Leo James Lofstedt~Angel Pie!

Liv's attempt at taking a belly picture for me, she cut my head off =)

Couple days shy of 39 weeks!

Minutes before I left for the hospital!  I was a wreck when I waved goodbye to Liv & Nolan, I hate leaving my kiddos!

DELIVERY DAY, Leo's BIRTHDAY!

Last family picture before Leo joined us~ha, Nolan has his classic look ;)

I will post more later, but really wanted to at least get my last few belly pictures as well as Leo's Birthday pictures and first week pictures up.

Leo arrived on Thursday, July 28th at 3:52 PM weighing 7lbs 12 oz, and was 20 1/2 inches long.  It was my BEST labor & delivery yet. It went so well that by the next day I looked at Shane and said I wanted to do it all over again(because it was so fast, and I still couldn't grasp that Leo was finally here!) I had the best team with me that day, truly godsends, and so many people were praying, and I could feel it! I LOVED my labor & delivery nurse Laurie, she was hand picked for me. Not to mention Shane and D, like I said, an all star team!  I wouldn't have made it without them, they each gave me exactly what I needed to get through my labor & delivery.  We often laughed during my labor(when I was still comfortable,) and I think we watched twilight a few times too. I am sure I am leaving out some other details, but for now here it goes...

My OB broke my water around 10:10 AM, but I was hooked up to pitocin about an hour prior to that. I would say my labor really kicked in around 12PM. I got an epidural around 2:45-3PM. I had the same experience after that, as I did with Nolan. I went from about 6 centimeters dilated to a complete with in 15 or 20 min, immediately after my epidural. I never thought I'd have a labor where I pushed a few times and the baby was out, BUT, I DID! During the 3 last contractions I had, I pushed maybe 4 times and Leo was out! It was amazing! I had dreamed about a labor like this, and still cannot believe how tolerable(although intense, pitocin is some strong stuff) it was. Truly a beautiful experience. I also imagined/dreamed of a dark haired baby boy so when D could see him coming out and said "He's got black hair!" again, couldn't believe it =) And so he did, and at that point we named him Leo James(both of our grandfather's names.) He has lots of dark hair, still can't tell what his eye color will be, he is a doll baby, I am so in love. His fuzzy little shoulders, angel smell, buttermilk breath, tiny ears, small dimple on his left cheek, his little hand gripped tight around my finger, the way he lays on my chest and is content for hours, I can barely take it, precious!   He is truly my miracle baby, and I can never say it enough, I thank God, my OB, my family, and friends for giving me strength and encouragement to try one last time for another baby.

It really was a whirlwind. I was checked into the hospital at 7:30 AM, and released at 11:00 AM the next day. I was so ready to get home to my other loves, and to be a family of 5! Olivia has been great, exactly what I expected, and natural little mama. Nolan is coming along, he loves his little brother, and is much more gentle around him now. He is having a hard time though, he was my baby, and now he realizes Leo is the newest addition. Shane has been off for a little over a week which has been so nice to have the help. We have had so many family and friends bring us dinner, have us over for dinner, and lots of visitors. Not to mention coming home to balloons, flowers, and baby gifts, thank you thank you! God is good!

My pregnancy with Leo felt like a decade at times, and I still cannot believe he's here. I already miss him in my tummy, watching my belly move, or watching my belly twitch when he had the hiccups. But I'd rather have him right here in my arms. I am a sucker for pregnancy I guess, and always have a hard time once it's over =( I bawled when we left the hospital and I think it freaked Shane out a little. He said "please don't go postpartum on me." Haha, poor guy. I will post more updates & pictures soon.

D, I want to THANK YOU for taking so many beautiful, candid pictures! It was such a nice surprise to see what you captured, and looking through all these brings tears to my eyes my friend. Thank you for sharing in one of the most incredible, blessed days of my life with me!

My L&D room!

All Stars!

Leo's arrival!

Dr. Fern, one of my favorite people on the planet!

The kids coming in to meet their baby brother for the 1st time.

Olivia holding Leo for the 1st time.

Nolan's turn!

Papa & Yaya with Leo.

Oh Nolan...this has become his signature look in pictures!

Auntie D and Leo.

Footprints,

Auntie Shawna

Auntie Laura

I think this picture was taken at like 4 AM, we couldn't sleep!  He was getting ready for his 1st bath.

1st day at home, almost 1 day old!

My Boys!

Cuteness

Olivia loves snuggling with Leo, she's good at it too, he is comforted by her, pretty sweet.

