Sounds like a movie star!

Olivia Kate. Isn't that a beautiful name?

I got a call yesterday in Philadelphia from Katie, during my little nap. Alexander and I spent some quality time in the middle of the night discussing that the sun goes to bed and the moon comes up, and we are not supposed to get up in the middle of the night, it is sleeping time. But I digress.

So. Back to the phone call. I was about to ask Katie to call me back later since I had just gone to sleep, when she said "hey mom my water broke! I am taking a shower, packing a bag, and heading over to the hospital with Rode" And that was the end of my nap.

I jumped in the shower, raced around Kelley and Brian's apartment packing my things and trying to rebook my flight that was scheduled for next Friday from Manchester. Thank heavens I booked on Southwest, they have a VERY liberal change policy.

In two hours, I was on a flight headed to Salt Lake City. Wow. I also told Katie to let the Dr. know she needed to have this baby after 10pm.

Heather and Denver picked me up and we raced up to Heber City. We arrived to Katie's room by 10:05 pm. She started pushing at 10:15 pm and...

Olivia Kate Pedersen was born at 11:30 pm weighing 7 lbs 14 oz. and 20 inches long on Tuesday July 29th, 2008.

There is no prouder papa.


There isn't a happier mama.

The beautiful family...

And I don't have a picture of the crowd, but this baby was given a proper greeting by important people-Grammie Kane (me), Nanny Pedersen (Rode's mom), Aunt Hezzie, Aunt Holly (Rode's sister), Mama Winterton (photographer) and dear friend Auntie Anita (Katie's beloved college roommate and our adopted daughter) and well of course, nurse Robyn and the Dr. along with...Daddy Rode. Poppie Pedersen and Uncle Denver (Hezzie's hubby) waited in the hall.

Momma Katie and Papa Rode are doing great, and love this beautiful baby girl movie star

OLIVIA KATE PEDERSEN

Drumroll, please....

And...she has a name! Baby girl Boston was finally given her official "printed on a birth certificate" name!

Are you ready?

Her name is...

Lillian Wyn Boston

Quite name for such a wee one, wouldn't you say? Here is the history:

Lillian is my mother's name. Kelley had quite a connection to my mom, her Grammie Small, since birth. We were living with my parents when she was born and my mom was right there through thick and thin the first six months of Kelley's life. Their special relationship continued until my mom passed away when Kelley was still a young girl.

Wyn is a name given in honor of Larry's Dad: Roger Elwyn Kane. Dad passed away this last Saturday, one day before Lillian was born. Lillian's great-grampie Roger Elwyn's funeral was today, the day she was given this special name. Also, her Grampie (Buddy's) name is Larish Elwyn Kane, so she is named after both her Grampie and her Great Grampie.

And the funny part is this: if you look at her initial of her first name it is L. "L. Wyn". Get it? Named after Elwyn. Brian figured that out after she was named. Cool, huh?

And her official name by which she shall be called by all who speak to her? Lil. (Or Ian-Alexander has a little problem with all those L's in her name). Those are the only nicknames allowed. Got it?

And you know me, the rebellious granny. I shall probably call her Wynnie. But don't tell Kelley!

For pictures of one of the two most beautiful granddaughters in the whole wide world, check out Kelley and Brian's blog: brianslittlefamily.blogspot.com. Well, the most beautiful one right now, but in two weeks...well you know, then she will have some competition for that title.

She's here!

Baby Girl Boston was born last night, July 20 at 11:21 pm. She is BEAUTIFUL. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and is 21 1/2 inches long. In my opinion she looks a lot like Alexander, just with petite little girl features like her ears, her fingers, her little face.
SHE doesn't have a name yet, but I am sure I will have a name to go with pictures as soon as I can use Brian's computer with the pics on it.
Mom is doing fine, this was an entirely different birth than the last. She loves this hospital and is getting great care. She did end up with a C section but she gave it her best shot. Kelley's babies just like to get turned around in there and then don't want to come out! AND, Nursing the baby is going great so far.
So, before I start giving vital statistics and gruesome details, I will close - keep watching for the pics soon to come!

