Prior to being a mommy...

...I was not prepared for....

...Noah poking his brother in the eye just to find out what it feels like.

...having a baby (William) that is capable of spitting up on the back of his head. Multiple times a day.

...William pooping on his shoulders.

...watching Noah eat ketchup with a fork.

...seeing my babies grow up so fast.

...the amount of laundry such a small person can produce.

...having Noah pick up on everything we do, down to the smallest detail.

...Noah walking up to me randomly and asking for a kiss.

...William singing along with Noah.

...being so tired while having a newborn.

...Noah giving his brother hugs whenever he can, just because.

...all the bodily fluids that can fit inside such a little person.

...the fact that now I have an excuse to make funny faces in public.

...finding a banana in the microwave.

...the number of times and ways a boy-child can hit their head in one day.

...needing to find storage for outgrown baby clothes.

...the rolls on Noah's legs going away.

...how often I'd have to go to the Dr's office.

...how much fun it is to hear my kids' laugh.

...the amount of things I'm able to do one-handed.

...losing my voice from talking funny.

Our life in pictures

Since it's been several weeks since my last blog post, I decided I should come back and give the very few of you who read this your Brahm Family fix. This post is going to be our life for the past few weeks in pictures. Sorry about the awful quality. I usually take pictures with my phone 'cause that's what I have with me and it's so much easier than getting out the actual camera. Problem is, my phone doesn't do so well when it comes to low light. You'll get the general idea though. Anyways, on to the fun stuff.

My days lately have been spent....

With these two little boys.

The small one started smiling about a month ago.

Everyone loves a good baby smile. It helps if there are giant round cheeks involved.

Small has recently aquired some nice leg rolls. We're currently in the process of getting some more.

Large (Noah) has spent a lot of time outside the last few weeks playing t-ball. He just recently figured out how to swing the bat with two hands and is actually hitting the ball now instead of just knocking over the T.

Noah showcasing his organization ideas.

He's also been helping me with some baking.

A chocolate mousse pie....

...and then today we made chocolate chip cookies.

This is what happens when he thinks Momma isn't looking- He starts picking chocolate chips out of the bowl. :)

I managed to sneak some M&M chips in at the end. His whole face lit up when he saw the finished product.

He's also spent time with his Handy Dandy Notebook writing down clues with Steve as he watches Blue's Clues.

We've been reading new books...(thank you, Bella!)

...and playing with new toys. (Thank you, Meekers!) I'd like you to meet "Puppet," the 5th member of our family. (6th if you count the beanbag. ) Original name, right? We spend lots and lots of time playing with Puppet. We play peek-a-boo, feed toys, socks, shoes, and Play-Doh to Puppet, and run as Puppet chases us down the hallway. For some reason Puppet always seems to bring Mommy or Daddy with him. Nevermind that, though.

Here we are drawing pictures for Puppet.

Noah also throws some random things into his days too. Like making a meatball bridge.

During nap time it's my chance to get some stuff done that is hard to do with little boys running around, like hanging blinds...

...organizing junk drawers...

...organizing and making labels for kitchen cabinets...

...creating a spice drawer...

...and cleaning out and organizing closets.

At the end of the day, Josh comes home, we have dinner, and then every other day or so he watches the boys for about a half an hour while I go to the gym. Lucky for you, there's not a picture of me going to the gym. ;)

Since my last post, Josh and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. We had a babysitter for the night, and we went out to dinner using some gift cards, then went to Old Town Clovis looking for an Italian Cafe, but they were closed. That's Clovis for you- 8:30 on a Friday night and they have all the chairs up on the tables. So, we went to Starbucks instead to get coffee. We'll have to try the Italian place some other time.

....and now it's time for me to go iron, my favorite of all household chores. There's a reason the "iron" box never gets checked off of my to-do list....

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens...

While I was up feeding William last night I came up with a few more things to add to my last post. If you haven't read it yet, you should. Well, if the whole newborn thing is at all interesting to you.

