A Big Happy Birthday...

Shout out to one of my most faithful readers, my husband's best friend's mother, an absolutely fabulous lady in our lives...Grandma Hite! :) Hope you have a wonderful day! We love you so very much!

What do you get...

What do you get when you have a... puking 4 year old all night long + a newborn nursing baby + 2 hours of shut eye = A cranky momma which made for a long day yesterday...they are totally worth it!!!!! Last night was a wee bit better...I at least got 5 hours of sleep! :)

And, just a few quick sneak peeks of Mr. A from this weekend. He was so alert, and it was so fun to have his big brother there for a few also!

This was Mom's idea to get both feet...hope you like it J! :) I think it turned out adorable!

He is even smiling...too precious!

Back to my kiddos! FYI, took some adorable ones of my Little Man today...I think I have taken a shot everyday so far... :)

Two Newbie Sessions...

Yes, I know, I am on "maternity leave", but one can't turn away a newborn. They don't stay tiny and little for long, so I of course wanted to do these sessions. I had a little 2 weeker this morning (a friend's little one born the Friday after my little man), and he is absolutely beautiful...and then another 2 weeker tomorrow (my great friend's little one born the Saturday after my little man). Yes, all three of us had little handsome boys, and all within 3 days of each other! So, you will get to see some sneak peekers of some other little newbies, but not tonight...tonight you get a few more of my little guy from last week! :)

He loves being wrapped tight when he sleeps...(he is still wearing his glo-worm in this shot!)

Completely smitten...

The two men I continue to fall in love with...

We have all fallen in love...my girls have been the biggest helpers and sweetest things ever...

Sweet little head...

So tiny...

Mr. Man already has grown and looks a little older than these pictures...*sigh*...you don't want to hear my sadness over how quickly they grow...*sigh* (again!). I can't believe my little Beans will be 5 in March...what in the world happened these past five years?!?!?!?!? Oh well...I will just keep loving and enjoying my kiddos (even on the days I am pulling my hair out!!!!) every moment God gives me with them!

Toodle-bop, as Cakes says, for now!

A Little Slice Of Heaven

Thought you would enjoy seeing my littlest angel again...get used to it! :)








More sometime soon! :) These are just a few of the million taken! ;)

Post...

Check below the following post...just posted a bunch of pictures that I tried posting several days ago...it is just an update to all that has been going on...Later!

Update

Still on the billiblanket...frustrating, but it could be worse. He gets tested again tomorrow (was pricked yesterday) and will go from there. I have taken pictures of him in his "glo-worm" blanket. Beans calls it his lightning bug blanket...even more suiting than a glo-worm. Will post those sometime soon...

All else seems to be going well. Tom has been a total hero and has taken great care of us. I will be VERY sad when he returns to work on Friday...at least it is the day before the weekend!

Most likely won't post anything else for the day...one trip to the basement for emails and such is my limit right now. I do enough stairs and such going up and down to the bedrooms! :) Have a good one!

Seriously...

It has been 4 days 9writing this on Sunday the 18th) since I have blogged...since I have truly checked emails...since I have sat at the computer for more than 5 minutes catching up. I have only been down here for ten minutes, but I wanted to finish the post that I had started several days ago. Here are a few pictures from the hospital, my girls meeting Little Man (no blog name yet...still working on it...so Little Man will be it for now!), and of his glo-worm blanket.

The best Big Sisters in the World...

Had to throw this one in...this was at the hospital before I changed into the ever so flattering hospital gown...this was my last prego picture...I know now why my belly was so large!!! :)

Trying to get a few pics of all three kids together...I gave up after a few...but fortunately have gotten some since!!!! :) He was only 5 days old here...

This was my favorite from that day...the girls are "shhhh-ing" him to keep him quiet...such sweethearts...


And...the beautiful billi-blanket...it isn't the green blanket he is swaddled in...it is the glow that you see coming from his rear end! He has been off of it since Thursday, and his skin is so much peachier than lemony! :) He is absolutely perfect in every way possible...

And this is what the blanket was hooked up to...you can see the limited amount of mobility that this thing provided...let's just say we are all happy that he is done! :)

Alright, I need to get back to life! :) I have so many sweet pictures that I need to get to and post...but that will have to wait! I have taken shots about every day, and he is changing every day...not fair that this early littleness time goes so fast!!!!

