Ava's 2010 Highlights

1. Being born!
2. Being a good sleeper

3. Being a calm, quiet child to make my parents HAPPY!

4. Having fun with my crazy brothers and sister.

5. Just being me!

Joseph"s 2010 Highlights

1. Riding the BIG kid rides at Lagoon.

2. Becoming a BIG brother! He is such a sweet boy to baby Ava.
3. Visiting Great-Grandma Chandler in Pocatello.
4. Turning 2 years old!
5. Sleeping in a BIG boy bunk bed with his BIG brother Davis.

Davis' 2010 Highlights

1. Visiting Ogden's Dinosaur Park for the 1st time!

2. Turning 4 years old.

3. Taking swimming lessons for the first time and now he swims like a little fish.

4. Starting preschool!! Davis is an awesome reader. He has finished all the leveled readers we have at our house and has moved on to Easy Reader books from the library. He is also learning to solve addition and subtraction problems.

5. Learning to ride a big boy bike! Just a few weeks after Davis turned 4 he quickly learned how to ride a bike. Just a few months after learning to ride a bike, he rode with his big sister and dad all the way to his Aunt and Uncle's house--which is several miles away.

Carlie's 2010 Highlight's

1. Carlie joined a new dance studio this past year. She has loved the fast paced class which includes tumbling. She enjoyed dancing at The Festival of Trees and participating in the Centerville 4th of July parade this year!

2. Having a new baby sister! She takes such great care of little Ava and misses her while she is at school.

3. Starting 1st grade. Carlie is an excellent student. She is a fabulous reader and is already working on learning her multiplication facts. Her teacher leaves instructions for her substitutes to ask Carlie if they have any questions. Carlie came home one day after school with a golden ticket from the substitute because she basically took charge during the entire morning routine. She would definitely be a great teacher when she is older.

4. Cherry Hill. No summer is complete without multiple trips to Cherry Hill with lots of friends.

5. Turning six!

Ava's Grand Entrance

Ava Grace Lambert is finally here!

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, September 20th (6 years and 6 months to the day I had my first baby girl). I was dilated to a 4 and the doctor broke my water at 8:45 am. Before the doctor left I told him and the nurse that I have my babies fast. The doctor told the nurse to keep him updated and he left the room. I had my epidural right away. The nurse checked me around 10:20 and I was dilated to a 6. She did a few things, left the room and said she would be back at 11:00 to check me again. I was thinking the entire time that 11:00 seemed like a long time to wait. The nurse had turned down the baby's heartbeat monitor before she left the room and I was laying on my side waiting for 11:00 to come around. My epidural had kicked in and I was relaxed and resting and wasn't feeling any pain from the contractions.

Everything that happened next was a blur, so I will tell Rick's side of the story first. Rick was sitting on the couch reading when he heard a sound that might be a baby whimper, then he heard a gushing of water (that is how he describes it), then he hears another little baby noise. This is when he starts to realize that the noise was coming from OUR room and not another baby in another room. He jumps up and pulls back the sheet to see the WHOLE baby laying on the bed. He thought that maybe the head had somehow come out and that is why he heard the noises. He was so shocked that he just started yelling for the nurses and they got there before he could even pick up the baby.

I remember hearing a strange gurgling sound (what Rick called a gushing of water sound) in the room. I was just about to ask Rick what he was doing, when he was up off the couch pulling the sheet back from my bed and running out of the room. I then hear him yelling, "there is a baby in here". I start panicking and crying thinking of the worst case scenario. In seconds 5 nurses come running into our room and start taking care of the baby and hand her off to the nursery. I am still panicking thinking about what just happened and how this is not how I pictured giving birth to my baby. Rick keeps assuring me that Ava is okay, she is breathing and is healthy. Within minutes my doctor comes running into the room, upset about the birth as well. As soon as he checks and makes sure everything is fine with the baby and with me he is able to calm down. But was still obviously upset about how everything turned out and came back later in the day to talk to us.

The nurses had to go back to the charts to see when Ava was actually born. According to the charts she was born at 10:51 a.m. and weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. She didn't want to wait any longer and she was ready to come into this world by herself. We were blessed and lucky that there weren't any major complications. She is such a sweet, sleepy, chubby cheeked baby, and we just LOVE her!

Ava Grace Lambert

Picture Day

12 Days of Christmas

The past couple of years Grandma and Grandpa Lambert have delivered the 12 Days of Christmas to our house. It is a highlight for our family and something our children look forward to during the Christmas season. Each night our family has a few minutes of quality time together when we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Here are a few highlights of this years 12 days...

On the first day, we received Christmas p.js. This was Carlie's and my favorite gift. We loved our pajamas. A lot of days we never bothered to get dressed because they were so comfy.

Each day was centered around an ornament. The kids loved putting them on the tree.

We spent one snowy, cold afternoon making this giant gingerbread boy. Many great Christmas memories were made this holdiay season.

Our Chocolate fondue night with our new fondue set.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with the Emery's this year. Grandma made lots of yummy food as usual and the kids were spoiled with lots of cute presents from cousins and Grandma and Grandpa. The kids were super excited and could hardly sit still for a family Christmas picture. I'm not sure what is going on with my eyes. I always end up with super huge eyes in pictures. I guess I am trying not to blink. Please don't make fun.

Some of the grandkids opening presents. Clint and Rachel were able to be included in our Christmas festivities through the wonderful technology of Skype. We wish you were there in person.

Joseph and his cuddly moose!

The evening was complete with a visit from Santa himself!

Carlie's Christmas Concert

The last day of school before Christmas break the kindergarten classes had a little singing program. Carlie was looking forward to it all of December. She kept asking me if she could invite her grandparents to come watch. Knowing that they work and that we live a little ways away, I said "we can ask, but I don't think they can make it." Well, Carlie made her phone calls to invite her grandparents and she was excited to learn that Grandma and Grandpa Emery would be able to come and see her sing. Sadly Rick's parents both were unable to get out of work but did call her to see how it went. I felt silly having them come all the way to our house for a 30 minute performance, but she was ecstatic! She did a great job and after the performance she talked Grandma and Grandpa into riding the FrontRunner train with her and Davis downtown where they met Rick (he drove my parents car down to the SLC station). After having lunch with Gr. & Gr. Emery at the Gateway, Rick took them to the Clark Planetarium to watch a Christmas Movie in the IMAX theatre. It was a great day for such a sweet little girl.

Carlie with her cute friends!

Christmas 2009

I'm just a little behind on my blog as you can see. I didn't want you to think we didn't celebrate Christmas this year. So here is a little recap...
Here are a few pictures taken on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party. No Joseph isn't scared of Santa, he had a little mishap seconds before this picture was taken and was squished behind a door. We didn't have time to console him before throwing him on Santa's lap. At least we got a picture, right?