Flashback Friday

Tomorrow is little man Cru's second birthday! Wow, where has the time gone?! And where has my mind gone? To say this little guy "challenges" us each and every day is an understatement. But honestly our family wouldn't be what it is today without his sweet smiles, contagious giggles, and all his melt-your-heart little boy goodness (and orneriness!).

Here's a little flashback of the past two tears.


Just a couple hours old.


Going home from the hospital.


4 months


6 months


First Halloween


9 months


First Christmas


Happy 1st Birthday!


18 months







We love you, Bubby! Hope you have a great day tomorrow!

Not a lot going on just some random pics

Everlee hasn't wore many hairbows since we haven't been out much, so I'll just randomly put ones on her when I'm changing her. Sometimes she doesn't mind....



other times she just aint havin' it!





Doesn't get much better than this!

A couple of firsts, one week, and wishing you a happy weekend

Something as simple as a first sponge bath at home can be so devastating to one person yet so intriguing to others.







First time slingin' it.





Everlee's one week check up turned into three hours of waiting on Mommy's blood work and calls to other doctors.



One week stats:
7 lbs 15 oz (50%)
21 inches (90%)

We hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Everlee Brooke's Surprise Birthday

This pregnancy was a little boring, so less than 24 hours before baby #3's scheduled birthday, we decided to spice things up!

Saturday, two days before baby was scheduled to be here, I cleaned, finished up laundry, and even made time for a pedicure. All that was left was the last minute stuff I was going to finish up Sunday evening....or so I thought.

It was Sunday and we were getting ready for church and about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave, I got a severe pain in my right side. It lasted probably a good 10 minutes. I still felt uncomfortable, but we headed to church anyways. I was uncomfortable all through church, especially when Cru insisted I hold him most of the time. But I managed.

After church, before heading home, we had to stop by my parent's house to pick up some food for the Super Bowl, which was that evening. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece were all coming over to watch it. As we were driving, my pain intensified again. I was barely able to walk in my parent's house and warned my mom that we may be putting a call into the hospital. We pulled out of their drive and were barely a block away when Chet turned around. The pain was so bad, I was in tears at this point.

We brought the kids back to my parent's house and called the hospital. They immediately put a call into the doctor who was doing my c-section, and after talking to her (who was afraid my uterus was tearing), we headed right to the hospital.

They hooked me up to the monitors. Baby was great, and I was having contractions, but nothing I really felt. They checked me for a kidney stone, which was negative. Then they did a sonogram and discovered inflamed bowel; my crohns was flared up. Something that never crossed my mind.

At this point, my other doctor told me that we'd be doing the c-section in about 30-40 minutes! Emotions were really running high now. The surgeon who did all my previous surgeries for my crohns was called in; they weren't sure what they were going to find. Three doctors during this process.

And just to note, by this point, I thought for sure it was a boy - born on Super Bowl Sunday, plus the boy middle name we had picked out was named after my surgeon who was now in attendance.

Both of our families were now at the hospital, and as they took me down to surgery, they all stayed back and made their predictions.



Chet watched as they pulled her out, and he said for sure he thought it was another boy because she looked so much like Cru. He said he kept waiting to see a little wienie, but then all of a sudden, they said, "IT'S A SISTER!"



I wasn't totally shocked it was a girl. Reese called it a she all the time, so I found myself calling it a she, and even when I tried to correct myself, it still just felt like a girl. All of you who voted girl on the poll, way to go!

Chet checked on her, "10 fingers and 10 toes." She was perfect!







After meeting her, they took her upstairs for examination, measurements, and a bath.









And while everyone was having fun upstairs, I was still in the OR, where they did a thorough exam of my bowel before finally stitching me up.

I was afraid with all of my complications and Everlee being a little jaundice, we'd have a longer hospital stay, but thankfully we were only there the anticipated three days.







On Wednesday, February 9, we finally headed home.....



in 14 inches of snow.....



where it was time to begin this crazy journey as a family of five!

Homecoming Princess

Reese has always been our little princess, but recently she was asked to be a real princess, the high school homecoming princess. At least we consider that real, and definitely did not use it as a bribery over the past few weeks.

Anyways.

Before walking at the basketball game, the whole royalty participated in an assembly at the school. It was scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 8, but due to the blizzard that hit us, it was rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 10, which meant I got to go! I just left the hospital the day before, but there was no way I was missing this....what we do for our kids.



At first, Reese was her usual self - quiet, shy, not a willing participant. However, as soon I stepped out of the picture, all was good; she's a very good listener when someone else is telling her what to do. And it also helped that Aunt Casyn was by her side the whole time.



Although I started getting worried because she wasn't wanting to let go of Casyn....


(See the little prince on the far left of the pic.....yeah, he wasn't a willing participant either :))

But Reese soon stepped up her game, and did it all by herself.






(No prince)

This was our first outing as a family of five....





couldn't have went better.

Fast forward to the following night. We needed to be at the gym at 7, and I realized around 5:30 that Reese had a fever. At this point, she started getting really grouchy. Aunt Cheyna came over to fix her hair, and Reese was nothing but rude. I forced some Tylenol down her throat, and off we went. Oh wait, first we almost forgot the dress.

I got Reese and her little prince, Owen, Spongebob balloons since that was both their favorite show, which seemed to cheer her up.

She got ready in the bathroom, where all the other girls were at, which seemed to help as well.



We didn't have long to wait until half time, but long enough that Reese started complaining that her tummy hurt. Oh please God, don't puke in public!

Reese, Casyn, and myself headed down to the tunnel to wait, and she was not having any of it. She was grouchy and whiny and her dress was itchy and kept saying she wasn't going to do it. She didn't even want to hold the queen's tiara! Casyn and I tried everything.



Finally, Grandpa to the rescue!



All he had to promise her was pancakes at McDonald's and anything she wanted from Walmart! She was like a completely different person after that. Thank you, Grandpa!

Then she started dancing, laughing, showing off the sparkly tiara, and was ready to go. Owen, on the other hand, wasn't. So, just like at the assembly, Owen's mommy had to participate as well.



Reese did awesome! I was overcome with emotion watching her walk out there.

And then as she's walking out to center court in this huge gym, I hear, "Reesey, Reesey." I look up in the stands, and there's Cru face plastered to the rail yelling at his Sissy. I really was a mess then.

Reese answered questions a couple weeks ago, which they read the answers to:
What is your favorite color - blue
What is your favorite food - Chinese
What is your favorite TV show - Spongebob
What do you want to be when you grow up - a basketball player like my Aunt Casyn



She did great! Every princess has a little drama, right? And she got a real tiara, ice cream after the game, pancakes the next morning, and a bridal Barbie out of the deal.



We are all so proud of you, Reesey!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!