8 more weeks

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by!  We have so much to do still - maybe that's why it's been so long since a blog post. It hasn't been on the top of my list.

I have days when I'm really excited for another baby...most days I'm more nervous than excited though.  It's been almost 4 years since we've had a newborn.  I'm out of practice!

This has been a good pregnancy, just like the other two.  Nothing dramatic or awful.  Just the normal sickness at the beginning and the normal uncomfortableness from now to the end (hopefully...).  I do feel like I've been much more emotional this time around.  I should probably apologize to Matt.  Or maybe I'll wait until the sleep deprivation turns me into a real nut case.  Then see which me he prefers.  :)

The kids have been big helps getting everything ready.  And they have been very patient with me on the days I have ZERO energy.  They are VERY excited for the new baby!

I am starting to see the doctor every two weeks which makes it all go by even faster.  I am going to talk to him about possibly being induced a few days early.  Not because I want her here on a certain day or because of any reason other than I don't want to give birth in the car.  Which is what I thought was going to happen with Jackson.  I was shocked with how fast he came considering how long it took with Eliza.  I didn't have one contraction (not even braxton hicks) until my water broke and my contractions started out at 1 minute apart.  I went from 4 cm to 9 in the hour (or less) it took to get my mom out here and drive to the hospital.  Yeah, I don't want to chance it again.

So...we'll see how the next two months go and cross our fingers we get everything done in time!  

Girl!!

Pretty much everyone knows by now but we found out at the end of January that we're going to have another little GIRL!

I had no feelings one way or the other.  I really didn't know what they were going to say at the ultrasound.  We are so happy!  Honestly, HONESTLY, we would have been happy either way.  But Eliza was over the moon happy!  Jackson is still going back and forth.  Either way, she's going to be called "baby Batman" for a while by him.

Oh, and we are now traveling in style with a minivan.  So nice to have all that room...and a DVD player.

The rest of December

I don't know, I'm just no good at blogging lately.  By the time I sit down to update, I don't have the energy to catch up with everything that has happened.  But here goes...

Christmas was awesome.  Came and went so fast!

Jackson's "bus" school Christmas party

His Miss Amanda school program

So proud of him for learning all his songs!

Eliza also had a school Christmas program but I was too far away to get any pictures.  So cute though!  

Christmas Day

 Eliza bought this book for Jackson with her own money.  She was SO excited to give it to him!

Fun with Grandpa!

I guess he thought pulling the kids behind the car wasn't as good of an idea as it was 20 years when he did it with us!

#3

Baby #3 is on it's way, arriving in June!

If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be making this announcement, I'd have laughed out loud.  Jackson has been SO hard in SO many ways.  And he still is but he's has been doing great in school and making huge progress.  And really, what child isn't challenging in some way?  

As much as we joked about being done with having kids after Jackson, deep down I knew we should have another.  But I was not going to jump into that until I felt like I could manage that and the ones I already had.  It seemed way too overwhelming for a long time.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to be a mother again to another special spirit.  I know many people who have not been blessed with this and I try to always remember what a huge privilege and blessing it is.  

I feel okay now.  Just bloated and bigger than I should.  For several weeks I felt like crap but thankfully that seems to have passed.  I have been wearing maternity pants since like 10 weeks.  So awesome.  I try to not look at the scale.  I don't care if I gain weight, I just don't think I should be gaining this much already.  Oops.

I go in next week for my second appointment and then we should have our ultrasound in January.  So excited for that!

Not so excited that we are basically starting from scratch with baby gear.  We'll need a car seat, crib, swing, bouncer, A VAN, changing table, etc.  And we'll need to figure out how to get Eliza and Jackson to share a room...

Here's the little one.  And ONLY ONE.  Yay!

Sorry, no belly pictures.  I haven't done it with the others, why start now?  I'm sure a few pictures of me looking like a whale will get taken here and there.  That's all the documentation I need!

Six years old

On Saturday, Eliza turned six!  

That week at school she was the spotlight which was fun for her.  

Birthday morning she opened her present!

We're hoping it helps her not be such a chicken on her bike.

Then we went to the mall for EAR PIERCING!  It is something she has been wanting for a couple of months.  She was so brave, not one tear.

For dinner we let her pick the place but secretly invited both grandparents so it was a sort of surprise party for her.  

Then we went back to grandma and grandpa's for cake, ice cream, and a few more presents.

The Madagascar 3 DVD came with a "Marty wig."  It totally looked like the picture.  

Eliza is such a joy in my life and our family.  Every day she makes me smile and makes me proud.  She is smart, beautiful, loving, innocent, a good helper, and a wonderful big sister.  I love her so much!

Halloween 2012

I swear Halloween lasted for two weeks this year.  It's fun but it's nice to turn the lights off and ignore the late trick-or-treaters when it's all finally over.  Which we do.

This year we had a beautiful ballerina and a silly Plex the Robot.

Preschool!

When Jackson was in speech therapy they suggested that for preschool, the more experiences he can have, the better.  After we found out he qualified for the special preschool over at the elementary school, we also decided to enroll him in the same one Eliza went to.  So two days a week he takes the bus to school and two days a week we walk.  

I have been worrying and having anxiety over this week for months.  Because he's always had such separation trouble and hates change so much, I was dreading it.  But he has changed a lot in the last  month or so.  He's becoming a little more independent and is communicating better.  

His first day at the neighborhood preschool went pretty well!  He cried of course when he realized he was on his own but his teacher said it wasn't too bad.  She may have been trying to be nice.  :)  The bus was what I was REALLY sick about.  Getting him on the bus the first morning was awful.  He was clinging to me, screaming, crying, all that fun stuff.  So the whole time he was gone I kept wondering if he was still as bad or had settled down or what.  When the bus dropped him off home the bus driver said he only cried for a few minutes and according to his little note from his teacher he was "happy."  I am FLOORED.  I just expected him to survive they day and maybe not cry the entire 2 hours.  Not to be happy!  I am so relieved.  Maybe our luck will hold!  Potty training - check!  Sleeping in a bed - check!  Neither of which I thought would ever happen.  My boy is growing up and keeps surprising me!  Love him so much.

Our photoshoot for day 1 of preschool

 Check out those tonsils!

 Fell over the dog

Day 2