And Baby Makes 5!!

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting baby Eckert #3!! We've known since the Brellas were tiny babies that we wanted them to have a younger sibling(s) and prayed so hard for this little miracle. And we can say with certainty it is only ONE little miracle!

As with the Brellas, this baby was not easy task and we had many heartaches during this process, but can finally say it was worth it and know our baby will be here soon! How soon? Baby Eckert #3 is due to make an arrival around June 2, 2013!!

Once again, we do not know the gender. This time it's not really a big deal since we already have everything we could possibly need, boy or girl. For the record, I (Laura) think it's a boy, but thought the Brellas were both boys, so what do I know! Ella thinks it's a girl, which she suggests we should name, Ella. Bradley thinks it's a boy, he also thinks he's the one with a baby in his belly! We're just excited to find out!

Most people know that the pregnancy with the Brellas was really rough. I kept telling myself that when I had another one it would be awesome because there would be only ONE! I'm here to tell you, I was wrong. Pregnancy is not something I am very good at, but so worth it! I'm excited for this part to be over, but I know after the baby is here I will have that moment when I wish I could just be pregnant again. Funny how life works.

23 Weeks

26 weeks with big brother, Bradley!

29 weeks with big sister, Ella!

Saylor turns 10!

Saylor came into my life 10 years ago as my 7th guide dog puppy in training. When I say he's been with me my entire adult life I'm not kidding, he came to me just 5 days after I graduated high school. He was the cutesy puppy I've ever seen.

Saylor and Nolan

One ear up and one ear down

Our first of many pictures together

He was the cutest puppy ever!

Our tight bond comes from our first summer together, I moved to Denver to begin college early. I was extremely homesick and lonely, but having Saylor helped me to finish the summer semester.

Big ears!

At college, he's a smart pup

A year later it was time to send him back to California so he could become the guide dog he was meant to be.....or was he? He had been gone about 7 weeks when I received the most amazing phone call ever. Turned out he had a vision problem and couldn't work as a guide dog, they asked if I wanted to keep him as a pet! I started jumping up and down and crying hysterically. He was officially mine.

2008

10 years and counting

My handsome boy!

We've grown up together through relationships, college, marriage and now motherhood. He has been my devoted companion through it all. I am so blessed to have had him through all the ups and downs. He is my first baby and I'll love him always.

2 year checkup!

My little loves are 2 years old, I still can't believe it! Today was exciting because they had their 2 year checkup. I get excited to see how much they are growing. Especially Ella, she is little and hadn't been on the growth chart for weight until she was 18 months old. Even then she was only in the 3rd percentile. Luckily she's short, so she's perfectly healthy. This time she weighed in at 22 pounds and 33 inches (they measured her length which isn't really appropriate for her age, so my mom and I are going to get her height on Friday). She's now in the 5th percentile for weight, we'll take it!

Bradley has been more "average" when it comes to growth, which is amazing to me because he really doesn't seem to eat anything. Apparently he's getting enough because he was a whopping 25 pounds and 34 inches (Once again they measured length, not height- it shouldn't bother me so much, but there is a difference and the growth chart they are using requires height to be accurate). My little baby is growing too fast!

On The Day You Were Born

I should have written this day down last year, but I didn't. I guess this makes their 2nd Birthday kind of special. Ella and Bradley, this is the story of the day you were born. Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 was easily the happiest day of my life. It was also one of the scariest. I had no idea that this would be the day I would give birth, but looking back there were so many clues.

The previous Sunday I had developed this awful rash all over my belly, I thought I had taken too hot of a shower and burned it. It itched HORRIBLY!!! For the next two days I tried anti-itch lotion, calamine lotion and multiple oatmeal baths. Nothing worked. Turns out this is one of the signs of HELLP, basically your liver and kidney function starts to deteriorate, not good.

On Monday I had a melt down at work and just started sobbing. I itched, I was tired (I hadn't had a good night sleep since the beginning of November and at this point I was sleeping in a recliner in our bedroom), still getting morning sickness, horrific heartburn and I couldn't imagine another 6 weeks of all this. Someone once told me that you feel awful right before you deliver.....hmmmmm.

Tuesday morning I woke up and started getting ready for work. My upper back had been hurting for a while, but this particular morning it was different. Pain would come in waves and I felt like I needed to sit down and after a minute it was gone and I would be able to resume getting ready. At the time I didn't think it could be contractions because the pain was in my upper back (and they tell you it will hurt in your lower back). About an hour later I just knew something wasn't right. I called the hospital and told them what was happening and that I was expecting twins. They told me to come in immediately.

