Caleb's 3rd Birthday

Our little buddy turned 3 on October 9, 2010. He was old enough this year to tell us exactly how he wanted to celebrate. We started off the day by going to Chuck E. Cheese. Not my favorite place, but we got there early enough to beat the crazy crowds.

Mike caught this great picture of Maya being excited while watching Caleb play a game.

Next Caleb requested a chocolate Mickey Mouse cake. I am pretty proud of how it turned out.

Caleb got a lot of great gifts. A bike, Lightning McQueen and all his friends, Toy Story costumes, and legos.

He's a pretty cute 3 year old, when he's not being a pretty rotten 3 year old. But we love him anyway! Happy Birthday little man!

Brooke's Blessing Weekend

We blessed Brooke on Sunday, September 26th, 2010. My parents came for the weekend. On Saturday we took them to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We had a great time.

The kids crawled through very narrow spaces.

And climbed up high.

Grandma and Grandpa at the visitors center

Our little family in the same spot

The Nelson girls on Brooke's blessing day. I failed to get an individual picture of Brooke. So this will have to do.

The whole family. I can't believe I'm the mother of all these great kids!

The arrival of Brooke Avery Nelson

Brooke Avery Nelson was born on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 8:51 AM. She was 7lb 9oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

I went into labor at about 8:30 PM on Friday night. My contractions were a little sporadic and not very strong in the beginning. We got to the hospital at around midnight. At that point I was 4 centimeters dilated. At 2:45 AM after walking around the hallways of the labor and delivery floor, I was 5 centimeters. My contractions really picked up after that and were consistently 5 minutes apart and increasing in intensity. By 5:45 AM I was only 5 1/2 centimeters, so I decided to get an epidural. At 7 AM I was 8 centimeters, and the doctor broke my water. Then Miss Brooke was born at 8:51 AM, after only 3 minutes of pushing. It was my longest labor, but easiest delivery.

Brooke has been very sweet and the kids love her. She is a good eater and sleeper and we can't imagine our family without her now!

My husband is a rockstar

This past weekend we turned the guest room into the new baby's room. And by "we" I mean Mike. I dreamed up what I wanted and Mike did all the work. It was lovely.

Here the room is pre-paint. Mike had already moved all the guest furniture to the basement. He also did the taping and caulking - which with textured walls is absolutely necessary and takes longer than the actual painting.

The first 2 colors!

Now with the middle darker pink stripe. I am in love with the colors and the overall look of this paint job. It is perfection.

With furniture. I am in love with this nursery (have I said that yet). It is the cutest little girls room ever. I guess we are ready now for this baby!

Haley's Baptism

Haley was baptized on Saturday, August 14th, the day after she turned 8. We were very lucky that my parents and Mike's mom and sister Karen were able to come for the occasion.

Haley sang a duet of "When I am baptized" with her friend Ellery. Grandma Nelson spoke on baptism and Grandma Hardy spoke about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Mike performed the baptism and confirmation. Aunt Karen gave the opening prayer and Grandpa Hardy gave the closing prayer. It was a great baptism and we are so proud of Haley.

Our little family

The whole crew

The beautiful girl on her day in her special dress.

Haley's 8th Birthday

Haley turned 8 on August 13th. She had an awesome party with her friends at Lifetime Fitness. They ate pizza and cake, opened presents, and climbed the indoor rock wall. The girls had a great time, and it wasn't too much work for my 9 month pregnant self.

Her cake was shaped like a large cupcake - which is kinda hard to see from this angle.

The whole group at the climbing wall. Maya was thrilled that she got to come to the party because 1 of Haley's friends wasn't able to make it.

Maya made it all the way to the top!

Haley made it to the top too!

I can't believe Haley is 8 already. She is such a great daughter and sister. She is an excellent student and loves to read. She is mastering the bike and swimming (which has taken her a little longer because she is so cautious). She loves art and music. She is starting choir at school, and would like to learn the piano. She is a great friend and has many sweet girls to play with. We sure love our Haley. Happy Birthday!

YMCA Soccer

This summer, Maya and Haley played soccer with the YMCA. This was both of their first experiences with organized sports. Haley really enjoyed it and Maya told us it was too much work.

Haley's team, minus her good friend Ellery. This was after they won their first game (which was also the last game of the season). It was a great victory after so many loses.

Haley making contact with the ball!

Maya after her last game. She was the only girl on her team, and often the only girl on the field at games (all the kindergarten teams seemed to be predominately boys).

This was typical side-line behavior. She did a lot of messing around and paying no attention to the game when she wasn't currently playing.

Here she is in action. We are glad Maya tried soccer, she was actually most excited about it at the beginning of the season, but discovered it wasn't quite for her. We'll have to see if Haley's soccer career continues.