So, this is-

Things I'd rather not be without Part 2

Angel Care Baby Monitor

This is something we got when Noah was born. I definitely slept better at night, especially once Noah moved into his own room. The way this works is that there's a sensor pad that goes underneath the mattress and makes sure Baby is breathing. If Baby stops breathing for more than 30 seconds, it sets off an alarm in both your monitor, and Baby's. After Baby is older and the chances of SIDS goes way down, you can just use it like a regular monitor without the motion sensor. I've really liked having it...this way I don't have to keep getting up to make sure Baby's still breathing when I start to worry. No alarm = Baby's still breathing.

Exergen Temporal Thermometer

This thing is the bomb-diggity. I just got it yesterday. It was on my list of "things I want to get for the new baby," and I finally bought it.

I can't even count how many times I've tried to use a digital thermometer under Noah's arm and kept it there for what seems like an eternity and never really seem to get a reading. This thing is awesome. You just wipe it across Baby's forehead, and you get an instant temperature. This will be SO nice to have for both kids now. It's cheapest by far at Wal-mart online, for those of you that want to get one.

Homedics Sound Spa

This is magic. Something about white noise, or "waterfall" on this, makes babies sleep through the night. Noah still uses his. If I need to wake him up, I go in his room, turn this thing off, and he's instantly awake. This was the most inexpensive one I could find, and also one of the few that doesn't have a bunch of lights and stuff on it that might keep Baby awake. It's also one of the few that are loud enough to make a difference. I've seen it online at Babies R Us, but once again, Wal-mart (online) has it the cheapest.

Mom's on Call Guide to Basic Baby Care

This book is my newborn bible. It's about time to break it out again for William.

This book is written by two pediatric nurses at Emory University, in Atlanta GA, where I'm from, and they each have about a bagillion kids, and a few sets of twin in there somewhere. They've managed to compile a lot of good information in a small inexpensive book, and also have set up a service where you can call whenever you have a question about anything and get an answer, hence "Mom's on Call."

My favorite chapters are the ones about getting your baby to sleep through the night, and the one about putting Baby on a schedule. If your baby is at least 3 weeks old, and gaining weight like they're supposed to, they can be put on a schedule. William has 1 week to go....

They've outlined several different schedules depending on the age of your baby. We started Noah on this when he was 10 weeks old, and we were both much happier because of it. He started sleeping through the night right away. (This is the book that said to get the white noise machine. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even known to try it.) We stayed with their suggested schedules until he was old enough that they didn't have any for his age, and then we just adjusted it ourselves a little bit as he got older. It's kinda creepy....Noah knows now when he's supposed to eat, and go to bed. We have to look at the clock, but he just knows.

I think that is officially everything I'd rather not live without for newborns. Maybe in a few months I'll do a "What I'd rather not live without- The older baby edition."

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

After bringing William home from the hospital, I realized that there is actually very little that one "needs" to take care of a newborn baby. Diapers, wipes, boobs (or formula and bottles, if that's what floats your boat), and a few blankets. That's pretty much it. However, there are a few things that I'd rather not be without when it comes to taking care of the small one. In no particular order....

The Lightly Padded Maya Wrap

I got this to use with Noah when he was about 18 months old because he only wanted to be carried on my hip, but our regular carrier didn't work that way. So, the ring sling it was. We only used it occasionally since by the time we got it, he had been walking for quite awhile, and my philosophy is, if he can walk, let him. Since having William, this has been a lifesaver. I'm able to carry Will around and still play Guitar Hero or whatever with Noah.

We had the typical type of carrier that you see most people using with Noah when he was teeny tiny, but I have problems with my shoulders, and it hurt to use it for very long even though most people thought it was comfortable, according to the reviews. This, I can use for several hours without it bothering me. I think it's the way that the shoulder doesn't pull straight down on my shoulder but rather down and in. If you do get one though, make sure you get the padded shoulder.

