Emmy's special day

Our niece Emily was baptized Sunday. Her entire family including all her aunts & uncles and grandparents were there to watch. She did great and it was very special. We are all very proud of her!

After the baptism, we headed over to Jennifer and Kai's house to celebrate Emily's 9th birthday. The kids had a great time playing together. Granddaddy even got in on the fun by jumping on the trampoline.

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Happy Birthday Emily! We love you!

once upon a time...

Our great friends Sammy and Chris came over for hamburgers Thursday night and brought Jacob. We got in the hot tub and had fun hanging out together. Ethan snuck into Jacob's car seat when we weren't looking.


Ethan and Jacob were instant friends. Jacob smiled and smiled at us. Ethan LOVED the baby! It was so sweet to see how excited he got when Jacob smiled. I told Ethan to tell Jacob a story and this is what he said... "Once upon a time there was a little boy... and a big boy... and they went outside...". It was so stinking cute to hear him say it in his little voice just learning to speak clearly and in full sentences.

Isn't he adorable?

Austin's birth story

I got pregnant with Austin when Ethan was 6 months old. We were so in love with our baby boy, we wanted another one. I can't say it was 100% planned or 100% an accident, it was just 100% a blessing.

The pregnancy was rough for me. I had just been pregnant and was still nursing Ethan. Several doctors recommended I stopped nursing, so I eventually weaned Ethan. I was very sad about this, but wanted the utmost nutrition for my unborn baby. Don't ever listen to anyone who tells you it is impossible to get pregnant while nursing! I had many annoying pregnancy issues with Austin: My sciatic nerve hurt from the moment I found out I was pregnant, restless leg syndrome, a rib that made it impossible to sleep on my left side, horrible heartburn and all this while toting around my 1 year old and taking care of another little boy. It was hard and I doubted I would ever want to get pregnant again. God sure has a way of helping us mommies forget what we have been through!

At 36 weeks, I was already 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. Once again, I thought every day was the day. Since Ethan weighed over 9 pounds, we decided to induce labor 9 days before my due date.

We arrived at the hospital at 7 am and Kristen once again had everything ready for us. I was 3 1/2 centimeters and 70% effaced. I immediately got my pitocin and had the epidural at 7:45. I hung out with family and friends in the delivery room until it was time to push. My sister, mom, mother-in-law and Becky were in the room on the same bench seat waiting with me.

At 10 centimeters I started to push. After the first set of pushes, they told me to wait. Apparently the pushing was really working, so they wanted to call the doctor to come catch him. Within 15 minutes of waiting and 3 more sets of pushes he was out. It was the best experience. I had no pain and got to really enjoy the birth. I actually said to Eric that it was so easy I would have one more baby for him as I was pushing Austin out.

My little sweetie was born at 12:34pm on April 21st. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. When I first saw him, I thought he was so little. We had to explain to the nurses that he was small compared to our older son who weighed exactly one pound more than him.

I immediately fell in love with Austin too. Giving birth is such an amazing experience and I thank God every day for my little miracles.

Ethan's birth story

Apparently March is the month for birthing stories in the blogging world. Here is my story of Ethan's birth.

My due date was January 23rd. I was working at Dell Financial at the time and hobbling around for a month 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 cm dilated. Every night Eric and I would go for a walk, eat spicy foods and pray the baby would come soon. I was scheduled to be induced one week after my due date. Three days before, we decided to go enjoy our last meal out at The Melting Pot. Little did I know I would go into labor that night. I wouldn't really recommend eating loads of cheese right before giving birth.

We had a wonderful evening out and went to bed around 10. As I was getting into bed, the cat started meowing and following me around. This is not normal behavior since we have a mutal dislike for each other. She put her paws on the bed where I was laying to look at me. At that moment, I knew tonight was the night. Sure enough, I started having contractions around 4 am. We timed them and called our friend (my labor and delivery nurse) around 8 and told her I was in labor.

