Eleven Weeks

Of course Ivy's "eleven" milestones will be important, right?

Today she is ELEVEN weeks. Where does the time go?!

Snow Days

I didn't think we'd get snow this year.
So happy to be wrong!

But maybe 1 big storm is enough for me!

What 10 years will do

10 years ago, this was me and my baby girl.
Lydia was colicky, only nursed to sleep, and stressed us out.
I thought grocery shopping was tricky.
She was a CHUNK... a 95th percentile + kinda gal.
Multiple strangers commented on her future in football.
I cried over her VSD heart condition.
And then learned it was all going to be okay.
I literally watched her grow and meet milestones.
I never considered what would happens if she didn't.
Most diapers still had sticky tabs.
The re-positionable ones were just coming out.
There wasn't squirty baby food.
It was the era of Baby Einstein.
Infant carseats had just "3 point" harnesses.
I'd never known anyone who did newborn photos
(except in the mall studios, maybe)
My dad had recently gotten a digital camera,
but all our photos were on rolls of film.
We lived in a little 1 bedroom apartment...
on the wrong side of Austin, Texas.
I felt totally occupied by this blue-eyed baby.
But boy, did we love her!

TEN years later...

Shopping with a fussy baby is no problem!
Heck, taking 2 or 3 kids to Costco isn't so bad!
Babies are supposed to be rear facing forever.
We've been to the ER lots of times.
And that's STILL really scary! :)
No one believes in Baby Einstein anymore.
But it's all about organic and allergies.
We have oodles of digital baby pictures.
I am relieved when she hits a developmental milestone.
There are 6 people who love this little one -
they hold her, tell her stories, sing her lullabies
so I can make dinner, give baths, brush teeth,
wash the dishes, run on the treadmill and shower.
Life is not all about Ivy!
Still, I feel like life has slowed down with a baby around.
It feels like taking a break to feed or change her.
I think I'm calmer and happier.
Ivy seems so easy to please, so straight forward.
Pre-teens? Now that's complicated stuff.
I can't even believe how much has changed in 10 years!

These sisters are 10 years apart.
It kinda blows my mind....
Lydia will be driving before Ivy starts kindergarten.
Lydia will be in college when Ivy is baptized.
They won't ever be playmates.
Lydia will be the sweet older sister who takes care of Ivy.
Ivy will admire Lydia, who'll always seem like a grown up to her.

Now that I've seen how incredibly fast kids grow,
I realize how soon we'll hit those milestones.

10 years from now?

Lydia could be ENGAGED.
I was at that age.

(YIKES!!!)

2011 in a nutshell

I keep meaning to blog, to edit pictures - or even get them off the camera once in a while. And it's easier said than done. Sometimes I guess I think so much about the adornments, I forget why I even have a blog. I think it's to have a place to write. I know it's a way for family who lives far away to have a better connection with our every day, to see our kids grow up a little. Sometimes it's worth reading, even if you aren't actually related to me. :)

I'm in a reflective mood, a "don't forget all the details" sort of feeling. Here's what I don't want to forget about 2011 - in no particular order because that would make this seem too hard and then I'll just give up. Maybe a picture or two thrown in for good measure. Or not.

I spent almost the entire year pregnant with this baby girl. Miss Ivy, as Carver calls her. That's significant and I probably won't forget. But the details: Carver's sweet kisses on her forehead, when the kids go over and make her smile. Her funny fluffy hair and how she'd accidentally grab onto a big handful and then scream because it hurt and she didn't know how to make it stop. How great it is to have REAL helpers this time around, how great it is not to have a 2 year old this time. I absolutely love having a baby again, so much more than I anticipated.


I ran a couple races, even pregnant. I am a very lucky girl and one of my best running partners was also expecting a baby and we got to spiral downward together. I don't know if I could've handled it without her! I'm really excited to be running again, even though it's slow.

I made the hard decision to stop all private therapies once Carver started kindergarten. We'd done both speech and OT all summer and it was time to slow down and refocus. I believe that they helped, but I also believe that this is what we needed for our family. I prayed and felt so peaceful when I quit. I don't want to forget that.

