Sophie-Girl is here!

Sophie Gwen Draper

March 5, 2012

7lb 1oz, 7:25 a.m.

Sophie is sure the joy of our lives right now. She came a few weeks early but was as fit as a fiddle from day one. Everything went swimmingly with the labor and delivery, except for the part near the end when I thought I was going to die. But that part only lasted about 2 or 3 minutes, plus, I didn't really die, so all is well. Truly, with this baby, we have been very blessed. I have felt excellent and ready to walk and move around from the moment she was born. It really has been the best birth, as far as recovery and what-not. 

Sophie is our little piece of Heaven on earth and all the kids are thrilled to have a little baby sister around. Daniel was a bit skeptical at  first but has gotten to love her and treasure her as we all do. She is so fun to hold and I try to at least 24 hours a day. I can barely even let her go so Christijan may hold her. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE newborn babies! They are so precious and lovely and tiny and perfect. My thoughts go out to all newborn babies and I pray in my heart that every one is loved and cherished and treated kindly.  I know the world isn't quite like that, but I pray for all babies to be loved and I pray especially hard for those who are not quite as treasured or adored. 

 Thank heaven for Mom's! She was able to come and carry us through the first week after Sophie was born. Our little sweetheart came about 2 weeks early. The week that she showed up, we had a program or event every night! Honestly, I do not know what we would have done without Mom here. Matthew had a choir performance, Aurora had a story performance at a Storytelling Festival, and Thomas had his kindergarten program. Mom cooked all the meals, did all the dishes, did all the grocery shopping, laundered our dirty clothes and played with the other 4 kids the whole time. I had to take Sophie to get tested for Biliruben every day after she was born, for almost a week so Mom stayed with Daniel so I could get the doctor stuff taken care of with little hassle. She truly saved us. It was very fun having her stay with us and Daniel and Thomas miss her terribly, as do I. Thank you so much, MOM!

Now, we're slowly settling into our new life with 7 family members. Life is just great, with our little ups and downs, and we are very happy we know a little of the great Plan of Happiness our Heavenly Father has set in place. It's great to know there is such a lofty goal to work towards and that families can be together forever, if they work hard and try to follow God's will. I will include several darling photos of our Sophie-girl now. The first is of her 2nd day on this earth. She is taking a sun bath to try and rid her little body of that darn biliruben. She has yet to grow into her skin and she is so cute. Enjoy and hope her cute face brings a smile to yours as it does to mine. 

 Her first Family Home Evening. 

 Sophie's brave older brother, the "Knight of the Woeful Countenance".

 First bath. Loved it!

 Oh, my goodness! What a doll!

It's me; the owner of this forgotten blog.

Greetings family and friends who still check this blog. I'm going to add a few picts and if you'd like to know more about them, just give me a call or email and I'll explain them. We've had a hugely rewarding summer together as a family. Ijantje had to work lots of it and we missed him, but we got to do lots together with just mom and kids and it was most fun. I also missed my family a lot when I had YW activities to attend, but they are like my own daughters and I enjoy being with them. This world is beautiful. Ah YES, This truly is the life!

FYI, Ijantje got put in a Bishopric at the Y, is now working full time and still getting his Ph.D. I'm a mom, YW pres and will start helping with rball team in October but will not have to be completely in charge. Kids love school although I think it started way too soon......
Loved spending time with extended family on Kolob. So many cute babies, they didn't let me hold them enough (Orrin(Ty and Colbi's), Aisha (Sean and Camille's), Aria (Aros and Lana's)) Talk about baby hungry!

April's gone; replaced with many memories.

To those of you who still check this blog. Please enjoy

Nighly routine for bedtime.  

Nice weather, time to play at Rock Canyon Park. 

Thomas was a great soccer player. They look like little bees buzzing around hive that someone kicked a soccer ball at. 

After a week of nice weather, we got to have winter again. April has never been this wet and after all the precip that has fallen, the mountains have over 190% of normal. It's so great and beautiful though and not too hot.

My wonderful Nationals team. They are amazing college kids.

Our trip to St.George with a stop to visit the only bear we spotted.

The treasured red hill. A playground heaven.

Yep, we still fit through the "crack". As Matthew refers to it "the Earth's Crack" so as to not get confused with any other "cracks" we may know of.

Grandma filling Grandpa Mc's shoes. She's amazing.

Lana's fam is so fun to be with. I love this shot because there is actually GREEN grass growing in the middle of the red rocks. Such a beautiful time to visit Dixie.

My Matthew is so coordinated and brave. I sure hope he has as many guardian angels watching over him as were watching over me. Please!

Mom turned 60 this past month and we were supposed to send a picture of our family with her in them. I had lots of my kids and her but I didn't have ANY of me and my mom! So I got my rear in gear and took care of that.

Matthew smelling a flower. Gosh this boy is unique. I LOVE him. He makes me smile every day. 

Aurora tried her hand at soccer. She is a tough girl and I have hopes for her in sports afterall. Lovely, lovely fun girl.

Coloring eggs at the in-laws. It was actually warm enough this year to hide them outside.

My traditional "eye" egg.

Girls doing my hair. It felt sooooo good and they loved doing it. Bonus.

My Beautiful, Beautiful Young Women at the Provo Temple. What a wonderful group of ladies.