What's been going on!

So it's been a while since I posted. I've been a little busy around here! Ha ha! So, I thought I'd catch up on what we've been doing. After Easter, things seemed to get back to normal. Caleb started school again and Gunner was able to go back to his playclass. They were both dying to get back to see their friends and teachers!

A few times last week I was able to work on Bree's journals. I'm keeping a journal for her and then I also made a photobook of her first few days of life. This is really fun for me and kind of a stress reliever!



There was also a few days last week where I tried to teach Gunner how to use the camera. We didnt have much success, or so I thought. Little did I know today that he DID learn and was taking pictures of his toys, Bree, me and Justin. Now that I recall it, as I was doing dishes this morning, I remember hearing him say, "okay guys Look at me!" "Hey, Elmo, look this way! Say cheese!" These were the pictures I found on my camera!







I guess I have a future photographer on my hands! Pretty good shots for a 2 year old huh?

Caleb had a fun weekend too. He went to his special olympics baseball game and got to bat this time. Normally he won't wear the helmet so that means you can't bat, But he did this time and actually got to swing the bat! Go Caleb!! I didn't get pictures but my friend did and I'll post them when she sends them my way! (thanks Ale!)

This picture is yucky of me, but cute of Caleb so I thought I'd share! This was after his game.
Last but not least, Bree went in for her 2 week check-up and turns out she gained 10 oz and grew 1-1/2 inches! Way to go my baby girl!


Well, I guess we did have a busy week. More to come later!

Hoppy (late) Easter!

Happy Easter! This year we didn't do much but go to church and have a small egg hunt in the backyard. Justin & the boys had a nice dinner and more egg hunting fun at his parents house that night. These pictures are from our own egg hunt at home. Caleb and Gunner had fun finding eggs everywhere. They really loved all the candy inside the eggs!


I tried getting a few pictures of all three kids in their Easter best but this was the best shot I could get outside. Caleb basically just laughed at me the whole time. Who am I kidding trying to get all three kids to cooperate!

Last but not least, my sweet little girl in her Easter dress. I must say, I never thought I'd have so much fun dressing her up! We try on at least 2 bows a day! :)

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Bree Taylor Cook

She's finally here! Our beautiful Bree was born on March 12th at 12:37am. She was 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. We are so thankful for this new little spirit in our home!

I went into labor Tuesday night and it was 6 hours start to finish. By far my quickest labor, but probably the most painful!! I barely made it to the hospital in time. We got there at 11:20pm and she was born at 12:37am. Just 6 pushes and she was out! Yes, there was time to get my epideral, thank goodness! Here are some pictures of us at the hospital and then a few from when we came home. Thanks to all our family and friends that were able to help us while we stayed at the hospital!

Caleb meeting Bree:

Gunner meeting Bree:
Our family of 5!

The boys in their "I'm the BIG brother shirts"

Oh yeah, the night I went into labor Justin and Gunner went to the Suns game. It was Gunner's first game and they had a great time together. Gunner had  a blast eating popcorn, candy, fruit drinks and cheering with the crowd as well as looking for the Suns gorilla. And, yes, I told them to go that night. Justin didn't want to go and leave me while I was having contractions, but I was sure I wouldn't have the baby until he got back. They came home shortly into the 4th quarter which was good because an hour and 45 minutes later we were at the hospital.  Justin said Gunner was quite the hit at the game.  As they left and walked up the aisle he gave a few high fives and "pounded the rock" to some of the other fans and said GO SUNS!  

Here's a few more pictures of Bree. I am loving having this beautiful little baby girl to dress up, put bows & bracelets on and it's especially sweet to see how spoiled she is already by her Daddy. We love you Bree and are so thankful you are in our family!

She had this bow on during her whole stay at the hospital. The nurses nicknamed her "the flower girl."
Our THREE kiddos. I can't believe we have THREE now!
Our sweet princess. Already sporting her satin blanket!

Hey lady...what's in your tummy?

Okay, today I was walking to get the mail and my neighbor was outside with her daughter. We were talking for a little bit and then all of a sudden, her daughter, who is 5, comes up to me, taps on my ever-expanding belly and says "Hey, so what's in your tummy?" I started to explain that I had a baby inside and she responded with, "Oh, I just thought you really needed to go poop!!" I started laughing so hard. Her poor Mom was so embarrassed! It really was funny. 

