Easter Pictures

On Good Friday we had an Easter Egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa's house with the 4 grandaughters. On my side of the family there are 4 granddaughters and one grandson.

Uncle Eric with his 4 nieces.
My sisters boyfriend brought 2 bunnies for the girls to play with. They were quite excited.
My dad with baby Ella. If you look in the background you can see that the ground was covered with snow. This moved the egg hunt indoors.
Auntie Heather. Yes I know that Ella's puking in this picture but I thought that it was funny.

The Girls!

Every time I take a picture Ella smiles. I think that it's the red eye reduction light that goes off right before the picture is taken. Anyways, it makes life kind of fun.
So I think that this is Nali doing her best Gene Simmons impression. She has quite the tongue.

Last Sunday doing the snow fall. Nali evolved with just playing in the snow to the mud...this was her NEW coat and her Sunday dress. She wanted to smile for the picture. I wouldn't let her.
Our little grinner

Battle of Alberta

Last night Sam and I went to the last regular season Flames game. Sam has worked about 60 hours this week so it was a nice treat to do something together. For all of you non hockey fans the Flames played the Oilers which is termed the "Battle of Alberta". It is the BIGGEST rivalry in hockey. We did lose but the good news is Colorado did as well so we're going to the playoffs!!
Harvey the Hound. The Flames mascot. He came to our section to invite 2 people out of the nose bleeds down to ice level...needless to say I didn't make a big enough fool of myself to get invited.

Lamanites for sale???

This is a picture I took in Calgary yesterday. We were driving and Sam pointed it out. Luckily I had my camera...So what is a set of Lamanites??

The New Bathroom!

So this is our NEW bathroom. We started it at the beginning of January and just finished it a week or two.
I don't think that anyone can fully appreciate this bathroom unless you lived here. The old one wasn't bad...just severly dated. It was PINK to say the least. I wish that I had taken pictures of it before we started to demo. I think that I will have a permanent picture of it in my mind.
This was probably the most extensive renovation to the house that we've done. We really took everything out other than the shower. Sam really impressed me. He drywalled, rewired the new lighting, installed the new cabinets, new counter top and installed the sink and faucet and put up the crown. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant for most of this so I only did one coat of paint, the ceiling and the baseboards, and most importantly the towels, shower curtain etc.. My Dad helped us and made the frame for the mirror.
I should note that thanks to a nice tax return we can actually pay for this. Seriously the smallest room costs the most. I had NO idea how much this would cost.
We bought these at Ikea in December not really knowing where we'd use them. We couldn't pass them up at 2.99 a piece. The fit in into the bathroom perfectly
I find the bathroom to have a very earthy feeling. I should get some little bamboo plants or something...

Pre-Reno Bathroom Pictures

From Sun to Snow in under 24 hours....

So yesterday my brother and his family came over to help us airate and power rake our lawn. He was on the power raker and Sam the airater. Anyways, the girls (Nali and his daughter Hailey) were very concerned/upset that their Dad's were doing it the wrong way. So the took it upon themselves to direct them from the step.


Sam on the left and my brother Bryan on the right.

This was today...April's Fools right. Needless to say the weather in Southren Alberta can change on a dime. Nali enjoyed it though.

What a tease...

Random Pictures

First off Congrats to the Baxter Family who welcomed Rex Baxter into the world Thursday. We are so happy to here this news!!
Below is my mom with Ella! She loves baby Ella and spoils both her and us! I don't think that she'll appreciate this picture much but I think that it's great!

Me LOVING bottle feeding. Sam noticed how defined my face looks in this picture. It's all in the angle and the positioning of the chin...I still have some weight to lose to say the least...

This was Sams first run. He ran 10km!! We were proud of him!

More Pic's

So we try and do a little tummy time...needless to say after a little bit of time it becomes fussy time.

This is Nali's reaction to tummy/fussy time. Nali likes to tell people that Ella cries a lot. I really think that Nali cries more than Ella does.
Just to show you that she DOES love her sister...

This is a family picture that we had taken when Ella was one week old.

The beginning of tummy time.

Ella's room is done

Hey everyone, here's a few pictures of the girls and Ella's newly painted room. I just finished painting the door today!!!

This was taken today before Nali's dance class. I know that its a little blurry but it's still cute right?
This is Ella's room. Some of you might recognize it. It's the same as Nali's but purple instead of pink and a little different order on the stripes. I thought that it would be cute to have the girls have the same but different rooms! Notice the sunset in the window....

This is the before picture, stellar don't you think?

My girls!

SO a request has been made for more pics. Funny thing is this was on the to do list for yesterday.
So we're all doing great. I'm tired but doing well. I feel 100 times better than the first time we tried this parenthood thing.
I'm honestly loving having two little girls. They are so sweet. Ella is a doll who barely makes a noise and Nali is the funniest little girl.
Yesterday her butt crack was hanging out. I said "Nali what's this?" pointing to her bum. Her reply..."Crack Kills!" Thanks to Uncle Eric.
A few days ago I said "Ahhh pickles!" Nali said "No it's Oh SNAP!" She keeps me in line.


Nali giving her sister loves!

Nali enjoys cuddling with Ella.We've told her 100 times not to move her but mysteriously Ella has moved when we return to the room.

Sam enjoying the moment.

A little Sunday night cuddle session while watching the Amazing Race!!

Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy the pic's. Thanks for all of the well wishes that we've received over the past few weeks. We love and miss all of you and can't wait till our paths cross again!

