Life with kids...

Hi! We are still alive, just adjusting to 3 kids and a hubby doing his internship. It's a fun and busy life. This is going to be a quick post, the kids should be waking up from naps any minute. So if it doesn't make sense, sorry!

 Neacel has finished the soccer season, and did awesome. One game he scored 6 goals! What 3 year old does that? Mine :-) He was really into it this year and Nick taught him somethings also. He is still loving preschool, and comes home with interesting art work. He had a pumpkin patch field trip 2 weeks ago and this week we are going to Auntie Ann's Pretzels. He is pretty excited for a sugar pretzel as he calls it. Brody is talking better! We haven't started therapy yet, but he is trying really hard and I love hearing him express himself more. It's such a blessing. His favorite word is NO...spoken like a true 2 year old. I can't believe Neacel is going to be 4 next month, and in less then a month Brody will be 2. Where has time gone? Not to mention Macey is 2 months old. At her check up she weighted 11lbs 6oz and 23inches long. She is smaller then the boys were at this age, they were about 14lbs! She still wears newborn jeans, but 0-3 shirts/onesies. She has an amazing dress wardrobe and is smiling and "talking" a ton. I can't wait to hear those first giggles.

I got to go to Utah for 5 days while Nick and the boys held down the fort. It was a much needed vacation. I spent time with family and saw a few friends. Most of all, I relaxed. I read a book and started another. I slept in, I ate warm meals, and had time to do my hair and makeup each morning. Nick on the other hand got up early, dealt with 2 boys that were going nuts and still had somethings with his internship to take care of. He was exhausted by the time I got home. I'll be honest, I had a good laugh from a few phone calls. Only because I knew how he felt, I have been there.

Nick is doing great with his internship. He is in south Cleveland, so that's interesting. He is working with kids and is enjoying it I assume, he hasn't said otherwise. He will graduate in May and then we will see were life takes us....hopefully Utah!

Miss Macey Reese Is Here!

photo taken by Rachael Cook Photography

 I actually have a somewhat interesting story to tell about Macey's arrival. Monday night I was having contractions that were about 8 minutes apart, of course I thought nothing of it. Tuesday I woke up and didn't feel anymore contractions so I went about my day. We had a lot of thing to get do... play date, shopping, dinner with the missionaries, and I had a baby shower that night with some ladies from church. While getting ready for the shower I started having contractions again, they were only 4 minutes apart, not painful but enough to notice and make you stop and think about it. I went to the shower and had a wonderful time, didn't feel anymore contractions until I got home. Nick and I were sitting around talking about how stressed I was about getting things done because we had procrastinated so bad at this point. Around midnight I basically said I didn't care anymore, the contractions were getting worse and that I was going to bed. Wednesday morning Nick ended up getting up with the boys (which is unusual) and I woke up around 8:30 still having contractions. I went into my dr's office around 9:30 because I didn't know what to do. My c/s was scheduled for Saturday the 11th and I wanted to make sure with the dr that I was progressing before I went to the hospital. After being monitored up and checked for 30 min, they told me to go to the hospital and said it could just be dehydration (hard to believe when you drink 12+ cups of water a day) but that it should be ruled out. I had a friend from church watch the boys for me while we ran to the hospital, I am so thankful she was able and willing to take the boys at such a short notice. Between 10 when I left the dr's office and 11 when I got to the hospital I was in full blown labor. I couldn't function through the contractions. I wasn't able to receive an epidural until we knew what was going on with my surgery. I hated everyone in there for that, but I have gotten over it since then. Surgery was at 1, I spent hours having contractions, and those of you who don't have c/s, and don't use pain meds, I don't know how you do it. I never in my life have been in so much pain. Macey was born at 1:38pm, August 8th, weighing 7lbs 10oz and 22in long. She has dark hair and blue eyes. I healed quickly and was out of the hospital on Friday afternoon.