Wipe Warmer

I'm pretty sure most wipe warmers are created equal, so I didn't specify which one. Noah has the Wal-Mart special, and William has the Babies R Us special. I don't really have much to say about this except for that William is noticeably more comfortable with diaper changes with it than without it. I wasn't sure it made that much of a difference until I used a cold wipe on him and he about jumped off the changing table. That's pretty impressive since he can barely hold his head up. So, this is more to make Baby a little happier while I wipe his little bum.

Halo Swaddle Sleepsack

I love, love, love this. We didn't discover these until after Noah would take himself out of his swaddle, so he just used the regular ones which are also amazing. With newborns however, the swaddle sleepsack is AMAZING. Not all swaddlers are created equal. If I was truly going to be cheap, I'd just use a blanket, (and we did, with Noah) but this is just so much easier for us to use, (especially for Daddy,) and so much harder for Baby to get out of. We have a few of the Kiddopotumus ones, and we use those when this one is dirty, but the ama-za-zing part about the Halo one is that you can change Baby's diaper in the middle of the night without unswaddling. Much more convenient. I think it's also a little easier to get a good tight swaddle. There are fleece ones for colder nights, and cotton ones for warmer nights. I think I'm in love with both.

Sleepers

People always told me "you can never have too many onesies." I disagree. I think you can never have enough sleepers. Onesies are fine, I guess, I just don't feel like it keeps baby warm, and if it's even slightly cool, you have to put pants or something on, which is just more of a hassle when you're trying to change one of those fifty billion diapers during the day (and night). There's rarely a day that William only wears one sleeper, and I have to do his laundry every other day just to keep up with the sleeper demand and we have probably 8-10 of them. I plan on going to a consignment store or something to pick up a few more at some point.

Breast Pump

For me, this might actually fit better into the "necessities" category, but I think I may be an exception. I'll explain later. If you are one of those who plans on breastfeeding, a pump is something that's very good to have. It's nice to express some milk if you ever want to be away from your baby for a couple hours, but for some, like me, it's nice to have even if you spend every waking minute with your baby. If nothing else, to help relieve pain that first week or so after your milk comes in (it usually comes it about 3 days after Baby is born.) I don't know about most people, but for me, that's a very painful week or so. I have to take Tylenol to get just a little bit of relief, and that doesn't really help all that much. So, I would use the pump to just pump enough to take some of the pressure away. (You don't want to pump too much because then your body thinks that a baby is actually drinking it, and tries to keep up with the demand.) SOME people make enough milk to feed quadruplets even after that first week. I'm not even exaggerating. The pediatrician is always amazed when he asks how much I'm able to pump after feeding William. I feel like a circus freak. William's only 2 weeks old, and I've already got 200 ounces frozen in the freezer. Like I said, circus freak.

The one pictured above is the one I use. It's the cheapest well-reviewed pump out there. It's the Lanisoh manual pump. It's easy to use, and if you use it as much as I do, you'll have forearms like Popeye.

....and now the husband is home, so I'm going to go pay attention to him now. I may end up doing a part 2, but for now, these are the things that came to mind as my "favorite things."

William!

I guess it's about time for an update since we've got our new little addition. William David was born the morning of December 22nd. 7lbs 14oz, and 20.5" long. Not nearly as compact as Noah's 8lbs 5oz and 18.5" long. Maybe William will be built more like Daddy. He's definitely got Daddy's hair. Well, for now anyways.

Thankfully the c-section was uneventful with the exception of me apparently being crooked even while sitting up perfectly straight while I was supposed to be getting my spinal. While the doc-doo's were stapling me back together Josh looked at me and said "you've officially had a normal pregnancy." Third time's the charm, right?

Thankfully William and I were both cleared to come home the afternoon of Christmas Eve, so we were able to all be together on Christmas morning.

