Aiden: Last day of Pre-K

I cannot believe how fast these last few years have flown by, and I am going to have a KINDERGARTENER next year! That just blows my mind!

August 2014

May 2015

I cannot believe how much he has grown in the past school year! He knows his ABCs (still working on naming and recognizing all of them by their formal "name"), all of his shapes (sometimes he forgets the name for rectangle, but can still recognize it), he can count to 20 (sometimes forgets 13), and can write his name and draw pictures that actually look like something! He loves coloring, playing with play-doh and clay, striped shirts, and to run, run, run (literally, he never stops)! 

And to show you how long it took me to get a normal picture of him….

The struggle is real, folks! 

We are excited to kick off summer break, if the weather ever cooperates! 

The timeline:

August 2013 (3 years old)

August 2014 (4 years old)

Happy Summer Break!

The "Spring" front porch.

It seems as though summer is never going to come to Colorado, and it also seems like winter has never left! Our Spring weather usually consists of 70s and 80s (sometimes 90s) and we already have a tan come June! Not this year, mother nature has other plans! We have yet to turn on our sprinklers, we haven't had to turn on our air conditioning, and we have even had to run the heat some! Maybe she is just being nice to me because I am super pregnant!

We were able to go out and get some flowers yesterday and plant some rose bushes as well… we are still waiting for new bushes from Richmond for our front, but that is a story for another day! Lowes was having a 2 for $10 sale on hanging petunias, and we just cut them out and planted them, the deal was too good to pass up! The pot on the front porch also had red flowers, but Luke had other plans for that pot - he tore all the red flowers off! 

We are also putting up the last of the blinds in our family room today (or tomorrow) and hopefully I will have an updated post about how much color they have brought into our family room! 

38 weeks.

I have officially made it further with this baby than with Luke! I can't believe how close we are to meeting this little girl!

38 weeks

How far along: 38 weeks 

Total weight gain: 22 pounds (have not gained any weight in two weeks, but baby has!)

Baby is the size of a: Swiss chard

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Yes.. wah! I now have a skinny light pink one forming on my right side of my belly!

Sleep: Hit or miss. Mostly miss!

Best moment of this week: Seeing my little peanut on the ultrasound, again!

Movement: So so much!

Food cravings: Fruit and yogurt!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just moving a lot. I have been trying to walk a lot hoping to jump start something, but the only thing that happens is contractions that haven't done anything (1 cm/50%)… and it makes me feel sick. 

Aches or pains: Back and gallbladder

Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender: GIRL!! 

Labor signs: I was actually in the hospital Wednesday evening because I had 7 hours of contractions 5 minutes apart. Apparently she is playing games because nothing came of it and I was sent home! 

Belly button in or out: Out

Wedding rings on or off: On

What are you dreaming about: More weird stuff! 

Carter's is also having a Memorial Day sale and I got a few cute things for the boys and the baby…

These cute rompers are only $5 each! I also picked out some cute outfits that I want the boys to wear for the newborn photos for baby LC! My lovely neighbor and friend will be taking their photos and I am SO excited to have them done! 

I think that is all for now! Hopefully my next update will be an introduction to LC! 

37 weeks.

It has been SO nice to be on a break from school, despite my summer class reading which I am trying to be caught up though June 20th on so I do not have to worry about reading during wedding weekend for two of our best friends! Not having to drive downtown has been amazing and taken a big stressor out of my life! I also had a prenatal massage today which was AMAZING! I kept thinking the whole time "please never end!" My gallbladder pain has been radiating into my back and causing serious amounts of pain… I wish she would at least drop already to take some relief of my faulty gallbladder.

I also had a girls dinner planned with my neighbors and they surprised me with diapers and gifts for baby LC. I could have never dreamed of having such an amazing group of women as neighbors and friends, and I am so thankful for deciding two years ago to make the move and sell our first house and move to a new city! They are truly wonderful people!

37 weeks

How far along: 37 weeks 

Total weight gain: 22 pounds (did not gain any weight from week 36 - 37), but baby still looks good!

Baby is the size of a: Winter Melon (what is this?)

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Not yet

Sleep: Not good. Not good at all. 

Best moment of this week: My prenatal massage and my surprise get together with my neighbors!

Movement: So so much!

Food cravings: Nothing in particular

Anything making you queasy or sick: Anything that doesn't smell amazing. 

Aches or pains: Back and gallbladder

Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender: GIRL!! 

Labor signs: Here and there… nothing consistent yet though.

Belly button in or out: Out

Wedding rings on or off: On

What are you dreaming about: Just weird things. Mostly wedding stuff, but some baby stuff like changing her name and other strange things! 

I am pretty excited that Orange is the New Black and some other great shows will be out while Berto is home on paternity leave… We can get lots of movies and TV shows in since we will be laying low! Come on out, now baby! Bags are packed, hospital has registrations, now we are just waiting on the actual baby love! 

36 weeks.

Everything is moving along at a snails pace because I have one final paper left to write, and one meeting left to attend for the semester. I seriously feel like this is the never - ending semester, which I find myself saying nearly every semester! It hasn't helped that I am sick this week and that our weather has been nothing short of awful, dreary rain. Blah - hello cabin fever and crazy children!

36 weeks

How far along: 36 weeks 

Total weight gain: 22 pounds

Baby is the size of a: A large cantaloupe (7 lbs 3 oz - to be exact off of her ultrasound measurements)

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Not yet

Sleep: Awful. My awesome husband doesn't cover his mouth and coughed in my face and now I have an awful cold

Best moment of this week: Finishing classes, but I still have a paper and a meeting, but at least I do not have to sit through classes anymore, especially because my stomach was starting not to fit!

Movement: So so much!

