Three weeks

Three weeks as a family of six... Yes six!  It still feels so weird to say that.  It still feels unreal to look into the eyes of my very own little baby girl.  This wasn't supposed to be.  She wasn't supposed to be. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for giving her to us.  That is the only way I can describe her, a true gift from God.  

Evie is not the easiest baby, but not the toughest either.  She is not the best sleeper but most definitely not the worst.  She loves to be held, hates to be nudie and let's us know when she wants to eat.  She tolerates her brothers constant movement, poking and noise and has proven she won't get lost in the crowd.  She is perfection.  She completes our little family in such a perfect way.

As with each and every one of my kids, I hate to see the, grow up.  It all goes too fast.  I don't want these baby snuggles to end.  Yes, there is so much to look forward to, but there is no hiding that this is my very favorite.  Just look at what I do for a living.  This being my last I want to have no regrets, no I wish I had's or I should have done that's.  I am drinking in every moment of her, of all my kids.  I watch them and take in every bit of who they are today without worrying about what they will be, or won't be, tomorrow.  I have my moment, sure.  But my goal in life from this day forward is to live for today, have no regrets and love like there is no tomorrow.  

Life is so precious.

Princess

Miss Evelyn has quickly earned the nickname Princess in our house.  Alex was the first to start calling her this and he will quickly inform anyone he is introducing her to that she is the Princess.  He is so proud of his little sister.  

Two weeks has passed since we brought this little one home.  We are settling into life with a newborn once again, which she makes it pretty easy to do.  She is the perfect addition to our family.  In more ways than one, this little one completes us.

height="427" width="640" />

Evelyn Anne

This post has been in the making for awhile.  I am not quite sure why its so hard for me to get down.  Is it because I have a newborn that doesn't like to sleep at night unless she is attached to my boob, maybe.  Is it because all I want to do during the day when I have a free moment is take a nap, well yes.  Or is it that any other free time I have I want to spend taking in every precious moment with this little babe.  Yes.  Or, might it be that there is a small part of me that is sad.  Sad that I missed out on the last few weeks of my pregnancy... my last pregnancy.  A little bit.  Don't get me wrong, I am loving having my little girl in my life.  But this being my fourth, I am quite aware of how fast it all goes.  Before I know it, this sweet little five pound bundle of cuteness will be too cool for my snuggles and holding momma's hand.  13 days old and I am already worrying about this day.  Keeping her in those extra 11 days would not have made any difference, but in my current state it would have made every difference.  

13 days ago my every dream came true.  Our daughter, Evelyn Anne, was welcomed into our family and into our hearts.  It was the most chaotic, amazing, unexpected and eventful day ever.  The days preceding were spent with one of my besties and her daughter, Emma.  We worked from morning until night getting this house in order for the upcoming arrival.  This would also be the first time that Jenny has been able to make it to one of my baby showers, which was planned for Saturday.  Friday we headed to the big wheel for an outing with the kids.  Jenny took some wonderful pictures of me with my boys.  Saturday morning was then met by the unexpected.  The excitement of my shower was quickly replaced by worry when I found that I was bleeding.

  

In true Bugbee fashion the morning was a whirlwind.  Dan had to take Tyler to his baseball practice, Jenny and I dropped off the other boys at my parents and headed into the hospital for some monitoring.  Being hooked up to the monitors we quickly realized that I was contracting more than we thought.  The nifedipine I had been on for the last two weeks was doing little to stop them.  Although these contractions would have been nothing more than braxton hicks for a normal pregnancy I was at higher risk for more bleeding the longer they continued.  I was admitted to the hospital for continuous monitoring for a minimum of a week, or so we thought.  Dan had made it up to the hospital, gotten the update and checked in on me.  He was given the green light to head home and prepare some stuff for the boy's Easter baskets, which I had yet to do.   Jenny and Emma decided that they would head home as it didn't seem as if anything would be happening any time soon.

Of course, not more than 30 minutes after everyone left the doctor returned to inform us that, after consulting the perinatologist, they were going to be sectioning me today, better yet, an hour from now.  Jenny quickly turned around and made it back up to the hospital.   She called Dan while the streams of people worked on me. All I could hear from the bed was "Dan, you need to come back to the hospital.  Yes, now.  Yes, like right now.  No, not in 30 minutes, NOW."  And so it began.

I was prepped and sent back to the operating room for my spinal and Dan made it just as I was being laid down.  A mere 20 minutes later, at 4:07, we heard the sweet cry of our baby girl.

We are alive

So here we are, 33 weeks, and all is good.  The bump is growing, the kitchen is finished and we are slowing starting to settle into our own house again.

Friday marked the 8th birthday of one very special little boy... My first born, Tyler James.  

