Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Since I find myself sitting a lot these days I thought I would check out what's new on sugardoodle.net. We don't usually do much for St. Patrick's Day but they had so many cute ideas that I thought I would try some. We are, or we were :), learning about light in science so I thought we would do the section on rainbows as part of the festivities. As always is the case, my good intentions to make a fun day for the kids didn't turn out quite as planned but we did get to some of them done although we had to do our rainbow lesson the following day since we ran out of time (and mom was exhausted).
We started the day off with "leprecahn mush" for breakfast(green cream of wheat). A sneaky leprecahn had left each of us 5 "leprecahn coins" with a note that said we needed to try and be sneaky throughout the day and do get rid of all our coins by doing secret acts of service for others. For each service we did we put a coin in a cup-the goal was to get rid of all our coins by dinner time. The kids and I had fun being sneaky and I think we all got rid of our coins. Dylan had his done very quickly, he gave Jane her pacifier 4 times within a matter of a few minutes :). We may just have to make this a tradition.

We have been so blessed to have many people bring us meals since Jane was born. It may not seem like much but not having to worry about dinner has been sooo nice for me and for Scott who has been working a lot this week. I thought it would be fun to make some treats for those who have helped us and let them know how "Lucky" we feel to have them in our lives. We made green popcorn balls (with lime jello) and threw in some green m&ms too. The popcorn balls is what threw us for a loop. I've never made them before so didn't realize how important it is to cook the mixture just right. Needless to say we overcooked the first batch and the mixture turned as hard as a rock. Thank goodness we had an extra box of jello :).

We ended the night with "leprecahn dessert"(pistachio pudding) and telling eachother what we did for our acts of service.

The kids were quite bummed that we didn't get to our rainbow lesson and activities so I made sure we did it first thing the next day. We learned about the first rainbow and the what/why/how of rainbows. Then they each painted rainbows....

I made a fruit rainbow for lunch....

Star did a rainbow experiment. She painted all the colors of the rainbow on a round disc then spun it around to see if when spun the colors would all turn back to white.

"Baby Janes"

Ean had a hard time remembering her name for a couple days and then started calling her "baby Janes". Not sure why he added the s but it is so cute when he talks to her. The day after she was born he woke up and came in our room holding this dress and said, "I picked out her clothes"! I was a little worried that he would have a hard time but so far he is smitten with her and keeps telling me how cute her cheeks are :).

So far, she is sooo good. We are just loving her to pieces! Here are some pictures of her first week....

Who knew changing a diaper was such a show :)


Braeden has been taking care of the kids for me and so doesn't get a turn with Jane until they are in bed. Then he comes up and holds her for an hour or so. He is so good with her and has been a huge help to me.

I didn't leave my room until Sunday, I just stayed in there to rest and hold her so the kids would come hang out with me in there. Star took care of me and Jane when Scott had to go back to work and that was so nice to have her right there. She is going to be a great mom someday! This picture is Sunday afternoon. The kids went to church by themselves and then we all just hung out in my room talking, watching movies, painting nails and just being together. I walked out of the bathroom and saw this scene and tried to hold back tears. This is what family is all about, just being together.

Sweet little girl, we love you!

Jane Abigail Alexander

She's finally here! It seems like I have been pregnant forever and I have to say that there is no better feeling than to have her out of my body and into our home. I had an appointment with my midwife on Tuesday and she gave me the very discouraging, "well I think you have another week". I started having contractions however right after my appointment and throughout the day but nothing real consistent until early Wednesday morning. After about 5 hours of pretty hard labor Jane was born at 10:37am, Wednesday, March 9th, weighing 9 lbs. 8oz. and is 21 in. long. Right as she was born and was placed on my stomach we could tell she was a big girl but I would never have guessed I could have a baby that big :). It did explain why labor was a little harder than any of us had anticipated. She had a hard time coming down under my pubic bone which delayed her birth by a couple of hours. Scott was able to "catch" her and the whole birth at home thing was such a special experience. My midwife, Liz, and her assistant, Janae, were excellent and made me feel at ease even when things got a little hard. They knew just what to do and how to make my contractions more comfortable for me, well, as comfortable as a contraction can be :). I loved being able to do my own thing without the chaos of the hospital. I'm not sure if I will put it in this blog or not but I will definetly be writing down my experience as soon as I can find the words to describe it. Having a piece of heaven enter not just your family but enter your home is amazing.

Jane is gorgeous though, beautiful dark skin, long black eyelashes and a perfect round face. Pictures never do newborns justice, I don't think, so its hard to see just how cute she really is.





The kids are loving her and fighting over her already, ("it's my turn to hold her"), Scott can't keep his eyes off of her and I am filled with love for this sweet girl I waited so long for so I'm thinking there will not be a shortage of love and attention for her at our house.

Scott and I had talked about the name Jane when I was pregnant with Ean. For the last few years I just knew that we had a Jane waiting to come. Knowing what a blessing from our Heavenly Father she is, Jane, meaning "God is gracious" just felt like the perfect name for her. Abigail is a name chosen by Scott. We have been discussing middle names for a long time and about a month ago Scott came home with the name Abigail having been on his mind all day. I wasn't sold on it so we have kept looking but the other night we had narrowed it down to 3 names we liked, looked up their meanings and decided to wait and see what came to us when she was born. When she was born I told Scott to pick and he didn't hesitate a second. So, Abigail, meaning "joy of a father", is just too perfect isn't it?

Meet Rebecca

It was Cate's turn to do the presentation this month. She gathered up some of her favorite things to do and told the girls about them. She even played them a song she was learning on the piano. She was really nervous but did great!

We learned about Rebecca this month, a Jewish girl who's family immigrated to America from Russia. Adrienne taught the girls how to finger crochet which is a great to learn the art of crocheting for little hands. I think I will teach all the kids how to do it, that may keep their hands busy during quiet reading time.

Hannah's mom, Nancy, taught them how to make hallah bread, a traditional Jewish braided bread used for Sabbath dinners and holidays. It was delicious and the girls had fun braiding their dough. She also taught them a little about Jewish traditions and how important the Sabbath is to them. It was very interesting and the girls were fascinated by the difference between their beliefs and the Jewish beliefs.



Rebecca wanted to be an actress and would act out Russian folk stories that her parents and grandparents would tell her. Adrienne brought a big box of dress up stuff and let the girls put on mini plays using some of the stories they knew like "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood". This was a big hit with the girls who were all anxious to put on a show for us.

Braeden's First Car

Braeden bought his first car today. He paid $400 for a 1989 Ford Bronco II. He has been saving his money knowing he would have to buy his own car if he wanted one. We had bought a Bronco from Grandpa D. last year thinking Braeden could buy it from us when he got ready to drive but we have found it has some engine problems. So, with the help from Uncle Bryan, Scott and Braeden found this one and thought they could make one good one from the two. Braeden is very excited, not that you can tell since he's Braeden and rarely shows any excitement :), but he really is. Now if he can just learn how to drive and get a license!