Going to the hospital...

July 7, 2009

So here are our thoughts from the day of Evelyn's arrival...

Well today is the big day! Today, our life will change forever, yet again. We will go from a family of four (3 boys:1 girl) to a family of five (3 boys:2 girls)! I am so excited to welcome my daughter into the world! I can't wait to experience all of the girly stuff!!! I'm also a little nervous, since she will be born via c-section; my other two went so well, I hope I'm just as lucky this time. Brandon is a nervous wreck! For a big, tough police officer, he sure is bothered by the whole birthing experience! He keeps telling me that I better not die in surgery (yeah, I know, morbid...) because there is no way he could raise our children without me...I'll take that as a complement! I'm really not that worried though; I'm in God's able hands and I'm pretty sure that my work on Earth is nowhere near done...

Here's how I looked-Last shot of the big belly!!!
Here's how Brandon looked
Looking strangely peaceful during the c-section (Must have been the meds!)

My Church Baby Shower

June 14, 2009

My sweet church friends threw me a precious baby shower. Everything was very vintage and girly! They did a great job and I am thankful for each one of them. I got a lot of great stuff for Evelyn, whose name we finally settled on just days before (with much reluctance from Brandon). I can't believe how much trouble I had picking a name for my baby girl! When I was pregnant with the boys, all I could come up with were girl names! Here are a few of the names on my list. Looking back, I am SO HAPPY with the name we chose! It's the perfect mix of old and new! We came really close to using Stella Ruth, but I'm glad we went with Evelyn Reese instead!

Evelyn Reese

Stella

Ruth

Sophia

Piper

Audrey

Harper

Ava

Isobel

Eleanor

Stella Ruth

Stella Grace

Evelyn Grace

Evelyn Rose

Evelyn Poppy

Evelyn Ivy

Evelyn Maddy

Evelyn Sophia

The sign-in table
The cake tableMe and my hostesses. Such a precious group of women! I am blessed to know them!
The only decent picture of me opening my gifts (thanks Kasey)!

This is what my hostesses got me: my bouncer, some really cute burpies that coordinate with Evy's room, a birdie onesie, and a sweet covered wipes case that matches as well (not pictured)! The burpies are from Lilacs&Lollipops and the onesie and wipes case is from ModTotSpot.

Bad morning...

I just have to whine a bit about my embarrassing morning. Brady had yet another meltdown at preschool. For those of you who do not know, Brady has been having issues with preschool lately. He does not want to go. We think it's because he doesn't want to use the bathroom at school. He is pretty much completely potty trained now---goes in the potty all of the time now, except for at night. He will not use the school bathroom, though! I tried something new, taking him inside and staying with him for a few minutes. I tried to take him in the bathroom to use it and wash his hands, thinking he wouldn't be afraid if I showed him it was fine. He just screamed and cried the whole time! It was really embarrassing! I feel so sorry for him that he is having trouble with this, but at the same time, I am so frustrated that he is acting so ridiculously! He has not been my sweet little boy lately. I don't know what is up with him!



So, on my way home, I stop by Starbucks for a coffee. As I'm ordering, I'm looking through my wallet for my card---which is not there! I had nothing, no card and not a single dollar! Somebody had been messing with my wallet again, the hubby or perhaps one of the boys! So, I tell the guy to cancel my order and he tells me not to worry about it! "We already started making it so we've got 'ya this time." Can you believe that?! I was so embarrassed! I told him I would be back later to pay...

On a side note, this is the lovely view of our back yard now...

Don't you just love it?! I think that building is seriously like 5 feet from our fence! There's a window, so I'm wondering if someone will be living up there. It seems like an infringement on our privacy to me! I mean, they will be able to see right into our windows! Wonder how they got that permitted?????

Last Day of Preschool/Program

May 21, 2009

Brady's last day of preschool was a short one, followed by the end of the year program. All of the family who could, came. It was so adorable! The theme was "Monkeying Around". They all entered to The Lion King's "Circle of Life" and sang all kinds of cute animal songs! Brady did such a great job! He was so cute up there singing and doing all of his motions---I laughed; I cried. It was awesome to see how far he had come! The begining of the year was full of tears, his and mine. He grew into such a big boy this year and I am so proud of him! His teachers sent home a sweet memory book filled with pictures from the year. Of course, I cried when I read that too! I was kinda far away from the stage, so unfortunately, the pictures didn't really turn out...

