March Recap

 I'm writing this halfway through April. March was a good month to us and April has been ever so sweet to our family. As I write this post, we now have baby #4 with our family, sleeping, and she is healthy and so very loved. It's bittersweet to work on this post as it is pre-baby. I already don't know how we ever lived without her.

I'm going to start with my final pregnancy pictures of what will most likely be my last pregnancy. 

This pregnancy was so bittersweet and so easy, God really blessed me with that. Our sweet baby loved to lay horizontally in my tummy until the very end (she even resisted going vertical during part of her birth). This was my first baby to come at 40 weeks and I was so thankful for a chance to meet that goal as my others all came before that point.

In preparation for baby, I got out for dates with my children as much as I could this month. I love soaking up time with them:

It was Dr. Seuss week this month and we celebrated at our local library where the kids did crafts and a scavenger hunt:

This picture is minor but HUGE to me. When we moved into our home 9 years ago, I wanted our hvac system not in the middle of our basement. It impacted the layout of the space so much and your eye went right to it as you walked down the stairs. Unfortunately, our ac/heater went out and needed to be replaced. We decided to pay the extra money to have it moved into our storage room. It was well worth it:

Random notes from Jayden that make my heart swoon:

Still making food! Baked some raisin bread for a surprise after school snack:

We were so blessed and thrown a surprise baby shower! It was so fun and I feel so unworthy. Our baby is so blessed beyond measure:

Above are some cute cookies at the baby shower! I'm still in shock about that party as I type this.

Payton stayed home with us for a mental health day from school and we soaked her up thoroughly:

We added in cabinets into our living room and they have made a huge difference in the space and adding storage we desperately needed:

We also got carpet replaced in our bedrooms on the main floor and therefore said goodbye to our beloved rug that was in Payton's room. I miss it already and had a hard time parting with it:

Getting ready to remove carpet:

And new carpet:

We added some baby chicks into our lives:

While we emptied the rooms for new carpet, we decided to paint Payton's bed from black to white:

Our dishwasher was replaced so the boys took the old one apart. It was fun to watch my kids learning to think about how things work and how they are put together:

We got a few more good snows this month:

Grandma came to visit and went and had lunch with Riley. Jayden went with her:

We had another school dress up week. The only photos I captured from this round was dressing like your favorite character, Payton chose Cindy Lou Who and mustache day:

We received the sweetest gifts from my aunt for the kids and baby:

We had Riley for a bonus day from school and the boys had the best time together spending most of the day outside:

We also celebrated St. Patrick's day! The kids wore green and the leprechaun came to our house leaving a scavenger hunt and luck pennies for the kids. 

When the weather is nice we try to sneak outside. After school one day I took the kids to park to play:

We also did some different Easter library crafts over each week this month:

During the day, Jayden and I continue to work on school and trying to get outside to explore any chance we can:

This was a big month for Jayden as he had kindergarten round up! He had a blast and loved this morning so much.

I took the following picture the morning of:

So bittersweet to watch my children playing together well in the early morning. Soon after this quiet morning our house would go into full blast as we all got ready for school and took, not 2, but 3 kids to drop off. Kindergarten round up and the first day of kindergarten have a way of fully pulling at my heartstrings. It's so crazy how fast time goes. I wish I could slow it down. 

Our town did a scavenger hunt with businesses this month. 20 businesses participated and we did most of the walking downtown and definitely got our exercise! The kids had a lot of fun and I was able to witness how many local businesses they knew about and what they still had to learn. 

It was a beautiful month as we finished out our time as a family of 5, before becoming a family of 6. As the saying goes, the best is yet to come!!!

A Review of Our 2017

Happy New Year! We had a blast celebrating with our children at 6PM with dinner together, some sparkling grape juice (served in fancy wine glasses), and family game night. We knew I wouldn't make it to midnight (and I surprised everyone by making it to 9:30) and the kids stuck to their early bedtime routine. I actually can't think of the last NYE that I made it to midnight.

Each year, I make a video of our year and the result always ends up making me shed a few tears as I watch. This year does not disappoint. It's long though so be warned. I had the hardest time cutting my videos down for this one. This has been quite the year for our family and God has been working so hard on us all. It's hard to leave anything out when there were so many ups and downs.



It's a beautiful life. We wouldn't trade it for anything.

Another year of dancing like nobody's watching (or not caring if they are), singing, game playing, and loving each other hard. It was a also a year of being surprised with a 3rd pregnancy, finding out we were having a boy, and then going through the ebb and flow of emotions while in the NICU with our newest baby. It's something unpredictable and in the end is right.

We are having the time of our lives.

2017, you were a good year. We can't wait to see what's in store for us in 2018.

Baby #3 Has Arrived!

Last week, baby #3 made his arrival into our world. He came a little early at 37 1/2 weeks but right between when his siblings came (37 weeks and 38 weeks into pregnancy). We are so excited and thrilled he is here.

Introducing Baby Jayden:

Shortly after giving birth, our medical team decided to transfer our son due to having issues taking milk. After being transferred twice, we ended up at a Children's hospital and learned that Jayden did not have his esophagus connected to his stomach. He has had surgery and is continuing to recover in the NICU.

This has been a lot for us to take on as parents as we had no idea there were any concerns during my pregnancy. We are adjusting and helping our family roll through the motions.

We pray for God to provide Jayden and the rest of our family with strength and hope to bring our baby boy to our home soon. 

“I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.”

― Robert Munsch, Love You Forever

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

37 Weeks with a Baby #3

We made it to 37 weeks and I am really starting to feel like I'm in the home stretch. No idea when this baby will make an appearance but we are excited to find out!

I wanted to get a quick update while it was on my mind. I had my first child at 37 weeks and my second at 38 weeks, so this could very well be my last post of my pregnancy.

How far along: I am 37 weeks, 2 days.

Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes and definitely feeling large. I have the waddle going and am feeling more and more uncomfortable by the day.

Sleep: I'm up every few hours to use the bathroom and change sleeping positions. I have to sleep on my sides and have to rotate frequently.

Best moment this month: Payton loves to kiss my belly and hug her baby. That has been so fun to see as she makes sure to tell him goodbye any time we part ways.

This weekend has also been a lot of fun as my mother came to visit. Monte and I went to his work holiday party and the kids wanted pictures taken prior to us leaving. 

These could easily be the last pictures we take before the new baby. It's so bittersweet to think about.

Worst moment this month: I am definitely much more uncomfortable than I have been with my other 2 pregnancies. I have slowed way down and spend a lot of my time dealing with pain management. That has been challenging but I know this won't last forever.

Miss anything: I continue to really miss keeping up with my kids. I can't always go outside with my husband and children or run errands with them like I'm used to doing and that has been challenging for me.

Movement: This baby definitely doesn't move as much as my other two, but he still has a lot of good daily movement.

Cravings: I really haven't craved anything or had any aversions this entire pregnancy.

Queasy or sick: Over the last few days, I have felt very nauseous, but it's so hard to say if it's pregnancy related or not.

Looking forward to: I am looking forward to bringing this little one home and the holidays!

Baby, you can come any time! We are ready and waiting anxiously for you!

I hope you are all having a great Sunday!