Long time no post...

Yeah, I admit, I'm not the greatest blogger. With 3 kids 3 and under, a full time job (that involves being on the computer all day), it is hard to find the time and the will to get on the computer when I get home. I do however need to be better at it. I have basically not documented anything of my sweet, sweet Brady's first year of life. I kind of feel a little guilty for getting on to my mother for not having much footage of me and my life compared to my sister, but it is true...it is just different w/ the 2nd or in my case 3rd child.

Well, Brady turned one on March 16th. We had a small birthday party for him at our house. We did all the usuals of opening presents and letting him have at his own birthday cake. Which - surprisingly, and I say surprisingly because of the chubbage that is my child, he didnt really dig in at all. We had to basically put his hand in the cake to make him eat any of it.

This year has been quite busy. It has been pretty difficult balancing everything. But it has also been a lot of fun. The hardest part is having 2 kids on one level and another at a totally different one. Brady is still not walking - so playing outside really isnt an option yet. The boys would rather be outside than anything else. (Although, it is just now getting warm enough outside to do this.)

Another thing I have been trying to balance is getting myself back into shape. It is unanimously decided that there will not be any more children, so there is no reason not to lose the weight I had gained through all the baby having. I have to this day now lost 67.5 lbs. My initial goal is 80 lbs. Once I hit that, I may decide I need to lose more. But that's what I'm going for right now.

The best way to probably sum up the past year would probably be through pictures. So...

Santa at my work. Brady did not dig Santa.

Nate.

Eli.

This was the pic on our Christmas card.

Nate broke his foot jumping off our bed.

Brady's first Christmas. He had fun.

The big boys helped me make Christmas cookies.

Our annual Christmas pic at Joyce's house.

Sweet Brady bear.

The boys are obsessed w/ Transformers. These are guns on his arms if you cant tell.

One nite this winter me and the big boys stayed a nite in a hotel w/ a pool.

Eli and Nate - pretty good snow this year.

Annual family snow pic.

Randy from the Christmas story.

Nate's new big boy bed for his birthday.

Eli's new big boy bed for his birthday.

Nate hamming it up at his birthday party.

Eli turns 3!

BB + nose = ER

Yep, it's official, we have had our first ER visit. I knew it was inevitable w/ 3 boys. Was hoping they'd hold off a little bit - but seeing as we have a running tab w/ the hospital right now - it's as good as a time as any.

Evidently, Nate decided it was a great idea to stick an airsoft bb up his nose. As crazy as it sounds, I think he did it on Tuesday. I recall Tuesday afternoon thinking I saw a booger up his nose - so I asked him to blow into a kleenex - he did, some snot came out - so we went on w/ our business. Well...

Wednesday morning we woke up. The boys have been fighting some sinus issues due to all the pollen so this morning they were particularly snotty. So when I was changing diapers and getting clothes put on them for the day - I was also doing major nose clean-outs (oh, the joys of motherhood). Well, when trying to clear out Nate's nose, there was clearly something up there. So, I got a flashlight out and sure enough - there was a yellow airsoft bb in what I'm calling the "second chamber" of his nose. The part just beyond the initial cavity. So I got out some tweezers, but I couldn't get a hold of it and I was afraid of shoving it up further. I tried the nose-sucker thingy too. It wouldn't budge. After calling our local clinic, they suggested taking him to the ER. So, I called Andy at work and let him know the news. Then called Leann, Andy's cousin who usually keeps them while I'm working, to come up and watch Brady and Eli while I took Nate in.

It only took about an hour or so for us to get in to see a doctor. And it only took about 5 minutes for them to remove it. They got this tube catheter thing - usually used to remove blood clots from veins. They stuck the tube up his nose past the BB then inflated the balloon part and when removing the tube w/ the balloon on the end it swiped the BB out w/ it. It only took me and 2 nurses to hold Nate still for the "procedure".

The doctor advised us to keep objects out of his nose - and we were on our way. The nurses and doctor were great w/ him. It was actually quite hilarious. I'm sure I'll stop laughing w/ the bill comes in.