And for those that asked, here's a picture (hopefully the last one) of me being prego! It's been fun but I'm hoping the journey will end soon!!

Our weekend!

As the day is fast approaching that our little girl will arrive, I can't help but think about my 3 sweet boys and how much I love them. I'm madly in love with my sweet husband of almost 9 years and I can't imagine life without him. He is always making me laugh and trying to help me out with the kids. I adore my kids Caleb and Gunner and just can't get enough of them (well, maybe on some occasions, when they are fighting with each other or destroying my house!) But, I did just want to say that I love them so much!

I love this picture of my boys! Taken last year at Mission Beach (San Diego):


Okay, now that I'm done with the sappy love talk, I'll post some pictures from our weekend. On Saturday, I took the boys to the Sharing Down Syndrome Easter egg hunt and they had such a blast. It was at Rockin R Ranch. Of course, there was music blasting that you could hear from the parking lot so that got Caleb so excited from the get go. Every year this wonderful organization does a fun Easter Egg hunt and has crafts for the kids to do. It's really fun. Caleb had a great time dancing to the music, playing in the parachute and finding the eggs filled with candy! It was a little cold that morning and of course, this is the one day of the year I forgot their jackets! So, Gunner was a bit unpleasant but he had fun anyway.



Caleb playing in the monster parachute!


Gunner telling me (for the 20th time) that is he cold! (Gosh, what kind of mother forgets jackets in 60 degree weather?)


This is the only thing that helped Gunner forget that he was cold. The bubble man. Caleb, of course, was happy as could be!




We had a great time!

Just for fun

SInce I posted some pictures of Bree's room, I thought, I should have put some pictures up of the boys' room too! So, these are just for fun. I've had their room pretty much done for a while, but thought I'd post them anyway. I am still working on some surfboards for their room. They will have their names on them. Just another project I wanted to get to before the baby comes, but that probably won't happen!

Their room is a nautical/surf theme. I couldn't decide which one to choose so I found bedspreads with surfboards and then put up lighthouses and sailboats everywhere else. I also did their names using scrapbook paper and my favorite thing of all time, yep, Mod Podge!

Here's their names above their beds:




View from the door:


View from the closet:

The PINK dilemma!

So, I've been given grief from just about everyone I know about my nursery. I decorated in yellow, green, blue and red. I did this with Gunner and kept it neutral because I thought, neutral is good in case we have a girl next right? Well, according to everyone that I tell, their reaction is, "Your having a girl, and you didn't put ANY pink in her room?" Yes!!!! Don't get me wrong, I like the color pink, I just didn't want to do my nursery over again when I think it was perfectly fine before.

I may be the only one on the planet but I love my nursery! I love the bedding, love the colors, love the whole get up. The bedding is from Pottery Barn and I painted each wall a different color. I wanted to take some pictures of it and post them in hopes that there are other people out there that approve of me NOT doing pink. Trust me, this girl will be decked out in PINK from the moment she is born. She already has a PINK wardrome, PINK shoes & PINK blankets. :) Plus, I PROMISED my cute husband that I wil do a pink room for her when she's a little older, if that's the color she wants. He was the BIGGEST advocate for his daughter having PINK!

Here's the room from a far. It's kind of an odd shape, so it makes it hard to see the whole room, but this gives a little idea.




Here is her name. I LOVE these letters!!



This is a her baby blanket made by my sweet Mom-in-law. Isn't it super cute?



She has more shoes that Justin already...and she's not even born yet!



And she has more hair accessories than me!

Dumb Luck!!

Well, wouldn't you know that I was lucky enough to land a nasty flu with only 2 weeks left (if that) in my pregnancy! I've been coughing like a smoker, had body chills and fevers and chest pain that hurts all the way through my chest to my spine. Lucky me huh? On top of it all, after 4 days of feeling so yucky (and SO BIG!) I landed another cold on top of the whole thing! So, now my throat is sore and I have a runny nose. I feel like I have the plague! 

On a lighter note, I am finally starting to dilate and I'm at 3cm and 50% effaced! It was all so exciting until I got this flu. I was hoping to go into labor early but now I hope she stays in until I can get all the way better. I need the extra strength! 

Just to add a little note about my cute husband, he was so thoughtful (and worried about me) that he helped me tremendously this week. He got the kids up, fed them, and got Caleb ready for school. He let me sleep in and even vacuumed the whole house today! What a sweet heart I have!