She is almost 2 weeks old and we love her more then we ever thought possible. She is such a joy to have around. She is sleeping like a dream, nursing like a dream, and even keeps her headbands in. A friend from church did her newborn photos and they are beautiful. (to see them all go here) The boys are doing awesome with her. Neacel wants to help her every time he hears her cry. He calls her sweetie and Peaches, after the baby in Ice Age 2. Brody gives her kisses all the time, and she is the first to get an actual kiss from him, he normally will just blow a kiss. He also likes to hit her randomly to let her know who is the boss....she doesn't even react. Nick loves having a daughter, but says its still weird to change her diaper. Only Nick! We are so blessed to have her be apart of our family, I'm thankful that she made an appearance early too! Oh and it took me 5 days until I had to paint her little toe nails hot pink.

Miss Macey

Since time has flown by and I have been a horrible blogger, the next couple of post are going to be out of order. Starting with most recent for now. Pregnancy really has been kind to me this time. Physically is been tougher but that was expected. Macey is growing perfectly, and swelling hasn't been an issue at all this time around. Nick and I were even able to make a trip to Kentucky for my cousins wedding when I was 32 weeks, and then I went to Cedar Point at 36 weeks. Although, walking around Cedar Point for 10+ hrs did cause me to sprain my ankle, its a small price to pay to see my boys having a blast. Little Miss Macey is already being a little stubborn. I was contracting a lot at 34 weeks, so the dr decided to check to make sure I wasn't already dilating. Nope everything was good. 36 week check up, nothing was happening, 37 weeks same thing, 38 weeks (yesterday was my appointment) everything is still closed and she hasn't dropped. It's a good thing I get c-sections otherwise I wouldn't get to meet Macey till after my due date, and thats just not an option for me. I like to say that Macey can hear her brothers yelling at her and can feel Brody headbutting me in the stomach, so she has wrapped her tiny feet around my ribs and is refusing to come out! My c-section is actually scheduled for next Saturday (Aug 11th) at 11. This is officially our last weekend as a family of four. Yesterday the dr also informed me that the only dr I don't like in the office (for really no reason, I just have never really liked her) is the one doing my surgery! I was hoping to have the same dr who delivered Brody to deliver this time, but I can't be picky about date of surgery AND the doctor. Either way, Macey will be here in no time. I was also told that Im suddenly measuring small, only about a week smaller but Ive been right on target each appointment, so she hasn't really grown in a week. I guess its ok according to the dr, and he said there is a chance she will be a large 7lbs baby. That is the best news ever, but Im still expecting medium to larger 8lb baby. I just pray she has hair. Nick and I think she will be brown hair brown eyes and look more like me, Neacel says she will have dark hair and blue eyes. Either way we will love her to pieces! We aren't prepared really, we still need so much and are procrastinating like pro's! Crib just went up yesterday, mattress will be bought today, and my sweet mom bought us the crib bedding, and of course Baby Legs is having a B1G3Free sale, so I have 8 of those on the way, but we still need to stock up on blankets, clothing, shoes, burp cloths, bibs etc.....

Here is a picture of the bedding I picked out after months of debating.
We also got the wall hangings and mobile to match it all. I can't wait to see it all together.

A sweet friend Jessica, is throwing me a shower this Tuesday with the wonderful women from church and I am beyond excited! I am loving this girly stuff. I love my boys, but I am outnumbered and its time for me to have my little girl. I can't wait to paint her nails, the cute hairbows, princess movies and dressing up. Nick and I pray that Heavenly Father is giving us a girl because he knows we need a calming factor with the boys. Neacel is so excited for a baby sister and will ask me almost daily when she is going to be here. Brody doesn't seem to care, anytime I mention baby or sister he tells me no.

