Sweet Potatoes...

So today Becca had her first food. Sweet Potato, these were Taylor's favorite as a baby. She thoroughly enjoyed it. Then when she was done I put her in the swing and she fell fast asleep. Very content tummy. :)

Becca...

I can't believe she is almost 5 months old. She had her growth appointment last week. She is 11lbs 2oz and 23 1/2 inches. She is getting so big. She rolls when she is angry and she kicks her legs to try and play with James and Taylor. They all just have the greatest relationship and I love it.

Days Go By...

The more and more I think about it and look around, my babies are growing way too fast for my liking. Becca, my angel baby, will be 2 months old tomorrow. It feels like yesterday I was bringing her home from the NICU. She has such a wonderful personality and she is so smart and strong. She has even figured out how to roll over with the brace on her. She also scoots on her back. She loves when James is holding her, she actually falls asleep while he holds her, it's way too cute for words, but I have yet to get a good photo of it. I will continue to try. I am also trying to get another really good photo of all three of them.

Lovin' On Daddy...

The name says it all. All three of my kids love their Daddy so much. When he comes home from school/work, they come running.

Well tonight I caught a beautiful shot of Becca and Daddy. Hoping to capture more of all three soon.

Becca's Journey...

So with my little angel I have been over sensitive with her, because of her entrance into this world. She failed two hearing tests, but I'm not really putting stock into them as she startles really easily. Then her doctor noticed during her reflex exam that there may be popping in her hips, so we scheduled an appointment for an ultrasound, which showed abnormalities. So we made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. He told us that the physical exam seemed alright but since there were abnormalities on the ultrasound, that he recommended she wear a hip harness for at least six weeks to help them develop normally. So she will be in it for the next 5 and 1/2 weeks. I cried because I felt it was my fault, knowing there was nothing i could really do as she was breech and I can't put her in the right position. So I talked with Kris and he made me feel better about the whole thing. She seems alright about it, the past two nights since she has it on, she has not slept very well and neither have I.

My Belly...

For those of you that already know, I'm growing baby number three. She is a beautifully healthy baby girl. I just saw her via ultrasound yesterday with my wonderful mother in law. I love when she is able to go to my appointments and/or ultrasounds. She got to see how extremely mellow Rebecca is. Though the ultrasound tech tried to get her to move several times, she just wouldn't budge. She has a rather great schedule, she sleeps at night when I do and she is awake between about 10amish and goes back to sleep around 8pmish. So I'm hoping she stays like this, just as her siblings were.
Tomorrow November 8th, 2013 I will be 26 weeks pregnant. 14 weeks to go. It is going by so super fast. I think that having two under 5 and being the holiday season, it's all combined to make for a fast pregnancy. I am grateful that I have not had really ANY signs of SPD this time around. It was so painful and unbearable, I don't know if I'd be able to bear it again. Though I have had some bad sciatic nerve pain, but I would definitely take that over SPD.

"The network of nerves in your baby's ears are better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. Also he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about 1 2/3 pounds and measures 14 inches (about the size of a scallion) from head to heel."
- Sited from Babycenter.com

The Tens of Thursday...

I have decided that everything Thursday I will be pulling a list of ten things to photograph and post on here. I'm doing it for a couple of reasons. One: to help motivate me to do more photos. Two: to give more motivation to take care of my blog. I love to take photos like crazy but I have been slacking so badly that I need a little kick in the butt. LOL

So here are the first "Tens of Thursday" photos:


Door:

From a low angle:

Art:

Time:

Yellow:

Out and About:

In my bag:

Something people don't know about me: I have a lizard

Imperfection:

Favorite photo I've taken:

Cousins...

There is a saying I found that I absolutely love and it is sooooo true.

"Cousins are usually our first friends we have as children. No one will ever understand your crazy family like your cousins do, even if you have talked that much lately."  -Unknown

I love this quote because it is true for me and so true for my children. My little girl and her cousin Emma, run into each others arms when they see each other after a break from seeing one another. My son and nephew only four weeks apart and a few months old, love to "talk" to each other. Today I had my camera while my niece and nephew were visiting Grandma, so I definitely had to get photos of them.

Here are a few of my Favs:

Fireworks for Toddlers...

Who says it takes a large, extravagant display of fireworks to amuse toddlers. On July 2, we went to a friends house for a mini fireworks display. There were a bunch of toddlers there. A couple we comprehensive because they didn't know what to expect, but after they started they were super happy. They kept calling for more! The looks on their little faces were just priceless. There was such amazement in their eyes.

Here are a few photos:

And the Grand Finale!!!

