The Line-Up

This pregnancy, at about 15 weeks it was time to pull out the maternity clothes.  I now have 2 pairs of jeans and three pairs of leggings that fit as far as pants go.  And that's it.

I'm very self-conscious, not about how big I am now, but about how big I might get.  I'm 5'4" and have a short torso so I ended up pretty oblong by the end of my previous two pregnancies (and I've never been more than 38.5 weeks pregnant).  I feel like I wake up in the morning looking one way, and finish the day looking a good 2 weeks more pregnant.  In the past, pregnancy has gone very smoothly and I've enjoyed being pregnant.  This time has been a little rougher.  Not sure if it's because I'm four years older, have two kids to chase around already, or because I'm on my feet running around the kitchens all day at work.  I'm sure a combination of all of the above.
I'm not ready to officially say this is our last pregnancy...but I will say it most likely will be our last.

I started out very nauseous and very, very tired when we found out we were pregnant.  If you know me at all, you should know that I'm a night owl.  I get my second-wind around 9pm and tend to have my most productive time of the day from 9pm-midnight.  The first few weeks of pregnancy were characterized by eating food all hours of the day to keep the nausea at bay and going to bed around 8:30 every night.  Not my normal routine, for sure.  The laundry piled up, the house was a mess, the DVR filled up, and I often talked myself into letting the kids put themselves to bed.  (That never really worked, by the way.)  Once the second trimester hit, it was like an instant change.  The nausea went away and I had energy again.  I didn't have to eat a seven course breakfast and I could stay up past 9pm again.  I've had heartburn from the start, which I had with Cade and Reese also so I expected it.  Tums are my friend.

I'm trying to be creative with the maternity staples in my wardrobe.  When I cracked open the maternity tub I found myself not wanting to wear any of it, as most of it was purchased about 6 years ago.  Luckily, my mom with her amazing fashion-sense swooped in and bought me some new pieces and showed me how to jazz up my older outfits.  I mostly wear leggings and cotton dresses, cardigans and scarves.  Or jeans and tops I can wear my chef coat over at work.  The belly is actually poking out quite a bit in my chef coat and I foresee a day when it will be a very tight fit!       



17 Weeks:  I wore this gray dress from Old Navy with Cade and Reese.  I don't think it actually is a maternity dress but it's super comfy and works well with layers over it.

This shirt is not a maternity shirt, but I ordered it a couple months ago when Pinterest Told Me To, told me to.  I love it! It's so long...surely it will fit the entire pregnancy?!

This is a maternity shirt I ordered from Old Navy.  I like it, but just wish it was a little longer in the front.

 

I purchased a few poncho-like sweaters to try to hide under.  This one is a one-size-fits-all from Dillards.

 

 

18 weeks: Poncho-like sweater #2 from Nordstrom Rack

It's hard to see, but this is a deep purple cotton maternity dress from Target that I love!  I bought it when I was pregnant with Reese.  It's so soft and comfortable.  Again, I always wear a cardigan and scarf.  This is in my weekly rotation, just changing up the scarf and cardigan.

 

MaKenzie got me this shirt for Christmas (that I originally thought was a night shirt) but it has come in very handy as it's long and loose and soft.  She also gave me this blanket scarf, and while I don't feel like I don't really know how to wear it I do like being able to hide under it.  

 


 19 weeks: This is not a maternity shirt, but it's long and it has short sleeves so hopefully I'll be able to wear it now with a cardigan and in the spring without one.

 

Same deep purple dress, just changing up the scarf and cardigan, and the cutest photobomb by early-morning-Reese.

  

 

 T-shirts getting a little tight...

This was my first time EVER wearing leggings as pants, which I'm usually very against.  (As in, I ordinarily only wear leggings with a dress over it, but this time it was just a long shirt).  But the shirt was very long, so I deemed it okay, even though I did have the occasional feeling that I just forgot to wear pants.

20 Weeks: I wore this dress with the previous 2 pregnancies.  Same story, I like it with layers over it.

So that's the basics: long tops, cardigans, stretchy dresses with scarves.  Repeat over and over and over!

