Reed's Birthday

I saw Dr. Chauhan for my regular visit on October 14th. We had made plans to do an amnio on November 4th and if his lungs were mature then we'd have a baby on the 5th. But, she said, "he may jump the gun on us." Yep, he did. When I went to bed on Friday night never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd have a baby by the next morning. At 3:15 a.m. my water broke. I drove myself to the hospital and Stephen stayed with the little ones until Aunt Jane could get there and stay with them. By the grace of God she happened to be in town that day. Don't know what we would have done without her. She has saved me many more times than I can count! At 5:33 we rolled back to the OR and at 6:01 Reed made his appearance. He came out pink and screaming. My parents and Heather got there shortly after and brought the kids to come meet their baby brother. They all seemed to like him but Jack especially did. So far, so good.

Those chubby cheeks are the ones I fell in love with on his ultrasounds.

Reed meeting the whole crew.

Ella meeting her baby brother.

Kate has her turn.

Reed meets his G.

Jack brought Reed a Scooby Doo. He later decided he would "keep it safe" for Reed until he was old enough to play with it.

Aunt Heather.

After meeting their baby brother it was back to the iphones.

Sweetness.

And Then There Were Four....

Reed Thomas Bauch joined our family on October 16, 2010 at 6:01 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. He was 5 weeks early so I think he would have been gigantic if he had come when he was supposed to! He is a super sweet, easy going baby so far. Guess he knew he had to be with our crew. More later from his birthday.

The Most Awesome Donut Ever

These were the words spoken by Jack describing Gibson's Donuts. I must say I agree. It's become one of his favorite things to do after school. It's been around forever-always the same old men sitting at the same tables drinking coffee. This particular day Jack polished off 3 donuts. And yes, the girls are wearing their Cinderella and Snow White dresses. I used to be one of those people who said I would never let my child go out dressed like that. Things quickly change when you have 2 headstrong three year old princess loving girls.

Batman and his Chicks

A preview of their Halloween costumes. This is the first year Jack has ever wanted to dress up. Ever. He went as a soccer player last year and wore his soccer uniform so he wouldn't have to wear a costume. And for him to have a mask on? Huge. He is so proud of himself. Of course for the girls, dressing up is no big deal. They do that all the time. Every. Single. Day.

Reed Update

So, apparently I'm growing some sort of gigantic baby. He has measured 2 weeks ahead since 19 weeks. Then he jumped to 3 weeks ahead. Now he is measuring just a couple days shy of 4 weeks ahead. I have gestational diabetes so that could account for some of his bigness, but they say he is just meant to be a big boy as well. Last week we saw my high risk OB Dr. Schneider. I saw about a million times with the twins and hoped I would avoid him this time. No such luck. He did another US and confirmed that he is perfect, just big. So the plan is to most likely do an amnio at 37 weeks to check his lung status and go from there. The countdown is definitely on!!

Love those giant squishy cheeks and big pouty lips. He looks alot like Jack did in his 3D ultrasound. It took me a while to notice that his eye was open.

Beautiful Day for the Park

About the only picture I could get of Jack.
Kate has NEVER gone down this slide. Guess she was feeling brave.

Back to the Zoo

Since it's has been so insanely hot, we haven't been to the zoo since May. We went last weekend and had a great time.

It's funny how often I catch the girls doing the exact same thing in pictures.




Kate was obviously not happy about riding the tram.
Goofy faces from two goofballs.

Sweetness

I went in to check on the girls and this is what I found. Kate had crawled in Ella's bed. This is how they slept for about 9 months until we finally moved them to their own crib.

Disney on Ice

We took the kids to Disney on Ice this past weekend. We had kept it a secret and just told them we were going somewhere special. All 3 thought we were going to Mimi's house. Hope it lived up to that.

The best I got of all 3.

Jack enjoyed the show, just not as much as his sisters. He did, however, enjoy the cotton candy and popcorn.

Showing Snow White her doll. She'd say, "Look Snow White it's you!"


Ella was in heaven watching her Snow White.
Kate wearing and admiring her loot. Expensive loot, may I add. Disney makes a fortune on that stuff!

Beautiful Ballerinas

Operation Big Girl Bed

We moved the girls to their big girl beds this past weekend. I was dreading it with a passion because I saw some long nights in our future and I love my sleep! Mimi and G came up Sunday and helped take the cribs down and put up the new beds. The girls were SO excited! We put them down and they never got up or made a peep! I had to wake them up the next morning. Nap time went well too. Now, I don't pretend to think that they aren't some rough nights to come, especially after Reed gets here. But I'll enjoy the good nights for now. They just look so little in those big beds. They're not babies anymore.

The big girl room.

Ready for bed!

Sleeping with the ever present princess books.

Happy Birthday Kate and Ella!

My Kate-Kate. She definitely adds life to our house. You never know what you're going to get with her. Ella and Jack ask her when she wakes up in the morning, "Are you happy Kate?" Usually she is, but when she's not, watch out! She can be a little drama queen. When she is happy her whole face lights up. She is such a loving little girl. She adores her Heather, Mimi, and G and is quite the mommy's girl. Adores Cinderella and all of "my princesses." She likes things to be in order. She'll work very hard to arrange the blocks by color or the books by size. She'd eat her weight in grapes if I let her. She is the manners police, always reminding us to say please, thank you, excuse me, and such. Has a precious VERY southern accent. Cake has 8 syllables in Kate language.

Some Kate-isms- "Sleeping Doody" for Sleeping Beauty.

"Air-re-rel"- Ariel

"Moose-kick" - music

"No, no, no- no more kisses Mommy"

Kate, our lives would be so boring without you here. I love that you are so dramatic. You keep me on my toes. I love how you love something or someone with your whole heart and how your face lights up when you see your princesses. I love how you pat me on the arm and say, "I love you Mama." I don't what we'd do without you. I love you to the moon and back.

My sweet little Ella. Such a sweet, gentle little spirit {unless you make her really mad}. Always the caretaker, looking out for her sister. Whatever she gets she makes sure Kate gets it too. She loves Snow White. Loves to pick out her own clothes- her "bue dess", "color dess", and her "fower dess"- notice a pattern? She will not start her day until she has her bow in her hair. Fiercely independent and as tough as nails. She could fall off of a roof and would hop up and say, "I okay." She is our carb queen, and although she loves fruit, not alot of meat passes her lips-except of course chicken nuggets.

Some funny things she says these days- " I really really sorry." Usually said with a great big smile when she's done something to hurt and/or antagonize her brother or sister.

"It's a bootiful day." - Every morning whether it's beautiful or not. :)

"That would be te-ible." Used whenever she thinks something would be terrible-whether it be the house caving in or Chick-fil-a being out nuggets.

"It's just perfec."

Ella, you are a sweet little soul and we can't imagine life without you. You remind me everyday to savor each day whether it be "bootiful" or "te-ible." I love you sweet girl!