OOPS! One of the pictures in my last post was a little more revealing than I had realized! Here is another one to replace it!

When in a mad rush to catch a plane...

...one should stop to take pictures of course!

Took these sweet photos as we were running out the door - I was afraid that they would never get taken if we waited until we got back from the wedding.

These make me fall in love all over again :)

All is happy here in babyworld...the boys are adapting, although they have regressed in a few areas but I guess that is to be expected. We made it through the whirlwind trip to Chicago, Wisconsin and then back to Chicago again. We didn't get to visit with anyone except family, so maybe that will be an option next time. Thankfully, my dad had the week off which was wonderful. He would get up and go get coffee (why is it that coffee from a coffee shop or even a gas station brings about more happiness than coffee made at home??) and then come home and take the boys so that I could get a couple hours of sleep. By the time mom got home from teaching, she would be needing her grandkid fix and I would once again have some time to get other things done.

The wedding was soooo much fun - we laughed all weekend and really had a good time. We all missed my grandmother so much though, because family events were the times that she would really let loose and have fun. Jonna looked amazing and the whole event was just beautiful.

I held it together for the most part. Mike was able to walk us onto the plane (I couldn't believe that) and help me get situated with the three kids. Treyton slept the whole way (no ear problems and no crying-yeah!) and the boys were very well behaved. It helped that they both had brand new Nintendo DS's to keep them busy. Who was it that said she would never buy hand-held video game systems for her kids? Oh yeah, me. I have changed my mind. The games were an early Christmas present from a relative. Let me tell you, they were a life saver.

Now we are home and it is back to reality. Speaking of, I must go now and write a grant that is due tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Today was the big day - the test, if you will. All of the grandparents are gone and Mike was in Chattanooga. I was on my own to juggle the three little ones...
All and all, it was a successful morning. However, it wasn't without its moments...
Got the twins dressed just to realize that Braxton's zipper was broken and Dalton's shorts were missing a button. Seriously, didn't we just buy these? And they came from Belk's no less - not like I can do my typical 'cheap Walmart' rant and rave.
OK, no problem - just get new shorts. Easier said than done seeing as all of the uniform shorts are in the laundry. Plan B: Dig through the dirty clothes and pick out the shorts with the least amount of dirt/food/marker/unknown substances on it and give them the old 'brush-off' treatment. Of course, by brushing them off they magically become fresh and clean again.
Mini crisis solved - on to the next step in our morning routine. We are sailing through and I am thanking my lucky stars that the little one is sound asleep - make that WAS sound asleep. He has definitely 'found his voice' and he wanted to be sure that he conveyed just how hungry he was. Quick once-over of the twins' teeth and quick warm-up of some milk for the baby. No time to nurse seeing as we have a total of 3 minutes before take-off. Give the baby his appetizer, tell the kids to put their shoes on for the 8th time, grab the backpacks and everybody into the car (why do the boys think that when we are in a hurry they should aimlessly wander around the front yard looking at the flowers and the patches of grass?).
Phew. My reward is just around the corner - drop these boys off, nurse the baby and curl up in bed to try and make-up for the sleep I did not get the night before. I am getting excited when the boys ask me if Baby Treyton ate yogurt for breakfast. Oh no. I know what that means. Sure enough, he was covered from head to almost toe in massive spit-up. So, in case you don't remember, I am sending one kid to school in dirty shorts, the baby is covered in yucky goo, I haven't taken a shower (or even bothered to rub yesterday's mascara-turned-under-eye-smudge off of my face) and we are about 2 minutes from being tardy.
OK - got to school on time, kissed the kids good-bye, managed to avoid making eye-contact with their gym teacher who is also our neighbor and got the heck out of there before I could look like anymore of a white trash mama. Got home, fed the youngen, laid him down and curled up in our big, comfy, king-sized bed - ahhhhhh. This was good. I fell asleep quickly only to be roused from slumber by my cell phone. "Hello, Mrs. Beckman?" Oh nooooooo. I know that voice. It is their teacher. Ugh. Two kids, two pairs of wet shorts. Something about a puddle on the playground and an aiming accident in the bathroom. Are you kidding?? Jump in the shower, throw the baby in the carseat and off to school I go to bring clean clothes. At this point, going home and back to sleep is no longer an option. So I do the next best thing - The little guy and I went for some retail therapy. He got some new outfits and I got a pair of jeans that don't have a stretchy panel in the front!
Tomorrow is yet another day ;) !

It is so amazing to watch the boys with their baby brother...I hope as time goes on that their bond continues to strengthen and grow.

Today, Braxton made one of those 'out of the mouths of babes' comments. I had just weighed myself and I was happy to see that I was only 1lb. away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Seeing as I went into this pregnancy with plenty of extra poundage, I am hoping to ride the 'breastfeeding burns calories' bandwagon for as long as possible and burn off some of the leftover weight from my first pregnancy (or rather from the 5,000 pounds of chocolate I ate while staying awake all night long during the boys' first year). As I walked out of the room, Braxton said, "Mommy, aren't you glad the baby is out of your tummy?" I said yes, I am glad that he is here with us now. Brax replied saying, "Now your tummy will go back to how it was before!" I asked him what he means and he said, "You know, much smaller!" I better start that exercise program...

So, I made the boys take pictures after school yesterday. Doris showed me how the dining room table makes for a perfect spot for setting up a photo shoot! Unfortunately, Treyton wasn't very interested. At least I was able to get some good sleeping pictures once his tummy was full and he drifted off into sleep...

Thank you, Doris!

Doris was nice enough to come by today and take some pictures of baby Treyton...

It is hard to believe that he is 9 days old :)

Baby Boy Beckman has finally arrived! It was quite an experience - 23 1/2 hours of labor. He was 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. He is so sweet - his face is all squishy and he squeaks a lot. He is soo soft and warm and he loves to cuddle.

The boys are very excited to be 'big brothers.' Braxton prefers to be more of an observer at this point, but Dalton wants to be holding his baby every chance he gets! He is very intrigued by the whole what babies can and can't do thing - what he can play with, what he can eat, etc. I am very worried that I will wake up one morning to find Dalton carrying the baby around the house teaching him how to play with trains! We have to constantly remind him that he has to be very gentle with his new little brother!