Miss Lexi Anne!

On August 8, 2011 we welcomed Lexi Anne Sorensen to our family. I was scheduled for an induction (thank heavens) that morning and got to the hospital about 7:30. I had a wonderful staff of nurses and a great medical student and doctor. I was started on pitocin about 8, got my epidural about 9 and at 11:20 was ready to push. 3 minutes later, Lexi arrived weighing 7lbs 2oz and she was 20 inches long. She is just a joy! I had Jeremy take this picture before I donned the ever so beautiful hospital gown. I felt huge!

Here's Lexi just a few moments after her birth.

I couldn't believe how quickly my labor had gone. I was kind of in shock in this picture. It seemed very surreal that she was here, but I was so happy not to be pregnant anymore! And I loved having that time to snuggle by baby girl.

Maegan was with my mom while we were delivering and was telling everyone she met that morning at Walmart and Costco that her "Baby Lexi" was coming out of mommy's tummy. She was even more excited to come to the hospital and meet her baby sister. I didn't really cry after Lexi was born, but when I had both of my baby girls in my arms, the tears started to flow. I was reminded again of just how incredible the birth of a new baby is, and how close you feel to heaven. It was especially bittersweet, because Lexi was born a month after my grandpa Lyman passed away. I know that her great-grandparents were watching over her til she could join us.

The proud big sister. She loves to give her kisses and hugs and rub her head. I have such a beautiful family!

Grant Family Reunion 2011

Here we are as our little family (Lexi is hiding behind the pony) at the ranch. What a fun time we had!

Here I was at 31 weeks with Lexi, and gutsy enough 3 weeks later to actually brave the 13 mile dirt road to the Ranch, but what can I say? I really love to see my family!

And here is the Grant family, minus only 6 or 7 of us. 2 Grandparents, 7 children, 26 grandchildren (a little more then half of us are married,) and 26 great-grandchildren. This doesn't include the 5 more that were on the way at the time!

Maegan riding the pony. I know a lot of kids cry when they get on the pony, she on the other hand cried when she had to get off. The helmet was too big on her again this year, so there's Grandpa holding it our of her face.

Her Grandpa Sorensen would be so proud. Our little golfer! She had fun getting to actually use a real putter. Jer's parents bought her a little toy golf set and she loves it!

Winter and Spring 2011

I was feeling well enough even with morning sickness to make it to the cabin to be with family. We had fun as a family buzzing around the field and I enjoyed playing card games and visiting with my family. Maegan was upset when we would make her come in and eat or rest. When we got home, she kept wearing her goggles and asking us when we were going snowmobiling again. She certainly takes after her daddy that way!

Here I am at about 24 weeks with #2, and we are having another little girl, who we are planning on naming Lexi. I am really excited to welcome her to our family, and Maegan is excited to have a little sister.

In April we went with some friends to Kennecot Copper Mine. Maegan loved looking at the displays and playing with the equipment and videos. She had to take her "doggy" with her as it has now become a permanent fixture in her life.

Standing by the famously HUGE tire! I remember standing by it when I was a kid. It's still crazily huge as an adult.

Winter 2010 was so exciting! First, my brother Brian returned home from his mission to Edmonton, Canada. Here he is hugging my Dad and Mom.

Maegan sitting on Daddy's shoulders waiting to see her uncle for the first time since she was 20 months old. She really took to him when he got home too, followed him around the house everywhere!

Our other exciting news was we found out we were expecting our second child! We found out on Dec 8, 2010. I felt like I was feeling really good, til the week of Christmas. Then the morning sickness hit, and a couple of days after Christmas, I ended up in instacare getting IV fluids. Thank heavens morning sickness eventually ends for me.

Fall 2010

Fall 2010 was a lot of fun! Jeremy and I purchased season tickets for Utah Football. Here we are at the blackout game. It was actually really fun to have the time together at the games, despite the occasional losses. What can I say? My husband is ridiculously obsessed with Utah Football. :)

We also celebrated Maegan's 2nd birthday, and Halloween. Jeremy carved this jack-o-lantern, and was so proud of his work. Maegan thought it was really cool and loved to stare at it.

We had Maegan dress up as a fairy for our ward trunk-or-treat. She looked so cute, and loved to wear the skirt and wings all the time.

This is the only picture I have from Maegan's birthday, the rest of it is all on video right now. But it was a fun day. The time goes by so fast! We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party for her, and she had a lot of fun with her cake.

