Meet our son, and Beckett's little brother,

 Declan Vaughn Nicolas Louis

 born on June 14, 2018 at 7:56am. He was 8lbs 4oz and 20" long.

We are all so in love!

He is the sweetest addition to our family and we are smitten!

The Night Before you Officially Became a Big Brother.

Dear Beckett,

On the night before you officially become a big brother, I'm a mess. As my one and only, my tiny lunch date, and my bestie for the last 4+ years, I cannot imagine the happiness I'm going to experience when you get to meet your little brother for the first time.

Today, I'm struggling with so many emotions. Happiness, excitement, fear, guilt. You name it. We've prepared you as best we can and you're the most excited out of anyone to become a big brother. You nailed Big Brother class, and ask (multiple times) daily if it's 'Baby Day' yet,so we know you're ready, but are we? I want you to know, I couldn't be more proud of you and more excited to see you take on this new role.

The tears I've cried are happy ones, as you always ask. I'm happy but hope my heart can hold the love I have for you and your brother together- apparently, you can according to everyone I've talked to, so no fear little guy, my love for you will only get stronger :) There is always room for Mommy love and cuddles for both of you- always and forever!

As I kissed you this morning on the way out to the hospital, you smiled and said 'love you' and rolled over to go back to sleep (it was 5am after all.) My littlest becoming the oldest in the blink of an eye. 

I love you so much stinky butt and cannot wait to see you as Big Brother Beckett in just a few hours.

I love you all in my heart forever, 

Mommy

Big Brother Class!

A few weeks before baby, we enrolled Beckett into Big Brother class at the hospital we were delivering at. It was a great opportunity for him to get to learn what it takes to be a big brother and to get familiar with the hospital!

He got to hold a 'baby', take a tour of the hospital, and make a poster for the baby's hospital bassinet. He even got a certificate of completion! He's ready and so are we!

Showering Baby Louis

A couple of my dear friends threw me and Baby Louis the sweetest baby shower in May! While I didn't have a traditional baby shower with Beckett, this was a fun way to celebrate our new arrival and spend some quality time with my favorite girls!

It was star themed since I did Baby Louis' room in blue stars and it was perfect. I can't thank Taylor and Jamie enough! It was the best afternoon. We are so blessed with the best friends. I am one lucky girl!

I was so thankful that both my Mom and Momadear were able to attend too! Time to have this baby!

It's A...

After much anticipation, we are expecting baby BOY #2 and couldn't be happier!

I was the only one to find out the gender from the doctor and let Beckett reveal the big surprise!

A big thanks to Robert and Bonnie for capturing these photos for us!

... And then there were 4!

After a long time trying, we are so excited to share the news that we are pregnant with our second child! Beckett is SUPER excited and so are we! We're due in June 2018 and couldn't be more thrilled!

This pregnancy is a little more sensitive than the first. We are aware of just about everything since we've been through this before. Every time I use the bathroom I pray there's no bleeding or miscarriage, even though my doctor tells me every appointment that we have a healthy pregnancy, but you just never know! So far I've just had the usual symptoms.. I'm exhausted and vomiting basically all day. It's been really hard to not tell Beckett since he asks for a brother or sister just about every day. He's aware I'm sick and hates that i'm always throwing up but he'll get to know soon enough!

We got to tell most of our family in person about this pregnancy instead of over the phone like we did with Beckett. I was most fun letting Beckett know, but he was one of the last since 4-year-olds have big mouths and like to share everything!

I took a blood test and will know the gender so soon! What do you think Baby Louis is? Boy or Girl?!

Oh, hey.

Well, if you're wondering if I've died since I haven't posted in like, forever, I haven't. I've just been crazy busy with life, moving, unpacking, and getting ready for Christmas with a toddler in tow. 

Now, I know you're probably like, what? That took THIS long? Yes. Doing anything with an active toddler is like running in water. Or jello. You're doing a lot of work and you don't get very far, very fast. 

We absolutely LOVE our new house. 

The neighborhood, (minus one set of ridiculous neighbors), the house and the area are all fab and we are so happy we chose to move out here! The house is one bedroom one bath and a mortgage shy of being perfect for us, but have no fear, we are here for a few years! 

There are kids everywhere, we are a 5 minute walk from a huge playground, and there is a great (safe) running lap for me. I just wish part of it was paved! My new white running shoes definitely would have appreciated that during a muddy run the other day. Sigh.

We moved Thanksgiving weekend in the pouring rain and got settled as quickly as possible so we could change gears and get ready for Christmas! It's been a whirlwind but it's been so worth it!

Thankful for Life Lately.

These last two months have been nothing short of a whirlwind! 

Between Beckett's Mother's Day Out,  root canals, traveling to San Francisco, Waco & Round Top, Petting Zoos & Halloween, work, and now a move (UGH, yes, again) I've been swamped from sun rise to bed time!

'School' is going great and Beckett has completely adjusted- he walks right on it, puts his lunchbox in his basket (I have to carry the backpack because it's heavy!) and he goes right on into his classroom without even saying goodbye. It's so great that he enjoys it, but come on kid! Kiss your Momma goodbye at least! 

Halloween was seriously fun this year. Beckett went as Captain Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and i'm 100% sure if I never took off his costume, he wouldn't have minded! We were able to go to a trunk-or-treat at his school which was a great dress rehearsal! He also had a costume parade at school plus Halloween, so at least I feel like he got great use out of his costume!

yo ho let's go!

I'm trying to remain positive about this move, but what a pain! The house we are leasing currently has really, really bad foundation issues and the owner is going to A) have to spend a LOT of money on repairs- like ripping up all the flooring and master bathroom and kitchen kind of repairs, or B) going to sell the house because it's basically a wash. So needless to say when we asked to renew under the condition that the foundation was checked and fixed and got the results, we knew that we had to get out of here. We can't wait to share our new home but until then, i'm trying to stay on top of packing so that it's as seamless as possible! 

I finished my 2nd half marathon in San Francisco. i finished. That's about all i'm going to say about that! I'm about to start training for a 3rd in March that I plan on being way more prepared for! It was great to get away for a weekend by myself, but I did miss my guys when I neared the finish line!

As we gear up for the holidays, (hey Thanksgiving! You're my fav!) Im constantly reminded how lucky I am even if I am going a mile a minute! This is the busiest season of the year, and with a toddler in tow it's even busier, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! What are you thankful for during this busy season?!