10 things I will miss about pregnancy......

So I am FINALLY sitting down to catch up on my blog! I have not been nearly as diligent in keeping up with it as I had promised myself I would be.

In the past 3 months I have grown in leaps and bounds! I never remember my stomach being this large with my previous 2 pregnancies, so my bet is that Bella is going to be the biggest of my babies......we'll see! I now have only 2 weeks and 6 days before my scheduled c-section date. Seems like not long at all but also seems like forever. I am really trying to focus on the things I love and enjoy about pregnancy these last couple of weeks. This will be my last time! So I have come up with a list of the things I LOVE about being pregnant. ( To be followed by the easily compiled list of things I DIDN'T love about being pregnant, after delivery). Here is my top 10.

10. Decorating the baby nursery

9. Baby shopping

8. The ANTICIPATION of a new member of our family

7. Cute/Comfy maternity clothes (Though this will also be on my DIDN'T love list as I have well past the cute stage of pregnancy!)

6. Wearing a maternity swimsuit and not worrying about being bloated.

5. Eating whatever and as much as I want without getting "the LOOK".

4. All of the RANDOM things people say to pregnant people that they would NEVER say to someone who wasn't! My fav....."Are you really going to let the big, fat girl go get that?"

3. Hailey and Mary Kathryn's growing fascination with my baby belly.

2. Having my husband dote on me more than usual! (Yes, my guilty pleasure)

1. Feeling the baby move and wondering what she will be like:)


And after I deliver I will do my top 10 things I DON'T miss about being pregnant!

So far this pregnancy I have gained a total of 33 pounds. I weighed in at 126pds before pregnancy and now top off at a glorious 159.7 pounds and still counting! YIKES! I keep telling myself a lot of it has to be fluid, right? Thats what I choose to believe anyway!

This weekend I am going to try to pack my hospital bag ( Just in case!). So far I have some comfy after delivery pj's, my belly bandit, toothpaste and all of those essentials. If anyone can think of anything important I am forgetting please say so in comments!

One of the best things I have learned throughout this pregnancy is that I have some REALLY great friends who call or message me regularly to check on how things are going! I am very LUCKY! You really learn how AWESOME your friends and coworkers are!

I have also learned how to smile sweetly even when people make comments such as, "I'm glad I'm not starting all over again! Mine are big enough to do for themselves!" (This is another example of RANDOM things people say to pregnant people) I happily realize that everyone is at different stages in their lives and I am going to enjoy each stage of mine:)

Super excited to go pick up baby supplies this weekend. Baby supplies are another thing that I know I am forgetting some of the necessities. So please feel free to remind me of any basics I might be forgetting in the comments box! Also I need to find a cute diaper bag if anyone has suggestions on where to find one:)


Lastly, a promise to myself!

I will not forget to document these last weeks of pregnancy!!!!

Late Post- St. Patricks Day

Hailey and Mary Kathryn are always super excited whenever there is a holiday and St. Patricks Day is no exception! Whenever a holiday is brought up at school, we always look up the meaning on the internet and ,of course, we looked up pictures of leprechauns (Mary Kathryn's favorite part!). Over the last few years, a "leprechaun" has been leaving cupcakes w/ green icing and sprinkles for the girls. Every St. Patrick's Day, Mary Kathryn and I go pick up Hailey from school and when we get back there are green cupcakes on the table. Well, this year Hailey decided she didn't want a leprechaun in our house and wouldn't even go upstairs to get ready for school. She thought a leprechaun might be up there! So this year "I" made the green cupcakes and for Mary Kathryn's benefit (she still thinks its really cool that a leprechaun leaves the cupcakes) the leprechaun added green sprinkles while we were picking up Hailey from school (We didn't tell Hailey that part!). This is one of our fun little traditions. They will probably soon outgrow this one, but we will have to keep it going for baby Bella!

Busy weekend!....