Somehow I lucked out and got 2 easy babies in a row. William pretty much only cries when he's hungry, or when his diaper's dirty. I thought for sure I'd be getting Devil Child since Noah was such a good baby. William even slept over 7.5 hours a couple nights ago, but typically wakes up about every 4 hours at night. Not bad, eh? After a very thorough examination a few days after his birth, Dr. Miller says that "Prince William" is perfect and we need to find him a Kate.

Noah's doing really well with the whole not being an only child thing. He wants to hold Baby whenever he gets a chance and loves to "help" me change William's diapers and burp him, etc. Josh and I have both been making it a priority to spend time with Noah so that he doesn't feel replaced or something, so that might be helping a little, but he's pretty much the perfect big brother. Well, as perfect of a big brother as a 2-year-old can be. :) On Christmas morning he wanted to hold William before he even opened his presents. Now that's love. ;)

My mom came out from GA on the 18th so that she could help before William came, and then watch Noah while I was in the hospital, and then help with the baby after he came home and while I recovered from my surgery. Noah seemed to really like her, and warmed up to her right away. Thats saying something with how shy he typically is. He seemed to have fun and was really good for her while Josh and I were gone.

Josh's mom came out from GA the day after Christmas. Well, she was supposed to get here Christmas day, but had some uh..."flight drama" and got stuck in AZ for the night. Fun in the sun. Noah also warmed up to her pretty quickly, which I was also impressed with. He seems to be doing a lot better lately when it comes to new people. Anyways, she stayed and helped with the babies until the 31st. Our mom's were so much help while they were here that I was kinda freaking out that I'd be in over my head after they left, but so far so good.

Here's a few more pictures from the last few weeks.

Sleepy Momma...and baby. Such a flattering picture.

Noah time.

Noah introducing William to his favorite TV show, Blue's Clues.

My three men.

12 Ways to Know You Might Be a Mommy

Most of these have to do with being to a mommy to a baby specifically, but parents of older kids probably still remember what I'm talking about.

You might be a mommy if...

...you know that car seats have expiration dates.

...most of your reading material is printed on cardboard.

...after being thrown up on, you clean up the baby before you clean up yourself.

...you find yourself swaying....when the baby is nowhere around.

...you know that there are more than one size of pacifier.

...you get excited when diapers are on sale.

...you own miniature hangers.

...you name stuffed animals regularly. (Ok, so that one might just be me.)

...you talk about yourself in the third person....several times a day. (Momma's gonna get you!)

...you know what the ratio of formula to water is without even thinking about it.

...you plan your alcohol consumption well in advance.

...your dates are based around someone else's schedule....your babysitter's.

Things I Wish Were Around When I Was A Baby

Today I was changing Noah's diaper and as I pulled out the diaper wipe out from the wipe warmer I thought, "Where were the wipe warmers when I was a baby?" There's a whole lot of new stuff out now that I wish would have been around when I was a baby. I don't really remember the cold wipes, but I would think it would be a lot nicer to have warm ones.

There are also chicken pox vaccinations now. I don't understand why babies need to be vaccinated against chicken pox. I got the chicken pox as a kid and I turned out all right. Chicken pox teaches kids self dicipline. Think about it, how much did you want to scratch those things? But no, your mom always said you couldn't. That right there, self dicipline.

Noah's Johnny Jump-Up is also a lot cooler than mine was. Mine was yellow with a kangaroo on it. His is all different colors and has all kinds of toys on it. It's got mirrors and everything. I bet I would have liked mirrors. *pout*

The baby moniter is just about the coolest thing ever. It's got a motion detecter that is so sensitive that it can tell through the matress if he's breathing or not. If he stops breathing for more than 40 seconds it sets off an alarm. I sure do appreciate it, but I imagine life is a lot more interesting for parents who don't have it.

His swing turns into a chair. How cool is that. I want a swing that turns into a chair. I would just be happy with a swing. He better appreciate that chair.

The little one is starting to wake up from his nap so it's time for this momma to go.