Happy Birthday Elizabeth Katherine!

We prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted what we asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:27

Today we welcomed our little baby girl into the world. Elizabeth Katherine "Ellie Kate" was born at 12:53am. She weighs 8lbs. 8.5oz and is 19.5 in. long. We are praising God for answering our prayers and giving us an easy delivery and most importantly a healthy baby.

We went to the hospital around 7:00pm Friday, after having contractions 3 minutes apart all day. They admitted us and broke my water. Within a few hours I was ready to push. That lasted about one minute and our baby was born.

It's a girl! Praise God!
Yes, Daddy (and some friends) had put some doubt in my mind.

Getting her first checkup after delivery. She cried everytime they took her away from me.

So happy to finally have her with us!

She is so tiny, especially compared to the boys!

Proud Daddy. I knew he would love having a little girl.

We had to wait in the delivery room for two hours before they would move us to the recovery room. After being moved to our new room at 3:30am and then waiting for them to bathe Ellie Kate, we were tired and ready for bed. Then , we got about three hours of sleep before they started making their 7:00am rounds and calling for our breakfast order. We could hardly wait to get home!

Little Ellie Kate has been so sleepy.

Waiting for the boys to arrive and meet their little sister.

Andy was thrilled to finally get to meet Ellie Kate.

Andy and Zach were all smiles and full of kisses. They adore their baby sister.

Daddy did everything he could to get us ready to go home.

She opened her eyes... but only for a minute!

Is that a smile?

After about 16 hours, we finally had all of the paperwork completed and doctors' permission to go home. We were so excited to get home. Having a birth and homecoming all on the same day was a new thing for us. We didn't get the whole family dressed up this time, but Ellie Kate had to wear her new daygown and bow!

Our first picture as a family of five!
Look at the pretty pearl necklace and earrings I got from my boys. Thank you Daddy for being so sweet and thoughtful! He bought the pearls while he was in Hong Kong and saved them for the birth. When he brought the boys into the hospital room, they each gave me an earring and he gave me the necklace. So sweet!

Here we are... all piled in the 4runner. Do you think it might be time to get a minivan? I'm not so sure I'm ready for a new car. The 4runner has been around since Matt and I started dating (almost nine years ago). We left our wedding in it and brought all three of our babies home from the hospital in it. It traveled with us all the way from Florida to California! Plus, who needs a new car when we walk almost everywhere we go! And, the kids like sitting close together!

Happy 3rd Birthday Zach! (a week early... just incase your sister comes early)

We had another pool party for Zach this year and he wanted it to be a "pirate party". The kids had fun playing in the pool and then we had pizza and cupcakes. The time went by too fast with so many friends and so much fun! We have been telling Zach that his birthday would be before Ellie Kate is born, so yesterday he "turned three" and we celebrated (all a week early). We didn't want to disappoint him if his sister decides to come a little early. The way things go with our family, she probably won't be early, but we just wanted to be sure!Family picture with the birthday pirate and his pet parrot!

I ordered cupcake toppers from an etsy shop and had the cupcakes made... I had to make it easy this year!

Cupcakes for our little pirate and his friends.

Playing in the pool with Daddy.
Hunting for pirate treasures in the pool (too bad the coins floated!).Look what we found!

Blowing out three candles!

Little Zach is growing fast and talking so clearly! He is finally potty trained and ready for a few days of preschool. Time passes too quickly! I can hardly believe he is already 3 years old!!! Here is a little look back over his birthdays.

August 3, 2006
8lbs. 7oz.
Jacksonville, Florida
Happy baby on his 1st birthday... went from crawling to running!
Celebrating his 2nd birthday in Coronado, California.

Here is our big 3 year old pirate!

Silly Zach can be really shy or really outgoing. We never know what to expect from this little guy. He is very spirited and full of energy. He makes us laugh outloud and get totally frustrated all at the same time. Zach is a blessing and we love him so much!

Summer Fun

The boys have finished their swim lessons for the summer and they are doing great! Andy is swimming all over the pool and diving down to get toys off the bottom of the 10 feet. Zach is jumping in and swimming either to an adult or back to the wall. He is diving down (or willingly being pushed down) to get toys off the bottom of the 5 feet. Having Daddy home to help with the swimming has really brought improvement with the boys.
Andy is so tall, it was time to get him a new bike.
He was excited to pass his little bike on to Zach!

Zach has really enjoyed trading his trike for a bike.
Now we just need to get rid or those training wheels! We will give him a little more time to practice.

San Diego Zoo

We spent the day on Friday walking around the zoo. I was secretly hoping it would get my labor going, but no such luck! We had a great time.

The mommy elephants with their babies.

The boys enjoyed feeding biscuits to the giraffes.