What a busy weekend! Friday we headed to Cary to have a 4D ultrasound. We were really excited to see baby Bella in a more "realistic" looking picture. It was definitely very different from the 2D ultrasounds we are use to seeing. All of the little parts and even the face was a whole lot easier to see. The tech who did our u/s told us the baby would have been even clearier, but since the placenta is on the front of my uterus, it was more difficult then usual to get a clear picture. Even so, we got some great shots and really enjoyed the experience. I think it finally brought home to Hailey and Mary Kathryn that there is a real, live baby in there! After the u/s we headed to Crabtree to eat at Kanki. The girls loved watching the cooks "throw fire" and of course the food was awesome! On Saturday morning I did a little bit of shopping and then headed to help Michelle prepare tickets and seating for the Jr. Miss. I headed straight from working on that to meet Chrystal and Nikki for dinner at the Olive Garden. So glad they were so understanding about having to rush back to the Jr. Miss to help w/ the tickets! We finally settled down to watch the show and had a great time. Missed the very end to help Michelle backstage w/ the awards, but really enjoyed it and didn't mind at all:) Looking forward to our next "GNO" night! Sunday morning Michael, Mary Kathryn and I went to Sunday school then helped out in the nursery. Hailey had spent the night with her good friend, Madison, so we were definitely missing her, but she had a great time! As soon as I got home I layed on the couch and the next thing I knew it was 4 hours later! Glad for the much needed nap! Had a great weekend but wouldn't mind a relaxing week ahead!

We are growing...literally!

Can't believe it is March already! Since my last blog we have announced our 3rd and last baby is on her way and will be here sometime in July! I will be 20 weeks this upcoming weekend. 5 months down, 4 to go!! Very glad the horrible nausea and vomiting has gone away! I am very lucky to have had the help of my husband, mother in law, friends, and the best coworkers I could ever ask for! I have no idea what I would have done without them! So, we had our 17week ultrasound a few weeks ago and found out we are having a little girl! Hailey and Mary Kathryn are super excited to be getting a little sister and I know they will all have a good time growing up together. We have decided to name this newest addition Isabella Faith and call her Bella. She is already a very active baby and moves around all day (and night) long. Now that I am about half way there and getting bigger, I am having to use almost all of the pillows on our bed to get comfortable sleeping at night. Poor Michael is lucky to get one pillow to lay his head on at night! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who does not mind! We are definitely each others best friend and our priority is always on each other, our family together, and of course, first and foremost, God. Thank you Lord for giving us each other! Next on our agenda is to have an additional bedroom prepared for the baby. We will be walling in the upstairs living area that we never use and have it made into a bedroom. That should be done sometime at the end of April/early May. Since it has been 5 years since Mary Kathryn was born, I have gotten rid of almost all our baby stuff. So getting everything she will need will also be on my to- do list. It has been so long I really can't remember what all she will need! I need to start a list!! This Friday we will be getting a 3d-4d u/s. The girls are really excited about this. Can't wait!

Also since my last blog Hailey turned 8 years old. My goodness how time flies! We are so blessed to have our Hailey. She is so responsible, caring, always thinks of others and their feelings and we couldn't be prouder of her. She had a great birthday/slumber party w/ a total of 11 little girls. Thank you, thank you, thank you Trina, Victoria, and Cassidy for your help w/ that. Ya'll are the best! Can't believe we will soon be registering Mary Kathryn for kindergarten! She is so excited about going to big girl school with Hailey in the fall. I will sure miss our week days together but I know she will love school!

I am going to try and be much more vigilant about updating my blog in the coming months. I don't want to miss documenting any of the many changes in our family. I know we will want to look back at this time in our lives one day! Right now we are living and enjoying every moment!

It's a wonderfully, busy life........

So much going on lately!!! Starting to think its time for me to invest in a planner. The kids are watching Frosty the Snowman so I'm taking this opportunity to catch up on my blog! Between school, dance, church and family/friends/ Christmas gatherings, and of course the all important Christmas shopping it is definitely a busy, exciting time of year!

