Last couple of days

Happy Anniversary to Pam and Micheal.

The last couple of days have been pretty busy with all the last minute things that I want to get done before Brayson arrives. Brazos has still not been feeling well and had a rough 24 hours Sunday into Monday - so on Monday we went back to the doctor. We were just there on Thursday and everything was fine, but when we went back on Monday we found that he has an ear infection in both ears. Part of me was thankful that there was something wrong and the other hurt because he was in so much pain. But, now we have a strong antibiotic and some relief coming our way. Just after 3 doses Brazos is doing much better and on the road to recovery.

Braxton is doing well. He is loving school all over again and has a personality that seems almost as big as he is. He is looking forward to Thursday but at the same time is still clueless. Brazos has no idea that he will have another brother this week. Brazos is putting more and more words together. I am just amazed at how well they play together most days.

We are less than 48 hours away from Brayson's arrival and well I am just not sure what to think.

Here are some pictures of the boys playing in some glasses we got from a birthday party. These things have been a real big hit in our house.

There are some pictures of Karl playing with the blocks with the boys. Thanks uncle Karl.

And last but not least are a couple of belly shots that Amy asked for, Andrea was ever so kind to take them for me today.

We will have more news for you on Thursday. We have to be there at 6am so we should have a new little boy by about 8:30 or so. Andy plans on keeping you informed.

Braxton needs his glasses to hammer the couch

Yes mom - I need them

Cheese

Another picture!

Okay cheese one last time.

Can I play with these too?

How do I look?

Just call me my daddy's kid

Kaden wanted to play too - but he was too sleepy to really participate

We tried anyway

Building a tall tower

How tall is it uncle Karl

Can I knock it over now?

Here uncle Karl - one more block

One, two, three - kick

And they all came tumbeling down

How about a castle?

How do I get out?

39 weeks and 2 days

Full length view

Just belly.

Swimming???

What do you do when it is 20 degrees outside, your husband is on crutches, your boys need out of the house, and you are 5 days away from delivering baby number 3 - you go swimming. Really. I called around yesterday to see if I could find a heated pool and we did. So the boys and I went and got Andy from work, took him to physical therapy, we went and ate dinner as a family and headed to the hotel. We checked in got our swimsuits on and headed to the pool. The boys were excited to say the least. They had a blast. Sorry that the pictures are a bit foggy - but the heated pool and the cold weather outside made the pool area a bit humid. We were thankful for that. The pool area was a nice 72+ degrees and the water was even warmer. They swam for about an hour and half last night and we gave it another go this morning for about a hour and a half. We enjoyed our time as a family of four on what will be one of our last adventures as the Beck Four. We had a good breakfast this morning and just had a good time all around. Andy was able to get in the water and use his leg without the crutches. It was nice for him also, but today after all that exercise he is pooped just like the boys. They are all resting now and I think I will join them for a few minutes. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Andy and the boys at the start of our swimming adventure
Brazos taking a dive in the water
Braxton practicing his CANNON BALL
Andy and the boys in the warm water
Ready, set, jump
After it was all said and done Brazos had had enough - he crashed before we got out of the hotel
Braxton trying to push up the bed - He was working so hard
The boys enjoying the time in the water
Dad and Braxton resting after a few hours of fun
Brazos asking - Do we have to go?

Updates

First let me say Happy Birthday to Ashely. I hope to get a phone call in later today but in case it does not happen Happy Birthday.

Dad is home and doing well. He seems to be feeling real well. He is to follow up with the heart doctor later this week/next week. We pray that all will be well and okay.

The boys have had a cough and runny nose for the last week. I have been treating them with OTC drugs and love but when Brazos got a temp of 102 for the last 24 hours I thought I needed to take him in. He is fine - we will just continue to do what we were doing. There is no strep and everything looks good so we just pray that they can get healthy again. Braxton was so excited to go to school today. He got to play outside (if it is above 20 and not snowing they get to go out)and he was pumped. It made my heart smile to see him so happy when I picked him up.

We are one week away from meeting Brayson and I have kicked into the get it done gear. Today I went and tried to finish up all the loose ends that I have left. I have a list going so I guess I need to look and see what else needs to be done.

We have our monthly ladies night out tonight and I have the lesson. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. So I know that things will go well and hopefully through all of this we will get closer to the ladies of this congregation and we will all come closer to God.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days. I will do my best to get more.

Dad and the boys playing Sequence for Kids
Who is winning you ask? Well I not sure that anyone is really playing by the rules, so we are all winners.
Braxton helping Karl in the bathroom. We had a leak and I think Karl has it fixed, he sure needed a lot of help and Braxton was glad to provide it.
Braxton playing with his new truck and trailer. Two reward charts and for him so far it was well worth the wait.
Brazos ready for a nap - still has Cheetos on his face from lunch.

News

Well I have a lot of things that I just have not posted and well I guess I need to get them out here.
1. Dad had surgery today on some vertebrae in his neck. He has been in pain for a long time and went to see a neurologist back in October/November and well he had surgery today. He is doing well and the doctor thinks that everything went well. I got to talk to him a little after lunch and he sounded good. If all goes well he should be able to go home tomorrow. They did find an arithmetic (sp?) heart beat during surgery so they are going to send him on to a cardiologist, so please pray that all will be well with that.

2. We are officially 8 days away (we hope) from meeting Brayson. They will take him on the morning of the 17th unless of course he decides to make an appearance early. We are really hoping that he will hold out until then just so I can get everything done. I have had gestational diabetes with Brayson just like I did with Brazos only it has been a lot better. I have only had to take two shots a day and with only a week left I have taken only about a fourth of the insulin that I had to take with Brazos.

