A Fun-Filled Easter!

We had a joyous Easter season this year!  Well, all except for one small thing, but I'll tell you about that later in the post.

Gracie was very interested in Jesus' death and resurrection.  She asked me to sing "Were You There" most nights before bed, but I opted to add verses about the stone rolling away, Jesus rising and saving us from our sins, and the joy we have as a result.  Her fascination made me nervous, but ultimately, I'm glad she cares enough to be so intense.  Another great tool we used this Easter was a set of Resurrection Eggs to tell the Easter story each night.  It's similar to our Advent countdown, but shorter.  Each egg contains a little trinket to help reinforce the events of the Bible reading.  Gracie really got into the story and was able to retell it using the trinkets inside the eggs.  Below is an Easter craft she made in Preschool.

The day before Easter, we attended our church's Easter Eggstravaganza.  It's an annual event full of fellowship, crafts, pancakes, and egg hunting!  As usual, we had a blast making our way through the stations.  It's become quite a highlight of our Easter weekend!

Natalie even participated this year!

Uncle Ry Ry took Kyle to his hunt and reported that
Kyle was very strategic to maximize his candy potential!

Always hold your mouth open when you pour the sand!  

After afternoon naps, Ryan's side of the family joined us for Easter egg dying, yummy dinner, and another egg hunt.  Annabelle was old enough to join the fun this year.  Gracie quite enjoyed having a buddy to play and hunt with.  

Don't ask what Gracie is wearing.
It's her undershirt and undershorts.
I didn't want her to stain her dress.  

Cheesin' it up with Grandpa and Grandma!

Sunday morning we were excited to get all dressed up for church to worship our Savior.  It was a busy service with a group of pretty/handsome kids!  After church Ryan, Gracie, and I had our last egg hunt as a family of 3 and got food ready for my side of our family to come over.  Once they arrived, we had another egg hunt and more yummy food!  By the time we had the final egg hunt, Gracie said, "Ugh!  That bunny keeps making me pick up his eggs!"  I cracked up!  Apparently egg-hunts feel like a bit of a chore to my little lady!  

We always take a picture in front of the same stained glass window.  Man, the kids have grown up in the last few years.  See for yourself.

Easter 2014

Easter 2013

Easter 2012

Natalie was having none of the picture taking, so Grammy joined the pic!

Silly faces (+ one sad face)!

A beautiful girl!

The Hurt Family

The Weaver Family
(baby bump at 18 weeks)

So the only blemish on our beautiful Easter weekend happened as we were pulling out of the garage to go to church on Easter.  Ryan felt like we were running late, so in his frantic state of rushing us girls out the door, he accidentally opened his garage door instead of mine.  Since we were driving my Expedition to church (with the trailer hitch still attached), about 2.5 seconds after we started backing up, we drove right through the garage door.  The picture below is after Ryan kicked it in enough to keep the neighborhood cats out (hopefully!) while we switched to his car to make it to church in time to hear the sermon.  It was actually a pretty funny morning, from my seat.  Not so much from Ryan's. But here's the basics.

We slam into/through the door.

Ryan: Oh F*&%!  What was that?!

Kristy: Ummm... I'm thinking it was the garage door?

Gracie: (screaming crying) I didn't want to hit the garage door!

Then Ryan and I get out of the car to assess the damage and realize it's probably a few thousand in new garage doors.  I told him it was not a big deal, to which he kept replying "If this isn't a big deal, then what is?!"  I gave him some examples of big deals, like parents dying unexpectedly, losing a baby, or finding out your kid has a terminal illness.  He didn't quite agree.  But by Monday we had an estimate for new doors and by Wednesday we had 3 new, energy efficient, cottage-style doors!  Ryan keeps saying that I was glad we had to get new doors because I wanted them with our new siding (which we're getting right now) anyway.  Which isn't entirely true, but hey, when life gives you lemons, there ain't nothin' wrong with enjoying a little lemonade!  I'll post pics of the new doors when I post pics of the new siding... after it's all finished!

Good News For Our Little Family!

