Bryce's First Iowa Trip!

I remember when Zane was a baby and he would cry...it made me nervous and I thought it was a terrible sound...cause I felt so bad for him and just wanted to do what I could to stop it.  A few years, and another kid, later, I realized just how innocent that cry really was!  A newborn cry doesn't even compare to a toddler cry!!!  I'm trying to soak up each sound and every moment...and wanted to get some of them on video.  Sorry Grandmas...rest assured I picked him up as quick as I put the camera down!

And I just can't get enough of this little guy...I love every face he makes...and he just looks so peaceful when sleeping...



My little sugar bear sleeping on Daddy's chest!!

Jo had a couple of viruses on her computer and it's been out of commission, so here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks:

Nora, Mason, Braeden, Vaughn, and Arthur having some reading and i-pad time!

All dressed up and ready for ???

Nora and Mason getting their babies ready for a walk!  When Mason plays babies now, he names his Bryce!

Chefs Mason and Nora!

We have learned that Bryce sleeps a lot better when swaddled.  It still makes me feel bad to swaddle him, it just looks uncomfortable...but he loves it!  Sometimes he falls asleep without it and I will lay him down to sleep like that...but it's never as peaceful for him. 

"I have such a rough life!"

Bryce helping me do the laundry!

When the water was filling up the washer, he just stopped and listened.  It was so cute!

One night when the boys were supposed to be sleeping...we heard a loud noise, and then Mason crying.  I went in there and he had hit his nose on the railing of Zane's bunk bed.  The next morning it was black and blue and eventually through the week it traveled to both of his eyes!  It really looked like he had been in a fight! 

"You should see the other guy..."

Old Grandma...this picture is for you!  She had mentioned that all of the pictures I post of Bryce are of him sleeping...so I wanted to post one of him awake! 

Mr. Handsome!

This weekend we took our first trip to Iowa as a family of 5!  It was interesting packing for 5 people...and a baby again!  I'm just glad I wasn't working so I didn't feel super rushed!  We stayed with Matt's parents.  Bryce slept pretty much like normal Friday night.  Saturday morning we went into town to see my parents in the store one last time...it was their last day as owners of Bunch Hardware!   They sold the store and are now "just employees" instead of owners.  It's going to be hard to go back there and not go to the store!  My mom's sister, Jan, came to help them do inventory, as well as another couple who recently sold their hardware store.  Saturday was Adam's 21st birthday, so we all went out for supper.  Bryce had a rough afternoon...we couldn't tell if he was hungry, tired, gassy...he was just fussy!  The only person that could console him was me...and I was getting worn out!  He ended up sleeping with me until 3:15 in the morning...I was tired!  I'm guessing that he was a little overwhelmed with the new surroundings and being passed around to so many new people. 


Aunt Jan and Bryce

I got this koozie for Adam!

Toasting Adam's birthday and my parents' last day!

The boys (all 3) fell asleep on the way home. 

Sunday we visited Grandma/pa Baker.  Grandma had knee surgery on Wednsday and just got home Saturday.  She was anxious to see the boys and cuddle Bryce again!  After that, we went to Grandma Beggs' for dinner and to celebrate Keaton's 7th birthday.  I was nervous about how Bryce would be...I knew he would be meeting some more people and would be in a new place.  Luckily he did great...was in a much better mood and slept quite a bit.



Aunt Reeta and Bryce

Kenna, Reeta, Corbyn, Keaton, Mason, Zane

Keaton & Zane...buds!

Cuddled into his carseat!

Our first trip back with Bryce was successful!  We were able to visit with a lot of family members and friends!  I only have 2 weeks left at home with my handsome little man and I'm getting really sad!  I've had a AMAZING time with him and it really has been nice to have time during the day to do our "household" stuff so that at night I can focus on my kids.  It will be a learning curve once I'm back at work!

Another lost tooth!

I was a tad nervous for last week to start...Monday was MLK, Jr. day, so there was no school/daycare...and it was my first day home alone with all 3 boys!  Thankfully we had a ton to keep us busy so it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating!  First, I asked Julia to come over and take some photos of Bryce and the boys.  Anxious to see how those turned out.  My friend from school Maggie came over during the photos, and having her here was such an amazing help to us!  She just stepped in and took care of the big boys while I finished photos with Bryce and Julia.  Then when those two left, another friend from work, Michelle, and her two beautiful girls came to visit us also.  So really we were only "alone" for a few hours...and we survived!

Biggest and littlest brothers!

As Michelle and her girls were leaving, the doorbell rang and I thought "wow, I didn't want to be alone so I guess I got my wish..."  When I opened the door, a man was there holding this:

Beautiful bouquet, monkey, and chocolate bar sent from my school's PTA!  So sweet!

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful...just enjoying my time cuddling and loving on Bryce!  I really started feeling much better this week...not that I felt bad...just recovering slower than with the other two.  So naturally I wanted to be out and about...Bryce won't know what it's like to not be on the go all the time!  We did some shopping, went to see Matt at work a couple of times, and also hung out at home.  Bryce is easy to take care of...I just forgot how much time it takes to feed, burp, change, pack up, go somewhere.  Our lives run on HIS schedule!

There's nothing good on Mom!

I just can't get enough of this little guy!

Precious!

