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.

Merry Christmas!!

An Early Christmas Surprise!

This is what their M&M's said:
Coming Soon....
Make Way for Baby...
Baby Ladd #3...
Due in August!