We're a little busy... but, busy with LOVE

Obviously I am the world's worst blogger... but there is a reason. I know everyone is busy, but I think we might be slightly overbooked! My new motto is, "If you want something done, ask a busy person."

Here is a snapshot of our lives...

1. 3 kids to clothe, bathe, feed, brush teeth, comb hair, make lunches, hold, tickle, wrestle, wipe, etc. (you know the drill)
2. 2 full time jobs that are flexible enough to make life work
3. As a couple, we lead Emerson's Sunday School class
4. Michael coaches Emerson's soccer
5. He also decided to pick up cycling and rode in his first MS150 (in LA)
6. I volunteered to be President of our neighborhood Mom's Club that has 130 moms who make our neighborhood the BEST in Houston... it is legendary.
7. We run L.E.A.D. (last year of our 6 year commitment to those boys)
8. I started a Culture Advisory Board at a large pharmaceutical company because apparently I like to work more for free and obviously have a lot of spare time
9. AND somehow I got wrangled into being Davis' room mom. He is the infant, so no brownie points for mom :(
10. Oh and we are a little busier than usual in the fall with all 5 birthdays falling between September and November. My one saving grace... the boys can share an over the top party!

Sweet Emerson had the perfect princess party for the big 5

In October, Jackson turned 3 (going on 18... this kid is a charmer)

Last but certainly not least, Davis turned ONE!!! (And I cried...)

Every Saturday morning we hit the fields.

(Emerson has scored two goals and is surprisingly "sporty")

I wish I had time to do all the fun crafts, and cute kids stuff that a lot of mom's do (I admire you and sometimes want to be you!!), but the truth is there simply not enough hours in the day. I've let it go, I will not be the mom with cute gift bags at halloween, the homemade valentines day cards, or homemade meals the majority of the week, but I am a mom with a HUGE heart. Michael and I both, give, love, give and then love some more. But you can see that effort manifest itself in our kids. They are so well behaved and so loving to us and to each other. They are independent and easily adaptable, very sweet, and outgoing. I have been told by the kids school that we have wonderful kids and we look like we have it all together. The truth is there are days I feel like we do and other days not so much. But our time spent as a family is the most precious... because of work, it might not be quantity, but is quality. BIG LOVE at the BERG's.

9 months already??

Sweet Baby Davis,

Quite simply, you are the the cherry on top to our perfect, not-so-little family. You are cute as a button, as sweet as sweet can be and you have everyone you come in contact with completely charmed. The last 9 months have gone by in a blink and for that I am sad, but I am overjoyed to see a little man opening his eyes to the world and so blessed that you are mine. You laugh out loud at your brother the second he walks in a room, you coo at your sister because you know deep down she's the one who adores you the most, and you are a mama's boy (for now) and I love that. Your first word was "Mama"(YAY!!!) and you always say "bye, bye" and quite possibly "hi." You have even mastered blowing kisses and now pucker your lips to make kissing noises. You have one little tooth and instead of crawling choose to scoot around on your bottom. You do get your feelings hurt if something is taken away or mama tells you no, and you let out a little cry that is soooo sad it breaks my heart. Those big blue eyes and quick smile stop strangers on the street, most recently one said you were nothing but pure positive energy. They were right.

We love you more than you could ever know. Thank you for making our family complete.

Baby Davis is 4 months!

I didn't think it was possible for the subsequent children you have to be any better than the ones that came before them, but boy, Davis is giving them a run for their money. This little ball of love is SOOOOO happy and is a man all his own. He is the perfect mix of his brother and sister and so far the only true brunette... Mama is so proud. He is so cute and perfect! In the dead of night when its just the two of us, I thank my Lord for bringing him to us and completing our family. God is so good and His light definitely shines bright in this precious miracle.

A tribute to our first baby... Dakota

Dakota Berg

10/1999- 12/2010

This is a tough one, but Dakota deserves her own post. As many of you know, we lost a key member of our family just before Christmas. It was a tough decision we had to make, but we know we were losing more and more of the Dakota we loved day by day and she was deteriorating fast. We loved our dogs immensely and essentially they were our first children and were treated as such. As my Dad would put it..." I hope I come back in another life as one of your dogs." Michael got Dakota before we were dating in college, so I never really got to love on her as a puppy, but I can only imagine the mess she was because as a full grown adult she was absolutely priceless. Dakota was the super dog. Even people who didn't like dogs loved her (and she knew it). She was was born a people person (dog) and usually found a way on to someone's lap and into their heart. We miss her tons and there isn't a day that goes by that she isn't thought of. Our kids are quick to yell out "there's Kota!" when they see a picture of her. You realize how quickly 11 years passes in an instant and you also know that dogs lives are just simply too short. We love you Dakota and you will always have a special place in our hearts.

And then there were 5...

