20 Weeks....HALF WAY THERE!

Yippee!!! Hit the halfway mark today! So exciting! Feeling pretty good too. I've been working full time now for 2 weeks and I can see how it can really wipe me out by the end of the day. It's so hard to get home and want to cook dinner, so I've been planning things that are on the "easy to prepare" side. I've noticed my feet and legs get tired/sore more quickly while I'm on my feet as well.

On the home front, the boys got their report cards on Friday. Both did extremely well! We are so proud of them and how they are doing with their new school that we let them pick where we would go to dinner as their reward. They picked a place called the Amazing Pizza Machine which is an all-you-can-eat pizza/pasta/salad/dessert buffet plus an arcade/rides/games type of place. They had a blast and won a ton of tickets to buy their prizes.

Friday night Kevin took Harrison to his first NCAA Basketball Tournament games. They saw part of the Perdue vs. St Mary's (Perdue won) and Kansas vs. Detroit (Kansas won). They both had a great time! They decided to leave at halftime of the second game since it was about 10:30pm. Harrison really wanted to stay up and watch the end of the game so he and Kevin finished out the night on the couch. They were in bed around 11:20pm (pretty late for Harrison considering he still goes to bed at 7:30pm!) Kevin said he thanked him at least 5 times for taking him to the games. We are so happy he is as into Carolina basketball and March Madness as we are! Oh and don't worry....Emerson didn't want to go to the games so we had a nice date night consisting of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery (he chose Cotton Candy Ice Cream with Reese's PB cups and Gummy Bears mixed in....sounds gross to me but he loved it!) and a Red Box Rental (Puss 'N Boots)

We also bought a new basketball hoop for the driveway. When we told the kids we might be moving to Omaha last June, we asked them both what they would like at our new house to make it really exciting to live there. Harrison's answer was a basketball hoop in the driveway. (Em's answer was a hot tub.....we'll have to keep working on that one! lol) Kevin and Harrison spent several hours on Saturday putting the new hoop together. Harrison LOVES it!! He played as long as he could that afternoon and then asked what time he was allowed to go outside in the morning on Sunday to play again. I told him it was okay with me if he went out when he got up and dressed.....so yes, he was up and dressed at 7AM this morning and outside shooting hoops! We can actually hear him dribbling the ball from our bedroom which made me smile despite wanting some more sleep. He was out there for about an hour before he came inside for breakfast. When he came in he asked me if I got his note (which I had missed) on our night stand. It read "I'm shooting hoops. -Harrison" SO CUTE. He's been out playing basketball with any of us that will play with him, and even on his own, off and on for several hours today, before and after church. Talk about money well spent!

Other exciting news of the week, Kevin's brother Skyped us to tell us they are pregnant with #5! Congrats Jason, Karry & Kiddos! The more the merrier!!

Here's a pic of me at week 20....half way to having another sweet little one in our house!!

18 & 19 Weeks

Yup, didn't have time/forgot to post last week so here are my pics for the past 2 weeks. I started my new job this past Monday and it's going really well. Lots to learn and time on my feet has taken me the week to get used to again, but I think it will be well worth it. I did have to switch over to scrub pants with stretchy bands at the top instead of my old scrub bottoms (thank you,growing rump!). The good thing is that I still fit my scrub tops.....at least for now. Once I out grow those, I will just start wearing long or short sleeve t-shirts since we wear embroidered lab jackets on top anyway. I'll try and get a pic of me in my work "get up" and post that some time too. New also this week: realizing that I can't bend completely over and reach very far because of this growing bump. I went to wipe down some metal carts at work the other day and realized I could reach the back of the very bottom shelf. Guess I won't be cleaning these for but another month or so! Lol. Another new development?? I actually felt 2 tiny baby kicks with my hand on my belly last night! I can't wait for them to get a little stronger so the kids can feel it. Kevin already says he feels #3 moving around at night when we are in bed. Love this! I feel movements a lot more now, even though the movements don't all feel like "kicks". Best. Feeling. Ever. Well....here ya have it.....

Week 18


Week 19

16 & 17 weeks

Last weekend was so busy, so I didn't get a chance to post a picture. It was even a 3 day weekend. Lol. We spent all of Saturday out and about town running errands. Sunday was spent cleaning (which takes way longer in 4,000 sq ft than it did in 1000 sq ft!) and we also finished up a lot of things around here that needed to get done....curtains hung, pictures hung, etc. That night we had a few people from Kevin's work, and their families, over for dinner. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it again! On Monday, since we felt guilty for not having had much time to focus on the boys, we decided to drive over to Mahoney State Park to check out the indoor soft playground. The building with the play area was actually closed until 4pm when we got there so we drove through the rest of the park to check it out...we even stopped for some hot cocoa in the lodge. Since we still had a couple of hours to kill until the play area opened, we drove next door and checked out the Strategic Air & Space Museum. The boys, especially Harrison, totally dug the museum! It had 2 hangars packed with various Air Force air craft including a SR-71 Blackbird (famous for being able to go faster than a bullet!) and a B-52 Bomber. They had a section dedicated to space where they learned the difference between meteors and asteroids....Emerson thought this was pretty cool. Once we made it though the museum, it was time to head back to the park. For an entrance fee of $2/person, we all got to go into the soft play area. Of course Kevin and I really just sat and watched the boys, but you couldn't beat the price to allow the kids to run and climb and burn off some pent up energy! They even have a covered ice rink, though we didn't skate this time. Emerson had such a good time that he's declared this is here he wants to have his birthday party next month!

