happy new year!

2009 has been one incredible year. We welcomed our 2nd baby into the world, I finished my 3rd and final year of teaching, Dan and I celebrated 3 years of marriage, I began staying at home with my beautiful children, Collin turned 2, and we learned that we have a 3rd baby boy on the way (a baby name poll will be coming soon)I seems almost unfair for one person to receive so many blessings.

We eagerly awaite the beginning of 2010 which is undoubtedly going to be another year full of blessings.

Wishing you and yours endless blessings in 2010!

Avon calling!

I have officially started selling Avon! I'm very excited about it and only hope that it goes well. Just remembering to put my orders in on time will be my biggest challenge!
I have an online store as well, so if you are interested in buying Avon products, you can order and pay right there, and have them shipped directly to your house! Very convenient for those of you who may not live close by.
No pressure to buy, just wanted to get my info out there!

welcome, Evie!

My best friend had her baby yesterday morning! She's absolutely perfect in every way. Evie Ann entered the world at 10:22am on December 13th weighing 7 lbs 4.9 oz and is 17 inches long. Dan and I went to visit them in the hospital and I got to snuggle on her for a little bit. Ah precious baby girl. She was so calm and content wrapped up in her blanket being held by strangers. I can't wait to have her at my house during the day. I told her mommy to bring lots of extra clothes so I can play dress up with her during the day! It will be so much fun to have a girl around the house.
Welcome to the world Evie! We are so glad you are here, safe and sound. You have some pretty amazing parents you lucky girl! Collin and Ronan can't wait to play with you and teach you lots of fun things. You'll be good friends I'm sure. We love you, Evie! And Congratulations Krystal and Patrick!

15 weeks

Today we are at 15 weeks. Well according to our family physicians original calculations. According to my OB we were at 15 on Wednesday. According to me, probably not until Monday. But whose counting?

I have a little bump already. Of course this is my 3rd baby. And as I've been told "that bed has already been slept in". However, I refuse to wear any kind of maternity pants, except for my super comfy still too big for me sweats, at least until after Christmas. I plan on not letting my butt and thighs get so big this time around. After Christmas I may just invest in some of those new Reebok easy tone shoes. Maybe they work, maybe they don't. I think it's worth a shot!

making cookies

Collin helped me make Christmas cookies the other day.

Aren't they pretty?

Collin got to decorate his very own cookie to eat. The pink sparkly frosting was the only one he could squeeze out on his own.
So we ended up with a teddy bear cookie that looked like this...But it was delicious!

tired

It's been a while since I've posted, except for the three I just did about Halloween, fall, and Christmas cards, you should check them out. I have just been so exhausted at the end of the day that I can't even bring myself to blog. Today I have no extra kiddos due to illness and dr. apointments on their end. So today, I'm taking time for me and my kids. Collin and I have already mixed cookie dough and are letting it sit in the fridge before we roll and cut, bake and decorate. During the week I have no time for fun stuff with Collin. Having 2 other babies in the house, one that is very needy, makes it hard to do crafts and games. Yesterday I had a kid cry so much that he threw up. I had already changed him, fed him, he had napped, had his paci, toys, blanky.... I had tried everything. This is our normal Monday routine, aside from the vomit. That doesn't happen every week Thank God! So I finally had to tell mom that it's not working out. I can't do it anymore. It's not fair to him to be sad all the time, and it's not fair to me and my kids to have to listen to him scream all day. I feel like a failure, but I'm just tired of trying. I quit teaching to spend more time with my kids, and we are stuck in the house all day because with other babies it's hard to get out. I'm exploring the idea of doing Avon so that I can make extra money without having to have x number of kids. I'm hoping that next year I can just take my friend's baby, and maybe some drop ins. I was supposed to meet with the Avon rep the other day but she did not show up, and did not return my call. Does that annoy anyone else?
I recently went to a an Uppercase Living party at a friend's house and found a sign that I need in my house. It reads: "Grand me patience to deal with my blessings". So true some days.
And on that note. I'm done complaining. Look at some photos of my adorable children, and be sure to check out my other posts from today to see even more cute pictures!

