Lolin's first pics

So, I finally took Lolin in to have some pictures taken. Only a couple weeks later than the other two. It went really well and I was pretty happy with the results. Enjoy!

Lolin is two months!

She is so cute and sweet and fun. She is starting to smile a lot and coo and talk to us. Halle and Vinny absolutely adore her and have a hard time leaving her alone! She is starting to sleep better at night (4 or 5 hours before she wakes up) so it is getting a little easier. She makes the funniest little sounds that sound just like a squeaky toy, that is the only way to describe it. An interesting thing about her is that she only poops once every 10 days or so. I have only changed 4 poopy diapers since she was two weeks old. Strange. I worry about her being uncomfortable sometimes, but she seems fine. It doesn't bother me any :) She LOVES to be on her changing table. Seriously, she will be screaming and we will lay her on it and instantly she is quiet and happy. I don't know what it is about it. Too bad she can't ever stay there for long. She also loves to take showers and baths. It always calms her down if she is worked up, which only happens when she gets tired. We are all having so much fun with her. It's so exciting to watch her grow and see Halle and Vinny excited for her to do new things. They love to play with her and make her smile.





Is there anything more precious than baby feet?

Lolin's blessing

Lolin was blessed on August 16th in Tyler's parent's ward. It was a wonderful day because all of our family was able to be there. Tyler was very sneaky and had planned a surprise b-day/baby shower for me with our families so Saturday evening everyone showed up and stayed the night. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad we decided to bless her there so we could see everyone. Tyler of course did a great job. Her dress was made by a friend of Tyler's mother for Halle when she was born. But because I already had my blessing dress for Halle, I decided to bless Lolin in this one. I can't imagine the work that went into it. She looked beautiful.

Our new arrival

Here she is! Our sweet little Lolin B. Atkinson. She was born on July 19th, 2009 at 8:29 am at UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. 7 pounds 6 ounces, 20 inches. She has a little bit of dark hair and blue eyes, long, long fingers and toes. She is a petite little princess. Tyler and I love her cry which is very lady like, as lady like as a cry can be. She is so very sweet and beautiful. We love her so, so much.

I was wondering if she would come on my B-day, the 18th. Almost...

I had a couple of contractions that woke me up at 5 am. No big deal.. I would get these occasionally, although they felt a little stronger than they ususally did. I went to the bathroom, you know, for the hundreth time that night and came back to bed. I felt another one and got up again and this time I felt something trickle out before I got to the bathroom. My water had never broke with either of my other two, but it didn't take me long to realize that it had because fluid kept leaking out. I told Tyler we needed to go. We were both rumaging around getting things gathered up. Our friend Robert who had been staying with us for the week stayed with the kids. We got to the labor and delivery dept. at exactly 5:30. I am very glad it happened when it did because I was worried about traffic and parking and Tyler making it home from work in time, etc. Vinny came so fast- one hour after I was started on pitocin, so I was nervous she would be that fast if not faster. But, we made it in plenty of time. They got me checked in and hooked up to everything and the contractions kept coming stronger and closer. I had an AWESOME nurse, Greg, who was so supportive and helpful to get through it all without any pain meds. After she came out they put her right on me and I held her for a good hour or so. I was very happy with the whole experience. No one ever made us feel rushed and the staff was wonderful and helpful.



Shortly after her bath






Tyler and I both do not think she looks much like Halle or Vinny. She has a much rounder face, chubby cheeks and her eyes are further apart. Tyler says she looks like a Petersen, my mom's family. I have to agree. I do think she looks more like me. The other two were very Atkinson when they were born.

We are doing really well at home. I had practically no pain whatsoever and except being pretty tired for the first few days, I cannot complain. My mom is here until Sunday and I am so grateful. It has been nice to take a nap whever I feel the need. Of course Tyler has been a big, huge help too. We are so hapyy that Lolin has come to join our crazy lives. We cannot wait to see everyone in Utah in a couple of weeks! Love you all!

Happy Fourth of July to everyone! We are so sad that we did not get to go to Utah and see everyone for Tyler's family reunion. For part of the festivities each family was supposed to come up with a short skit to show-off their talents. Tyler came up with this idea of making a movie starring our family and then we could still participate and feel a part of the celebration. We had a lot of fun making this short little film. Tyler woke up one morning and thought: "Star Wars, it HAS to be Star Wars!", since the kids LOVE Star Wars. He called his best bud Rod who is an AMAZING cinematographer/editor and we filmed it one Saturday in about half an hour. Rod and another friend of Tyler's Robert edited it and put in the special effects and music. We thank you guys so much! The film would not be what it is without your talents! It's titled Darth Mom. We think it's pretty cute and fun and hope all enjoy!

