A Christmas to Remember

Brooklyn Mae Shaw came at 2:59 Tuesday morning. She weighed 7 lb 6 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long and she was perfect in every way.

Here is a quick run down of the labor story:

Monday night, after a great day I might add, we headed to bed. I was sore from cleaning and walking, but nothing big. As I was trying to get comfortable, my water broke, completely shocking both Kev and I. I never expected that to be how labor would kick in for me. The contractions started, but not all that bad and not too close together, but after Kev's mom got there to stay with the boys, we headed to the hospital.

We got all checked in and I still wasn't doing too bad. They checked me and I was at a 7! That was a nice surprise. I stayed at a 7 for the next 3 hrs. Right after another check, she said in another hour if I hadn't done anything they would start me on pitocin. Ten minutes later they lost her on the monitor so they were just going to attatch it to her head, and found out I was at a 10 and she was ready to go. The doctor got there and I pushed once for her head and once for her body and she was here! It really was an easy labor, if I dare say :)

Kev has a philosophy that all babies are born at 3:00 in the morning and so far, the two of ours that came on their own, that has been pretty accurate.

When it came time to come home we decided I would stay until Christmas Eve morning so they could do the bilirubin test at the hospital instead of going to the lab. When I called Kev to make the plans and find out how the boys were, it wasn't good. Ty had thrown up during the night and Jordo had a terrible case of diarrhea. What a joke! Kev had been up all night with the sick boys and I was supposed to bring a new baby home. It couldn't have been worse timing, and on top of all that, it was Christmas Eve.

Here are just some pics of the first days:

We did it though. We kept Brooke in the other room and the boys watched lots of movies. It was a LONG day, but everyone was feeling better in the morning and we had a great Christmas.

And now to try to figure out life again. We couldn't be happier she's here, timing was a bit crazy, but we are thrilled.

The Polar Express

This year Grandma and Grandpa Shaw made a new tradition. They want to do something special with each grandchild each year. This year they chose to take the boys to The Polar Express. The boys couldn't have been more excited to ride a train, see Santa and have hot chocolate. Not to mention they got to wear the pajamas!

All day the boys were asking when Grandma and Grandpa were coming and could they get in their PJs. It was a long day for everyone :) and we only had to wait until 4:00.

We were told it went well and from the bouncing off the walls when they got home, I think it did. Ty ran out of the car ringing his bell from Santa and couldn't stop talking. Jordo just kept running. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for awesome memories!

Bad News

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting our follow up post about the Face to Face Concert with Billy Joel and Elton John. Sadly we are still waiting to go. We found out the day before that Elton John was sick and unable to perform, so they postponed it until February 19th. We still get to go and we definitely will, but now I get to figure out baby issues, since we will have a month and half old little girl. Oh well, what can you do?

So if I am blogging again by that point after adjusting to three kids, I will be sure to let you know how amazing the concert was!

Moving, Birthday and too many leaves!

Things have been busy at our house! Ty and I both had birthdays and then we spent the weekend moving (that is the reason for the delay of posting). We are in a different apartment in our same complex, but a three bedroom now with some more room. We lost some great neighbors but hopefully they will come back and visit lots!

Here's our birthday wishes!

Ty has been wanting a bike since riding his friend Mason's. We got this one from a garage sale, painted it and put some 'cool' stickers on it. Kev added training wheels and we were going to lower the seat and handle bars to size. BUT- the seat post happened to be bent and was down as far as it could go. So poor little Ty couldn't even reach the pedals. We headed to the store to see about fixing it and came home with this....

Something a little more his size. The other bike will get stashed until he can ride it and by then, Jordo should be ready for this one. It was a good idea, but who could have known our troubles?

Happy Birthday Ty! I can't believe you are four, but we have loved every minute of you!

And for my birthday, Kev and I are going to the Face to Face tour with Billy Joel and Elton John! I am so excited. These are two of my favorite artists and I've heard the concert is awesome. There will be a follow up post.

We had lots of fun with the leaves this year. The two huge trees in our front yard produce way more than enough for a good jumping pile. Well, we had fun until it was raking and bagging time to beat the snow. What you can't see in the last picture are all the other huge piles. We raked and raked and raked some more and then when all was said and done Kev counted 27 bags! What a joke! Now if the rest of the leaves would just stay on the trees.

Happy Halloween

We love Halloween at our house! Well most of it and most of the time. The boys were so excited to be pirates and helped pick out everything for their costumes, but somewhere down the line, Jordo changed his mind. What can you do to convince a two-year old that a silly hat matters? You can't and so most the time, Ty was "Captain Pirate" and Jordo was just tagging along.

Our Halloween started Friday night at the annual family pumpkin carving party. The boys took that very seriously and were both there for every second of the job. Thanks to Kev who did it all and most the time had a small pirate on his lap.

After the pumpkins are carved, someone does a silly judging and gives out prizes. Ty's pumpkin won the scariest pirate and Jordo's for the happiest smile. Ty was thrilled. Even though everyone wins, he kept saying, "I won, I won, I can't believe I won!" He felt very privileged to have a prize for 'his' great efforts.

Kev and I even tried to have some Halloween spirit. My 'costume' has worked for three pregnancies now and should there be any more to come, I suspect it will continue. Kev always tries to be creative. Don't you think he did a great job this year?

We had so much fun this Halloween, even with a few tears, and hope everyone else did too. Kev ended up getting the boys to cooperate and they both willingly took this cute picture. Hooray for fall and the holidays! Now we are ready and excited for Thanksgiving.