Went on a weekend trip to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit family the week before Thanksgiving. Word to the wise.... Not a good idea to work a 12 hour ER shift then drive 12 hours straight overnight. But soooo glad I did!!! Had a great time and the trip was definitely worth the drive! Spent Thanksgiving visiting family and EATING and visiting more family. I have soooo much to be grateful for and I thank God everyday for the many blessings in my life.

Finally purchased the really cute wreath I've been wanting from Pier 1(one of my FAVORITE stores). Thanks to Trina for her help on the decision making on that! Had a really great time cooking out with Jesse, Trina, Victoria, and Taylor. Good food, great friends, what more could we ask for?!

Went to Hanging of the greens last Sunday at WEBC, a first for our family. Absolutely beautiful!!! The kids were super cute ringing their little bells and singing. Can't wait for the Children's Christmas program coming up! Hailey's working on one of the solo singing parts and she's a little nervous about it. But I'm sure she and all the children will do an awesome job:)

Michael has been working on the outside christmas decorations at our house, which are about half done. He's doing an awesome job! He is so great at helping me get things done around the house and juggling his crazy schedule. Love, Love, Love him!!! I keep thinking of more decorations I want to do inside the house, but then I remember we'll be having to take them all down in a month from now!

Looking forward to our beach trip next weekend! Shannon, Kevin, Michael and I and all the kids have rented a beach house for the weekend and are taking Sheila and Wayne for their Christmas present. It's really hard to think of new and unique things to get them, so we thought a trip would be a fun present and a great way to spend time together! Soooo ready for a relaxing weekend at the beach!!!

Hailey and Mary Kathryn are getting more and more excited for Christmas everyday! Hailey is now asking for Santa to leave her a reindeer bell from his sleigh. Where Santa is going to find a reindeer jingle bell, I have no idea!! But I think he has most of the other things on their lists covered, thank goodness!

It's a wonderfully, busy life we live, but it's our life and we LOVE it!!!!

A head start on the holidays!....

The Christmas tree is up and decorated!!! We set it up this past Friday so we could let the branches "fall out" and make sure the lights were still working. Luckily they were and I was able to go on and arrange the ribbons on the tree. It actually took a couple of days to do this because I would put some on and come back and move them around and put some more on. By Sunday night I had it all arranged and we were able to decorate it on Monday evening. Hailey and Mary Kathryn were sooo excited! We let them watch Polar Express and dragged all the ornaments out and just let them go at it. Michael fixed us all hot chocolate with cinnamon and red and green sprinkles on top ( the girls thought that was just the best thing!) I did have to do a little adjusting of the ornaments when they were done because most of them had ended up right at their eye level! Now that the tree is done I've been gradually trying to decorate the rest of the house and hopefully it will be done by Thanksgiving. It's amazing how just having the tree up can really get you in the holiday spirit! A couple of toy catalogs came in the mail last week and the girls have been looking at them every chance they get! Mary Kathryn has been circling the things she wants and there are quite a few circles in those books (she's at that indecisive age:) Hailey, on the other hand, has been carefully writing her list. She has about 5 or 6 things listed that she REALLY wants and has them ranked in order of how much she wants them. That should make things pretty easy for Santa!!! Most importantly, we have been talking about the true meaning of Christmas and what the season is really about. So happy we also have our church family to share it with this year!!!

There's no place like home.....

Went to Carolina Beach this past Halloween weekend for K9 trials. Michael, Tazer, Jesse, and Bullitt did a great job and I was very proud of them! So happy to be back in my own bed though!!! The Kure Police dept took the girls and all the children of the K9 officers trick or treating which was super nice and they had an awesome time:) Love, love, loved the oceanfront room. There is nothing like falling asleep to the sound of the ocean! Especially had a great time hanging out with Trina, Victoria, Taylor, and Cassidy while Michael and Jesse were occupied with trial work. Nothing like a little retail therapy to ease the stress!!:) Looking forward to putting up the Christmas tree hopefully this week!!! Never to early to start celebrating the season:)