Houston

Last weekend I got to escape all by myself and go to visit my friend who now lives in Houston.  I had a wonderful time and it was a perfect get away for MOM.  We went shopping, got mani's and pedi's, toured the gigantic homes, went to a state park where the alligators live, down to Galveston  ate out at lots of delicious places, and went to the museum for the Faberge exhibit.  I got to see and touch a baby gator, and the park was full of vines so I had to swing on one and yell like Tarzana :)  It was a "cold" day for Texas standards, so we didn't see that many gators, but there were a few.   It was tons of fun!  Thanks, Emily & Shawn for a wonderful weekend!

Tater Tot at 14 Weeks

How Far Along: 14 Weeks

Size of Baby: Lemon.  About 3.5 inches from head to bottom.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 0 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Heck ya!  I've been in Maternity pants since week 7, mostly for comfort reasons, oh and because my hips immediately started expanding.  Sweats are the best though.  Shirts are becoming more difficult now and I've hung all of my maternity shirts up and worn a few of them.  I'm in the "fat" stage right now which makes me wardrobe challenged.

Baby Movement: I swear I've felt a few tiny flutters, but when I told my midwife about this, she looked at me like I was crazy. 

Sleep:  Normal for now.  Pregnancy dreams are starting to annoy me.  I only dream (or remember my dreams) when I am pregnant.

What I miss: A glass of wine.  

Cravings:  Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub on white bread with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, banana peppers, a little mayo and sweet onion sauce   Not toasted.  Feel free to drop one off to me.  

Aversions:  Meat, mostly chicken (except for the afore mentioned).  California Rolls (this used to be my every other week treat to myself when I did the grocery shopping and folded all the laundry on the same day).  

Symptoms: Puking, nauseous, tired exhausted, sore back and hips.

Best Moment:  The girls seeing baby on the 13 week ultrasound and immediately saying "baby!" and Cecilia saying "baby girl!"  Jon is rooting for a boy, and the girls are rooting for a girl.  Someone might be a tad disappointed come August.

12 weeks

14 Weeks

Valentine

We are so blessed to have these little loves in our life.  The girls are so excited about the baby, and they both are insistent that it is a Baby Girl.  Love them all!  I hope your Valentine's Day was filled with lots of love too.

  

E2

I have to take a moment to brag about my husband. Jon recently received a promotion at work to an E2, or Engineer 2. He was given very high marks on his review last year, and all of his colleagues and bosses had great praise for the work he has been doing. I am so proud of him and his strong work ethic. It seems that he has made a very good impression on many of the higher-ups and he is well respected in his circles. He has been performing at an E2 level for a while now, so there are not many changes to his responsibilities for now. It's nice to be appreciated for the work you do and the accolades and promotion are a great affirmation that the change Jon made to work at Ball two years ago was a good decision for him and our family. The raise that came with the promotion was a nice perk too :)

Bowling with Age Five and Under

We went bowling with the MOPS group last month, and oh my goodness, it was so much fun! We found a bowling alley that has a special for preschoolers for just $2 per game, and they set up the bumpers and the ramp for you. It was kind of chaotic. It was a lesson in patience, taking turns, and crowd control for all. One game was plenty for us, and the kids did really well. I think that Kiera, one of the youngest one with 130 something points and Lilly was a close second.

Stock Show

Last Friday we took the girls to the National Western Stock Show.  We had been talking about it with Cecilia for a few weeks, and every time it got brought up she insisted that Pops come with us.  Lucky for her, it worked out so that Pops could join us for the day.  Jon took the day off of work and we headed out first thing in the morning to see the cows and horses.  We just bought general admission tickets (no rodeo this year), and it was perfect.  Both of the girls got to ride a pony and LOVED it.  Lilly smiled the entire time.  I think that was Lilly's favorite part of the day, because she was not so sure about any of the other animals.  She was terrified of the little geriatric goats in the petting zoo, and she wanted nothing to do with the other big cows and horses in the "barn".   She did take to a pig at the end, until he came out for a walk with his owner.  Cecilia did great and loved all the animals.  She mimicked their sounds and was very insistent about seeing the horses.  I had Jon take a picture of me with the girls at the end, (you know, just to prove I was there), but it turned out really out of focus.  Oh well.  Oh- and thank goodness for Benedryl.  I was dying within about 10 minutes of arrival.  The last time I went to the stock show, I had to leave the Rodeo and find the "clinic" before I passed out because I couldn't breath.  I was afraid it would happen again, so I came prepared with Benedryl on hand this time.

Tater Tot

Our family of four

Will soon be five.

Little Tater Tot will be one more

Blessing in our lives.

Out numbered we will be

Cause their will soon be three.

They say the due date is August Seventeen.

 

We are soooo excited to welcome baby number three into our family!  With a due date of August 17th, I am already praying for a cooler summer.  We had our first ultra sound this morning.  It was wonderful to see the little one.  I have been feeling pregnant since the morning we found out.  I woke up on 12/12/12 with a headache and feeling a bit nauseous, and sure enough, there were TWO pink lines!  It was a happy morning.  We definitely needed happy news at that point too.  

Over all, I've been feeling pretty sick.  I have been managing to eat still, and I'm only down one pound at this point.  That's really good considering I lost 14 pounds with Cecilia in the first trimester, and seven with Lilly.  Maternity pants?  Heck ya!  I've been sporting the elastic waist band since week 7.

We told Jon's Mom on Christmas Day, and my family on the 26th.  The rest of the family was told this last weekend.  Although, our approach was not so direct and no one understood or got the hint.  For Jon's mom and my extended family I made shirts for the girls to wear but we still had to spell it out for them.  For my family, we had my Mom hang an extra little stocking up with our family's stockings, and none of my brothers or sister in law's picked up on it.  

Overall, everyone is happy for us.  We have already gotten a few of those responses, you know, the "Wow, really?  Huh.  Ok."  Or, "Is your house big enough for another baby?"  Or, this was my favorite, "You know how that happens right?" My response, "Yeah, its fun!".  Do you think I'm stupid??  This was a choice to have a third baby, and we feel so incredibly blessed to be able to have another child, and we don't take this for granted for one second.  

As for boy or girl, I really dont' know at this point, nor do I have a preference.  Jon is rooting for a boy, most of the family is.  But we don't get to pick these things out.  We will wait and find out when Tater Tot makes their grand entrance, just like we did with Cecilia and Lilly.  

Cecilia is getting it this time.  She knows that there is going to be a new baby and the baby is in Mommy's tummy.  Lilly thinks that Daddy is going to have the baby.  When you ask her if Mommy should have a baby, she says "No. Daddy."  It is pretty funny.  She has yet to say that Mommy should have the baby.  I think that Lilly is in for the biggest change.  She is such a Mama's girl, and this little one is going to severely impact her Mommy time.  Fortunately the timing will be good because both Cecilia and Lilly will go to school just a few weeks after the baby arrives.

I hope to be able to document the pregnancy a little better.  I read other blogs or see pictures on Facebook of other pregnant Mommies and there are lots of cute ways to document as baby grows.  I think it would be fun to blog the pregnancy more frequently than I did with the first two.  We will see, I might need a nap first :)