Bean is 8 Weeks and Life with Three

Baby Bean is 8 weeks old today.  He is still sleeping through the night.  He is smiling more and more.  He loves to be cuddled and kissed.  He has rolls on his legs and arms, but isn't chunky.... he is so long!  I can't wait for his 2 mo check up!  I know this kid has put on some serious weight since his last visit.

I really cannot believe he has been here for almost 2 months.  I wish I could press the pause button, because its going WAY too fast! 

I haven't done any more bottle feedings because nursing is going really well.  He nurses pretty fast for the most part.  He nurses A LOT.  He has the "evening" colicky thing like brother Peanut did and just wants to be held, so we're gonna talk to the doctor about that.  All he wants to do is nurse, which is why I think he sleeps all night.  He's stocking up for the evening.  It makes it very difficult to get anything done or to leave the house without him. 

Life with 3 isn't as difficult as I imagined, but in other ways its harder than I ever imagined.  The worst part of our day is when we get home from picking Bubbie up from school.  Baby Bean usually wants to eat.  Bubbie needs a snack, to get settled after coming home from school and down for rest time and usually Peanut has fallen asleep in the car on the way home from picking up Bubbie and he needs to be taken in the house and put down for rest, so its usually quite chaotic and LOUD!  Baby Bean doesn't CRY often... its usually just an annoying whine, but at 1 o'clock, you can be sure he has the full lungs cry going on!  The other part of the day that is most stressful is around 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening when Daddy STILL hasn't come home.  Usually dinner hasn't been started because Baby Bean is eating and the boys are WILD.  Now, when I say wild, that is probably the understatement of the CENTURY!  They are beyond controlling.  Last week the boys were being wild in the playroom while I was feeding the baby in the living room.  Within about 30 mins Peanut came into the living room with a bloody lip and a bloody nose..... all from their wild actions!  I could have lost my marbles!  Somedays Hubbie will come home and say - "You look like your avatar!"  Sadly, its usually JUST gotten that bad RIGHT before he walks in the door!  Before then and for the whole day, its been good, but I'm learning it just takes a few minutes for the whole day of good behavior and good things to come crashing down!  But, like I said the other day, it STILL hasn't gotten bad enough for me to wish my life away or for me to send Hubbie off to the doc to get fixed.  We have bad moments or bad hours and even a few bad days.

I am learning that with 3 kids -don't make too many plans.  I have also become much more grateful for the "good" days and the "family days" and not taking a day for granted.  I have learned to make the most of my days.  I may be kinda down some days and wishing that I could do something "more fun" that day other than laundry or feeding the baby AGAIN, but then I realize, if this was my last day with these boys, I would want them to remember our last day together as happy memories- of a mommy that cared and was focused on her task- to raise three beautiful boys to love and serve God.

So, life is good.  We are thankful for our beautiful life together and taking life one day at a time.

A Winner! Congrats....

Congratulations to Diane!  She won our It's Personal giveaway!

Thank you to all who entered!

Don't forget to check out It's Personal for all your monogrammed gifts this holiday season!

Are You Done?

Are you done?  Hmmmm... that is a question Hubbie and I have been asked QUITE a few times since we found out that we were expecting Peanut.  Now instead of people asking if we are done- they just assume we are done having children!

My brother and I were chatting one night and he asked the same thing...... I told him that I hadn't had Hubbie make an appointment to be "fixed" yet, so that is always a good sign!  The three children haven't driven me completely nuts for me to what anything done.

My doctor repeatedly asked me during my 9 mos of appointments if we were going to get a tubal.  I repeatedly told her NO, if we could avoid it.  She even asked me for the UMPTEENTH time, on the operating table, if we were gonna do a tubal.  We again said, NO! Not if you can help it.

The Lord answered our prayers and gave the doctor the ability to sew me up so that I could have a 4th c-section done.  Because of that, I am still in limbo about how many children we will end up with.

Do I want another c-section?  Gosh! No!  The idea of having another one makes me nauseous.  I hate, hate, hate hospitals.  I hate, hate, hate the recovery period.... even though this 3rd recovery was ten times better than the other two, its still not something I would GLADLY do again.  It would be a way to meet another precious baby.

