A Week Full of Love!

We are slowly but surely settling into a new routine with baby Elizabeth. Just in time for Jon's work schedule to be overhauled and changed in March, ha ha! Supposedly the new schedule will be better in the long run and not burn everyone out so much, but it means more evenings, so here's to hoping that's true! The sunsets here in Colorado are gorgeous-- let's start the week with that. 

Here's Leah practicing making all different kinds of faces. Angry, Happy, Scared, and Silly. She is SUCH a character and cracks us all up on a daily basis. She's been much happier and more "settled" since Elizabeth arrived. Maybe it's just knowing she's not the baby anymore, and there's another kid in the house while Lucy and Zach are at school.

I got home from meeting Jon for lunch one afternoon and found the baby sleeping like this in her car seat. I'm not sure what horrors she was attempting to shield her eyes from-- but Leah said it looked like she was trying to play Peek-A-Boo. 

And here she is all duded up in her pretty Valentine's dress that Grandma Joanie bought her. She looked like the sweetest Valentine ever! She is still just tiny. For all the time she spends eating, at her 2 week check-up she was only back up to her birth weight and exactly 6 lbs. 15 oz. We need to break that 7 pound barrier! 

Jon had a half day on Wednesday, so that morning we went on an impromptu early Valentine's date for brekky. We found a little French bakery and patisserie called Le Baguette de Normandy in Parker, which is run by a French couple and has won all sorts of "Best of" awards. Jon got a delicious berry tart.

I went all out and actually got breakfast-- an egg, cheese, and ham baguette with french potatoes. It was really good, but the baguette was to die for! I wonder why Americans never figured out how to make European bread?!?

Leah got to tag along and ordered a raspberry cream cake-- she picked it mainly because it was the only pink thing, but it was sure yummy too!

Thursday afternoon we got to go collect Auntie Whitney from downtown Denver so she could spend the weekend with us. We were SO excited!! We hadn't seen her since this summer, which feels like a long time ago. Friday morning (after she ran 10 MILES in preparation for her half marathon) we took her to the Denver Science Museum, and checked out this cool new chocolate exhibit. 

Leah was pretty disappointed those chocolates on the wall weren't real, but we loved showing Whitney all the neat exhibits.  

I think Leah's new favorite (since Snow White is gone) are the dinosaurs. She loves the little baby ones. Lucy was pretending to be terrified of these two fighting dinosaurs! 

We tried Elizabeth in the front pack for the first time ever, and she did pretty good! I'm not sure she liked it all that much-- but she slept most of the time, and only got super ticked off right at the end. She was sure cute to peek down at though while we walked around, and I had the best view!

We decided to expose Whitney to lunch at Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs (from last summer) and it didn't disappoint! She got a beef dog with caramelized onions and cream cheese, which was pretty tame, considering their menu, but Jon was adventurous and tried reindeer. So really, J-Man ate Rudolph, but who's keeping track?? Jon had a Scout camp-out that night, so Whitney helped me hold the fort down and get the kids to bed. 

Saturday morning she helped me run errands at Costco once Jon got home, and then they went to Castle Rock to fix some dental work that afternoon. That night I took Whitney out for a belated birthday dinner. After a few failed attempts (most places were PACKED due to Valentine's Day and Jon was babysitting Elizabeth so we didn't have time to wait), we finally ended up at Mellow Mushroom for some Saturday night pizza. Yum! Sister time is the best.

Sunday was of course, Valentine's Day, so Whitney helped me make a special breakfast of red velvet pancakes with cream cheese icing, yogurt parfaits, and scrambled eggs. So I guess sometimes having 1 p.m. church is okay so we can have breakfast feasts like this! 

With baby Elizabeth on the way, I didn't pull out very many Valentine's decorations, but here is the most festive part of the house, ha ha.  

This is the cute Valentine from our Zach-O, isn't his handwriting the best??

Whitney and I and the kids went to Sacrament meeting while Jon stayed home with the baby. Then we switched for the last two hours. It was sure nice to have an extra set of hands all weekend to hold the baby, play princesses with Leah, play the Wii with Zach, and help cook meals. I could really get used to that!

