My Due Date is Here! Why Isn't the Baby?

Yep, my thoughts exactly!

Today, September 21st is my official due date. But where is baby? Well he/she is being a little stubborn and has decided to hang out in my belly. I have officially given it an eviction notice and told it to get out by Tuesday, or we will have to use other measures to force this cute little nugget out. 

I feel kind of guilty that I haven't posted much about this pregnancy, so I figured on the official due date I would share my thoughts about the pregnancy thus far. 

We found out we were pregnant on January 16 and were so excited! We figured the due date to be in September, and I thought that seemed like so far away. I feel so grateful that I have easy pregnancies. I had a little bit of morning sickness in the first trimester, but nothing that was terribly bad.

We announced the pregnancy to our families in mid March, and everyone was really excited for us. Nobody was too surprised though, they all knew we were hoping to add to our family in the near future. Makayla and Caden didn't really understand too much of what was going on, but they knew we were excited about something. 

May 13th we had the 20 week ultrasound and Baby looked healthy. We had decided weeks before that we would be surprised about the gender. We had the ultrasound tech put one of the pictures in an envelope. I thought it was a great idea to be surprised, but after we had the ultrasound I changed my mind. I wanted to know what it was so bad. I tried so hard to peek at the inside, but there was no way to know the gender without opening the envelope. My only hope was to convince Tyler, and I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I am truly amazed that we (I) have not caved and opened the envelope. Before the ultrasound I was convinced we were having a girl. Mother's intuition just made me think that. However, the ultrasound tech said she figured out the gender really quickly, which made me think that we were having a boy. I also checked the Chinese gender calendar on the internet and it predicted we would have a boy. Not that any of that is solid, but after that, and too this day, I have the feeling it is a boy. 

I ended up having a second ultrasound a month later because the doctor was concerned my amniotic fluid was too low. Good news, the second ultrasound showed that it was just fine. The doctor also told us that low amniotic fluid tends to run in boys, so my feelings about the gender got a little stronger after that point. 

In late July I had to have the glucose test, which just like the other two pregnancies, I had to go back for the three hour test which included fasting and four blood draws. Not my idea of a fun morning, but I will go through anything to make sure the baby was okay. This pregnancy was just like the others and I passed the three hour test. 

Third trimester started and I was tired all the time. I would put Caden down for a nap, then turn on a movie  for Makayla and fall asleep everyday. I still feel bad that Makayla had to watch so many movies, but I just had no energy. I also started to feel the baby move quite a bit. It likes to push on my bladder and put a foot right in my rib. There is no feeling in the world that is better than feeling your baby move and seeing an elbow or a foot go across your belly. This baby likes to start moving about 9-10:00 at night when I am trying to go to sleep... I have the feeling this trend will continue once it gets here... we'll have to change that fast.  This baby is a little stink because when I try to get Tyler to feel the baby, it suddenly decides to stop moving. We did have one fun night when Tyler put his head on my stomach and the baby was moving so much that Tyler's head was moving up and down. I have always felt that I have been carrying this baby is really high, which according to an old wives tale is a sign that it is a girl. I have to say by this point in the pregnancy, I was so tired of people asking what I thought I was going have. I felt like I was so busy taking care of the other kids that I didn't really think about this baby that much, or have time to think about the gender. If it wasn't for the huge belly, I probably would have forgotten I was pregnant at times. 

The last few weeks have been fun because I have been able to do a lot of shopping. I had to buy boy and girl stuff, but that has just added to the excitement of trying to figure out the gender. The baby's room is not complete but we do have the crib and rocking chair in it. Once the baby gets here we will be able to decorate it more and I will post pictures of the room once it is complete. 

The other fun/hard part is deciding on a name. It is hard enough to decide on one name, let alone two. The one thing we were confident about is the middle name. Tyler and I decided early in our marriage that our third baby's middle name would either be named Robert (after my dad) if it was a boy, and Linnea (after Tyler's Grandma, mom, and Tracy) if it was a girl. The first name has been difficult to come up with, and even though we are not 100% sure, we are considering the following girl names: Brynnli or Kelsey, and these boy names: Easton, Jaxon, or Baylor. 

The kids have been really cute about the pregnancy. Because we have been talking about it so much, they have been too, although I don't think they truly understand what is going on. I have mentioned it a lot on the blog, but Makayla has Baby Kenzee growing in her tummy. When I complain about things, she starts complaining about them too. Once day I was telling Tyler that this baby was kicking me, and a little while later, she informed us that her baby was kicking her too. Makayla loves to steal clothes, diapers, and everything that is intended for the baby for her baby, but she only likes the girl things, not the boy things.

