Nate and Laura Hill Family

Just some pics of the kids...

2011-10-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Baby Jane

2011-05-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

Jane Olivia Hill

August 15th 8:30AM

7lbs 6oz 19.5in

Well the story is not all too exciting- no mad dash to the hospital or intense contractions. Baby girl was a scheduled c-section and everything went really smooth. Nate and I show up to the hospital (banner gateway) at 5:30 in the morning and after a little waiting I was wheeled in to the operating room around 8:00. Dr Beck did a great job and the surgery went well and fast. By far this has been my easiest delivery and recovery.

Baby girl was perfectly healthy other than a little bit of Jaundice that has already gone away. At her two week checkup she weighed 7lbs 9oz. 3 more ounces than her birth weight.These boys have been so, so sweet with her. In fact, as I'm writing this post, Aaron is holding Jane and making little faces at her.

Below is baby girl "sunbathing" to help her jaundice. I love this picture. David has been so very sweet with sister and the blanket was made by my dear friend, Sara Beth.

We are so happy she's here!

2011-05-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Every 6month+ pregnant woman should have one of these...

Caribbean Cruise

2010-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

This post has been in my editing archive for a long time now..... the pictures are out of order but I'm just going to put it out there. Way back in Feb, Nate and I went on a Caribbean Cruise without the kids. So awesome! Thanks to the Whitings for watching the boys.

This first pic is of the boys when we got back. I just love Aaron's death scowl here- he was mad at us for leaving him I guess.

I think he's forgiven us by now.

Deep inside the jungle where nature's .....

Cruise ship in the background. Check out my sweet five dollar shades I bought out of some guys coat.

Sailing out to sting ray city in Grand Caymen. There we got into waist deep water and fed crazy-big sting rays squid.

Maybe this is the start of me blogging again?!? Maybe.... or maybe not.

Snowy Days

2010-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

I let the boys play outside in the snow the other day. David started throwing snowballs at Aaron's face. At first I tried to stop him..... but Aaron apparently thought it was hilarious.

Later, Nate and I took them sledding down the hill in our backyard. Ahh- they had so much fun.

I'm going to miss the snow when we move to AZ.... well some things about the snow.

Family Pics

2009-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, alright, alright I'll update my blog! Just stop with the harassing emails and text messages....

A few weeks ago we had a friend come to our house and take some family photos. David, of course, wouldn't smile for the camera. He's such a character these days.

David's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-06-20T17:50:00.001-07:00

It was hard to decide on the theme for David's 2nd birthday party. He is into so many different things these days that whatever it was, he is happy as long as there is cake. Luckily, or not so luckily depending on who you are, last week David saw several firetrucks speed by with their lights and sirens blazing and all he wanted was "more fire trucks, more fire trucks." So we are sorry for whomever dialed 9-1-1, but we are glad David let us know what he really likes.

Putting together a fireman theme from scratch was somewhat of a challenge because we weren't sure how to safely entertain young and impressionable children around a firefighter theme short of lighting the trash can on fire and putting it out with a garden hose (Nate's first idea that was quickly overruled). We finally came up with a few (safe) ideas for games and had seen enough "Ace of Cakes" to confidently build our own cake.

Braiden, Caleb, and Dayson almost believed Uncle Nate when he said he practiced witchcraft to make the water smoke. Actually, Nate went crazy with dry ice trying to make everything seem smokey and thus need firefighter's to put out a not so real fire.

True to form, after several displays of magic smoke, he stopped responding to "Nate" and insisted everyone refer to him as "The Master of Special Effects." Of course, no one did, but that just encouraged him to try harder with his special effects projects and he ultimately sliced his finger pretty badly carving a watermelon. Unfortunately, he was also in charge of taking photos, so his better displays never made onto the camera because he was so busy making sure his props were sufficiently filled with dry ice. One of his better ideas was to move the playhouse near the back patio where we were, and set up several dry ice containers that made it slightly appear to be smoking. The kids all competed to see who could dump the most pales of water in one minute.

Laura put together a cake that made all the kids ohhh and ahhh. It was a burning house with a firetruck on the scene and firemen frantically at work. Nate tried to make it smoke, but his dry ice didn't work as well as he promised it would. David really liked it and only needed two tries to blow out his two candles.

Poor little Aaron was mostly forgotten. Although we really try hard to avoid inflicting an early case of middle-child-syndrom, he honestly just gets put somewhere (like a stroller) while we try to deal with hosting the party. You can see him here, lucky enough to have documented evidence of his existence, scowling at us for not paying more attention to him, and gnawing on someone's leftover watermelon rind. Aaron, we promise to make it up to you.