All too soon it was time for Whitney to fly back home to Arizona. She and I got to have lunch one last time at Kneaders and then it was time for her to leave for the airport. I sure hated seeing her go! She's so fun to be around, and even though we weren't very fun hosts (we had the Bohnanza game out all weekend and never played once), she was so good to help out and sweet with my kids. Baby Elizabeth was so glad to meet her and so thankful she took the time to come visit!! This is her sad, serious face because Whitney left. But isn't she looking very grown up?? It was her 3 week birthday yesterday and I just can't get enough of that sweet little face!! We love you Auntie Whitney!

Whirlwind Winter Week

Elizabeth's first week home was busy, busy, busy! From Lucy's many Battle of the Books meets, to Jon working and then leaving for Chicago, to lots more winter snow, I guess this is just a preview of what life is like with all these little rascals running around... 

My mom has become quite the quilter in her empty-nesting days. She's sewn quilts for all of my babies, and each one of them is a special treasure and keepsake.  

Here are Elizabeth's special quilts that  Grandma Joanie worked on this summer and fall-- I think they turned out absolutely adorable! I love the princess and the frog applique, and the little birds are so sweet! Someday I'll have a house big enough to hang them, ha, ha. Thanks Grandma Joanie! 

Also at home waiting for us in the mailbox was this AWESOME package from my friend Nicole who makes newborn hats and sets and sells them online as a little side business. I just about died over how cute they were, and how absolutely precious each one was! The top picture is the "Hermione" set made especially for Elizabeth-- and made Lucy almost cry when she saw it. And the Snowman set is just perfect for our little January baby!! I can't wait to get some pictures with these keepsakes!! 

Elizabeth showing off her sweet little owl hat. See that almost grin?? She likes it too.

Lucy has been involved with her school's Battle of the Books this fall and winter, where specially selected kids from each grade (Lucy is the only one from her class) read and become an "expert" on three different books off of a list put out by the Parker public library. Then they battle other 3rd/4th grade teams by answering trivia about the various books. Usually the battles all take place before school, but their final battle took place after school, and parents were invited to attend. With me laid up at home, my mom was Lucy's cheering squad and got to see this final battle.

Here are the two teams battling it out and answering the trivia questions. They try to get as many points as possible by answering their questions correctly, as well as "stealing" the other team's if they answer incorrectly. Apparently Lucy's team crushed the other teams and had the most points-- and WON! Go "Lightning Rebels!" (their team name). 

Thursday night I was feeling good, and the baby was doing great so we decided to take our first official outing. We headed to dinner at Crave for burgers and shakes, and Jon met us from work since the restaurant is in Castle Rock. Yum!

Zach is always game for burgers and fries! The baby slept the entire time, so it was a pretty easy first outing.

As I mentioned before, Lucy's team won the Wednesday night battle (along with another team who had the next highest amount of points), so then they had to battle that team for the school championship for their grade, and they WON again!! School champions!!

Here they are before the match. They battled in front of the whole school, so Lucy was pretty nervous beforehand. This time Dad and Grandma got to go watch. Now they will advance to the City Finals, where they battle 3rd/4th grade teams from different schools all over Parker. The battles take place at the library and will last the whole month of February, to then determine who goes on to win for the city. Pretty exciting stuff!

Sunday morning since we have 1 p.m. church my mom made Valentine sugar cookies with the kids-- well, just Leah since poor Lucy and Zach had come down with the cold that had slowly been working its way through the family. No fun having TWO sick kids and a brand new baby in the house! Leah of course was in heaven because not only were they pink with sprinkles, they were delicious.

Here they are, and now they're gone... They only lasted about 2 days and I think Leah snuck as many as she could whenever I was nursing. Smart girl!

Jon signed up last fall for a Dental Implant course in Chicago, which was pretty dicey when you think about it, considering how close it did come to the baby being born. But at the time it was just something that needed to be scheduled one way or another! He'd been looking at dates for over a year, and felt like it was a really important step in his professional development. A huge snowstorm (Winter Storm Kayla to be exact) decided to blow in right as he was set to come home Sunday night, and I was panicking that he'd get stuck in Chicago for 3 days as the storm raged here in Colorado. Thankfully, and what was surely an answer to prayers, my mom changed her flight and made it to Boise Sunday night while Jon made it back to Denver at about the same time, and I didn't get stuck with a newborn, sick kids, and 10 feet of snow all by myself. Phew!  

