Oh, the places she goes!

Eiley is mobile and is having fun exploring all of the nooks and crannies of the home, that we didn't show her in her first six months of life. Here are all of the fun places I find her playing (never mind the toys and books spread across the living room floor)!

She already has a small obsession with shoes...

and with herself.

This is her fort.

She only notices the toys when I put them away.

Gotta love the tupperware cabinet!

And free roaming in the tubby tub!

Delayed

I apologize for the delay in posts. But here are some fun things we've been doing the past couple of months!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving? Let's see...lotsa kids, lotsa food, a walk on the pedestrian bridge, kids get bored, kids roll down hill...fun was had by all!

Carrie and Nathan's idea for potty training Colsen :)

First Plane Ride

The weekend after Thanksgiving we took a trip (by plane) to see my sister in Colorado. Eiley did wonderful on the plane which made about 200 people very happy, both ways! I didn't get any pictures on the plane, but here is a picture of Eiley and Zetta (who was very excited to find out that she had the same church dress as baby Eiley)!

Christmas 2009

We made graham cracker houses--I made a nativity and Anthony replicated the famous shot by Chalmers. You can't say he wasn't creative this year! (I think he was just trying to see how much candy he could use.)

We enjoyed the snow! While it kept us inside most of the time, we took the opportunity to take Eiley on her first sled. Anthony and the older nieces and nephews also built a cool snow fort. If anyone is driving down Highway 59 and sees his wedding ring in the ditch (where the fort was), pick it up! (He might even pay a finder's fee.)

Eiley and Cookie Monster

6 months

5 months

4 Months

3 Months

2 Months

1 Month

STUCK

Got Milk?

Eiley does!

I was cleaning out and organizing the freezer last weekend and couldn't help but laugh when I turned around and realized how funny this looked.

Eiley and friends

We've had opportunities to meet up with some friends and their little ones this summer. Apparently, we're in "the age of babies" (just a few years ago it was "the age of weddings"). Nonetheless, it's always fun to catch up with friends and their offspring!

These are pictures of friends from OT school. Erin finally got married and it was a great excuse for all of us to get together. A couple of days later, we had a playdate at my house, but I don't have any fun pictures from that. The first is of Eiley and Cole. Cole is exactly one week younger than Eiley and is Laura's second child. Her oldest, Kamryn, joined us at the playdate. The second picture is Jenni and Hannah getting Eiley to smile. Hannah loves, loves, loves her babies! The third is of the three of us...Erin will hopefully be adding to the babies soon!

This is from the meeting of the newest Coppinger girls. Corrie is a high school friend and an old roommate. Let me just say, she gets the "mother of the year" award. She just gave birth to Hayden and Reagan two weeks ago...they weighed in at 8.13 and 7.7! They are absolutely adorable, and I do not remember Eiley ever being that small! Grady is their proud big brother and a good helper to his mommy and daddy (as long as he's not leaping off of something)!

Eiley enjoys her many playdates with Chase. Chase is 10 days younger than Eiley and is the son of our friends, Megan and Jeremy. We recently returned the favor and kept Chase while Megan and Jeremy enjoyed a day out. Here are the cute pictures from the day (notice how Eiley already adores Chase in the first picture).

4 Years!

Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain."

(Cheesy wedding picture)

Princess and the....nectarine?

Funny thing happened today...I was getting myself lunch and pulled a nectarine out of the fridge to wash it off. Eiley began fussing around in her crib, so I went to pacify her. When I came back to the kitchen, I couldn't find my nectarine. Thinking I put it back in the fridge, I just grabbed another one and enjoyed my lunch. Fast forward one hour, when Eiley wakes up from her nap. I pick her up, and a large nectarine rolls out from underneath her! Talk about "mom brain"!

...and baby makes 3!

So, I'm a little late on this one...Eiley Grace was born on June 1st at 3:23 in the morning. Here's the story:
We found out we were expecting in October. I had a really healthy pregnancy with no morning sickness or other ailments. My doctor thought I had Gestational Diabetes, but other than failing the test, I had no other symptoms. My sugar counts were good, I wasn't putting on too much weight, and my baby wasn't measuring huge :). My only complaint would be not being able to sleep on my back--so, I guess that counts as a good pregnancy!

