Monday, December 19, 2016

Oh my! It's been a year....

Well hello blogger world... It's been a long while. I'm not even sure anybody will read this, but here I am! It's Christmas break and I'm lovinggggg my time off with the boys. My plan is to try and keep up with this blogging thing (which I was pretty good at before having three kids, but also life wasn't sooo interesting to write about - or read about - now was it?! hehe) So here it goes...

This was last month at the Wall's Family Tree Farm we always went to ever since I was little. FINALLY got all 3 boys there, and this is our latest pic! Everyone has grown so much

SO so thankful to have this guy by my side on this wild ride called Parenthood.

I am going to try not and beat myself up for not writing in a long time because I do recognize there's a lot going on in our house!!! 

Updates...

Ryan and I both have new jobs.... He works as a sales consultant for David Weekley Homes and I accepted a 3rd grade position in Leander ISD! Ryan loves his new gig! I'm excited to be in LISD because that's where our {newish} house is zoned and the boys will be going through that district! 



Landon is 5 1/2 and so so so fun. Love this age! He is full of energy, questions, loves to be a helper and the oldest ;) He is starting to read a handful more sights words than he did this time last year, and pretending to read which is how reading starts so it's reading to me! ;) Landon wants to try and play basketball. He tried a multisport program where he did flag football, soccer and Tball. 



Keegan is 3 1/2 and veryyyy much a "threenager". If I'm completely honest - this is the hardest age for us. It's that line between wanting to be SO independent and also wanting mom and dad's help. He isn't the best napper which makes afternoons and evenings difficult.  Since August, Keegan has been in ELE which is LISD's preschool program for teacher's kids and kids with special needs. It's been really fun and sometimes a struggle to bring him to school with me in the mornings. He and I have lunch at the same time, and it's really cute seeing him so excited and being able to go talk to him while he eats with his class. Seriously, being a working mom is a tough gig, but being able to be in the same building as your kids and seeing them during the day is the BEST THING EVER! I got to hop over to his Christmas party no problem, and see him throughout the day. Excited for Landon to join us next year in Kindergarten!



Dawson is 18 months and into everythinggggggg. He's climbing couches and chairs, opening cabinets and some doors, running and playing constantly, and the most loving little boy! Just so sweet like his brothers. Safety is the biggest thing at Dawson's age. You cannot take your eyes off him! He's been saying a lot of words, but most recently "Mine" "STOP!" "Eat" "This" are his new words. I keep working on "I Love You!" - can't wait to hear that the most! 



Friday, November 27, 2015

Christmas Pictures... Dawson is 6 months old!

 So we go from these pics....
 





























To these....
 
I am so in love with these two picture I just can't even stand it!!!!
My precious boys....and it looks like Dawson will be a blue eyed boy like Daddy.
 
"Hey Ryan....what if I kissed you?!! Landon and Keegan ...cover your eyes!!!!" hahaha so spontaneous and this is what we got! Love Dawson's little bowtie too. :)
 
 In just 6 months so much has happened! Ryan and I have had our comfort zones stretched once again and now are feeling more confident in our abilities as individual parents and as a team. Landon has been a big helper and great comic relief when needed - meaning many times a day. ;) Keegan has started talking SO much and showing so much love the best way his 2 year old self knows how to show it. I had many conversations with God after we had Keegan and said that two was all we could handle....and then God had other plans for us and said otherwise. God has taught me so much and shown me His love for us through me having Dawson. I needed to have Dawson to see this truth again like I once knew so strongly in my core. I hope to keep blogging more regularly... it is hard to find time to set aside, but I want this to be a record of our sweet little family's life!
 
It's a wonderful life!
Sara
 

Landon turns 4... Dawson's first days home!

Dawson was born May 24th and three days later Landon turned 4! What a week! My first baby and boy that made me a mom turned FOUR. Landon is so sweet and sensitive, but confident in himself. He loves to tell jokes and make others laugh... he is the best biggest brother and loves Keegan and Dawson SO much. Preschool has been amazing for him this year - lots of learning... learning social skills and learning to read and do math! (But he doesn't know it's math. ;) ) He has been asking a lot of questions about God lately...and just tons of questions in general. "Why?" all.the.time. But I love that he's curious... means his brain is workin'! I am so proud of the little boy Landon is turning into.
 
Sprinkle donut with birthday number candle has been our breakfast tradition!


Of course we had to do cake too... hope his wishes come true! ;)

Sweet Dawson after his first bath at home! Nonna was here to help!

Angel baby

Just can't get enough.

I got all the boys these coming home outfits with their names stitched on them... someday I'll make shadow boxes with their hospital memorabilia.

Nonna was here for 3 WEEKS! So needed and helped with our transition/adjustment. Sometimes you just need your mom. :)

 
It's a wonderful life!


