they say I am superwoman!!

those were the comments left on my face book page after I posted my status of
"heading to the pool and attempting it with three!!"
I have to say , I was a little unsure of it too.... and prior to having Beckham, was pretty sure I wouldn't be at the pool again this summer..... well, I was sick of being white. My tan that I had gotten the weeks prior to giving birth has faded, and well.. I was also sick of being at home.
The parks have too much space to chase after Tatum, and the stores have too many things that I have no will power to keep from buying. And since we have new car tags and Brigham's bday party to pay for this weekend.. I opted for attempting the pool..

Here is my little diva. She loves her sparkly shoes. I kinda wish they made them in my size too.

and I am pretty glad that they don't make this pink leopard bikini in my size. That would just be wrong. but it is so dang cute on this little thing. Unless you see her blue(because I was too cheap to go buy girl swim diapers and we had leftover ones from Brig in the closet) peeking out of her suit! ok, who am I kidding.. it is still pretty cute!

she loves, loves, loves to be in the "babee pool"

and he doesn't mind either. we had the whole pool to ourselves for the most part until a mom that I knew from a couple years ago came in with her triplets. its amazing how the noise level increases and the water level in the pool decreases with the addition of 3 kids!! but mine had a blast...

and Brig-man with his magic glasses. Can't remember if I blogged about the fact that his first day of swimming lessons, he wouldn't put his face in the water.. then we went swimming with a friend who had goggles, and he tried them, and he was like a whole new kid. From then, on, he was diving to the bottom for rings, and dunking his head under all the time. So the goggles gave him the confidence he needed. totally doing a scrap page about this.. see why I need that die cut Heather?

so basically our 3 hour pool trip went very well. SUPER EASY with THREE. I couldn't believe how smoothly it went.. in part because the baby slept the whole time. Ok, except when we were loading the car and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to fold up the mega double stroller!! Andrew always does it. I felt ridiculous trying all these things and it wouldn't budge. Finally got it, so I didn't have to fit it down the middle of the van! LOL

I don't think I have super powers.. heck.. anymore than any other mom out there.. don't we all get them?

and I'll leave you with a pic of my crazy kid from VBS this week. Our church has been holding Knight at the Museum this week, and it has been tons of fun! I was asked to take candids each night, and also the big group picture. It has been tons of fun, and I have even gotten some business out of it too. gotta finish editing all of them tonight so we can put a slide show together to play on Sunday during church. FUn stuff.

oh! and thanks for the help on the birth announcements! I totally loved them all. Andrew liked number 1 the best, so I think I am actually going to send out two different ones , just cuz I can't decide... and for anyone who wanted to know, they were done in PS. CS4.

have a great night!~

a look at the tag can boost one's ego!

Since having Beckham, I have lost all the baby weight gained, and for some reason seem to be on track for losing another 1-2 pounds a day in the last week or so.

The weight came off much faster (in two weeks!!) than it did after having Tatum(about 2 months) and much, much faster than after having Brigham (um.. about 6months.. yikes!).

So I have been back in my old clothes and feeling great! My jean capris are even big on me right now!! I am getting lots of compliments from people... like.. "did you really just have a baby 3 weeks ago?".. and I even got a high five from a friend last night, who noticed I was in my old capris!

My husband is constantly telling me how skinny I am. Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say "skinny".. but it does feel great to hear him say that, since he watched me balloon up and I was so self conscious of my every growing belly, hips, arms, face. etc!! !

Nursing must be doing the trick. and I guess I just don't eat much more. although I have definitely been helping replenish my calcium intake by these nice little Ben and Jerry's pints, that I have been consuming on a every other day basis!!.

seriously, it is addicting!

So here is where the tag thing comes in.... been able to get back into my old.. or shall we say "pre pregnancy" underwear.. but lately the little boy shorts that I have been selecting have been rather big. I couldn't figure out why they were fitting so poorly, until I looked at the tag last night.

"motherhood maternity" right there on the tag.

Hallelujah!!

lets take a vote!

ok, blog readers... I need your help.

worked up three different birth announcements of our little guy and now I can't decide which one to send out! so leave me a comment and let me know your vote!! =)

#1

#2

(this one was designed by my friend Farrah)

#3



or if you see some pictures from my previous post that you would like to see put in one of the above, or switched up a bit.. suggest that too =)
thanks for playin'!!!

Foto Friday

its newborn baby mania!!
gosh, its such a problem to have a squishy babe just willing and able to be a model for me =) these are some of my favorites taken at five days old, one week, and the last two are from his two week photo session.
He is three weeks old today! gotta , get his session done this afternoon or tomorrow. I am really hoping that some adorable little props that I ordered from ETSY arrive on my doorstep today too!