Oh, here is a picture of a project that I just finished. The polka dots are fleece and the puppy side is flannel. It's a blanket for Ronan to keep warm in the car. Next I need to make one for Collin.

Christmas cards in the making

Now we just need a family photo

funtastic fall

Here are some photos of some of the fun we had before it got super cold and started to snow.

Halloween 2009

So this post is a little late, but that's not the point. The point is, my kids are cute.

My little Monster

Handy Manny

With Grandma and Grandpa Berry

Our adorable family

eat your noodles

For dinner tonight we had a "meal in a bag" from TGIFriday's. It was a firecracker shrimp pasta dish and very tasty. Collin tends to be a pretty picky eater and of course ate all the chicken (yes there was chicken in a shrimp dish. we were suprised as well) and wouldn't eat anything else. Dan, being the awesome goofy daddy that he is, pretended to be asleep and told Collin the only way to wake him up was to eat a noodle. Collin looked at me like daddy was crazy but when I told him that daddy would stay asleep until he ate a noodle, he quickly picked one up and shoveled it in his mouth. He then reached over and tapped Dan saying "wake up Daddy!" Dan sprang up and said "oh, you must have eaten a noodle because I'm awake!" He repeated this routine until nearly every noodle on Collin's plate had been eaten.
I don't know what we'll do when he becomes to smart/sophisticated for games such as these.

thankful

This evening I am thankful to be home with my family. Collin is sleeping soundly in his bed, and Dan is upstairs rocking Ronan in hopes of him sleeping in his own bed tonight. For the last 2 nights he has slept in mommy and daddy's arms, not leaving that spot for more than a few minutes at a time. It's been a long couple of days.
Let me rewind.
Last week Collin and I developed a cough. Concerned for Collin I took him to the doctor on Wednesday to learn that it was just a virus and that there wasn't much we could do. He was given an oral stimulant to help open his airway so he could breathe at night which seemed to work really well. That same evening Ronan developed a cough as well. Thursday morning the poor baby woke up without a voice. Assuming that he had just cought what Collin and I had, I gave him Tylenol and extra love and figured it would just pass. Friday was pretty much the same, as was Saturday morning. We spent Saturday afternoon at my parents' house with all of my mom's siblings. It was great hanging out with everyone and seeing my aunt and uncle from Texas whom I hadn't seen in exactly 1 year. I fed Ronan around 12:30 and then he took a short nap. When he woke up he ate some Puffs and cuddled in with Grammy to fall asleep again. He slept, and slept, and slept. As I was holding him I noticed that he felt warm, but couldn't tell if it was because he had been being held for so long, or if he was getting a fever. He started to stir but didn't fully wake up. I checked his head and my aunt agreed that he felt warm, so we packed up our stuff and headed home. Sure enough, he had a temp of about 101. I ran a cool bath and Ronan and I hopped in. (Collin actually jumped in too because he saw the sweet vapor bubbles and didn't want to miss out. The entire time we were in the bath, Ronan slept. I poured cold water over his back, and he slept. After about 20 minutes or so, I was cold so we got out and headed to the basement. I tried to wake him up to feed him since it had been a good 5 hours since he had last eaten. He wouldn't wake up. At this point I noticed that his breathing seemed rather quick. Even in his sleep his breathing did not slow down. We monitored his temp for a while, gave him Tylenol, and when his temp had not gone down 30 minutes after the Tylenol (in fact it went up, 104 under the arm) we called Dan's parents and headed to the emergency room at St. Francis. Of course on the way to the hospital his fever broke, but his breathing was still quick and shallow. We seen immediately in the ER where they quickly put him on oxygen and started taking blood and sticking him in every possible place. I cried. It's really hard to sit back and watch your baby being hooked to monitors not knowing why. They told us that his oxygen levels were really low, took and x-ray of his chest, and admitted us to the pediatric ICU. His x-ray came back showing tha the had pneumonia in his lungs and breathing treatments began. He was given IV fluids but was not allowed to eat because of his resperatory levels.
I'll skip all the details in between but for the next several hours we sat in a very uncomfortable rocking chair, tried not to trip over wires and tubes and took turns taking naps on a super uncomfortable pull out couch. At midnight his reperatory levels were stable and I was finally able to feed him, and he was finally awake enough to eat.
On Sunday morning they came and did another x-ray which looked worse only because of the added fluids. Around noon we were able to take him off of the oxygen as he was doing well without, and were informed that we would be moved to the regular pediatric floor.
Around 6:00 pm we were finally moved. The room was much larger, had it's own bathroom and shower, a bed, and a rocking chair that didn't make my hiney go numb. At this point Ronan's only wire was taped to his toe to check his oxygen levels. We again took turns sleeping and rocking. At 7:00am we were awoken by the Dr. informing us that we were going to be discharged with meds and a nebulizer to continue breathing treatments. At 11:30am, we finally were discharged.
Now, we are home. Ronan has been playing on the floor with his brother, smiling, laughing, and is now sleeping in his own bed. My sweet Collin is asleep in his own bed again (he really missed Ronan. He asked about Ronan several times while we were gone, but did not ask about mommyu once) and Dan and I are thankful. Thankful that we have 2 amazing children. Thankful that we had instinct enough to know when something was really wrong. Thankful for the amazing team at St. Francis who took such good care of our baby boy. Thankful to God for watching over our baby, and bringing us all home safely.

