Hopsital stay #2...

I am currently going on two weeks being here in the hospital, again, for the 2nd time. I went in with contractions and another hemorrhage. After a couple days, they gave me a blood transfusion which helped me feel better. It has been a long two weeks and I am ready to go home. Jason has been a trouper and taken over being Mr. mom and my parents have watched the kids countless hours. Thanks to everyone who has helped out. The kids have gone and spent the night at their cousins house twice with grandpa and grandma sessions and have seemed to love it. Brayden has loved running around with his cousins. I was hoping the doctors would let me go home today but no such luck. They said I have to wait until Friday, for now... I'm almost 22 weeks and I will feel a lot better when I reach 24 weeks and know that the baby would most likely live if born. One of the most frustrating things for me is that every doctor that has seen me has told me that it would be easier to induce labor and end the pregnancy than keep me pregnant. I told them there was no way I was ending it after coming so far and going through so much. This little baby is coming!

1st Boating Trip of the Season...

Since the boat broke down at the end of May and needed a new engine, we hadn't been out boating. A few weekends ago, we went out, where the boat, it turns out, still had some problems, but we still had fun playing in the water. London is out little fishy and loved being in the water. Brayden wasn't as enthusiastic about the water as he was about figuring out ever little gadget on the boat. Since then , the boat has been fixed and we are looking forward to the rest of the boating season ( Not that I can do anything but ride around in the boat). Yay for boating and the lake!

Sitting on the U-tube and London hanging out in the water...

Brayden checking everything out...

I love my Grandpa Rupp!!! Getting some driving instructions at an early age.

Cute little lolly dolly in her hat and Minnie swimsuit!

I love dirt!!!

A couple of weekends ago, my parents brought in some mulch to spread around the yard. Brayden had an absolute heyday helping and playing the mulch. He was covered head to toe in dirt! He had to be right in the middle of the action helping. Brayden is obsessed with his Grandpa Rupp and had to be by his side at all times. Brayden had a blast but was pretty unhappy when he had to take a bath where we had to scrub a lot to get the black dye from the mulch off him.

Brayden looking like a stud with the shovel

Helping get the mulch out of the trailor.

peek-a-boo

Being a big boy with daddy...

50th Birthday Suprise Party

On May 22nd, my sisters and I threw my parents a surprise 50th birthday party. We started planning it months before it actually took place and both Lizzie and AmyAnn flew in for the party. It was hard to keep the surprise or rather to get my parents to come to the party. It was the day of my mom's actual birthday and they had been planning to be on the lake all day. Finally, I had to tell my dad that I had planned a surprise for mom and that he needed to get her to the party. The morning of the party, Lizzie and AmyAnn both flew in on red eye flights. I picked the up from the airport and we began getting things ready. Lizzie was in charge of invitations, AmyAnn decorations, and I was in charge of the food and cake. In the end, we were really glad my parents even made it to the party as the boat broke down on the lake earlier in the afternoon. However, my dad knew that I had a surprise so they hurried and came to the party. The party turned out great and was even better when AmyAnn and Lizzie walked out. Thanks to the Mowers' for letting us have the party at your house. Happy 50th mom and dad!

50 candles!

The birthday cake!

My mom crying after Lizzie and AmyAnn walked out.

It's a girl!

I am way behind in sharing the news that baby #3 is a girl! Since I have so many ultrasounds, the doctors and ultrasound technicians have thought this for a while now but wouldn't confirm it until we went and had an ultrasound with one of the ultra high powered machines. Yep, it's another little diva for this family. I guess Brayden is going to have to handle being the only male sibling since this is the last little one for our family. I am hoping that this one is as sweet and easy as London is but I am not counting on it since Brayden and London are so different. I am super excited to go through all the baby clothes and sort them out, get rid of the outgrown boy clothes, etc. That is...after I get off "bed rest"...

Adventures with babies...

