It was very cold and windy that day,
so I'm glad we were able to get a few pictures before the kids broke!
My amazing mother made these beautiful booties for Clara. We will cherish them forever!
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Forever Ours
Clara's adoption was finalized on September 11th, but because of family schedules we went to the temple on November 4th to have her sealed to us and Tyler gave her a name and a blessing in church the next day. It was such a great weekend, and I'm so grateful for those who made the effort to come and be with us. Being in the temple with Tyler and our three kids was one of best moments of my life. I'm so glad Clara is my daughter forever. She is the perfect addition to our family and we love her so much.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Fall Fun
In so many ways having three kids under three has pushed us past what we thought we would be able to handle. Our house is always a disaster. Someone is crying at least once an hour (sometimes once every 5 minutes). Taking the kids anywhere leaves me sweating and exhausted.
But in so many other ways it has filled our home with so much joy I can't even comprehend it. This sounds totally cliche, but sometimes when I'm in bed trying to fall asleep I think about my kids and I feel like my heart is going to burst with how much I love them. I love seeing their little personalities develop. I love hearing the funny and clever things they say. I want to take pictures and videos of every little moment because I don't want to forget anything, but I have to remind myself to just sit back and enjoy it. For family home evening on Monday night we turned off all of the lights and we played with flashlights and shadows for 45 minutes. It was so funny seeing them try to understand why their shadows wouldn't hold still and why they would disappear when they moved the light. I love being their mom.
It has been a very busy fall with concerts and a busy work schedule for Tyler, but we managed to do a few fun things together as a family. We went to two different pumpkin patches and the boys had a blast! We lucked out both times and showed up when the crowds were very small.
I have been planning this year's costumes for about a year. Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, the Tweedles, and the White Rabbit. Tyler rented his costume from campus, and I made the rest. I thought they turned out pretty good! The boys' costumes were so fitting for their personalities. :)
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Introducing...
The day after Hunter's birthday we set off for Arizona to pick up our little girl!
Back story: Ever since last summer, we have been trying to adopt one more time. Hunter's birth mother became pregnant and wanted us to adopt the baby, but she had a miscarriage. It helped us decide that we wanted to and were ready for another baby, so we got on our lawyer's waiting list. We had some back luck over the next year, and had three more adoptions fall through. We were emotionally exhausted, and when we were matched with a baby girl due in June we decided to keep it a secret from everyone, even our families!
We drove down to Arizona before the baby was born, mainly because we were told that our birth mother would be induced on the 25th. We stopped by the Grand Canyon on our way down, and pulled into town the day we thought the induction was happening. We found out there was some miscommunication, so we were four days early. It was okay, because it really helped get the boys settled before introducing the baby into the equation. We finally told our families about the baby two days before she was born.
Clara Nicole McNiven was born on June 29th, four days after her due date. 7 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. I was at the hospital for the induction, but I wasn't actually in the room. The birth mother ended up needed an emergency C-section because Clara really wasn't in a hurry to come. I met Clara about an hour after she was born, and she just stared at me with her big beautiful eyes.
We stayed in Arizona until July 5th while we waited for the paperwork and authorization to come home. We got to spend a bit of time with Clara's birth mom, and had fun as a new family of 5 hiding from the 110 degree Arizona summer. It took Hunter a few weeks to get used to the baby, but Isaac has loved her from day one.
Clara is such a good baby. She is so happy and content all of the time, and now that she is a bit older she is very social. She smiles all the time and loves to have people talk to her. Everyone that meets her comments on her big beautiful eyes and her amazing hair. We are all so in love with this little sweetheart. On September 11th we finalized her adoption and she officially became a McNiven! We are excited to go to the temple soon and have her sealed to us. It was quite a crazy year, but it was so worth it now that Clara is here.
Picture time!
Back story: Ever since last summer, we have been trying to adopt one more time. Hunter's birth mother became pregnant and wanted us to adopt the baby, but she had a miscarriage. It helped us decide that we wanted to and were ready for another baby, so we got on our lawyer's waiting list. We had some back luck over the next year, and had three more adoptions fall through. We were emotionally exhausted, and when we were matched with a baby girl due in June we decided to keep it a secret from everyone, even our families!
