Ella Jae is here!

Ella Jae Wylie arrived at 4:44 p.m. on Tuesday, September 4th. She weiged 6 pounds and 6 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Ella with her big sisters and brother!

Ella and Faith: Faith kisses Ella every chance she gets and is so super excited to finally be a big sister!

I will post more later! We just got home and I promised pics as soon as possible so here are just a few quick ones. Ella is a perfect doll and I am feeling great! God is good!

"It's Baby Day!"

Today is the big day! Foster stayed with my parents last night and when his Granny woke him up this morning he said, "It's Baby Day!" I thought that was really sweet. I have been worried about his reaction more than the girls because he still says he really wants a brother. I told him that some day he will make some girl a really good husband since he will be so used to dealing with females. (That is if momma ever lets him get married! LOL!) It makes me feel better knowing he really is getting excited about the baby coming.

Anyway, my C-section is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. this afternoon, which was really nice since my other choice was ~7:00 a.m. - which would have meant getting up to go be at the hospital waaaay too early! The only drawback to it being later is that I am already dying of thirst and I want my Diet Coke, but I would rather trade sleep for a soda. I will post photos of the new bambino here as soon as I can to share with everyone, but it may take a few days. Mark is not very computer savvy and I will be in the hospital several days so please be patient.

On another note, I wanted to share a tragic story with you and let you know how you might help, plus win some awesome Rusty Pickle schtuff in the process! Another one of the Rusty Pickle chefs has a very close friend whose husband was the victim of a senseless, random act of violence. He is now paralyzed and has a long recovery ahead of him, besides a family with 9 children to take care of. You can read more about the news story here: http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/232793/3/

You can also follow Tracy's progress on the family's blog:
http://tracyarmstrong.blogspot.com/

Lance and Tasha Anderson, the owners of Rusty Pickle, wanted to do something to help Tracy and his family, so several events are being organized with everything being donated by Rusty Pickle! Legacy Scrapbooking is hosting a raffle for $500 worth of Rusty Pickle products. You can purchase raffle tickets online here:
http://legacyscrapbooking.com/catalog.php?category=298

There are also 2 local events being planned for Utah and Arizona. Lance will be teaching classes donated by Rusty Pickle. Watch the Rusty Pickle blog and website for more information on those!
http://rustypickle.typepad.com/

Well, I have some last minute nesting to do before it's time to head to the hospital. I honestly have an almost surreal sense of peace, now that it is almost time for her to be here. Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers through my pregnancy. Please keep them coming, because I keep telling my husbamd - it's not over, it's only just begun! LOL!

We have a TIME & date!

Well, at my OB appointment on Friday, he gave me not only a date, but also a TIME for this bambino to make her debut. I was okay with the concept of a date and a scheduled C-section, but knowing that my name is now written down on a schedule in a hospital and doctor's office makes it all a little too real. We still have so much to do to get ready! The kids are excited, especially Faith. She is so cute and gets so excited when we see a baby out in public at a store or resturant. She has to tell the mommy, "I'm getting one of those! I'm having a baby sister!" She is always coming up and hugging or kissing my belly. I haven't had many pictures taken of my pregnant self, so I had Chelsea snap a few to share. I had to capture Faith being so cute. And yes, I am the size of a house!

Me at 35 weeks and a few days

Faith kissing her baby sister

Foster & Faith saying hello


And just beacuse every time a camera is produced, these 2 think it ought to be pointed at them!

Chelsea & Faith

Oh, the date! September 4th, the Tuesday after Labor Day - unless something unexpectedly happens before then, that will be this baby's birthday.

And for another announcement: the winner of the Rusty Pickle RAK!

The winner is... happyhappyjoyjoy !!! (Joy, be sure and email me your snail mail address!)

Check out Joy's blog: http://obsessedwithscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone who read and posted! There will be more Rusty Pickle fun in the future.

It's My Birthday & I'll Blog If I want To!

Yep, today is my 38th birthday and I thought it would be the perfect day to unveil my new blog! I have been on the fence about blogging for a long time. I haven't really thought there were that many people out there all that interested in what was happening in my life to consider keeping up a blog. A few things have happened recently though that pushed me off the fence and convinced me to take the bloggin' plunge. So here goes...



My reasons for blogging:

• The impending birth of our new family member. Blogs seem to be a great way to share news, photos, etc. and who doesn't love a place to brag shamelessly about a new baby? As soon as I can, the announcement will be made and pictures posted. Obligatory "ooos!" and "aahs!" will be expected so be sur eto post your comments! (JK! :D )


• As a member or the Rusty Pickle design team (they call us "Chefs"), I have some online obligations that blogging can help with. There is a new company blog soon to be debuted that has links to the other Chef's blogs and I felt like a slacker with out one. I will be hosting challenges, posting Rusty Pickle news, and sharing my work here. You can see a few of my layouts at the bottom of the page.


• I left a job in the scrapbook community recently and I wanted a way to hopefully keep in touch with some of those friends. I am not sure what I will do in the future as far as the scrapbook industry goes, but I hope to return to teaching after the new babino is old enough. I want my peeps to know where to find me when that happens!


• I hope to use this as a way to document some family moments and other ideas I have for future projects until I get around to scrapbooking them. Even if no one else reads much, my online journal can help me stay motivated and remember all those mommy-moments that you think you won't ever forget (but you do!). Since this is my 3rd time to give birth, I realize all too well how quickly the time flies, memories fade and details are lost. I cannot believe Foster is already 6!


• My statement at the right says "I just want to make my corner of the world a better place". Maybe something I share here will touch someone else and help them through a rough time, be a word of encouragement, let them know that they are not alone, and there is someone else out there dealing with a crazy life, chaotic schedule, less-than-perfect-kids, and a marriage that takes work. I am not perfect by any means but I am forgiven, and that gives me a peace and hope to handle anything this life throws at me!

So that's my first post! If you want, you can subscribe to get emails when I update my blog with new posts by entering your email at the right (that way you'll be among the first to see pics of the newest Wylie!). To both my real-life and on-line friends, I hope you will check back occasionally and leave me a note to let me know what is happening in your life!

Now for the challenge! Anyone who leaves a comment on this, my inaugural blog post, will be entered to win a RAK of Rusty Pickle stuff! Yes, it is a shameless ploy to increase blog traffic and get you to post a comment so I don't feel like I did all this work for nothing, but hey, if it works, it works! LOL!! Plus Rusty Pickle released some rockin' new lines at CHA which I am so looking forward to playing with and I wanted to share the love (check back soon for more on those). I will pick a winner on Monday evening, so you have 2 days to post.