Both kids like to talk to my belly and give it kisses, but Caden was especially cute. Last week we were sitting on the couch and Caden started talking to my belly and saying, "Come out baby! Daddy got your bed ready" and "we have toys for you to play wif!" Caden has also told us that he will teach the baby how to crawl. I'm certain this baby will be spoiled and that he/she will have the best big brother and sister to watch over it. 

The last four weeks have been a waiting game. I have weekly appointments with Dr. Burgett, but every week there is nothing going on. The heart beat sounds great, and I have been feeling good. I have days where I have a lot of energy and I have great ideas like cleaning the entire basement or taking the kids to the zoo by myself. Then I have other days where I take a shower and need a nap after. Unfortunately I haven't dilated or anything. I was hoping I could go into labor by myself because I haven't been able to with the other two, but that the doctor said it was unlikely. So here I am 40 weeks pregnant and ready to have the baby. The induction is scheduled for Tuesday, September 23rd, but hopefully some miracle will happen and the baby will decide it wants to come out.

Regardless, I can't wait to meet this little angel and welcome him/her into our family! We have so much love to give this cute little baby!

I know I really failed at getting monthly pictures with this pregnancy, but here is the very last pictures of me pregnant!

What We Do as a Family of Four

Baby could make his/her debut any day now! Before Baby gets here, and our world gets turned upside down, here's a look into some of the fun things we have done together as a family of four. 

Tyler got to go with us to Lagoon again. We were disappointed that he was in Alaska the last time we went, but we used our bounce back passes and got to go again a few days later. The kids loved going on the rides with Daddy this time. 

Labor Day was a blast this year. We headed up to The Land to spend the weekend. We had to do some chores, but the kids had so much fun with that. Caden was a great helper with mowing the lawn. 

The kids also had a blast playing on the kid-sized 4 wheeler. They would ride this around the yard until the battery would die, and as soon as it was charged, they were on it again!

 We also got to fly kites.

 Daddy was determined to get his kite from when he was 8 years old up and flying. He took him all afternoon, but he finally did it! It was like I was watching an 8 year old all over again!

And feed the horses apples and carrots

 Makayla was showing off her posing since she was starting dance that week.

 Some other fun things we have been up to include:

Caden was reading his animals and babies books. He asked me to take a picture of him. I love this little boy and his love of books!

 We like to hang out with Daddy on Saturday and Sunday mornings in our "jammers."

 Oh and I have been putting the kids to work. Child labor is really cheap! The kids are great to help me straighten the house (most of the time).

We obviously don't like the Cougars. We are a Utes fan at this household!!

And today we celebrated Grandpa's 60th birthday with a surprise party at Tracy and Jeremy's house. His birthday isn't until Tuesday, but since he is most likely going to have to share his birthday with a certain new baby, we had to celebrate early. It was the Ute game that day, so we got to double celebrate. We sure love Grandpa and all he does for us!

So that's some of the fun things we have been up to as a family of four. Our lives are about to change dramatically with the arrival of our cute new baby! We realize things are going to change, but we just can't wait to snuggle and spoil this new little baby!!!

A Broken Clavicle

Thursday, September 18 was not a good day for our cute Makayla. About 6 ish that night we were waiting for Daddy to get home from work and the kids were sitting with me on the couch. Makayla was on the arm of the couch and Caden was crawling all over. I don't know exactly what happened, but Caden either pushed or pulled Makayla off the couch. She immediately started crying and holding her shoulder. At first I couldn't tell if she was being dramatic or if she really was hurt. Daddy got home and we tried to get Makayla to show us, but she was being so protective of it. We debated about going to the doctor or waiting until the next day, but an hour later she was still crying and we knew we had to take her in. We had the suspicion that she probably broke her collar bone. :(

We took her to urgent care and the doctor came in to look at it. The doctor tried to be gentle, but even the slightest touch sent Makayla into a hysterical cry. The doctor ordered a x-ray. 

 Since I am 9 months pregnant and ready to pop, I couldn't go in the x-ray room with Makayla. Luckily Daddy was there to comfort her. It was so sad because I could hear Makayla screaming the entire time. They took some pictures with their big machine and Daddy took some pictures with his phone. The look on her face breaks my heart. We knew she was so scared.

  A little while later the doctor came back with the results. Our suspicions were confirmed that Makayla had indeed broken her collar bone. All I can say after looking at this picture is OUCH!!

