Happy Birthday Cannon Ball!

I can't believe it, but my big man turned 2 on Wednesday. He is, of course, obsessed with cars and trains. So I attempted to make a homemade cars cake, with green icing and an oreo crumbs road.


We had family over (which does include the Dickmans!) to celebrate with the cars cake and ice cream. Cannon loved opening the presents, and after he was done taking off the wrapping paper he'd immediately go throw it away.


After opening presents, he dug into his cake.

I can't believe that the past two years have gone by so quickly. Some of my favorite things about Cannon is:

When he says "oh no!" and "Hi Mama!" and "awesome!" and when he gets upset and strings together as many words that he knows "dada...car...some...more...mama...please"

He tries to fit as many cars in his chubby hands as possible

He loves "Old MacDonald" who has a car

He will pretend to hurt himself just to get kisses

He is already familiar with the naughty corner, and if you are trying to discipline him, he is trying to make you smile (by pulling faces, smiling cheesy, or just laughing)

He is a crazy swimmer!

He loves to brush his teeth

He eats anything and in mass quantities

He waves and says "hi" to strangers

First Day of Kindergarten

Doesn't she look like Little Red Riding Hood? It was pouring rain this morning, so Brenna had her trusty rain jacket!
All three kids. It was a little exhausting loading up all three kids, walking Brenna to her classroom while wrangling Cannon and carrying Brooklyn's car seat. Yet, I am so glad I was there to snap the following pictures.

Brenna outside her new classroom!

She was so proud she found her name to hang her book bag underneath.

And all the kids sat at separate stations, which had their name tags laid out. Brenna was a little disappointed she wasn't at the same station as her cousin, Lily (who is in the same class as her!) But at her station was a little 5 year old boy who had 2 earrings in one ear! In Kindergarten! Crazy.

Brenna sitting on the Alphabet mat. This is where they waved their final goodbyes to the moms and dads. I did see a few tears, but not from Brenna! Good job, big girl! And I didn't cry. Which is shocking, considering all of the fresh emotions I've been having since Brooklyn was born. We were both brave!

Leif did a great job keeping Cannon in check! Actually, we asked them to hold hands, and they had to hold hands for the entire walk out to the cars. It was really cute!

Angel of Mercy!

After ten days of cleaning, cooking, reading children's books, doing laundry, my angel of mercy is returning home tired and hopefully well-loved! She flew in the day I returned home from the hospital, and stayed 10 days. I never had to worry about dishing sitting in the sink, or laundry piling up, or what we're having for dinner. I was given the opportunity to heal, and enjoy the baby and my two other babies. Most husbands would dread having their mother-in-laws stay this long, but I think Ryan was as sad to see her go! She definitely made our lives easier, and I would be lying if I didn't say I am very nervous picking up life from where she left off. Can I keep up? Can I give the kids the attention they need? Will my house completely crumble around me? We all know I won't let it, I'm too OCD to. But I will really miss her! Thank you mom!

Happy early Birthday Bud!

My mom, like Santa or the three wise men, came bearing gifts. She brought some for all three, big sister gifts, new baby gifts, and for Cannon, birthday gifts.

Cannon is in love with hats, and wears Brenna's pink hat or flowered sun hat. Thank you Grandma for giving him a boyish sports related hat!

Ever since the Fourth of July, Cannon has been a little nervous around open flames. So when we came at him singing while holding a treat with two flames, he seemed uneasy. But he didn't have a meltdown, and did blow out the candles. We all cheered encouragingly, and he came around to thoroughly enjoy the cupcake!

I can't believe my big man is turning two next week. These two years have completely flown by, and I am loving every day with him. He is so fun-loving and energetic, and loves people. Happy early Birthday Cannon!

Fat Feet Update

As you can tell, I am slowly getting back to myself. I have had many people ask the status of my painfully swollen feet. It seems that my feet have been my health barometer. As they have gotten less and less swollen, the rest of my body was feeling better and better. As far as the post-partum/post-op healing, I have been doing surprisingly well. My doctor is amazing, and I think does the c-section and treatment in a way that you can recover quickly. And I've had almost 2 weeks of relief from my RA, but the past few days the symptoms have been coming back quickly and strongly. Most people, including Ryan and my mom, have been surprised at what I've kept up with. But what they might not take into consideration is besides the fact that although I have a huge incision, I haven't felt better in 9 months...or probably over a year and a half! The weight on my back was gone, my feet and hands were pain free, and I had a beautiful baby girl to show for it. Now, I am starting to slump back into the typical aches. I have my first post-partum appointment with my rheumatologist in about 10 days, and we'll see where we go from here, and hopefully when we get things started I'll feel the same relief. But my feet are not suffering from elephantitus anymore, and they are painted a pretty pink.

Together Time

Brenna and Cannon have grown closer since Brooklyn arrived 11 days ago. When Cannon gets in trouble, he runs to Brenna for a consoling hug. Sometimes they gang up on Ryan and I, and plot ways to prolong bedtime or sneak treats. It has been one of the most rewarding parts of being a parent so far, is to see their bond strengthening. I love my kids!

Pretty in Pink!

I am having an unhealthy amount of fun dressing this little doll. She is a perfect size newborn. Thank you to all of our family and friends for helping us fill her dresser and closet with the most adorable outfits! And the great thing, is she doesn't argue about what I want her to wear. Brenna has developed her own opinions about what she wants to wear (although she does a great job matching and picking out her clothes!) I love it!

Cabbage does what?!?

I'm half Irish. I have had cabbage, with corned beef and red potatoes. I've even had a green lime jello with shredded cabbage in it. One thing I've never done with cabbage is stick it in my BRA!!! And yet, this has been by far the most useful cabbage has been! I am not breast feeding (you can't nurse and be on the medication for RA) and finally on Friday, my milk somewhat came in. It was not the full and complete let-down that I was fearing, but I was definitely in pain. Sure enough, cabbage in the bra does the trick! Especially after being in the fridge, it feels so good. Isn't that the craziest old-wives tale proven correct?