Here's my 16 week picture. Overall feeling good though I think I really overdid it on Sunday.



This week was definitely more low key. No travel for Kevin and not much going on for me. Still no news on the job front, but I'm hoping to hear something not this week but the next. *Crossing fingers* I'm feeling more movements this week, but still nothing Kevin or the boys could feel. Although, Kevin says while I was sleeping one night, he had his hand on my belly and he could feel something going on.....whether that be baby or gas, he wasn't sure. Lol! We started throwing around some more names today. This is going to be much harder this time around! The only names that Kevin & the boys have offered up have either been from cartoon characters (Phineas, Ferb, Perry) or just plain mean (Evil has come up more than once). Needless to say, this I'm thankful we still have another 23 weeks to decide on a "short list"! Anyway, here's my pic from today at 17 weeks. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon, so I should get to hear that sweet, sweet heartbeat again. I'll fill you in on the appointment with my next weekly update. :)

15 Weeks

Here we are, another week down. Very happy that the hubby is on his way home from being gone for a couple of nights to Raleigh, NC. His best friend and his wife asked Kevin to be the Godfather of their twin girls so he flew down for the Christening. He got to spend a little time getting to know the girls (L&C) and snuggling them. They are about 4 months old and soooo sweet. He even called me to tell me, "I can TOTALLY do girls". Up until now he's claimed that he "only makes boys", but I think he secretly is hoping #3 is a girl! We'll find out in August when he/she arrives!

So nothing too new for this past week. Nausea and fatigue still seem to be under control. Saturday night I did have a pain in my left side from lower in my groin area (sorry) running up to about my belly button. I'm thinking it's just round ligament pain from some stretching that is going on. I had it the day before on the right side, but not as severe or for as long. Today it seems to have disappeared so I'm not worried. I've also noticed that my feet are already bigger. They were about a size bigger when I was pregnant with the boys, but I don't remember it happening this early. :) Yay! Another thing spreading..... Oh, and going along with the "spreading" theme, it seems other areas (to remain nameless, though I'm sure you can see in the picture!) seem to be spreading at the same rate as my belly. Can't wait for Spring to get here so I can get out and do some walking. Oh, and let's not forget the ability to wear flip flops!

Here ya have it....picture of me at week 15....

Turbo Math GRAND CHAMPION!

This week Harrison won his final turbo math ribbon at school. Since we moved here at the start of the new year, he had some catching up to do. He started with addition. I think the way it works is the teacher gives the kids a math worksheet and they have a set amount of (short) time to answer as many problems as they can correctly. You have to earn two ribbons in each category before moving on to the next. He flew through addition and subtraction within the first 2 weeks he started school here. However, since his old school was just beginning multiplication, he needed to learn these skills before he could get his ribbons. If any one knows Harrison, you know that he does NOT like to be behind in anything! He was a bit frustrated at first, but he caught on so quickly. He now has all of his ribbons, including the big yellow Grand Champion ribbon! We are so proud of him and he is just as proud of himself! He is even ahead of some of the kids in his class who have yet to obtain their final ribbons. Great job Harrison!

14 weeks and a funny Emerson moment

Here I am at 14 weeks. Not a huge change, but still feeling like I'm definitely growing! The nausea is even better this week than last but I'm still having trouble trying to eat anything later in the afternoon and night. I never have a problem with sweeets though. And Coke. This baby loves him or her some "pop" as we say in the midwest! I've been limiting myslef to 1 can of caffeine-free coke a day, but that is more than I ever drank before I was pregnant....I usually drink water or watered down juice, not soda. Bizarre.

The Super Bowl was today and we were invited to Kevin's boss' house to watch the game. The boys had a great time with their little one who is about 2 and a half. They even helped take him to the potty twice (he's in week 1 of poty training). It was amazing to see both boys play so nicely with this little guy and I can't wait to see how they are with their new sibling.

One other story to share....so after school this past week Em was sitting on my lap and I was kissing his cheeks, I don't know what it is about his cheeks, but they are simply irresistible to me. Anyway, as I'm smothering this poor kid in kisses I asked him, "Em, where did you get such sweet cheeks?" to which he replied with a sigh, "Mom, you know I got them from you...." I said, "You did!??? How??" With another sigh, as if I'm asking a question that everyone knows the answer to, he says, "you know....when you printed me out!" HUH?? "When I printed you out?" I asked. Rolling his eyes, he says "Yes mom. When you went to the hospital to have me, you PRINTED me out!" So all of a sudden I'm not only a mom, but a printer as well. Who knew?!

