the garden

last week beth helped me plant our garden. she was so excited to help, i was really surprised at how anxious she was to put the plants and seeds in our little boxes. but i was stoked that she wanted to do it, so i told her to put some shoes on we would get to work. i love her choice of shoes. on a 75 degree day, she chooses her snow boots. "perfect for working in the garden" i told her as she put them on the wrong feet. thanks to beth, those garden boxes got planted in no time. it was a solid saturday indeed.




she also picked out some flowers at the store that she wanted to be hers, just hers. so we bought them along with a small pot and she and i planted those as well.

for today

she loves my songs mommy. she loves it when i sing to her.

so do i.

hooray for summer

hallelujah to warm weather and sunshine and being able to play outside all day every day, which is exactly what we've doing all week. it has been so good for me and my physical and mental recovery. we bought a water toy for the kids on tuesday and they beg me to play in it everyday. so we do. even though it's a lot smaller than it looks on the box and is really more for toddlers than someone beth's age, they both love it and will let themselves be entertained for a whole afternoon by that thing and all the fun extras it comes with. it's also done a great job of watering our lawn without our having turned on the sprinklers yet. $30 well spent. i'm trying to talk hank into getting another one that's just a little bit bigger that will keep kids older than 5 entertained so that we can have fun swim parties and the adults can hang on the deck while kids get their soak on. still working on that one... for now, here are some photos from our fun new toy and playing outside.

cutest plumbers crack ever:

she arrives

hank and i showed up to the hospital at 5:30am and at 7:59am on wednesday may 8th, our lives were changed forever once again as a little tiny baby girl was pulled from out of my tummy and into our world. they let hank make the announcement to me that it was a girl and just a few short minutes later she was brought over to me where i could hold her and meet my new little girl. it was beautiful. weighing in at 8lbs 4oz and measuring 20.5 inches long, she was thankfully perfectly healthy and let us know it with her cry. i may have cried a little bit too.

i'd like for you to meet leah jane.




we didn't have her name picked out going into it, and it took us forever to finally make a decision and write it down on her birth certificate minutes before leaving the hospital to come home yesterday. that was the worst part of our stay. everything else went really, really well. the hospital we go to and the staff there is amazing, and i felt better during this recovery than i did with the other two. don't get me wrong - it wipes me out and i'm wrecked for at least a full week afterward, but it sure helps to be in a place where you feel well taken care of and the staff seems happy to be there to be a part of such a major experience.



despite, we were all ready to come home. grandma and grandpa brought the kids to the hospital a couple times to see me and the baby, but i was excited to get home and be home together as a family. i was ready to start our lives as a family of five. it always feels good to come home.

i'll post more pictures later - here are a few from her first day in our world.

it all goes down tomorrow

this whole baby thing is kind of surreal. i know it's happening. i've been thinking about it and fretting over it and been excited about it and anxious for 9 forever-long months. and yet, now that it's just 8 hours until this new life enters mine and changes it forever, i have a hard time believing that it's real. i can't picture it. i know what's coming, and yet i just can't picture it. it all seems so surreal, even though i've done it before... it just seems surreal.

today i: made a mad dash to the store to get food, baby stuff, and mommy stuff, tied up some loose ends at work, made homemade fruit roll ups, cleaned, packed, and did laundry. but most importantly, i played outside with my kids.

excited to insert 3rd picture here.

excited to meet the new one. excited to be able to bend again. excited to be able to hold kids on my lap.


here we go friends.... 8 hours and counting. stay tuned for the newest van orden. coming soon. oh so soon!

it's official

i am on maternity leave. yay!! and no, our family of four has not turned to five prematurely. but this time around, unlike the other two, i took off from work earlier than the day before they came. this time, i'm giving myself a week before expected arrival date. i admit, the time has been so nice to have and mentally i feel a whole lot better. i took the time to get my carpets cleaned, paint my kitchen (love it, by the way - it needed it so bad. such a welcome and happy change) and to clean and well... i haven't pulled any baby stuff out yet, but it's on the list. i'm sure i'll get to that sometime this weekend. i still have 5 days... plenty of time.

i still feel like there's a lot to do around the house but i'm not stressed about it really and feel like i have time to do it. i've even slept pretty well the last couple nights and feel like i've got the energy to deep clean the way i want (and need) to. things are looking up kids. things are looking up.

my time with the kids has been awesome too. it has felt so good to spend time with them before i'll be occupied with other things for a while, ie: recovery/new baby. i am grateful for my time with them. it's not all roses all the time, but i also don't take it for granted. i'm excited to spend the summer with them and be in the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air. adventures await this little van orden clan...


from a couple of days ago when it was nice outside. before it snowed. in may. and sent us all running for prozac.

5 days... and counting.