No baby yet!

Well as babies go none in this family ever seem to be in a hurry to get out into the real world. They are content to ride around inside mom, so we are still waiting. Kelley is ready ready ready. I will keep you posted! Their internet connection is not so great, so I am at the library posting. I promise to keep you updated as we know more!

Pizza!

Here is the recipe for the BEST homemade pizza sauce:

1 (6oz.) can tomato paste
6 fluid oz. warm water
3 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp. honey
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Mix this all together stirring to break up any clumps. Let it sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors. This will do a couple of pizzas easily.

Now I left out the anchovy paste, but you can add 1 tsp of that if you would like. I also didn't use the cayenne pepper cause I didn't have any in the house. The honey offsets the heat so it is a nice balance.

I give this one 5 stars.

Three Beautiful Dresses

I've been watching wedding videos over at Denver's blog and it got me thinking about the three beautiful dresses my daughters wore on their wedding day.

I had been dreaming of the day I could go help my girls choose a wedding dress for their special day. But they had different plans. Kelley wanted something that didn't exist, so we turned to our good friend Linda Chaston who has made wedding dresses/prom dresses etc for just about every special occasion for the girls in the Somersworth Ward (and beyond, I am sure!) Linda was waiting in the wings and as soon as the wedding was announced she was happy to meet with Kelley and come up with a plan. Of course not only did this dress not exist, but no pattern existed. With sketches from Kelley and a couple of fittings, Linda made the dress of Kelley's dreams. It was perfect and fit Kelley's personality to a T.
Kelley and Brian were married in the Manti Temple and she wanted a tea length dress with a fitted bodice, an overlay of tulle and a split neckline. She was very specific of how it should look, and the end result was exactly what she wanted. I think this dress is as beautiful as the bride !

Katie also wanted a very specific dress, made of very specific fabric (shantung?) in a very specific style. Of course this dress didn't exist either, but Katie was in Utah, Linda was in New Hampshire, and I was pulling my hair out because the wedding was weeks away and still...no dress. Anthony's mom Brooke came to the rescue! She offered to make Katie's dress! I was nervous at first, I hadn't even met Brooke and asked Katie if she had seen anything Brooke had sewn. She hadn't because Brooke hadn't sewn in years! All my worries were for not - because Katie's dress was gorgeous too. Brooke spend many hours on this beauty, and she should be very proud. I was blown away when I finally got to see Katie in the dress of her dreams.

Don't you think this dress just screams Katie? She looked stunning. Again, it fits her personality to a T. Katie made her momma very happy when she and Anthony were married in the Boston Temple!


Finally, with Heather I got my wedding dress shopping trip. Heather also had a very specific wedding dress in mind, and I was not really thrilled with the choice she proposed. I encouraged her to try on an array of dresses to find the one that was perfect for her. There was one in particular that I spied that she adamantly refused to try on because of, well, because it was downright ugly. I insisted she try it anyway. It had an atrocious sash with a gaudy costumey bejeweled thing where the sash gathered in an awkward way. She put it on and stood glumly looking in the mirror. It was not a dream dress. But all was not lost. We grabbed a yellow sash, covered the ugly sash with the jewels and VOILA! A whole new dress appeared. Heather tried on about 50 more dresses and put this dress on between each one! By the time we were down to making a final decision Heather had quite an audience. Me, Dad, Katie, Cheylena, Mama and Papa Winterton. We knew we had a winner. A little sash modification and Heather had her dream dress.
I just wish I had remembered to iron the sash on her wedding day at the Manti Temple. Oh well.
We got it ironed for the reception in Utah, and for the reception in NH as shown here. Even after a wedding and two receptions - the dress stilled looked great and you can tell Heather still loves the dress. It has a beautiful lace overlay (look at that beautiful hemline) and a fuller skirt. Look at her twirl. She was beautiful, and again, don't you think the dress fits her to a T? (Sorry Heather that there are no face shots of you and Denver!!)Well, in another 20+ years, we can start this wedding dress shopping thing all over again, with the granddaughters!