3 Rings of Fun

The Shrine's Circus is back in town and Grammie got us tickets

One of our favorite acts: the Tigers

Soph and her new Dora Balloon

She was so excited about this light up toy!

Grammie and Family

The Girls

35 weeks!

One month left and we will finally meet this little one that has been such a joy & pain!

BFF's

It has been a while since we have played with marybeth,

so last week we met up at Glenbrook.

Marybeth loved the idea of being a big sister to Sophie,

helping her put her socks on.

And carrying her from the end of the slide to the steps to climb up!

Haylee in the background taking advantage of a picture moment

Best Friends Forever

Hormones?

It's probably the hormones, but today I have about had my fill of this pregnancy. I have been chronically uncomfortable, if not in pain, for the last 3 months. I still have 4 weeks left and I'm not sure if I can emotionally handle it. I don't remember it being this hard with my last two. Sure I work part-time, drive an hour one way to get there, come home to beautiful but energetic children who are starting to understand the change coming and are starting to act out, have gained 25 pounds all if which is on my belly (looks like I have eaten a basketball), I have a horrible gallbladder that flares up constantly, I have at least 15 braxton-hicks daily ranging from uncomfortable to painful, etc, etc. I get that those things contribute to my complications, but frankly it doesn't make me feel any better knowing that I have all this added stuff to the pregnancy in itself.
I told Ryan today during our lunch date (we call each other at noon to check in and call it a date) that all I wanted was to curl up next to him and just cry. And if you know anything about me it is I don't like to cuddle and i don't like to cry, let alone do them at the same time. So that desire just emphasized how overwhelmed I am. But what can i do? Wait it out...I just need prayer that I can get through this; if not with the added help of morphine.

Happy New Years!

It's a new year which calls for updates. I haven't really documented this pregnancy very much, due to whatever reason-no energy, denial of impending doom, etc. So far this pregnancy has been healthy. I have gained 21 pounds, which is the total I gained with the girls, I still have 8 weeks so hopefully I won't get too big. Here are some differences this pregnancy:

• I often times don't have a lot of energy. And when I do have nesting moments it lasts for a couple of hours then I'm out of commission for a couple of days.
• I am constantly hungry (that might explain the weight gain!)
• I crave only sweet things: chocolate chip pancakes all the time, frosted flakes, doughnuts, candy, cookies, etc. I don't even crave Sushi like I did with the girls.
• I am constantly thirsty. I drink at least 5 16oz cups of water daily. I still indulge in having a coke or two during the day; can't go without my Coke!
• My gallbladder has been horrible this pregnancy. In an ultrasound they discovered 10 plus stones! well that explains the pain. So we are in talks to get it removed after i have the baby
• I started having Braxton Hicks Contractions a lot earlier. They are borderline painful and very uncomfortable.
• No tailbone issues, at least not yet!
• Haven't been emotional. At least that is my perspective, maybe I should check with Ryan on that one! ;)
• Wasn't as sick in the beginning

So there are some differences that I have noticed, some might have to do with it being a boy and others might be due to it being my third and I have two little ones at home.

• Ryan is still working construction, even in this cold weather. I feel so bad for him. He comes home from work and just sits in front of a heater. he claims even his bones are cold. Aww. the girls give him lots of hugs and kisses, so I'm sure that helps warm him a little. He is still my amazing cook,(again could explain the weight gain!) It is so nice to have him home during normal hours. I really appreciate him changing jobs and being such a great dad and husband!

• Haylee is fast becoming a little girl. The things she says sometimes are so profound. She is smart, has a very good heart, but can have a HUGE attitude. Recently her attitude has shown up in tantrums where if she doesn't get something she wants, she will pout and say something like "I'm not talking to you. I'm mad." Which is sometimes hard to not laugh at. The second new and not so good thing she has picked up on is lying. She has discovered that she can blame everything on Sophie. "Sophie did it!" "Sophie ran into the wall by herself, that is why she is crying." etc. There will be times that Soph isn't even in the same room and haylee will blame her for something. So I'm trying to explain a very abstract thought to a very literal thinking child.

• Sophie is starting to show more personality. She is still a rather busy girl, not sitting still. She has seen Haylee throw things when she is mad, so Soph thought she would try this out. She has even picked up on hitting Haylee when Haylee takes something away from her. Again it's hard to not laugh when haylee is getting what she deserves, but we can't condone hitting either. Sophie is talking more. Her recent important words are "candy, pizza, water, milk, hot dog." you know the basics to daily communication! She just recently started telling us she needs to go potty and will dribble a little. So it's a start! Over break she became Ryan's little shadow. When he would get home she would grab onto his leg, or just start yelling "dada, dada" just to get his attention.

