Half Way There Baby!

23 weeks with baby #4!  Here is an update on pregnancy #4.  

First off the big news.  I had an ultrasound at 21 weeks.  This was the big one where they scan everything and check all body parts.  Thankfully she is looking great and is showing all signs of developing normally.  It was odd going to this ultrasound and not being overly excited to find out the gender (since we already knew it was a girl).  I suspect that with the way technology is I will continue to be able to find out early with the rest of my pregnancies.  So while I wasn't excited about finding out the gender I was still excited to really sit down and watch our little one move around and see how she was developing.  She had the hiccups while we scanned her which made for a lot of jumping around, but that also helped keep her active so that we could see everything that the tech wanted to see.

I started feeling her move daily at about 18 weeks which was a huge blessing.  Those little flutters and movements really helped calm my fears and encouraged me daily that she was alive and doing well.  I would mostly feel her at bedtime since that is when I was actually laying still.  But now feel her move often through out the day as her kicks get stronger and have even seen a few movements from the outside which is fun.  I can't wait for the kids to be able to feel her kick too!

I have been working on eating better the last few weeks and making sure I am exercising 4-5 times a week.  I am so happy to be out of the morning sickness phase.  I always gain a lot of weight those first several weeks as I have to eat every hour, right before bed, and in the middle of the night to keep the sickness at bay.  I also have strong cravings that aren't always the greatest (lots of cold cereal!).  But now I have stopped eating at night and right before bed.  I have also been eating out less since we aren't traveling to Utah so much.  So hopefully that will help me not gain too much more weight.  Currently I have gained a little less then 20 lbs so I have to be careful from now on.  

Energy wise I have felt pretty good.  I have not been nearly as tired as I was with Declin's pregnancy.  I do nap at least every other day, but usually for only 30 mins or so.  I know I will probably lose some of my energy the farther I get into the pregnancy, but I have been pretty lucky so far.  I think it really helps that the kids are getting older too.  Adalyn is a huge help at entertaining Jensen and Declin and they all play fairly well together.  Declin has also been taking 3-4 hour naps in the afternoons which is a nice break.  The summer/spring weather is great so that we can all get out and do things.  We decided to take a break from our TV (we packed it up and are storing it downstairs) and the change from watching 2-3 hours of TV a day to watching almost none hasn't been too hard since it is summer and they would rather be outside playing with friends anyway.  I don't know how long the no TV thing will last, but it has been a nice change this summer.

Baby prep is in full swing.  We bought all of the big stuff that we needed when we were in Utah a few weeks ago.  We needed a new carseat and stroller set because our old carseat expires soon.  I know not everyone follows the expiration dates, but it felt important to us so we decided to just go ahead and get a new one.  Any ideas of what to do with my old carseat?!  I feel bad just throwing it away, yet what else do you do with it?  I debated about whether I should get a new stroller too, and in the end decided that with this being baby #4  in 5 years we wanted a double stroller (mostly for my sanity).  We already have a double jogging stroller, but it is a beast to fold and put in my car and so I rarely take it anywhere (although I do love having it at home for walks around the neighborhood) so we found one that it much easier to fold up and put in a car to take places with us.  The new stroller that we got can actually be a single stroller or a double stroller depending on how many seats you add to it.  I love the versatility of it and that we will only have two strollers stored in our garage yet they can carry 1,2, or 3 kids depending on our needs.  Yes I thought WAY too much about it.  Yes we have spent lots of $ on strollers, but we hope to have several more kids so hopefully we will get good use out of them.

I also figured out my plan for the baby's room.  My mom made a cute baby girl quilt a few years ago when we didn't know if Declin would be a girl or a boy.  Obviously we didn't use it then so she has saved it for the next girl grandbaby.  The colors of the quilt matched my thoughts on the color scheme for the baby's room so I asked my mom if I could have the quilt early so that I could match the room to it.  Thankfully she said yes so we are going with it.  The colors are gray, baby pink, and white.  I LOVE baby pink these days and it is pretty easy to find things that match so hopefully the room comes together fairly easily.  Of course I will post pictures when it is done.

Other baby prep projects that we have are refinish a bigger dresser for the older kids room.  They need more drawers now that Declin will be joining them in a few months.  Luckily my parents gave us a big one a few months back, we just need to refinish it.  We also need to refinish some bunk beds that we bought used for Addie and Jensen to sleep on.  So yes we have a few projects ahead of us.    

