Luke Daniel Fisher

Luke decided to make his anxiously awaited arrival into this world

in a rather unexpected manner at 12:28 a.m. this morning.

Weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz, and measuring 19 inches in length, Luke is exactly the same size Eli was at birth! 

However, unlike Eli who was bald until he was over a year (or Alli for that matter), Luke has a full head of thick, silky, brown hair ~ maybe he gets that from Uncle Z????

Knowing that he would be here soon, we took the kiddos to Chuck E. Cheese's last night for a final hurrah as the Fisher Family of Four. I was MISERABLE, with very painful contractions every 4-5 minutes.

They were not letting up so we called the doc, who told us to come in.

On the way to the hospital, contractions were only 1-2 minutes apart and extremely painful.

Turns out that I was in active labor. At 11:30 p.m., my doc suggested we do the c-section at midnight.

Everything happened so fast, it seems like a blur but handsome little Luke was out at 12:28 a.m.

He was a bit blue as the cord was wrapped tightly around his neck multiple times and he had quite a bit of fluid in his lungs but after a short time (felt like an eternity!) he was screaming ;-) 

After we got to the recovery room, Daddy and Luke slept like champs, while I worked with the nurses to get the pain under control.  I didn't get much sleep but loved watching my handsome new man snooze ;-)

Uncle Danny, for whom Luke was named, was our first visitor. 

Luke was also lucky enough to have visits from Ducky Gramma and Papa, Miss Kaitlyn, Uncle Z, Barbie Gramma and Pop Pop, and of course, big sister Alli and big brother Eli.

We had no idea what to expect from Eli (we suspected, correctly, that Alli would be very excited).

Nothing could have prepared us for the joy we felt when Luke met his big sister and brother!!!

 Both Alli and Eli were over the moon and could not get enough of their new baby brother :-)

We LOVE our new baby boy so much and cannot wait for all of you to meet him!

Lots more pictures and stories to come but we are exhausted as we come to the close of Luke's first day.

Our 'lil Mickey Mouse

This year, Alli requested that she be Minnie and Eli be Mickey for Halloween.

Eli had no opinion and we figured that would be fine.

Turns out, Minnie and Mickey costumes that you buy just are not that cute or are too expensive

so we decided to get creative . . . 

Is this not the cutest Mickey Mouse ever????

Today is costume day for Eli's preschool class (Alli's is on Halloween).

He was very excited to get in the black pants and shirt but fought Kaitlyn and I every.step.of.the.way

when it came to putting on the shorts ~ go figure! 

Gotta love the little tear in his eye ~ he was NOT happy about these shorts but Blue Bunny helped.

Funny thing is that he usually doesn't like the hat but this morning, was more than happy to put it on.

I found the hat at Walmart for $6.  It was a Minnie hat but I removed the hair bow and Minnie insignia and simply hot glue gunned on a little yellow bow tie and presto, Mickey Mouse ears and a way to stay warm!

I feel so crafty ;-)

And our little Mickey Mouse is too cute! 

He decided to practice his Mouse wave.

Seriously, cutest Mickey ever and the whole "costume" cost us a whopping $8! 

I'm hoping he has fun at school today as a little Mickey!

Check back tonight or tomorrow for pictures of Mickey and Minnie together as we have

"Trunk or Treat" at our church this evening.

My Crafty Side

Much to Garrett's dismay, I decided I wanted to learn how to sew.

A couple years ago, my friend Sarah (who is wildly crafty and makes beautiful items), shared a picture of a pillowcase dress she had made for her daughter Anne.  From that moment on, I told G I wanted to learn how to do that.  I don't think he believed me but I was set on learning some day.

Well, with being stuck on modified bed rest, I decided now was the time so I researched sewing machines, and wound up purchasing the Brother Innov-ís 950D from a local dealer.

I LOVE it!!! 

To get the most out of this new hobby, I decided to take sewing classes from the dealer.

So far, I learned to make a tote bag (I've now made three!)

and a small, zippered make-up bag (zippers are NOT easy but certainly doable ;-)

Most exciting, I finally made that pillowcase dress I've been thinking about for the past two years . . .  

Granted, it's not perfect, and I certainly need more practice, but my little model LOVED it!!! 

I made it after she went to bed one night and showed it to her the next morning.

Her response???

Mommy, it is fabulous!!!  Can I wear it right now???

To which I happily responded . . .

Yes, my sweet girl, you can!!!

