Summer Update

I am playing catch up here but I needed to post some Summer pictures before we move onto Fall.

I make a bucket list most years and berry picking is always on it but we never do it. We took advantage of Ben's half day Fridays and went one week. It was sooooo hot and we only lasted about 30 minutes but the kids still had fun. Scarlett sees the pictures on my phone from this and says, "hot", everytime. 

I love seeing my kids play together. It has been one of my favorite parts of this whole year. They were really quiet one day and I found them under the dining room table with a snack.

He won't always smile for pictures but he is so handsome.

 

After almost 4 years, I finally released Miller into the world. We signed him up for a one day a week preschool program. He really loves it and Scarlett loves her time with just mommy. In November he starts two days a week. 

First game of the season. Go Vols!!!

My cousin, Callie, was born in Tennessee but raised in mostly Oklahoma and went there for college. It is a funny thing when we end up playing any of my cousin's alma maters because they are torn who to cheer for. They came to TN for the game so we went up that weekend and went down to campus to tailgate with them. The kids had a great time getting to be in that atmosphere and had so much fun playing with their cousins.

Miller started a small soccer program this fall. Unfortunately, most of the games have been rained out but for the two that he has had so far, he has shown improvement in following directions.

Pregnancy #3 Update

So I am awful about blogging now, aren't I?!?!? In my defense, it has been the busiest year.

It all started with our trip to Disney last year, then our grandmothers getting sick and passing away around the holidays. This year, Ben has had a project back home in TN so we have gone up once a month for his meetings and this is on top of our other trips up there. In June we had back to back trips, one to the beach with my dad's side of the family and then a 14 hour car ride to Michigan with my mom's side of the family. Throw in a pregnancy and you have got one exhausted family.

This pregnancy has put me in major nesting mode. I think it mostly comes from the fact that we just bought our first house last year and I want to feel really settled here. Don't get me wrong, we have done some things over the past year but knowing that this baby is coming and my energy will be spent elsewhere, I want to get some things done now while I have the time. I have hung lots of pictures on the wall (which after years of renting is such a relief). We rearranged the basement so that I have a more functional craft space, and a guest room/nook and fixed up the bathroom. We painted and added molding to the kids bathroom (I love it!!!!). Of course I made the baby a nursery and finished up a few things in the kids rooms. I promise I will post about all of these, I just have a few last touches to finish up.

Obviously pregnancy posts have been missing. I have still been taking weekly pictures and keeping a journal but I have blanked on blogging. Here are some of the weekly pics. (I do not have a good starting picture because I did not find out until later this time then we kept forgetting to take a weekly picture).

The journal entries are more or less the same as before. The only difference with this pregnancy and the other two is that it is so much harder. I remember when I was pregnant with Scarlett, my doctor told me that the third, and subsequent pregnancies are harder than the first two. I figured that she had to be wrong because why the third but not the second? Well she was right. My muscles and joints are so much looser and sore. I can sit in the most comfortable position and I am still sore when I get up. I get cramps from the slightest movements.

I was in love with being pregnant with Miller. With Scarlett, I was so grateful to get to experience it again. This time, I am so distracted by the kids, trips and nesting, on top of being sore, achy and tired, that the miracle and magic that I once found in pregnancy, is mostly lost on me this time. A few weeks ago, for the first time ever, I was sick and tired of being pregnant. Now I am starting to feel sad that I am entering my last trimester. I just want to feel that enjoyment again, at least for the next 3 months.

I am going to try to enjoy the next couple of months, even though they are busy too. We have a two more trips but after that we have a few months at home. Miller is starting at a mothers day out program and soccer. Then October is busy with lots of Halloween events and Miller's birthday. I will try to be better about posting updates and about projects that we have been doing. I am not making any promises though.

Scarlett's Monthly Update:18 Months

My girl is now closer to two than she is one. I do not know how but somehow in the last few months, she has transformed into a big girl. Her hair has gotten longer, she is talking more, she is walking around holding our hands when we go places rather than being carried.

Weight: 24lbs 5oz (+15lbs 10oz) (Miller was 24 lbs)

Height: 31.5in (+9.5in) (Miller was 32in)

Head: 19in (+6.25in) (Miller was 20"in)

Sleep: She sleeps through the night just fine. She puts her self to sleep at night and at naptimes now. I will admit, I miss her falling asleep on me and getting to look at that cute, squished up face, but I am so proud of her for being such a good sleeper. The only times we have had issues is when we are out of town and sharing a room. She must hear me move when she is a little bit awake and then wants in bed with me. It is rare though.

