50 Days and Counting!!!!

Can you believe that is actually what the ticker says? That sounds much better than 7 more weeks! I can't believe it! Here is my latest belly shot at 32 weeks.

On Sunday, my sister and mom came over so we got to spend time with Baby Taylor. What a beautiful and sweet baby she is! The kids had fun holding her again- even though Morgan isn't smiling at all in the pictures.

This one is the following day but I love Morgan in this outfit and just had to add it. Plus- she is actually smiling here.

Sunday afternoon we had a nice visit at R & S's house with R's parents and two of their best friends. It was so nice to get to spend time with everyone and get to know each other better. Unfortunately, the little guy slept the whole time so no one was able to feel kicks during the visit. Darn it! This coming Sunday is our hospital tour with R & S so they can walk through and see how it will all happen at the hospital. It will be very exciting for all of us!

Al is out of town this week which of course means one of the kids gets sick and sure enough, today I got the call (during my lunch meeting) that Carson had a fever at school so I had to leave early from work and left 1/2 of my lunch at the restaurant to pick him up. It is so darn nice outside- I just wish he was feeling better so he could enjoy this weather. And now tomorrow he has to miss school too because of the 24 hour fever rule. That will be his first missed day of school EVER! He never missed a day in Kindergarten or 1st grade so far which I was so proud of. Poor guy! Hopefully it is a quick bug for him like the rest of us had.

And now for the latest news............we want to welcome our newest nephew into the world, Eric Charles who was born on Friday, 3/13 at 6pm weighing 8lbs, 4 ounces, 19.5 inches.

We can't wait to meet you Eric!!!

Dr. Appointment Yesterday

Well we made it through our last of the monthly visits and now will be moving to every 2 weeks for check ups. That happened REALLY quickly! The appointment was fine, but also a bit depressing! I gained 6 pounds this month. (Again!) How does that happen? Oh, maybe the cookies and ice cream have something to do with it. It is just depressing considering last month I only gained one pound so I was thinking I was going to be at my target weight gain of 25 pounds but now I am sure I will well exceed that! I guess I am just destined to always gain 35 pounds with each pregnancy. I know I shouldn't be obsessed about the weight gain.... but remember once the baby is born, I will just be a chubby lady with no baby- no excuse. And, we are trying to plan a family trip for the month after delivery and I have got to be able to fit into a swimsuit. (Notice I didn't say look good in one- just fit into it!) The dr. also said yesterday that my due date is either 5/9 or 5/11 not the original date we got from the ultrasound of 5/6 but I am not going to bother updating my blog tickers. I am a few days ahead of schedule but I am hopeful I will deliver early!!!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully tonight I will remember to have Al take a belly shot of me. It is growing daily- along with my hips, thighs and bum.

Our next appointment will be the week of 3/23 which is a crazy work week for me. I have a 3 day trade show at the end of that week Thursday-Saturday which will have me on my feet from 8am until 9pm on Thursday and Friday and then have to work on Saturday too from 8-5. I am totally dreading it! I will be so exhausted!!!!!!!!

We are going to R & S's house on Sunday for our rescheduled get together. Let's hope no one gets sick this time.

Home Renovation Complete!

Since I have babbled on and on about my stress with our home construction, I felt it was only fair to add some photos of the finished product! We are basically done, with the exception of finishing our 3 season room which will be done sometime this Spring. I can't tell you how relieved I am to be able to live construction free! What an amazing difference. Thanks again to my wonderful father in law and husband for making our home exactly what we wanted!

On another note, the flu struck our house this week with myself, Gavin and then Morgan. It was short lived, but definitely not fun! Unfortunately, this meant us cancelling our planned visit with R & S which I was so disappointed about. We have rescheduled for 3/15 so I will be looking forward to that. I actually still have been having stomach issues which may be related to it from earlier this week. Hopefully I will be back to 100% tomorrow so Al and I can celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. I also have dinner plans with friends on Saturday and a baby shower on Sunday so it will be a very busy weekend.

On the baby front, things are going fine this week. I think this little man likes music because he was kicking and dancing like crazy when I was watching American Idol this week. We are down to 9 weeks left now. Single digits! That is exciting. I hope it continues to go by fast. Next Wednesday is our next dr. visit and I believe we will go again 2 weeks after that and then weekly. I am terrified to see how much I have gained this time. YIKES! More updates to come next week after the Dr. visit.

Here is where we were 10 years ago! Happy 10 year anniversary Al! I love you.

Party like a Rockstar!!!

Just had to add these pictures of our little Rockstar Morgan. She is looking forward to the weekend already!

30 Weeks!!!

Wow, can you believe it? We are already 30 weeks along in this journey with only 10 left to go. (Hopefully less!) Part of me feels like 10 weeks is right around the corner and the other part of me feels like it will take forever to get here. I am getting big....... really big! It's amazing how you forget this after a pregnancy is over. Sleeping is becoming a bit more challenging and the middle of the night bathroom trips have returned with a vengeance. I will probably start using my second body pillow this weekend which will put a full wall around me on both sides so I can flip easier. So much for romance! Sorry hon.