beat the holiday bulge (a giveaway)

Once again, Natalie, from Natalie's Sentiments, is having an amazing giveaway! This time you have a chance to win an "EA Sports Active Personal Trainer" for the Wii! I know that I would love to have this to help stay in shape during this pregnancy, not to mention work off all the extra pounds after! I am determined not to gain 50 pounds this time around!
So go check out Natalie's blog and enter for a chance to win! You know you want an excuse to eat and extra slice of pie this Thanksgiving!

8 months

Last Friday my sweet Ronan turned 8 months old. It's hard to believe that it has been that long since he was born. (it's even harder to believe that we already have another baby on the way!)

We don't go to the dr. at 8 months, but according to our home scale Ronan weighs right around 18 pounds. Close to what Collin weighed at 1 year.

He has thick, beautiful hair just like his mommy.

He now has 3, almost 4 teeth and is finally starting to eat some solid foods. He is able to handle puffs, cheerios, sweet potatoes, peas (which he hates) and applesauce (which we just started today so hopefully it stays down).

Ronan is crawling like a pro, sitting himself up, pulling to standing, cruising along the furniture, and crawling up the stairs.

The other day I ran upstairs to use the bathroom (I do that a lot these days) and when I came down Ronan was in the laundry basket. He had tried to follow me up the stairs and fell off into the basket. I thought it was funny and ran to grab the camera. I swear he wasn't crying until he saw me and I walked away.

Ronan continues to be a sweet loving little boy, but he is becoming kind of a mama's boy and has gotten somewhat clingy with the other babies around during the week. He has recently started giving awesomely sloppy, wet kisses and is starting to wave.

He also still loves his brother and is in awe of everything he does. I see lots of trouble in their future.

a baby shower

Yesterday I hosted a baby shower for my best friend, Krystal. I had so much fun getting everything ready for the special day. I hope that she enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here is a picture of the invitations that I made.
This is a picture of the invitations with the extras.
Here are the delightful homemade mints.
A close up of the delicious food. (chicken salad, sausage puffs, mini quiche, apples with caramel dip, mini cupcakes, and of course mixed nuts.)
Here is a full view of the table.
And a close up with a better view of the diaper cake I made.
I am so incredibly excited for Krystal. This will be her and her husband Patrick's first baby. She is due New Years Eve with a little girl (if you couldn't tell by the shower decor). After little Evie arrives and Krystal goes back to work I will be the lucky lady who gets to watch her during the day. I can't wait!
Congratulations, Krystal! You look absolutely beautiful!

someday...