I didn't feel comfortable driving myself, so called my mom and no answer. Called Matt, no answer. Called each of them multiple times and NO ANSWER! I finally called my mother-in-law and she answered!! I felt so awful making her miss work, but she came to my rescue and drove me to the hospital and stayed until Matt got there.

At the hospital they hooked me up to all sorts of monitors, one for each babies heart rate, one to monitor contractions and one to take my blood pressure every 5 minutes. Both babies were doing great and I was having contractions every 6-8 minutes (sometimes more often, but I couldn't feel them all). My first blood pressure reading was 154/125, not good. This was the beginning of the end.

My blood pressure would automatically be taken every 5 minutes and it went up every time. I thought I would have to be on bed rest, which sounded great to me because working 4, 10 hour shifts a week was really starting to take it's toll or stay in the hospital until the babies were ready to come out. Then the results came back from my urine sample....my doctor (who I LOVE) came to give me the news. She told me I had pre-eclampsia and that my organs were starting to fail. The babies would have to be delivered today.

I was shocked. I thought, this cannot be happening, it's too soon. I'm not even 34 weeks pregnant. She said we would start the induction immediately, but needed to do an ultrasound first to make sure both babies were head down (as they had been the previous Friday). Just as I had wrapped my head around the idea of being induced my doctor told me that "Baby B" had flipped and was now head up. This meant I'd have a Cesarean. I lost it. It was too much to digest in such a short amount of time. I was not against having Cesarean if it was what was best for my babies, I just wasn't expecting any of this.

We expected the delivery to be in the early afternoon (and it was currently about 10:30 in the morning), so we called all our parents and close friends. We quickly had to call them all back when the doctor came in and announced we'd be having the surgery in just a few minutes. Everything happened so quickly after that. Before I knew it I was on the operating table.

As I laid there with this huge sheet hanging over my chest I became so thankful that we had waited to find out the sex of our babies. I was not ready for them to come, but I was so excited to find out who they were. This took the edge off of a really scary situation (and for the record, I don't judge other couples who do choose to find out the sex of their baby- it's a surprise either way). They said it would take about 45 minutes and I thought it would take forever, but time flew by and before I knew it they were about to deliver "Baby A". I just knew it was going to be a boy.

My amazing doctor had memorized the names we had picked out, so that she could announce each baby by name. As she pulled out the first baby I heard, baby A, miss Ella!  I honestly couldn't believe it! I thought she was a he! I could barely see the NICU doctor and nurses working on her since there was a sheet in the way. Almost immediately my doctor announced that the second baby was coming. Baby B, Mr. Bradley! I started crying. How incredible, a girl and a boy!

Ella was having a hard time breathing and they took her to the NICU pretty quickly. Bradley was doing better and they wrapped him up and brought him over to me. He was so perfect. All I really remember was his nose. It was so cute. Just like a little button. They let me give him a kiss on that perfect little nose and took him away. As they were leaving they asked Matt if he wanted to go. He looked at me and I told him to go. As they wheeled Bradley into the hallway I heard a group of people cheer. Turns out, our families saw Ella and the nurses told them to stay put because Bradley would be along soon.

Ella Elizabeth Eckert- 11:25am,  3 lbs 13 oz, 16 3/4 inches

Bradley David Eckert- 11:26am, 4 lbs, 17 inches

I don't like to look back at these pictures because they hurt my heart. My little angels were so beautiful, but it was obvious they were weak and under developed.  However, these pictures were all I had. I was on medication that didn't allow me to leave my room to go and visit the NICU, so my mom brought me pictures so I could see what they looked like. Fortunately, they progressed VERY quickly and were off the CPAP machines (the white part wrapped around their heads) by the time I was able to visit. 

It's hard to imagine that two years ago I had two little premature babies, you'd never know it looking at them now! I am truly blessed to have these little kiddos in my life and can't imagine living without them.

Happy Birthday, Ella and Bradley!

Our trip across the country to see Aunt Julie and Uncle Casey!

Let me begin by saying that it is a delight traveling across the country with two almost two year olds. In case you didn't know, I'm lying. We must love our siblings A LOT to have lugged two car seats, a pack n' play and all the other necessities for four people all the way to Washington D.C. Fortunately, we survived and it was totally worth it! I hadn't seen my sister in almost a year and Matt hadn't seen his brother in more than a year. Lucky for us they only live 4 hours apart, so we were able to spend time with both of them on this trip.

We arrived on Thursday and drove to Julie's house in Maryland. The Brellas were super excited to see Aunt Julie and loved that her house was not child proof. So much fun stuff to get into.