Overall, I am feeling good. I have had quite a bit of heartburn and more indigestion periodically. I refuse to eat broccoli again until I deliver because it caused me so much pain for hours earlier this week! I am still craving any kind of sweets and still love chicken salad sandwiches. Tonight we are having friends over for pizza and I am dreading the meal. I absolutely despise pizza with this pregnancy. So strange because its usually a staple item on our family dining menu. I may fill up on cheese and crackers instead. As of this week, my varicose vein has decided to travel down into my calf so its bigger than ever. I am very self conscious of it and my ever increasing body size now.

I have been more emotional than usual lately which I am sure has to do with the added pregnancy hormones. It is so different this time around obviously because it is not mine. I swear when I was pregnant with my own kids I didn't care how big I was- I still felt beautiful. This time, I just feel big! Maybe its because I don't allow myself to have the "glow". I feel insecure about everything lately which I hate. I am trying to stay positive but I am not going to lie-I am a bit worried about how everything will end. I hope I will be able to hold this little guy some after delivering and hope we will continue to be close with R & S so we can see him grow up. For now, I am doing my very best to keep him safe and healthy and give him the best start to life as possible.

Our kids are doing really well with it all still. I think Morgan is wondering why the heck Mommy's tummy looks so big lately but she can't figure out how to ask about it. Carson is always loving and wants to take care of me. Gavin- I am not sure he has noticed that I am pregnant. :) They all seem to be fine though and understand perfectly that the baby will be going home with R & S. One day at the gym last week some of the day care workers asked Gavin if he was going to have another brother or sister and he said "No way, I already have a brother and sister!" Imagine the look on their faces when he said that. Of course I got questioned by all of the ladies after that since they were dumbfounded looking at my belly after what Gavin said.

Sunday we are heading over to R & S's house for a visit with them and their parents. We are really looking forward to it and can't wait to see the new babies room! I hope this little man will show his powers with some kicks while we are together on Sunday.

One week from today, Al and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. I pray that we have many, many more years together and love forever. I am looking forward to celebrating with him next weekend! Unfortunately, right after that, he is heading out of town- YET AGAIN. So be prepared for me to go crazy again the week of 3/9th! I am seriously so sick of the traveling. 3 out of 5 weeks is more than I can handle!

Sorry for the long post. Guess I felt like I had a lot to say today. :) Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Another Long Week................

It's Tuesday morning and Al is leaving out of town again until Friday. I am happy it's not as long as last time, but it still makes for an incredibly long week when I don't have my husband here to help. I will miss him and so will the kids! Darn business trips.

We had a nice long weekend with the kids and got a lot of errands done and stuff around the house. We are getting there....... only 6 pieces left of our missing cabinets and then we are finally complete! What a difference. Here are a couple family photos from Valentine's Day.

I am still feeling good. I have had a couple back aches at night probably from the days I am more active but nothing terrible yet. The icky vein is nasty as ever. I can't decide if it is getting worse or not. It is hard to tell since I can't really see it very good and I don't want to expose my husband to such horror to ask him to check its progress!

Here is the latest belly shot which was taken at 28 weeks. I am starting to feel huge which is not good considering I have 12 weeks left to go. Hopefully less! My first was born 4 days late, my second was born 2 days early, and my third was born 6 days early! So, here's to hopefull thinking that this little man will make an early entrance into the world about a week (or two) early! Hopefully that works ok with R & S's schedule. :)

Doctor Appointment Update

Yesterday we had our 27.5 week check up along with the Glucose Screening Test. Man that stuff is awful to drink! I felt pressured to drink it fast because the nurse was standing there waiting for me to finish it which was a good thing so I could get it over with as quick as possible! The results won't be in for a few days, but I am not really worried since I have never had any issues with Gestational Diabetes. Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself.

The Dr. measured my tummy for the first time this week and it measured right on track. The babies heart rate was around 150 the whole time which the Dr. said is exactly where it needs to be. I only gained a pound over the last month which I find extremely hard to believe since I am getting much bigger and have been eating quite a bit. I believe that brings me to 15 pounds total so far. I am really hoping I can stay around the 25 pound total weight gain this time but I have never been that lucky before. With all three of my kids, I gained 35 pounds each time but it's always that last 10 pounds that take forever to get rid of so hopefully if I gain 10 pounds less overall I will have a better shot at getting back into shape quicker. My fingers are crossed!

So far, I am enjoying the pregnancy but on the other hand I hope the next 12 weeks go by fast so we can complete the journey. I am counting down the days until I can have a glass of wine again! The baby is moving often and keeps me up a bit at night. I have been craving chicken salad sandwiches for the past few weeks which is a new pregnancy craving for me. Usually I like spicy foods but this time around that doesn't seem to settle well with me. We made taco pizza last night for dinner and I am still suffering with indigestion from it! Oh well, at least I am looking forward to my chicken salad sandwich for lunch later.

Our next appointment will be on Wed. 3/11 which will be 32 weeks along. Wow! Then we will go ever 2 weeks and then weekly until delivery. It is really hard to believe we are talking about that already. Hopefully soon we can try to plan a hospital tour/ visit with R & S to show them where it will all happen. I am looking forward to that! I love our hospital (since it's where my three babies were born) and it is really like a hotel. I am already looking forward to the recovery time at the hospital reading books, watching movies, visiting with my family without the lack of sleep with a newborn. :)

I plan on uploading a belly picture this week so you can all see my ever changing body.

Hope everyone is good. Today is going to be a great day- low 60's in Chicago in February? WOW!

P.S.- Congrats to my little princess who went poop on the potty the other day! I am so proud!