May at a glance

I have been meaning to get all of these pics up sooner, but the month of May was CRAZY busy and flew by.

It started off with a visit from Tyler's parents. They drove down all of our baby stuff that we did not take with us when we moved here. Thanks so much mom and dad! We were so glad we got to spend time with them. We visited a few places they had never seen before and a few places we had never seen before.

One stop was the butterfly pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Can you see the butterfly on his hat? Halle had one land on her head too, but I can't find a picture of it.

We visited The Griffith Observatory in Hollywood. It is really beautiful up there and has an amazing view of the whole city. Best of all? Parking and admission is FREE! You don't find deals like that around LA very often! Tyler's mom was excited because she had just watched Rebel without a Cause starring James Dean that takes place at the Griffith Observatory. Tyler and I had just watched Yes Man with Jim Carrey that also featured the Observatory.


There was a big celebration at the Fox lot for the release of The Simpsons 20th anniversary stamp by the US postal service. We all went to have lunch with Tyler. We saw James L. Brooks, Matt Groening the creators of The Simpsons and all the people who do the voices were there. Vinny was the only kid while they were doing a press photo shoot so the characters mauled him. He thought it was pretty neat. He especially loved Lisa and Bart.




We drove up to Solvang, California- a quaint little Dutch inspired town about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara. The pastries are well worth the drive! They have lots of little specialty shops and eateries. We got to visit the Hans Christian Anderson museum.



We were so glad we had family here for Mother's day. Tyler's parents were here and his nephew and family also came to see us! We all went to sacrament together and then hung out at the beach for awhile.

Tyler and the kids made my Mother's day special by making me breakfast in bed... ahh! It was so nice, and they gave me a cute little book called I love you Mommy! How fitting!

The middle of the month was Tyler's b-day and we went to celebrate at Disneyland! We wanted to take Halle to Disneyland on her birthday, but thought since Tyler's b-day was on a Thursday when it would be a little less crowded and hers was on a Saturday, we would go on tyler's b-day and on halle's we would go to California Adventure.



We still celebrated Halle's b-day at D-land by letting her get a new dress-up dress. She picked Cinderella. She also got to go to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique and get her hair and make-up done. It truly made her feel like a princess!




Vinny was in his knight costume when we went to meet the princesses and they all absolutely adored him! Belle taught him how to dance and then he danced with all the princesses including princess Halle. He even learned to bow at the end of the dance. It was priceless!










What a charmer!





Cinderella was really cute with both of them and made Halle feel really special.





Halle got to meet her fairy godmother. It looks like all of her wishes have already come true! All except her prince charming coming to take her away. I hope that doesn't happen for a long time!





At the Jedi training academy Vinny was terrified of Darth Maul! Who wouldn't be? He came right up to him and gritted his yellow teeth and the poor kid started crying and ran away. Then he kept coming back. Donovin said he only wanted to fight Darth Vader not Darth Maul. I have never seen him so terrified before.



They both went crazy at the dance party parade, but as you can see, I think Vinny burned off the last bit of energy he had stored up.







We had a great day at Disneyland for Tyler's big day.

Carley and her family came in the middle of the month and we met them at Legoland. It was a great time for all. They came and stayed with us for a couple of nights and we got to hang out and relax together. So much fun! I love seeing the cousins being able to get together.








Vinny and Alivia driving the cars together. Vinny made it around one turn this time before crashing into the wall. Progress.




On Memorial Day we went to the Ronald Regan Library and Museum in Simi Valley. They have a lot of interesting memorabilia from his life and campaigns. An original copy of the Magna Carta was even on display. We also got to board the real life size Air Force One he used while he was in office. A very fitting outing for Memorial Day.







At the end of the month was Halle's birthday and we went to California Adventure. We had a lot of fun there too. Halle got a digital camera for her b-day from grandma Claudia (thank you so much!) and loved taking her own pictures of everything. Especially the High School Musical 3 parade. I think she took well over 100 pictures that day.







We went to Ariel's Grotto to dine with the princesses for dinner. What could be better when you are seven then dining with royalty and having everyone say "Happy birthday princess" all day long? I think she had a very special day.











Happy 7th Birthday our princess Halle! We love you so very much.


Well, like I said it was a busy, crazy, full month. But it flew by which is good for me because the last trimester always goes the slowest. Only six weeks left! Hopefully June and July don't go too slowly.