IT'S A........

BOY!!

We had our ultrasound today, and the score is all evened up. I was shocked....I've been thinking "girl" pretty much the whole time. But, now that it's settled in, I am so excited. I'm happy that Nathan will have a little brother to share a room with.....and all of that other fun stuff. My sister is due in June with a boy, so he will have a little cousin to be buddies with. Yay!

I was a little bummed that my due date didn't change. It's officially September 2. Hopefully this baby will follow his brother and sisters and come at least a week early. We are so excited, and five more months just seems like too long to wait. I guess we will have to be patient!

Things are Looking Up...

Here is the link for that hair blog.....it has some really cute ideas:

http://cutegirlshairstyles.blogspot.com/

So, I had a little turning point this weekend, and things seem to be getting a little better-yay! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel! I'm still super weak from it all, but my stomach seems to be accepting food a little easier now, so that's nice. I try so hard to focus on the positive, but then a really bad day will hit, and it gets pretty discouraging.

I am scheduled for my ultrasound on April 7, so we'll get to find out if we'll be getting a brother or a sister soon! I'll be thrilled either way. The hard part will be the name....Scott and I have a hard enough time agreeing as it is, and I'm sure the girls will be more opinionated this time. We'll see! Annalyn was a full week old before she had a name....weird, huh? But they wouldn't let us leave the hospital with the other two until they had names, so that was a good incentive. Oh well, we still have a while before we have to worry about that!

St. Patrick's Day

Anna's Shamrock

Aimee's Shamrock

We thought we'd be a little festive for St. Patrick's Day and try a new hairstyle. I ran across a really cute blog with some fun ways to do hair, so the girls were my guinea pigs. We put "shamrocks" in their hair with a green ribbon. It was our first time trying it, and I think it turned out pretty cute....I'm sure we'll get better the more we practice. That is the extent of our celebration so far.

Oh, I forgot to mention the sneaky Leprechaun who comes every year and messes with our milk. Grammie did a double-take when she opened the fridge this morning! (I forgot to warn her. :)) Now we have a full gallon of GREEN milk to use for our cereal the next few days.....those darn Leprechauns!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Catching Up

I didn't have a chance to blog about New Year's or Nathan's birthday before I got sick, but I ran across the pictures on my camera, and I had to post them.

We had such a fun New Year's with our friends down the street. They have girls Anna's and Aimee's ages, and we love them!!! We played games and ate snacks for hours. We called it "good" at about 10:30 p.m. (hey, New Year's had already come in two U.S. time zones.) After they left we turned on the T.V. and tried to stay awake to see the ball drop. I fell asleep by the fire (I was exhausted...little did I know the reason...) and woke up just before midnight to see this:

Nathan outlasted everyone, and still had energy to spare for the Wii Fit. He put us to shame!

Just a few days later, we got to celebrate his 4th birthday. He also had his first day of Sunbeams...a big day in any kid's life! We sure love this little guy. He couldn't be any more fun!

Sweet Boy...

The other night I was in bed drifting in and out of consciousness (trying to sleep away my misery), when Nathan came in to lay by me while he played the iPhone. After a few minutes he leaned over and whispered "Goodnight, my 'pwecious' and 'wondewful' Mommy."

Yeah....it's worth it.

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

One night when Mom was folding laundry she said something that made me laugh. I was probably complaining about being sick, and she said, "I can't believe that you can be so sick and still look so pretty." I thought about my pale skin that hasn't seen the sun in weeks, my chapped lips, my hair that needs a good washing, not to mention my hormone-ravaged complexion.... I laughed and said, "I'm feeling pretty hideous right now." "No, you're not," she said, "I think you have such a pretty face."

Now, I passed myself in the mirror this morning, and I definitely wouldn't use the word "pretty" to describe what I saw. But that's the great thing about mothers. Even when you've spent the past seven weeks throwing up and feeling awful, they can still see the best in you. Thanks, Mom. You made my day.

Long Time, No Post

I've pretty much fallen off of the face of the earth for the past seven weeks. At the beginning of January we were shocked (to put it mildly) to find out that we are expecting a baby. So exciting, yet incredibly stressful all at the same time. I am sick beyond belief. The past couple of months have been spent in bed....I have only left the house for doctor's appointments. I've managed to lose 15 lbs. so far. I'm nauseous 24/7--I basically have a bad stomach flu for months on end. Every day is a challenge, but we're getting through it.

Scott's mom and my mom have been down taking care of us. They are so wonderful. We truly couldn't do this without them. I am grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. We are blessed to have such amazing family and friends.

The kids are doing pretty well with everything. Anna has been such a great helper....she is like a second mommy to Nathan. Aimee is having a harder time with it. She often asks why I have to be so sick, instead of normal like other pregnant women we know. I wonder that too! She comments on how skinny I am, and that I just don't look the same (it's not pretty...) The girls have both been good about taking on more responsibility around the house, with homework, etc. Nathan's just sweet....he gives me lots of hugs and likes to talk to the baby in my tummy. The kids have loved having their grandmas here for a little while. Scott's been great...I know this is all very stressful for him. He surprised me with a laptop a couple of weeks ago, so I can blog from the comfort of my bed. :)

Some days are better than others. I can't wait for more good than bad. I really can't wait for this to be over, and to have a cute little baby to hold. I want so much to be a "mom" again, to get back to my church calling, to eat food and have it feel good in my stomach, to do all the normal things that are so easy to take for granted. Until then, we'll just take it one day at a time.