Introducing Braden Edward Baker

He's finally here after 9 long, hot months! Braden Edward was born at 10:50 am on October 8, 2012. 

To keep the long story short, here's how it went: I had been contracting since Sunday (the 7th) at 7 am into Monday morning. Most of Sunday they were between 15 and 30 minutes apart but they never stopped the whole day. Ron wanted to venture over to U of I's Vet Med School for their Open House and also wanted to take the boys to see a tiger that was over by our house. I relented and went hoping that the contractions would start to come sooner. They didn't, so we had planned a date night earlier in the week and decided to go. We hit up Alexander's for some good steak and then went to see Taken 2. I was pretty uncomfortable both places but managed to make it through, I'm sure Ron's hands were tired from me squeezing them everytime I felt a contraction! 

Around 5:30 am, the contractions were finally about 5 minutes apart. Needless to say, it was sleepless night for both of us, especially me. Ron called his brother Dwayne to come over so that he could help walk Ronald to the bus stop. As soon as he came, we left so that we could drop Talin off at daycare before I went to the hospital. When we got there, the nurse said I was 6-7 cm dilated and around 8:30 I FINALLY got my epidural (thank goodness!!). My regular doctor was on vacation, so the doctor on call was my next best option. She was super busy and had to do a C-section before me but came back and broke my water about 9:30. I pushed for about 45 minutes (the baby was still pretty far up) and at 10:50, Braden was born. 7 lbs, 2 oz., 19 1/2 inches, tons of hair. Since everything appeared to be alright, we were able to leave the hospital by 3 the next day. Definitely one of the easiest labor/recovery I've experienced.

Ronald and Talin have been very excited to hold their little brother. They can't seem to keep their hands off of him. Before they go anywhere, they have to make sure they give him a kiss and Talin loves to sing to him. It's been very cute watching them together and I can't wait to see what life has in store for us in the coming years. In the meantime, it's back to diaper duty and sleepless nights!!

Daddy and Braden

The Fabulous Baker Boys!

Oma and Opa

Grandma Tina and Aunt Rai-Rai

Braden and I

Our Weekend Trip to Chicago

Since we didn't have plans to really go anywhere big this summer, we decided to take the boys to Chicago and explore some places we've talked about going. As you can see, LegoLand was definitely a destination. The boys loved it and of course we had to get a Ninjago toy to go. We also went to Medieval Times. My parents have been several times and we thought the boys might finally be old enough. Turns out we were right. Talin loved the food and Ronald loved the sword fighting. It was a huge hit! We also hit up Brookfield Zoo and Benihana while there. On our way home, we stopped by the Reiser family house for Avery's 1st birthday. He's an awesome little boy and it was good to finally see them, it's been way too long! Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time the weekend was over but I definitely got my exercise in. More importantly, the boys had a great time and we all got to enjoy each other.

Darth and R2D2 and LegoLand

Not sure who had more fun - Ron or the boys?

Being silly!

Look at Ronald's eyes in this pic :)

Talin and Daddy

Their new friend - they make friends everywhere they go!

At Brookfield!

Any surprise they are on similar animals???

A quick family pic

Nichole, Avery, and Bryan

Ronald's Preschool Graduation

I just had to share these photos even though they are a few months old. Ronald had his preschool graduation ceremony and it was pretty darn cute. They sang the state song (quite a feat for 5 year olds) and received a diploma. Ronald will definitely miss his friends from The Caring Place but luckily some of them have younger brothers and sisters so we will still get to see them during pick-up. He's had some awesome teachers and has learned so much. I can't wait to see what he learns in kindergarten. By the way, he told everyone that when he gets older, he wants to be a veterinarian. I didn't even know he knew what that word meant :)

Ron's first triathlon

Ron completed his first sprint triathlon this summer and had a blast. I think there will be many more in his future, as long as I will let him invest in a bike! He did really, really well and actually trained for it. Below are some pics from the race. As you can tell, he was pretty sweaty so no one wanted to really touch him in the pics :)  Looking forward to cheering you on in many, many more races boo!

The start of the bike portion

Almost at the finish line

Me and my boo

Ron and his dad

Ron and my sister, Tai

My Little Wrastlers!

As many of you know, Ronald (my husband) was a wrestler in high school and college. Well, the boys learned this and want to follow in his footsteps. I am a bit hesitant as wrestling season is usually during basketball season and I was so hoping to get at least one interested in playing. One of the good things about them wrestling is that their fighting is now much more organized. Instead of punching and kicking, they try to double-leg or pin each other.

This was Ronald's first season and he did really well. Even though he's 4, he wrestled many 5 and 6 year olds. He was definitely the lightest at many meets but he's a pretty fierce competitor. Now if we want him to eat something, we'll tell him that the other wrestlers eat it to get strong too and then he'll try it. Talin so badly wants to wrestle but has to wait until he turns 4 which is at the very end of this next wrestling season. It's going to be so hard for him to watch. He actually got to wrestle at one of the matches in the Spring and did really, really well. 

Needless to say, their dad is very, very proud! 

Ronald with one of this trophies and his DS (a must at wrestling meets).

The Unity Rockets team

One of his many first place finishes!

The Baker Wrestling Stance :)

Shaking hands before their match

It's only been a couple of years...

So, we are finally back from our two year long hiatus. The boys and I have been very busy but we thought let you back in on our lives. We are excited to welcome our third boy this coming October...and no, we don't have a name yet! Ronald just started Kindergarten and is becoming such a big boy. Talin is still at The Caring Place, driving his teachers crazy and learning something new everyday. Ron is still at Carle and loving his job and I'm still in school (my fourth year) and I hope to be done in a year to a year and a half.

We have so many pictures and I have so many stories that I'm not quite sure where to start so I hope to begin by adding a bit at a time!