 The doctor said that collar bones are different because you can't cast them, you basically have to let the bone fuse and heal on its own. They gave Makayla a sling, some pain medicine, and told us to follow up with a pediatric orthopedic doctor. Once Makayla realized she didn't have to get shots and that we were on our way home she was a happier girl.

Since then, Makayla has been such a trooper. She loves to tell people that she, "broke her clavicle," and loves the extra attention she is getting from everyone, even if she does pretend to be shy about it. She doesn't complain about it much unless she bumps it or if she is needing some extra attention. I have to laugh because Makayla has definitely learned how to milk it, and she knows we will do anything to try to make her feel better. Hopefully we'll have some more information on how long she has to wear the sling when we meet with her orthopedic doctor on Friday. All I can say is that our little girl is such a tough little sweetheart!

Makayla's Week of Firsts

Yes, I sound like all those mom's out there, but really, how do we have a three-year-old? And how is she ready for preschool and dance already? Makayla had a busy week this week as she had her first days at her new adventures.

Tuesdays and Thursdays Makayla has preschool at Little Learners Academy. Her teacher this year is Miss Aubrey and Miss Kembree. We took this picture on her first day, September 2, 2014.

I think Makayla was a little nervous about her first day. Caden and I walked her in, but as soon as she was in her classroom, she started playing with toys and told me good-bye. I think it may have been harder for me to leave her. When we picked her up she wouldn't tell us much about what they did that day, but in the days since we learned that they learned about their letters, colors, sing songs, have snacks, and play. Now that she is used to the routine, she loves preschool and talks about it all the time!

Then on Wednesdays Makayla takes a dance/tumbling class at Synergy Dance. She was so excited about dance and couldn't wait to wear her new dance outfit.

They don't let parents watch, and Makayla didn't tell us much about dance in the beginning either, but now she shows us a lot of tricks they do. She is learning how to do somersaults, cartwheels, and lots of new dance moves. 

We love to see this little girl grow up and experience new things!

Oh, and what do Caden and I do while sister is at preschool and dance? We go shopping! This handsome little boy is the best shopping buddy!

We Have Hilarious Kids... Here's Why

Caden- 2 years old

Even when he was a baby, we would say that Caden was hilarious. Even before he could talk he would make faces or do things to get us to laugh. Now as a toddler, he is even funnier. He is talking so well now, and some of the things he says crack us up. The best part is that there are only three people who understand him: me, Tyler, and Makayla, so when he does these funny lines, no one else gets how funny he really is. We usually have to translate for him. 

Here's a few favorites I want to remember: 

Caden has favorite movies. Right now one of them is Toy Story. He likes Mr. Potato head the best. At one part Mr. Potato Head messes up his face and says to the pig, "Look, I'm a Picasso."

Caden tries to imitate this, except his says, "Look I'm a Pick-Cost-ca-co"  and then says, "what are you looking at you hockey-pocky" (It really says hockey puck in the movie, but Caden's version is so much funnier.) The first time he did this I had no idea what he was talking about, but when Tyler and I finally realized what he was doing, we couldn't stop laughing.

Speaking of Toy Story, when Caden wakes up from his naps he says, "I woked up, so now I get to watch Toy Story!"

Another of Caden's favorite movies is Frozen. One day he was begging me for fork, and I was busy trying to do something, so I kept putting him off. He finally said to me, "Mommy, please get me a fork, I can't live like this anymore!" In the movie, Ana says "I can't live like this" part. It is so funny the things kids pick up on, and obviously Caden has a really rough life.

The other day I was going through the drive through and the cashier gave me my change back. Caden said to me, "Mommy, can I please have dat money?" I told that I was going to put it in my change pocket and he said, "Pwease, I need to go to call-wedge (college)!" How could I say no to that?

When Tyler mows the lawn, Caden tells Tyler, "I go watch you"

We have been trying to teach the kids not to say things like "hate," "I don't care," "stupid," etc." The problem is that the kids can't decipher intent, so when someone says it in a different context, they don't get it. The other day we were listening to the radio and the song "I don't dance" came on. In the song it says, "It ain't my style, but I don't care." Caden heard it and was so upset. He said to me, "Dat guy said, 'I don't care.' We don't say dat word."

Caden still isn't potty trained. We haven't pushed it, but we have been trying to guilt him into being trained by telling him that only babies wear diapers and big boys wear underwear. Well this backfired on us, and now Caden tells us, "I wear diapers because I'm a baby, not a big boy... da da da da."

We frequently ask the kids if we are going to have a boy or a girl, and Caden usually repeats whatever Makayla says. It made me smile the other day when Caden said to us, "When the baby comes out, can we have a brother?"