Brody Update

I figured I need to get some kind of update up, and since I'm too lazy to get the camera and upload a million pictures I figured I can start with what we have learned about Brody. At his 18 months appt everything was great. He weighs 30lbs, so I officially should not be holding him! He is only 5lbs lighter then Neacel, and people wonder why I call him chunk sometimes :-) We were still concerned about his speech, it hadn't improved much and he had lost some words since his last appointment. So she highly recommended getting a speech and language evaluation.
Fast forward to now, we have gotten the evaluation done.He has gained new words and gotten rid of others. Just as I thought, his hearing is PERFECT! But he does have a moderate expressive speech disorder, which can be fixed with speech therapy once a week, which will start as soon as I remember to call places and get him in. Basically in a nut shell, he screams a lot, and really loud. He doesn't watch people when they talk, if I say "Brody go get mommy your truck" by the time I say go, he is already looking for whatever I might be telling him to get. So because he doesn't watch people talk, and hates playing hand games, which according to the speech pathologist is one way to get them to watch you because they are usually in your lap and can't look away, he doesn't know exactly how to move his mouth. He says Hi and Bye, but they have quite the southern draw, its adorable though, he has other words but those 2 are my favorite. So once therapy starts, we will get him re evaluated 6 months later, and they want him to pass with a 80%. By then they want 15-20 basic words (ball, toy, truck etc) 10-15 action words, 3-5 family names other then dada and momma (even though he still doesn't say momma, I will cry the day he does and it stays) and 10-15 animal names and sounds.....we aren't even close to any of those right now! I'm glad we just have an answer and can get speech therapy started.
In other news, we are finally getting him off the bottle. He only gets them at bedtime and nap time, and even then its only water. He hates this decision we made without him. He is such a happy boy though, growing up so fast though. We know that once Macey is here that he will be a tough one though!

Miss Us?

I really have been the worse blogger ever, and yet I keep telling myself to blog more and never do. Things have been fun around the house. Life I feel has calmed down a little, but I know it won't last too long.

 Nick is doing prac at school which means he is actually working with clients. (I have to make the blog private soon because of this) and is enjoying it. He works with a few individual clients and then some court ordered anger management clients. He will work with these clients till the semester is over then its off to his internship! Only about 11 months left of school!!!

Neacel is doing awesome with soccer, I have video's and pictures I need to post from games and practices. His coach is really awesome with the kids, and Neacel says he likes the girl Rachel on his team, the only girl on the team. At practice, as soon as she gets there, Neacel and at least 2 other boys walk over to her, to walk her over to the field. It's too cute! Neacel is obsessed with super hero's right now, along with Ninja Turtles, Nick of course is loving every second reliving his childhood through Neacel. Neacel is very excited about his baby sister Macey and talks about her often, asking when she will be here and where is she going to sleep. He claims he is going to help take care of her, but only time will tell. He enjoys looking at clothes for her, although he picks out some of the ugliest things, its still cute.

Brody, where do we begin? This chunky spitfire sure is keeping us on our toes. He still isn't talking much, but more then he was, but we are getting a speech evaluation at the childrens hospital on wednesday and hopefully they will have some in site on how to teach him and can tell us why he isn't talking much. He does say Dada alot, but it doesn't just mean nick, it means everything else. He says "haas" (I want/more, we think its his way of saying have) pup is up, juice is said without the j, and "eese" is please and cheese....he says Hi like a southern boy, and its adorable, and buh bye is another word. So his speech has grown quite a bit in the past month, but its not where it should be. He usually drinks 4 bottles at night, and after going through half a gallon of milk in a night I decided no more, so last night he got one bottle and done. We are cutting night food cold turkey, at 19 months its just torture for me. Last night he did great, he whimpered and cried a little but never woke Neacel and went back to sleep after a few minutes each time. Thank goodness!

I am doing well. Finally in the 3rd trimester, and I can't wait to be done. The heat here is insane, we are supposed to be in the 90's all weekend, and I just want to cry. Heat and pregnancy are not good combos, luckily, the kiddie pools open next week so I will be spending my summer there trying to survive, hopefully I won't scare people away though! Im just trying to get ready for Miss Macey, I enjoy shopping and finding cute things for her. Im obsessed with bows, shoes and all these adorable neon colors for her. Im feeling great other then the heat, just taking it one day at a time, with a screaming 19 month old and a 3 year old that has more attitude then a teenager!

Vicks Vapor Rub

I wish I had thought of grabbing the camera last night but I didn't, so I'll fill you in on details to paint a picture.

