Meet Olivia Jean

She has arrived. Fast and furious as I thought she might. Labor started at around 1000 on Wed morning with very mild contractions that were not really regular at all. Then I had a check up with the doc at 1130. She found I was still only dilated to 4 and so she stripped my membranes- NOT fun at all, don't do this if you don't have to. After that the contractions were stronger and about 7-10 min apart. I went home to catch some lunch and she told me to go to the hospital when they were 5 min a part. Mom made me lunch and hung out with me for about 2 hours and at 2pm we decided we should head the way of the hosp but my water had not yet broken. I was afraid if it did we wouldn't get to the hosp in time. We got to the unit at 3pm, they broke my water at 4:30pm, the contractions were non-stop and I got my epidural at 5:15, they checked me and I was ready to push at 5:45, along came the doc who rushed over form her office and I began to push at 6:00pm and out came Livvy 5 pushes later at 6:08pm on Wed July 23rd, 2008.

Gracelyn meeting her little "shisher" Livvy. Livvy was letting her know how she felt about getting pounded on in my belly for nine months :) Gracie said to her "I Love you Livvy" totally unprompted- talk about heartwarming for this mommy.
Checking out the world in her pretty pink outfit. She is very a;ert and strong- and she has got some lungs when she needs them :)
Snuggled up in her daddy's arms- no safer place on earth. She has a very sweet, mellow temperment when she is warm and well fed. Other wise, she sounds a bit like a teridactyl :)
Precious new member of our family. We welcome her to this world with more love than we knew was possible. We are absolutely in awe of the miracle of her life and couldn't be happier with how she completes our family. Dan and I are SO blessed to be entrusted with these beautiful girls He has given us and we are so excited to continue this journey with Olivia in the fold. God bless you Olivia Jean- born July 23rd, 2008 at 6:08pm. 7lbs 1oz. and 19 inches long. We love you more than we could ever have known and thank God for your precious little life.

Photos of summertime

Sometimes the joy of summer is also the pain of summer. Gracie is not the most gentle child and therefore, some of her "adventures" go awry and cause the bangs and bruises she is now notorious for. We love you even with big goose eggs on your head honey pie!
Shenanigans- no other word for it. Sometimes she just happens to find the one thing we didn't get to before her. In this case it was a pink highliter marker and a green gel roller pen. No permanent damage, just a few laughs and a bit more kid proofing around the house:)
Here's me and Olivia prepping for our first kayak trip out in the West Bay in Elk Rapids. Yes I was that confused to start, but it was easier than I expected and we did really well. I was just glad that we both fit:)
Dan joining the adventure out into the West Bay. We had fun out in the open water and even got a little exercise. Check out Dan's superior golfers tan- only the neck and the forearms (oh and the "V" in the front of his chest where his top golf shirt button is usually undone). Any other golf widows sure know this look :)
The ladies on yet another gorgeous sunny afternoon that we were blessed with in Elk Rapids over the fourth. We had such a blast at the Lake House and could not have had any better company. You ladies rock my world- oh, and the men aren't so bad either. (Leanne DeYoung, Me, Kristi Catt, Linsey Wohlin, and Kelli Carlson) Can't wait for next year!!!

Update

Well I will try to post some more pics later. My comp. is not being very cooperative at this time. A little update on our crazy hectic life: We have been going, going, going- non stop lately and that has been FUN as we know that in a few short weeks we will be home a LOT more with a new little sweetie to care for. Dan is SUPER daddy and as usual the best hubby in the world. Taking care of his ladies is a full time job I'm sure and he is SO great at it. He has been trying to get in a little more golf as that will also slow down soon. He has a Pro-Am in Harbor Springs next weekend that will hopefully be a last hurrah for us all. We will be spending the weekend at Boyne with the Hosford fam and enjoying the water park with the kiddos. Mommy is doing really great. This pregnancy is getting slightly more uncomfortable as the room to grow is rapidly diminishing. But nothing like last time for sure. I am enjoying all the last moments of it as we are getting closer to meeting our sweetie and I don't think I was meant to mother more than two chitlins. We shall see:) We have been beating the heat and enjoying summer with Gracie Rae. She is such a darling- We are loving on her like its all we have. Enjoying our last weeks with her as an only child. She is really getting more and more interested in other babies and kisses my belly and talks to Livvy every day. She is so sweet and has no idea that this little child will be born and than rock her little world:) Gracie is learning so fast these days. She has now started to count to ten. She loves to show off for people. She repeats her entire alphabet and often beats you to the next letter, show-off:) She speaks in full sentences most of the time and her vocabulary has exceeded 150 words by now. We are amazed at the abilities of our "baby". She has a crazy obsession with airplanes and can spot them LONG before any capable adult. Maybe she will be a pilot??? Loves to you all and we will keep you updated on the Olivia Jean situation.