My Birthday!

On Tuesday May 12th I celebrated my 29th birthday! Nothing too special just a nice evening with my husband and kids. We sat down and had dinner together and then enjoyed cake and gifts.


My Hubby brought me home roses and the most amazing cake, it's from a place called "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and they are to die for. They are so delicious, and come in different flavors with the most incredible homemade cream cheese frosting and they decorate them so cute. Being that I am a dessert fanatic this was the most awesome gift. It was a decadent white chocolate raspberry cake and he picked out the cutest decoration.


My girls did awesome with my gifts as well, Russ let them pick out some cute little jewelry because I like just cheap bracelets and earrings and it was hilarious because he said he let them do it all themselves. So it was very obvious I got a taste of what it was like to be 5 and 6 again. They had picked out all kinds of 1980's era sparkly bright pink bracelets and earrings. I was even given a pair of purple glitter sunglasses, something out of the golden girls. It was hilarious but oh so adorable, I just asked Russ that maybe next time he should insist mommy likes more of the black, silver, or gold jewelry.

And of course my husband is the sweetest gift giver. He surprised me with a beautiful citrine princess cut ring surrounded in champagne and white diamonds. Man I'm so lucky to have these beautiful and loving kids and such a giving husband in my life.

Our "Little Catholic"

On Saturday May 10th we baptized our precious little Bryce! This was such a wonderful and celebratory day as we not only celebrated the baptism of our son but also Mother's Day, my brother Thomas' 23rd birthday as well as an early birthday for me. My mother-in-law was able to schedule a private baptism for us which was so wonderful. All of the kids were on the best behavior which really surprised me, not that they are bad kids, it's just that they are seldom so quiet and reserved. I was sitting in the front and it dawned on me that I hadn't asked anyone to look after the kids and it was so quiet, I turned around and saw everyone including little mischief maker, JT, sitting very quiet and paying attention, thanks kiddos! It was such a beautiful experience and it was made all the more special by the fact that we had the same priest, Father Henry, whom married Russell and I and has baptized all our children officiate the occasion. Father Henry has been a big part of our life from marrying us to baptizing our children. I would even contribute our good fortune of being able to have the family we have somewhat to him. When we got married Father Henry laid his had on my stomach and blessed me saying, "may you have many children." I was told once when I was a teen that I may never have the capabilities to carry a child, but I have proven that wrong and have had four very beautiful and healthy children. Russ, brother Jeff and his wife Lesley are the Godparents to Bryce as well as all of our children. We picked them because they are good Catholics and the most loving people. They would make the most wonderful parents and we know that they would always treat our children as their own. It was just such a wonderful day and we are so proud of our little boy and can only hope and pray that we along with our faith will steer him in the right direction in his life, to know that we along with God will always stand by him and will love him eternally.

"Brothers"

I just had to post a few pictures of my boys. they are so cute and I can't wait till Bryce is old enough to play with JT. JT will make an excellent big brother. He loves the baby, although he still wishes he was the baby. We will often find JT sitting in the babies swing, or chair, and he even tries to wear the babies clothes like his hats. Its actually very funny. He will run to look at the baby and say, "cute baby Bryce." He often wants to hold the baby and is always trying to hold his hand. These boys are so cute!

My Bryce

Well my little guy has been with me for one month now. It has been a hard road getting him here and it hasn't been very easy since bringing him home. He is a wonderful and beautiful baby that I adore but having four children all very close in age and all very dependent on me has proven to be a challenge. Jt has been refusing to potty train at all and this has been very frustrating specially since I have two in diapers, something I have never had to deal with before. The girls have been pretty great but JT has been crazy. He wants so much attention since the baby has come home and he gets it by, flooding the kitchen with water from the fridge, coloring with permanent marker on the carpet, furniture, himself, flushing objects down toilets, getting food for himself out of the pantry all day long, and the list goes on. I am nursing as well and the baby wants all my time which is understandable but difficult. I am sleep deprived as you can see in the picture. The baby we believe is a bit colicky so the afternoons can become very difficult as he cries a lot some days and I might not be giving him enough milk so I might have to start supplementing him with formula after he nurses. Bryce also has a clogged tear duct in his left eye which makes his eye goopy at times and he keeps getting little boogers stuck in his nose that make him snort so much while he nurses and this makes it even more difficult for me to sleep. All in all I wouldn't change a thing, I love my kids and love the chaos.

