it's my party

It's my party and I can be cranky and not smile for photos if I want to.

Today is Auri's first birthday!!! One year ago today I was in the hosptial havinga C-section to an 8lb13ozz baby girl. We are so happy to have her and can't you just tell by the photos that she is so happy to be living with us?

Almost smiling

This is as close are we are going to get to smiling.

These photos were taken by my 6 year old while we were waiting for the bus to come.

Holly and her family came up to my parents on Sunday so we decided to have a little birthday party for Auri and Jake, whose birthday is on the 20th. I don’t think Auri really understood what was going on. I love in the video when she looks to Spencer for reassurance. If I haven’t mentioned already, she is her fathers daughter. She can be fussy and whiney all day, but as soon as she hears Spencer unlocking the door and putting his things away, she whispers to herself,

"da da" and starts to crawl over to him. Then for the rest of the night she is charming.

Happy Anniversary

On Sunday I was officially 6 months post operative from my heart surgery! So far no complications, no infections, and my new heart valve works great. To celebrate my Mom got me some heart balloons and my awesome sister Holly got me a new brag book with a heart on it. Not that any of you were wondering, but if you asked me if I would rather have another heart surgery or another delivery or c-section, I’d say heart surgery without question. It was so much easier to adjust to a new valve than a new baby and I would way rather have to heal from a broken sternum than have the daunting task of losing 60lbs again. I am not saying I don’t want another girl, I am just saying that I have total compassion, sympathy and empathy for pregnant women and new Moms, it is a massive undertaking.

Sisters

I really don’t feel bad about not being able to have any more children, I really don’t. The one thing I do feel bad about is that my daughter will never know the joys and friendships of sisters. It is truly one of the most remarkable things in life to experience life with girls that have your same upbringing, background, parents and other siblings. My sisters are hilarious or as I like to say freaking hilarious! Luckily their girls have sisters and Auri has really cool brothers.

Savanna's Birthday Gift

Holly and I decided to paint Savanna’s room for her birthday. Kiran just bought a huge new house and it is probably going to take a really long time to get all the painting done, so Holly and I decided to help out a little while we were down there, and I hate to brag, (well not really), but we did an awesome job! The paint color was perfect, we worked fast and efficiently, we got both girls rooms done in about 3-4 hours.

This is the little girls room. My Mom painted the girls initials above there beds. The design matches the pillows.

I have to begrudgingly admit that I have always disliked Arizona. I do not enjoy really hot weather, anything over 85 degrees is a little warm for me. Also, I have to confess I have an irrational fear of a water shortage. What if it is all gone, how will we wash, well anything, how will we drink? How will the plants stay green. I use water sparingly in my house it is almost weird. I try no to bathe the kids and do laundry on the same days (Luckily I have boys that don’t change their clothes 20 times a day, thus not that much laundry) I don’t leave the water running, I am happy when my kids start to take showers rather than baths, I take short showers, and I try to run my dishwasher every other day. I think this is why I didn’t want to live in Arizona. Well, I went to visit this past weekend, and it was awesome!
It was sunny and warm the whole time, the plants were unique, the people were happy and friendly, (not that they are not in Washington) but still great people. I could never get over my water shortage phobia though. While I was down there, I kept wondering, especially as we were passing malls, shopping centers and miles and miles of houses, where does all the water come from? Even when we were at the gas station and I was getting a fountain drink, I kept wondering, where is the water coming from? Nonetheless, I still consumed, and I like Arizona so much more than I did before I went.
We went for Kiran’s oldest daughter’s baptism. Savanna turned 8 in February and so Holly, my Mom and Dad and I all flew down to Arizona to see her get baptized. Leland and Denise drove in from California the next day. It was so much fun to be together again, although Will and Maggie were noticeably absent.