As far as a name goes we have not officially decided on one yet.  I thought we had a name all picked out, but then a second option got thrown in (Adalyn actually suggested this one and I think it is cute) so we are still debating.  May not officially decide until she gets here and we can make sure the name matches.

Baby clothes wise I feel like my style and the trends are SO different then when I had Adalyn 5 years ago.  I recently went through our baby girl clothes and while I am not replacing everything I do want to get a few new pieces and updated headbands.  Happy to get rid of all of the massive flowers that we used to use as headbands.  I think this baby will appreciate that too ;)  My favorite styles for baby girl are vintage floral patterns and simple sleepers/rompers.  I adore these Instagram accounts for some fun outfit inspiration.  @toomanychildren, @whitneyfox, and @lovedbaby.  

I can't believe this is baby #4.  I feel like I just had Adalyn yesterday and then I look at her brothers and wonder "How did you get here?"  haha! I still have to pinch myself sometimes to remind me that this is actually happening.  We really are going to have a newborn in our house in a few short months!  So exciting!  I definitely still have moments of "what are we getting ourselves into?!"  Especially when we are at Home Depot... at dinner time... and Jensen did not nap that day.  u.g.l.y.  But I know we will figure it out and it will be beautiful.  Although we may stop leaving our house (so please come visit!)

A look back...

20 Weeks with Declin

19 Weeks with Jensen

21 Weeks with Adalyn

 

 

   

       

  

  

 

                 

  

I Love My Home

In May we hit the 5 year mark of when we moved to good ol' Idaho Falls.  We moved here right after McKay graduated from Utah State and received a job offer here in Idaho Falls.  

When we moved here I was 7 months pregnant with Adalyn and was just about finished earning my CDA (child development associates).  We knew a total of 4 people who lived in Idaho Falls (McKay's aunt and uncle and their girls).  We first moved into a cute town home on the other side of town.  We lived there for 6 months and then bought our first house in December.  We have lived in this house since then.

Moving to Idaho Falls was a big change for us at the time.  Not only did we not know anyone, but we also no longer had homework and school life to keep us busy.  Our evenings were ours to do whatever we wanted to do.  And for the first time in my life my days were also mine to do whatever I wanted.  I did not have a job for those first few months before Adalyn came along and I remember those summer days were some of the longest ones of my life.  Trying to stay busy, yet I really having nothing to do.  I was really big and pregnant so walking, shopping, or really doing anything was tough so I struggled to find things to do.

I remember visiting with a friend at one of my baby showers right after we moved to Idaho, we were talking about moving to a new place.  She said it takes about two years for you to really feel "at home" in a new place.  I seriously wanted to cry when she said that because at that point two years felt like an eternity! haha!  I had not even been married that long and I felt so desperate to find my "home" again.

But looking back... my friend was right.  It has taken us several years to settle into our surroundings and to feel like Idaho Falls is truly our home.

I wont lie, there were several years of wishing or wanting to be somewhere else.  I have lost track of the number of times that we have discussed moving or finding another job.  Not because we were unhappy with our situation, but because we just wondered if there was something better out there.  When my parents sold their home I REALLY wished that we were in a position to buy it from them, but the timing was not right (probably would have never been right).  We were always looking for the next best thing.

But over the past year I have reached a wonderful place and I feel so much peace and happiness in our sweet little town and in my cute little home.  I really love where I live and I am surrounded by wonderful friends and neighbors.  In the last couple years we have had some wonderful families move into our neighborhood and it has been so fun to get to know them.  I also feel like we have finally grown into our neighborhood (if that makes sense).  When we first moved here I was 21.  I was so young and Adalyn was only 4 months old.  There were not a ton of people our age and in our same stage of life.  Fast forward 5 years... now there are so many families around us that have kids the same ages as our kids and who we have really been able to connect with.  It is so fun!

I love so many things about our house.  It is my happy place.  It is far from perfect and may not have the most amazing decorations.  But it fits us well.  I adore having pictures all over my walls of my kids and family.  I love that my kids get to share a room and I love that we have room in the basement to expand later on.  I am grateful that McKay gets his three car garage for his projects and I love that a king size bed fits in my master bedroom.  I love that I can watch the kids in the backyard from any angle in my living room and kitchen.  I love having a little fireplace and mantel, I love, love, love having my laundry room right off of my kitchen (such a mom thing to say!), and I love having a fun little backyard for my kids to play in.