Zane has done so well at school since this quarter started!  He's had green days every day (green is the best you can get).  We are so proud of him!  I told Zane that I would come and eat lunch with him this week and bring Bryce also!  So we looked at the menu and picked Friday because they were having corn dogs.  But then he decided he wanted me to bring him McDonald's.  I checked to be sure it was okay, and it was, so that's what I did.  It was surreal to be on the parent side of everything...signing in...waiting on the bench for his class...sitting amongst the 5 year olds and feeling "famous" for about 20 minutes...made me miss my little darlings slightly, but also made me sad that my maternity leave is already half over!  While waiting for Zane, I noticed this bulletin board outside the gym:

And looking closer...this:

Our all-star!

We knew Zane had received this - he brought home a certificate.  But naturally he couldn't tell us what it was for or anything about it.  So I also took a picture of what he did to earn it:



So proud of you Zane!

Seriously...I almost had tears over that...how am I going to handle him growing up and graduating?  Here are some more photos from our week:

I've had it!  Don't worry...I took the blanket off his face...and I was right there the whole time!

My little man!

Sorry...but I just love this guy!

In church...looks like he's participating!!!

The older 2 playing Mario...gosh they want to do this all the time now!  It's hilarious to watch them...they're very animated and jump along with the characters!

Zane has had his last front tooth just hanging by a thread for awhile now.  It has looked very awkward for a long time!  I am just not good with teeth...can hardly even look at them when they're loose, let alone pull them out...so was hoping it would just come out on its own.  Thursday evening Matt's parents stopped by on their way home from St. Louis.  His tooth started really bleeding and he came up to me and said, "Mom, can you just pull it?"  I just couldn't do it!  Luckily, grandma to the rescue!  She tugged a little bit and it came right out!  So now Zane has lost a total of 5 teeth...Matt thinks we should get a discount at the dentist when he goes the next time!

"I can stick my tongue through there!"

What a face..but the only way I could get his huge gap in a picture!

Little pumpkin!

Guess I should put Bryce in "real clothes" more often.  Usually I have him in sleepers.  I put this outfit on him for church and the boys were both oogling over him saying, "Look how cute he is in his clothes!" 

This boy is already growing too quickly...he loves to push up from our chests and check us out!

We are all just so in love with Bryce!  Zane and Mason can't get enough of him...we are working on respecting personal space.  They love to hug, cuddle, kiss, and talk to him all the time!  Mason went up to Bryce this weekend, hugged him, and said, "I love you Bryce!"  I hope all three of them are great friends forever!

Settling In!

Catching up on a few pictures I received from Grandma...

The boys "anxiously" awaiting news of the arrival of their brother...eating lunch in their pj's!

Mason, Aunt Marcy, Bryce

Aunt Marcy with all 3 boys...nice Mason...really nice!

Matt was able to stay home with us on Monday, which was nice.  I wish he weren't so busy at work right now, I'd love to have him home with us more!  We used our time to shop for a new mattress.  We were in desperate need of a new one!  We found one and had it delivered on Friday.  It's so much more comfortable!  It's nice to wake up and not have a sore back every morning!

We also took Bryce to his newborn checkup at the pediatrician's office.  They wanted to see him right after he had his tongue cut (if you didn't read last week's post...he was tongue-tied).  He was back up to 8 lbs, 9 oz, almost his birth weight.  They measured him at 20", which was strange because he was 21.25" at birth???  We thought he had a blocked tear duct since he's had a very mattery eye, which the doctor confirmed.  Poor buddy has been waking up with his eye mattered shut.  We received some eye drops and were told to massage in the corner of his eye/top of his nose.  A blocked tear duct can last a whole year!  He pointed out a birthmark, which he called a reverse stork bite, on the back of his neck (we hadn't even noticed it!).  He was also pleased to hear that Bryce is NOT an "inconsolable baby" as my least favorite nurse the first night described him.  Everything else checked out okay and he's eating/sleeping as expected!  We have a happy, healthy boy, and will go back at 2 months to see how he's growing and developing!

The rest of the week we've just been settling into our new family of five and new routines.  It's a lot easier now since I don't have to get up and go to work...so the real test will be in 4 more weeks when I return to work.  NOT looking forward to that...and am trying to focus more on appreciating and enjoying the time I have than counting down what's left!

Mason and Zane playing Zane's DS

Bryce in the background as the older 2 play...

Biggest Brother Zane and Bryce

Bigger Brother Mason and Bryce

Our Three Sons!  Love these 3!

How could you not love this face?

Hanging out in the swing!

Matt had these beautiful flowers delivered to me!!!

They had a balloon too..."A New Little Prince!"

This pose makes him look OLD...and CHUNKY!

The older 2 got ahold of my camera...this is what I found!

Zane made this hat for Bryce and told me it was his "'birth" hat!  So cute and thoughtful!

Yesterday, Matt's parents and Grandma Beggs came down to see the boys.  We had a great day with them!  We had lunch, played outside, and had frozen custard before they left.  Zane and Mason were both a little wound up with them here...but I know they enjoyed having them here!

Last night the boys had a "picnic" in the basement while watching a movie!

And naturally they could NOT keep their hands off of Bryce!  Poor little guy!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this boy!  I just want to freeze time right now...I hate how fast they grow up!

I still have yet to cook a meal since Bryce was born!  We also continue to have lots of visitors, offers of help, friends bringing Mason home to me each day, emails, texts, and calls to see how we are doing.  We are so fortunate to have lots of friends and family helping us out in so many ways!  It really means a lot and makes you feel loved!  As our pastor once said in a sermon..."when friends and family offer to help you, it's God reaching out to you."  So we have learned to graciously accept offers of help and know that we will continue to pay it forward as much as we can!

For those of you who haven't had a chance to meet Bryce yet...I hope you get to soon!  He's really amazing!!!