Food cravings: Water, nothing else tastes that good with this cold

Anything making you queasy or sick: Bad breath

Aches or pains: Back and gallbladder

Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender: GIRL!! 

Labor signs: Some contractions in the early morning. 

Belly button in or out: out

Wedding rings on or off: On

What are you dreaming about: I do not think I am sleeping well enough to have dreams…

NST at 36 weeks

A real contraction at 36 weeks

Checklist: 

• Pre-register at the hospital 
• Pack my bag and buy a few more comfy clothes
• Wash the bouncy seat cover, the Rock-N-Play cover, and the swing cover
• Make sure my Medela pump still works 
• Buy everything on my registry 
• Stock up on after baby supplies
• Buy a lamp for the nursery 
• Do a project with my late grandmother's broaches for the nursery  This came out so cute, and I cannot wait to share! 
• Make nurses "thank-you" bags
• Make room darkening panels for the nursery (making today!)
• Buy gifts from baby LC to the boys
• Final load of laundry for baby LC (today)

Puckered face

Adorable new outfit

I think that is all for this week! I cannot believe we have less than four short weeks left! I also get my new baby bows in on Monday, so excited! 

Postpartum survival.

I thought I would throw together a list of things that are extremely useful for surviving the first six weeks after having a baby! I always make sure these are all stocked up in our home prior to going into labor so I have them and do not have to make any last minute trips (often late at night) to the store!

• Post natal vitamins: It is helpful to continue to take your vitamins after having your baby. It will help with your hair (to not fall out) and with your milk supply
• A big water bottle: You will be SO thirsty!
• Lansinoh nursing cooler/warmer: this will help with engorgement or soreness
• Lansinoh soothing pads: You can put these in the refrigerator and they are so so amazing!
• Gas drops: These are for babe, they get gassy and it hurts them
• Chamomile tea: It is calming for moms and we even gave Luke a tiny bit to calm him down when he was fussy (ask your doctor first though, I am not a doctor!)
• Boppy: When the babies are so tiny, this helps prop them up for nursing!
• Pads and Tucks: this will help mom heal faster
• Olive oil: I SWEAR by this stuff for nursing moms, it is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and you can put it on before and after nursing sessions to help with the pain and avoid mastitis
• A breast pump: invest in a good one, I promise it is worth it
• Lavender essential oil: diffuse in your house for help with sleep and calmness

Everything else I think the hospital will give you! Anything else I am forgetting? What did you all use that were considered your "life - savers?"

35 weeks.

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has FLOWN by. I feel like it was just September yesterday. I don't know if I ever shared this story, but I kind of thought I was pregnant before saying anything to my husband. My best friend was in town from California so we went and bought literally ten tests. All of the digital tests came back negative, but the good ol' fashioned tests showed the FAINTEST line ever. Like ever. We were just hanging out with her mom and dad and her mom was all "congratulations!" and her dad thought we were all lunatics. Literally, he thought we were crazy and he saw absolutely nothing on the stick.

Once we sort of determined that it probably was positive, Heather and I headed to Walmart to find some gender neutral baby shoes (which are extremely difficult to find)…. But ended up picking up some little red shoes and a gift bag. I came home (so excited) and told Berto I had a present for him. And, I secretly video taped the whole thing. It was adorable. Then I told him I was pretty sure, but not yet 100% sure!

The "barely" positive

And here we are, 30 ish weeks later! Shout out to Doug, the women were right… again! :) I had my weekly NST and ultrasound and everything was perfect… which makes me SO happy to hear. She is measuring two weeks ahead again. The ultrasound tech literally said "So much for PAPP-A!" That was really relieving to hear. She also asked how big the boys were, if the boys had big heads (yes - 13.5cm each), and said that this baby may be the biggest one yet! 

35 weeks

How far along: 35 weeks 

Total weight gain: 21 pounds (ish)

Baby is the size of a: A canary melon (what is this?!)

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Not yet

Sleep: A little bit better. I eliminated a few more things from my diet which has helped my gallbladder pain a little bit more. I am still sleeping with a heating pad rolled up to help with the pain (I miss you, ibuprofen). 

Best moment of this week: I was always somewhat hesitant to believe hat babies truly knew their own mothers voice. While I was getting my NST I was proven wrong. Her heartbeat is usually around 130s-140s while I am just laying down in the chair. As soon as the lady came in to ask if I was comfortable, and I responded, her heart rate jumped up to 158 and stayed high while I spoke. It was really cute! 

Movement: So so much!

Food cravings: Powdered doughnuts, still. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Aches or pains: A little bit of everything. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes 

Gender: GIRL!! 

Labor signs: Nightly STRONG braxton hicks. Some contractions in the early morning. 

Belly button in or out: out.

Wedding rings on or off: On

What are you dreaming about: I cannot really remember anything crazy from this week.  

I did not check off anything on my to-do list this week. I did, however, measure for the room-darkening shades. I need another yard to finish her little window in her room. I also received my free Medela pump through my insurance company (thanks ACA - or some of you may call it "Obamacare")! I never had the option to get a free pump with the other boys, so I certainly took advantage of this while I could. So now I have two Medela pumps, just in case one breaks. I ordered it through www.edgepark.com, and it was SUPER easy. I am also overwhelmed looking at all of the incredible bow options on Etsy. I love all of them and wish I could order every single one! I did buy one for the fourth of July, just not off of an Etsy website… 

I also started working on a little project for the family room this week…. I still need to get some things, but I found some pictures from our family vacations that are going to be a part of this little project. I used Photoshop to lighten them, and you will see why once I get the wheels rolling on this project!

San Jose Del Cabo

Long Beach, California

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica, California

Well, I think that is all for next week. I am SO SO SO happy to be done with the semester after this week, ah!