Back to the BLOG!

So, I have had a bit going on lately.  Firstly, our 3rd child, Max, was born on 6/28/10.  Easiest birth ever, easiest baby ever.  Mama is very happy!  I finally feel like our family is complete.  I would ideally like Matt to get a vasectomy now, but he's not all for it.  Prior to having Max, it felt like there was someone missing, and now our family feels perfect.  We are so lucky and blessed and I couldn't ask for more.

This past weekend I went to Eau Claire for UWEC's homecoming and my mini-bachelorette party.  Our wedding reception is on the 15th and it was so great to see all of my ladies.  It's so wonderful when we all get together because its like no time has passed at all and we haven't skipped a beat!  I think that there are very few people who are lucky enough to have friendships like that, and I'm so happy I do.  I can't wait to see them all next week for the PARTY!

I'm still trying to figure out what Emma and Max should be for Halloween.  And Matt and I also have an adult halloween party to go to!  So I need a theme for the kids, and an adult theme for Matt and I.  Any ideas?  I kinda want to be Wonder Woman.  I wonder if Matt would be Super Man.  It would be so fitting.  When I first met Matt when he was a bartender at Nau-ti-gal, we called him Clark Kent.  See the resemblance?

I'm a lucky lady!

37 Weeks

Oh lordy, where do I even begin. Last week I had days of contractions that were pretty regular and about 6-10 minutes apart.  The thing is that they weren't painful and now they have completely stopped.  I think it was because baby boy was moving his way down the birth canal and getting into position.  Now I just feel tremendous pressure 'down there', and can't wait for baby to make his appearance!

Pregnancy: 37 weeks
Weight Gain: 26 pounds total
Sleep: Ha...whats that?  I'm up every hour or so to pee, or my hips aching, or my back.
Gender: BOY!!
Name: Max, Lucas, Cameron, Jack, Miles or Clark...what do you think?
Feeling: Ready. Anxious. Excited. Nervous. Miserable.
Health: Everything is perfect.  Baby Boy's heartbeat is back to normal, and I still have LOW blood pressure, we will see tomorrow if there is any 'progress'.
Movement: Lots and lots.  Its hard for me to believe he is actually head down because it feels like he is turning sommersaults inside my tum!
Belly: BIG and still measuring 2 weeks ahead.  At my last ultrasound at 35 weeks baby was already 7 lbs 8 oz which is bigger than Emma was at 39 weeks 5 days.  Yikes.
Next Appointment: Tomorrow June 9th, then Monday the 14th.

Wow, it's been awhile!

Wow, so its been awhile.  I should probably be better at updating now since its slow again at work.  I'll start with the major updates in our life.

#1.  Matt and I got MARRIED - on April 21st, 2010.  It was a small ceremony at the Wisconsin State Capitol with just our children and parents. It was perfect and there will be a reception to follow after baby is born.

That brings us to #2.  Baby is a BOY, and he is due somewhere between June 25th and July 5th.  My pregnancy has been a lot harder this time, both physically and emotionally.  We discovered somewhere arond 28 weeks that baby has heart arrhythmia and we have had to undergo several tests to find out what is causing it.  The good thing is that his heart is structurally fine, and blood flow to his body and organs is great.  He still has the arrhythmia but they hope that it will go away by the time he is born.  Everything else looks great.  I'm incredibly sore, retaining water, and can't wait to meet my little guy.  We still don't have a name, but the top runners are Max, Lucas, Cameron and Benjamin.

#3.  Our kids are getting so big.  Emma turned 2 in January, and is quite the lady.  She is constantly learning and absorbing information and I'm impressed with her every day!  Hannah turns 13 today!  I'm going to have to change the title of my blog to TEEN! 

Well, thats all for now.  I'll try to be better at this whole blogging thing.

Engaged!

Yes, you read that right.  Matt and I are finally engaged!  I know...I couldn't believe it either, and I am so happy!

