Night swimming

Hot days = perfect nights for swimming. The past couple of nights we have packed the kids up and headed to the pool before bed time. Cory and Cole swim, Anna and I hang out and watch. Or I watch and she sleeps. We have already used the pool more this year than all of the other years we've lived here combined. And Cole is getting to be such a good little swimmer! One of these days I'll take the video camera as photos don't really capture it.

Cole the Knight

Cole borrowed this knight costume from Quincy and wore it for three days straight, pretty much every hour he wasn't sleeping. And I think he would have slept in it if we'd let him!

Here's Cole the Knight playing baseball on our new baseball field. And Anna's first video appearance!

Welcome, Anna!

On Monday, July 5 at 11:08am we welcomed Anna Leigh Badger into the world at 7 lbs 8 ozs and 21 inches long.

We really couldn't have asked for a more perfect labor and delivery. I started going into labor around 3am, labored at home until 8:30am, checked into the hospital at 9am and Anna was born at 11am. Whew! Fast and furious ... exactly what I was hoping for! So fast, in fact, that by the time I asked the doctor for an epidural, it was too late.

My mom and Cory were there with me providing the most amazing support. And our nurse was my good friend Jenni who fortunately was working that day and was assigned to us -- it was so awesome to have her there with us.

It went so fast, and I was feeling so good, that we requested to be able to leave that afternoon. And we were out of there by 3:30pm! Some people might think that's crazy, wondering why we wouldn't want to stay the night, but for us it was just best to get home to our own bed.

Cole hung out with Brad, Mercedes and the girls during the day and the came to visit us at the hospital. I really had no idea how he would react to Anna and what he would think about me being in the bed and all. It was amazing, really. It was love at first sight! He really just instantly fell in love with her and there was no sense of jealousy at all. You can see in the photos below that he was pretty happy :)

4th of July

With Brad, Mercedes and the girls coming, and not knowing what the baby situation would be, we decided to host a small BBQ on the 4th. The kids had a great time playing and loved the fireworks. A couple of our neighbors also gathered in front of their houses with their own stash of fireworks, so we ended up having quite the show.

Enjoying dessert - apple pie!

New shirt from Grandma Badger

Getting the fireworks started early, which was a good thing because we had a TON.

Sparklers!


Snuggling on what ended up being kind of a chilly night

The room is ready!

I'm loving Anna's room so much. It's the only room in our house that has a window that faces east, so it gets some really beautiful natural light. We painted the walls yellow (Butter by Devine, actually) and I think its just so perfect. The decor is a mix of old and new, with several pieces from my nursery.

• Crib from Cole's room
• Canvas wall hanging. This is a great story. One of the things that I remember loving from when I was little was this canvas wall hanging that hung in my room. So when I was pregnant with Cole I set out on a hunt to find something similar. I searched the internet high and low, with no luck. Turns out its kind of a hard thing to Google. Around Christmas time last year, my mom, Krista, and my mom's friend Pat were making candy trains. We got talking about this canvas that I had been searching for. Pat mentioned that she had something like that in her girls room and offered to let me have it if I'd like. Of course, I said YES. When she brought it over to my parents house I could hardly believe that it was EXACTLY the same canvas. How cool is that?
• Vintage Hand Painted Irmi crib mobile from my nursery.
• Quilt made by my mom with fabric from our wedding quilt (hanging on end of crib)
• Curtains made by my mom

• Three generations photo - my mom, grandmother, and me at 10 days old
• Two canvases created by friends at my Portland baby shower. Keli set up a decoupage station and had patterns for people to follow to create these super cute pieces of art. I have a couple more that I'm planning on hanging on the other side of the window.
• Matryoshka nesting dolls, a gift to me from a family friend when I was younger. Stamped on the bottom "Made in USSR"

• Chair from Cole's room
• Quilt made by Krista (folded on chair ottoman)
• My grandmothers baby book (on ottoman)
• Dresser from Ikea
• Framed prints from Ikea
• Matryoshka mobile above changing table from Land of Nod
  

Finley Wildlife Refuge

Cole, my mom and I headed out to Finley Wildlife Refuge yesterday for a picnic and a bit of a walk. Its been years since I've been to Finley and they've added this really cool wooden boardwalk, which is perfect for little feet. Cole enjoyed running, checking out the moss on the trees, and leaving snacks (grapes) for the birds. I also had my mom take a photo of me to capture the 40+ week prego belly.