Category Archives: avery

First Few Weeks

Today Layla is already three weeks old! Time is flying by. These photos are all from her first two weeks. It’s been a bit of a blur. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Father’s Day 2016 – Jonathan = Father x 4
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The week after Layla’s birth, two of my best girlfriends from Jr. High, Lyndsey & Jennifer, were in town from Utah & Singapore. They came over with their kiddos for a visit.
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Mothers & Daughters – Lyndsey & Elsa, me & Layla, Jen & Elina
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Bjorn & Avery, friends since birth
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Little Elina
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With Jen
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Sometimes tummy time goes like this:
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And then it ends up like this:
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All the commotion wore her out
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Avery is infatuated with his baby sister
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Whenever he’s home, he asks to hold her
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Loving on his little sis
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Side note… this coyote has been hanging around our house lately. He started showing up a couple of days before Layla arrived.
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These two play awfully nice together sometimes
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Little lady in her crib. While decorating the nursery over the past few months, I’ve been dreaming of the day I’d get to look at her in there!
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Bath time. The brothers love helping out!
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Reading Harry Potter
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Meanwhile Silas felt more like painting
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Newborn Photo Shoots

The newborn days are magical and they go by so fast. We try to remember to lots of pictures. Here are some of our favorite more staged photos we’ve taken.

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I found this cute idea on Pinterest
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Then I decided if she gets to dress up in a tutu, why shouldn’t her brothers get to dress up too? They loved it!
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Layla Blythe

Our little girl, Layla Blythe, came into the world on Friday, June 10, 2016, at 10:15 am. She weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 19.5″ long. After my OB appointment the previous Friday, we started to wonder if perhaps she would arrive before her scheduled appointment on Friday morning. The whole family made guesses as to what her birthday would be. Kieron and Aunt Manivanh were the winners of that bet. Apparently our little lady was in no hurry to be born!

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The Birth Story

Tired as I was Thursday night, I had a terrible time getting to sleep. How does one settle down when they have to wake up early the next morning for major surgery to have a baby? I had really hoped she would come early so I could just react to everything as it happened instead of having it all so planned out. Somehow though, I did fall asleep, and I woke up five minutes before our alarm went off.

We checked in to the hospital at 7:30 am, with surgery scheduled to begin two hours later. As with Silas, I buzzed in and cheerfully stated, “I’m here to have a baby.” They let us in and my nurse, Spring, hooked me up to machines and put in my IV while Jonathan fetched himself a good cup of coffee. While he was gone, I admitted to the nurse that I was feeling a bit anxious this time around, and then the weight of everything just hit me and I started to cry. I felt so incredibly lucky that I was about to meet our little girl, and I could hardly wait to find out that she was healthy and normal. Getting that off my chest was a relief, and one tissue later felt much better. I was having mild contractions (which was not the case with Silas), and it was fun for Jonathan to be able see and hear them on the monitor. I think he was a little surprised. Eventually the anesthesiologist and my OB arrived, made introductions, and went over the game plan.

At about 9:45 am they rolled me into the OR to prepare for surgery. Everyone was extremely friendly and talkative. The epidural went in easy-peasy (another big relief) and I quickly felt the numbness set in as they positioned me on the table. I learned my OB had a reputation for being “the fastest around.” As she explained, there’s no reason to leave the patient exposed any longer than necessary. They put the curtain up just below my arms, and I scanned the room, trying to soak in as much as I could. That’s one benefit of not being in active labor during the process. Directly to my right were my machines and monitors. In front of me, the big blue curtain, to the left, the clock and double doors I’d come through, and if I craned my head around as much as possible like an owl, there was the scale behind me, where they would take our daughter right after she was born. The clock ticked on, and before long I felt a ton of pressure on my upper chest (the assisting doc pushing on me to move the baby down) and I knew it was almost time. Then the next thing we heard were our daughters’ cries!

Jonathan left my side to follow our baby to the scale and cut her cord, while I about twisted my neck off trying to see what was going on! I know it was only moments, but it seemed like a long time before they brought her over and placed her on my chest, a beautiful, healthy, baby girl with a powerful set of lungs! I cried again, this time not anxious, but thankful, and Jonathan and I wished our girl a happy birthday.

Here is the morning in photos. Last pregnant photo EVER!
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All smiles!
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Dr Scheve & Layla
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First photo with our daughter!
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Proud big brothers
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First family photo of the six of us!
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About to leave the hospital
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In her going home outfit
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Back at the house, Nana and her grandkids
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Museum of Flight

During the baby shower, Jonathan and Uncle Scott took the boys to the Museum of Flight for the afternoon. They had a terrific time and had lots of stories to share when they returned. Here they are in front of Air Force One (Eisenhower – Nixon).

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Kieron in the cockpit of a Blackbird
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Avery and Andrew tried the flight simulator and LOVED it! They spun it more than a dozen times, and apparently there were squeals of delight coming from inside!IMG_7729

Poor Silas really wanted to go too, but it looks like he has a few more inches to grow. Look at that face!
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April

Here’s some more of what we were up to in April.

Kieron and Silas hiking Boulder Garden Loop with Daddy
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Kieron got a new pair of glasses – sports goggles. They are perfect for our rough and tumble little boy, and the transition lenses are awesome for summer!IMG_9114

Avery still loves parkour. Look at his muscles working here!
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Completing an obstacle course. Avery always leaves class sweaty and red-faced.
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Silas and his pal, Buddha
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I went to Utah with Jonathan for his +1 dinner for work. It was fun getting to see where he goes while he’s there and meeting some of the people he works with. We spent a day in Salt Lake City, and here we are at Park City the following day.
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Avery and Kieron did a track camp over spring break. Their favorite events were the non-running ones. 🙂 Here’s Kieron throwing the javelin.
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Kieron doing the long jumpIMG_9178

Avery throwing the javelin
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Picnic in the backyard
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Kieron in his Kindergarten Opera, The Three Nanny Goats Gruff. IMG_9381

He was on cloud nine after the performance. I wasn’t expecting it from him, but the stage seemed to invigorate him!IMG_9383

Waiting for lunch at Zeek’s Pizza.IMG_9386

Silas has been on a sneaky streak lately. Here he is after giving himself a bang trim. On this particular afternoon he also snuck some treats from the pantry and stamped our return address in several spots on the family room wall.
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His “after” shot
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The boys performing a duet together before swimming lessons
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At a parkIMG_9418 IMG_9423

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