Cinco

My son turned 5 last month.

FIVE!

How did that happen?!

I knew I'd be fresh out of the hospital with a newborn when

Walt's birthday rolled around this year, 

so I wanted to line things up early to make it as easy as possible.

I briefly considered ordering a cake.

(Insanity, I know.)

But instead I busted out my cake supplies and got to work.

I've made each of Walt's prior birthday cakes:

4, 3, 2, 1

so I couldn't stop now.

He's into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

and Leonardo is his favorite, 

so this is what I came up with -

 

We did a couple of crafts for Walt's party.

Quick, simple ones that didn't take much time or effort.

I purchased green bags, crepe paper and googly eyes -

to make these cute treat bags!

And then we just used the same stuff to turn 

plain, green balloons into Ninja Turtles as well.

On the big day just we grabbed everything
and headed over to Games Galore
where we'd booked an early party from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.

The kids had a great time on this huge blowup slide -

 

and in another bouncy house that was available.

But they all really loved this shooting gallery -

 

 

Walter had cake -

 

made wishes -

and opened presents.

He was king for a day,

 but that didn't stop Ruby and her friend, Rylie,
from trying to steal his throne.

The kids had such a great time -

and honestly, it was pretty nice to be back home before lunch
with a birthday party all wrapped up and nothing to clean!

Walt was so excited when we told him to go outside
and find his gift from us.

He was due for a new bike after learning how to
 ride without training wheels this summer.

We're so proud of this little bugger
and can't believe how fast he's growing!

Garage Project

This is what the entrance from the garage into our house has
looked like since the day we moved in -

Just three small wooden steps.

 We thought it was time to remedy that.

So, we cleared out some space and bought some supplies -

and then hired my uncle to do all the work!

 He brought along my Grandpa to oversee the project.

 They started by tearing off those steps
and building a large platform.

 Our goal was to gain some storage space for plastic totes
under the platform and to have a greater entryway area
into the house from the garage.

The platform went up quickly -

and Grandpa took his job very seriously.

 It only took one day to finish construction -

  

and the next day was for carpeting!

 My dad was around for that action -

 

and Grandpa even got to run a staple gun!

Can you believe that he's 93 years old??

Here is what the garage entrance looked like BEFORE:

and this is AFTER:

It turned out great!

I can't wait to organize some storage totes for out there
and free up some space in the house.

Third Times a Charm

Here I am, smiling on my due date, August 30th -

but what I really wanted was for this baby to come out 

and make an appearance in the world.

After a few more days rolled by 

and that stubborn child continued to stay put -

I was scheduled to be induced on September 4, 2014.

 

It was a little odd knowing what date and time to
go to the hospital on.

(I guess what having a scheduled c-section must be like.)
But it was also nice to walk in myself, not in any pain

and show up knowing that I'm finally going to meet my baby.

I've been very lucky with each birth,
never really experiencing painful contractions or labor
because I was induced and got epidurals.
Thank you, modern medicine!
Honestly, getting the epidural scares me the most,
so once that part is over, it's been smooth sailing,
(except for Ruby)
but I'll tell you what -

this was the easiest delivery yet!

I only pushed three times when they said don't wait for the
next contraction, just push now and your baby will be out.
I thought they were kidding,
but sure enough, it was over so calmly and quickly
that I was pleasantly surprised.

We had a girl!

I was convinced this baby was going to be a boy,

so I was momentarily shocked when they announced it was a girl,

but of course, instantly fell in love.

My doctor, after handling what I would imagine
to be a textbook delivery,

pulled off her gown and snapped a family picture for us.

We named her Emily Lenore Gustafson.

She was born on my late Grandma Scott's birthday.
Lenore was her middle name.

I love using family names for middle names,
so this was just perfect.

 We discovered the hospital now does everything
right in your room,

so we found out she weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces

and was 19 1/4 inches long.

Then Emily got her footprints taken before guests came in.

Grandpa was her first visitor -

followed quickly by Grandma.

Auntie Megan picked up Walter and Ruby from daycare and gave us a little time before bringing them up to meet their new sibling.

They were happy and surprised by their new little sister.

 Walter had wanted a brother, but he's gotten over it.

And Ruby can't stop talking about all of the things she is going to teach her little sister.

 They got some big brother and big sister presents -

and sat down to take a good look at the new addition.

They decided she's a keeper!

Here's our first family of five photo -

We feel very blessed!

Adam and I have both been able to be home with Emily for the
last two weeks and besides some sleep deprivation -

everyone is doing great.

I'm so grateful that we've added this little lady to our life.