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Dawson's Birth Story


I have been wanting to write this story down for a whole month now half a year now! ha! Been a little busy trying to keep up with these littles we have. I wanted to write down all the little details I may forget due to lack of sleep. ;)
 
At my 38 week appointment my dr and I discussed possibly inducing at 39 weeks. Having never done that before I was SO nervous at the thought of it...but I was also very uncomfortable physically (but who isn't at 9months preg), worried about child care for the big boys if I was to go into labor unexpectedly, and how big is this kiddo?! Landon was 8 1/2 lb and Keegan was 9 1/2 lbs... Dawson definitely didn't feel as big as Keegan, but maybe just about Landon's weight. (You find out later dr and myself were TOTALLY off! haha)
 
We decided to go ahead and induce the Sunday I turned 39 weeks. She checked me and I was already 4.5cm and 75% effaced (woah!)...so this was going to be a 'piece of cake' is what my Dr & midwife said! My body has had two babies and would kick into gear once it knew what was going on! So here is Dawson's Birthday story!

We were told to be at the hospital at 5am. Well we were running late - we were up until 11pm because little Keegan was cryyyyying in bed and wouldn't go to sleep. Of course just what we needed before the big day and last day of sleep until baby D sleeps through the night! ;) But it was also mixed with the emotions that life would be totally different for the boys (and us!) the next morning and things would drastically change - so we didn't mind the extra comforting and snuggles.

By the time we got inside it was 5:15 and a sweet girl greeted us - she said we were the only people she was waiting for this morning! It was a Sunday so most people were scheduled for Monday instead of the weekend. We made small talk about the rain and our older boys and our new baby boy we would soon meet! She walked us into the labor and delivery area and I had flashbacks of both Landon and Keegan's birthdays. Pacing the hall for 2 hours with Landon still in my tummy...and waddling in at 2am with crazy contractions I couldn't even sign us in the morning of Keegan's birthday.

A sweet nurse Jenn took us to our L&D room and she was great about calming my nerves for the induction. I was bummed because I knew the nurses shift switches at 7am and she would soon be leaving us! Jenn had me get dressed in my glamorous gown and another nurse came to put in my IV and we waited for my midwife to come!

Last pic of me carrying Dawson... man he is OUT there! ;)

Liane (midwife) showed up and was so excited for this day like we were. She has such a calming presence and Ryan and I immediately felt better once she showed up. We decided to start Pitocin and would watch how my body and baby responded to it... I had a 'drip of pit' with Landon so I had had pitocin before but never had a bad experience with it like you might hear from other people.  It was around 6:40am and we got started! Liane was excited for a 'birthday party' later as she was calling it that all day. Love her. :)

I met my new nurse Cassidy around 7:15am and she was such a doll!!! SO sweet and she was so amazing.  The morning was really calm and relaxing (eh... sounds strange but it really was. That was all I prayed for - not rushing not stressed not worried about the other big brother not scared etc) ... contractions were starting but nothing I couldn't handle. Dawson's heart rate was fine and he was not having any trouble while this was going on.  To pass the time Ryan and I ate popsicles! haha About an hour later (8:15am) I decided to get an epidural to relax/quit fighting contractions and 'labor down'... just where baby makes his way down throughout the contractions (and makes dialating happen) instead of me fighting and tensing up against the contractions which I had done in the past.  The anesthesiologist came in and was a lady! We were telling Cassidy that with Landon AND Keegan it was the same man anesthesiologist to come give me my epidual! She was shocked we had the same guy with the other boys cause chances are highly unlikely. She did a great job and it didn't hurt much at all. Cassidy and Ryan helped me get situated on one side and continued to flip flop me so the epi was even across my body instead of being more numb on one side than the other.

Liane came to check on me and we decided to break my water - this was around 10am. This would speed up contractions and hopefully have baby boy soon! We started talking about his name and how big the other boys were and how much fun we were going to have with our crew of 5. Liane guessed around 1pm we would have Dawson! Then she left and Cassidy kept coming in to check and helping Ryan flip me to my other side.

 So speed up to around 11:50pm - we had just been on the phone with our moms and we knew contractions were getting closer. I felt them but Ryan watched the monitor too. We called Cassidy and told her I was feeling different and a LOT more pressure. She came in to check on me and got a hold of Liane. This was the moment I was most anxious about... but most excited at the same time. Liane checked and sure enough "He's right here!" I started getting SO nervous but the pain was so intense I wanted him out and in my arms finally! Liane said to give one good push and we will see what happens. So back up to Landon's birthday... 3 hours - yes hours, of pushing... I was clearly doing it all wrong but I was also a rookie. ;)  Keegan's birthday was 3 pushes... yes 3 pushes total and he was out. All 9 1/2 lbs of precious baby. Then this day... I knew how to do it and didn't wanna have 3 hours of pushing. (I knew that would be highly unlikely because of how much easier Keegan was...but still. Kept that thought of pushing forever in my mind to muster up all my strength.) I took a huge deep breath in, closed my eyes and pushed with all I had in me... and I kept pushing... and pushing... (same contraction) "Oh my gosh ...you don't mess around... he's almost here!" And what felt like halfway through I freaked out cause I hadn't caught my breath... "I can't breathe!!!!!!!!" was somehow able to get that out of my mouth .... "Yes you can ....Sara ....open your eyes! Look up Sara... open your eyes!"