On Sunday the 29th, Matt suspiciously took Emma shopping with him, and made it very clear that I couldn't go.  It was strange.  Very strange.  But I knew he was up to something, and I was pretty sure that the something was going to buy an engagement ring (since there were big sales going on around Black Friday!).  Well they weren't gone very long, and Matt came up with a story that Emma wanted to get out of her stroller, and how could he possibly shop with a crabby baby, and all he came home with was a Barnes and Noble membership card for Hannah.  So I was kinda bummed, but this wasn't the first time that I suspected something to no avail!

But a few hours later, Matt took Emma down to the basement to change the laundry, and when they came up Emma was holding a little box!  I was very surprised and instantly got teary eyed.   Then Matt came over and got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him.  It was perfect and sweet and very 'us'.  I of course said yes :).  I loved how he involved Emma.  It was wonderful.

Thankfulness...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving....such a wonderful holiday, such a wonderful reminder.  But to tell you the truth, I don't know why we need a National Holiday to remind us that we should be thankful for what we have and for those around us.  I think that we all should be thankful everyday.  My mom always tells me, when I'm feeling upset or down about something, that before bed each night we should think of all the things in our life that we are grateful for, and the things we are upset about will seem much less significant.  She is a wise woman.

I think that our society has become consumer driven, selfish, and gluttonous.  This holiday that is supposed to be about appreciating our family, our health, and what we have seems to have turned into a holiday that first results in people seeing how much they can eat, and then becomes a marker for the 'best shopping deals' of the year. 

I am thankful, and I want those around me to realize how very lucky we are to just be able to be citizens of this wonderful country.  We are able to sit down at a table filled with foods, while others in the world dig in dumpsters, and pray that somehow the water that they are drinking will not make them sick.

As a parent, I hope that I am able to instil thankfulness in my children.  But living in America is hard.  I lived overseas most of my childhood, in poor third-world countries, so I was able to learn how lucky I am to have food, shelter, clothing, and love, but sometimes I wonder how it is even possible to teach these virtues in a country that is so consumer driven, egocentric, and materialistic.  But how can you blame Americans?  We have never seen anything else.  Maybe it should be a requirement in our schools to make it necessary to visit another place where water doesn't come out of the faucet clean and safe.  I don't know and I am very worried.

I think this year we will start with something small...we will ring the bell for the salvation army. I think that we should all pay it forward this year...and good things will happen :)

And baby makes...FIVE!?

So,  its official.  Matt and I are going to be parents again, and Emma is going to be a big sister!  We have known for sometime now, but were waiting for our first appt for the big announcement.  We are very excited, but I think I am WAY more nervous this time around.  With the first one, the only child I had to model a baby's behavior on, was my friend Caitlin's son, Dylan.  Dylan was the most excellent baby of all time...he slept well, played well, never cried, took the boob, took the bottle, and was all around great.  I thought all babies would be like Dylan...that was until...EMMA ROSE!

Emma was colicky, up all night, wouldnt take the bottle, and my God, I love that girl with all of my heart.  I just don't know if my sanity can take another colicky baby!  But I shouldn't worry, because there is NO WAY this one is going to be colicky...right?  Ok good.  Thats what I thought.

Ok, lets go back to the OVERJOYED emotion.  We stopped 'preventing' pregnancy in June, and got pregnant in October.   I didn't think that it would happen so quickly or easily.  We are truly fertile and blessed.  Emma and baby will be 2.5 years apart.  Hannah and baby will be 13!! years apart....crazy!

Our official due date is July 5th 2010, making me 8 weeks pregnant today. We had an ultrasound and saw the heartbeat on the screen today.  It was wonderful.  I do have a hematoma on my uterus that could cause some bleeding, but most are resolved on their own.

Well, thats today's news :)

Our last 3 Novembers together

My sweet Emma Rose is getting so big!!

2007

2008

2009