And the answer is NO.... we are not holding out hope for a baby girl.  If we had one, that would be fantastic, but if it was another baby boy, we'd be thrilled too!  Just because I do not have a daughter does not mean that motherhood is not worth it to me!  I have three beautiful, healthy and smart boys.... a fourth one would be a blessing!

So, the verdict is still out.  Some days, I say NO MORE KIDS.  Other days, I look at my children playing and the baby smiling, and I just cannot imagine being done with "these days".  I am ready to move on and be done with "baby days" but, then again, I'm not.

Only God knows what our family size with be.  So, the answer to the question is, I don't know!  :)

Don't Forget....

Don't forget the giveaway going on here!  

The contest ends on Monday!  So hurry!

And NO, you do not have to be a blogger to enter!  

All are welcome!    

A Fun Wii Game Review and Contest!

I was once again asked to review a fun and exciting new game from Jump Start!  We received a pre-release copy of the JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island game for the Wii.   What fun this was!  We don't let Bubbie play the Wii very often and if we do, its usually just to playing bowling, so he was VERY excited to have a game for JUST him to play!

Hubbie and Bubbie sat down, created Bubbie's avatar, which looked a whole lot like him and started to play the first "game"- all about recognizing patterns- counting by twos, letters in order, etc.  The game is geared for 5 to 9 yr olds, but we were very impressed and he did great.  I think he did better using the Wii remote than doing computer games on the keyboard.  Bubbie loved collecting "keys" and finding out what his total was!  He is ALL about winning these days and having the MOST possible things!

This game, rated E,  is a definite winner for our family!  Bubbie really enjoyed it and has told quite a few people about playing this game!  I am excited to see more of this game as Bubbie plays more.

Now, its your turn to to try to win this game or an Ultimate Escape prize pack full of some really cool items, like a Wii console, the Escape from Adventure Island game and MUCH MUCH more!  Check out the contest at the JumpStart blog.  Hurry, because the contest ends November 16th!

What a wonderful way to win some stuff for Christmas presents!

Note:  
A big thank you to JumpStart for providing this product to me and my family so that we could review this fun and exciting game!  

We Have.....

..........a 7 week old that is sleeping through the night!  Woo Hoo!  I don't know quite how to act.  I keep expecting him to stop sleeping through the night and for a week it was every other night, but he has been pretty consistent for the last few days!  He is VERY needy at night.  He nurses A LOT.... so I don't get much done from about 5 until bed time, but I guess its a good trade off!  We usually get in bed anywhere from 9 to 11 and we sleep anywhere from 5 until 7.  All I gotta say is that PRAYER WORKS!  I remember a few months ago when my friend Dana told me that she was praying for Baby Bean to be a good sleeper!  When she said that I kinda thought "Oh yeah!  That would be a good idea!"  HA!  I hadn't even thought about a baby sleeping through the night or asking God to give me one of those!  I had been praying for a healthy pregnancy.  I had been praying to make it to the scheduled csection and to have a better recovery than the last two, etc.  I had NOT been praying for a good sleeper!  What a wonderful prayer and a fantastic friend to THINK of praying for a sleeping baby!!!  

Nothing much else to report about the growth of our babe!  He is a wonderful baby STILL.  He is very alert. He is making baby coos and "talking".  He still has his baby mohawk and has the bluest of blue eyes!  

We don't have another doc appt until 2 months so we still have a few weeks.  He is AT LEAST 9lbs and he is VERY long.  I don't leave him on our ottoman anymore because when he stretches all the way out, his legs hang off the side.  He is quite a wiggly guy and very active.  

He is truly a wonderful and handsome baby.  I look at him and just think "How can I never have another one of these?"  I am ready to be done with babies and REALLY have no desire to have another csection, BUT the idea of never having another baby to kiss and cuddle and love and feed and snuggle with makes me a bit sad.....  just don't know what our family size will be......  

I'm A Girlie Girl! Review and Giveaway!