It's impossible to express the joy that I'm feeling as I share the latest baby news!  The ultrasound on Wednesday revealed that a tiny little girl is growing inside me in all the ways she's supposed to be!  Lots of good news in that one sentence.  A tiny little girl... I am over the moon to have another little lady joining the Weaver family.  And she's growing inside me in all the ways she's supposed to be... quite possibly the best news I could've heard from the ultrasound was that she is healthy!  Another Perinatologist came in during the scan and asked questions about my history.  He offered his own opinion on the loss, specifically saying that my thyroid condition is the least likely cause of the later miscarriage.  Instead he believes that it's more likely that my placenta wasn't functioning properly.  But the good news is, the blood flow and pressure during this ultrasound show that my placenta is fully-functioning and that our daughter is growing and forming appropriately!  Thanks to our Creator for orchestrating all of that!  When the ultrasound tech was done looking her over, she said that she'd go visit with the doctor for a bit because he usually wants to see people in our position around 24 weeks to monitor things.  When she came back, she had good news and bad news.  The good news is that the doctor doesn't want to see me again.  He said that he wouldn't know what to look for if he did another scan.  Everything that he needs to see, he's already seen!  The bad news is that because I'm not considered high risk anymore, I won't be getting all the extra ultrasounds and screen time with my tiny girl.  But all things considered, I'm not that bummed to be out of the high risk category!  He said this pregnancy looks as normal as they come.  My pregnancy with Gracie was also "as normal as they come" and the result of that experience was a happy ending.  I'm hoping for a happy ending this time as well, so "as normal as they come" is perfect!

So yes, we're having another girl!  It's super exciting to think about!  I could list 100 reasons why I hoped this sweet baby would be a girl.  I could've listed 100 reasons why I hoped this sweet baby was a boy, too.  But God chose another girl for our family and Daddy, Gracie, and I are so, so happy He did!  Sisters!  I get to raise sisters!  Sweet Gracie gets to experience one of the most special relationships in this life.  I imagine there will be plenty of ups and downs along the way, but in the end, the sister relationship is so precious.  I know that my sister and I are bit of an anomaly because our lives overlap in so many ways.  But the closeness and friendship that we share is something I'm confident Gracie and her baby sister will also share.  There's so much to look forward to!

As you all know, Gracie was pulling for a girl.  When the ultrasound tech said, "It looks like you guys make sweet girls!  It's a girl!"  Gracie about jumped out of her skin!  Everyone was all smiles in the room.  Even Daddy said he would've chosen a girl, if God had consulted him.  Most people expect Daddy to be disappointed because he probably wants his boy, but anyone who really knows Ryan and Gracie's relationship knows that there's not much more he could hope for out of his soccer-playing, dress-wearing, fish-catching, Bible-reading, nail-painting, dirt-digging, song-singing, camping girl!  I mean really, the only thing she can't do is carry on the family name... although that's up for debate these days!  As a Momma, I am looking forward to getting to know my youngest daughter and discovering who she is.  I can't wait for all the years we have to build a strong relationship that one day results in a friendship between two grown women.  I have a feeling Momma, Gracie, and this new lovely lady will be great friends someday!

As soon as we were done at the doctor's appointment, Daddy headed to work while Gracie and I got started with our Mommy/Gracie Day!  We began at Party City by purchasing tons of girly confetti.  Then we stopped by Babies R Us and Target to pick out some baby clothes.  Gracie had her eyes out for purple and yellow items.  We were able to find a few newborn sleepers and outfits that fit the bill.  It was sweet watching her work.  When she had to narrow things down, she would sing, "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo"!  It was super cute!

Then we headed home to get started on a gender reveal craft I'd been planning.  Gracie had been responsible for saving all the toilet paper rolls in our house for several weeks.  We got started making homemade confetti poppers and Gracie had a great time making a mess playing with the confetti.   

Then we loosely followed the directions shared on this blog to stuff the toilet paper rolls with the confetti.  Instead of tissue paper, Gracie opened up birthday party napkins to wrap the poppers.

When we finished we had a pile of poppers waiting to be delivered!

Of course we had to try one out!  Nice and messy!  The perfect way to announce the news of our newest princess!

Once the poppers were complete, we put them inside white paper bags to deliver to some friends and family around town.  We started at Grammy's (Graham Cracker's newest nickname) work and continued to Grandma and Grandpa's house and about 10 other families.  If they were home, we excitedly watched them discover the good news.  If they were out, we left a little note along with the popper.  The note said...