Beckham is such a good baby. He sleeps, eats and POOPs like a champ. seriously, we are going thru swaddlers and wipes like crazy!!His day is spent sleeping on the couch or tucked in the boppy. He seems to really like being propped up.He is getting plenty of hugs and kisses from big brother and sister. And little mommy, is wanting to be quite the helper!.. walked into the room the other day(heard some escalating whimpering) and found little Miss holding him by the head(he had been sleeping on the couch prior to the whimpering) with one hand and holding his blanket in the other as she tried to put him in his car seat that was sitting on the floor! My heart skipped a beat, but I saw the tenderness in her face, as she genuinely thought she was helping the little one. My guess is that she had picked him up off the couch, and then in walking across the room to the baby seat and blanket, he started slipping. she did get a swat. poor thing.Gotta keep on my toes from now on! His eating schedule is doing ok , but I wish he would space out his night time feedings. Unlike his 4-5 hour stretches in daytime, he keeps me up every two hours like clock work.

Andrew does the first night feeding so, at least I get a pretty good stretch of sleep to start... that is if I can get myself to bed before midnight!

I got lazy on a few of them and didn't copyright them. I'll be posting some of these over on my Photography site too. By the way.. don't forget to keep checking over there for new updates. I am starting to get back into the swing of things since having Beck.. with some kid sessions as well as high school seniors. I am really anxious to start photographing seniors this fall, so if you know of anyone that age, please send them my way!

Love this one. Ahhhh. the innocence of a newborn! and so amazing to see the handy work of our creator in this precious face.

I also have been working on some birth announcements. Got one more to finish up, and then I'll post them for a vote. I just can't decide which ones I want to order and send out to people.

I wish I could send 10 different ones.

should finish that up this afternoon during naps.

ok, so that concludes your foto Friday!

hope you enjoyed it! have a great weekend~

who says a baby slows you down?

if you know me at all, then you know I don't slow down for much.

As my husband said over the weekend.. "most people go out one or two times a week.. not us, we are only HOME, maybe one or two times a week!! ".

yep. seriously. I love to be on the go, and have a full schedule. I love to be out and about.

with the addition of little Beckham, we haven't really even taken time to breathe.. that is what the hospital stay was for right?

and even then, I couldn't really just 'sit' in the bed.

We have been blessed with this baby, as we were in the past with wonderful people bringing us meals. I honestly feel a bit guilty, when I open the door, and people say , "gosh , you look so good!".

and I have had so many people in disbelief that we have been out on the town so soon after having a baby.

what did they expect me to be all disheveled and spending the day in jammies, with out my hair combed?

actually, if I looked like that, and the house was a mess, I think I would feel better about people bringing us dinner.. b/c I'd fee like I truly needed the help.

does that make sense?

That is just not me. I like to have my hair and make up done, and I am loving that I can wear all my pre pregnancy clothes ! I have lost the 34 pounds that I gained and then some because of nursing. *fastest weight loss plan out there.. lol and very good for the self esteem!*

All the water retained thru delivery is gone, and I am feeling great! It could be an unfortunate thing that I bounce back within hours really, of giving birth. It kinda makes me want to do it again.. (and soon =)...

Anyway, I had to realize that people want to serve us, during this time, and that I need to learn to "let" them do so.

After all, I love doing these kinds of things for others, so I guess, I oughta sit back and accept help from others.

and if people's motives are genuine , then it is a extension of the church community showing love to one another. so I am learning to "accept help and kindness and gifts from people" .. something I am not good at doing.

and it has been nice not to have the prep and clean up work that comes with cooking. its enabled us to have more family time .

not to mention, we have had some amazing dishes, that I hope to get the recipes for =)

so in our little guy's 16 days of life:

we have taken nightly walks.

gone for ice cream

gone out to eat several times and getting the routine down fairly easily

we've taken several trips to the local zoo, and one trip on Brig's bday to the Indianapolis zoo.

(I'll do a post about that later!) we went to Don Pablo's with grandpa and uncle monkey
for Brigham's birthday celebration #1

some one liked wearing a big hat.




finished up swimming lessons. though mommy missed the last day due to having Beckham.
grandma subbed in that day.

and we've been going to the parks

and riding in saddles

(texas roadhouse for Brig's bday dinner #2)

and swimming in the back yard

and being cute

and playing in the garden

and we've been shopping..

Beckham has joined the ranks of the other kids at being lugged thru Hobby Lobby and Target.

I started re organizing my scrap space over the weekend, and so I had to go get more albums, so I can actually put the pages (that are covered with inches of dust.. lol) away.

I am really getting the itch to start scrapping and I just can't do it with all the chaos that is on my table!

