Chick-Fil-A Kids Night

The boys decided they wanted Chick-Fil-A for dinner tonight. We were just going to pick some up and bring it back home to eat, but Papaw decided to tag along, so we thought it would be fun to eat there. Turns out we picked an awesome night! They informed us that it was Kids Night. They provided a craft, painting cows, and gave the kids free ice cream! My kids had a great time! They even had a drawing and Jack actually won a box of twistable crayons and a cow! Thanks Chick-Fil-A, and thanks Papaw, for treating us to a great night! These pictures were all taken with my iPhone, so don't judge! ;)

Family Pictures

We recently had some family pictures taken by the talented Sara McDaniel, of Beloved Photography out of Belle, Missouri. She is a friend of our friend Devin, and was gracious enough to come down to Tulsa to photograph us and some of our church friends. Sara did a beautiful job! It's pretty hard to get decent shots of my "active" family, but I think they turned out pretty great! We also used this session as Evelyn's first birthday pictures. Here is a small sampling of some of my favorites.

Amazing, all three looking and smiling!

Goodness! Look at those chunky legs!

Happy Birthday, Evy!

My precious girl, you are truly the light of our life! Everytime I look at you, my heart flutters and I cannot help but think how blessed I am to have you! I adore you! You have brought so much joy to our family, at a time when it was so very needed! Thank you for letting me be your Mommy! I don't know what I would do without you. Happy 1st Birthday! I love you! P.S. You are growing up way too fast! ;)

Thanks, Sara McDaniel of Beloved Photography, for the beautiful pictures! Check her out!

One year ago...

July 7, 2009-It feels like just yesterday. We pulled up to the hospital at 8:00 am in nervous anticipation. Up the elevator we went, to the maternity floor where Sissy got us checked-in and settled into the room where we would spend the next few days. My c-section was scheduled for 10:00 am and I was so excited I could barely contain myself. In just a couple of hours, I would be meeting my baby girl! Family started filtering in as we axiously awaited our new baby's arrival! The boys were getting antsy and so was I, as all of those IV fluids ran through my body! The minutes went by and soon turned into hours. We learned that my doctor had been called to Ashley, the patient down the hall, to deliver her baby girl! Since my delivery was a c-section, I was just gonna have to wait! Finally, Evelyn was born at 11:50 am, to Aerosmith's "Pink," a perfectly fitting song! Sissy got to be in the OR for the whole thing and even got to "catch" Evy! How awesome is that?! Our precious girl weighed in at 6 lb 8 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Brandon left my side to be with her as the nurses cleaned her up and checked her out. Evelyn was having a little trouble breathing, so I only got a brief look at her before they wisked her away. I remember so clearly, though, how beautiful she was! Brandon exclaimed, "She's pink! She got my coloring!" Both of the boys came out practically with a tan, but not Evelyn! She was completely different: blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned!!! I kept joking, "Are you sure this is my baby?" Of course, she still resembled the boys. They are all so beautiful, if I do say so, but I am partial! Check out Kasey's blog for more on Evy's birth day! Here are a few more photos from Evelyn's birth.

A family of five! Proud big brothers!

Proud Grandparents and Sissy (aka Mommy #2) Meeting Nana and Papa Platt Some visitors

Happy Fourth of July!

As I write, I listen for the sounds of a screaming Jack... For some reason he has been waking up crying several times a night, for the past few nights. He has done this before, in fact, over and over it seems. My other two kiddos are wonderful sleepers; for that I am extremely thankful. Jack has been a different story. He usually ends up being my bed buddy. I don't mind it too much, since Daddy is at work most nights. Sometimes it can get pretty exhausting though... More on that some other time...

It has been forever since I last blogged. I hate it, but things are just so crazy busy right now. I'll try and do better. (I know, you've heard that before...)

Our fourth of July weekend was pretty good, even though it rained on our parade! We had a family cookout Saturday evening, which was supposed to be a swim party. It was still fun! The food was good and the company, even better! Sunday, we hung out at Mimi and Papaw's house most of the day. The boys got to do a few firecrackers (mostly snap pops) with Papaw and Alex. Then, Mommy took Evy home for bed and the boys watched the neighbors set off fireworks at the neighborhood block party! Here are a few pictures from the day.

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.