Someday, if I ever have my own laptop again, I may have time to post on a regular bases. With pictures. Today is not that day. I'm hoping to get my old laptop back for my birthday. My old laptop, which is actually my brother-in-law's old laptop, quit working and he is supposed to be fixing it. Are you reading this Rob? For my birthday, I want my computer. Please and thank you. Oh, and I love you.

Anyhow, as usual. It has been super busy around my house. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I have 2 toddlers and 2 infants from 8-1, and 1 toddler and 3 infants from noon to 5. Wednesdays I don't have the extra toddler, and Friday's I only have the extra infant in the afternoon. Did you follow that schedule. Crazy I know. Some days are better than others. This week has been long. Lots of crying. And no, I was not the one crying.

I love having the other toddler here 3 mornings a week though. And Collin loves it too. They play, and fight over toys, but they have fun. Lots of fun. Plus, we get to do art, and make our own pizzas for lunch. Oh, and I get to watch my son walk around in high heals with a purse on his shoulders. Rememsber when he walked around in them in only a diaper? Well this time he had clothes on but it was still cute.

In other news, this weekend I am hosting a baby shower for my best friend. Hopefully I'll get lots of good pictures to post.

life with boys

So it's been almost a month since my last post. Time sure flies when you're busy with boys. Not just my boys. My boys plus 2. I watch two other infants during the week, and will soon be getting a toddler. This time, a girl. I look forward to playing dress up during the day :)

Anyhow. As time has flown, my children have grown to be another month older. Collin is now 2 years and 1 month. I know, once they hit 2 the monthly count really doesn't mean much, but to his mommy. It means everything. I can't believe that he is 25 months old. I also can't believe how he seems to get smarter and cuter every day. The kid never ceases to amaze me. He's incredible at putting puzzles together (he's up to doing a 12 piece puzzle on his own) and loves to do look and find books. Actually, the kid loves books in general. "Mommy read. More time please" (as he holds up one finger). I usually cave in and read the book one more time twice. Bedtime, however, has to come at some point. He's an active little boy with a great imagination. He turns flashlights into microphones and rolling pins into baseball bats. My sweet little Collin.
However, being such an active little guy it is nearly impossible to get him to sit still for pictures. Since we are trying to save money, I decided to take pictures of the boys instead of paying someone else to do it. It sounded like a really good plan at the time, but getting Collin to sit for me was not an easy task. So. Here are a couple pictures of him sort of smiling and looking at the camera.
I'm still learning, and I haven't had the chance to edit the pictures yet.

Ronan is now 7 months old and is in. to. everything. I can't believe how quickly he has been hitting milestones. He now has 2 teeth. Is crawling. Sitting himself up. Pulling to standing. And cruising along the furniture. Before we know it he will be walking. Scary thought. He is finally sleeping mostly through the night. We had to start letting him cry at night because he was starting to wake up more frequently again. Now he makes it from about 8:30 until 4:30, sometimes as late as 6. I feed him and he goes back to sleep until about 7:30. It has been wonderful being able to get more sleep, but my body is still used to waking up 3 times so I tend to wake up anyhow.Here is a pictures of my sweet boy just after waking from his nap.My sweet chubby little boy. It's so fun to watch him and Collin play together. Some days we just have giggle fests as Collin jumps around which makes Ronan laugh which makes Collin laugh wich makes Ronan laugh......
Life with boys is sweet.

Natalie's Sentiments Giveaway!

A little bird told me that Natalie is having another giveaway... Hurry on over and check out Natalie's Sentiments! She's giving away 8 prizes in 7 days to celebrate HER birthday week! There is some great stuff up for grabs!