We've also made a couple trips to the mall, so that I could score some good deals for Miss Tatum for next summer. I always like to buy her dresses ahead.. since there is so much available to buy for her, gotta get the deals when I can!
(so at least I can kinda justify it to Andrew!)

I think God knew what he was doing when he blessed us with another boy. he knew our bank acct could not afford another girl =P

Oh, and Beck had his first night away(ok, really just about 3 hours!)... last Thursday, Andrew and I went to see a friend's band play at this cool patio bar, and well, we just didn't feel right taking the babe. so he joined brother and sister for play time at grandmas. however, the report was that he never woke up once!

actually, that is what makes it so easy to do all the above mentioned outings with a 16 day old.. he is a fantastic sleeper!!

we are really lucky.

Baby Beckham also has endured a five day, one week and two week photo session.

I almost have all the edits done, and will post them.

He had his 2 wk dr. appt yesterday, and tipped the scales at 8 lbs 12 oz.

so he basically has gained 10 oz since birth. and gained a 1/4 inch in length.

we are still soaking up every adorable minute we have with this little one.. while he stays little!!

because as soon as the mobile stage is upon us, we may just be staying put a little longer!!

my first born turns FIVE!!!!!

his birth picture taken on the day we left the hospital
one years old

two years old

three years old

four years old

my big FIVE year old !!!

His birthday was Monday, July 13. We are kinda stretching the celebration, so guess its ok, that I didn't blog on his actual day. sorry dude.

We went to Tropicanoe Cove, a local water park on Sunday afternoon with grandpa. It was super cold water, but the kids loved it. Beckham slept the entire time, which made it easy for Andrew and I to swap bigger kid duty in the pool. The birthday boy had a blast... and was in tears when it was time to go.

We went on to meet my brother, aka, Uncle Monkey at Don Pablos for dinner. Brigham was super excited to get the attention with the Big Hat!! I was excited for the fried ice cream =)

Monday we got up and drove to Indianapolis to the Zoo. It was a perfect day, not too hot, and there was even a breeze. Again, baby brother Beck, slept thru the entire trip. He's gotten quite good at sleeping thru big outings. In case you haven't noticed.. we don't stop life when we have a baby. They just adapt to our lives.. which are usually quite busy! LOL

We finished off the day with a dinner at Brigham's requested desire to get in the saddle again.. so we went to TX Roadhouse! Grandma and uncle monkey met us again and we had a great time. The kiddos were pretty tired after having no naps, but they did great in the restaurant.

When we got home the computer was waiting for us, and so was a big package outside of our front door.

We i chatted with the Colorado grandparents and uncle Jacob and they got to watch Brigham open up his gifts. There were also a few surprises for Tatum and Beckham too.

After presents from mom and dad and some birthday cake.. our little guy finally made it to bed.

He gave me a hug and said " mom, that was the best birthday ever!".

awe... totally made my day. I love that he is content with the simplest of things. In fact when I greeted him in the morning with five hugs and five kisses, he, was so grateful, and probably would have been fine with just that. I love this kid.

so I am busy finishing his invitations for his party later on this month, and then we'll be done celebrating.

you're only five once right?

