Lucas Meets some more Family

I love that we live by so much family and get to share these specialest of occasions with them. 

The text sent when Lucas arrived.

FINALLY a Family of Four!!

Lucas Matthew Stacey

Born May 18, 2016 at 38 weeks gestation

Weight: 9 lbs. 7 oz. 

Height: 20.5 inches

Labor was short and sweet. I was induced around 7am, water was broken about 9am and baby was born at 12:20pm after maybe 5 pushes and an awful episiotomy......

Don't know who decided that was a good idea. 

His first few moments of fresh air

Eliza was excited to meet baby brother but then, I think, she didn't quite know what to do with him. 

Eliza was excited to find out he had arms and hands and feet wrapped up in that swaddle blanket.

As displayed in the picture above, pregnancy and I do not get along.  Its crazy what it does to me physically, emotionally, and mentally. But I can now say, I am grateful for what we got from our trials....a sweet boy that was patiently waiting in Heaven to be a part of our family. We are so happy to be a fuller family. It doesn't get any better than this!!

Proud Daddy! He was in love at first touch. 

Easter Fun

We had lots of cousins around to celebrate Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt in the Stacey's backyard. Everyone had 6 Easter eggs with their names on them, hidden by difficulty according to their age and abilities. It was a super fun activity.

Then was time to color Easter eggs. 

And decorate and, of course, eat Grandma's yummy sugar cookies.

Springtime FINALLY!!

I was so happy when springtime arrived. It meant I had made it to my 3rd trimester and the end was in sight. Thank Goodness!!!

As usual Eliza was an angel through it all. She spent lots of time with Grandparents and played and played. 

In March, we finally had some warmer days to get outside and breathe some fresh air. 

Matt has been amazing through all of this hardship. He has spoiled me and taken such good care of our little girl. At Christmas time, we were also blessed by the Staceys to get this new car. It was much needed and has been well loved and cared for. We are grateful everyday. Matt loves his car! 

Eliza also had 3 weeks with cousins in March. She loved playing with Sophia... and getting some extra time with her Midway cousins. 

Eliza is basically always delightful and also my biggest helper. I couldn't do much during the pregnancy but when I tried, we would do it together. She has always and still always loves to help.

My one and only activity during my 4 1/5 months of bedrest was going to the Provo City Center Temple open house.  I just couldn't miss it. So I swallowed my pride and was pushed in a wheelchair through the temple. It was breathtaking, as they all are. It was beautiful to see the history along with the new architecture.  I went to the Provo Tabernacle for many stake conferences in high school and it was an incredibly sad day when it burned down. Matt and I also had the privilege of being in the Conference Center when President Monson announced the new Provo temple. There were a lot of gasps and whispers. I think, if we could have and it was appropriate, we would have all jumped out of our seats and started cheering and clapping.  So this is my only picture, sadly, but it was a great afternoon. I love getting to take Eliza to so many temple open houses. 

Eliza's 3rd Birthday Celebration

We love celebrating birthdays with our little bundle of joy. She truly makes life better than we could have possibly imagined in our wildest dreams. She gives us our greatest laughs, smiles, and loves. 

Yes, I wrapped her presents in Christmas paper..... it was what we had and no sense buying more. 

She had fun celebrating with cousins and the Staceys.
Daddy made her a great cake!

Always dressed like a princess and sometimes part fairy.
She most certainly is all girl and all charm. 

                       Because of scheduling conflicts, we also had a party for Eliza with the McPhillens.

1,2,3 get ready to blow and make a wish....

Grandpa McPhillen made this awesome cake!