• We have moved the girls into the same room this week. they are not in their bunk beds yet, it will be a slow transition for Soph to be in a big-girl bed. though I know that they will get used to it, they are both very different sleepers. Sophie is a light sleeper and gets up earlier in the morning. Haylee is a deep sleeper and loves to go to bed late and sleep in. They are still adjusting and most likely will continue to do so, it's just hard on me when I have to lull one of them back to sleep in the middle of the night. Just good practice for a newborn I guess!

• As for me I'm still working at Taylor Unv. 3 days a week. After having a flat tire today off the interstate, it made me rethink working until the day i have the baby. I did that with Haylee, but i was only 30 minutes away from the hospital. Here I'm an hour away and using the interstate to get there. So I might have to reconsider what the plan is.

Overall the family is doing well, and we look forward to the numerous changes that will be happening this year!

Sushi Dinner

GG got Ryan & I our own sushi dining set!

So we of course had to go and get some sushi!

Haylee loves sushi, that is at least the meat on top of the rice, as noted in the picture.

She wants to eat just like mommy and daddy with the chop-sticks. So here's the progression of how she does it.

1) Grab the meat off the rice

2) Pick it up with the sticks and put it in the soy sauce

3) Bring to mouth and shove into mouth with help of fingers

4) Then enjoy the awesomeness of the Sushi
It was an excellent dinner!

Christmas Eve 2009: GG's House

This year we spent Christmas Eve and morning with my family.

We had our special Christmas dinner and then played with the Wii Ryan got me for Christmas!

It was fun teaching the old folks how to play modern video games--no pity necessary they were awesome from the start!

Ray really got into it. The following day he scored a 238!!

We thought mom was going to have the most trouble. Turns out

she has been a secret Wii bowling pro all this time!

Check out the scores:

It goes GG, Colin, Papa Skip, and Papa Ray

We spent the Wednesday before Christmas with Ryan's family, but of course

forgot the camera. We got to see the whole family and have dinner at the club for their annual Christmas dinner--I even dressed up with heels, pregnant and all! After dinner we went back to Grammie's house to open presents. Later I got a picture of Haylee and her first American Girl baby that Grammie got her. Among alot of other things they got an awesome personalize book with their names in the story line. Grammie had that present for many months, it's a wonder she kept it a secret for so long! Mommy got the priceless gift of Sirius Radio-for without it there would be a lot more incidents of road rage on Interstate 69!

Needless to say the girls, Ryan and I had a good Christmas 2009!

Christmas 2009: GG's house

Christmas morning at GG's house.

It was a perfect morning filled with Chocolate chip pancakes,

presents and family. Doesn't get much better!

Papa got Soph a cabbage patch kid, it just took forever to get it all out of the box!

Haylee's new princess dress
There are some pictures that make Haylee look older, it
is so cute!


You can imagine that this is the present they both wanted to open first,
but we saved it for last!

Soph wasn't quite sure what it was but she did recognize it had something

to do with Barbie-which is always a good thing!

Uncle Colin got more furniture for the house. The girls were in awe!

Christmas 2009: Our house!

The date was December 19th, we had gotten the picture with Santa at

the mall and I looked forward to having two weeks off.

Having an idea of what I was getting for Christmas, and knowing what

the girls were getting I convinced Ryan to open the presents early!

It was a wise move, because the girls were able to play with their toys and ryan and I

were able to play with ours!!

Haylee more than willing to help Soph open her presents!

We rented this book from the library and haylee fell in love,
so we had to get it for her!

I didn't get a good shot of what was in the package, but it is

a lot (100 pieces) of play food for their kitchen. It had everything

from tacos to peas. They love to make us dinner!

Marybeth has one just like it so Haylee was excited to have one too.

Tiana, the new Disney princess dress.

Haylee, Sophie, Marybeth, Lisakay & I just went and saw the movie.

Haylee of course wore her new dress!

I was so excited about this shirt!! Ryan on the other hand, not so much.

He feels so objectified!

I of course had to get Micah one too!

And this is what I thought I might be getting for Christmas.

Good thing was I right. It would stink to open a vaccum cleaner instead!

Sophie brushing daddy's hair with her new pony brush!

Really???

What can I say? Ryan and I were talking, then I turn and look and this

is what I saw. Awesome!!