A sign of our gratitude

For your support in prayer,

We bring you this gift,

Our excitement we share!

Little Weaver's gender,

A secret no more!

This gift of new life,

We're beyond grateful for!

Enclosed you will find a homemade confetti popper, made by Big Sister, Gracie.  Just twist the tube like you're wringing out a washcloth and confetti will fall from the center, revealing the gender of our tiny blessing.  You might want to open it over the trash can, unless you feel like vacuuming!

Gracie and I had the best time being "mailmans" and surprising some of our favorite people.  It was super special for Gracie to get the chance to be a part of everyone's excitement!  

After our exhausting, yet fulfilling day, we ordered pizza and hung out as a family before getting ready for bed.  I had a book for Gracie about becoming a big sister and we took a few pictures to remember the day.  I didn't take as many pictures as I'd hoped throughout our adventures that day, but I suppose I was just living in the moment, not worrying about documenting everything for our daughters to look at later.  Sorry girls.    

She wanted to hold the book just like she will hold her sister once she's born.
Sweet Sissy!

She also wanted to hold the sleeper the same way!

I read the book to her twice.  She read it herself a few more times.  

As I said before, we are simply overjoyed with the news of a healthy baby girl.  I've already ordered some matching jammies for the girls and have begun making plans for our growing family.  We're so grateful that God has blessed us with another daughter and continues to protect her as He prepares her for her role in this world.  God is good!

Tiny Baby Update

A few weeks ago (okay, so it was almost a month ago) I went to the OB for a monthly check-in. Things sounded great! Little Weaver's heart rate was 155 and beating strong. The doctor I saw is young and was kind of lacking in bedside manner. He explained that he thinks my thyroid is to blame for my last loss and I'm just as likely to miscarry this time. Thanks, Doc!  I explained that I was taking confidence in the fact that this baby seems to be growing right on track according all the ultrasounds. He explained that my hope is probably not grounded in science. And then I politely explained to him that I don't have much hope or trust in him, or any doctor for that matter, to keep this baby alive. I'm pretty much relying on God. He said he understood. Seriously though, who says that stuff to a pregnant Momma. It's a good thing I'm not a worrier by nature. 

Although I am trusting God, I did have a panic moment late last week when I hadn't felt the baby move for a few days (okay, so like a day and a half). But since I was 17.5 weeks, which is the time things went south last time, I scheduled myself a little appointment to hear the heartbeat. All was still good. The heart rate was  164 and my doctor let me listen for at least 2 straight minutes while we talked!

My sister brought over our cousin's doppler for me to use today and so far I've been able to hear the heartbeat 3 times. Even Gracie and Kianna got to have a listen. Kiki said, "I just love that sound!"  Gracie said, "Yes. Me too!"  So precious!

We're looking forward to our big ultrasound on Wednesday where we find out the gender, if Little Weaver cooperates. I'm hoping he/she is like Big Sis who revealed her gender to the ultrasound tech without hesitation. Even though Daddy and Momma didn't find out, Gracie let the tech see that all was developing as it should be.  

As for predictions, here's what people are thinking. 

Gracie - girl

Daddy - girl

Grandma Sevedge - boy

Aunt Steph - boy, but reserves the right to change her mind till 10 pm Tuesday night!

Uncle John - baby (such a John answer!)

Kyle - boy

Kia - girl 

Aunt B - no real guess, but maybe girl

Uncle Chad - girl

Grandma Tena - girl

Grandpa - boy

Momma - girl if I had to guess, but I'm about 51% girl and 49% boy, so nothing will surprise me!

I think several peoples' predictions are based solely on their desire for some testosterone in the family... which I'm kind of hoping for, as well. I want the opportunity to have a son and to develop that special bond. I want it for me and for Ryan. I also think the brother-sister relationship would be so sweet as the kids grow up. But I won't be disappointed if Gracie ends up getting a sister to share the rest of her life with either. Raising one girl has been a total blast and I adore the sweet bond she and I share. So I guess the truth is, I don't really care what it is... I'm just dying to know!

We'll keep you posted!

Gracie Loves Soccer!

Last Wednesday was Gracie's first soccer practice.  It's her first time playing and there's heavy parent involvement, so Daddy was right there with her the whole time... with a giant smile on his face every time I saw him!

