March for Babies and 2 1/2 year olds

 

This past Sunday we walked in the March for Babies Walk in Cincinnati.  This is our 3rd year to walk and every year I am more thankful for my 3 beautiful blessings. Thanks to some of the research funded by the March of Dimes my sweet babies are here today.  We also walked this year because we hope and pray that baby #4 is a happy healthy full term baby.  We are so grateful for everyone who donated on our behalf this year and helped us surpass our goal and give back $500—we can’t say thank you enough for your support and generosity! 

Wow…2 1/2 already!!!  We are typical 2 1/2 year olds with serious attitudes, tantrums some days, bouncing off the walls with enormous amounts of energy, talking up at storm and having lots and lots of love to give to make up for all of it!

Well I think I am safe to say that we have 2 out of 3 potty trained!!  A few weeks ago mom came to help me with our 3 day potty boot camp.  It was 3 very crazy days but well worth it. Madelyn caught on within the first 4 hours and Lila had it down by day 2.  Poor Carter tried but he would just get too busy playing or watching TV to bother with going to the potty.  So I am still working with him but giving him a little break from it for now!  But I am happy with soon to be 2 out of 4 in diapers…better than all 4!

We are so busy lately just with the day to day routine that there is never a dull moment.  During our now much shorter 1 1/2 half nap I spend that time cleaning, doing laundry, picking up toys or catching up on something that I can’t do while they are awake.  But I am so thankful that they are still napping…it could always be worse, right?!?!

Eating strawberries right out the container!

We love story time at the library!

We spend any warm day outdoors and loving swinging with our babies!

Madelyn is very dedicated to her babies.  She is such a little momma!

And Lila likes to play the boss mommy and she also like to help mommy clean!

And then there is the boy….this is what he does…he falls down the stairs onto the concrete. I really thought it was going to be a lot worse than it was but this was the first of many I am sure!

Happy Easter

 

Happy Easter!!!  We had a wonderful Easter and this year the kids really enjoyed hunting for eggs.  On the Saturday night before Easter, we heard a lot of talking coming from their room right after they had went to bed.  They kept talking about the Easter Bunny coming and if Jesus was here.  It was so cute!  We had been talking a lot about the meaning of Easter which included the Easter Bunny talk so I guess they were really paying attention!  Oh course, the next morning they were so super excited to see the baskets full of candy and gifts.

Getting SO big!

We participated in 2 egg hunts and one at Mamoo and Papoo’s!!!  We are overflowing with candy!

We didn’t do so well with the Easter Bunny this year…to my surprise!!! They loved Santa but heck with the bunny!!!

Surprise!!!!

 

Yep that’s right Mommy is Expecting!  God decided to Bless us with this little surprise peanut and we are so excited.  We really never knew if it would be possible for us to have another baby at least the easy way.  But this was super easy…no planning, no talking about it just bam!

Rewind to the last week in January, I was at my parents house with the kids for a few days and Clue #1 was taking a lot of naps and laying around but I just attributed that to the fact that I had help and was just catching up on some much needed rest.  Clue #2 the dog was acting really strange around me, following me everywhere I went and never leaving my side so I thought that was a little strange.  Clue #3 we left to head home and I couldn’t button my jeans but I assumed I had eaten too much while I was there.  Clue #4 I was a few days late.  So on the way home I decided to stop and get a pregnancy test and on Monday January 30th I took the test and much to my surprise a big FAT positive appeared.  I couldn’t believe my eyes and honestly wasn’t sure what to think.  Obviously, I thought it must be wrong.  I was so afraid to tell Brad because I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be since we really had went back and forth about whether we would have another baby or not.  He knew something was wrong because I can’t hide my feelings well and he says to me jokingly “What, are you pregnant or something.” I reply “YES” and he just looks at me and says “WHAT?”  "Yep I took a test” and he was actually excited which was a huge relief to me but I think he really hadn’t had time to digest it!

We decided to wait to tell our parents until we had an ultrasound to confirm that everything was ok which wasn’t going to happen for another 4 weeks.  So on February 14th, we went in to see our growing little peanut and there was the baby growing right on schedule and looking great.  It was the fastest ultrasound I have ever had. With the triplets my ultrasounds were usually an hour and a half but at the minimum 20-30 minutes when it was a quick check. This took 5 minutes and it was over and I ask “is this really it?!?!?”  I have decided to go back to the high risk doctors at Good Sam not because I am high risk but because they accept previous patients back and I just felt more comfortable there.  So we went home with our pictures to our house first where my parents were watching the kids. I had printed up Valentine Day cards with the kids pictures.  We gave them the card with the ultrasound picture behind and I wish so much I would have had a camera.  Their faces were priceless especially my dad who couldn’t process at all what he was looking at until we had to spell it out, he was in such disbelief.  We then headed to Brad’s parents to do the same and immediately they said “are you trying to tell us something?”  Obviously, both were very elated.

We decided to wait until we were at least 12 weeks to start spreading the news to friends and the world but we are very excited to say we are now 15 weeks along and growing growing growing!  The baby is due on September 25!

The first 11 weeks, I was nauseated a lot and feeling totally exhausted.  I would lay on the floor and read books to the kids and have such a hard time keeping my eyes open and I would doze off sometimes only to hear “Mommy wake up, Mommy wake up” and always took naps when they did.  Thankfully I am feeling much better most days!!

This pregnancy is so foreign to me.  I actually have no restrictions for now and only one more ultrasound.  This part is hard for me!  I seen the babies at least every 4 weeks and after 25 weeks I seen them everyday.  So I am always excited for the next doctor’s appointment so I can hear the heartbeat!  And in just 3 1/2 weeks we will find out if it’s a boy or a girl!