SHE'S HERE!!!

     Can't wait to blog my precious little girls birth story later...it was amazing! Thank you LORD for your gracious hand throughout my pregnancy and her birth. WE ARE SO BLESSED!

      Lydia Joanne Ilardo was born Tuesday June 18th 2013 @ 12:42pm......3.5wks early weighing in @ 7lbs. 19 inches long.

Lydia Joanne Ilardo

My sleepy little Owl...the outfit she's wearing was a gift from my dear friends that I have known for 18 years. I made the owl hat to coordinate with the colors.  

Chickens and Cowboys!

     Well, I saw an ad in the Pennysaver on Saturday that Clyde's had baby chicks in....hmmmm....my siblings and I had some when we were younger (only for a few weeks though) and so my thoughts were MAYBE Next year for an "Easter" surprise we would get the kids each one. I have some farmer friends who probably would take them off our hands after the novelty of having, seeing and taking care of the fluffy cuties wore off. Anyways on our way home from grocery shopping we drove past Clydes and I quickly last minute drove into the parking lot. Told the kids we were going to see a surprise and grabbed the camera (which I usually have in the diaper bag). Oh! It was sooooo FUN watching the boys reaction and reaching out to "pet" the chicks! Zechariah wanted to open the whole gate....yikes....that would have been a mess!

 

 

 

After we got home the boys all decided to dress up and go shooting.....even OBADIAH grabbed a pistol....my BOYS are definetly ALL BOY!! I just love it. They keep me laughing and just enjoying their personalities.** Disclaimer: We do teach our children the importance of Guns and how to play with them, etc.**

Resurrection Sunday

     There certainly is something special about this day every year...obviously, mostly because of what we are celebrating. He is Risen!! Jesus Christ AROSE! It gives me a feeling of Victory, newness and excitement in my Christian walk.
     As a family we make a big deal of the day by dressing up  in new clothes, have a BIG dinner, share the day with family over and I do make up surprise "buckets" of Spring Fun for the kiddos. 
    Every year it is a blast to prepare and just enjoy the day and of course this year was no different! The only drawback is that every year different members of our family can or cannot make it....we wish everyone could be together! A lot of family lives out-of-town and Mike's grandparents are in nursing homes. Every year we have a different blend but always have a GREAT time. Enjoy our day in pictures!



The "Adult" table and the kiddie table in background. My tulip pattern'd China was a wedding gift and I purchased the crystal glasses at a discount store years ago. I wanted to do fresh tulips this year in mis-matched white vases. So I went to a couple goodwill stores and found 6. Loved the look!

 

 

 

 

 

My BOYS before church....ready to go! Also, I was able to find matching dress shirts for all the boys on cookieskids.com! And took one to Kohl's to find one similar for Mike! I really like to coordinate or match everyone on special days!

 

 

 

My 11month old niece: Rachel! We ended up in the "crying" room at church and found some buddies there.

My Obadiah checking out his cousin's necklace...



Our other little friend: Abygail Brough. She was VERY tired! So Cute! (I made her headband!)

Dinnertime! Menu: Prime Rib, Spiral Honey glazed Ham, Mashed Potatoes w/brown gravy, Oven-Buttered Carrots, Herb/Cornbread Stuffing, Sweet Corn and Crescent Rolls! Also, our family favorite beverage: Sparkling Grape/Cranberry Juice!

Elijah's happy about the FOOD.

Bucket Time! Rachel's new book.

Egg glasses....oh, dear!

Elijah has NEVER seen such a large chunk of chocolate! Yumm-o!

Josiah!

Obie stole someone's chocolate and is NOT giving it back!

St.Clair and Abbie! Like Father...like Daughter! Silly.

Dessert Time! My from scratch...Walnut Crust Chocolate swirl Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberries.

Egg Coloring Time!



Hmmm, sorry about the "no clothes look"....didn't want dyed dress up clothes!

They did pretty good!

Dad and Mom Spaulding

 

My Crew at Evening Church....cell phone pic...very blurry.

My sister Jenn and family. St.Clair, Rachel and Abigail. Jenn is due with 3rd girl in a few weeks!

Silly Sisters!

 

PINK, pink, PINK!

     I still can't believe that I'm starting to see pink around my home! It started the day we found out the second time that indeed we are having a GIRL.....
     On the way home from the sono Mike stopped at Kohl's to buy his daughter her first outfit. I stayed in the van with the kiddos and waited to see what he had picked. Out he came with 4 outfits! I giggled and said..."Oh, thought you were just getting one....?!" 
     During the last week I have also been given a brand new hot pink snowsuit that will be the perfect size for our little girl next winter.  Also my sister had been given bags of gently used clothing and she passed some over to me....a lot of cozy pjs, summer jumpers and 2 darling fluffy dresses!
     To help with welcoming our girl I decided to re-vamp the nursery a bit by adding some Pink paint to the wall where her crib will be. I have matching crib bedding on both cribs so I have decided to just sew on  hot pink accents to the quilt. On the mobile I plan on adding dangling "diamonds and pearls". So far my brainy idea of painting has taken 1 week and I have more work still to do on Obadiah's "wall". The nursery originally had a teal ocean theme. On the back wall upper half (pink now) I had painted a mural of water, sand and trees. The bottom half of the entire nursery is painted dark teal! So that was a hummdinger to prime over and get ready. I spent 1 whole day taping off and priming just the main 2 walls.  After 5 days of drying I was able to do the FUN part with the help of my family...aka "The Boys"! I let each of them paint a few roller fulls...they were thrilled to death to be a part! Such a great memory for Mike and I to watch. Little by little everything is and will be coming together!

Outfits bought by Daddy...matching hair access. too!!!  

Beautiful hand-me-down blessings!

Back nursery wall after Prime coat...before Pink paint!

Big Brother Josiah

Josiah...face says it ALL! 

Big Brother Elijah!

Big Brother Zechariah!

Daddy!

Mommy finished!

Enjoying my Evening!

      What a pleasant evening it was...I want to treasure the memories from these pictures that will follow! My husband was away at work and the boys and I were having a GREAT day all around...which means: "I wasn't nauseous a bit today(first time in 24weeks of pregnancy!) AND  all 4 of my "darling" little boys were really well behaved! Whaa-hoo! After bathtime was the best part of the day... watching them play together. I was folding laundry in my big comfy chair and had turned on a Patch the Pirate Cd for them to listen to. On their own Josiah (my oldest: 5) arranged his brothers foot to foot to roll a tennis ball around....it was cute to watch Obadiah steal the ball and want to hold it up in the air as if his BIG brothers couldn't get it! LOL! After the 5mins of ball time...the twirling around and "dancing" was on. Zechariah got sooooo dizzy he fell right over into a heap of clothes, eyes still rolling around trying to grasp his sense of balance. Hilarious! I just love these times.....sigh...wish my boys would slow down growing up! I am soaking it all up though....thank you Lord for my lovely evening.

Who's WHO?!

Mommy tried a "new pose"...

Josiah and Obadiah

Dancing around....

All 4 passing the ball around!

Obie GOT the Ball!