Halloween 2008

We had a really fun Halloween this year. Drew was a doctor...I figured there was a good chance he might be visiting me in the hospital on Halloween this year, so him being a doctor seemed fitting. Our neighborhood had a little get together outside before trick or treating. The kids had hot dogs and snacks and then all the dads took the kids trick or treating and us moms (and Camden) stayed on our street to hand out candy in the middle of the street. Will said Drew had a blast trick or treating and walked to the houses eagerly. When he came back to our street he loved seeing people drive by with decorated golf carts. We barely had any trick or treaters come by, our street is pretty quite. We moved on to such a fun street. Everyone is really friendly and there are already lots of get togethers planned for the street. We are really excited to be raising our kids in such a great neighborhood with lots of kids. The first thing Drew asks for when he wakes up in the morning now is "pumpkin treat", his candy went into his pumpkin basket and we have allowed this child WAY too much candy this week!

Dr. Drew and baby Camden

Handsome Dr.


ready to head outside for Halloween

watching the big kids play on the street

on our front porch

our 2nd October baby

our little punkin' girl!

Happy Birthday Camden Reese!

Camden Reese Barresi was born on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 6:53pm at Plano Presbyterian hospital. She was 7 lb. 4 oz and 18" long. Mom went in for her 38 week OB appt. and was 4 cm dilated and Camden's heartbeat was a little low during a contraction in the office. Dr. R sent us up to labor and delivery and said we were having a baby! Mom got admitted and hooked up with some pitosin to move things along. Grandma and Grandpa came to the hospital to take Big Brother home. Mom got her epidural around 5:15 and at 6:53 with 2 pushes, our baby girl was born. It was a nice easy labor, especially compared to Drew's 2 years ago. Mom had to push a lot longer with him and was very tired by the end. This time, Camden did most of the work herself! Big Brother Drew got to come to the hospital the next day to meet his little sister, he is so sweet with her and always wants to kiss and touch her.

We are adjusting to life with two kids. I think it will be some time before Rachael makes it out of the house with both of them in a timely manner! Dad has taken this week off from work to spend time with the family.

Camden just minutes old

Heading to post partum after this picture

first family photo of 4

Camden Reese




Heading home

2 Years Old...A Letter to Drew

Drew...our sweet baby boy. You have grown OH so much over this past year.

Daddy and I have enjoyed these past 2 years with you more than you will ever know!

One of my favorite things that you do when you get excited about something is you make this face and your eyes get big while you are "oooohing", I think it is just the cutest thing in the world. Another thing that you do that I think is oh so cute is that you dance in the car with me. You mimic all of mommy's "moves". If I start waving my hands in the air, you do the same. If I clap my hands, you clap yours. If I slap my leg, you follow. And the cutest part is, if I snap my fingers, you wiggle your fingers as if you were snapping too. We have really had some fun jamming to Michael Buble's "Everything" lately. We call it "mommy and Drew's song"

You definitely have mommy's short temper and lack of patience. Most of the time you are a sweet, sweet boy. But you certainly have your moments of letting us know what you want. I would say the terrible two's are part of our lives right now. You are showing your Independence and that is good, I am glad you want to think for yourself. I just wish you would do it without screaming at or hitting your mommy.

You love trucks/construction. You can name all the trucks in your books or when we are driving down the road: dump truck, excavator, back hoe, yellow school bus, concrete truck, crane, skid steer, etc. While building our new house we drove down many roads with construction going on and we would listen to you point out each and every truck we saw. After you would see one truck, you immediately wanted "more trucks"!

You love our dog so much, you guys are definitely pals. Although I think Guinness would prefer that you not "ride horsey" on her or pull her tail while running behind her. She loves to clean up after you eat lunch or dinner, and mommy loves that I have to bend down to pick up food off the floor less often!You love to sit down next to her on our bed and read books to her. You love to call her up on the bed by patting your hand on the bed and calling "c'on" to her. When mommy yells at her to stop barking, you yell "stop" at her too. You are also very quick to call her "good girl" when she comes or sits.

You are a very polite little boy. You say "please" most of the time and you always remember to say "thank you". You also know when to say "sorry", and you are so sweet when you say "sorry Mommy" or "sorry Daddy".

You were so much fun to watch at your 2nd birthday party. You were having so much fun playing with all your friends at Gymboree. When cake time came, you totally knew we were all singing for YOU, and you loved every minute of it! We couldn't believe that you left your birthday hat on the entire time even after eating your cake. We went home after the party to open your presents and you had such a great time unwrapping them all by yourself and "ooohing" when you opened something you were really excited about. The next night after the party, we had more cake for dessert and you asked daddy and I to "sing". So we sang "Happy Birthday" to you again.

We love you so much our little punkin'. You are most certainly the light of our lives. We love you right up to the moon and back...and we always, always will.

