Happy hump day!

I resisted the temptation to name this post "Hump Week."  I can see the raised eyebrows now.

I am 21 weeks, officially "over the hump!"  We are both doing great - mom is feeling not too shabby and little miss is practicing for the US Olympic gymnastics team on a daily basis.  Still amazed at how quickly the pregnancy is zipping along.  Baby Bean will be here before we know it.  And from the feel of things, she will be able to do a perfect ariel at birth.

Here's a BabyCenter drawing of a 21-week bambino:

 And here's a snapshot of the real thing:

 

 

 

 

Adorable maternity digs courtesy of my Dad. ♥

More belly pics as the oven continues to expand, I promise.  Up until now there hasn't been much to see.

If only that trend were destined to continue...sigh.  Had an OB check today and evidently no one ever told the scale there "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

But it goes with the territory.  :)  I'm grateful for the blessing of another pregnancy and especially, the blessing of another daughter.  We can't wait to meet her.

Hope your Hump Day's HAPPY!

Treed

 Jesse treed a Baby Bug!!

 

Apparently these creatures like to climb trees when encouraged by their Daddies.

 

They are a little brazen and fearless as well.

And once they are in the tree, they tend not to want to come down.

:)

IT'S A GIRL!!

Hooray!  We get to keep the designation "the girlies" when referring to our little ones.  We will be welcoming another daughter at the end of May. Jesse is seriously outnumbered at this point.  :)

I cannot BELIEVE how fast this pregnancy is FLYING by.  Another week and I will be at the HALFWAY point!!  We need to get on the nursery and start thinking about names while I am in my second trimester and feeling relatively good.  I am thinking a whole lot about getting back in some yoga classes 3 times a week too, but we will see if I can pull it off time wise.  It made a world of difference in eliminating pregnancy aches and pains with Madeline.  (Plus I just miss the gym, and Dr. said forget about doing anything but yoga or walking until after the baby is born, so yoga it is.)

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year!!  Here are some of the girlies' Christmas pictures that didn't make it into the Christmas cards.  I had a very hard time narrowing it down to 3.  Enjoy, and New Years' Blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jenga Night with the Girlies

In the surreal-ness of having so few cakes to do in the glorious, glorious month of December, I am able to do fun things with the girlies that I don't usually have time for.  It struck me that we used to play Jenga in Bible college, and I set out to find the game locally for the girls.  I couldn't stand to wait and give it to the them for Christmas. :)

Sure enough, Target had just, one, left!  Yay!  And I think it was $10!!  Even better.  I feared that the girls might be a little young for it, but I should have known better - they loved it.  And so, for your viewing pleasure, here is my Jenga Photo Journal from the other night. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last shot is a gem.  Baby was pulling out a block that I knew was going to doom the tower, so instead of rescuing her, I just sat there with my camera at the ready.  I wish I had waited about another half second to push the button, but the look on her face is awesome.

I think this was Friday night.  On Saturday morning I awoke to the loud sound of a Jenga tower crashing down on the dining room table, along with one little voice giggling and another saying, "Aw, maaaaan."  I'm so glad that Baby is home from school for two whole weeks.  They are such little treasures. :)

Natalie's Christmas Concert

I know it has been over a month since I've blogged!!  Bad blogger!  BAD!!

I just haven't had much to take pictures of...

Day to day stuff is all we've had going on, just the busy-ness of making cakes, running errands, and dropping adorable little girls off at school.

Jesse is working in North Carolina, but he has been home on and off and we've been soaking up the time together when we have it.

I promise I think about our sadly neglected blog almost every day...

And today I'm glad to report that I have some pictures to post! Yay!

BUT, please bear with me - Blogger has changed their format and so I am learning all over again.

Natalie had her Christmas Concert at school yesterday and because December is blessedly slow for cakes...

I got to go and take Rooney too. :)

 I'm afraid that most of the pictures I got were terrible quality...

It wouldn't hurt me to sit down and read the manual for my camera some time, I'm sure that would help.

Also, I showed up 30 MINUTES early for the concert and still got a seat like 6 rows back...

I think most people must have dropped their kids off for school at 8:15 and then gone straight to the sanctuary to reserve their seats...but the concert didn't start until 9:30!!