Davis Michael Berg

Born 10/12/10

7lbs 9oz

19.9 inches

3:12 pm

I sit here the mother of 3 kids and it amazes me how life can be created so quickly and change so quickly. I feel like we were just in college, just getting married, just buying our first house and now we are responsible for 3 little lives. Michael and I are sooooooo unbelievably blessed to have been put in charge of 3 of God's precious angels. With it comes BIG responsibility, but if any of you know me and Michael, we crave responsibility.

Little man Davis came into this world in the easiest fashion. No rush, no pain, no fuss, just EASY. After the last two births, God knew we had paid our dues and deserved this one. Michael and I had an early morning trip to the hospital, we were immediately ushered in and put on the usual cocktail. Apparently my body is NOT one of those which goes into labor, I need all the help I can get. But I will say, once I was helped along, I followed the script quite nicely. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the IV and the epidural, both having to be done twice. Michael and I were left alone for the most part to just be. It was kind of nice, just talking and laughing and waiting patiently for a new baby to enter our lives. I love that man and I know he will never leave my side- I can barely get him to leave the hospital room to go get lunch. We waited patiently as my doctor and her partner ran around delivering babies around us (7 in fact) and then they came in and asked if I was ready. And I was... baby Davis was born not 10 minutes later.

He was perfect. It was all over so fast that our spirits were high. I could sit back and enjoy this one without the utter exhaustion that the other 2 brought. It was an amazing day. The thing I am most thankful for is that we have been so lucky to have 3 healthy children delivered into this world without the pain and anguish that so many others have to go through to conceive. With each pregnancy I got more and more nervous about the 'what-ifs.' I guess I was just waiting for my luck to runout. We now have our family complete and I can move forward one very blessed momma.

Here are some pictures of the day that made us a family of 5...

Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe...

7 weeks and counting... has time just flown by or what?!?!? NOT FOR ME!!

Baby Berg #3 should/will make his appearance sometime near the 20th of October. We did a 3D ultrasound with all 3 little ones and it was so fun to see them without the grainy black and white fuzz. I love a good sneak peak!! Just for kicks I decided to compare pictures. The last 2 kiddos have come out looking very similar as newborns, so tonight I pulled up all 3 kids and had Michael pick who was who.

We have a full grown little girl upstairs and it is making me a little sad. She was born with such a sweet soul and is still just the perfect little girl in our eyes. Michael and I both feel like we were born "old souls" and Emerson is every bit that. So mature, so grown up for such a young age. I get asked all the time when she is starting kindergarten and I am embarrassed to say she isn't even 4 yet, so we have 2 years to go. I am kind of glad she is the only girl we have because God definitely broke the mold with her.

Little man Jackson is ALL BOY and loves to taunt, antagonize, and charm his way through life. He is still very sweet and loving and says the cutest "please" and "thank you" after every sentence. (I think he has better manners at this point than Emerson did.) But, when you try and discipline him he just smiles back at you and it takes everything in your power to not crack and stay stern. Only his father is able to accomplish this. He already knows women have a weak spot for him... he was born a ladies man. Lord help us!

Only God knows what #3 will be like, but I am sure he will be perfect too. We are excited to have our family complete and are even more excited about raising these sweet angels. Three kids, ages 4 and under will be a challenge, but we are ready... I think.

Can you guess who is who??? Sometimes even their own parents can't. :)

Of course I put them in birth order to make it easy, but #3 definitely resembles his sister...

Boy OH BOY

Well the tide has turned in the Berg family and the days of me and Michael surrounded by a majority of girls (Wiesehan girls, Mimi, the Glover/Bonner ladies, etc.) are over.

NUMBER 3 IS A BOY!

I get asked a minimum of 10 times a day what I am having, what I want, and why, so I have invested a lot of time thinking about this. I WANT a healthy baby, first and foremost, but I was hoping for a girl so that we wouldn't dash the dreams of our resident 3 year old girlie girl. After all, I am a people pleaser. She really wanted a sister and today after school we did what any parent would do... sit her down, give her the news, and promise Chick-fil-a for dinner! She was a little upset and tears started to well up in her eyes, but we explained that God wanted us to have a boy and that would be the perfect family for all of us. She's okay now, but I am sure we will have many more discussions about it.

As for Michael and I, we are excited that Jackson will be gaining a brother close in age. Am I prepared to have another little man running around, probably not. Having come from a family of all girls, I never pictured my life being outnumbered in the gender department. We now have to fully invest is some serious boy equipment. Jackson still plays with whatever princess stuff we have laying around. Of course he has plenty of balls and cars, but it will officially be out with the pink and in with the BLUE!

Tonight as E watched TV with Michael and I, we held our only girl a little closer, knowing that as parents, we forget to focus on what we have in the here and now. We are constantly waiting for the next weekend, the next season, the next milestone, or the next child to make their appearance. For what? We will miss today when it is gone and I now realize we will only be a family of four for a short time longer. We are joyful what God has given us today and so thankful he is bringing us another baby boy. We are so blessed!!

