a may-velous month

the first couple weeks in may have been grand.  sure, we have our fair share of sleepless nights and brotherly spats.  but love is in the air around here and we are loving every moment with our newest family member.

first bath in the sink:

speaking of new family members.  we are thrilled to welcome eli james into our extended family.  little eli was born on may 1st to my sister and her husband and their son, josiah.  he had a little rocky start, but has been given a clean bill of health. we think he's a gem and feel blessed to have another beautiful baby boy in the family. 

it's going to be such a treat to see these two little guys grow up together.

may is also a great time to welcome visitors to our home. the maios came to town and dropped in to meet little reece over the weekend. hello cute little lukas!

speaking of visitors...nana came for the night again and miles and henry were poised and ready to read her a bedtime story...

...before heading to their room for a campout on the floor.

the gorgeous weather continues to shine here in minnesota. we are all for it and don't mind taking advantage of the early picnics and lazy afternoons in the backyard.

I'm happy to report that despite chasing after two big boys, my sweet husband gives me ample time to park on the couch and love up on reece. oh how I cherish these fleeting newborn days...

*****
the following is an example of what can happen when your daycare friend wears the same shoes as you do. you just might need to borrow a girl's shoe.

our sweet baby boy

reece william came into this world on april 16th, 2012. we had planned it that way. after all, two previous c-section buys you a free pass to the operating room. I knew it would be the safest way and I wasn't about to roll the dice and try it any other way.

however, reece decided that our original 7am report time was far too late. I had chocked up two hours of tossing and turning and multiple bathroom trips to a final "pregnancy makes sleeping impossible" hurrah. not so. my water broke at 1:15am. really?  my first official "scheduled c-section" and now my body decides to go into spontaneous labor?  um...you're about four years late my friend. I called labor and delivery and they advised me to head on in, but that it probably wasn't a huge rush...in other words, go ahead and shower.
I called my mom and dad and then I proceeded to wake up kyle.  the conversation went something like this:
me: uh, honey?
kyle [asleep]: mmm
me: we need to go to the hospital
kyle: why?
me: my water broke
kyle: are you kidding me?
me: nope
kyle: don't you think you could tough it out for about 5 1/2 more hours?
me:  riiiiiight.
I showered, called my sister (of course), got ready, and then we woke up the boys. luckily I had made sure our bags were all ready to go before I went to sleep mere hours earlier. phew. by this time the contractions were about six minutes apart.
we dropped the boys off at my parents house and then my mom hopped in the van (in her pjs) and drove us to the hospital. the nurses at the desk were expecting us. they led us to our room and handed me my very fashionable outfit. they certainly know how to make a preggo feel beautiful. yikes. by now it's 3 am and my contractions are four minutes apart.

by 4 am I'm officially in active labor and (half) jokingly complaining that I did not sign up for this double whammy.  read: let's get this show on the road. apparently I had just beat the rush and there were quite a few ladies in very active labor who were requesting the services of the anesthesiologist. great. the residents decided that they were going to verify that my water had indeed broken.  in their words, this would determine if I was near the top of the to-do list or dead last.

lo and behold I do know what it feels like when one's water breaks and contractions start coming like a mack truck. I now edged my way almost to the top.  key word: almost. I am ever so grateful to my nurse for requesting that they give me something for the pain. contractions every three minutes can start to smart just a bit. a quick shot in the arm, dimmed room lights, and a reclined bed and I dare say that I nearly napped. around 6 am they wheeled me into the OR.

thirty-one minutes later we heard "IT'S A BOY!" for the third time.

it never gets old.

the rest of our time in the hospital was smooth sailing. I now know to take full advantage of the night nurses in the nursery, so I was able to get some actual rest. miles and henry were in daycare monday through wednesday which made it possible for kyle to spend some quality time snuggling with reece.

the big brothers came to visit little reece on monday afternoon. they were so proud to wear their new t-shirts and I was so proud to see their sweet faces light up when they laid eyes on the tiny baby they had been waiting for and talking about for months.  miles was mildly disappointed when he found out it wasn't a girl, but he was more devasted to discover that we had not named the baby "marker" - tragedy.

we quickly distracted him with a mini spelling lesson for r-e-e-c-e and then he was happy as a clam...and eager to inform anyone who stepped into the room how to spell his baby brother's name. nana and papa bought the big brothers new cameras. thank goodness professional photog nana was there to provide a crash course.


we were grateful for our visitors. it's comforting to know how many people are there to support our little family.

we were also grateful for the quiet moments spent taking in every detail of our sweet little man. if you had asked me ten years ago what I would do if I didn't have a baby girl, I would have probably told you that I would cry. oh how I was wrong. I am so incredibly in love with the three beautiful baby boys that God has blessed kyle and me with. what a privilege to become parents to such perfect little ones.

we are in love.

enjoy this little video montage:

waiting

the beginning of my pregnancies have been carbon copies of each other.  frankly, I could do without the first twenty weeks or so.  but the last twenty?  they are a precious gift that I will always treasure.

the growing belly

the love

we are waiting sweet baby...

showering baby owl

I am a sucker for newborns. I caught myself staring for hours at my own newborn sons when they were tiny. so to say we are excited for the birth of "baby owl" would be a slight understatement! just in case you've not heard the story about baby owl, here's a little background: miles had been very into his Winnie the Pooh book and, about four months ago, I was explaining to him that jen (my sister-in-law) had a baby in her belly. the conversation went something like this:

me: do you think marc and jen will have a boy baby or a girl baby?

miles: ummmmm a boy baby

me: what do you think they'll name the boy baby?

miles: OWL!

so from then on, baby owl was born.

we are anxious to find out if we will have another precious baby boy in the family or if we will be spoiled with a baby girl. either way, we will be blessed; babies are such a miracle. and we couldn't let this new arrival come without a proper shower.

we had a wonderful time creating an alphabet book for the new baby. each guest chose a letter of the alphabet and made a cute page for the book out of the criminal amount of scrapbooking materials that beth and I own.

as far as I'm concerned, showers are one of the yummiest parties to go to. who doesn't enjoy snacking on delicious sweets and treats in the middle of the afternoon?

the baby and mom were spoiled up right and we had just enough time to play a couple of fun games. including "guess what daddy said?!" marc is the king of randomness and indecisiveness, so his answers were entertaining and allowed many players to score a few extra points. we had a great time and are so looking forward to meeting baby owl. he/she is already loved and adored by many!

adorable belly shot with the lovely moms-to-be (jen and cousin tressa)

and just for fun...here is a picture of henry with one of his many little girlfriends, aubrey. isn't she a beauty? those cheeks...love.