Brady's first day of preschool

Brady's last day of preschool

Brady and a very pregnant Mommy

Easter 2009

We didn't get to do everything Mommy had planned, but it wasn't too bad. On Saturday, Brady went to a friend's birthday party and they had a pirate treasure "egg" hunt. We had a mini egg hunt at our house later that evening. Of course, it was cold...What kind of Oklahoma Easter would it be if it wasn't cold??? Poor Jack was sick too. Fun!

Hunting eggs

Digging into the Easter baskets

YUM! Candy is my favorite!

Mine too!

Our little family

Happy 30th Birthday, Daddy!

Okay, you'll have to bare with me...I have so many posts to catch up on...

April 3, 2009

Brandon turned 30 this year. He was stoked! He decided he didn't want a big party or anything, so we had a small family gathering instead! I made him a yellow cake with fudge icing and we had dinner at his parents. YUM! I could go for some of that cake right now! Here are a few pictures...

Brandon and the boys

Blowing out the candles...I was nice and just used a 3 and a 0...or maybe just lazy...

Brandon and his parents

Three generations of Teners

You can't really tell in this picture, but I'm 7 months pregnant! LOVELY!

Almost Back

Hi everyone! I've recently been inspired by some other busy mommies who have blogs. They do such a great job keeping up with their blogs. I figure if they can do it I can do it too! So anyway, I'm working on a new look for my blog and I've got some other ideas in the making. Hint: it has something to do with my favorite site on the internet! I also have SO MUCH to write about: this past spring and summer, the birth of my daughter, my hubby's new schedule, and of course, all of the crazy things that go on daily around this household! I'll be back soon, so check back frequently! (This post is dedicated to Mom and Kasey who are sometimes bored at work and need something to read!!! Love you!)

Greening Up

I just wanted to let everyone know of a new blog I started. It's called Greening Up and, in it, I plan to write reviews on all of the natural and organic products I've tried over the past few years (since there are probably hundreds!). Bookmark it and tell anyone who you think might be interested to check it out. I don't want to go to all of the trouble and have no one read it! :( It's still in the preliminary stages, but hopefully I'll get some reviews up soon. Thanks. Hope you enjoy!

She's still a girl...

I had another Dr appt today and, to my relief, the doctor said my baby is definitely a girl! I am thrilled! Everything looked perfect and she is measuring right on, give or take a week! It looks like the prospective c-section date will be July 7, 2009. Sounds good to me---7 is my favorite number! ;)

I woke up a little early this morning and came downstairs to check the weather before taking a bath. I hear this THUMP THUMP THUMP and look over at the stairs, where I see Brady tromping down! Now, this is odd because he is still in a crib and has never even attempted to get out---until today! I said "Brady, how did you get out of your bed?" Then, he proceeds to tell me this long, cute story of how he climbed out of his bed, gestures included! I guess it's FINALLY time to get him in a big boy bed! UGH, no more leaving him in his crib while I get dressed!!! Oh well, I knew the day would come one of these days. I bet this is going to complicate nap time for sure!

So, since I hadn't gotten my bath yet, I gave Brady a Nutrigrain bar (grainbar, as he calls them) and told him to be a good boy and watch TV for a few minutes while I'm upstairs. Well, several minutes later, of course, he waltzes into my bathroom saying "Mommy, baby Jackie awake." Then, he notices my c-section scar and says "Mommy, what's that thing?" I told him it's where the doctor took him and Jack out of my belly and where our new baby was going to come out. Later, he tells me he has a scar too and lifts up his shirt (to reveal nothing, that I saw). After all, he has a baby sister is his tummy too, as he's always telling me!

Another Brady quickie...He's been doing really well with potty-training lately (YAY), but goes---seriously---every 10 minutes or so (BOO)! I let him go by himself most of the time, unless he needs to poopoo. Anyway, he comes out of the bathroom, rubbing his hands with sanitizer, saying his mouth hurts. I look, and sure enough, it's cut. I'm asking him what happened, trying to dab it with a tissue, and he starts bawling. He tells me he needs medicine to make it feel better, so I finally give him a gummy vitamin. ;) We get him calmed down and he goes to bed. The next morning, his upper lip is all scratched and scabbed. He says "Mommy, my mouth hurt." I'm like, "I know, how did you do that?" He tells me, "I show you" and then goes into the bathroom. I look over and he's coming out with Brandon's razor!!!! Apparently, he had tried to shave!!! I said a little prayer that he hadn't been hurt even worse and promptly put the razor in the cabinet over the toilet. Yikes, that could have been bad!