Sure enough, the storm lasted about two days-- dumping most of the snow overnight Monday to Tuesday and resulting in school being cancelled yet again! The kids definitely weren't complaining! I think we had at least 1 1/2 to 2 feet of fresh, powdery snow. Jon took Leah sledding and she was THRILLED!

Meanwhile Elizabeth took a long winters' nap....

Lots of snow to welcome the month of February, as well as this little Colorado baby. I don't dare say it because I know I'll jinx us-- but I can't help but wish that maybe, just maybe this is our last big winter snowstorm for the year. Ha ha. Hopefully spring is on its way at last! 

Welcome Elizabeth Mid Cardon!

She's here!!! Our beautiful baby girl-- Elizabeth (so she has her own special name, but we can also give her an "L" nickname like Lizzie or Libby or Liza, like her sisters), and Mid (for her great grandma Mildred who is someone we both love and respect), was born on Monday, January 25, 2016 at 11:47 a.m. And in honor of her due date which is today (2/4/16) I thought it was only fitting that we share her very own story:

A very pregnant mommy at 38 weeks exactly. It's so crazy to think that THIS little baby is who has been growing and moving inside of me this whole time! I took this picture right before picking my mom up at the airport Thursday evening (1/21), since she was flying in to help us with the kids during the delivery, as well as the week after. We spent the weekend grocery shopping, running errands, enjoying one last pedicure, and pigging out on Mexican food as a pregnant "Last Supper" (at least I did).

SUNDAY, JANUARY 24

8 p.m.: Checked into Labor and Delivery at Skyridge Hospital for induction, and dilated to 3 cm but only 50% effaced

10 p.m.: Finally get the IV inserted after three pokes, two blown veins, and two frustrated nurses (they finally had to call a Life Flight EMT to insert the IV because apparently I have deep veins, and it didn't help that my hands were swollen from pregnancy). Nurse places the Cervidil (no eating or moving from this point on) and we start the clock...

11 p.m.-6 a.m.: Enjoy a restless night of cramps, contractions, and lots of waiting... (and poor Jon tossing and turning on a pull-out bed)

MONDAY, JANUARY 25

6 a.m.: Dr. Lamb comes in and checks me, and I'm totally thinned out, dilated to 5 cm, so he breaks my water and starts the Pitocin

9 a.m.: After some pretty consistent, huge and very painful contractions, the anesthesiologist comes in and does the epidural

10 a.m.: Nurse checks and I'm dilated to 7 cm

11:30 a.m.: Dr. Lamb arrives and the nurse sets up the delivery room

11:47 a.m.: Three big pushes later and this little lady is officially here!!! 

Elizabeth Mid Cardon

Nice and pink and bright eyed!

She was my smallest baby, weighing in at just 6 lbs. 15 oz. She is our petite little peanut. Leah was born a week earlier, and weighed almost a whole pound more!

I was terrified of the delivery. Just ask Jon. I was having bad dreams about it for weeks beforehand, mainly because Leah's delivery was so traumatizing. She ended up coming out head and shoulders at the same time-- kind of like an explosion, and I tore really, really badly. I couldn't sit or even stand up  comfortably for weeks afterwards. Naturally I worried and worried all while I was pregnant with Elizabeth that the scar tissue wouldn't hold and the same thing would happen all over again-- maybe even worse. Thankfully my doctor here was aware, and also since she was smaller, she came right out without any problems and my subsequent recovery has been so much easier and quicker!

I absolutely love this picture! She is so mellow and peaceful and good tempered. Like, "Hey World. I'm here. What's next?"

