any ice chips or sips of water or pedialyte we tried to give her. I took her to the ER that afternoon to be hydrated through an IV and after about 30min of it was back to her old self. It was amazing. Poor baby, she was so listless and weak she didn't even make a peep when they stuck her with the needle.

She loved the popsicle, can you tell?

Her little arm with the iv.




A cheap and fun activity: make a valcano with baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring. This kept us occupied for a loooooong time.

TTFN!!