Father and Sons

2009-06-11T13:43:00.001-07:00

Nate took David to a father and sons outing a couple weeks ago. They went up to Roosevelt lake, played on the boat and camped on the beach.

David wouldn't stop talking about papa's boat and the water wee when he got home! He had a blast.

Easter 2009

2009-05-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

The boys and I went to an Easter Egg hunt at the church this year. At first David wasn't too interested in gathering the eggs, but he went crazy as soon as he found out there was candy inside!

David was so sweet to share his eggs with his little brother Aaron.

David with his friends Jack and Jane.

Nudey Booties

2009-04-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

These boys love their baths and were being so cute in the tub the other day. I couldn't capture how much fun they were having entirely, but Aaron was almost hysterically laughing before I busted out the camera..... so cute.

Pardon the partial nudity.

In other news- Aaron cut his first tooth yesterday! He is rolling all over the place and we think he is very close to crawling. David is a jabber-jaws and talks all the time. He knows all the letters in the alphabet and identifies them everywhere. He counts to ten (always leaving out 4 and 7 for some reason) and has his shapes down. We love, love, love our boys! Also, we're headed to AZ this summer for Nate's internship.

Spring Break

2009-04-01T16:18:00.001-07:00

Spring break this year was spent in Colorado Springs with my brother and his family. We had so much fun and had a hard time leaving so soon. We went up to a mountain lake where we flew kites and dropped "pooh sticks" in the stream.

Momma, Dadda, David and Aaron

Thanks to Jarom, Nate is smiling for the first time in public again! About a month ago Nate chipped his front tooth. Thanks to a little "cosmetic dentistry" and Dr. Jarom he is a new man.

We went to Mr. Biggs where they have a little village that's all kids sized.

Cousin Austin and David riding the car in the repair shop.

David the fireman, driving the firetruck.

Cousin Joshua and David ran all over the house in their spidy costumes.

Brothers

2009-03-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Just some pics of our growing boys.

The Fire Station

2009-03-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

For playgroup (2/19) we took the kids to the fire station to see the trucks. Fireman Steve talked to the kids about fire safety and then let them play in and on the trucks. David loved the trucks! He would not let me take him out of the driver seat when his turn was over..... In the first pic are some of his friends- Emily, Jack, Bailey and then David. Aaron slept in his stroller the whole time.

Grandma Hill in Kansas

2009-03-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of February Grandma Hill came out to visit us in Kansas. We took the boys to playgroup where we celebrated Kansas birthday and made several trips to our favorite store, Wal-mart. Unfortunately all the boys got sick and we didn't get out too much after that, but we had a lot of fun just playing at the house. Thanks for coming to visit Grandma!

David's New Big Boy Bed

2009-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

About a month ago David got a new big boy bed. He absolutely loves it! We took him to this high end furniture store (wal-mart) to pick it out and when we got home he helped Nate put it together by using his Handy Manny tools. I have never seen the boy as excited as he was when it was all put together and in his room (not even on Christmas). He was being sooo crazy running all over the house and then jumping onto his bed. We weren't planning on having him sleep in it that night, but when we told him it was bedtime he ran to his bed, crawled in, layed down and closed his eyes! In shock Nate and I closed the door and said goodnight.

He was so good about going to sleep in his bed....... at first. After about a week he realized he could get out of his bed whenever he wanted. Now I have to put him down like five times before he finally falls asleep. Sometimes I want to stick him right back in his crib.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

2009-01-07T20:52:00.001-08:00

New Years Eve 2008 Nate and I went to the Insight Bowl at the Sun Devils Stadium in Tempe, Az. We had a great time. In the end the Kansas Jayhawks wasted the Minnesota Gophers with a score of 42-21.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-07T19:54:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year Nate and I took our little family to Gilbert, AZ. Jarom and Kelly drove with their kids down from Colorado making the whole Lamoreaux family together again! We had a great time playing with cousins and just relaxing. We went to the Phoenix zoo with Nate's sister, had a night away from the boys (thanks to Jarom and Kelly), spent nights playing Mexican train dominoes and partied on New Years with a bunch crazy kids and party poppers. We had a good time.

My sweet Aunt Ann gave me this little Santa outfit for Aaron (3 months old). He looked so adorable Christmas morning....