"Easter and a Birthday"

We had a wonderful Easter this year and since Elizabeth's birthday was just three days later we decided to combine the two and have an Easter/Birthday celebration. We were able to talk our parents into coming to our house for Easter which was so nice not to have to drive the kids anywhere and try and split time. We started the morning off with opening the kids Easter Baskets. It's always a joy to see how the littlest things make kids so happy. They all loved their baskets and the Easter Bunny even brought Bryce a new little play mat.

Later in the day the grandparents showed up and we had a nice meal together although I spent most of the time feeding the baby. My mom thankfully was a relief, she has such a way with my kids. She always seems to know how to calm them and they love to snuggle on her. The kids also enjoyed three Easter baskets this year. One from the Easter Bunny and then of course each set of grandparents brought them over a large basket filled with candy, toys and clothes, man they are spoiled! The kids had an Easter egg hunt, inside of course since it decided to rain, and we had probably about 150 eggs for just 4 kids to find. They had so much fun finding the eggs we actually even continued to find them for a few days afterwards. We ended up with so much candy and unfortunately for Russ and I we are candyaholics. We have been eating the candy daily, sorry kids!

We ended the day with a little birthday celebration for Elizabeth who is now 5 and on her way to Kindergarten. She is such a bright and lovable child. This little girl will do anything for you and she is super smart and beautiful. She got lots of presents from her grandparents and siblings and we got her a big girl bike. It is a barbie one that even has a mini barbie bike on the handle bars for her to take her barbie along for a ride with her. She loves this thing and has been riding it every chance she gets. The funniest thing that day was when we went to sing Elizabeth Happy Birthday JT got so upset because he wanted to blow out a candle. So after Elizabeth blew out hers we gave JT a cupcake with a candle in it which Elizabeth being such a sweet heart said was okay. As we lit it JT just stood there looking at everyone, he actually made everyone re sing Happy Birthday, but to him this time, before he would blow out the candle. All and all it was such a wonderful day.

He's here!!!!!

On Thursday March 26, 2009 at 10:13 am we welcomed our absolutely perfect little boy Bryce Michael Maxwell. I was induced 2 1/2 weeks early and even so Bryce was a healthy 9 pounds 3 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches in length. He has a cute little head of black hair that is lightening up to more of a brown and the most precious blue eyes, he reminds us of our first daughter Nichole who also has blue eyes. He is such a precious baby and an absolute miracle. It seemed like such a long road to get him here with lots of ups and down but the end result is wonderful. He has been home with us for six days now and has been an absolute joy. When we got to the hospital on Thursday at 5 am they checked me and I was already dilated to a 4 and before they could start the IV I had three contractions and they were definitely not braxton hicks. It was as if Bryce knew what was about to happen and he decided he would help the process along. They started the induction at 6 am and four hours and only 7 pushes later he was here. He has been sleeping a lot which the other kids are disappointed about because they want to play with him and hold him. I'm nursing which has started to get easier and we sleep together to make it easier at night. The girls adore him and literally can't keep their hands off him. My son JT is warming up to him although he is very jealous. Johnathan doesn't want much to do with me these days, it was pretty dramatic for him to have to leave me in the hospital and has kind of kept his distance from me at home, but I think he will adjust just fine. He definitely can't stand for Russ to give the baby much attention though, if Russ is holding Bryce JT just cries and says, "that's my Daddy." Poor little guy. We are so blessed though and are so happy to have two girls and two boys :o)

Me and my boys!

The other weekend I had a chance to take a picture while pregnant with my little boy. It was my husbands idea, since he had got me a little figurine for Christmas of a pregnant mother kneeling with her son on her lap holding her stomach. The figurine looks just like me and my son, same color hair everything. It is probably one of my most treasured gifts from my hubby, being that I'm such a sappy sentimental person. Anyway we wanted to recreate that pose in a picture and it came out fantastic. I only wish that I had done it with my girls. I could not believe what a ham my son was. There were so many good pictures it was hard to choose just two, I would have taken them all home if I could. I thought for sure he might not be into it or even cry, because my girls didn't really do too well with picture taking at his age. The minute we started though he stole the show, he was smiling hilariously, which he does with a goofy grin and his eyes squinched closed, but it is the cutest. He is an amazing little guy and I am so grateful to have captured this moment in our life forever.