I made her a tote bag to match, which she carried around all day and insisted that we visit both sets of grandparents so they could see her new dress and bag.

Yep, I'm definitely feeling quite crafty and Garrett even seems a bit impressed :-)

A Very Special Day

Yesterday was such a special day as Eli's BFF's adoption was finally finalized and we got to be there!!!

Eli and Ava are best buddies and they were so cute together yesterday, all dressed up.

I can just picture them, many years from now,

doing the same awkward, but very adorable, pose at a school dance ;-) 

  

Alli was in rare form and refused to simply smile, make goofy faces instead . . . aaahhh, 4 year olds ;-) 

The actual court proceeding was fairly short, but Eli used Taylor's camera to take lots of pictures of his buddy during her big moment.  The judge gave her a darling teddy bear and candy, Eli wanted to know where his candy was! :-)  He settled for Ava showing him her new teddy bear.

What a blessing to be able to share in such a happy occasion!

Many thanks to the Huber family for including us in your special day!!!

Sunny Visit With The Lynch Fam

September 30th - October 2nd, Alli and I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Lynch Fam

in sunny San Diego and it could not have been a better vacation for the Fisher gals!!!

Alli did so well on the plane rides, I was incredibly impressed with her. 

On the way down, we were upgraded to first class so it was just the two of us in our row.

On the way home, we were in coach and Alli's reaction was priceless . . .

As soon as she saw our row, she scrunched her little nose and asked (in a rather annoyed tone)

"Why are there three seats? There are only supposed to be two.  These seats are small!"

The tall gentleman next to us in the row started chuckling and responded to the very petite 4 year old,

who had plenty of room, . . . "you think these seats are small?!?!"

I explained that in her short little life, she had flown first class more than coach, thanks to all my miles.

You would never know Alli was a bit shy by her chatty behavior on the plane :-)

Back to our visit . . .

As soon as Sarah, Ainsley, Emerson, and Abigail arrived at the airport, it was as if no time had passed.

There was no shyness at all, the girls were chatting and giggling immediately!

We went to Chili's for lunch and then hit a park before getting Elleanor from school.

Alli could not have been happier!!!

I had no idea how the girls would react to seeing one another again but it was as if the past couple of months never happened and they picked right up where they left off.  Only this time, I heard many times, Mommy, you can go (downstairs, over there, etc.) ~ guess I was cramping her style ;-)

Oh well, gave me a chance to visit! 

The little Lynchs (as Alli calls them) aren't so little anymore and Alli really enjoyed playing with them too. 

After getting Elleanor, it was time to see their new house, which is beautiful!

The girls had a great time playing together, leaving Sarah and I time to chat ~ yeah!!!!!!!

We enjoyed a yummy dinner at Elleanor's school and then went out for ice cream.

Alli crashed hard that first night.  Much to her dismay, I made her share a room with me and (I think to punish me) the little turkey was quite the bed hog ;-)

The next morning, after more breakfast and more playing, we went to the beach.

This was Alli's first time ever seeing the ocean and she was loving it . . .

She and Elleanor had a great time chasing and running from waves. 

The only sketchy moment came when she was sitting on the beach to eat lunch and sand kept blowing in her eyes.  Luckily, Mrs. Lynch saved the day by letting Alli wear her sun glasses  ~ I couldn't give her mine since they are prescription glasses.  Alli looked and felt like Miss Hollywood.  Crisis averted! 

Alli, Elleanor, Emerson and Abigail all enjoyed playing in the sand and chasing seagulls

(Ainsley wasn't a big fan of the sand!) 

After a very fun couple of hours at the beach, we went back to the house before heading to their neighborhood splash park (a very short walk from their house).  All five little gals had a blast!  Unfortunately no pictures as I am very hesitant to bring my camera near water ;-)

On Sunday, we went to a carnival at Elleanor's school and the girls had fun playing games.  Alli even participated in and won a sack race ~ she is now the proud owner of a very large, plushy Care Bear (which made a great pillow on the plane!)  She hasn't stopped cuddling that bear since she won it ;-)

We went to Red Robin for lunch and checked out Pottery Barn Kids before heading back to the house to play for a bit before we had to go to the airport.

It was hard to say goodbye (again!) but I have no doubt we will head down for another visit :-)

This time we may even let the boys join us!

Thank you Lynch Fam for a FANTASTIC visit ~ we cannot wait to see you again!!!