David (18 months old) opening his stocking

Sweet little Aaron

Before we left for Az I was Martha Stewart for a day. For some reason I woke up one morning and decided I needed to do some holiday baking. I made some of my mom's cinnamon cookies, mountains and mountains of spritz cookies, a delicious homemade blackberry pie and fudge. Of course I had to take a picture of my work because this doesn't happen often. Oh and I also made the wreath in this picture from juniper trees in my back yard. I have to laugh at myself. I've never thought of myself as a domestic, crafty kind of person, but wow am I morphing into one! Motherhood does strange things to us!

Winter

2008-12-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

I woke up early yesterday morning and it was snowing! Immediately I was in a good mood and couldn't stop singing "White Christmas" in my head. I cleaned the house, put up some Christmas decor and made waffles for breakfast. Nate was a little shocked when he woke up and found me in my mood with hot breakfast ready..... I am usually very cranky in the morning. Anyway I couldn't wait to wake up David to go play with him outside! I was envisioning us sledding down the hill out our front door, but Nate (who was unimpressed with the non-Utah snow) dashed my dreams and said their wasn't enough snow on the ground. Well he was right so David and I just went for a walk outside instead.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the food and getting together with family and friends. This year we couldn't make it to either AZ or UT to be with family, but we had a great Thanksgiving here with some friends. The food was delicious, friends were great, and the fall decorations on the table and house made the meal perfect. We had a wonderful time and when the meal was over us girls left the kids with the men and ventured out to do a little shopping at Michael's. I've never shopped on Thanksgiving or Black Friday, but I've heard stories. I assumed things were going to get a little dirty.... and I was ready. I came away with a set of three smaller pre-lit Christmas trees for $16 and a gingerbread house kit for $7. I feel so proud of myself for some reason. Anyway I thought this was funny- the percentage of Mormons out hear in Lawrence is pretty small, but Michael's was crawling with them that night. I even saw my Bishop- Mormons really do love a good deal.

Brothers

2008-11-20T19:43:00.001-08:00

I love having two boys. My boys are so sweet together and I can already tell they are going to be best buds.

Aaron adores David. Whenever David comes around Aaron won't take his eyes off of him! In these pictures Aaron wouldn't stop smiling and cooing at David, it was so precious.

David is such a sweet boy to share is toys. The other night while Aaron was on the floor, David started piling all his favorite things on top of Aaron. Literally on top of him. Nate had to step in when he put Blue (his stuffed dog) on Aaron's face..... I guess Aaron better learn now how to defend himself. With David as his older brother and lots of boy cousins, he's got wrestling and sword fighting in his future.

All you boy cousins- Braiden, Caleb, Dayson, Joshua and Austin better be ready for when the Hill boys come for Christmas! UCF (ultimate crib fighting) fight night at Spencer and Caroline's Christmas Day!...... uhh just kidding, that actually makes me really sad to think of my little boys "crib fighting"...... we'll just do the apple of love instead!

My Crazy Boy

2008-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

David has been so cute lately..... He's really turned into one energetic toddler. The other day he wouldn't let us finish putting his pj's on, the clothes got stuck on his over-sized head and he thought it was hilarious. We chased him all over the house pretending we couldn't catch him!

Whenever it's time for Aaron to eat I say, "David it's time for baby brother to eat, let's go get him up." David immediately drops whatever he's doing, gets this huge smile on his face and sprints back to the bedroom where Aaron is sleeping, swings open the door, runs over to the bassinet, and shakes the poor bed as he climbs up to look at his previously sleeping brother. Poor Aaron used to be really startled by David, but he's gotten used to it now...... poor kid.

Timeouts don't work anymore around here. Whenever David did something naughty I would put him in his crib for timeout. He used to hate it and immediately would start to cry..... it seemed like an effective form of discipline until now. Now David loves to be in his crib- this is what I find when I go to retrieve him when timeout is over.

He loves to ram himself in the far corner of the crib where I can't reach him, then he'll stand up and pretend he's coming over to me...... then he dives back into his corner bumper again! Such a goof.

Aaron's Baby Blessing

2008-11-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

This last weekend (on November 2nd) we blessed Aaron in church. My parents, Ashley, Spencer and Caroline, Jarom and Kelli and their babies Joshua and Austin were all able to come. It was so fun to have the fam all together. David loved all the attention and being able to play with his cousins!

My sis-in-law Caroline was able to stay for a few days and help me here with the babies. She was so helpful and I was sad to see her go! Thanks again for coming Caroline I had a lot of fun.

Aaron Andrew Hill

2008-10-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

On Thurs October 2nd at 2:43 in the morning...... after being twelve days overdue, Aaron finally arrived! At 7lbs 14oz and 20 inches long he is absolutely perfect.