As we were leaving Target (after loading up on supplies for the week) Julie and I witnessed a shake down by security because some guy was shoplifting. They were blocking the exit and all we could do was watch as they yelled and screamed at this guy to get up against the wall. From that moment on we knew this was going to be a good week.

On Friday, we drove up to Virginia to meet up with Matt's brother, Casey and his new wife, Casey. Yes, they have the same name and yes, it is super confusing. I've started calling them boy or girl Casey.

 
We all got up early on Saturday to visit the Children's Museum of Richmond. It was crazy. Ella was awful and really embarrassing, screaming hysterically every time we had to move on to another activity. The kids were able to go down a dinosaur slide, dig for fossils, play doctor, climb a huge tree and tons more! I think this place would be awesome on a weekday morning without so many other kiddos and a well rested little girl.

The Caseys and the Brellas

We drove back to Maryland that evening to meet Julie's new beau and watch the Bronco game. Julie and I have been looking forward to watching a game together for quite some time, it had been about 4 years. Not quite the outcome we had hoped for, but at least we got to spend some time with Chas (the new beau) and as I suspected, we really liked him!

Chas and Julie

Aunt Julie and Ella

Us! Before the game, that's why we're still smiling.

The next day we walked down to the park. It was soooo cold, but a great excuse to pull out the new mittens and hats the kiddos got for Christmas!

Aunt Julie, pushing Ella on the swing.

Julie and her Tiger

Strong Daddy!

On our last day we went to the Baltimore aquarium, which was pretty cool, but our kids might still be a little young to enjoy that type of thing. The best part was Bradley peeing all over Aunt Julie. That is a memory I will cherish forever.

It was a wonderful to be with our siblings again. We pray that someday soon we live all live a little bit closer.

Wow, I am a slacker! Part 2

Thanksgiving! By far my favorite holiday, I. Love. To. Eat. This was a special one, my cousin, who joined the Navy in July came home for a visit. The best part was that he surprised our Gram. She didn't think he was coming home for another week. They were talking on Skype when he walked into the room. It was a moment I'll never forget. She started crying as she held him. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. As my Gram would say, "precious".

So sweet!

Jesse and Ella

 Pigtails!! Any mom of a little girl is counting down the days until her hair is long enough to put in pig tails. We finally reached that milestone! The problem now is that she won't hold still. It sounds like someone is killing her, but it's worth it. Look how cute:

The next event in our lives was a visit from my friend, Christina. She brought her boyfriend, Lenny home for the very first time. Her visits are always such a joyous time, but never long enough. She needs to move home, I miss her.
Her visit inspired another major event for us: The Brellas spending their first night away from home. As we partied it up at Christina's family Christmas party our children were exhausting Matt's mom and stepfather!  I was never worried about the kiddos or my in-laws, but myself. I didn't call a million times or go and pick them up in the middle of the night (which might have happened once before when they were supposed to stay the night at my mom's house)! Go me!

Christina, Lenny and Ella

Christina, Lenny and Bradley

BFF!

I love that Christina and I lean into each other and the men just stand there because we are making them, priceless

Now you are all caught up! With Christmas right around the corner we'll have more to share soon!

Wow, I am a slacker! Part 1

This is going to be pretty long, so I'll break it up into Parts. I'm going to be more diligent about our blog in 2012!

Let's see....we had pictures taken in August, but I never picked them up, so when we went to have our pictures taken for Christmas we got them all, it's amazing how much these little guys change in a few short months!

Love this face! Bradley at 18 months.

Happy guy!

22 months, so handsome!

He loves to make funny faces!

Ella, 18 months

Such a cutie!

Ella, 22 months- such a grown up!

They are talking up a storm these days. For a long time we were worried about Bradley because he just wasn't talking. Ella was chatting like crazy (this was one of those times that it was hard not to compare, I know better, they are two DIFFERENT children. Just like any other separate pregnancy siblings). No worries these days!! They can both count to 10!

In October, we made our annual trip to Georgia to visit Matt's Grammy and Grampy. Our children are so blessed to have a full set of great grandparents!

Grammy and Bradley

Matt's Uncle Dan showed up for a visit too, it's has been a long time since all the Eckerts have been together. We tried to get a family photo, the results were, uh, not good.

 

Priceless

Next came Halloween! I used my domestic skills to make my children's costumes. This was my very first sewing project. It wasn't too bad and now I'm a sewing addict, it's so much fun!

Pebbles

Bam Bam

 

I could eat them, they are so cute!

Part 2- coming soon!