22 Weeks: Long Kut from the Kloth shirt, not maternity, from Nordstrom Rack.

I noticed I wear the same shoes, pretty much every single day.  They are flat, cognac colored booties that I picked up at Old Navy on the clearance rack for $6!  Kinda makes me wonder what I used to wear before I randomly bought these since I now wear them every day!  They are very comfy...and sadly my tall boots are very snug around my calves right now.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm nothing but thankful for all my pregnancy-related ailments and happy to be able to expand our family...even while it means I'm expanding...everywhere.  I would just say that the day-to-day of this pregnancy has not been as enjoyable as in the past.

Baby #3 Gender Reveal!

I realized going into this appointment...that I ALWAYS think it's a girl.  I don't know why.  I guess because I grew up in a home of all girls?  I felt blindsided (over 6 years ago!) by the news that Cade was a boy.  That being said, I love having a boy and a girl.  But it was time to break the "tie" around here! 

We had our sonogram on President's Day so I didn't have to work and the kids were able to go to the sitter.  After our appointment we went out to eat (for Valentine's Day) and I stopped by Party City to get some balloons.  I had shown Cade some pics from Pinterest and he decided they would pop confetti-filled balloons to tell us if it was a boy or girl.  A big thanks to Matt's sister Cindy for photographing the evening for us.  All adults present were either taking pics/video or Face-timing with other family members who couldn't be there.

Moments before the reveal, Reese decided that popping a balloon was going to be too loud and not only did she not want to do it, but she didn't want to be in the room.  So...

Cade went for it...

And we saw BLUE confetti! (Harder to see here than it was on Pinterest...Party City Man insisted he couldn't put that much confetti inside...)

So then Reese decided the balloon pop wasn't too loud and she would participate...separate from Cade.

An encore performance...

Still a boy.  Just ONE boy.

Several tries to capture the kids blowing the blue confetti...and...this is what we got...

Well, you get the point.  It's a boy!  I was totally wrong!  

The kids actually had their hearts set on a girl and had even been referring to the baby as "she" for quite awhile...this is why it's good that we found out ahead of time.  They are now excited to "go through Cade's old stuff" and get the room all ready for a baby BOY!

Honestly, I'm still wrapping my head around having lost the tie to the boys...and that Reese will very likely never have a sister.  But we'll take it!  We are so thankful for a healthy, growing baby boy.

Now I actually have things to blog about.  (No promises it will be done in a timely manner.)  We'll be taking a look at my very limited maternity wardrobe and making that bedroom shuffle in the near future.  Oh yes...and getting a van!!!  Exciting times ahead!

Baby #3

Late in the fall of 2015, after over a year of NOT seeing the result we were looking for on pregnancy tests, we finally saw this!!

 

 We are due on July 5th, which means I'll have a scheduled c-section about a week before.  I'm getting pretty big pretty fast...so I'm just planning to spend most of June hiding out at our house.  

The kids are SO excited to welcome a new baby to the family.  They may just be at the perfect ages-- making the timing just right!

Belly at about 17 weeks, tucked under my scarf. 

Here's one from last week at 20 weeks. 

But see how I hide it so well under my magic scarf?  Matt says I'm not fooling anyone these days. 

On Monday we had our 20-week ultrasound and everything looked great!  We had a small gender-reveal gathering so the kids could pop balloons with confetti.  Stay tuned! 

 

A look WAY back, see all previous pregnancy-related posts here!

Reesie Update

Sweet Reese will very soon be turning four years old!  Now if only she could narrow down whether she wants to have her birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, the community center pool, or Cosmic Jump.  I'm wishing I would not have involved her in this decision at all.

Reese loves to visit the dentist...despite him constantly saying that she should stop sucking on her two fingers!

Reese has become obsessed with watching the cheerleaders at the MNU games.

They are all so sweet to her, giving her poms to use, letting her hang with them during half-time, letting her bum snacks off of them...good thing they must think she's cute!