Each day is an adventure with the kids. Some days, I want to scream and then most days we laugh about all the little things that happen. Some days are a matter of survival and then others just seem to sail right by with everything going OK. Such is life...

Tonight, we had a funny experience that I wanted to write down since this is my new form of scrapbooking. We put London and Brayden to bed around 8pm. They currently share a room and as London has gotten more Mobil the room sharing is not going well. London constantly provokes Brayden by standing at the railing of the crib and giggling and babbling away. Thus, Brayden hears her beckon call to come play and he happily climbs out of his bed and gets into her crib. We try to be really consistent and when we catch Brayden in her crib he gets a swat but the tears last about 30 seconds, just long enough for us to close the door and get back to doing something and he is right back in. London is increasingly more and more just as guilty as Brayden since she provokes him.

Anyway...we put the kids to bed and began watching on our the TV show(s) that we like to watch together. We were sitting on our bed, watching the show on the Internet. We could hear Brayden and London playing but we were ignoring them hoping that they would eventually wear out and fall to sleep. About 30 minutes after being put to bed, out walks Brayden of his room, which was a surprise, since we have turned around the doorknob so we can lock the door, with the full approval of our pediatrician might i add, and on top of it Brayden has taken off his pajamas, which he is very into getting himself dressed and undressed all the time, and he has also taken off his diaper. We haven't really ventured into that area too much so we were surprised to see his little bare bottom running down the hall to our room. Brayden climbs onto our bed and in the room we hear London giggling away. We just have to laugh because at that point what else are we going to do. Jason went and got London out of the crib when he finds that Brayden has peed on the carpet. London is all smiles and being as cute a button in any attempt to stay out of bed. We restart our show, with kids sitting on the bed with us and Brayden back in a diaper. Good thing the show was almost over since all London wanted to do was crawl to the computer to touch the buttons and Brayden wanted to jump on the bed. We played with the kids, finished our show, and put them back to bed. Sometimes you just have to laugh or you would go crazy....

And these days Baby 1 and 2 aren't the only things keeping us on our toes...baby number 3 wants to give us a run for our money too. I know lots of people have been wondering what is going on with this baby and pregnancy so here is the abbreviated scoop.

Last Tuesday, I went in to have some oral surgery. The surgery went fine, I went home and sleep most of the day in a drug induced slumber. Around 11pm, I woke up find that I was hemorrhaging. I thought I was dreaming it but when I got out of bed I assuredly was not. I got Jason which was good because I started to go into shock. Luckily, my dad was on his way home from a bishopric meeting and was able to come right over and help Jason give me a blessing. In the meantime, we had called the labor and delivery department of the hospital and talked with a nurse. She told us we needed to come in...which I knew but I wanted confirmation as well. My dad stayed with the kids, who were asleep anyway, and we headed to the ER. They did all the blood work and a long ultrasound and found that the baby was OK. They called it a placental hemorrhage and a couple of hours later sent us home with orders to follow up with my dr tomorrow. Note, the surgery and problem were not realted...it was just a coincidence which was another reason we went to the hospital. Needless to say, I got put on bed rest for a good week until things got better. This morning, I went back in for a follow up ultrasound and they could actually see the problem on the ultrasound this time. So pretty much the end result is that this problem will keep happening, as it happened with both Brayden and London only much later in the pregnancy, and I have to just take it easy until the next episode. When that happens I'll be back on bed rest and we will start over. The Dr's are 90% certain this will happen again and everyones goal is just to make it to 30 weeks. I start hormone therapies next week, which is supposed to help stabilize the environment for the baby but who knows...until then...the fun continues...In happy news, in 2 weeks we find out what are having! Take the poll and tell us what you think we are having...a boy or girl?

Water Babies...

We have been enjoying the nice weather and being outside. The kids love the swimming pool in the backyard and want to go in it all the time. London is our little fishy. I am excited to see how she does on the boat this year and with the lake. I think she is going to have a blast! Here's just some pictures of the things we have been up to.