Loved TOO Much!

Brooklyn has definitely been the center of attention. Everyone falls in love with her. And she has been unbelievably patient with the constant kisses, requests to hold her, pokes and prods from Cannon, and now doggy kisses from Cupcake.

Fat Feet

If you are feeling a little self conscious about your physical appearance...

or if you are having a bad day...

or if you just need a good laugh...

Feel better?

I know, I know. My feet and ankles and calves are HUGE! And what is even more sad, is this is after they had gone down! My feet have provided Ryan with some major comic relief. One night this week we were sitting on the couch, and I would flex and rotate my feet, and Ryan would almost laugh so hard he would cry. I would laugh too, but it hurts my incision! Hope you enjoy as much as Ryan has!

Don't Leave Me!

I arranged for Brenna to go to the pool playgroup with one of her good friends. We tried to hide her swimsuit, and floating tube, and the fact that she was leaving her little brother behind. When they finally picked her up, and Cannon realized what was happening, he threw a fit! I tried to drag him back into the house, and get him distracted with something else, but it didn't work. He parked it next to the door and cried for at least 20 minutes. It was actually sweet that he was so upset that Brenna left!

Around the house

Brenna loves holding her beautiful baby sister! And she is great at giving her a bottle, but still won't change her diaper. We need to work on that!
Grandpa Art and his beautiful grand-daughters. We love having them visit, especially when Grandpa plays with Brenna and Cannon.

Ryan absolutely LOVES falling asleep with Brooklyn on his chest. His after-work ritual, is the following: changes into comfortable clothes, wrestles with Brenna and Cannon for at least a half an hour, eats dinner, then relaxes on the couch with Brooklyn on his chest.

Thank goodness for Grandma! My mom has been here since I left the hospital, and our house would not be functioning without her! The kids have loved having her read to them especially.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:30am, only to find out that our doctor had 2 emergency c-sections that bumped us back further. But we enjoyed the quiet time!

Ryan felt official in his blue paper towel scrubs!

This was just before they wheeled me into the operating room. Even though I've had two previously, I was still nervous. Especially for the spinal, because last time it took them about 30 minutes and a dozen different tries to get it in. Although it took him quite a while to get it in the right spot, this time was MUCH better!

You can see the blue sterilization curtain, which Ryan has to stay behind. While he was video taping it, I asked him if he would turn the camera's screen down so I could see what he was seeing. So I got to watch baby Brooklyn be born. It was the neatest thing to watch.

She was officially born at 11:14am, and the real shocker came when they weighed her! Brenna weighed 6lbs 14oz and was two days over her due date. Cannon weighed 5lbs 12oz, and was 4 weeks early. Brooklyn weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 2 weeks early! I actually passed the 7 pound threshold!

The rest of the c-section went well, and Ryan was able to hold her while they finished up. She was absolutely perfect! A couple hours later, Grandma and Grandpa brought Brenna and Cannon up to meet their little sister. It was very sweet to watch how careful and soft Cannon was with her. We sang Happy Birthday to her.

First family picture!

Baby Brooklyn didn't come empty handed either. She brought presents for both of them. Brenna's t-shirt said "I'm the BIGGEST sister", and Cannon's said "Big Brother Club".

The rest of the hospital stay was uneventful, and I was ready to come home. So late Monday afternoon, we got out of there in time to pick up my mom from the airport. It feels so good to be home! We will add more pictures later!

Brooklyn Rachel Bushman

Welcome to the Bushman family my Beautiful little girl!! Brooklyn Rachel arrived this morning at 11:14 am weighing in at 7 lbs 3 oz, and 20 inches long. Mother and Baby are both Healthy and happy!
Brenna and Cannon were excited to meet the new arrival to the Family. we all sang happy birthday toBrooklyn while Brenna and Cannon sat with their new little sister.

Sarah is excited to be done with the pregnancy andsee the results of the long 9 months.

I am tired and it is late so I will have to update more later. Happy Birthday Brooklyn!!

Last Day Pregnant

Friday, July 31 2009:

The morning began very early for me. Of course I had some difficulty sleeping, and I woke up around 4:30am, laid in bed till about 5:30am, and decided to finally get up and get something done. And, did I ever! I'm a list maker, and I had a list with about 20 "to-do items", and by the time Brenna woke up around 7:30 I had crossed off about 7 things! Brenna suggested getting donuts for breakfast, and seemed genuinely surprised when I agreed! So by the time Cannon and Ryan woke up, we had Daylight Donuts, scrambled eggs and sausage ready! It was yummy!

After breakfast, we had arranged for a babysitter to watch the kids while we went on our last "date" to see the new Harry Potter movie (which we loved!) and run some last minute errunds. Afterwards, I made my way to the hospital to get my 2nd round of steriod shots (to help with the babies lung development) and to be monitored. We then ran a few errunds, took the kids to their favorite park and enjoyed the low 80 degree weather, then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's. It is such a relief to have them available to help, and that the kids feel like it is their 2nd home (especially since the A/C incident!). We put them to bed, headed home to finish up the house projects, and crawled into bed around 11:30pm. We were exhausted.

Front side Mug Shot:

Do I look pregnant from the front? I try to convince myself I don't look that pregnant from the front or behind. I know, vain hope, right?

Although I am very very ready to meet Brooklyn, dliever the baby, and get started on making my body more healthy; it is somewhat bittersweet to know it was my last day pregnant. No matter how uncomfortable, exhausting, or at times painful it has been, I really have tried to enjoy every single day of this pregnancy. Some more than others!