We had no idea what we were doing back when we were shopping for homes.  The only piece of advice that both sets of our parents gave us was buy the nicest house that you can afford.  Also stretch your budget a tiny bit and you will grow into the payment.  In the end that is the advice that we followed when we decided to buy our house and it served us well!

We are grateful for such a nice community and home to raise our children in.  I realize daily how lucky we are to have so much comfort in our lives.  I am also so thankful for McKay who works hard to provide for our family.

My dream is to someday live in one place for a very long time.  I love the idea of really knowing your surroundings.  To have my kids grow up with the kids around them and to truly get to know our neighbors and friends as family.  Who knows if Idaho Falls will be "our place" but I wouldn't mind if it is.  

      

           

Celebrating McKay

McKay turned 31 on June 3rd.  Last year we had a party with some friends to celebrate him turning 30 so this year was a little more low key.  His birthday landed on his Friday off work so we were lucky and got to spend the whole day with him.

I am someone who loves to plan my birthday celebrations.  I love the feeling of being able to do whatever I want.  I love the freedom of being a little bit self-centered for one day and not feeling guilty about it .  McKay on the other hand can barely pick out which dessert he wants.  He never wants any presents and would prefer to eat at home then go out to eat.  So while it took a few attempts of asking I think we figured out some things that he wanted to do and I hope he had a fun birthday.

The day started out with a walk around the river and then we let the kids play at the park after.

That afternoon he had some free time to work in his garden and just do the projects that he wanted to do.  I don't think I have shown you a picture of his garden yet, but he loves it.  We are still working all the kinks out, but he is sure having fun experimenting with it.  The garden was also his birthday gift this year (at least the supplies to build the garden were) so it was fitting that he worked in it on his birthday.
  

That evening we had pork chops and sweet potatoes and then I made a birthday truffle for his cake.  He loves cake and pudding mixed together so this turned out to be a fun dessert for him.   Adalyn insisted that he needed a gift to open so she and I grabbed a new work shirt for him at Kohls.  Then she wrapped it in a giant gift bag.  :)

About a week after McKay's official birthday we had a fun overnight getaway to Salt Lake.  Thanks to my parents for watching the kids!  McKay *loves* little getaways like this together so we counted it as part of his birthday celebrations as well.  We saw the new Jungle Book movie, shopped a little bit, went to The Garden restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building, and finished the weekend off with a needed but slightly painful trip to Babies R Us to buy carseats, a stroller, and all of the essentials for baby #4.  We are all set, can she come now?!  (kidding, we will let her grow some more).  Parenting is tough and sometimes it is hard to find ways to connect with the kids constantly around.  So we love getaways and getting to have real adult conversations and spend one on one time with each other.  :)

Thanks McKay for letting us spoil you for a change (he is always so good to the kids and I).  Happy Birthday!  

  

Memorial Day Weekend 2016

Every year I think "this" will be the year that we visit graves with the kids.... and every year we fail to make it to a single grave.  This year was no different.  I am determined for next year to be our "visiting graves" year.  We shall see. :)

This year our memorial weekend was filled with family and celebrating milestones.  McKay's youngest brother graduated from Evanston High school on Sunday May 29th.  We went to church that morning and then McKay was able to go to the graduation ceremony while I stayed back with the kids.  After the ceremony we all met up at a park for a fun graduation party.

This was our last sibling high school graduation.  Crazy!  I think one of my favorite parts of the day that I did not take a picture of (darn) was the kids all playing in the goat pen after the party.  Grandpa Farm (what my kids lovingly call McKay's dad) has 30ish baby goats that they kids think are the best things ever.  They spent a good hour holding, chasing, and running around with the baby goats.  I was glad that they had a chance to play with the goats without me having to be there with them (McKay and I are SO allergic to them).  win win!    

On Memorial day we had a fun family party at my aunt Libby and Uncle Craig's house in Kaysville, Utah.  We had some cousins visiting from Ohio and we wanted to all get to together while they were in Utah.  There was a great turn out and everyone had a great time playing games and visiting.  It also happened to be my dad's birthday so we were able to celebrate with him as well.  Although I am pretty sure Adalyn thought that the candles, birthday cake, and everyone singing happy birthday were for her.  Love 4 year olds!

Matching red, white, and blue (ofcourse!) 

It was a great Memorial day weekend!