It's was about 10 at night and we were battling with the boys to get to bed (we are in the process of them sharing a room). Nick runs upstairs while I sit downstairs on the computer enjoying some time on Pinterest. Then Nick says calmly "Mandy please get up here." Instantly, I know its not good. I keep saying to myself "this isn't good" over and over like a broken record. I got to the top of the stairs to see Nick sitting on the floor with Neacel in the corner. The smell hit me, menthol, then Nick pointed out the empty (use to be full) container of vicks. Then I got a better look of Neacel and see his head was covered in it. Literally, 100% covered. His head looks like a bucket of grease is covering it. It's hard to describe, but I'm sure you can figure it out. So instantly, I think that he got Broden too. Luckily, Broden was vicks free, the wall didn't have as much luck though. Whatever wasn't on his head was globbed on the wall next to his bed. The smell was sooooo overwhelming. I was able to wipe the wall down, but I'm pretty sure the smell will never fully go away. I had to get away from the smell because it was making me sick....stupid pregnancy sense of smell! Nick gave Neacel a bath, after 3 shampoo's his forehead and hair are still pretty greasy. There is a film in the bathroom sink and tub from the vicks...any idea on how to get rid of it?

It's a.....

So my ob office waits till you are 22 weeks till you find out the gender. This just wasn't ok with me. Who wants to wait that long? So while we have been here in Utah I went to Fetal Studios to find out little ones gender. No one really had a gut feeling as to what this baby was, I knew what I wanted though. Everyone had their own thoughts as to what this baby was. Neacel swore it was a sister, a girl as he said.
After a nice ultrasound done by an ob from Europe, we found out that

We are still in shock about it. I never thought I would have a little girl but have always wanted one. We had a name picked out Ainsley Elizabeth, but now I'm leaning towards Macey Reese. I like both names, but I don't know which I love more. Plus, if this is the only girl I have I don't want to regret my name choice. It's a lot tougher this time for me. I want to wait till I have her to decide unless something just suddenly stands out. I want to see what she looks like. Nick would like to finally call her by an actually name.....right now, she goes by little miss. The ob tried to get her to move, but she is lazy as he said, she moved a hand the whole ultrasound. Other then that just curled up relaxing. She is a lot calmer then the boys, I can feel little movements, but miss them easily if I'm not paying attention. I felt both boys at this point (18 weeks) and it wasn't soft movements at all!

Yes, I have already gone shopping, and its nothing but pink so far. I will get some other colors I'm just excited for PINK! I bought some hair bows and head bands, and Nicks mom bought her the cutest pink lace little flapper outfit for her first birthday pictures. Needless, to say, we all (including Nick) are really excited. Anytime I bring little miss up Neacel reminds me that he was right. In his words "I was right, it is a girl. It wasn't a boy!" While shopping, I picked up a cute pair of pink and white polka dot shoes with 2 little white roses on them. After seeing they were $10 I put them down. Neacel yelled at me saying that sister has nothing and she is going to need shoes. He loves to help shop and look at everything with me. He picks out things and tells me he is excited for a sister. I am beyond thrilled! We have a good little start on clothing, but I need to learn to make bows and shoes.....those get pricey!

Brody's 15 month checkup

Broden is growing up way too fast. I know as a mom that I say this about both the boys. But its so true, it is so unreal thinking he is going to be 2 this fall, and that he isnt that chunky little baby I brought home from the hospital. He is my loud screaming, running around, eat everything you find on the floor child. He is different from Neacel but alike in so many other ways. Tonight he is moving into neacels room, we have tried this before and its never good. But we both would like to not have a baby in there until the next one gets here. Plus being yelled at first thing in the morning isnt so pleasant.
Brody had his checkup on Thursday and things are going good. He is 26 lbs and 31 inches tall, I dont remember his head circ. but its in the 97 percentile...big head! She is a little concerned he isnt talking more then 2 words so we are going this week to get a Speech and Language evaluation at the chidrens hospital. He doesnt point or even try to talk, just yells at us!  She asked if I was concerned about his hearing, nope he understands and can hear just fine, just doesnt listen well, I'll cut him some slack for it right now though. Other then that he is doing great. He sounds like a bird when he screams a certain way and loves cars and trucks, and anything with lights. He eat everything, and I can't think of any foods that he doesn't like. He is soooo much fun and constantly has us laughing.

