Week 1

Our first week with Ava home was filled with visits from many family and friends. We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to introduce Ava, realizing how blessed we are to have so many people surround us with love and support.

Owen was loving all of the activity and special attention, which also made me wonder - once the activity slows down, will he realize that his sister is here to stay? Overall he's done extremely well with the transition. As a precious memory, the first night we were home Owen woke at 5am asking for mama. I happened to already be up, having just finished feeding Ava. Brian took Ava into our bedroom, and I went to see Owen. He wanted me to play cars with him! At 5am? Really? Owen is a great sleeper, not usually awake until 7. So I knew this was a unique situation, very likely a result of all the change and excitement surrounding the new baby. Recognizing a special opportunity to reaffirm my 2-year-old of how much I love him, instead of trying to coerce him back to bed, I got him up - and we played cars on our family room floor for the next hour. The sun was rising, birds were chirping, and I was smiling - just thanking the Lord for the incredible blessing of our two children (and for the coffee brewing in the kitchen!).

Meeting great-grandma Marion


Uncle Brent, and Uncle Brian & Aunt Amy

Uncle Blake, Aunt Angie & Cousin Landon

(with the cute pig they gave Ava as a gift!)

3 Cousins!

and don't worry - we made sure Ava was safe!

Cousins - enjoying a parade together!

Silly time with Papa G

Special family dinner (feast!)

First Bath

Dad heads back to work

Brother LOVES to "help" change sister's diaper

1 week...exactly! (3:53pm)

The Arrival

May 17th - a date that has come & gone in the past without much of a thought. And now this is a day we'll forever celebrate as the birthday of our little girl! It was the baby's due date, and yet there was still something surreal about waking up that morning to what seemed like a "regular" day - only to be holding our sweet daughter in our arms by late-afternoon!

Here are some photos of Ava's birth-day, our time in the hospital, and of Ava's homecoming.

Floral bouquet was from our yard, compliments of big-brother Owen

Grandparents

AKA: cheering squad!

After only about 6 hours of labor - she's here!

Hello my beautiful girl! I love you so much already!







Our wonderful doctor

Our Labor & Delivery Nurse

Our wonderful and supportive family - meeting Ava after her arrival

Special cozy time with mom...

...and dad

Meeting Big Brother Owen!

First Family Photo

Visit from our Pediatrician.

Everything looks perfect. What a blessing!

One Day Old

Such a little peanut - see her size relative to a plush doll

Getting ready to go home!

Brother Owen was at home to meet us upon arrival. And baby sister brought Owen a present! What could be better than a new toy? A donut! :)

And a sweet homecoming present prepared by Owen. Love the sign, and his little painted hand-prints.

Introducing Ava

We are delighted to announce that our sweet daughter has arrived!

Ava Linnea Gaskins was born on May 17th at 3:53pm, weighing 5 pounds 14 ounces (same exact birth weight as her big brother Owen, what are the chances?!) and 20 inches long.

We went to our regularly scheduled doctor appointment on Tuesday morning, and ended up heading straight from there to the hospital. Ava was born about 6 hours later! She was very prompt, arriving on her due date - atta girl! Everything went very smoothly and she is healthy and perfect. We are so blessed.

As some of you may know we were still deciding on her name - but upon meeting her, Ava seemed to be a perfect fit. The name Linnea is not only my name, but also my mother's middle name - in honor of the Scandinavian heritage on that side of the family (Linnea is a flower primarily found in Sweden). Ava Linnea rolled so nicely that we chose to pass along the name - making her a 3rd generation Linnea.

We've thoroughly enjoyed welcoming Ava and have been very blessed to be surrounded by family during these precious first days. Owen is very sweet with Ava, and is slowing beginning to realize that she's here to stay.

We have yet to unload our cameras of all the photos taken since she was born, so there will certainly be another posting of many more photos. But to give you a glimpse of our precious new daughter, see a few photos below taken just shortly after her arrival.

Welcome sweet Ava! We love you so much already and are deeply grateful for the wonderful blessing of having you as part of our family.

Ready for Baby!

Baby girl is due on Tuesday! Owen was 6 days early, meaning she is officially "later" than Owen. On her own terms and timeline...a true girl! Or perhaps, as we like to tease, she hears all the busyness of her brother and thinks "I think I'll stay in here awhile longer"! We are excited for her to come when she is ready...and regardless, she'll be "evicted" (I'll be induced) on May 24th. So we know we'll be holding our sweet new daughter in our arms in 11 days or less. Amazing!

