Rett's 4th Birthday

Wednesday, July 20th Rett turned four years old. To me, four "sounds" so much older than three. Three you are still kinda a toddler...but by four you've turned into a BIG BOY! Rett went to "summer fun days" at LHUMC on Wednesday....and they made his day very special. He got lots of special attention and his class sang him Happy Birthday during chapel.
Later that evening when Troy came home, we opened the presents that he received at his birthday party and I served his favorite meal: hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and Cheetos! For dessert we made brownie ice cream sundaes. :)
He went to bed that night a very happy boy!

PRESENTS!




Ellie's favorite present (a star wars helmet and laser gun)




Rett's sundae he made ALL BY HIMSELF!

Since we've been home

We've been home from the hospital as a family of five for just under a week now. Things are still pretty unpredictable from day-to-day and I am anxious to get into a routine.

Bennett's belly button has fallen off (quicker than I remember with the other two) and his circumcision is almost healed. He is nursing just about every three hours round the clock and we are going through about 6-8 diapers daily. :)

When we came home my mom had decorated the front of our house to welcome us. We tried and tried to get a "good" family picture on the front porch to put in Ben's baby book. This is what we got.



Ellie pouting because she wanted to hold my baby, not hers.


Rett wanted to take the picture:



The best we got:



A few other pictures I have taken over this past week that I like:

Ellie's REAL 2nd Birthday

Since yesterday was Ellie's REAL 2nd birthday we had a little celebration for her in the evening. We pulled out all the presents we had saved from her birthday party and she opened them (with alot of help from Rett)! Let's just hope that he lets her help him next week when it's his birthday. Anyways, Troy had to go to a Pharmaceutical Dinner that was already planned so my parents brought over BBQ and Strawberry Shortcake and we had a low key evening. Ellie is a very lucky girl because she has so many people that love her and gave her many fun gifts! Thanks y'all!





New swim goggles!



Ellie opening her first Barbie


Rett says this is his favorite gift Ellie received. :)



Ellie feeding her baby


Rett is really going to be a nurturing father someday.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!

Today is Ellie's 2nd Birthday. While it's been a whirlwind past few days I couldn't let the day go by without recognizing and celebrating my sweet, sweet, girl.
Ellie is gentle and girly! She loves babies(esp real ones) and books! Not a day goes by that I am not eternally grateful that I have such an amazing daughter. I can't wait to see what this little lady does as she grows up. I think she's definetly going to surprise us!

Here are my favorite pics from her birthday (July 14th) over the past two years:

July 14 2009



July 14 2010 (Just learning to walk on her first birthday)



June 26,2011 *almost two*

The BIRTH-day of Bennett Troy Bever

Friday, July 8th, 2011 Troy and I headed to Presby Plano to welcome our third child into the world. Once we got to the hospital and I was all hooked up to the moitors the nurse asked if I had been having contractions...to which I replied "no, of course not!". Then she looked at the monitor and said: "well, you are having one right now". I couldn't feel a thing! While we waited in Triage for the next hour my contractions got stronger and I was able to feel them and tell Troy when I was having them....pretty exciting since I never went into labor with my first two.
At 9:35am Bennett was born. The doctors and nurses kept commenting on how big he was and how much hair he had! He looked so small to me that I was sure he couldn't weigh more than 7 pounds (but I am used to looking at a 2 and 4 year old all day). *At my last OB visit my doc said she thought this would be my smallest baby...maybe around 8 pounds. When they put him on the scale he weighed 8lbs 12.6 ounces and measured 19 inches. He was just perfect!!!
I stayed for 3 nights in the hospital with Ben and my mom (Troy visited during the days and then stayed with the kids at night at his parents house). The recovery was much faster/easier than with Rett or Ellie and I tribute this to my moms overnight stays where she stayed up most of the night and let me sleep. She says she averaged around 6 hours of sleep over the entire weekend. I also credit a speedy recovery to getting up and walking around. I requested my epidural out as soon as possible and was up and walking around the next morning. Although not the most comfortable walk, it really helped to move and get things going again. I haven't even needed to take any pain medication since I've been home.
Here's the weekend in pictures. (Special thanks to Lauren for taking all the pictures right after the birth!)

Day 1

7:00 am


Roughly 2.5 hours later at 9:35am





Meeting their new little brother for the first time



The biggest brother, Rett




The new big sister, Ellie


Troy and his sister, Jamie


Cousins!



Day 2
Patient Rett drinking apple juice





Day 3



Ben's "friends" that kept him company in his crib


He gets really relaxed laying on me




Mini-Photo Shoot while waiting for daddy to pick us up: