Baby K #3 - The Details

It's official.  We will soon be a family of five and we couldn't be more excited (and nervous) about it!  For over a year, we have been talking adding on to our family.  We even bought a mini van last summer because we were seriously considering it.  (The van was a great purchase even without having three kids.)  We ended up deciding that our lives were crazy enough with a two and a three year old and maybe it would be best to wait another year.  

We really wanted our next baby to born right around the end of school year since there would be more people available to help with the girls and daycare.  So we started trying in August with the hopes of a late May baby.   I was pretty disappointed when it didn't happen within the first month, but it was definitely for the best since I had planned to be in Nashville in September for Staci's bachelorette party.  

Since I knew I wasn't pregnant, I continued to work on some of our home improvements (painting the fireplace).  Three days before I expected to start my period again (which is when I found out with Kaitlyn) I decided to take a test.  It was negative and I was super bummed.  I really thought that it would only take a couple months to get pregnant since it only took two months for Kailtyn and none with Madelyn.  It looked like we wouldn't get the summer baby that we I had planned for.  

Since I wasn't pregnant, I thought that I might finish up some as well some of our home improvements.  I decided to paint the living room, entry, and hallway.  I started painting and was almost done when I realized that I hadn't started my period yet.  So that night (October 15th) I took a test and assumed it would be negative.  Then a pink line appeared.  Of course, I didn't believe it so took another one and it said the same thing.  Baby number three was in its way!   

HOW I TOLD DAVID

I really wanted to do something cute to tell David, but most of the things I saw online didn't work for a third baby.  Instead, I just showed him the positive test.  I think he was shocked at first, but then was excited!  He started texting family and friends (including my parents) as soon as I told him!  He even put it on Facebook with his film announcement.  It truly was an exciting week at our house.

HOW FAR ALONG AM I AND WHEN AM I DUE?

I am 11 weeks today and am due Monday, June 19th.  If this baby is born on its due date, then our kids birthdays will be 19, 20, 21.  If he or she is three days late, they will be 20, 21, and 22.  

WILL WE FIND OUT THE GENDER?

Yes!!  As cool as I think it would be to surprised in the delivery room, it's just not practical. We already have everything we need for a girl and we want to be prepared if its a boy.  With both girls, we were fortunate enough to find out the gender at 16 weeks.  It looks like we'll be finding out even sooner with this baby.  We should know within a week or two thanks to additional testing that is required due to my age.

WHAT DO THE GIRLS THINK?

Kaitlyn was very excited from the beginning.  She has been asking for a baby brother or sister for while.  It took Madi a couple days to be excited about it.  They were (and still are) really excited to share the news with there friends and almost every stranger they meet.  It has been fun listening to them talk about the baby and pray for it during their bedtime prayers.  Kaitlyn is hoping for a brother and Madi is hoping for a sister.

WILL THIS BE OUR LAST?

As much as I like the idea of having four kids, this will most likely be our last.  Kids are expensive and require a lot of our time.  We want them to able to experience things that we might not be able to if we have a fourth.  

HOW AM I FEELING?

This pregnancy has been rough.  For the first few weeks, I was just really tired.  Around week 7, I started having all-day sickness complete with vomiting.  With the girls, I only felt sick if I didn't eat frequently, but with this baby it doesn't seem to matter what I do.  I feel nauseous if I eat and nauseous if I don't eat.

This was their idea, but I think it might sum up their feelings about a new baby.

Just A Few Confessions

1) I can't relax when the house is messy.  I can tolerate the floors not being vacuumed or swept, but I cannot stand clutter.  The worst areas for me are the kitchen and living room.  To help reduce my stress, I try to pick up the living room and kitchen every night before going to bed.  The girls hate that I make them put all of their stuff away, but I love waking up to a clean, clutter free house.  

2) I hate bedtime!  There is always some kind of struggle.  The girls seem to think that this is the perfect time to watch another show, wrestle with daddy, hide in the closet, or decide that they finally want to eat their dinner.  They also have this terrible habit of insisting that I sit in the hallway until they are asleep.  Some nights they fall asleep quickly, but most nights I have to sit there way too long.  By the time they're finally asleep and I get to relax or get myself ready for bed, I feel like I have just completed a marathon.  

3) I used to be great about sending thank you notes, but for the last couple of years I can't seem to get them done.  Please forgive me if you don't get one.  I have the best of intentions.  Hopefully, I get better at this as the kids get older.

4) I don't enjoy working out.  I do, however, love the way I look and feel after I've worked out.  I have to force myself to workout, but I know that I have to because I have a bit of a sweet tooth.  I'm very fortunate that I have found a quick workout plan that I can do in 30 minutes or less during nap time or first thing in the morning.

5) I have a hard time buying clothes for my self especially if it's something trendy.  I love outfits when I see them on people, but I can't envision them together when they're on the rack.  I have just recently discovered that if I look online I can see what the clothes look like on someone.  This has been a lifesaver and has resulted in a few recent purchases.  

6) I get a thrill out of saving money.  I'm a tad bit frugal and love finding a deal.  I just recently tried jet.com after seeing so many commercials about it.  I really did save money and it was delivered to my doorstep within two days.  I also, just recently tired Walmart pick up.  This service might not have saved me any money on the things we needed, but it did prevent me from making any impulse purchases.  I can definitely see myself using this free service once baby #3 arrives.  There are also several money saving apps that I frequently use.  Ibotta, SavingStar, Checkout 51, Target cartwheel, and Walmart's savings catcher.  Most of these apps only work on instore purchases.

There you have it.  You now know a few more things about me.

Halloween 2016

At the beginning of the year, Madi told me that she wanted to be Cruella DeVil and that she wanted Katilyn to be a dalmatian.  I did what most mom's do and searched Pinterest for costume ideas.  When it came time to start making her costume, I thought that I should make sure that she still wanted to be Cruella.  Boy am I glad that I did because even though she was dead set on Cruella for months, she had now changed her mind.  She wanted to be Dorothy Gale and since I love themed sibling costumes, I suggested that Kaitlyn be someone from the Wizard of Oz too.  She picked Glenda the Good Witch.  I tried convincing Madi to go at the Wicked Witch because I thought it would be cute to have a good witch and bad witch, but she was set on Dorothy.  She did suggest that I dress as the witch and it's hard to argue with someone so cute.  Madi also asked David to dress as the scarecrow or a flying monkey and her grandparents to dress up as munchkins.  Here are a few pictures of there costumes.

Glenda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the West, and Dorothy Gale

As usual, we went trick or treating in our neighborhood with Grandma Kathy and Papa Dave.  The girls had a blast and we couldn't have asked for better weather.  In my 34 years of trick or treating, I can't remember ever being able to go without even a jacket.  It was an absolutely beautiful night.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if had were a Friday or Saturday night. By 8:00 the girls were pretty tired (we had a very busy weekend with Staci's wedding) and they didn't want to get out of wagon. We hit up a couple more houses (if they were sitting in the driveway) on the way back to the house and called it a night.  Another Halloween is in the books and I can't wait until next year when we have another little one to add to mix.