A family of FIVE.

She's here! Our sweet daughter & sister, Emerson (Emmie) Mae Hunter, joined our family Saturday the 14th at 10:28 p.m. Our family is complete & we are overwhelmed with joy. We rushed to the hospital, getting there at 8:30 p.m. after a bit of an emergency situation arose and she was born perfectly healthy two quick hours later, all 8 lbs. 5 oz & 20.5 inches of her.

We did something a little non-traditional this time and had our friend & family photographer, Mary Collier (MKC Photography), capture the birth of Emmie. Here's a the LINK to the slideshow. Looking back on her birth through these pics, blew my mind and I'm forever grateful that I have these memories documented.

More pics of Emmie to come very soon.

First day of preschool!

Today I sent my little one off to his first day of preschool! Bennett was SO excited for this day to come. He thinks it's so cool that him and Cal are in the same school and he didn't have a single ounce of hesitation about parting ways with me and doing his preschool thing. Pure joy for me seeing this little guy so happy today. He had a million things to say about his day when I picked him up today and the smile on his face was priceless!

So happy to have his friend Sarka in class (Cal's best friend, Uli's, little sister)

Preschool-ready

Before heading out for day #3 of kindergarten-greatest my shoe-loving 5 year old requested that I retake his first day of school pic now that his new school shoes finally came in the mail. So here it is, a re-do. Kindergarten is going fabulous. When I picked up Cal today, the first thing he said was, "today was pretty awesome!"

Such a crazy year with one kiddo starting full-time school and the other starting preschool... Bennett had his preschool orientation this morning at St. Joe's. And he had zero hesitation about staring school and being away from mom, this kid already thinks he rules the school. He told me all about his new friends (and playing with old friends thanks to having several already established buddies in his class), the fun things they did for an hour while the parents were out of the room and was SO proud of the craft he made. The best part, is how excited/proud he was to show Cal his craft and the sticker he got for being good.  Although, while we were after-school grocery shopping, I told Bennett he needed to keep his hands to himself and his response was, "my teacher told me that at school too!"

a 2-coffee kind of morning before orientation

showing off his rainbow fish

A day for the memory books!

Today was a BIG day... Cal started kindergarten. Holy smokes, where has the time gone?! So crazy that my #1 is in school full time. There was nothing but pure excitement about the occasion, and the day at school didn't disappoint. He was on cloud 9 when I picked him up. The highlight, "we get 2 recesses mom!"

morning prayer, pledge of allegiance & school chant before heading in

And I loved every second of my one-on-one time with this little dude.

Next up, first soccer game of the season. And guess who score the first goal of the game... CAL! They are a team to be reckoned with this year.

so excited!

'Welcome to the family' anniversary

Our daughter, our first one that is, joined our family 8 years ago today. And it also happens to be the day that Ian proposed. A special day indeed, and I know one thing that could make Sept. 1 even more memorable.... the arrival of our other daughter. Come on little lady, we're all ready & waiting for you.

always a lady

Pictures

In my massive nesting/cleaning craze I realized I never posted these pics...

Pre-K class picture

t-ball pic.

Let the waiting game begin...

We're officially on the 'less than 2 week' countdown until due date. The question I get many times everyday, how are you feeling? Well, an answer for you all... I'm feeling VERY pregnant. This baby girl is much higher than the boys were and it's much more uncomfortable feeling than I remember with the boys. The indigestion is a killer, sitting is uncomfortable, breathing is tough, I'm nausea again and I'm getting lots of kicks to the ribs. At the same time, she does a tap dance on on my bladder several times a day and I feel her behind my hips cause she's also so low... she's everywhere! And she's almost entirely on my right side, its odd. But the end us near.

The OB I saw today seems to think she's going to be arriving sooner than later cause my body is VERY ready to delivery, but I've heard that song and dance before with the boys who both had to be evicted. Aside from feeling uncomfortable being my main driver to have her early, I actually wouldn't mind for her to hang tight for a little longer. The next week is a little nuts with back to school & I really want to try and cherish these last days of pregnancy knowing this is it for me being pregnant and my days with the boys.

38 weeks & 1 day.

I brought in reinforcements to my dr.'s appt today to help out with the boys.

and we followed the appointment with a Blue Spoon treat.

And here's a little peak at the nursery. I still have a couple more things I need to do/get but for the most part it just needs a baby!  Oh, and the big heart icon is covering up the first letter of her name :)

So for now, we wait... And I continue to 'nest' like crazy.