My maternity leave officially started on June 1st. Anthony, being the planner that he is, was determined that this baby was going to cooperate and come on my first day, as to maximize the maternity leave. (If there was no baby, I should be working, right?) But, he was starting to become somewhat disappointed when I felt absolutely nothing all weekend and nothing was happening on Sunday--no contractions, no pains, no nothing. So, we had Mexican for our Sunday lunch and went on a long walk (4.5 miles) to see if we could get things going....nothing.

That night, I took a shower and shaved my legs (first clue that this baby was coming, since I don't do this often :). We decided to watch a movie around 10:00ish. I watched the whole movie (second clue, since I NEVER stay awake for a whole movie). During the movie, I thought I might be having contractions, but figured since they didn't hurt, they might not be real. After the movie, around midnight, I told Anthony that I thought we might be having a baby in the next couple of days. At this time, I'm relying on all of my readings and the doctor saying that first pregnancy labors last longer and you can have contractions for days; so, don't get excited and jump the gun by heading to the hospital right away.

We decided to time these "weird feelings" and found that they were anywhere from 7-10 minutes apart. Again, nothing to get excited about, since they don't hurt and are random. Well, around 2:00 they became pretty intense. But, they were still pretty random, anywhere from 3-7 minutes apart. So we decided to pack and get things around, but decided we'd stay at home until they were consistently 3-4 minutes apart. (This whole time, I'm thinking I don't want to go to the hospital and have them send us home.)

Around 2:51, we decided that we better head to the hospital, because I'm scaring Anthony with how intense the contractions are becoming. We arrived at the emergency room at 3:00--thanks to Anthony failing to yield to red lights. God was watching over us, as we met very few cars :)

The emergency room lady comments that I'm walking well (flash back to a nurse telling me that if you can walk into labor and delivery, they'll probably send you home) and tells Anthony that we can walk on up to the 3rd floor. Uh, no! So, I asked for a wheelchair and was taken up to labor and delivery on wheels.

The first questions from the nurses upon arrival: "how far apart are the contractions?" (3-7 minutes) and "is this your first pregnancy?" (yes). Again, they're thinking, "first pregnancy, this is going to be a while, she doesn't know what's going on...". They asked me to go ahead and change, give them a urine sample, step on the scale, sign these papers, they'll start an IV, yada, yada, yada. So, being the diligent patient that I am, I start to follow these requests, but feel an urge to push. Anthony and I are the only ones in the room at this time, so I just yell out to the nurses' station that I need to push. They tell me not to push (the Dr's not here yet) and help me into the bed.

Flash forward to 3:23, and a quiet baby girl is born, sans doctor. She overwhelmed her mommy physically and her daddy emotionally. (Anthony had to take a seat during all of this). She was a healthy 7.1 pounds and 20 1/4 inches long. Our lives were blessed and changed forever!

Anniversaries and Spinal Fusions

So, we recently celebrated our 3-year anniversary in August. 3 years isn't that long, but it seems like our wedding was sooooo long ago! The 3 years have treated us well and marriage is more fun than I expected it to be! Here are some 'annual' pictures from each August since 2005.

One Year


Two Year

Three Year

You may notice the large ornament around my neck in this last one. :) I had surgery for a herniated disk in my neck on August 9th. The neck brace is deceiving, because I look more pathetic than I did before the surgery. However, I was in much more pain prior to the surgery and am feeling much better now! I get out of my neck brace in 2 1/2 more weeks--can't wait!

(Here are some more pathetic pictures for you to enjoy)

The Nicholl Fam

...never done this before, so bear with me. There's not a whole lot going on right now. Anthony and I both continue to work at State Street and Quantum Health Professionals, respectively. Jetta continues to be a hoot. The yard is not as brown as it was last year. And we are "not defeated" in softball, tying (sp?) only one game. Here are a few glances at our family and life, currently. Enjoy!