Elaine Grace Knight is here!

Our beautiful little "shining light" Elaine Grace Knight came into the world right on time, her official due date, July 8, 2012 at 1:49 p.m.  She weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long.  We are so thankful for this precious little blessing from above! 

Elaine \e-lai-ne\ as a girl's name is pronounced ee-LAYNE. It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Elaine is "sun ray, shining light". May also be derived from Welsh with the meaning "hind" or "fawn".  Derivative of Helen.  Elaine was a popular girls’ name in the 1950s, but has recently fallen out of favor.  Elaine has 22 variant forms.  DIMINUTIVES: Laney, Lainey (English)

Grace \g-ra-ce\ as a girl's name is pronounced grayce. It is of Latin origin, and the meaning of Grace is "favor; blessing". A virtue name referring to God's grace.  Grace has been around since the Middle Ages and it has never really gone out of style.  

Look at all that brown hair.  She has the most hair at birth than any of the other kids and the darkest.

 

Here is our new family of five!  We are blessed beyond words and so thankful for each of these precious creations.

 

Pictured here are proud Big Sister and Brother loving little Elaine right from the start.  Notice their fun Big Brother and Big Sister shirt. :)

 

Evan and Evie both got the chance to hold her with the help of Daddy.  They were so excited!

 

Here I am with my girls!

 Super proud Daddy with his newest little lady.

More pictures and updates to come of the labor, our first few days at home, Elaine's visitors, etc.  Stay tuned!

Happy 4th of July

So the results are in, we are not going to be having a 4th of July baby this year. However, we had a wonderful time celebrating our country's independence with the family and some great friends. :)  Jim got to enjoy a day off in the middle of the week (always a little weird, but wonderful all in the same).  

First up that day we met up with Jim's Dad and our friend's the Cunninghams for the Roseville 4th of July Parade.  It was so much fun and the weather was perfect, especially in the shade. 

Here are the kids waiting for the parade to start and having some snack.  The Cunninghams had some leftover pancakes that our kids were enjoying. :)

 

Me and my beautiful prego buddy, Bethany.  Don't you just love how we coordinated our colors.  This was a fun surprise. :)

 The men catching up before the festivities began in their red, white and blue too.

 Our family at the event, we almost got everyone to smile.

The kids watching as the parade began, they were all so excited!  Especially, when they found out they would get candy.

The parade even included this cool bull.

It also included this neat green guy.  Best part of the parade for the kids- GETTING CANDY!  You can kind of make it out in this picture, but they are holding a red paper bag which they could put all their candy in.  Got this idea from our regular parade buds the Moons, who couldn't be with us this year.  We missed you guys!

After the parade we headed to lunch with Jim's Dad at Taco Bell, then back to our house where he shared some fun gifts with the kids from his recent trip to Yellowstone.

That evening we went to our friends Jared and Ashley Campbell's house for a fun 4th of July party that included some delicious food, a fantastic pool, amazing fellowship, and last but not least awesome fireworks.  Here are Jim and the kids having a great time in the pool.

 

They had this cool inflatable water slide.  The kids all loved it!

 

Then here we are at night (we started before it got dark so that we wouldn't all need to be out extra late with the kiddos.  Here is Travis lightening Evan's first ever sparkler. :)

 He was super excited.  All the kids were!

 

Here he is with a smile, but it is hidden a bit behind the smoke.

 

The gang watching some of the bigger fireworks from a safe distance.

 

Then of course we can't forget Evie and her sparkler debut.  She had the best time as well.

It was a little crazy to see your kids hold fire, but everyone was very safe and all the parents were on high alert! :)

To be able to get a little bit of real firework perspective and do some when it was actually dark, we take a quick intermission.  Ashley made all the kids popcorn and then they watch "Little Einsteins."  They were loving life!  Especially my kiddos. :)  From left to right: Evie, Evan, Claire, Ellie, Gavin and Savannah in the front.

For the evening finale, Evan at night with a sparkler.  So cool!

And our family, wishing you all a wonderful holiday too!  Happy 4th!

 

Front Yard Landscaping Complete

We finally finished our front yard Landscaping Project minus a few lightening features and wood chips which we are trying to figure out how to place since we put a lot of ground cover plants in. :)  We did have a bit of help on some elements.  We hired a Landscape Designer this time to help us with the overall concept and plant choices, and contractors were hired to put in the cement, move out dirt and build brick wall.  Jim however, put in all the plants and irrigation system, complete with beautiful pottery fountain.  We are very pleased with the results and have been getting some great compliments from neighbors.  One told us that we used to be the worst house on the block and now we are the best!  Yippee!  All in all this was something very satisfying to complete before Baby Girl comes into our world.

Here are some pictures to remind you of the Before...

 

Now After...

Here is a picture up close of the fountain.  Jim made this all by himself (okay so he didn't actually sculpt the pottery from scratch or anything, but he turned a planter pot into a fully functioning fountain).  He is so talented!  We are very proud of him and all his work.

Here are just a few more pics of the project being completed.

Putting in the cement (we put a bunch of cement in the backyard too).

Daddy and his little helpers (notice everyone's garden gloves- adorable) planting our Coral Bark Japanese Maple).

Here is when the brick wall and new dirt went in.

 Lastly, Daddy again with his helpers putting in the first of the plants. 

 Evan and Evie making sure the placement was just right according to the design plan.

 Here they are at work again.

What a blessing to have a functional and nice looking front yard.  It was a true family affair and took awhile to finally complete, but we did it!  

Family Fun Weekend

We had a real nice weekend with just our family of four.  Here are some pictures of our time together.

Checking out the new playground at the mall.  Is this Evan or Superman?!?!

Evie got in on the fun too with Daddy's help for her big jump. Just a side note, there is more to this playground we just happened to take pictures in this area with this climbing thing. :)

Then we also got to visit the zoo.  A few months back I had bought a deal on LivingSocial and we were finally able to take advantage of it.  The trip included a fun train ride, zoo key, and some discounts at food and gift shop.  We didn't use those yet, but there was no expiration date on the coupons so we will save those for later.  We all had a real nice time.  It was a little toasty, but luckily the zoo did have shade and there was a breeze here and there.

An animal picture, didn't actually get to many pictures of the real animals, just my own... :)

...here are our little monkeys in the trees.

The kids in the Sacramento Zoo car.  This was a big hit!  However, due to the heat both kids were having a hard time sharing.

Being silly with Mommy.

Then playing fix the Dump Truck with each other and Daddy (this was at the end of the day, so no one else was wanting to hang out on the Dump Truck so it was all there's for the fun).  They had a whole story-line going, Evie would get the tools and then they wold work together to fix it.  So cute!

Evan telling Daddy the plan on how to fix this machine.  Everyone was very into this game.

Then to top of the weekend, dinner at Chevys.  Delicious food and we got a great server too, which always makes your experience that much better.  Good times with the Knight Family of Four, soon to be Five. :)  Can't wait to see our precious little girl very soon.