So of course I did the logical thing...

Go get Starbucks to kill time and then come back. :)

Notice anything different about Bug than the other children?

Well, she goes to a Methodist school...

We go to a Pentecostal church....

THE DAY BEFORE the concert they sent a note home...

"Please have children wear their SUNDAY BEST."

No problem. :)

It's just that our definition of Sunday Best is,

evidently,

a little different than everyone elses. :)

Even without a frilly Christmas dress (sorry, she doesn't own one)

she was pretty as a picture the whole time.

She even had her own speaking part.

She was the 'M' in C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.

'M' is for the Many blessings He has given us.

Amen. :)

They turned the lights down for the last song and gave all the children these candles.

I'm afraid this was the best of about 50 blurry and psychedelic pictures I took. :)

After the concert we headed back to Baby's classroom for her Christmas party.
The children exchanged gifts (books) and Christmas cards...
and there was an unholy amount of cookie-eating that took place.

Madeline jumped right in with Baby just like one of the gang.

They are growing up before our eyes.
I love that they are best friends.

The bun (and the oven) are doing great. :)
I'm starting to show and
with the exception of the lingering morning sickness,
I'm really enjoying being pregnant again.


Just 2 more weeks until we find out the baby's gender!!
YAY!!

WHEW!! That was a long one. :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. :)

Second OB Check...

Saw the Baby Doc on Thursday and everything looks great. Lost some weight since the last check but Dr. didn't even mention it, it's just what happens sometimes when you have morning sickness. I really like our Dr. - Jesse and I joke about the number of times she says "kick ass" or "big ass" in one appt. She said "big ass" in the first 10 seconds after she walked into the exam room this time. She's hilarious. She is pregnant too but she's due in just a couple of weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if her baby's first words were "kick ass!"

8 more weeks (2 more visits) and we get to find out the baby's gender. :)

Photography Contest

A friend of mine is a budding and talented professional photog. She often posts her pictures on her blog and Facebook and it is obvious that she loves what she does - her passion for family and children shows thru in every shot. She wants to win this contest over at SOULOGRAPHER, and the prize is a photography workshop in workbook format.

I thought it might be nice to give her a little support...and an extra entry or two. :) So I entered as well. Michelle, if I win, the workbook is yours. Love you and love what you do. :)

First OB check today

Everything looks great! Saw the baby, heard the heartbeat, chatted with the doctor. Using the same OB/GYN who took the ovarian cyst out. She is also pregnant, but will deliver in less than 6 weeks so she will be back to deliver our baby at the end of May. :) Yay!

How to...

...find out for sure who *REALLY* reads your blog.....




We are expecting #3 early next summer!! We did not expect this AT ALL but of course we are thrilled. Getting to tell the girls was a lot of fun too, because they are old enough to understand (5 & 7) and they were SO excited. So are we! ;)

Duck house

This morning when we walked out the door to take Baby to school we were greeted by a surprise...


Two freshly-laid ducky eggs resting in two different spots in the grass. This meant we could wait no longer...the little critters needed a place to build a nest.

Since we are lucky enough to have a farm supply yard just 3 miles from our house, I just popped in there on the way home from dropping Baby Bug off. We came home with a bale of mulch hay lashed to the Jeep (I love my Jeep) and this:

Isn't it perfect?! I think our little feathered friends will be very cozy in there. It was also HEAVY!!
This is the male (you can tell by the curly feather sticking up from his bum.) He has been positioning himself between us and the female, who has been keeping her distance lately. (You can see her behind him under the Japanese Maple.) They are both very sweet but the male will walk right up to me and let me rub his belly sometimes.
I love my Jeep. :)
It only took like 1/10 of the hay I bought, so we got way too much. Maybe we'll spread some grass seed and thatch it. (No way, the ducks would eat it.) I picked up the eggs and snuggled them down in the dry, sweet-smelling hay. From what I have read, the female will lay 1-2 eggs per day but she won't sit on them until she is done laying. That way, they will all hatch at the same time. Who knows, we might have ducklings in about 6 weeks. All we need now is a heifer tied to the front porch and maybe an old car on blocks in the grass. :)

I will keep you posted and take lots of pictures. Hope your day is full of sweet little surprises! :)