30 thankfuls day 2

Today, I am thankful for our business. It has, at times, been a nightmare. However, it has opened so many doors and hopefully will, someday, be the key to us having Woody home!!

30 days of thankful Day 1

30 days til Thanksgiving! Gosh, that happened fast!!!! Time for the annual thankful list!!

Day 1: today, I am thankful for my family. I am so blessed with an awesome husband and amazing, beautiful, healthy children.  They are my everything! I dare each of them!!

Time. Is. Flying.

I kinda wish it would slow down! This pregnancy seems to be really just passing me by.i am already nearly 23 weeks!! That means round 17 weeks left. (I suspect Addy wants to be a March baby, and of I am right, I have closer to 18 weeks left.) That is NOT much!! Especially since I am so not prepared for this baby girl. I am waiting until the end of November to buy the big stuff. Right before Thanksgiving, we are getting a 3d ultrasound and I just want one more confirmation that this is Adalyn I am carrying and not Declan.

In other news, Blayke is catching on to how to read!! Yay!! I tried a month or so ago, and he had no interest. Now, he is gettin' it!! So exciting!! Konnor is finally talking, however I think Blayke, Cierra and I are the only ones who understand him!! Cierra is awesome. She is such a great child. She does her chores without too much fuss, she is so helpful and she is so well behaved!

Woody has been in North Dakota for 2 weeks, and will be there for 1 more. Then home for a weekend and gone til Thanksgiving, when we head to Idaho. He is such an awesome husband. He works so hard, and while he is not without fault, he is, by far, the best husband I could ask for.m

Midwife update

Today was my monthly visit to my awesome, amazing, fabulous, kind, caring (insert any other positive adjectives here), midwife. My goodness, I love her.
I have been having trouble sleeping at night. I fall into my bed, exhausted, and am out almost immediately. However, between 1 & 2 in the morning, I wake up and am up for 3 or 4 hours, fall back asleep for an hour or 2 and am up with the kids for the day. It has been brutal, and today, I finally just cried about it. I decided to discuss it with my midwife, and she was awesome. When I cried, she was so kind. She gave me a few, pregnancy safe suggestions as well as reminding me that I have a lot going on, and it isn't surprising that I am having these issues.
I love the personal feel I have with my midwife. She even remembers what we plan to name the baby, and refers to her by name. She evens called another client who is LDS, and lives in this area to see if she could give me her number just to help me meet people. Yep, she is awesome!!
Now, onto the update on Miss Addy. She is laying sideways in my belly, head on my left, bum on the right. She is also high, laying right above my belly button. I am measuring 23 weeks, though my dates say I am just over 21 weeks. Addy's heartbeat was right around 150, but she was wiggling like crazy, so a good solid number couldn't be registered. Speaking of wiggling, she has become much stronger. Still not as active as the boys, but she is starting to really make her presence known. I can see my belly jump when she kicks.
The craziest thing? I am just now to the weight I have started my last 2 pregnancies at! (5, if you include miscarriages!)

This picture shows the difference between my pregnancy with Konnor and this one. Higher and smaller this go.

20 weeks!

Yesterday, I hit the halfway mark of this pregnancy!! My! How time flies!!! BabyAdalyn is still not as active as Konnor was.... But she is definitely getting stronger!! Woody and Cierra have felt her kick. We are all so excited for this baby!!! I do kinda wish it would slow down a bit. She will be here before we know it...and the she will be 2! At least, that is how it seems to happen!
There is so much I can't wait to experience again:  breast feeding, cloth diapering (already have a pretty good stash started!) baby-wearing, and breathing in the delicious smell of a newborn baby!! (Yes, I know it won't all be rainbows and roses, I have done this before!)
She already has gobs of clothes, (thanks mostly in part to a lot of clothes that I bought from Craigslist.) a playpen, (thanks to a thrift store here in Billings!) and diapers! We may be a bit excited for this Wee One!!! And, OH the flowers!! Lol!!girls are so much fun to shop for!!!!

Super cute lotj!

My cute kids

20 weeks 1 day!

If you take a husband..

If you take a husband to the zoo, he will want to see the turtles. If you take him to see the turtles, he'll decide he wants one, and you'll have to take him to the pet store. While at the pet store, he'll discover their turtles are a bit spendy, and your daughter will find the guinea pigs. Finding the guinea pigs will make him forget the turtle...and...you'll end up taking home a guinea pig and 2 beta fish...(the beta fish were the compromise for not getting 3 guinea pigs.) Upon arriving home, your husband will start reading about what social creatures guinea pigs are, and will want another.. And chances are...if he wants another...You'll have to take him back to the pet store. After naps of course!

So, yea... We have a guinea pig named Oreo. And Woody is going back to get another. Thank goodness I have a huge, tiled schoolroom! Here are a few pics of the zoo here in Montana (which I would not recommend!) and one of Oreo.. Who is kinda cute... Shhhh... Don't tell anyone I said anything!!

Even though I love it here...

Being without Woody has been tough. Even more so than I might have thought it would be. Mind you, I have several things playing against me:  hormones, a 2 1/2 year old who *still* won't sleep in his own bed all night, (he starts out there, then ends up in mine.. And I am too tired at 2 a.m. to get my hiney outta bed and put him in his own bed.) and a stomach bug that has caused my other son not to sleep well either. Plus.... I like my husband, and like having him around. Today, after a vomiting/not sleeping/wiggling around/ending up with 2 little boys in my bed fiasco, I have been in a particularly foul mood... So, I am trying to refocus on all that I am thankful for.. 

1. Church.. Even better church that is close. We went to our first Sunday this week. It was wonderful.  We have a nice little ward, and the kids loved their teachers!

2. My kids. I love these little people. They amaze me every day. They are smart, kind, funny and love me, their daddy and each other so much.

3. My home. We have so much more than so many. Our home is beautiful, warm and full of love.

4. Awesome neighbors. The people who live next to us are amazing. They are kind to me and my kids. They have one 8 year-old daughter, and her and Cierra became instant friends.

5. An amazing, hardworking husband. Nope, he is not perfect, but I adore him nonetheless.

6. A precious little girl growing inside of me. After 3 miscarriages, a healthy pregnancy is not something I am likely to take for granted ever again. I am feeling little nudges every day, and they never cease to make me smile. (By the way, her name is Adalyn MaKaye. We already call her Addy. Woody and I picked her first name, and Cierra picked her middle name.)

7. Prayer. Because I know my husband and I made the right decision, even though sometimes it is really tough!!!

8. Heavenly Father for listening to me whine, and always finding ways to remind me to be thankful because I am so very incredibly blessed!!!

9. Living in a regular city. I truly do love it here.

10. My phones navigation device... The only thing that allows me to venture out of The Heights. (The section of town I live in.. It is like its own little city.)

11. My phone. Seriously, when my Mother-in-law was visiting, she was telling me about my Father-in-law driving before cell phones...while raising 7 kids...5 of which were boys who were no strangers to the ER.   Talk about making ya thankful!!!!!!

What a blessed life I lead!!! I am so thankful!