To my Grannie...I love you, and we miss having you here (although you would be so cold here...the snow and the temps have been very frigid!!!!)! I know you check this daily, if not a couple times a day! I can't wait for you to meet our newest addition! Thank you for commenting/emailing me your sweet notes! I love you lots!!!!!! XO!

Have a great day...and hopefully I will be back here soon...but I am not making promises! ;)

My Little Prince

These shots are SOOC (straight out of camera), no adjustments, just my sweet, sweet little guy. This was when he was just a day old, laying on my bed with me. What a complete miracle that God has blessed us with. Does he melt your heart as much as mine????






Update on Jaundice: He had his blood drawn yesterday, and was a total champ. We didn't hear anything on his results, so the assumption was made that no news was good news. He looks so much better today even. He was quite lemony this weekend, so I think this crazy bili-blanket thingy actually is really helping. He does need to learn how to be a better eater; right now, feeding times are a bit frustrating. Oh well...we will get there. He has his appointment tomorrow, so I am curious to see if he is gaining as needed and if his test results will be there. Hoping to NOT have to get his poor little heal pricked again...the little scabs break my heart.

Back to my sweet family...

Another Update...

We are home. We got home yesterday around 5:00...through the 10 inches of snow! Feels good to be home. Tom just took the girls sledding, and my little man is sleeping. We almost weren't discharged due to his jaundice, but they sent us with a bilirubin blanket for at home treatment. He had to be tested again today...hoping that the levels either went down or stayed the same. Going down would obviously be best, but as long as they don't go up then that is a plus. This bilirubin blanket, is not much of a blanket. It is a hard plastic type of thing that lays on his back and then attaches in front. It is an ultraviolent light (I think) that he has to be on as much as possible during a day, for the next three days. He gets to come off of it when he feeds, or if we have to go somewhere. He looks like a little glow worm. I know I still don't have pictures up...and I would post some now, but they are still in the camera, and that is upstairs, and to go up and down again may just kill me! My husband has been a VERY good nurse, and has let me do very minimal. He gets my food, my drink, brings me the baby, and helps haul my heaviness out of bed in the middle of the night to help.

The girls are adjusting well. Cakes is WAY over sleepy, due to a bit of a thrown off sleeping schedule while I was in the hospital. She took a great nap today, so hopefully she will return to being her sweet Cakes, and not the sour one that has appeared on occasion! Bean is also doing wonderful. She is so very excited. Yesterday, Tom dropped us off, and he went to get a few things from the grocery store and get my medicine. Cakes fell asleep, and I was hoping to catch a little nap also while Bean was supposed to rest. I swear, every 10 minutes she had a new question (and then would repeat the question to get the same answer just to make sure). At one point I opened my eyes with her standing and staring at me. She said, "I am sorry I am talking so much, I am just so excited!" It was very cute. AND, she comes by it very naturally. The nurses in the hospital thought I was crazy when we arrived at 6:00 am Wednesday morning, and I was talking like I had 5 cups of coffee already. Talking is what I do when I am nervous or excited...and sometimes that over talking can really get annoying! ;)

I am going to go and try to stir my baby boy for a feed...he isn't so good at that yet and it takes a lot of work and a long time to have a successful feeding. Sort of a vicious cycle because he needs to eat well to help his jaundice go away...ahhhhh...all the worries that come with a newborn! I will say a plus to the jaundice is that I have to wake him at night to eat...otherwise he would sleep WAY too long. So last night, we all got a good night sleep.

Hope you enjoyed the beautiful falling snow the past couple days, and hope you are able to stay nice and toasty warm as the arctic blast (according to Blizzard Bill) will be coming this week. At the hospital, I was actually able to watch the news, weather, and whatever I wanted...made me miss my home and my girls!

Have a great week...