We drove down to Arizona before the baby was born, mainly because we were told that our birth mother would be induced on the 25th. We stopped by the Grand Canyon on our way down, and pulled into town the day we thought the induction was happening. We found out there was some miscommunication, so we were four days early. It was okay, because it really helped get the boys settled before introducing the baby into the equation. We finally told our families about the baby two days before she was born.
Clara Nicole McNiven was born on June 29th, four days after her due date. 7 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. I was at the hospital for the induction, but I wasn't actually in the room. The birth mother ended up needed an emergency C-section because Clara really wasn't in a hurry to come. I met Clara about an hour after she was born, and she just stared at me with her big beautiful eyes.
First picture as a family of 5!
I've never seen so much hair on a newborn!
The boys were intrigued. I was actually impressed at how Hunter handled it.
I thought he was going to go ballistic.
We stayed in Arizona until July 5th while we waited for the paperwork and authorization to come home. We got to spend a bit of time with Clara's birth mom, and had fun as a new family of 5 hiding from the 110 degree Arizona summer. It took Hunter a few weeks to get used to the baby, but Isaac has loved her from day one.
Clara is such a good baby. She is so happy and content all of the time, and now that she is a bit older she is very social. She smiles all the time and loves to have people talk to her. Everyone that meets her comments on her big beautiful eyes and her amazing hair. We are all so in love with this little sweetheart. On September 11th we finalized her adoption and she officially became a McNiven! We are excited to go to the temple soon and have her sealed to us. It was quite a crazy year, but it was so worth it now that Clara is here.
Picture time!
I think these two knew each other long before Clara was born.
A precious picture with Bermey, Clara's birth mother.
Random picture of Hunter with his Lightening McQueen obsession! :)
First time Hunter asked to hold her.
First big smile!
When I'm feeling really brave I take the kids out by myself.
I just want to eat her up!
The hair.
Is awesome.
Finalization day! I'm pretty sure our judge has a crush on Clara. :)
I sure love my family.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Busy Summer
We have had a busy summer. A very busy summer. It's been wonderful, stressful, exhausting, and happy all at the same time.
June was a month of celebrations. Tyler and I had our 10th wedding anniversary on the 15th. We have been through quite a bit in those 10 years, all while living in the same little house in Rexburg. I feel like our relationship has been tested in many ways, and I think we have grown closer together through it all. We had grand ideas of going on a big trip or even just getting away for the weekend, but it just wasn't in the cards for us this year. A quick evening out for some ribs was celebration enough. Love you Tyler!
We celebrated Hunter's 2nd birthday one week later. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by since we brought our second little monkey home. We love Hunter so much. He has so much energy, and definitely leaps before he looks. We often say that he's running in three different directions at the same time. In the last few months he's really been improving with his speech and comprehension. We are realizing that he absorbs much more than we realize. He's very mischievous (especially when he teams up with Isaac), but he still has a very tender heart. He gives the best snuggles, and sometimes he still wants to be babied. Hunter is also becoming much more socially confident. He's doing better in nursery, and he loved going to toddler lab on campus with Isaac this past semester. We're looking forward to doing it again this fall. This little guy keeps us laughing and definitely keeps us on our toes!
June was a month of celebrations. Tyler and I had our 10th wedding anniversary on the 15th. We have been through quite a bit in those 10 years, all while living in the same little house in Rexburg. I feel like our relationship has been tested in many ways, and I think we have grown closer together through it all. We had grand ideas of going on a big trip or even just getting away for the weekend, but it just wasn't in the cards for us this year. A quick evening out for some ribs was celebration enough. Love you Tyler!
We celebrated Hunter's 2nd birthday one week later. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by since we brought our second little monkey home. We love Hunter so much. He has so much energy, and definitely leaps before he looks. We often say that he's running in three different directions at the same time. In the last few months he's really been improving with his speech and comprehension. We are realizing that he absorbs much more than we realize. He's very mischievous (especially when he teams up with Isaac), but he still has a very tender heart. He gives the best snuggles, and sometimes he still wants to be babied. Hunter is also becoming much more socially confident. He's doing better in nursery, and he loved going to toddler lab on campus with Isaac this past semester. We're looking forward to doing it again this fall. This little guy keeps us laughing and definitely keeps us on our toes!
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