She has dark brown hair and big blue eyes ((we think so far)). She's such a beauty! We are SO thankful she arrived as quickly and smoothly as she did. Labor and delivery are always scary, but we definitely had two prayers answered during this whole process. Leah had been sick with a terrible cold all the week before the induction, and of course I caught it right before Sunday. I was feeling so tired and crappy-- sore throat, congestion, achey, etc. but mostly feeling SO frustrated with the very bad timing of this cold! Jon gave me a blessing Sunday morning and blessed me that my cold would go away and that I'd be well throughout the delivery and after, and it was absolutely a tender mercy that my cold did indeed disappear, despite being up for over 48 hours. Additionally, throughout the morning, Elizabeth's heart rate would drop really low during my big contractions, which was starting to worry the nurses and doctor. They were willing to watch it as long as my labor progressed quickly (which it thankfully did), but as soon as she came out and the doctor caught her, she'd had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck not once, but twice.  So scary! 

After I'd "recovered" down in the delivery room, and finally eaten lunch-- around 2 p.m. they moved me over to my recovery room, which was actually pretty nice and quiet. As soon as my mom had picked the kids up from school Elizabeth had her very first visitors! Leah couldn't WAIT to get her hands on her!! She handled the whole experience really well-- she knew I was headed to the hospital to have the doctor "get the baby out," and there were only a few tears when it came time to leave and go back home without us. She always tells me, "our baby is soooo cute!"

Zach's turn!! Such a proud, protective big brother! He's going to be so sweet with her-- and can't wait to make her smile and laugh. The first night home he says, "so when can we see her crawl?"

The big BIG sister and even bigger helper, Lucy! Apparently she had been waiting ALL day on pins and needles to see if I'd had the baby.

Ha ha ha! I love this face. Not sure what this expression says about how Elizabeth felt about all these visitors!

Grandma Joanie to the rescue!! I'm so thankful my mom was able to be here to help during and after the baby was born. She held down the fort and kept the home fires burning-- cooking all the meals, cleaning tirelessly, folding laundry, tending kids, burping babies, changing diapers, wiping bums, running kids around, grocery shopping, and sacrificing time to be here (and also my dad who supported her coming even though it meant no hot meals for a week). And thanks ESPECIALLY for rearranging her schedule so that she could stay the extra weekend while Jon left for an implant seminar in Chicago-- which meant not leaving me to fend for myself 4-days postpartum with four kids. THANK YOU!!!  

Elizabeth passed her 24 hour tests with flying colors and mom was already discharged, so at about 2:30 p.m. the next afternoon, we bid the hospital goodbye and headed home! Hooray!

All bundled up against the Colorado cold and buckled into her car seat for the ride home!

The onesie Lucy picked for her to wear home said, "I'm the new favorite." Very true!

Lucy, Zach, and Leah have been THRILLED with their brand new baby sister and can't get enough of her!! I wake up to all three of them bolting into my room first thing in the morning asking to hold her.

Leah has totally adapted to being a big sister and just begs to hold Elizabeth. We've had a few naughty moments where she's tried to pick her up by herself or she's gone and woken her up, but mostly she's just adapted to no longer being the "baby" and has done great! Yay!

Sweet tiny feet

Perfect little hands and fingernails

Elizabeth totally responds to everyone's voices-- she hears her siblings, or her daddy and she turns her head to where it's coming from. One morning she was nursing and as soon as Jon walked in and started talking she had to turn and see him. It was so sweet! She definitely knows all these different voices. And she LOVES to be snuggled!

Here I am! I didn't realize until after we'd already left the hospital that we didn't get a single picture of me or Jon with Elizabeth which is a little sad, but that's life with FOUR kids, ha ha. So here I am. I am loving every minute of cuddling and snuggling this precious little baby! They are not this tiny for very long. I keep reminding myself that the tired-zombie-up-every-two-hours phase passes pretty quickly, and to just enjoy that this is the last little newborn to grace the Cardon household. Let's just say that it was probably the most emotional pregnancy I had-- with it being unexpected, and right during the move, and trying to settle into a new job and new house, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. She absolutely belongs in our family and it was love at first sight. She is SUCH a precious little gift for our whole family. It has absolutely reaffirmed to me that Heavenly Father knows just what we need even before we do. Welcome sweet Elizabeth Mid, you were so very needed to make our family complete!!