Blogging from my cell

Oh smartphone, you always amaze me! I found out I can blog 100% from my phone...now I wont have to update with a long post once a month!!!

Family Update

My boys have taught me one very important thing, expect nothing, and be prepared for everything. Neacel was a great talker, started talking early and such a smart boy. Broden, is still a very smart boy but instead of talking he screams at you. If you say NO you get yelled at, or maybe something as simple as "hold on" you get a yelling fit with a random leg smack and him falling on the floor. Dramatic? He still isn't sleeping through the night, but we are getting closer. We are finally using sippy cups, and he eats just as much, if not more then Neacel. He is growing like a weed, and loves to play with every single toy we own, unfortunately he has no idea how to clean up. Just my luck! He is obsessed with putting anything and everything around his neck. Toy tires, ropes, scarfs, anything!!! No scary moments yet, luckily if it doesn't fit around his large head he gives up. He dances the way Neacel has taught him, head banging, but lightly. He is obsessed with cars, he can play with them for hours, if you don't bug him.

Neacel on the other hand is such a spunky thing. He is obsessed with a little red head in primary named Hallie, according to him, "she is a really nice and pretty girl." A friend told me that a few times they have had their arms around each other in primary. Heaven help me, it's already starting. Neacel says things that just make me freeze and think "why are we having another? I have my hands full already." This morning he was asking where Nick was. I was explaining that daddy was gone for the day and that we were going to see him for lunch and that he would be home in time for bed. All the sudden I hear "Don't you lie to me!" I froze, what do you say? So I politely told him that I wasn't lying (he thought daddy was still in bed) and that I was telling the truth. I then get "Manda Parker Burt, you better not be lying to me!" I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. We have been working on learning his full name, birthday, address, age etc lately. I didn't even know he knew me by anything else other then mom. Later, after lunch with daddy we went to Target to grab a few things. We were looking at the Tag books (which I love the whole pen and book thing and plan on stocking up on books) he found one that helps him learn to write his letters, which is something I have wanted to start with him. He grabs the box and explains that he needs this to learn to write his name. I told him he had a strong case and that I would talk to daddy about it. He then says "Mom, I keep my pull up dry all the time now and you guys still haven't bought me a treat" This is true, he very recently has decided to stay dry even through the night...like Sunday recent, and yes we will reward him but we are making sure this isn't a false call like potty training was a few times. So I explain that I will talk to daddy and that he will get a treat for staying dry all the time. He then walks off shakes his head and says "You guys are killing me!" Oh the little attitude I get from him. It is so hard not to laugh at times though. We just signed him up for preschool in the fall and plan on signing him up for soccer this week

This pregnancy has been interesting so far. Saturday I will be 12 weeks, and I haven't had a ton of morning sickness, but plenty of days that I wake up feeling like I've been run over. I lost alot of weight (10lbs in 4 weeks) in the beginning and the dr's were concerned but since I was able to gain a lb in a week they didn't worry about anything. First ultrasound came back fine, so now we just wait till Im 20 weeks to find out what we are having! This is the hardest part for me! I find keeping a clean house with the boys and being tired is really tough, so if you have any tips on how to keep a clean home, I need and want them! My appointment yesterday was a little scary, they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat so I had to have an ultrasound, every moms nightmare. Luckily, itty bitty baby is fine, just higher then the dr was expecting. It was nice to see the little one, and from what I could see in between the legs, nothing looked like my boys.....only time will tell though!

Nick is back in school and working hard. He is doing awesome though. He is trying to get an internship in Utah (which means we would move back in August this year) because he is thinking it might be easier to get a job that way. He is more likely to get hired on after his internship, and if we are here in Ohio it might be tough to get back to Utah, which is our goal. He is still working for the law department, and is studying like crazy. I know we both are looking forward to him being done. No matter how tired he is, he always has time to play with the boys, which I love watching and the boys just love.