Eating:  She is a toddler so some days she eats great, and the next she refuses all foods. All in all, she is a pretty good eater though and a lot less picky than Miller.

She was not nursing too much and then we went on vacation and she has pretty much stopped since we got home. It is alright because I know with the new baby, things would change but I was hoping that she would nurse longer. The funny thing is that this is the exact same place in my last pregnancy that Miller stopped nursing. I would say that my milk must change then but I think both times had more to do with traveling than anything.

Best Moment:  In the last month, she has started talking a lot. I was really trying to work with her so she would have a few more words in her arsenal for her 18 month appointment, then something just clicked. She says so many words and pretty much understands everything. We have to mark her first words as "Thank you" and "shoes". Those sum up my girl to a tee!

Milestones: This is hard to pinpoint a real milestone but talking is a pretty good one. Also that she will be a big sister soon.

Monthly Wisdom: She has been really clingy to me and an all around pain and it was really stressing me out. Then Ben reminded me that Miller was the same way at this exact age.

Goals for the Upcoming Month: Now that we are back from vacation and I am feeling better after a rough 1st trimester, I am working on setting up a good routine with the kids to be in when the baby comes. So far so good. The house is running smoother and they seem to be responding well.

Things Scarlett is doing

- She is getting into EVERYTHING. She figured out how to climb into our barstools so now my safe space in there is no longer safe.
-She is so sweet and affectionate.When I get her out of bed, she wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes. There are so many spontaneous hugs, kisses and snuggles.
- Her bowleggedness has gotten better but she still turns in at the knees. We talked about it with our pediatrician and he said that it should straighten out in the next 6 months to a year.
- She is such a dancer. At my cousins wedding she never left the dance floor. She dances to TV shows and commercials and even the timer for Miller when he is in timeout.
- There are a few songs that she starts and mumbles a little bit and claps like she actually sang the song.
- She is so stinking funny. I can not even tell you all the things she does to make us, and herself laugh.
- Her and Miller are starting to play together all the time. It makes me so happy!!! When we came back from a trip to Michigan, Miller stayed in TN with my mom for a few days and Scarlett was lost without him. Anytime we would facetime with them, she would start squealing.
-Some of her commonly used words- thank you, please, welcome, byes, nigh nigh, kiss, love you shoes, teeth, bites, drink, mama, dada, ninny, ally, miller (sort of), Scarlett, sister, all gone, go, Tennessee (not kidding, she can say it), Rocky Top (so proud of this).

I love being able to do her hair. 

My little snuggle bunny. 

I love this one of her!

This is, "Miller leave me alone. I do not care what mommy says, I do not want to hold your hand". 

She is a happy girl most of the time, she just has her sassy moments. Those are the exact things we have said since the day she was born. 

It's a .....(Gender Reveal)

With Miller and Scarlett, I was so anxious to find out the gender that we did not really do anything special to celebrate it. We found out at the anatomy scan and then started calling family.

This time around, I really wanted to find out with the kids. I wanted to do something special since we had not before and because this is our third baby and I want them to know that we did something special for them that we did not do for the other two.

With the first two, we both knew what the babies were before our anatomy scan. We just had a really strong feeling. This time around was no exception. We both thought it was a girl and it did not help that Miller swore that it was too. We tried to tell him that it might be a boy and he would not budge that it was a girl. 

I was really nervous because I really wanted it to be a girl. It was not that a boy would not be great, I just wanted to be right.

This is my genuine surprise that it was pink to come out of the box. I was so excited that I started to tear up.

I was trying to get the kids to understand. I had been practicing with Miller for days what it meant when we would see pink or blue balloons.

It looks like Scarlett is upset to get a baby sister but really she just wanted to run down the driveway and was mad about us putting her in the box. They were really more excited about the balloons than anything.

Something else new this time is that they have a blood test out now that can tell the gender of the baby as early as 10 weeks with a 99% certainty. We decided to do it and actually found out when I was about 15 weeks along (this is when the pictures were taken). We had our anatomy scan and even though the blood test is pretty certain, I was still relieved to see her little girl parts at the ultrasound.

