Lots of Lola

I had a birthday yesterday and I have 3 kids!! Brad took the babe and me out to dinner to celebrate and we followed it off with Serendipity and giant cookie skillets and in bed by 1030. Miss Belle slept 4 hours straight at a time and woke me minimally. The kids are with my parents in Nauvoo. Today, I just get to hold my sweet baby girl in my arms and do absolutely nothing. Love, love, love!

Have a fabulous Saturday.

Hijacked Blog...

"HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELANIE DEAR, HAPPY DAYS WILL COME TO YOU ALL YEAR, IF I HAD ONE WISH THAN IT WOULD BE. THAT I COULD BE THERE TO WISH YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY PERSONALLY."  on February 24th :)

Melanie Alice (Blue) Chambers,

I want you to know how much I love you and am so grateful you are my sister.  I admire you in so many ways...1. You are such a great mother and wife. 2. You are a SUPER great sister and friend. 3.  You have such a strong testimony.  4.  You have a great excitement for life.  5. You love to exercise, eat healthy and take care of yourself.  6.  You have dealt with your diabetes without complaining. 7.  You are a great artist. 8.  You don't judge others. 9.  You are a good listener. 10.  Most of all YOU are my FAVORITE little sister.  I hope you have a great day of celebrating with Brad, Chloe, Ezra, Lola and Mom and Dad.  Too bad I can't come and surprise you this year.  I Love You!

Love,
Em

Lola Belle Chambers

The day started with this classic shot, those are monitors under Mel's gown, not alien feet.  Below is our little chunk.  Her face is a bit bruised as it was a lot of work for the doctors to her out.  First we saw the big cheeks and everyone said this baby is big! then they wiggled her out to the waist and she was stuck there for about 10 seconds and we were all waiting for the moment of truth..and then out she came.  Later in the day Chloe asked me how we know that it is a girl now?  That led to a puzzled look from me and ended with me saying "she doesn't have a weenie like Ezra." That seemed to satisfy her but I am wondering if I just failed as a dad.

 Isn't she perfect?  9lbs 1oz is the biggest of the 3, born at 8:19am.  She is eating well and is very content to be bundled up tight and held.  She looks a lot like what we remember Chloe looking like as a new born and will have to post some pictures for comparison.

 These two sure are proud of their little sister.  Chloe yelled with excitement when we called her this morning to tell her that it was a girl.  I don't think it set in until I said, you have a new little sister.  She is so happy and can't wait to start playing with her.

We are so happy she is here and healthy.  Mel is doing great, loving not being pregnant anymore and having Lola to hold.  We can't believe that we have 3 kids now and are so grateful for the new addition.  More pictures to come in the next few days.

a beverage, a book, and a big belly

This is the most delicious obsession of mine. It's called frosty hot chocolate. It's loosely based on recipes I have seen online. Mine is 1 cup of milk heated up with 2 packets of diet chocolate mix. Then you pour that in a blender and add ice and blend away to your desired consistency. I like the crunchy ice (like a snowee from summer) and then top it with cool whip and the must have mini chocolate chips. So good and pretty much no calories at all. Mmmm...I want one right now.

 Ezra loves these sunglasses.

 As you can see. This is the middle of the night when we check on him.

 And as further proof...another night.

 Thank goodness my cute friend let me borrow all of her cute church dresses so on Sundays I felt like i was a hip whale. Here i am almost 38 weeks.

 I asked for a sample of turkey and the store and this lady said, "oh you must be hungry..." Um..or maybe I just want to actually taste the turkey before I buy it.
At church a lady asked me how many babies I was carrying and a guy said, "whoa you look ready to pop."
Little do these people know I technically have 2 weeks left but by the grace of heaven I am able to deliver at 38 weeks. Hallelujah.

 I wanted a cute pregnancy photo to remember these times. This is what we came up with. I think it's cute in a strange basketball naked tummy hug kind of way. Chloe is beautiful.

 He makes me laugh.

 Some awesome friends tended our kids for an extended amount of time we we could go out on a date and just walk around Bed bath and Beyond.

 We ate some amazing vietnamese food.

And the book is called Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand. Read this book. It's amazing and to say it's a page turner is an understatement. I read it in 3 days. Amazing true store of this survivor of WWII in the South Pacific.

My dream is to live somewhere close to our church, the library, the kids school, and the grocery store. I would walk or bike to all these places and never use a car. This place exists in Sun Valley, Idaho. Kirksville Mo was a good one too. For 3 years we only had 1 car. Brad walked, biked or rode the bus or trax to the U and work for 2 years. He walked everyday to med school even in below 0 temps.  Let's just say, we're not afraid of public transit or "working" to get where we need to go. I even road my bike to my teaching job out in Copper Hills. A mere 16 miles each way. I can tell you, once I did that, and ran a marathon, I was thought to be a little "extreme". Once I decided to ride the bus to the big UEA conference downtown Salt Lake. Little did I know the reason for said conference is to get free things. Like free textbooks. Here I am, hauling my textbooks on the bus afterward. Brad and I both grew up with dad's who rode the bus and embraced it. So, it's safe to say i'm a parent who wants to teach her kids about  protecting the environment in any little way we can. And embracing a healthy lifestyle. Enter...our bus adventure.

We live right where the bus drops people off. Ezra loves seeing the big bus stop, though rarely does anyone get off, and Chloe asks to ride it all the time. So, as I am the parent of "making-dreams-come-true!" We went on a bus adventure. I researched our little route (30 minutes) got the pick up time, and then we waited. I had no excuse because the weather has been gorgeous and the baby is still safely inside me. 

Little did I know that the day we chose to ride the bus was Rosa Park's day. February 4th. We got on and there was a white sheet of paper covering one of the front seats and it said, "reserved for Ms. Rosa Parks." 

I gave Bluebird the camera for part of the way just to see what she'd take pictures of. And, you can bet we moved around from seat to seat to seat. $1 well spent.