The Story

8:00 Wednesday morning Nate and I left for the hospital, leaving little David with Nana Lamoreaux. I had an induction scheduled for 9 o'clock at the Overland Park Hospital but things didn't really get started until 11:00ish (typical). At which time Dr. Estrin came in and broke my water and then started me on the pitocin drip. Things were going really well except my nurse kept having a hard time finding Aaron's heartbeat. So Dr. Estrin returned and discovered that Aaron had turned in my tummy (that little booger) and was now sideways in my belly. Luckily I had a very skilled doctor who was willing to try an external version instead of just opting for the repeat cesarean. So Dr. Estrin massaged my belly in an attempt to turn Aaron back around. Fortunately and painfully Aaron rotated back into launch position! Now it was time to just wait..... and wait...... the waiting got a little easier when I finally decided to get my epidural after an intense moment of heavy pitocin induced contractions. At around 11 o'clock that night I was fully dilated to 10cm. After a good 2 hour nap (thanks to the epidural) we started pushing around 1 in the morning and an hour and a half later little Aaron arrived!

He is such a sweet little baby

We are so happy everything went well and are grateful for all the help from our family and friends. We are especially grateful for Nana Lamoreaux spending so much time with us. Thanks mom!

Tornados!!

2008-09-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

So earlier this evening we had a severe storm pass through Lawrence. Nate was at school while a tornado warning was issued for douglas county- more specifically right over our house! David and I took a bunch of toys, books and pillows into the interior bathroom of the house to wait out the storm. We could hear accounts on the radio of tornado sitings that were just east of us! Luckily Nate made it home safe despite the storm and we all waited together until the storms passed.

We were very lucky.... this barn was destroyed only 2 miles southeast of us.

This picture was taken about 3 miles southeast of us!

If you want to see more pictures or read more about the storm follow the link

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/sep/12/tornado_warning_douglas_county/

Back in Lawrence

2008-09-07T14:25:00.001-07:00

We are finally home! After a long, fun summer we made it back to Lawrence around the beggining of August. Nate had some time before school started again so we've been able to do fun things as a family. The other day we took David to south park on Mass street. He loved driving the firetruck and going down the tube slides.

Screaming on the swing

We also went to the Topeka Zoo..... unfortunately we went during the middle of the day so most of the animals were sleeping and not really too interesting. David still had a blast - he's really into animals right now and didn't understand why he couldn't pet them.

The Cat

The Ephant

And the Dog...... we need to work on our animal names

We miss our extended families at home, but are happy to be back.

Lake Powell 08'

2008-07-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

From July 19th to the 25th we went to Lake Powell with my family. David had so much fun playing on the beach with his cousins.

Nate decided it was time for David to learn to wakeboard....

David's favorite part of the whole trip was the jet ski. He absolutely loved it!!! He would ride with his mouth open babbling the whole time.

Fourth of July

2008-07-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

For the fourth of July weekend we went to my parents cabin in the mountains. Almost all of David's cousins were there and he had a blast playing with them. On Sat we went fishing and had a picnic...... as you can see David really likes double stuffed mint oreos.
A few years ago my dad installed a zip-line into the woods off the back porch of the cabin..... we decided to send David down it- perhaps that makes us bad parents. At any rate he loved it and cried and cried when it was no longer his turn!

Since we were subjecting our infant son to the zip-line, Nate thought he should give it a try.

2008-06-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Portland to visit Nate's family. David had so much fun playing in (and eating) the sand at the beach!

At the waterfalls outside of Portland

David's 1st Birthday

2008-06-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

My little baby it 1 year old!!!! I can't believe it. On Saturday we had a pool party for him at my parents with all his cousins. He had so much fun swimming and playing with his cousins.

David eating his birthday cake! He made such a huge mess......

2007-09-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took David to the beach in San Diego. Once he got passed the breeze he seemed to enjoy himself.

2007-09-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

David's first swim outing- I think Nate and I enjoyed watching David in the pool more than he did...Aunt Crystal and cousin Sienna came to swim as well.

2007-09-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Cousin Joshua pigging out on Nate's food while Nate wasn't watching!

Blessing Pictures

2007-09-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

With David getting so big everyday I decided to start a family blog. This way everyone can watch him grow! Last sunday, the 2nd of September David was blessed in church. It was fun to have many of his Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents come and visit. Life out here in Kansas is great- we love you all!

All these pictures were taken outside our new place. Nate and I are now living outside the town of Lawrence in a small house owned by a KU law school alumnist. The country is beautiful.