And there he was. The smallest, sweetest, glorious little baby I have ever delivered. Dawson Matthew my heart was yours right then and there. 12:30pm 7lb 10oz 20 1/2 inches of perfection and pure love.

 
 
 




 

His face says it all...


Corl Party of 5! And yes Keegan is holding fries...the only way we got him to sit and take a picture! ;)



 
I wish I had more pictures with Ryan right after he was born... both crying and so happy. Amazing moments I'll never forget.
 
It's a very wonderful life!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Another 6 month recap...

Computer difficulties and just crazy busy life in general caused this lengthy 6 month recap!
 
LOTS has happened. So here we go...
 
Christmas 2014
This of course could have it's own entire post - or 3 - but ain't nobody got time for that! So Here's a quick recap of the highlights. :)
 
My hunky husband and I have been together 10 Christmases! We couldn't believe it when we figured that out! Love doing life with him and can't wait for many more decades of Christmas together!  



The boys ready for Christmas Eve Children's Mass


Landon bein cute ;)


Never get pics of all 4 of us unless someone is around.... so this is the best we got!



Littlest brother and I! 17.5 weeks here :)
 
This was Christmas when grandparents visited!
Christmas Morning - opening his Polar Express track!
He LOVED it!
He was SO surprised Santa brought him this track set and was sweet to let Keegan play.
I promise Santa brought Keegan some great things too... however at his age (17months ish) he didn't quite get the present opening until he saw Landon doing it, and then he'd go to something else in about 30 seconds after opening something. We had a great Christmas as a family of 4 1/2 ;)
 
HAD to end our Christmas/December post with this gem of a photo.
 
We had a few days until Christmas Eve and I knew it was now or never to get a photo with Santa at the mall. Well everyone else in the Austin area had the same idea. The line was SO long.  Oh well - lots of decorations and fun to look at. The year before when we saw Santa, Landon sat and smiled and Keegan just sat and stared. He was 6 months old and had really no idea what was going on, but he wasn't afraid! This year - obviously a different story! He was TERRIFIED!!!!
 
We got the boys to sit on Santa's lap... Keegan already freaking out- and the camera girl says the camera isn't working!!!! She starts trying to fix it and I grab Keegan to calm him down and Landon is just so tickled to be in Santa's lap. He starts petting his fluffy white fur sleeves and doesn't want to move a muscle. He was beaming. Too cute. Camera starts working and Keegan keeps screaming. Oh well! Funny memory and great photo that captured the moment. ;) 
 
 January



January was a tough month- my grandfather and 'birthday twin' passed away.

The top picture is of all my cousins on my mom's side. It was an extremely sad circumstance that brought us all together, but it was amazing to see everyone and a great reminder of what a wonderful family we have because of Papa Don's legacy.



 
Pictures of a few of the birthday's we celebrated together and one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. He was telling us what a beautiful ceremony we had and that he was praying for us and our marriage. I could tell he was thinking of his bride and my sweet grandmother we miss so much.

 
My cousin Lauren had a swim meet at UT swim center and we went to watch her! She swims for Arizona and is amazzzzzzing! Landon and Keegan loved watching the swimmers and finally got to meet Lauren! So fun! :)
 
Fav quote of the day... "Mom... can they get out of the way so I can swim?!?!" He was dead serious.

My little cuties!
 
February
 
Nonna came to visit! We took her to the county park near us and rode the train the boys LOVE.
Are you surprised?!
 

Oh boy...there's baby brother! ;)

Landon LOVES this train!

Valentine's day we had got together with a bunch of friends with kids and had a great time!!!! Lots of food, fun, games and laughing and of course playing with the kids. Keegan wasn't thrilled about a picture. Poor thing!

We took a trip to Houston to visit Ryan's family and we realized it was our last time to visit/stay at his childhood home! Ryan's mom and fiancé built a new house and were moving later the next month! Sweet sentimental pic!
 
March
 
Over Spring Break I took the boys to visit my parents in Dallas. We went to my favorite childhood park and they had a great time! This happened to be St. Patrick's day and they were so cute posing for pictures for us.

Keegan didn't nap well one day... and he was clingy poor thing. Here's a picture we captured that I just love. My baby on our baby. :)
 
 
Dr. Seuss Dress Up Day! We dressed as the Star-Bellied Sneeches! Thought it was pretty cute (and easy!) and hilarious ...especially with a baby belly. :)

Awwww
 
 
April & May
 
These months flew by in prep for baby #3's arrival!! 
 
Here's Easter Sunday :) They look so handsome!

 
 So that was a quick recap - life is busy! and...
 
It's a wonderful life!