Back to normal!

We found out today that, tomorrow, Brandon gets to go back to dayshift!!! I am thrilled to get to be a "normal" family again! The evening shift just wasn't working out for us. It was really starting to wear me down, especially now being pregnant. It's going to be so nice having Daddy at home in the evenings to help tame the monsters! Next fall, Brandon is hoping to get back on the streets where all of the action happens! We're praying he'll be able to get Sundays off so he will still be able to go to church in the morning. It's a bit of a stretch, but hopefully everything will work out in our favor!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Here are a few of our Valentine's week photos.

My 3 loves

Brady and his 2 loves, his precious babies!!!

Brady and Jack, decked out in red and looking oh so brotherly!

Me and my boys

Brady's preschool class Valentine's Day party. Notice how everyone is wearing red and pink---except Brady, who's mommy dressed him in blue! What a dorky mom! Oh well, at least he stands out in the crowd!

Honeybee class

CHEESE Mommy!

Photo tag

Devin tagged me to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder on my computer. Apparently I haven't had this laptop that long, because this photo is only from last July. It's a picture of my chunky monkey, Jack, playing in his exersaucer. Boy, I wish I could still put him in that! It sure would be handy now and then! I'm sure Brady would be relieved that it wasn't the picture before this one, since that was of him on the potty! Anyway, here Jack is at about 9 months old!

I don't have very many bloggers that follow mine, and these two haven't been on in a while, but I hope they accept the tag...I tag Carrie and Nadia.

The doctor says...

Well, I went to the doctor today and he says he's 99% sure I'm having a GIRL!!! I still am having a hard time believing it! You see, Brandon's side of the family is very boy-heavy and, as I've read, he determines the sex. After having already had two boys, I figured I was just destined to be a mama of boys. Right now, I find myself feeling really guarded. I want to jump up and down and start buying everything pink in sight but I'm still in disbelief. Could it really be true? I sure hope so! I keep telling myself it is still a little early. After all, I'm only 17 weeks. Although, I was looking at some of the boys' ultrasound pictures from the same time and they do look quite different than this baby's. One of them actually had boy parts pointed out at 14 weeks. Anyway, I'm crazy excited about the prospect a having a sweet little girl! Phew, I'm just glad to know something already! The suspense was killing me! I hardly slept a wink last night because I was so nervous! I should sleep like a rock tonight!

I know it's been a while...

It's been so long since my last blog. I figure, I better explain a little why. For any who still may not know, Brandon and I are expecting another baby!!! The official due date is July 12, 2009. In all honesty, I was a teeny bit freaked out by the prospect at first. My thought was to space our next child out a little more, since Brady and Jack are 22 months apart. I figured a 3 year gap would be perfect. Well, God had other plans for us! If all goes as expected, the age difference between this baby and Jack will be 21 months! We are so excited and can't wait to welcome another teeny Tener into the household! I know it's going to be challenging (to say the least) taking care of three children under the age of 4, but I know we can do it.

So, along with all of the excitment has come an enormous amount of exhaustion! As some of you may know, my body doesn't quite handle pregnancy as well as I would like. I am such a gripey pregnant woman! I never quite feel good. The first trimester has been full of nausea, horrible sensitvity to smell, lack of appetite and, of course, an unceasing tiredness. All of these symptoms have been worse in the evening, unfortunately, which is when Brandon is at work. So, it's been quite difficult, to say the least, dealing with these things and taking care of a "vibrant" aka defiant 3-year-old and a 1-year-old who is into everything! I just haven't had the strength to write lately. When it comes down to sleeping or blogging, I choose sleeping every time! Plus, it hasn't helped that all of this came during the absolute most hectic time of year, the holidays! (I will have to talk about all of that in a future post...this year seriously lacked in holiday cheer...) I truly can't complain too much, though. I haven't been nearly as sick with this pregnancy as I was with my other two (We're talking mega pukefests). I'm hoping, crossing every finger and toe, and praying like crazy that this might mean I'm finally going to get my girl this time! Don't get me wrong, I do LOVE my sweet boys more than life!

Stay tuned...I find out the sex of the baby on Monday, if the little stinker cooperates!

Hopefully, now that I'm feeling a little better I will be able to keep up a little better! After all there's something new to blog about every day!