The Culprit:

The apparatus:

Nate in waiting room:

Gentry Zoo

Monday, April 19th, was my first big adventure out of the house w/ all three kiddos. I've been to the Mountainburg park a lot - but that's just a couple of miles down the road and is directly across the street from Joyce's house and the grocery store, so their Mimmie usually comes and helps out. So, I decided to go for it. After about an hour of prepping - making sure I had everything I needed packed for a newborn and 2 two year olds, I loaded up the twins in their car seats and turned on the DVD player to entertain them while I finished loading everything else up, including Brady. After about 15 minutes (my mom called - delaying me just a bit) I went out to get going, turned the key - and whammo - the car was dead - I guess the DVD player sucked the juice right out of the battery. I proceeded to cry, of course - it's a lot of stress loading up that many kids and all their paraphernalia. But I was determined so I unloaded and reloaded everything up in Andy's truck - which only has a bench seat so all 3 car seats wont fit - so the boys had to be just seat belted in for the drive over to Joyce's house to get her extended cab truck. I AGAIN reloaded everything up in their. This whole process started about 9 am - and I was finally on the road at 11:15. We started north - it's an 85 mile drive to the zoo from our house. We got there around 1 pm. It's a five mile long drive through safari. The boys loved it. They saw all sorts of animals from Longhorns, monkeys, zebras to giraffes. The most curious animails were the camels, emus and zebras. They came right up to the windows.

They also have a small petting zoo area - which was a challenge - getting all 3 out of the car and keeping everything together. It gave me a little bit of confidence that if I ever had to - I could survive on an outing w/ all 3 again.

(fyi - you dont see Brady in these pics because he's strapped to my chest in a carrier)

Easter 2010

This year for Easter we stayed in Mountainburg due to Brady still being pretty small. We went to the church Easter egg hunt on Saturday and then to Joyce's house on Sunday. We had a great time and the boys really got the hang of hunting eggs. But it was somewhat slowed once they realized there was candy in the eggs - causing them to open everyone as they found it.

Brady Terrell Bassham is here!

We went in for our scheduled c-section on 3/16/10 at 0700. We arrived at 0530. My Maw-Maw Brittain, Aunt Toni, Ashley, Ryan, Ty, Mom, Dad, Joyce and Amber all came up at around 0630. I was taken back at a little after 0700. I was prepped and ready to go at 0728. The spinal block was more painful than I remember my epidural being. The room was cold as ice too. It was pretty scary. I let my nerves get the best of me for a little bit - but once the "cutting" began and I realized I definitely couldn't feel anything, I calmed down. It kinda helped that the song playing when the surgery began was "Wanted: Dead or Alive" which lead to some good comic relief. It was a crazy feeling being awake, knowing you were being cut open but also being excited to know you were about to have a child. Brady came at 0748. He weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz and was 19.5 inches long. I was expecting a bigger baby as uncomfortable as the last couple of weeks got. After he was born they brought him over to clean him up - I heard him cry but I was getting worried because it seemed like forever before they brought him over for me to see. When they finally did, he was exactly what I was expecting him to look like. He really doesnt look like anyone - but he's what I always imagined my child to look like. He was chubby cheeked w/ a good size nose. Evidently they had to use some sort of spoon aparatus to get him out - because he was pretty beaten up on the head. It took a couple of days for that to go away. The c-section was much easier on me than the boys' delivery. I think in a normal circumstance, the c-section would be worse - but giving that I had a pretty rough delivery w/ the twins - this was a much better option for me.

Since we've been home - Brady has been a dream baby. He only gets upset when he's hungry, gassy or naked - other than that he's super happy and sleeps most of the time. He's eating every 3-4 hours - so I get a pretty good night of sleep. It's definitely easier w/ one baby. And I think being experienced helps too. The hardest part right now is being a mother of 2 crazy 2 year olds and a newborn. The newborn isnt hard - but when it's time to eat - it's time to eat regardless of what the boys have going on. I've had some pretty trying days - some days w/ lots of tears - but I'm making it.