13 weeks

As much as I don't want to post a pic of myself when I feel like I'm getting too big, too fast.....I know one day I'll want to be able to look back on these. SO, here's the first pic of what I hope I can continue to take throughout this pregnancy. I am 13 weeks today. Daytime nausea seems to have subsided somewhat and so has the extreme fatigue. I also swear I can feel a little flutter from this peanut moving about, but only every once in a while. I can't wait until they are full blown kicks that Kevin and the boys will be able to feel too!

Em-ism...

So we were watching tv tonight as a family. For those of you who don't know, cable is new to us. When we were living in CT we decided we didn't need to be addicted to any tv shows and we certainly thought there was too much garbage that the kids could "accidentally" happen upon, so we made the decision to turn off the cable. As a side note, we were still able to get the basic channels, ABC, NBC, FOX, so that we could watch some basic programming. Anyway, once we moved to NE, and since it had been several years since we had cable, we decided to get it and see if it would be something we were ready to reintroduce to ourselves. Last night we were sitting on the couch watching a reality show about rescues done by the Coast Guard in Alaska. The Coast Guard had been notified that someone was in trouble by a signal coming from an individual's personal Locator beacon (plb). They were dispatching a helicopter to a remote island to locate the person in trouble. As we are watching this, Emerson begins to voice his opinion....."Mom, that guy is so dumb!" I was pretty surprised and wasn't really sure why he thought the guy needing rescue was "SO dumb". When I asked him why he'd say that he made it clear that the guys would not have gotten lost had he simply remembered to use TRAIL MIX. Yes, trail mix. What in the world??? He said that when you go hiking in the woods, you should always remember trail mix so you can leave yourself a trail to find your way back to where you started. As he's explaining, all I can do is look at Kevin like "are you seriously hearing this??". It only took daddy's reminder that squirrels and other woodland creatures like to eat what?? Yes Em, they like trail mix. He was then able to back track and concede that perhaps it was a good idea that the lost guy decided to wear his plb so he could be found AND just maybe he needed rescuing not because he was lost but because he was too cold to last the night on a remote island of Alaska. Ooohhhhhhh......... Light bulb moment for Emerson.

1st Picture of Peanut #3

Well, it's not exactly the 1st picture of our 3rd addition, but it's the 1st one where he/she is starting to look more like a baby. :) I had an ultrasound in CT at about 5 weeks and the baby was too tiny to see yet. I had one more ultrasound at about 7-8 weeks and you could just barely see a tiny blob with an even tinier flickering heart beat. SWEETEST. BLOB. EVER. The 7 week ultrasound was also in CT so my OB advised that once we get to NE I find a new OB within a week or 2 to continue my prenatal care. So even though this wasn't exactly my 1st appointment for baby #3, this is the appointment that made it seem a little more real. When I got to the appointment, I got to have my 3rd ultrasound (1st in my new office) so that my OB could "confirm" my pregnancy. Let me just say, there is nothing that is music to my ears like the sound of that sweet little heart beat. I felt the need to tell the ultrasound tech that too. I don't care....baby #1 to baby #3, it is still just as exciting with this one! The tech printed me a little keepsake to bring home. Not the best pic of the ultrasound for the day, but a pic just the same. From there I had the whole work-up. Seriously, never got so much from a $35 copay! Blood work, internal exam, PAP, breast exam.....I know, enough with the details. Anyway, when I sat down to get my blood drawn the tech brought me a big bag of baby stuff. For those of you that may have had a baby not so long ago, you might recall being given a diaper bag filled with formula samples, diapers, etc. I got that at this appointment. The look on my face must have made the girls in the lab laugh because they asked me if I was ok. Here I am, not showing at all, having my "first" OB appointment, and now toting a diaper bag. WHOA THERE. I was NOT ready for that! I told the girls that I was still in the "surreal" phase of pregnancy and could you PLEASE give me this later??? The answer was no. So I put my big girl panties on, had my blood drawn, and darted to my car right after the appointment. Once home, I had one of the boys bring it upstairs to the baby's future bedroom and lock it in the closet. It's weird. Had this happened to me when I was preggo with Harrison OR even Emerson for that matter, I think I would have been SO excited! I'm not sure what my problem was. Maybe I just didn't want to jinx anything. Maybe I'm in denial we are having #3. Who knows.....but I know I'll get to the point sooner or later where I feel the sudden urge to fill this house up with baby necessities. I did show the boys the ultrasound of their new sibling. They were both so excited when I told them I had a picture to show them. When Harrison looked at it, I pointed out the face and body. He looked up at me and said, "Mom, I don't get it. Can you show me again??" I'm not sure he really could make everything out (even though he claimed to) so I'm hoping to have a really great picture to show them from our "big ultrasound" around 20 weeks.