Sunday was the event of the year, the birthday party, presented to you by none other than Shannon and Jen.  The cake was picked up, the decorations were hung, the boys were decked out in all things Mariners.

Then this happened...

I took a spill before the party even started and bought myself 4-6 hours of monitoring in OB triage. Well, once hooked up to the monitors it was quite apparent that that 4-6 hours was going to be more like 24 hours. I was contracting quite frequently and they wanted to start me on meds to keep them at bay. Given my previa all this contracting was putting me at high risk for bleeding. Back home the party went on, thanks to my partners in crime, the Hofmeister's. Tyler had so much fun he didn't even notice I was gone. Me, on the other hand, had a harder time dealing with it.

What I thought was going to be a passing thing with this pregnancy ended up putting me on "rest status" when my check up with the doctor still had me contracting. I'll be the first to admit, I am not very good at resting.

Two peas in a pod

These two, they kind of light up my life.  

They are two peas in a pod these two.
Much to Nana's chagrin, who does Graham call for first thing when we drive up to their house?  Boppa!  This is the boy who has all of about 5 words, one being Boppa, of course.
We just spent the last 3 weeks with Nana and Boppa and despite Graham's constant desire to get into everything, I think my dad kind of enjoyed it.  He is his little side kick, his garage companion, his "helper", and the watchdog of all things that could possibly be Boppa's.  Stray phone lying around, or remote control,  never fear, Graham will find it and promptly deliver it yelling, "Boppa's Boppa's".  I am pretty sure he studies Boppa's every move with the ultimate desire to do everything he does.  Even down to his cup of milk that he will hide behind the tv cabinet door like boppa hides his wine glass from him.  It's hilarious.  In the morning, what does he do, takes his bottle and places it in the coffee maker like boppa does his cup for him morning cup of coffee.  
I love that he loves his boppa.  But even more, I love that his boppa loves him!

Oh Alexander!

There are days, lots of days, when I am pretty sure this kid is going to do me in. He is, literally, the most stubborn child I know. He puts his dad to shame. When he makes up his mind about something it's over. He has spent 3 hours in his room simply because he didn't want to apologize to a babysitter. Not sure what is more impressive, his will power to stay in his room, or the follow through of the babysitter. Maybe his most notable feat is bearing the freezing cold simply to prove a point... he didn't want to go to coffee, he wanted to go home.  He sat outside with teeth chattering and lips blue without so much as a blink of his eye despite the nice warm cup of coco that waited for him inside.   There is no bribery, threatening, or tricking him into anything. This kid doesn't fall for it. Someday this stubbornness is going to bode him well... If he makes it to someday.

It's a darn good thing he is so cute.

18 months and counting...

Graham Cracker, as we affectionately call him, is growing by leaps and bounds.  He, we have decided, is our busiest little guys yet.  He is always in on whatever it may be his older brothers or cousins may be doing.  He has earned the nickname Trouble from Grandma B, which I have to agree, suits him well.  Despite his busy nature, his words have not quite caught up.  He has a few frequently used words including, mama, dada, aaaa (which means Alex), shoes, socks, ball, boppa, and ju (for juice).  Being his momma I can decipher many of his noises into words he is trying to make but I wouldn't quite call them words.  I can't help but wonder if his cleft has delayed his speech, but at this point I am not too worried about it, nor is his pediatrician.  I only wish, for his sake, that his words would come.  Ok, for my sake too.  He is frustrated, and therefore whines and cries, A LOT.
This boy can eat!  On any given day he will out eat both of his brothers.  Some of his favorites right now are... Who am I kidding, the kid eats just about anything!  His newest and best trick is drinking his milk from his cereal bowl.  Monkey see, monkey do!  He doesn't quite get that he should eat all the cereal first though.
Sleep.  While I can't complain about the very average sleep patterns he has, it is tough following his older brother who was a sleep champion.  Graham usually wakes when the house gets going, around 0730.  He has recently fully transitioned out of his morning nap and is on to one nap.  He goes down at about 12 and sleeps any where from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours.  Then it is on until bedtime between 7 and 730.  When he is awake, he is going at full force.  There is no stopping, no resting, no watching a program, just pure energy.
Graham takes everything in.  There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't amaze me with his antics.  The other day he found boppa's coffee mug, put it on the counter next to the coffee maker, went to find his stool, climbed up and placed the mug in the maker, all ready for boppa to make his coffee.  He sees everything!
Graham, you challenge me each and every day to be the best mom I can be.  You make me smile, you make me laugh, and yes, sometimes you make me cry.  You are such a joy to have in our family.  I couldn't imagine life without you.  Thank you for being you!  I love you to the moon and back.



This is the epitome of you... So anxious to get in the bath, you climbed in fully dressed while I was getting towels. Ugh!