Makayla- 3 Years Old

At three years old, Makayla is just as funny, except she get's things more that Caden does. She has turned into quite the sassy pants. Here's a few of my favorite sayings of Makayla's over the last few months:

Makayla asked me one day if she could cut up paper. This is not unusual, because she asks to do this all the time. I told her sure, but that she had to do it in the kitchen where I could watch her. Well I was cleaning out the freezer, and would glance over at her occasionally. I thought everything was fine. A while later I was vacuuming and found chunks of hair all over the floor.

This was our conversation:

Me: "Makayla what is this?"

Makayla: (In a nonchalant tone) "It's just my hair"

Me: Did you cut your hair? 

Makayla: "Ya, but it didn't hurt!"

It took me a while to calm down, and now I can laugh about it, but at the time I was so upset. Luckily you can't tell where her hair is cut, but it will take years for it to grow back to where it was. I guess every kid does this at some point, right?  

I have had a lot of Dr's appointments over the last two months. One day I told Makayla I had to go to one of my appointments and she said, "Is the doctor going to give you a duckie?" (The kids get toy ducks when they go to their pediatrician.)

Makayla is still obsessed with her Baby Kenzee. She steals blankets, Caden's diapers, clothes intended for the new baby if it's a girl. I told her that those things were for my baby and she said to me, "But my baby Kenzee needs these. Your baby can have these (as she points to all the boy things)."

As I have mentioned, Makayla is quite the sassy pants. I can't remember the context, but Makayla said to me, "Don't freak out Mom, eat some panana bread."

Remember how we have been teaching our kids to say nice things, not mean things like "I hate you"? Well one day we had to go to Costco. I really dread going there because it is so crowded and people act like they have never seen free samples before. I told the kids we were going there and Makayla said, "But you hate Costco mom. We don't say hate. We only say hate in the bathroom."

Remember how Caden asked for a brother when the baby is born? Well Makayla said to us around the same time, "When the baby comes out, can we have a kitty?" Someone is learning the art of negotiation very early!

I get so tired of cleaning up the kids' toys, so one day I told them that if they didn't clean up their things, the Grumpy Old Troll was going to take their toys away while they were sleeping. Well this obviously backfired on us, and now both of our kids are so scared that the Grumpy Old Troll is going to get them while they're sleeping. Needless to say, we have had one or both kids in our bed almost every night now. 

I need to do better at writing all of these their funny sayings down, but one thing is for sure, these two kids are two of the funniest kids ever! They keep us laughing everyday. I really think their two ages are the best and funnest ages yet!

August Fun

August has been filled with fun things with the family. Tyler has had to travel quite a bit (He's been to Louisana, Alaska (twice), Elko, and Whyoming all this month). We've had to do some fun things without him, but when he is home we have partied it up.  The first of August we went to the Bees game. Terry got discounted tickets through her work, so we went with the Evans clan. We got to see the the Bee, but the kids were a little scared of him. I was about 32 weeks pregnant in this picture... It counts for my monthly update, right? :)

 It was kind of hot at the game, but we had so much fun.

 Another day we decided to check out the new Living Planet Aquarium that opened up last month. It was pretty fun (and gross) to see all the fish and other animals.

 They have a part where you can touch the sting rays and some of the other animals. Makayla wanted to touch it, but every time they would come close, she would get scared and move her hand away.

 Even though there were real fish around the aquarium, the kids' loved sitting on the fake whales. Go figure.

The aquarium must have been pretty memorable, because the kids talked about the fish for a few weeks after. 

 The weather has been perfect in August, so we have had a lot of our dinners outside. Makayla and Caden were being so cute together. I have really noticed this summer how they are becoming best friends. I remember people telling us that having our kids close together would be hard (and don't get me wrong, at times it is), but I love that they are best friends... most of the time.

 Making faces in the shower.

 Last Saturday we bought a season pass to the Zoo. We figured with me staying home for the next year it would be a fun thing to get us out of the house. I'm sure I will be posting a lot of pictures at the zoo in the next year. They just opened up the Safari section and the train ride last month, so we got to go on the new train. I'm about 36 weeks preggo in this picture (and look like I am ready to pop... which I am!)

August is almost over, and we have had such a fun summer. It is so weird to me because normally at this time I am getting ready to go back to work. It is a bittersweet feeling not going back to work. I really love staying home with the kids, but I also really loved working. The good news is that I feel like our summer is not even over yet! And we have the best surprise coming in just a few weeks!