We already have a name picked out (actually we have had it picked out for years) but are still working on a middle name. This is so unlike us to not have a middle name but I have two names that I am just sitting on and seeing how I feel about each one.

Here we go again

This is pretty self explanatory and if we are friends on facebook, you already saw this news.

Getting pregnant for us does not feel as easy and as much of a sure thing as it is for some people. (Warning, mention of girly things) I have really irregular cycles that can just make things so unpredictable. With Miller, we tried for about a year with no cycle and finally two days before an appointment with a fertility specialist, my body decided to work and I got pregnant with our monkey boy. With Scarlett, once my cycle returned, which was a while because of breastfeeding, it took 3 cycles in 4 months to get pregnant with her. This time around, I got my cycle back around the same time as before,and we got pregnant in the first cycle within a month and a half.

While we were trying, I was still shocked that it happened that quickly. Honestly, after that year we had of trying to get pregnant with Miller, I am just sooooo grateful to able to have all of these babies. Sometimes I slip back in my memories from that year and I can not believe where I am now.

Kind of funny how we found out. With Miller and Scarlett, I thought I was pregnant so I was chomping at the bit to take a pregnancy test. This time, I also thought I was pregnant but I was nervous to get my hopes up. I had my annual GYN appointment and told my doctor this. She convinced me to take a test there and I was so bummed when it came back negative. I said I would not be upset but I totally was. I decided to just not think about getting pregnant and focus on other things. A week later, I started having some nausea one day but I knew better than to get into that mindset. However, it persisted. I could see Ben giving me the side eye like "are you going to say it on am I". Finally after a week and a half of nausea, I could not deny it and I had to test. With Miller, I found out I was pregnant when I was 11dpo (days past ovulation), Scarlett was 13dpo and this baby was 33dpo. 

Scarlett has seen my ultrasounds pictures and points to my belly when we ask where the baby is. Miller totally gets it this time around. He has watched his and Scarlett's birth videos and keeps telling me that I will "squeeze out the baby". He is so excited about another baby and from the beginning, he has sworn that it is a girl. He refuses to believe anything else. Full disclosure here, we had the Harmony blood test done and actually already know the gender but are waiting to share it until after we tell some family in person.

Wish us luck as we prepare to be outnumbered!

Easter '15

I was hoping for a great Easter like last years was but I was forgetting one thing. Last year Scarlett was a cute little 4 month old who was just content to be held, this year she runs around and gets into mischief. It was still good, just a bit more stressful.

Saturday evening we dyed Easter eggs. Miller was so excited and got really into it. We all wore our bunny ears except Scarlett. They were off as soon as they pictures were taken.

Every egg Scarlett got her hands on went into the blue.

This is about as perfect as you can get for a family picture with these two. I really love it!

Two days before Easter, we were over at Luke's house and Miller figured this out. For the whole day, this was his spot in the jeep. No other could would attempt it. I am really worried that this is foreshadowing out future in 14 years.

This picture started with only Isla and I was pregnant with Miller. We have 7 kiddos now and will be adding more to this crew next year.

I am so glad we take this big group shot, and this was such a good one. (Please notice Miller peeking over my head on the bottom right. He was making a different face in every picture we took.)

Winter Pictures

I obviously am not into blogging right now. I am sure I will pick it up more soon when the summer and lots of events start up. Here are some recent pictures of the kiddos.

Their new play kitchen that they got from Santa is mainly used to cook each other.

A Valentine's picture. This was the only way I could get Scarlett to sit still.

For Valentine's day we went to the zoo. Scarlett's hair cracks me up.

We finally got a little snow that we were able to play in.

Miller and our mini- Olaf.

Watching the snow come down.

Miller has had his chair for years and barely used it. When we were painting the playroom we moved it into the living room temporarily and they started fighting over it so Ninny got Scarlett her own.

He hit himself in the eye with some toy. I was comforting him and jokingly asked if he wanted a patch, and the boy took me up on it. At least it made him feel better.

Scarlett started putting this bucket on her head and I had immediate deja vu. (Scarlett is on the left ad Miller is on the right).

We had a picnic dinner outside since it was nice and warm, and they were too dirty to come in my house before a bath.