We went up to the hospital around 12 pm and Kristen had our room ready for us. She is the most thoughtful person and she took such good care of me! I was 4 cm. I got my epidural shortly after I was 5 centimeters. Sitting on the bench in my room waiting with me was my mom, sister, mother-in-law and old friend Becky. By 8:15 pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push. I pushed for 2 hours. 2 hours! I didn't do wimpy pushes. I was determined to push him out, so I gave it my all the entire time. We had several issues that were causing concern; Ethan's heart beat sped up with the contractions. he wasn't moving down very fast and I had a fever. The doctor gave me two options and left the room: C-section or suction. Just the word suction was enough to make my mom and mother-in-law encourage the C-section. Eric and I had everyone leave the room so we could make a decision together and pray about it. We decided to try the suction for one pull and if he didn't move, we would do a C-section. After we kicked everyone out, I had a contraction. My sweet hubby held my legs through it and I pushed. I didn't want to waste a contraction!

By now my epidural had begun to wear off. I didn't feel the contractions, but I did feel him come out and everything else that comes along with it. The doctor did the suction once and Ethan's head crowned. His hand was up by his face, which had been making it almost impossible to come out. She moved his hand and pulled him out with the next contraction. My baby boy was born at 10:14 pm. He weighed 9 lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches long.

The most amazing moment was when I held him for the first time. He looked back and forth between me and Eric as we talked to him. He stole my heart the first moment I saw him and at that moment, I knew we had his heart too.

Team Donkey

Ethan had his first soccer practice last night. I don't know who was more excited about it, Eric or Ethan. Eric was a big soccer player, so he has been waiting for this day for a long time. It was really cool to see them out on the soccer field together.

The coach asked the nine 3 year olds what they wanted to name their team. Ethan's suggestion was Shrek. Other suggestions were lamas and donkeys. After much debate, donkeys won out. Go Donkeys!

Austin did not sit still for one minute. Eric and I chased him around the soccer field and tried to entertain him. Needless to say, it was very challenging. Eric and I decided we will find a way to keep him away from the soccer field so he will be happy and so he doesn't distract Ethan. Instead of paying attention to the coach at the end of the practice, Ethan was saying "I want Austin to play soccer. Austin is my best friend. I want my best friend to play soccer with me." Isn't that so sweet? Next year Austin will get to play soccer too.

Now we have to go buy Ethan cleats, shin guards, knee high socks and soccer shorts. What fun! I guess I'm officially a soccer mom!

random pics from Louisiana

Austin and Sherry

Tatum and Trent

Sherry, Mom and me

Me and Taylor

My mom and big sister

the bestest time

Ethan and Austin had so much fun over our Easter break at my sister's house. Here are some of the reasons why:

Grandma gave Austin Coke out of a bowl with a straw and he liked it so much he decided to ditch the straw. They both enjoyed their happy face pancakes for breakfast.

They ate entirely too much candy...

played video games with family...

played with their four cousins in a 1000 sq ft playroom loaded with new toys...

their family let them crack confetti eggs on their heads...

their cousin Tatum taught them to play the piano...

they loved jumping on the trampoline even though it made them have crazy hair!

All this fun makes you really sleepy!

Happy Easter!

We celebrated Easter today in Louisiana with my sister and her family. We made it in really late Friday night and Ethan was sooo excited. He was so happy to see his cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents. We were worried he would never go to sleep because he was giddy with excitement.

Our first excursion Saturday was to Lake Martin to look for alligators. We all illegally piled 13 people in the Excursion and drove around the lake. We saw at least 20 little alligators, blue birds, white birds and even pink birds. It was really fun and the kids had a blast.

Next we headed over to famous Blacks' in Abbyville for some yummy seafood. We tried oysters raw, charbroiled and fried. I definitely preferred my fried shrimp to raw oysters.

The Easter Bunny found Ethan and Austin all the way in Louisiana. They had so much fun opening the eggs and discovering what was inside. Austin's new favorite holiday is Easter simply because he got to eat candy all day! All he had to do was give it to Grandma to open, and it was his.

I hope you have a great Easter and remember why we celebrate this special day!