I am 9 days old!  I now weigh 8lbs 2 oz & am 21 inches long.  It's going a little too fast for my mom ;)

Blue jeans and trucks, Scrapes on his knees, Running in the dirt, Being a tease, Making a face, Build and destroy, There's nothing like Just being a boy!

Nolan had to wear this mask everywhere he went last week.  Including Target, and Fred Meyer, so funny!

When he sees the camera, it's showtime, and he starts acting like a goofball!

Taking after his Daddy!

Oh my, I think Nolan looks SO MUCH like Shane in this picture!

My Buddy!  He is CONSTANTLY keeping me on my toes, in a much different way than his sister did at this age.  I always say that boys and girls are challenging in different ways.  Nolan LOVES hard, and FIGHTS hard.  I can tell the kind of day we are going to have by his eyes ;)  He's either got nice eyes, or naughty eyes.  It's easy for me to write this post now when he's resting peacefully and looks like an angel.  However, on Monday I did not think everything he was doing was as cute as he looks in these pictures while showing his character.  He really is such a sweetheart, but can be so naughty lately.  I sometimes thinks he truly walks around me thinking he does rule the roost, and can make his own rules.  Sorry little buddy, but you can't.  I remember back to some of my most challenging times with Liv and they were right before I had Nolan, so I guess it would only be fitting that Nolan would be going through it right now, just a couple weeks before his baby brother arrives.  Both the kids know that I am low on energy and am not following through on things with them as much as I would if I weren't a HUGE, 9 month pregnant, exhausted mama.  They know they've got me ;)

I really do LOVE his personality so much, which is why I placed these particular pictures on here.  There is never a dull moment with him around,  I think every night when Shane and I are laying in bed talking about the day, we crack up about some of the things Nolan has done during the day.  He has the most hilarious expressions and mannerisms when he's being frisky.  At the same time, there is the sweetest side to him.  Like today while I was laying down and trying to rest he kept kissing my forehead, cheeks, lips & face and rubbing my back.  I love the way little boys LOVE their mommas.  There really is nothing like it!  I hope I'm as lucky as my mom, her boys love her so much, and are still so attentive, loving, and protective.  She's a lucky lady to still have that.

Insta Storage~Thanks to Shane, Mark & Tim!

So we decided to pull our house off the market awhile back. We love most things about our cozy little house ;)  The main thing is well, we are out of bedrooms, and storage, and garage space.  If only we had a 3 car garage, an extra bedroom, and a wee bigger storage room, then it would suit us just fine.  H-O-W-E-V-E-R, that's not our reality right now.  So we have to make do with what we've been given.

Shane and his co-workers did build a shed a week ago and it will definitely help, for now.  I really am grateful, especially to his framers who literally build the entire thing withing a few hours, they amaze me!  It's super cute, it's a little replica of our house.  We just need to paint the trim, and door and wallah.  I'm not going to lie, I had a mini breakdown this week when I realized all the extra "stuff" we have floating around our house, garage, storage room, bedrooms, closet's.  Bless my moms heart, she has been over here a handful of times to help me go through things.  We have made several trips to Other Mother's, Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Union Gospel Mission.  I had planned on having a garage sale, but when my mom was here last week, she kindly reminded me that I have 3 wks or less for the arrival of teeny tiny #3.  So, donating it was. 

I have finally realized that I am OK with the fact that I have no nursery set up for my little babe, we will figure that out months from now.  My children tend to be co-sleepers and so far, that's worked best for my family anyways.  So, he will hang out with Daddy and I in our bedroom.  As long as I've got some teeny clothes, burp clothes, bassinet, sling, diapers & wipes, a clean/tidy house, a decent stock of food, healthy kids/hubby, and LOVE...we are ready to go!  Back to the basics for this family!  As I often tell my kiddos "you get what you get and you don't get upset!"

I got some pictures of the kids and Shane from day one of getting things ready to build a shed.  I had to stay inside behind the screen so they wouldn't see me for some of them, so the clarity might be a little off.  Oh and I will take a picture now that the siding is on, and post it another time.

Digging up the grass =(

JP wants to big a big boy and use the BIG shovel!

Little Helpers!

Making Mud Water

For the pig pen apparently

Concrete Delivery

Concrete Slab

Framing Begins!

The kids were so cute, they kept hauling scraps of wood to Shane's truck.

Olivia dumping the wood into Shane's truck.

Little Buddy using his wheelbarrow to haul things out =)

In need of lunch break after all that hard work.  Olivia made this lunch ;)  and check out JP's drink holder!

Cute little shed is coming right along.

Funny how something like an electric drill can be so fascinating to a little boy.  He was so excited to watch and help, they let him help with the nail gun and he was over the moon.