Little (or Big) Eli

I am a slacker....what can I say? However, here is a picture of little Eli. He is measuring 4 weeks ahead and we have an ultrasound tomorrow to see if it is actually him or if it is fluid. We shall see....hopefully I don't have the "privilege" of pushing out a 10 pound baby! Here is a picture of my little man. This is at 29 weeks.



Isn't he cute?? We are slowly getting stuff ready. Oh my, the panic starts setting in!!

What am I gonna do.....

....with a little boy? I am so lost on how to parent a son! We found out we are having a boy and we are so excited! I have been dropping by Goodwill about once a week to pick up clothes. I know I will need them! Of course, I have had numerous amounts of people offer to donate me clothes that already have boys-I am not going to turn those down!
Brandon is on top of the world. I know he can't wait to have that father/son bonding. I, myself am excited to have my mama's boy :)
We haven't picked out a name yet. We aren't telling anyways until he is born, but we can't agree on a name right now, so it doesn't really matter!
The girls are getting geared up for Christmas. We don't have our tree up yet, but we plan on doing that in the next few days. It has been hectic around our house! Both girls are doing wonderfully and I am enjoying this time with them. Emma is so excited to be good for Santa and Maddie is just taking everything in this year. She is in awe of all the decorations and activities we are doing. Fun times, I am trying to soak it all in.
Oh by the way (more for me)
Baby Boy is measuring 1 week ahead and he was moving all around, not afraid of showing off the goods! At my next appt after the ultrasound, we couldn't get a measure of his heartrate because he wouldn't stay still long enough! The nurse practitioner said, well I know he is okay because I can hear the heart beat, but I am not going to keep trying to measure it because he is not going to cooperate today, lol. I know he is fine though, he loves to kick me!! :) We have to get the baby's room done now, I am now 24 weeks and we haven't started a thing!! Yikes!

It's a.....

BABY!!! :)
We are waiting to reveal the gender on Thanksgiving Day (tomorrow). Only Brandon and I know what this baby is and it has been hard to keep it a secret! I have to watch myself calling the baby him/her. However, baby looked great! Its heartrate was 156 and it was moving all around, punching and kicking. So, so cute! I can't wait to meet this little one! I will be 22 weeks this Sunday, so more than halfway there!!
Maddie also turned 13 months on the 7th. She is getting so big! She started walking the week before Halloween. It is so cute. I love baby wadddling. She had picked it up really fast, she can almost run already! She also has two teeth on the bottom on four teeth coming through on top (all at once!!!). Poor thing, but she has handled it like a champ! She is also starting to pucker up to give kisses. It is so stinking cute. I have really seen her "big girl" personality come through. It amazes me how much they learn in such a short time.
Emma is doing great as well! We are fully potty-trained-FINALLY, Thank God!!- and you would think she was Princess of the World! She is loving her Disney princess movies and always has to have a dress on when she watches them. To her, if you are going to watch princesses, then you have to be one as well :)
I just love my girls!
I would post a few shots of the baby on here, but I haven't figured out how to edit out the private stuff. As soon as I do, I will put some pictures up!

Finally Friday

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I said I was going to update every week, but I didn't. So there :)
Maddie's birthday was a lot of fun. We had two smaller parties instead of the traditional big first birthday party. I think it made things a lot less stressed. The first one we had was on her birthday and we had a supper and birthday cake at my parents house.
















This is the cake BEFORE we even cut it...Maddie loved the icing!!




Emma giving her little sister a birthday kiss :) :)


The aftermath...




This is the aftershock the next day....she absolutely loved cake!!

We also had a party at Brandon's parents house, but I don't have my pictures of those with me.
On Sunday, we went to the Fall Foliage parade in Brandon's hometown. The girls love parades and Emma especially loved collecting candy!






Emma isn't too fond of loud noises...especially fire trucks and police car sirens going off.



We took a trip to the apple orchard last Saturday. It was a nice day out, just a little windey. We stocked up on apple cidar doughnuts, popcorn, caramel apples, apples and pumpkins. I love country living :)


Maddie's first taste of an apple cidar doughnut....she just loved it.


Here is Emma pre-doughnut rampage. I tried to get a smile out of her, but between the sun and wind this is the best she could do :)


I love my little family :)

I am 16 weeks and 5 days today. I am feeling pretty good. I don't have too many symptoms right now. I am just very tired and hungry. I seem to be getting fuller faster though. My stomach has popped out on the top and bottom and I look like I am about 25 weeks pregnant.
Our anatomy ultrasound is scheduled for November 7. I can't wait! I am thinking this one is a boy...who knows. We are going to tell our families on Thanksgiving Day. My parents will be first because we have lunch with them, then Brandon's family that evening when their dinner is going to be. I am having a co-worker of mine make cake balls with the color of the gender inside. I can't wait to reveal it! We are also keeping this baby's name a secret. I want to have some kind of a surprise for this baby since Brandon won't let me wait until the baby is born to find out what it is. All well.