James Michael

So James was born on April 5th 2012. Sorry it took so long to post but better late than never, right?!

So I will share my birth story:

Tuesday night, April 3rd, around 10:30pm I started to have some uncomfortable contractions about 10 minutes apart. I started timing them for a while. Around 1:30am on Wednesday I finally called the midwife on call, contractions were at 3-4 minutes apart and gaining some strength. She said to come on in and they will check everything out. We called mom and said we were gonna drop off Taylor. We told her to stay home until morning and we know more of whats going on. So they stayed home and slept. When we got there, they monitored James and then checked me out, I was at 3cm at 2:30am. So they had to clean the tub room before I could go in there. I was planning a water birth. So for the moment I was rotating on a birthball with a heating pad on my back, which was killing me. Kris was so calm and helped me in breathing through the contractions.
Finally around 5:45am, they had the room ready but they wanted to check me before we moved rooms. I was at 5cm, yayayay. Getting there. So we went to the other room and while waiting for the tub to fill I was having hard contractions. Finally the tub was filled and I got in and it was ohhh soooo soothing, but Kris and I were soooo tired. Around 7am Kris' mom called to check on us and tell us they were dropping Taylor off at our friends house and they would be on their way. When they arrived Kris went to rest for a bit, while mom took over coaching. Then the midwife came in and checked me again I was only 5 1/2cms two hours later. Then the contractions started tapering off. So I got out of the tub to see if I could get them back. It worked for a bit. Then they started to get about 10 minutes apart and then around 5pm they all but stopped. I really wanted the midwife to break my water but she refused. I asked my nurse to call a different midwife, the one I had seen since week 6, Barb, she is just soooo awesome. The great thing was she was right across the parking lot so she came over to talk to me. She could see that Kris and I were exhausted and she suggested we go home get some rest. With her being the one to tell us it would be better to go home, I was so much more comfortable. She also gave me some advice on natural induction. Well then after talking with her for about 30 minutes, we all left. Mom took Taylor for the night. Kris and I got some dinner and slept for almost 12 hours.
Around 2pm on Thursday, mom brought Taylor home. While she was there I told everyone, "I wasn't going to go in til I felt the need to push." Kris and mom agreed and mom said that I would know when it was time. Then about 4pm I asked Kris if he minded if I took a nap. He said "no problem". So I went to sleep. Then at 5:50pm, I was awakened from my nap by what felt like an explosion on the top of my stomach and it hurt soooo badly, I woke up screaming. Then I ran to the bathroom, still screaming. Kris called his mom to ask what could possibly be going on and she told us to call the midwife. He called her and left a message and she called us back and when she called back, I was in sooo much pain with every contraction (which I didn't think were contractions cuz my stomach was not hardening and it was only in my groin area of my hips). Kris described my demeaner as the exorcist. She said to definitely come on in. I stood up and realized that my water had in fact broke.
We called mom and told her we were dropping off Taylor and heading to the hospital. They said ok. When we got to their house, dad came over and asked how I was doing and at the time I refused to talk and he saw my face and said he understands. Then off to the birth center we go. We got there at 7pm and I was not able to do much. I got out and only made it to the car next to ours. I was soooo super shaky. Then mom and dad showed up while I was still in the parking lot. Dad went and got a wheelchair for me. They told me they needed to monitor James for 20 minutes before I got in the tub. Every contraction he would move away from the monitor. UGH. They also couldn't get my BP because everytime they would push the button I would have a contraction and they would have to stop it. At first, Lois (the nurse) was coaching my breathing while Kris, mom and dad got everything situated and together. Then Kris came over to rub my arms and encourage me to calm down. Mom was my breathing coach. I felt like I couldn't go through with it without an epidural but of course I had my wonderful coaches helping encourage me. Then all of a sudden I had the need to push and I couldn't fight. Mom said "you can't push yet, you still have your cloths on". The Caitlyn (my midwife) said "at the end of the next contraction, I'll pull your pants off", it ended, she pulled and looked down and said "you need to push". Four pushes later at 7:31pm on April 5th 2012, James Michael was born at 7lbs 12oz, 19inches long.
I was sooo happy I was able to do it naturally this time around. It didn't go as planned but it was great. I was in labor for an hour and a half. So much better than 8 days. And true enough, the pain from SPD did go away almost instantly. I was so happy to not be in pain anymore.

Now on to some pics:

This is me at 39weeks4days, exactly one week before I gave birth.

First pic by mommy, about 4 hours old 

Proud Daddy 

Hi Mommy 

 Milk Coma

Proud big sister