I don't ever remember a time in my life when I did not love jewelry, make up or clothes!  I got my ears pierced when I was in 2nd grade and I use to sit on my grandmother's bathroom counter and watch her put her make up on.  I always loved dressing up at my Granny's house!  I am definitely a girlie girl!

A few weeks ago I was wasting time on Facebook while I was nursing the babe and stumbled across Michelle's page.  I noticed she had a link to a website called Its Personal, so I decided to see what it was all about!  I was very pleased to see tons of stuff MONOGRAMMED!  Including JEWELRY!!!  and it wasn't expensive jewelry!   I looked around and drooled  for a while and then remembered that I still had my "blow" money (for you non-Dave Ramsey ppl- its money we give each other a set amount every month that we can "blow" on whatever we want), so I placed an order for these fabulous earrings.

I got the earrings within a few days of ordering and was very pleased with the look of the earrings!  I wore the earrings the next day and got 3 compliments on the earrings from friends and acquaintances!  I liked the earrings so much that I told Hubbie that I really wanted to get a necklace to match the earrings!

Michelle ordered this necklace for me to review for the blog and it matches my earrings!  I wore it Friday while I was doing errands and I had 2 strangers come up and compliment me on my jewelry!  I love the look and the weight of the necklace!

I am definitely in love with this store!

Here are a few more things that I LOVE-

Can you tell that I am addicting to monogramming things?!

Now its your turn to have some fun browsing and shopping - check out It's Personal and come back and tell me what you like!  That's all you gotta do to enter the contest to win a monogrammed necklace of your very own!

If you'd like a second entry, post about the giveaway on your blog or Facebook.  Be sure to link back to my blog and to the website- It's Personal.

This contest will end next Monday evening!  Good luck!  And a big thank you to Michelle for allowing me to review and giveaway some really cool jewelry!

He Did It!

On Sunday, November 1st, Hubbie reached a personal goal for himself.

He ran his first 1/2 Marathon!

A year ago he was almost 100 lbs heavier and very out of shape!  He started running to lose weight and to win the Biggest Loser contest at work!  He won the contest and continued to run because he fell in love with the sport.  He has run quite a few races- 5k and 10ks.  

Hubbie is now 3 pants sizes smaller, much healthier and is loving his new active life!

We are all so very VERY proud of Hubbie.  Not only for sticking with this but for running so far on such a tough course!  My husband keeps getting better and better as the years go on!  Never did I dream that he would be the man that he is today when I married him!  He is dedicated, a hard worker and wants the best for his family!  I am so happy that he did something that made him so proud of himself!  We love you Babe!

Next race on the agenda- Nashville 1/2 marathon!!!!

Trick or Treat 2009

This year for Halloween we decided to skip going door to door and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

We did this for several reasons.  First of all, last year, we went to several houses that the candy was yucky and I ended up having to dig through the candy and throwing away a bunch of "crap" that I wouldn't let the boys eat.  Secondly, I have a fear of sicknesses and the idea of ringing a bunch of doorbells and getting candy from random people's houses kinda freaks me out...( yes, I know I am a germ-a-phob!  I am a mother of 3 small kids.  Can you blame me? ) And thirdly, Hubbie has lost a TON of weight and I just gave birth to my third child, we don't need a BUNCH of candy in the house!  The less candy, the better!

So, for those reasons, we decided to go to a local church's Trunk or Treat.  We had chosen two area trunk or treats to check out.  We went to one and it was PACKED and we didn't feel like fighting the crowd with three small kids, so we went to another one.  The other is one that we've gone to every year since Bubbie's 1st trick-or-treating outing.  Its nice, small and we know some of the people that go to church there, so its always nice to see a friendly and familiar face!  The people are such sweet people and go out of their way to make sure the kids have a fun and safe time!  So, we got the "trick-or-treating" experience, a few games and fun for the boys and then were able to make it back to the car before the rain soaked us!

Everyone had a fun day together.  We came home, ate dinner and got ready for bed!  The next day was a BIG day for Hubbie and our family and a bright and early start! 

Halloween Idea

To find out how I made these "too-cute-for-words" Mummy Dogs, go here!