Baby Bump

Here I am at 22 weeks! My belly is getting a little bit bigger all the time. I feel like I'm not quite as big as I was with the boys, and that is just fine with me!

I just had another midwife appointment on Wednesday and baby is doing great. Her heartrate was in the 150s the entire time. My belly is measuring 22 cm, which is exactly the size baby needs to be at 22 weeks. We are really thankful that everything is going normally.

I can feel baby kicking a lot now. She's pretty active! I am thinking this means that she'll be able to keep up with the boys. At the rate she's kicking tonight, BG and Jman might have trouble keeping up with her!

In the past, I have sewed quilts for both Jman and BG, with the aid of Nate's ironing and cutting expertise. I have now started the makings of quilt #3. I really enjoy making them. I hope I can get it done in time! I was hand sewing the binding on a week before BG was born. I did get it done, but not with much time to spare. Maybe this time I won't procrastinate so much. We'll see!

Work, Work, Work!

Do you ever feel like your To Do List only gets longer? I feel like that lately. Mine consists of Learning time with the boys: calendar time, Bible time, reading, art projects, activity time, science/math time and play time. Not to mention my Bible study time, workout, meals, cleaning, laundry, basement help, relaxation and time with Nate to name a few things. I'm tired just typing all of that! This week, I've really started to be diligent about sticking to my learning time with the boys and personal time of workout and Bible study for myself. It has been refreshing and satisfying to keep it up. Though, I haven't really worked out all the much in the past couple of weeks since I've been fighting the flu and a cold. So when I started my walking dvds this week, I was hurting after the first walk. The second day, I did another walk and a brief Jillian Michaels 'No More Trouble Zones' circuit. Brutal. Then today, I did a 2 mile walk again. I sat on the couch and complained to my sister about sore legs this evening. :) I'm hoping I can roll out of bed tomorrow!

It's fun to cross things off my To Do List, but it is more gratifying to watch my boys learn about God's love and other fun topics like birds and bugs. I consider these things much more important to accomlish daily than cleaning or doing laundry. I'm thankful to have all these things to keep me busy. I never do seem too overwhelmed. God is faithful! :)

Sickness...will it never end?

We are fighting colds at our house once again. I have had a cold since the middle of November. It has yet to go away. The boys have been on and off again with the normal winter colds, ear infections and strep throat to boot. The past two weeks have been exceptionally awful. Two weeks ago, the boys got the stomach flu. Then colds began to ensue right afterwards. Just last week, I ended up getting the stomach flu and my cold flared up worse than it was. I attribute it to my pregnancy immune system: it fails to operate! I think the boys get some of it from Kids Stuff at the Y too. It's a free for all for germs there. Ashley blames us for all of her sickness too, but I feel that she HAS to contribute some of it. I mean, come on! :) Soon, winter will be over and we will recover. It's my prayer that it comes quickly!

A girl??

I asked Jman the other day what he thought about having a little sister. "Are you excited?" I asked him. "I don't want a girl. I want another one of these" and put his foot on BG.  To try and change his attitude, I asked him what we should name baby. "Jman?" His reply was, "NO. Only I am Jman." So I went on with, "What about Lulu? Ashy? BG? Tam Tam? Pinky?" He perked right up, "Pinky! Yes!" So we are now calling baby Pinky, but only temporarily...or so we hope!

Baby D #3

Baby #3 is a girl! We just had the ultrasound at the end of December. The ultrasound technician said she was 99.9% positive it is a girl and she hasn't been wrong in 14 years. She has been right with our other 2, so I'm not going to doubt her.

We were a little nervous going into the ultrasound, because at our 16 week appointment, the baby's hearbeat was at 111 beats per minute. The average is usually between 110 and 160 (according to my midwife). So it was relatively low. It had been in the 140s and 160s before. My midwife wasn't alarmed, but did want me to come in a week earlier than scheduled for the ultrasound just to put our minds at ease. I'm grateful she wasn't overly anxious or worried. It would have made waiting much worse. When the ultrasound started, I was waiting to see the heartbeat, and it was one of the first things we saw, so I was very relieved. The heartbeat was up to 146 and the technician double checked all the valves and chambers, etc. in the heart to make sure everything looked normal. And it did. She said it was just one of those flukes, that it all depends on whether I'm hydrated, how active I've been, what I've eaten, etc. I was relieved and very thankful that everything looked great.

I was reminded that I just need to give my worries to God. I keep trying to be patient and kept telling myself that God is bigger than everything. He never gives me more than I can handle; and when I think I can't handle it, that's when I need to look to Him for the help I need. God always amazes me and I love to see his greatness in my weakness. What a blessing that we have 2 healthy boys and a healthy girl on the way. Praise God!

Christmas Excitement!

This Christmas was filled with family, presents and celebrating the birth of Christ. We made it to Fargo, albeit driving with white knuckles. The weather never seems to fail us. It started out with a bang. My sister Ashley was home as well and didn't feel well. After going to the doctor, she ended up with strep throat. Two days later, Jman was complaining about a sore throat. It turned out to be strep as well. And to boot, BG ended up having an ear infection. We braved it out until Tuesday and then left that afternoon. We were sad to leave earlier than planned, but glad to be home so the boys could get a good night of sleep.

It is so wonderful that Nate and I can teach the boys about the importance of Christmas and what it really stands for. When looking at a Nativity scene, Jman will say, "That's baby Jesus! We must not forget him at Grandpa Roger's house." He was absolutely right about that...we had forgotten our baby Jesus from the Little People Nativity at his house at Thanksgiving. So funny! But Jman knows that Jesus was born to save the world. He may not grasp the full understanding, but he knows that He is important. And BG picks up on everything, so the seeds are being planted.

We are just so thankful that we are blessed to have two wonderful boys, a healthy baby girl on the way and family and friends to care for.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year!