I am most definitely biased, but I think she has a real future in cheerleading...

Reese is quite the girly girl.  She loves to have her nails painted, pretend to put on make-up, and she specifically picked out this foot spa that she HAD TO HAVE for Christmas.

Reese is a wonderful helper.  She loves to drag her chair across the kitchen floor and help out whenever I'm cooking.  She actually really does good work and her help is (mostly) welcomed and appreciated!  I'm hoping she'll one day be a FACS-class stand-out.

Reese loves to pull her hair back in "one pig-tail" and dress "like a runner-girl" to go play basketball.  She looks forward to her 30-minutes of Mini and Me basketball at the Rec with Matt on Friday nights.

Her dribbling has improved each week and it is so, so cute watching Matt teach her things.

Cooking up some fun at the library.

Going to sleep at night is a LONG process for Miss Reese.  She will draw the process out for hours if she can.  She needs a drink, and different pajamas, and to wash her hands/brush her teeth/go to the bathroom...again.  Just when you think she's finally asleep...she will yell, "Mommmmmmmmmmmm, I need you..."

Reese loves going to Ms. Dora's and now knows her letters and their sounds and can write all her letters and and her numbers to 20.  Reese has a flair for the dramatics and cannot wait to attend a Trilogy Cultural Arts Camp (otherwise known as Fairytale Princess Camp) this summer.  She talks about it daily.  Reese needs a daily nap and can barely make it past dinnertime if she doesn't have one.  Matt says Reese has been known to climb back in bed in the mornings when she is supposed to be getting dressed.  A very three-nager-ish thing to do.

Reese is always putting others above herself and loves to please.  Her sweet smile can light up a room!  She is such a special part of our family and we are grateful she holds her own in this house full of first-borns.      

Cader Update

Hard to believe it, but Cade will be turning six in less than three months!!!  He's becoming such a big boy, is very ready to start Kindergarten next fall, and is often saying the funniest things.

Big changes have been taking place with Cade's sweet smile.  Cade has lost 6 teeth so far!  Three on bottom and three on the top as of now.  I'm obsessed with taking pictures of the progression.  It's weird, I know.

As the big upper teeth were coming in they pushed the baby teeth around a bit.

One down...

The second slipped right out at a MNU game!

SO now there are 2 big teeth taking the place of 3 little teeth both on top and on bottom...this should be interesting.  Orthodontia is definitely in our future.



Cade is really enjoying playing Rec basketball right now.  It's the same "Rookie" league for 4-5 year olds that he played in last year.  It's 8 weeks long and they spend the first half hour working on drills and the second half hour playing 3-on-3 games.

He loves to dribble and shoot...and plays some pretty mean defense as well!  (According to his mother, anyway.)

He's getting more and more into watching at the Pioneer games but also likes to bring his toys to play with.  He can't WAIT until half-time and after the game when he can take his basketball out on the court and dribble around with the other little kids.  He likes to follow the Pioneer games online while they play away games so he knows whether they win or lose.

Cade is a whiz at memorizing Bible verses for Awana and can list all 27 books of the New Testament for you.  He's started reading at Ms. Dora's and brings home small books to read to us each night.  He can write his numbers to 100.
He's also counting down the days until Kindergarten round-up and always proclaims "there's my new school" when we drive by his future Elementary School.  He weighs about 45 pounds so we could make the switch from the 5-point harness car seat...but since he can buckle himself in I'm in no rush to switch him.  I feel like he's getting taller and his pants are getting shorter...but he's still usually a lot shorter than other kids he's around that are his age.

He has a very sweet spirit and a blossoming sense of humor.  Notice the pics below that he staged himself when he saw a lightbulb setting on the counter.




He and Reese are constantly trying to aggravate or get each other in trouble.  Not sure how to get them to think like a "team."  And this drives (Coach) Dad nuts!

So while the "Greatest Brother" status is to be debated...he's got the greatest smile in my book!  It is a pleasure watching him grow up and learn new things (and teach us new things!) all the time.