They began with some stretching, which was adorable.

Reaching with wide arms

Daddy helping Gracie figure out how to stretch her shoulders.

A sweet shot of my favorite two people getting directions!

They divided the kids into 3 groups to rotate between 3 stations.  The first station was a dribbling station.  The kids had to weave the ball back and forth between cones.  It looked hard... and I'm pretty sure for most of the kids it was harder than it looked.

After the dribbling, Gracie and Ryan headed off to the passing station where Gracie learned to "squish" the ball with her foot to stop it.  Then to "pass" with her foot to kick it to Daddy.  Ryan was such a good coach, yelling with her "Squish!" and "Pass!" so she remembered to stop the ball before she passed it.  He made a great teacher!

Squish!

Giving her pointers on her pass.

Gracie was a good student, too!
She watched Daddy and tried to mimic him.

The third station was for practicing shooting goals.  The kids were to dribble the ball up near the goal and then kick it hard.  The teenage coach would yell "Gooooooaaaaaal!" every time anyone scored... which was every single kid, every single time.  Good thing he's young!

Daddy making sure Gracie understands what she's supposed to do.
I love this picture!

Daddy talked Gracie through the whole thing and never jumped in... hard to do!

After practice!

A friend from Preschool also plays on the team and so does Kia!  John came to work with Kik's while Steph stayed home with the others, so I snapped a few pictures of my sweet niece!

Patiently waiting her turn!

Getting ready to dribble.
She refused to let me tie her shirt up, so she looks like she's playing in her jammies!

Kia and her Daddy!

I'm so glad Gracie gets to have her Daddy there at her practices!  She was frown-faced on the way back to the car after practice.  When I asked her what was wrong, she said, "Soccer's over.  And I want to play more."  We explained that she'll get more time to play every Wednesday and we can even play at home in the backyard.  That made her super happy!

The best part of it all was seeing the smiles on both of their faces.  Gracie has been a Momma's girl from the beginning, but as time has gone by, she's becoming a Daddy's girl, too.  This is the first thing they've done without me, and I just loved watching them interact.  When we crawled in bed that night, Ryan said, "You know, I'm excited about the baby and everything, but if I could freeze time and keep Gracie at this age, I would totally do it.  She's so much fun!"  Melts my heart because I feel the same exact way.  There's always so much to look forward to!

Crafting with Gracie

Last weekend while Daddy was out of town, Gracie and I ended up with a free afternoon. We headed to Joann's to find some crafting inspiration. Sure enough, we came home with a bag full of fun! 

Gracie found these cute bird houses (on sale!) and picked out paint colors she thinks the birdies in our yard might like.  Here she is painting!  So much fun!  

I forgot to take a picture of it hanging in the tree, but I will add one soon!  She and Kia gathered sticks for the start of a nest for the new tennants someday. 

Underwater Easter Egg Hunt

Last weekend Steph and I took the girls to Gladstone Community Center for an Underwater Easter Egg Hunt.  It was our second year for the event, and just like last year, it was a blast!  We pulled out our swimsuits for the first time this year and dug out the Easter baskets.  Gracie and Kia had so much fun, but sweet Natalie wasn't so sure about the water.  I think she forgot about swimming over the cold months and wasn't too sure she wanted much to do with it, at first.

We spent the first 10-15 minutes hunting eggs.  I use the term "hunting" loosely because the majority of the eggs just float on top of the water and the kids splash around and grab them.  After returning the eggs, the kids get to free swim for an hour or so.  Then they release rubber ducks and each child grabs one to turn in for a goody bag before heading home.  Here are some pictures of our fun!

Even the lifeguard was trying to convince Natalie to have fun!

So many eggs!

Big Sissy shared some of hers with Little Sissy!
Such a sweet girl!

Soaking wet cousins!

Gracie could've spent the entire morning sliding down the slide!

Momma's holding her so she's happy as a lark!

While we waited for another session of egg hunters to have fun, we watched some big kids swim laps and took some group shots.  Silly girls!

I love Kiks' face here!

Gracie-Fishy still loves the water!

Here she is jumping in without help.

I had to bribe her with donuts (and Kia), 

but they both thought it was fun after a few tries.

It's definitely a fun way to celebrate Easter!