Dan+Denise+Liam+Grey

And now the moment we've all been waiting for...the arrival of our beautiful baby Grey!  Let's travel back in time to the morning of May 5, 2013...dun dun dun. It was a beautiful Saturday and we decided to spend the day at the beach. It was a perfect, relaxing afternoon, and a great way to spend our last moments together before our little family changed forever! I'm glad we got some photos that day, it's crazy to look back at them and think that later that night I would be in labor!

We like to pretend that burying him in the sand is a fun game.

I love this flattering view of my belly:)

I started timing my contractions at around 10:00pm later that night, and by around 1:00am we had a friend here to sleep at our place and look after Liam while Dan and I were flying down the road to the hospital. Such an exciting and terrifying moment! Mostly terrified that we would get there and they would tell me I'm not really in labor. ha ha! But by the time we got there I was dilated to a 5 or 6 already. I decided to try to last a bit longer before getting an epidural, and opted for the laughing gas in the mean time. That's right! They have laughing gas like you get at the dentist (which happens to be my all time favorite substance...it's scary how much I love it!) Let's just say it's not so fun while you are in active labor! It turned me into a delirious psycho path without taking away any of the pain. Not good! By the time I was dilated to an 8 or 9 I decided that pain free and full presence of mind would be a better choice...so I got an epidural. Sweet relief! My mind reentered my body and about one hour later Grey Eugene Gasser was born. The doctor said he came out bright pink...the pinkest baby she had ever seen. He was 8lbs. 11oz. and just over 21inches long. Such a little sweetheart.

After many long months of obsessing over baby Grey, Liam finally got to meet him in the flesh.

Look at that mischievous face! Liam is already hatching a plan for the trouble they will make together.

Poor little guy came out with battle scars. He must have been scratching his own face in the womb.

These are some of our first moments home together.

After just a few days home Grandma Dahle came!!! Liam was thrilled to have someone fresh to show off his tricks to...tell his stories to...karate chop...chase...jump on...and so on. I was pretty thrilled too:)

First time out in the mega double stroller. It only took us 45 minutes to figure out how to get it set up and out the door. Ha ha! I wish I was exaggerating.

The Saturday before mother's day my mom and I went for 'tea' at this great little tea room. Basically it meant that we ate a huge tower of dessert. All of it. It was a great way to celebrate motherhood.

My dad came out for a few days near the end of my mom's trip. They were so much fun and so great with the kids. It's always sad when they have to go.

We spent their last night eating dinner (without utensils) on the beach...a very windy beach. It was nice to get out though.

First bath...loved it. Not a single tear.

A few portraits of his first week of life.

He often gave me this face...like he just didn't quite trust me.

Okay, get ready to be blown away by cuteness. Liam LOVE LOVE LOVES his baby brother. I can barely get a picture of Grey without Liam running in to snuggle him. I was actually trying to get some newborn photos of Grey but Liam jumped in and started doing the sweetest things! I swear I didn't even pose them. It's fun, and a little frightening to watch him interact with our tiny baby.

(Liam face planted in gravel...totally on the babysitters watch...it would never happen with us around. ha ha! So he has a adorable little scabs all over his nose.)

Ending on a good note:) This is mostly what it's like to have two kids!

April...also in a Nutshell

Even though Easter was technically in March this year, it seemed wrong not to include it in April. We made rice crispy nests to pay homage to my own childhood Easter traditions.

 Of course I totally forgot to take a picture of Liam's basket, but what can you do. He had a pretty good time dying eggs later that day and I at least remembered to take a picture of that.

And I couldn't resist including this next one for obvious reasons:)

The Monday after Easter a friend of mine organized a big Easter egg hunt with all of Liam's friends. He ran FRANTICALLY around grabbing every egg in sight. It was hilarious to watch the kids run for the eggs and try to get there before someone else grabbed it. It was Liam's first egg hunt, but he was like an old pro. I think he had about double what most of the other kids found. He could probably sense I was going to make him share because he took his loot and climbed to the top of the play set to start devouring his treasure:)

You can see the shadows of all of the parents desperately trying to take a group photo. Big fail.

Liam has figured out that he can stamp and draw in the thick carpet in his toy room. He has created many a masterpiece in there:) Below you can see him helping dad with some important floor plans.

He is finally figuring out how to do fake smiles for the camera with his eyes open!

 Hooray for good weather! Hooray for a backyard!

Vancouver is absolutely gorgeous in April. The streets are lined with cherry blossom trees everywhere you go! The city turns pink and snows tiny pink petals. It was such a nice introduction to spring.

At the end of April and only a few weeks before my due date, Dan went on a fabulous trip to Austin Texas to attend the wedding of our good friends Justin and Karen. I was far to pregnant to go anywhere, so I got to stay home with Liam:) I told Dan to take lot's of amazing photos of the wedding, especially the dress! This is basically the only photo he came home with. Food. Come on Dan!

This is the first time Dan and I collaborated on a work of art. We made it for Justin and Karen as a wedding gift...it's the place where they got married and had their reception. I think we worked surprisingly well together, even though Dan had a secret panic attack every time I painted over his fancy pencil lines:) We are considering going in to business.

Another walk in the woods, and one of our last outings as a family of three.

These are the adorable young women I work with at church. They threw me a baby shower! I love that  they showed up with baby bellies:)