We are ready for her arrival, or as ready as it's possible to be I suppose. Her room is decorated, clothes, burp cloths & blankets are washed folded in her chest of drawers, diapers & all other necessities are purchased & prepared. Owen is still not quite ready to let go of the crib (which we are totally OK with!) so baby girl will be in a bassinet for the first while...and we hope to transition Owen to a big-boy bed this summer, freeing up the crib for the new baby.

Next blog post will likely be announcing her arrival! Thank you in advance for everyone's prayers & support during the upcoming labor/delivery and transition to a family of 4!

Our little girl's room - shades of pink & green, with accents of blue, yellow, purple, etc.

And not to be outdone, we took this opportunity to re-decorate Owen's room, removing the "nursery" decor and replacing with a safari animal theme!

Linnea at 39 weeks

April Events

What a wonderful and eventful month! Beyond the regular day-to-day highlights, April brought two highly anticipated family celebrations....end of tax busy season (yay for having Brian around more!) and Owen's 2nd birthday!


Classic Owen - never has been a great eater, but we can convince him to stay in his high chair a little bit longer if he has some of his beloved cars/trains/trucks with him.

This boy loves anything that "go's"! Running an errand to Home Depot becomes a very exciting activity when Owen gets to pretend to drive a tractor.


Getting ready to make pancakes with mom. Such a helper!

Owen's morning routine...cozy on our recliner with a collection of stuffed animals, watching Sesame Street. Essentially this is his only TV time of the day, and he loves every minute...especially when it's time for the beloved Elmo's World segment (next to cars/trucks, Elmo is a favorite!). Here he's saying "cheese" for the sake of the photo, but doesn't risk taking his eyes off the TV. Silly boy!


A special and spontaneous visit from Cousin Landon (and Auntie Angie) for Owen's birthday celebration.

(click photo to enlarge)

In celebration of the conclusion of tax busy season, we headed to the Oregon Coast for 3 nights...just the 3 of us! We enjoyed special quality time as a family, treasuring these special days with Owen as our only child before we welcome little sister into the family. Thanks to the beautiful weather, we were able to spend lots of time on the beach and also spent a morning at the Aquarium in Newport.


Happy 2nd Birthday, Owen!

(click photo to enlarge)

We can hardly believe that our sweet little boy is now two years old! Owen loves all things transportation, and therefore the theme of the party was "two two" Train (rather than "choo choo" train, in case that play on words wasn't obvious). We were blessed to have a houseful of family to help celebrate Owen's big day. We love you, our sweet Owen! And we are so excited to watch you grow and learn during this coming year.

Belly Shot

By popular demand - here is a belly shot of growing Linnea! At about 35 weeks (a little over 5 weeks to go...or if she's like Owen and comes early, 4 weeks!) I'm measuring exactly the same as what I measured with Owen. In store for the weeks leading to her arrival: special quality time as a family of 3, celebrate Owen's 2nd birthday (April 30th) plus Easter & Mothers Day, finish setting up the nursery, take a hospital tour (since we'll be delivering at a different hospital than where we were with Owen), and decide on a name!

Garbage Man

Owen and I had a quiet morning with nothing on the agenda, and following his lead of what he thought would be fun, I had a wonderful opportunity to learn a sweet lesson from a toddler: slow down and enjoy the simple things. OK, so not a new or profound lesson, but one I find myself consistently working-on.

Recently I came across a quote that encapsulates this well: "Dear God, please give me your perspective that I might recognize the important and leave behind the insignificant".

The important can come in many packages, but as the mom of a young toddler I constantly find myself treasuring the simplicity of life through his eyes. I watch him in utter love and amazement as he discovers the world. I try to capture these moments in my mind - his little voice, his expressions, his curiosity, energy and enthusiasm. I know these days and ages are quickly fleeting (and onto new equally wonderful phases, no doubt), and with this awareness - I've now put that quote on a sticky-note on my computer to remind myself that "to do" items can often wait. Quality time with Owen is precious and not to be missed!

So - back to our morning today. Tuesday is garbage day, and Owen loves to watch out the window as the garbage man makes his way down the street. Thanks to a sunny start to the day (although cold - at 39 degrees!) I thought we should really go-for-it today. We bundled-up and headed outside to see the garbage man up close and personal. Owen loved it, and proceeded to follow the garbage man from house to house for several blocks. It was precious, and I found myself smiling as I observed him watching the garbage man and truck in amazement. I paused to appreciate those garbage men (and women) who are so critical to our community and often underappreciated no doubt!

Thank you, garbage man, for your hard work and for a reason to get outside early this morning and take a long slow walk with my toddler.