13 Weeks and A Day At The Park

I am 13 weeks and 3 days today. Time really is flying by. I feel like I am not going to be prepared at all when this baby comes. Not mentally, not physically, and definitely not with organization. All well, things will fall into place....I think. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about this baby, but I just feel like I need to be in a bigger house because the one we are in now just doesn't have the room. I like the house we are in, but we just don't have the rooms for three kids (especially if this baby is a boy). I guess I will just have to try and get motivated to organize as much as I can, but I still feel like I have been hit by a Mack truck. I am so ready for this first trimester fatigue to be over with!!
Other than my sob story, I have fun updates for the baby.
Heartrate: 156
Measuring: 3 days ahead
Gender: Don't know yet, but I have taken 4 "tests". One was a regular question test, such as what are your cravings, etc. One was based on the lunar calendar, one was the Chinese gender prediction test and one was the pee on baking soda test. All but one test indicates girl. We shall see :)
Cravings: Still craving anything with Buffalo sauce. I am also loving pickle and mayo sandwiches.
How I feel: I am still pretty nauseous. I am still very tired. I have headaches and backaches. Very irritable...lol
Movement: I think I have felt the baby move a couple of times on my lower left side. I am loving that :)
I am stopping my Progesterone this Sunday when I hit 14 weeks. Then I will definitely be in the second trimester and know that my placenta has taken over the hormone making. Whew.
Here is a picture of "Squirt"

Cute aren't they??? :)

We spent one of our few last nice, warm days at the park. We had a good time. Two hours of good time at that. I can't believe how much Emma has grown since the last time I took her to the park. She can go on the big curly slide now! I about have heart attacks every time she climbs up the ladder (even with Daddy there watching her). I am going to do really good when she goes to school....ha! Emma has also become so social. She will just walk right up to a bunch of kids and just join in on their fun! I am glad that they have accepted her right in...so far. The first time she gets rejected will probably break my heart :(

Maddie had a fun time too-this was her first time at the park. She loved playing in the grass and trying to eat all the leaves on the ground. We also put her down the baby slide and she wasn't so sure about it. I couldn't get a picture of it though because Brandon put her at the top and I "carried" her down. I have a picture of her in a swing and even though it is a baby swing, it about toppled her over going forward a few times. I left her in it long enough to take a couple of pictures and then that ride was done!


Here are the girls right before we left for the park. Emma was so excited she could barely hold still for one picture!












Going up the big slide-ahhhh!!


Getting down to the ground again....safe and sound :)

One last note-we have taken Maddie off of formula and she is now on cow's milk! She can handle a sippy cup wonderfully and loves milk-yea!! I wish I was still nursing her, but what can you do when Mother Nature doesn't let you anymore? Boo.

You Know What Causes That, Right?

MIA-that is the way to describe me right now. I have so much to blog about, but I just haven't had the time. I have pictures of Emma's 3rd birthday, our vacation, the fair, and some big news!
First we will start with Emma's birthday. We started the day by visiting my work and saying hi to everyone. We then went to the Children's Museum. There was a Dora and Diego exhibit and Emma loved it.

She then got to model cute clothes on the Barbie runway....that was so funny to watch all of the kids do that. We finished out the museum with some regular fun stuff...running, climbing, playing water/sand. Emma had a blast. We then went and ate at Old Spaghetti Factory and headed home. Poor Emma was tired.

Emma's 3rd birthday party was a success! Her theme was Tinkerbell. She received lots of nice gifts and she enjoyed her cake and ice cream! She had to unpack all of her toys herself when we got home and she then had to try on all of her clothes before I washed them. She is so particular :)

I am lucky to get a picture of her...she is always on the move!

Maddie not quite sure what was going on....we will be having her first birthday party very soon!
The week of August 8-13 we had the Mooreland Free Fair. I always take vacation that week because I help out with our church's bean tent and it is just easier. The girls had a blast and I got a lot of fun pictures of them!




Last, but not least....
I have been asked the question, "You know what causes that, right?" because we are expecting another baby next year! I found out July 20th that I was pregnant! I am due on April 1. I am 12 weeks and 5 days today. I am going to try and do a week by week post. I didn't do that much with the other girls, so I am going to attempt to do that with this baby.
I had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the baby was measuring 3 days ahead the the heartbeat was 158. It was moving all around and I was so in love :)

My symptoms as of right now are:
-nausea that lasts pretty much all day long
-I am so, so tired
-headaches
-backaches
-stuffy nose
-irritability
-hungry all the time-goes well with the nausea

Cravings
-boneless Buffalo wings from Applebees
-baked potatoes
-pasta

We find out the sex the week of my birthday (w/o November 6). I can't wait! Maybe we will finally have a little man running around with two big sisters to torture him with dressing up and make-up! :)

A Sad Weekend

We lost one of our dogs yesterday. He was hit by a truck/horsetrailer. We were on our way out to church and he slipped through the door and was hit right in front of me and the girls. He didn't suffer though. I know my girls are going to miss him something awful. Our other dog, Gertie will miss him as well. Here she is looking for him last evening....


Is that not pathetic....it just about breaks your heart :(


Here is Walter and Maddie having a staring contest a few months ago....we will miss you Walter!!

In other news, the girls are doing great! Emma's birthday is Friday. We have to make a quick trip to the doctor's office, then to work to say goodbye to one of my co-workers who is leaving. We will then go have lunch and then go to the Children's Museum for the Dora/Diego exhibit. We will then see how tired birthday girl is and then maybe go see the new Pooh movie. We will have to see. It is hard to believe my first baby will be three!! She is such a sweet girl. I will do her birthday post on Thursday with all her stats and fun facts :)

I will close with some pictures...