We had to wash the car after it stopped raining green (the pollen stopped). Brayden always wants to be right in the middle of the action and help. He loves to vacuum and take out the trash and is learning to be a good little helper.

London just wants to be on the go all the time. Were working on her to take steps but it is slow going. She still hasn't gotten the reflex to walk yet..but she has a cute little army crawl.

2010 Birthday pictures!

I took the kids to get their annual birthday pictures. We just went to Sears to get them done. I had the whole event planned out from the morning naps to the appointment times so that I would get optimum results. However, the whole thing turned out to be almost a disaster. Brayden cried the whole time and we only got one picture of him. He would not take any with London and when he cried, London began to cry. London did slightly better. We got some cute ones of her however getting her to smile was impossible. Oh well...here's to 1 and 2!

BIRTHDAY BABIES!!!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Brayden 2nd birthday and then 12 days later we celebrated London's 1st birthday. Here are some pictures of the big events... London opening presents in her cute tutu pajamas. We put on of the bows from the presents on her head and it fit perfect!

London didn't really know what to do with her cake. She played in it some but didn't eat too much of it.

"Mom, what am I supposed to do with this thing?"

Singing happy birthday to our Lolly girl.

This year, Brayden was old enough to really love opening presents. He thought that was the best part.

Brayden loved his cake...well he loved his new dump truck that was on top of the cake. I had to dumping out Oreo crumbles on top.

Happy Birthday to my babies, who aren't really babies anymore. Brayden topped in at 28lbs and 33inches tall. He is in the 50% percentile for everything. London weighs 18lbs and is 28 inches long. London is almost crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks...but that doesn't stop her from getting around. She scoots all around the place. She cant wait til she is mobile like Brayden so then she can follow him all around.

???

What does chick-fil-A ice cream...lots of meat...

and doughnuts have in common?

That would be my current pregnancy cravings...

yep...

you are not hallucinating...

Baby Sessions #3 here we come!

Ok, now that you have stopped hyperventilating....well that was me..and you have accepted that we are going to the crazy house....sit back and enjoy our crazy story of how this all came about...

Actually, its not so crazy and it has not been a spontaneous decision...rather the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

All along, we have known that we had to have our children as quickly as possible for medical reasons. Brayden was our honeymoom baby and then 1 year and 12 days after he was born, London came along. I was totally ok with no more kids...at least for a good long time...and then life happened and my plan went out the window when the doctor told me that my only options were to have another child or have a hysterectomy due to medical complications that I have been having. We knew there was another little one for our family and after agonizing over the decision for weeks and weeks, I came to the bottom line realization that I could never live with myself if I did not let this little one join our family. Hence..here we are once again with baby #3!

I have been freaked out about having 3 under 3! My biggest issue was that I was out of arms, we needed a bigger car, and how in the heck was I going to handle my little circus?! While I don't have answers to most of my questions, I do know that we are doing the right thing and somehow it will all work out.

The current due date is November 8th, so, therefore, we are expecting this baby in September. My goal is to make it to 30 weeks! I am guessing it is going to be a boy as these past 2 months have been very similar to my pregnancy with Brayden so far but who knows...I do know this will be our last baby and so I am trying to enjoy the roller coaster ride of being pregnant because I know i will never experience it again. That means i am indulging cravings and trying to take more naps and just trying to enjoy myself.

So there you have it...our happy news!

Brayden's Surgery and the new wagon...

Two weeks ago, Brayden had surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. He did pretty well with the whole ordeal at the hospital and Jason was a hero, when he came and took the night shift to stay with Brayden and discovered the playroom. They had Brayden spend the night at the hospital due to his age. Since coming home from the hospital, things have been a little more challenging as Brayden loves to throw tantrums, cannot really talk, and was in pain. Thank heavens for narcotics that we now miss because to this date...it has been the only medicine that has knocked Brayden out for a solid nap. In fact...one day he even took a 4 hour nap! It was awesome! We went to the post surgery appointment today and everything is healing up nicely. I was sort of hoping the doctor would find something to associate with Brayden's recent orneriness but nope...its the age. Good thing we love our Scooby!