Baby Ella

So here are a few more pictures and details of our Valentines Day. We went to the hospital a little early, I was having contractions and wasn't feeling the baby move so we thought better safe than sorry. I was scheduled for a c-section at 10:20. They did 3 Stress tests on the baby and everything was fine so I waited for our appointment. Of course they were running behind so we didn't go up to the O.R. until about 11:30. They prepped me for surgery. It was amazingly calm compared to the previous emergency c-section I had.
They asked Sam if he wanted to watch the birth. He declined until I asked him to please watch, someone needed to see the birth of our child. So as they were ready to get the head out the told Sam to look. I've never seen Sam's eyes so big. Well he watched them work her out. All I remember hearing was a cry and Sam saying "It's Ella!" As I heard her cry I started to cry. It's the most amazing thing to here that first sound. The took her and cleaned her up beside me. They have a special nurse that just does planned c-sections. She was amazing. She held her so I could see the whole time then let me hold her. Then Sam held her as they were stitching me up. With Nali everything was so rushed. I barely got to see her before they ran out the door with her. This was really nice to spend some time with Sam and her before they needed to go.
I only spent about 45 minutes in the recovery room compared to 2 hours last time which was also nice. It's kind of funny they keep on checking you to see how much the freezing goes down. They say "Does this feel normal?" I said, I don't even remember what normal feels like!
Anyways, They took me to my room, I had to wait a bit for Sam and Ella to return from the nursery. All I can say is that she was amazing. Sam stayed with me 3 nights. It was nice to have him there since it's difficult for me to get in and out of bed. Ella stayed in our room the whole time which was also a nice treat. The first night she slept beside me in my bed.
As you can see below Nali took to her instantly. She told everyone who'd come and visit that this was her baby sister Ella Renee. She was also very protective of her. She didn't like other people to hold her and would often say"Uh...I think that she needs her mom."
Sam went to work for a bit Thursday and most of Friday. My mom and dad watched Nali. Nali loved being at the hospital though. She spent about 9 hours there with me on Thursday. She just couldn't get enough!
So as you can tell this was a MUCH more pleasant experience. Ella had been an angel...It's really been a delight. Maybe because there wasn't as much unknown and I didn't have a traumatic birth but it's been nice.
We feel so overwhelmingly grateful for all that we've been given. To have 2 healthy girls, Sams job, our house, our country, etc. etc.

Yes, tis is my glam shot...this was about 3 hours after she was born.
Our little girls!
Dad with his girls!
She loves her!

Ella Renee Richards is here!!!!

We're home and all is well!

2 WEEKS TO GO!

Well here you go...all of you people wanting to see the new larger version of Renee. This was taken 5 minutes ago...No wonder I put off taking a picture for so long. 2 weeks to go. I look forward to the baby coming and getting on with life. As much as I hate being pregnant tere are really amazing things about it. It is a miracle. I love it when Nali comes and randomly hugs my belly and talks to the baby. At night when we all lay on the bed and watch tv she'll pull up my shirt and pat my tummy. It's really quite endearing. She's also helped me with some of the not fun things of pregnancy like dry skin. Especially this winter. She'll rub my legs and tummy with lotion. She also reminds me at night that I need to lotion up.
So yes 2 weeks. We do have names Carthew Joseph boy, Ella Renee Girl. We were thinking Chloe but about a month ago I mentioned Ella and Sam really liked it. As most of you know Nali was named after a girl on my mission. Well her oldest sisters name is Ella. So that would be kind of neat.
Other than that we've torn apart the bathroom and hopefully will have it done in the next week. I'll post some pic's when there done

Happy New Year!

So below are a few random pictures from the past month. I deeply apologize that there are none of me...I really have no idea how that happened. But rest assured Bess I'll get some on for you.
So the coffee table was built by Sam over the past month. He had a good time making it and it's a nice addition to our living room.
This is our official first full size Christmas tree. I think that it was officially a fire hazard the day we got it in the house. What a pain to clean. I think that it shed every needle on the way out to the trash last week.
The framed picture will be familiar to some of you. It was a gift from some of the girls in Provo when we moved. I finally got pictures in it and put it up.
The picture of Nali looking a little cold was taken last week. We took her toboganing for the first time. She LOVED it. She's a nut. She was freezing cold and didn't want to come home. When we did come home she played in the backyard for another 15 minutes.
So a few quick updates. The baby is coming officially on February 14th, 2007. I will have a c-section on that day. I feel good about it and can't wait to get this over with. 6 weeks from today and our family will be 4.
Sam and I celebrated our 6 year aniversary on December 29th. We went to Calgary ate some East Indian food and went to the Flames LA Kings game. It was the second year we've gone to a flames game on our aniversary. We had a good time. The next day we went to IKEA before we left the city. Ok, what a store. I had no "IKEA" how big or diverse it was. It was insane, definately home furnishing overload.
About mid-December we took Nali to a Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey game. It was their annual Teddy Bear Toss which means when the 'Canes score their first goal everyone in attendance throws a Teddy Bear/Stuffed animal onto the ice. The next 15 minutes are spent picking up the 3000+ animals. They are then donated through out the year to various groups. Anyways, it's a GREAT time. And a spectacle to see that many animals flying through the air.
Other than that not much is new. Nali had a great Christmas, she lives on her spring horse. Sam got a new set of Cleveland Golf clubs. He was very happy and suprised to receive them.
I just wanted to thank everyone who sent us Christmas cards. It was such a treat to get the updates and pictures from everyone from all over the USA. We are grateful to have such friends and share such great memories with them.