Family Reunion 2010

The Grant Family Reunion was lots of fun last summer. Maegan really enjoyed her pony ride, even though it's hard to see her face well. She kept yelling "giddy-up horsey!" the whole way around the corral.

Her head was a little too small for the helmet. But she was a trooper!

My dad had done balloon animals for BSA that summer so he brought his supply up and was making animals, objects and hats for the cousins. Maegan got this hat.

Rarely do I actually get photos such as these of my father, especially one where he poses like so...I LOVE IT!

For scouts my dad had also put together an air compressor for paper rockets. This was a HUGE hit with kids and adults alike. We all made rockets and were shooting them off for half the morning. They would go rather high as well, probably a good 100 feet or so. All the little kids had their own countdown for their rocket.

Grandpa Bruce and Maegan

Grandma Sue and Maegan

Our little family on the stairs before we left to go home. We treasure these moments a lot!

Family Pictures 2010

Sorry to have been absent for so long! I have a lot of catching up to do. These were our most recent family photos, which sadly were taken a year ago. We will be having some more come this fall. These were done by my absolutely fantastic Aunt Natalie Lyman! She is an incredible photographer! I highly recommend her!

I just love these a lot, and what a cute little girl we have!

Of Best Friends and Brushing!

I have really wanted to post these pictures. Maegan has really bonded with Jason and Aimee's little girl Annabella. They may be 10 1/2 months apart, but Maegan gets so excited when she knows she's going to see her. She gets this excited expression and starts squealing her name and then repeating it over and over again. I managed to capture these cute shots one night when they were over at our place.

This one is blurry, but oh so cute! Look at that smile! BIG HUGS!

In other news, I am so grateful that my little girl loves to brush her teeth! And she loves her bubblegum toothpaste! Just tell her it's time to brush her teeth and she'll say, "Teeth! Bubble!" It's so cute!

Yay time to rinse!

St George 2010

Over Memorial Day weekend we planned a wonderful getaway to St George with Jason and Aimee. We headed out Thursday morning and had quite a pleasant drive. We arrived to slightly cooler temps then we expected and billowing winds! We had some major ideas of what we wanted to do, but by the time we got there, we just wanted to relax. We attempted to take the girls swimming the first day, but the wind was so strong they were both shivering within ten minutes (Aimee and I were too!) I wish I had pics, it was cute, but every time we went to the pool I forgot it!

The next day the wind blew just as hard, but we went and hiked around the Dixie Sign and Crack in the Wall anyway. The view was beautiful and so long as you were down between the rocks you didn't feel like you were going to blow away.

We felt like we were going to get blown over the edge here! Maegan didn't like that at all!
The girls took naps when we got back to the hotel, so we took it easy the rest of the day. The boys even went and worked out at the gym and visited the hot tub while Aimee and I tried to get the girls to go to bed...which proved tougher then we thought.

The next day we went to a park and played for a couple of hours. Threw around the football, Maegan played on the playground and we all just soaked up the sun! Maegan spent 30 minutes in the swing and made a new friend who was swinging next to her. It was so cute! And then she wanted to throw the football. She is definitely her Father's daughter!

Our last night there we went and toured the Brigham Young Summer home. It was a wonderful tour and really cool to learn more about the history of the saints when they first arrived in St. George. I took this as we were sitting on the porch waiting to go in. Apparently Maegan was famished because she decided to chew on her shirt....not much nutritional value there....

Back at the hotel she was pretty wild...we finally turned on Cars and got her to settle down and she suddenly became very relaxed. Here she's just chilling on the bed. In the one below, we asked her to pose for us, and this is what she did...we were laughing so hard!

We decided to come home a day early since us parents wanted a break. The next day after a beautiful uninterrupted nights sleep we went to dinner and a movie while our wonderful parents babysat! It was a wonderful weekend with amazing friends and I can't wait to be able to do it again!

Wheeler Farm Adventure

Three months have gone by and I have a lot to catch up on! In early April we spent the morning at Wheeler Farm with Sean, Sian, Claire and Jason and Aimee and Annabella. All the girls had a great time feeding the ducks, petting the animals and running around! The morning started off a little chilly, but as the sun rose higher in the sky it was perfect! Maegan especially loved the tractors...we eventually had to drag her off kicking and screaming.

I was surprised she wasn't more weary around the horses. She loved every minute!

The two people I love most in the whole wide world! What would I do without them!

The three cutest little girls! Annabella, Maegan and Claire. It's so wonderful to have such good friends so close and to be able to get our children together to play. We look forward to much more in the future!