Man-to-Man vs. Zone

In the spirit of March Madness and Michael winning his office bracket pool this year, we thought we would break down the differences between the Man-to-Man defense vs. the Zone defense. A good coach should always start with teaching a Man-to-Man defense because it gives players a firm base that you can build and adapt from. Each player is assigned an opposing player and is to follow him around regardless of where he goes. Players always know who they are supposed to block out and more pressure is applied to the offense since Man-to-Man is the more aggressive defense. The Zone defense refers to each player being assigned an area of the floor that they are responsible for. They are to defend the goal against anyone in this area. The Zone defense can be taught fairly quickly and helps protect players in foul trouble. The Zone defense will be better if players first learn the fundamental man-to-man principles.

Now that you have been given a quick lesson in basketball defense, the Bergs are about to change things up by moving from a Man-to-Man defense to a Zone defense. In other words, around October 29^th, 2010, we will be outnumbered. By that time we will have four years of endless man-to-man practice under our belts and hopefully established a rock hard foundation to build our new zone defense upon. Baby Berg #3 will complete the perfect Triple Threat alongside the All Star Team of Emerson Michal and Jackson Ryan.

All analogies aside, we are extremely excited about our future addition to the family. Emerson asks about the baby every day and is really pulling for a girl. Jackson has been carrying around babies, balls, trash, and whatever else he can find and putting them “night night” under blankets and napkins. We can’t wait to see what he’ll do with a real live baby. We have the opportunity to find out if the baby is a boy or girl in about 7 weeks. We thought about letting this one be a surprise, but Emerson is so excited that we might take her to that appointment so she can be the first to know what her new sibling is going to be. We will keep you posted!

In the mean time, here are some pictures since our last post of our babies growing up way to fast. Enjoy!

Jackson sort of hunting for eggs at the neighborhood hunt

Day at Discovery Green

Emerson enjoying the tractors more than the animals at the rodeo

J not looking to happy about his new haircut

E and J before school on Valentines day, the day we found out about baby #3!

Christmas Came Early!

Christmas came early at the Berg house in the form of a large cardboard box. Let this be a reminder to parents that all kids really need are the SIMPLE things in life... love and the freedom to be a kid. E and J spent a good hour just being two kids in a box... (unfortunately I will have to hide it Christmas morning so they can enjoy what Santa brought them.) I realized in that moment that I love their age difference. They really do love each other and Jackson came just in time, so that Emerson never really got used to life as an only child. She wouldn't know what to do without her "little bother."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Berg's are officially having Christmas fun. Emerson is at the age where EVERYTHING about Christmas is so exciting. I mean the girl loves a good birthday party and since she knows this is Jesus' birthday ALL MONTH LONG she is over the moon. 

• The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to Dewberry Farms and picked out a tree and played till the sun went down. I wish Jack Jack would walk more than 5 steps because he would have really had a blast. Miss Independent loved it because she could be independent.  
  
• The next day Michael put the lights on the house and we played outside all day. J is OBSESSED with being outdoors, as most boys I know are.  He cries when we go inside and points to the door for a good 30 minutes after we have come in, so on a good day we just live outside. 
  
• The ELF on the SHELF has made his appearance once again this year and is a family favorite. E is very concerned with how he flies from spot to spot and she even wakes up from her naps thinking he should have moved already. 
• The snow in Houston was fun, but cold and we realized our children just don't have the clothing for winter weather... good thing Santa's coming! We lit the fireplace for the first time in our new house and love how cozy it feels. These days in our house there is no TV, just some Christmas tunes and us playing with the kids.
• Tonight before Emerson went to bed we drove around the neighborhood to look at some snowmen and some lights. That little girl is amazed by the lights and could care less about the snowmen. She is such a girl and a sweet one at that... we saw a Christmas tree through a window while we were driving  and she said "all the trees are beautiful!" She was so excited at every turn. 
  
• Next on the Christmas agenda is the Second Baptist kids Christmas show... so good! And in a few weeks we will head to College Station for Santa's Wonderland... so worth the drive!

At this point we have no gifts under the tree and I kind of like it that way. It is amazing to watch the joy and wonderment of a 3 year old as they fall in love with everything Christmas. At this point, the only thing Emerson has asked Santa for is a jewelry box with a spinning ballerina. This month has already been great and surprisingly our tree has survived having a one year old boy in the house. Once I wrap the gifts, we will see how long it takes him to open all of them when we aren't looking.

Jackson wishing he could get in the snow

Emerson eating the dirty snow

We don't smile at the camera anymore, so we take what we can get

The Cool Bus

The wittle wittle

Our mantle... 

the extra stocking is for our other child, Aunt Michie