Love, Mommy & Daddy

P.S. Baby Sister Camden arrived Thursday October 23rd...more details to follow!!!

Punkin' Patch

Drew and I went to the Pumpkin Patch today with our Gymboree friends. We always seem to go on the sunniest, warmest days. One year it would be nice to go on a cloudy, fall like day! (plus the cloudy weather is much better for picture taking!) Drew tripped and fell and busted his lip pretty good while we were there. He got a little blood on his doctor costume, I guess it made it look more authentic! I think I was more frazzled than he was. Luckily our friends came to the rescue with helping hands, hugs and ice. He barely cried and got to have some shaved ice afterwards, although I think I ate just as much of it!

Dr. Drew

Grant, Drew, Quinnly & Cameron

The whole gang-Sofia, Drew, Anna, Payton, Quinnly, Jacob,

Sophie, Grant & Cameron

37 Weeks

Well, we made it full term! I had my 37 week OB appt. today and not much has changed. I am dilated to about a 1cm but my doc said he thinks I will be another 2-3 weeks. He thinks Camden will be born in October but didn't make it sound like it would be in the next week, he also said he could feel her head. I am trying to trust him this time, since he was so on target last time with Drew. I have continued to have Braxton-Hicks contractions, they started just after 34 weeks. I was really nervous when they started because I did not have ANY with Drew. My doc said they are more common with second babies. Her heartrate was 140 and Dr. R confirmed that she is head down. He hasn't measured my belly the last 2 visits but again, I had NO weight gain this week. I have gained about 30 lbs. and that is from my pre pregnancy weight with Drew. I never really lost 8-10 lbs after having him, so from that start weight I have only gained about 22 lbs. I got so sick the first several weeks of this pregnancy that I lost Drew's baby weight when I got pregnant with Camden!
We are glad she has stayed put full term. We are ready for her to come when ever she is ready, but glad she is waiting a little longer. Looks like she and Drew will have very close birthdays!

Boxes, Boxes & MORE Boxes!

We are just about done unpacking boxes around here. We have 2 left in the dining room, 2 left in the kitchen. That doesn't include the 3 huge boxes in the garage filled with various items, OR the upstairs closet which is filled with even more unorganized boxes.
We are starting to feel settled in our new home though. We knew it wouldn't get decorated right away because I don't know what I want to do yet, nor is it our focus right now. We are OK with that, and just glad to have it feeling like home now! This house is so much bigger than our old one, about 2,000 sq. ft. bigger! It is so nice having so much more space! Will and I have so much more of our own space in our bathroom, and our closet and our new king bed. We think we like our bed, but we're not really sure because we could probably sleep on cardboard at night and still think it was comfortable because we are so tired by the time we climb in!!! Although, Will has a pulled tendon in his shoulder and it is preventing him from sleeping well at all right now, poor guy. I, on the other hand, am sleeping like a log...even at 8+ months pregnant!
We think Drew has adjusted to the new house. He was sick last week and teething and therefore was VERY grumpy. I am sure all the change had something to do with that too. This week seems to be much better, although he still has his moments...he is 2 I guess!
We have our 37 week appt tomorrow, and Camden will have made it full term! We will see if more change is coming our way sooner or later!!!

Drew's 2nd Birthday Party

We had Drew's 2nd birthday party yesterday at Gymboree. We decided to have it 2 weeks early this year in case baby sister Camden is here by the time the real day rolls around! It was so stress free having it at Gymboree where they served the cake, the drinks, and cleaned everything up. Drew had a blast! He had a lot of fun playing and was very excited to wear his birthday hat which really surprised me. He left it on the entire time eating his cake. After the party, we came right home to open his presents. He got LOTS of great gifts, he has been playing with them non-stop!

It wasn't until this morning that we gave him the handy Manny talking toolbox that we got him. We got his real present for him to open on his real birthday. We plan to have a family celebration that day. Tonight after dinner we offered him a piece of cake and he requested that we sing to him. How stinkin cute!

It was so fun to watch him get in to his birthday this year and have so much fun.

36 Weeks +

We had our 36 week OB appt. this week and all is well. Camden moved as we were listening to her heartbeat and her heart rate went up, my doc said that is a good sign. Not much is happening yet. I was less than 1 cm and Camden has not dropped. My doc said it is commom for second babies to stay high until labor. Whereas Drew dropped about a week before I had him. I didn't know it, I actually went into my 37 week appt. and told my doc nothing had changed. He took one look at me and said he disagreed. I had Drew 3 days after that appt! I haven't gained a lb. in 2 weeks, yeah! I am still feeling huge though, and can barely sit up from laying down any more-I basically roll out of bed!!!

We are getting settled in the house. Most boxes are unpacked and Drew's room is almost completely back to the way it was. One more night of touch up painting and we can finish hanging all the things back on his walls. We started last night with a few frames and did his letters above his crib this morning. Things are coming together!