3. Andrea and Kaden are still in Texas. We will be ready to see them when they return to Iowa on Saturday. I know that Karl has been missing them we well. He will go over and pick the up in Omaha on Friday and they will all come back together on Saturday. We are ready to have them back.

4. Andy is healing well. He is suppose to get to 110 degrees bend in his knee before we go back to the doctor on the 22nd and being the over achiever that he is he hit 112 on Monday at physical therapy. So the therapist said that we would not push the bending as much until his appointment and start working more on the muscles and strength training. The hard part about strength training is that he can not put any weight on the leg. But he has been a trooper and is doing everything (well for the most part) that he is told. We are all looking forward to the day that he can put some weight on the leg and get rid of those crutches.

5. The boys are doing well. We have been talking a lot about Brayson and his arrival. Braxton is still banking on the fact that it might be a little girl. Maybe one day he can have a little girl of his own. Brazos is still pretty clueless to the whole situation but he is getting more and more vocal. He is really starting to put more words together and is just a ball of fire. Braxton and Brazos have been playing really well together and seem to really enjoy each other right now.

Well I guess that is all I have for now. I will post more when I know more. I need to take some pictures - I seem to be on a break from the camera right now??? More to come I promise.

The boys are thankful that Karl is home

Well Karl returned and my boys were really happy to have some additional activity in the house. Brazos was ready to play ball and Braxton was ready to do anything other than what he had been doing. The weather was really cold the first couple of days but this weekend has proven to be much better with our temperature today getting to 45. The boys were excited and we have spend a good deal of time outside. Braxton was especially happy because he got to get the 4-wheeler out and take it for a spin. Karl and I took the boys to the church parking lot to give them some freedom with the 4-wheeler and room to run. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.

Brazos and Karl playing ball the day he came home
Yea - I am so glad I can play with someone besides these people.
Karl and Braxton enjoying some time on the 4-wheeler
Rosa decided that she wanted to ride also
Karl and Braxton having a good time
Brazos decided at the last minute that he wanted to ride also. He thought it was fun once he got on.
At home the game turned to horse. Braxton has been asking me to play horse for over a week and I just flat had to tell him no - so needless to say I was glad that Karl was willing.
Brazos taking a turn
Braxton calling giddy-up
The horse and rider after Brazos
Thanks uncle Karl for taking the time to play with your nephews. They were really glad to have you back.

Schedule? What schedule?

We are slowly making progress and getting back into routine. While we are still taking one day at a time we are finally getting back into a schedule that the boys recognize and that I can tolerate. MeMe went home on Wednesday and Karl came home on Tuesday. So the boys were sad to see MeMe go home but very glad to see Karl come home. They have been enjoying all the attention that they are getting from Karl.

Braxton playing with his tractors and legos

Andy is making a lot of progress with his knee, he had his first physical therapy appointment on Monday and goes back again tomorrow. The therapist gave him quite a few exercises to do at home. He has been working real hard on doing everything he is told to do. The boys of course want to help in every way. They do what they can to do the exercises with dad three times a day. Andy went back to work yesterday and today. He is doing well and working more than I think he should - yet. He knee was pretty swollen at the end of the day both days. He was in some pain both days as well. I think he is going to take it at little more easy tomorrow.
The boys helping dad with bending.
Time to move - this is getting a little boring.
Look at the bend on that knee. The PT said that we needed to get to 110 degrees in 6 weeks at the first visit he was at 85 she said Andy would get there quickly and with out much trouble. He was at 0 degrees with out any trouble (that is really good - 0 is what I had the most trouble with)
Braxton using dads yellow band to work out his knee. He thought the helmet, tool belt, suspenders, and car were also necessary.
Braxton enjoying a little time outside in the snow. This was the day before we hit those really cold temps of 10 and below. The boys are really ready to get out and run. We are suppose to get in the 40's on Saturday and we have plans to get outside.
Dad and Braxton enjoying time together at home and watching some TV
MeMe and the boys playing with Lincoln Logs - the Lincoln logs have been a big hit but they are frustrating because they fall really easily and I send the whole time building, but at least the boys have fun
After the frustration with the Lincoln logs we moved on to bigger and more sturdy items like legos. While you can still destroy they stay together a little longer than the Lincoln logs. They boys were having a good time.
Dad and Brazos enjoying some time together as well.

I am just amazed at how fast time seems to be flying. We are two weeks away from the arrival of Brayson. I know things will be changing again real soon. We are ready in some ways and not so much in others. I am still taking two non-stress tests a week and I have had two of the four weekly appointments. I had a check up today and all is well. We are on track for a delivery on Jan 17 unless he decides to come early (I am not sure I would be ready for that at this point).

God is so good and I am so thankful for all the things he is doing in our life. I am glad that he uses all situations to teach us that we are not in control but that HE is. I am thankful for friends and family that come to support and help with out ever being asked. I am thankful for a loving husband and two wonderful boys. God is so good.

What do you do when MeMe is here?

We have all enjoyed having MeMe here to help us out during this time. She has been a trooper and the boys have been eating up all the attention. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. There will be more to come.

Braxton helping MeMe make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.
Braxton and Brazos helping MeMe.
Brazos helping roll and pat the dough
MeMe helping the boys play with Playdough. They had a big time.
Now is time to make the cookies to leave for Santa. Good job on the cookies - they are great.
MeMe reading to Braxton while he takes his breathing treatment
Because mom forgot to get powered sugar for the cookies we had to wait till the 27th to paint the cookies. The boys did not know the difference. Braxton and MeMe painting cookies.
Braxton working hard on his Christmas trees - good job
Some of the finished products
Brazos painting his hand - I mean his cookies.

Thanks MeMe for putting up with us and all the things we do around here. Thanks for taking the time to take care of us and give our boys that extra attention. We appreciate all you do.