Just a Quick Note

Just wanted to say "Hi!" to everyone and a big thanks for all of your prayers. Thank you to my beautiful sister who posted such a sweet announcement for me after my little man (still thinking of a nickname) made his big debut. All is going well, the c-section itself was a little rough, but I am recovering well. Little Man is a bit jaundice, so they are going to do some testing on him today. Both girls were also jaundice, but he seems to be a bit more. He kept looking like he was getting a really good tan...but we all know there hasn't been any sunshine! I am supposed to be discharged tomorrow, but insurance covers me to stay until Sunday. It may depend on what the weather does and how Little Man does also. Tom went home to be with the girls last night, and they are coming up again this morning. I miss them much, but they are doing well...and LOVE holding their baby brother. I have taken some cute shots of my little man, but I left my usb cord at home...so you will have to wait for your peek of him. Back to eating my breakfast...have a great weekend!

HE'S HERE!!

For all of you that were betting on "blue," you were right!

Tara and Tom welcomed their 8 lb. bundle of cuteness just before 9:00 a.m. this morning. He is absolutely beautiful, and looks a lot like his big sisters. Both mom & baby are doing great- happy, healthy, and very sleepy!

Thank you to everyone that kept Tara & her baby in their prayers. God is so good!

-Nicole (Tara's proud sister)

Today's Appointment...

I am assuming that most of my "viewers" are viewing to see if the little baby has popped yet. Sorry to disappoint, but no baby as of yet. I have had TONS of contractions, which is very normal as I am approaching 40 weeks, but my c-section is still scheduled for Wednesday morning. The doctor said it will be a toss up between my body saying it is "go time" or actually making it to the c-section date. We will see. The appointment went well today...several contractions were on the monitor, but baby's heart rate looked great. Baby only scored 8 out of 10...due to it being a little inactive during the ultrasound portion and not making any big movements. Not worried about it a bit, because 10 minutes earlier I was being beaten like a punching bag! :)

So, all in all, still just waiting. Oh yes, as you probably also know, I won't be posting baby's name (which we still don't have nailed down!!!!!!) on the blog. Will have to think of some sort of nickname to use...fire away with any suggestions! :) If you do want to know the baby's name after we decide, please feel free to send an email, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

As far as business stuff goes, I am planning on starting back sometime in March. I will be making an announcement on the blog, and also sending out an email to all past clients to let them know. We are looking into making some changes (to hopefully make things easier for the client...like online proofing and ordering), and I am already thinking of something as a "Welcome Back Special". So, of course stay tuned, don't delete my emails, and I truly do look forward to "working" again in March!

Happy New Year!

If I said 2009 rang in with a great celebration and festivities, I would be flat out lying. Instead, our somewhat pathetic selves did nothing! We stayed home, ate a delicious steak dinner, and had ice cream for dessert. It was fabulous! Bean and Cakes were in bed by 9:30, and although I didn't think we would make it, Tom and I did see the New Year ring in...and were in bed shortly there after. We researched video cameras on the internet for a good hour, and then I convinced Tom to look at lenses with me (that helped keep us awake)...oh how I want a few more to add to the collection! :) Of course we also looked at TV's, but that was all Tom..and, no we didn't make a single purchase. It was nice hanging out with each other and dreaming for a couple hours together though! Cakes woke up with a fever yesterday...darn...thought we were in the clear with sickness...she still is running one today, and gets quite cranky when her tylenol or motrin wear off. Oh well. That is life with kiddos!

Yesterday I spent a little bit of time looking through pics of my girls...like ones all the way back to JUNE...a little ridiculous I know, but I never really got to them. Thought I would post some from this summer...lake vacation, pond days, and just having fun in the sun. Maybe it will warm you up a bit thinking of the hot days and warm sunshine, on these cool days (okay, down right frigid days) we have been having.

Playing with our favorite neighbors, who have sadly moved...

My favorite tree in our front yard...

Slippin' Slide...
Beans didn't quite get this at the beginning of the summer, but was a total champ at it by the time the end of July came...


Isn't she so dang cute?

At the pond...in her beautiful headband that she would NOT leave home without. Lately, it has been an Ariel crown that she wears EVERYWHERE!!!! Love this expression and her beautiful blues!

Beans' hair gets so curly in the summer...

Our Lake Vacation...
love these of my niece

early morning feeding the fish...a little chilly...but warmer than today! ;)

C-man drinking his water...

Love this one of my Beanie Girl...

Best friends/cousins...watching the adults on the jet-ski's...