On another note, the weather, while it has been bizarre and fickle, decided to have some lovely days recently. High 60's and sunny...we all headed to play outdoors. We have been wanting to get the kids a wagon since we are all tired of being cooped up with the cold weather. The new wagons that they make are awesome and the kids loved it! While we were graced with another snow storm on Tuesday and currently the wagon is iced over in the backyard, we are looking forward to spring and being outdoors once again!

I am also proud to report that London is doing fabulous! Recently, the state of GA called me and asked if London could be part of a research study for preemie babies. So last week, we went downtown and had London evaluated by all sorts of people..speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, etc. and I am happy to report that London did not make it into the study because she is on track for her age...well her adjusted age...so minus 11 weeks of actual age. London is really trying to crawl these days and getting better and better and scooting. Her two bottom teeth are coming in and she has become a little chewing monster! We are proud of you Lolly! It is also fun to see, as London and Brayden get older, the two playing together. I love when Brayden makes London giggle and she loves Brayden. She thinks he is so interesting and funny. While Brayden can have his trying moments he is still a cutie pie as well. This morning he was running towards me to give me a hug and I said, "Brayden give mommy a kiss." He actually gave me a big kiss on the check. I tried to get him to do it again..nope...apparently it was a one time deal. For the rest of the day I tried and he would tell me no and run away. oh well...tomorrow is another day.

Atlanta Snow Storm Feb 2010...

Happily, metro Atlanta received a couple of inches of snow yesterday. It wasn't a fake Georgia snow storm. This one had big snow flakes that stuck and made it so that we could play in the snow this morning. Brayden was very excited about all of this! His excitement lasted about 10 minutes until he fell in a melting puddle and got his mittens all wet and then he started to cry and wanted to go inside.

Brayden liked to "Crunch, crunch" in the snow.

And for Grandma..who is in California and missed the whole thing...this is how deep the snow was grandma!

London...the bald baby!!!

Yes, you are reading the title of this post correct...your eyes are not playing tricks on you...as of this morning, London is one very bald baby! How did this all come about? I'm so glad you asked...I laugh now but this morning I was almost in tears looking at my sweet little Lolly. Lets go back and let me explain...

When Brayden was 9 months old we shaved his head so that his hair would come in even and thicker. I did it myself and I was ok with it...hes a boy, its ok if he has no hair. Well, London, because she is just beginning to sit up has rubbed all of the hair off of the back of her head and on the sides. So, she had a Mohawk on top. Jason decided that he wanted her hair to grow in even and so he thought...oh well...i will shave it off and let it grow back.

Hence, I walk into the bathroom this morning, and London is getting a nice buzz cut! She looked so sad! I was upset for a bit but now all there is left to do is make sure that she has a big bow or flower on at almost all times! I don't disagree with Jason in his thinking...but...its just not the same for a girl as a boy! Anyway...there is nothing left to do but wait for her hair to come back and ban Jason from cutting London's hair ever!!!

Brayden...

We love Brayden. He is so full of life and keeps everyone on their toes! I came into the room the other day to find Brayden sitting in the drawer of the coffee table watching his movie. This did not shock me too much since I already find Brayden not only in weirdest places but I find all sorts of stuff that he has stashed in random places. Sippy cups are constantly missing but usually in one of his toy buckets, cell phones get stashed in one of his cars, the hot wheels go down the busy ball shoot, the spoon and fork go down the hole where his tray for his booster seat hooks on, etc. Anyway...a couple of days later I mentioned it to Jason and what does Jason say..."Oh yeah, I taught him how to do that." What?! Jason's reply..."Yeah its awesome..its like a built in booster seat with a tv tray...if I could fit in the drawer I would do it too..." All I could do was start laughing because yes...my husband is still part child at heart and at times ridiculous and silly!