Eliana's Birthday / Jon's Farewell

Here's a quick catchup on the last two weeks in random order. Eliana's 4th birthday was on the 7th and she got a brand new Dora the Explorer bicycle. Above is Tavian riding her old tricycle. You can imagine what a tight squeeze it was for her to ride. And below is Eliana on her new bike showing off for Grandpa. She was so scared the first time she rode it, but now she loves it.
I took this picture last Sunday. I didn't take Emily to church because she's so little still, but I couldn't resist the urge to dress her up and take some pictures. She looks so much like Eliana did when she was a baby.
My brother Jonathan left for the MTC on the 11th. He was going to try to visit us each individually so we made it easier by all gathering at our apartment. We had doughnuts and pictures before he left. My parents are converts so these are all the missionaries so far from my family (my brothers Jason, Matthew, baby Jacob is just cute, Jonathan, my handsome Julio and of course me.)

This was the first time my kids got to play in the snow. We were lucky enough that it snowed the weekend we went up to Payson for Eliana's birthday and Jonathan's last talk before he left for the mission.
Eliana blowing out her candles with cousins Alex and Landon watching. Aunt Kim was so sweet to make it for her. Kim's birthday was Superbowl Sunday so Eliana and I made her a cake while the boys glued themselves to the tube and then she made a cake for Eliana for her birthday. It said "Happy Happy Birthday Eliana Dear." What a sweetheart!
Also, I've started looking for a job. Hopefully Julio finds something soon, but in the meantime if I can contribute in some way I'll feel much better. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the adorable, the tiny, the amazing

Emily Rebecca Macias!

On Monday I had a Dr. appointment for an ultrasound to check the size of the baby. They were able to verify it was a girl and that she was getting pretty big (Dr. Lindstrom thought maybe 9lbs) Since Tavian was an emergency c-section at 9lbs 5oz we agreed 9lbs was cutting it too close and scheduled a c-section for Tuesday morning 7am (way too early for me). She was born at 7:40 am weighing 9lbs 8oz!! She was 19.5 inches long. Boy am I glad I had a c-section! I never would have been able to push her out. Julio says its because I eat too much junk food, but I only gained 15 lbs this pregnancy and Dr. Lindstrom says I just have big kids so of course I side with the doctor. I mean after all he is the professional.

We delivered at Banner Desert. All of our children have been born there and I love it! The nurses are so nice and everyone really takes care of you. My Mom stayed with me the first night and Julio stayed the other two nights. They took turns taking care of the kids at home and me and Emily at the hospital. The kids I think have decided to keep little miss Emily. Eliana already has a nickname for Emily, SweetPea, and we've all already taken to calling her that. Tavian I think was a little worried at first but has already started showering her with kisses. We also got flowers, gifts, and visits from my dad, my brothers and sisters-in-law, my mother-in-law, and Laurissa. Thank you all for loving us so much!

Anyway, we just got home from the hospital today. They said I could stay until tomorrow, but my brother Jon is leaving next week on his mission and is speaking in Payson on Sunday so I wanted to hurry home for that. Also, Eliana's birthday is tomorrow and I wanted to be home with her to celbrate. She's turning four and we found a bike we could afford brand new. She loves her little tricycle but she's had it more that 2 years and she's way too big for it now. I want to be there to see her face when she gets this new one. As soon as it calms down a little I will post more pics. Also I am a little intimidated at having 3 now and welcome advice from those who are already there.

What's Up With This Baby?!?

The night before last I started having contractions about ten minutes apart. The Dr. said to go to the hospital when they got to ten minutes apart so when it was almost an hour of contractions I said "One more and I'm going to the hospital." So of course it was a half hour before the next contraction. I decided to go to sleep and was awakened every hour or so with a killer contraction. Early in the morning, more close contractions, so I called my mom to let her know I think I'm going into labor. She drove all the way down here and they stopped yet again! Yesterday I had more contractions in the afternoon and evening like every 20 minutes.... sigh....not close enough. So here I sit today thinking "What's up with this baby?" On the bright side when I went to my last appointment on Tuesday they told me I was dilated to a 2 and they're going to do an ultrasound on Monday to make sure the baby's not too big to deliver. If it's too big, c-section. So, one way or another this will be over soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I really don't want another c-section. I'm so excited to hold my little baby, though, so as long as she's healthy that's the most important thing.

I'm 31!

That's right. 31 years ago my mom went through excruciating pain to bring me into this world. 10 years ago tomorrow I left on my mission. 13 years ago I turned 18 and left for college 7 months after that. 15 years ago I was old enough to date and drive. I'm old enough to be the mother of any of the girls in my activities days group. And I was realizing that in some cultures girls get married in their early teens so there are grandmothers out there that are my age! Not only that but the next big birthday celebration won't be until I'm like 50 and that's only a big deal because your life is half over. P.S. I'm laughing as I type this. I love having my birthday at this age because I still get special privileges like Julio took the kids outside so I could have some quiet time and he changed Bubba's stinky diaper, not to mention I don't have to cook dinner and I get cake and ice cream. And lots of calls from friends and family. I've been bombarded with love today. Overall, not a bad deal at all. In fact it's great! Hope you all are well as well.

Good News

Julio got a temp job networking computers and being the on site tech support for the network. It's only for a week but it's great pay and we're excited that this blessing has come our way. Woohoo! And I have less than four weeks before this little baby comes out! So the time for long walks, cherry pie, (and any other wive's tale that I've heard gets your body working toward labor) is fast approaching! If anyone needs any heavy furniture moved let me know and I'm there!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma

My grandma just turned 80 years old and we had a big family party. Family came from all sides of the country to celebrate with her. We had everyone send us video clips of themselves wishing her happy birthday and Mom, Grandpa, Uncle Craig and Aunt Alison pooled together every picture they had of Grandma and they had Julio make a video presentation for her. He put a lot of time and thought into it and the end result was a beautiful video that made a lot of people cry. I don't have any pictures of the party yet but will post them when I do. It was great to see everyone and to let Grandma know just how much she has touched all of our lives. She went to so many of our games and recitals and church things like baptisms and missionary farewells even though she's not of the same faith. And she was an adorable little girl! We love you Grandma and hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Nesting Nesting Nesting

That's what I've been doing....nesting! Like crazy! I got out the baby clothes this week, washed them and set them up in their drawer. We set up the baby swing in the corner and put the baby toys in a box underneath. We got a board for across the top bed of the bunk bed and Julio screwed it in place so Eliana can sleep up there without rolling off in the middle of the night. She's slept up there for the last four nights and Tavian finally decided to sleep on the bottom bunk bed for the last two nights. So now the crib is open for the next one. I've been cleaning out closets and corners, you know, all the the places where a little pile can gather and trying to get rid of as much excess as possible. We organized the embarrassing corner in our room where our food storage and Julio's computer stuff are. I've been shampooing the carpet today and needed a break for my back, otherwise I'd still be cleaning like crazy! Anyways, hope everyone had a great New Year's. We had a quiet evening at home watching a movie and eating ice cream and popcorn. It's one of the great things about having toddlers that we can make treats and watch a new movie and suddenly it's a party - Woohoo!