9 days ago......the birth story

so this was me at about 5:30 am....somewhere in between contraction # 1 and contraction #137. Now if you keep up with the blog, you know that I had been in the hospital on Monday night for high blood pressure, which they monitored all night.. but I had not other labor signs.. other than a few minor contractions.
So we went about our week... lots going on (of course!).. Mentally , I had prepared myself for the fact that my due date of July 4th would come and go, and that I would not be dilated at my next appt. and therefore have to be induced a week later.
And so we made plans for the night of July 3rd.. and we had plans all day and into the evening for the 4th. A favorite holiday of ours.=)
and so our Thursday evening was spent out to dinner at Logan's where we just barely made the time frame for the "cheap two fer dinners"... - after dinner I wasn't feeling the greatest.. but not pregnancy related (or so I thought).. my vision became blurry at the table, and I could hardly see as we walked to the car. As we drove home, my hands became numb. My leg became numb. Then my face became numb. It was very odd. Not sure what was happening, we got home, and I laid down on the couch, under the ceiling fan, and started gulping water. After about 15 min I started to feel like my self.
Andrew had plans to go play poker that night, and I had a good friend coming to visit from out of town. I had a great visit with my friend Jop and Brigham and Tatum had a blast playing with her son Aaron. She was really bummed that she wasn't going to get to see the baby. She had a trip thru town 2 years ago, just a week after Tatum was born, so she got to meet baby girl.
anyway... the night was uneventful, and I went to bed around midnight.
I woke up a little after 3am, with a pain.. could this be a contraction? who knew. I realized pretty quickly that these pains were pretty consistent in intensity, but I had no clue what the frequency was. I got up out of bed.. walked around.. they didn't stop. I did a load of laundry, and took a shower. They still were not stopping.
I had no idea how late Andrew was out playing cards, so I didn't want to wake him for a false alarm.... I started to pack my hospital bag... and then the kids suitcase. Finally at 4am, I awoke Andrew and told him, I thought it was time. He showered, and then I called my mom to come over. In the next 15 minutes, I realized that these "pains" were coming right after one another, and same intensity. Something I could handle, but it wasn't super pleasant.
I still wasn't sure if this was doing anything.. and I was prepared to be told at the hospital that I wasn't dilated and needed to go home. ugh.
As we packed the car, I started shaking, and felt sick. It felt like an eternity before my mom was arriving.. I told Andrew to call her and let her know the house was unlocked, but that we needed to leave. Good thing we grabbed a bucket. We were not far from the house, when I got sick. The contractions came every 1-2 minutes as we drove to the hospital(clear on the other side of town!). It seemed like it was taking forever.
Finally got to the emergency room, and the whole desk staff looked at me, and said.. oh, you're back... looks like the real thing.
In fact they had a desk person wheel me on up to L/D instead of waiting for a nurse to be sent down.
Andrew parked the car and by the time he came up, the nurse was working fast.. she checked me and what do you know.. I was dilated 4 cm!!
I literally cheered right there .. I was so relieved - SOMETHING was happening!!
Time wise, we were about 5;15 am now, and the nurse was rushing around, saying that she had to move fast, b/c I was moving so fast! she was awesome.she stroked my hair and held onto me tight during the contractions, as the epi was getting put in. she was my cheerleader. I was really blessed to have a great nursing staff, and dr. on call. Not to mention my husband is great during these times too. Despite his weak stomach he is right in the middle of things.. literally.
I did get an epidural, but not with out the anesthesiologist going back and forth several times on whether I really needed it or not. She kept saying I was progressing to fast, and that I was doing fine with out it.. and that it wouldn't even have time to kick in.
Having not had a single (even iv) drug with Tatum, mainly because the nurses never checked me until it was too late, and my complaints of the intense back pain I had never clued them in....they should perhaps check me.... anywho.. I managed with the delivery and realized that I had a strong pain tolerance that allowed me to endure it thru the end. The recovery was easy too and I was up walking around 15 min after she popped out!!
Though I will admit, the lack of epidural did not create a peaceful environment for any of us. I was pretty bossy and yelled at Andrew a lot. I think I even yelled at a nurse or two. I remember apologizing later for that.. lol
So this go around, I was prepared to have an enjoyable labor/delivery... I wanted to just 'hang out' until he or she came out!! LOL
Fast forward.. finally did get the epi... I think it had taken effect all of 10 minutes, when I felt the pressure.
I had this huge urge to poop. and I knew it was time. 2 pushes. and they said... um, hold on..we need the dr in here. I had a dr. on call who turned out to be one that was leaving the clinic. immediately following my delivery. I was his last one!! crazy!
eta: (My brother just told me that the dr. came into the irish pub and my brother and he were talking about my delivery! Apparantly b/c the doc had resigned, they walked him out at 7am. and since I delivered at 6:45am, he wasn't able to come check on me for follow up or anything. He had to leave the bldg. right away!! I never thought anything of it.)

2 more pushes and out he came :

God is Amazing.

I love this moment that Andrew captured. It will look incredible in b/w.

Proud papa , shortly after Beckham's arrival

sharing the good news

um, not sure how he knew how to do this already!

Shortly before 8am.. the siblings arrived to meet their baby brother. Brigham was pretty excited!

This was about an hour after birth, just before we switched rooms. I was feeling great. We just had to wait for awhile for the epidural to wear off a bit.

this was his home for the first 48 hours.

I could just eat him up.

grandpa comes for a visit

my brother aka.. uncle monkey visits his nephew

the second visit to the hospital. the kids are still in awe.

celebrating our new little man...Andrew picked up a cake for our sibling party =)

the hospital gives the siblings a dinner of chicken fingers, mac n cheese, etc..

and for mama, and papa , the choice of fillet Mignon or lobster tail.

coming from a hospital cafeteria.. it was a tough choice, let me tell ya.

we got the fillet Mignon, green beans and red potatoes.

and it was terrible. they messed up even potatoes!! so we ordered food later on that night!!






our kids never get soda. except on special occasions.

this counted as one.. and they were so stoked about it!

my mom brought the kids for another hospital visit

these were taken on their second visit. Brigham and Tatum are so in love with their baby brother.

and I am wondering if these pictures are a glimpse into what life with 3 will be?

this picture melts my heart. Tatum's reaction for the first few days as she realizes she ain't the baby anymore!!

and my little guy just before we left the hospital

I am in love.