And the name is...

Well - to all three loyal readers out there who took a stab at the pronunciation of the name Daljuqela - here is what you have been dying to know.

The name is correctly pronunced Day-qwon-uh.  I don't really know how it works but I promise you - that is the correct pronunciation.  Shocking.  I know.

Daljuqela

With a new crop of Freshmen comes a new crop of names.  This name is by far the favorite this year: Daljuqela.  I like it because of the mystery that goes with it. It isn't exactly pronounced how it is spelled. Can you pronounce it?  I will give a $5 Amazon gift card to anyone who can pronounce it. Disclaimer:  If you already know this name please do not reveal it so that others can make guesses.

Please make your guesses in the comments below.

Brinley the big sister

Brinley has adjusted to being a big sister like a champ. She loves Elsie so much and is always willing to give her kisses and pat her head and of course touch her eyes.  With some of our attention elsewhere however, Brinley has found some creative ways to keep herself entertained.  She is now an expert at pulling all of the wipes out of any wipe container she can get her hands on, carrying an armful of diapers around the house, wiping diaper ointment all over her face and crib, and climbing to the top of anything she can.  She is just having fun being a toddler with a little more freedom then she is used to.  Here are some ways we have found her lately:

Wearing her dad's shoes, or anyone's shoes she can find.

Wearing her bowl as her hat

She was found swirling her hands and feet in the toilet.  Consequently she got to take a little bath in the sink.  I don't think that was much of a deterrent in keeping her from doing that again.

Climbing into the dryer.  She seriously loves this.  I now check the dryer when I turn it on.

Along with finding Brinley doing interesting things lately, I have found Brent doing a lot of very uninteresting things like this lately:

He works so hard I can hardly blame him.  Plus he is working at keeping the baby happy even while he's sleeping.

 Here's Brinley with her first piggy tails using all of her hair.  She loved them.  And so did I, as long as they lasted.

Brinley is the biggest sweetheart and has already learned to manipulate her parents.  Who could turn away this little face?

Elsie's newborn photos part 2

Elsie is already a month old.  Can you believe it?  Well you probably can but I can't.  She is growing up so fast already.  She even has a BYU football game already under her belt (or diaper?). We may or may not have brought her to the football game at Ole Miss last weekend.  Call us crazy but she loved it and so did we. A lot of Brent's family came in town for the game and to meet Elsie for the first time.  It was so good to have family in town. Now that they are gone I will no longer have someone else to take care of my kiddos for me.  Sad day.  They will be missed.

Now that I am way off topic,  here are more of the pictures we took of Elsie as a newborn.  Maybe one day I''ll post a current picture of her. Oh I love this girl. 

Elsie's newborn photos part 1

Elsie is now over 3 weeks old.  I can't believe it.  It is already going by so fast.  I want her to stay exactly the way she is right now.  But then I look at Brinley, and I feel the same about her.  I think I will always want them to stay how they are in each moment.  Ha.  Jokes on me.  They are both changing at a million miles an hour.  And I will always want them just how they are.

Anyway, when Brinley was born we had an awesome photographer take newborn pictures of her.  Unfortunately, Elsie was born in Mississippi. Photographers aren't exactly in abundance here like they are in Utah where everyone and their mom is a "photographer".  So since we couldn't find a good photographer to take newborn pictures, we decided to just take our own.  Here are some of the pictures we took!  I just love these girlies.

Of course here's our crazy Brin.  She definitely keeps us entertained

I have a few more pictures to post but I still have to sort through all the bad ones.  You know, for every good picture we take we probably take 10 bad ones.  Coming soon....

Elsie Marie Sheffield

We finally decided that Elsie's full name is:

Elsie Marie Sheffield

And.... We made it home from the hospital today!   As much as I LOVED the hospital, it is good to be home.  I love seeing how Brinley interacts with Elsie in her own environment.  Both girls have been champs.  Everything is just so much more peaceful at home. 

One thing that has been hard for me is not having any family here. I want them to meet her. I can't wait until some of our family members can make it here to Mississippi.  We have had some great friends help us with the transition and with watching Brinley though.  I am so thankful for them. Sorry for any picture overload, I just want everyone to get to see every side of her like we do since they can't see her in person!

Here are some pictures we snapped the day before Elsie was born.  Classic prego pictures.  I guess it's about time I gave up and let people see some pictures of me pregnant.

And of course, here's Elsie!

We had to compare and see how big Brin has gotten by putting her in Elsie's bassinett

I love baby feet

The three girls chillin in the hospital

Elsie has already changed so much in 2 days.  It's crazy how fast it all goes by.  All I want to do is soak it all in and relishes these moments with my little family.

Baby Elsie

Christa did it - baby Elsie is here!  We are so excited.  Mother and daughter are both healthy.

6 lbs 9 oz

19 inches

1:32 Central Time

It was a good experience.  Christa was induced early this morning here in the Greenville Regional Hospital.  She decided to use an epidural and received it in the late a.m.  Unfortunately for Christa, after the initial injection the epidural didn't work.  At all.  It did not offer her any pain relief.  The doctor had given the epidural and left the hospital so he couldn't re-administer the epidural.  Christa was in a lot of pain and the contractions sped up.  She was soon fully dilated and started pushing with the help of the nurses.  After she pushed for a little while the nurses called the Doctor to get him to come back.  Christa and Elsie weren't feeling very patient.  They waited for a little while for the doctor but eventually Elsie was born with the help with our nurse Autumn.  Who needs a doctor anyway?  Who needs an epidural?  Christa vows to never have a baby without (functional) pain medication again.  

My favorite quote of the day came from Christa.  She was well into the pushing process and was in a lot of pain.  As she was taking a rest between contractions/pushing she looked up at me and the nurse and said, "Can I eat after this because I AM HUNGRY!"  

We are so happy to have Elsie in the world with us.  Brinley has joined us at the hospital and we are happy to all be together.  Thank you for your love and prayers.

Brent, Christa, Brinley, & Elsie