I've needed a lot of help at church so Derek can be in the bishopric and I can be Primary chorister. Add 4 kids and a newborn and you can imagine the Howell Family Circus on Sundays lately. It's hard and humbling to need help, but I'm learning that people really want to serve and I'm trying hard to remember that they are blessed and I don't have to pay them back myself!

Speaking of, I accepted a very scary calling this year, survived the Primary sacrament program and many regular Sundays. I am pretty sure that this calling is one of those that's for my personal growth and not because I have a lot to offer yet. But I'm sure trying!

Grace is in preschool now, precocious and pretty and really growing up. Dramatic and silly at times and definitely intent on keeping her brother in line. She colors pictures like crazy and tapes them on the walls in her room herself. She wears CRAZY things and loves everything girly.


Ellie was baptized this year. She is full of energy and enthusiasm, drama and sillies. Those brown eyed girls have a lot in common! She loves to read to Carver and Grace and to organize their play. She eats apples like they are going out of style - all varieties. She doesn't mind holes in her jeans and likes to have an elastic on her wrist just in case.


I learned how to curl hair from my cousins last week. I seriously needed lessons. (But I know a whole lot about natural curls!) Now if I just had time to practice my new skills.... :)

Lydia is in that transition between little girl and young woman. It's not an easy place to be, but she's growing up beautifully. She's learning to work hard at school and on the piano. She's goal oriented like her mamma and equally hard on herself. It's frightening to see yourself in your children and wonder how you'll help them when you haven't got yourself figured out yet! Lydia is reliable and absent minded at the same time. Fortunately she's reliable about things that matter and a little forgetful on the details. She still reads like crazy and has multiple journals and notebooks for writing. Lydia does not like holes in her jeans and refuses to wear skinny jeans. She can cook quesadillas and scrambled eggs by herself!

And then there's Carver! Oh, boy. A bottomless pit of needs and attention. An amazingly cheerful morning person. A willing helper, a very careful big brother to Ivy. He is like 4 kids in and of himself. Sensitive and busy, impulsive and observant. He is a KINDERGARTENER!! And his first wiggly tooth is hanging by a thread. He loves emergency vehicles and worries like crazy when we see one in action. He blew a little party horn the other day and scared himself with the sound. So he did it again. :)

We tiled 2 bathrooms, went camping, played with cousins and grandparents, rode bikes and took lots and lots of Sunday walks.

Things I've learned = It's not that crazy to have 5 kids in a 3 bedroom house. A little crazy, but totally do-able. I do better with more sleep, I feel better when I get outside to exercise, I can't explain why I'm not reading at ALL right now but it's okay, I'm so happy with the simpler schedule that a newborn demands. I'm afraid of hanging pictures and starting crafty things for fear they won't turn out. Is there a phobia for that?

So now we'll just pretend I'm all caught up and move on into 2012 with a clear conscience!

One month

I just love having a newborn again.

Don't you love the scrunched up legs and fluffly hair?

And in the 2 weeks since these pictures, she's started to stretch out more and lose some of that "newness." It's sad, but also exciting because we can't wait to get to know who this little sweetie is going to grow up to be!

More Ivy

Just a few more pictures of Ivy...

Her hair only stays curly for a few minutes after her bath, but here's the proof that it curls at all! I am so curious to see happens when her hair really grows in. I'm crossing my fingers for curls!

And I've been asked who she looks most like and I think that she looks like Grace. So here's a couple pics of Grace as a newborn for comparison. :)

Ivy Wynne

She's here!

Ivy Wynne Howell
November 11, 2011
7 lbs 9 oz -- 20 inches

So many little tender mercies that Friday - going into labor at just the right time, having time to talk to Carver about it and not having it come as a surprise, 3 different places for our kids to play, no traffic up to the hospital, time to get my antibiotics working before delivery, the same fantastic nurse who helped deliver Carver, and most of all - a healthy baby girl!!

We feel very, very blessed.

We struggled a lot with her name until we decided to really focus on the meaning. So Ivy means "fidelity and eternity." Wynne means "pure" and it's a family name, as well as Welsh (Howell is Welsh). We are so grateful she's here!