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Sunday, May 31, 2015

The Four Month Baby Bump

The 20 week baby boy bump


Stats:  I've made it to 20 weeks, uncomfortably, but hooray. I took the Maternit21 test at 10 weeks and we learned that we're having a baby boy back in early April (around 13 weeks). It's somewhat crazy to be able to find out this early now AND with 99% accuracy. We did a baby gender reveal, which we hadn't done in the past with the girls, and the surprise reveal was quite a special moment to celebrate along with family. Baby boy is due to arrive October 19, 2015. He will be six years younger than Elise and four years younger than Alina. The age differences mean I will have a couple of great little helpers when he arrives.

How I feel this time around: Nauseous. I will admit that morning sickness with our little guy has been less than the extremes I had with the girls, but I've still suffered through it and there have been plenty of mornings where I've just felt plain awful. Even though I am 20 weeks, I am still throwing up here and there. I'm hoping to be over most of it soon because I don't have the luxury of much free time  while working and taking care of two kids. Also, I am carrying pretty high with him, so most my clothes are already fitting uncomfortably. Time to go shopping.

Food cravings: Steak. It's the only actual craving I've had this entire time and I started having it around 8-9 weeks, so well before we learned it was a boy. I suspected it may have been a boy based off this odd craving, because with the girls all I craved was lemons and fruit. I typically eat red meat maybe once a month at most, but the craving of steak cooked in butter and garlic has been pretty strong. I even like the smell of it cooking.

Weight gain: Let's not even go there...HAH! Ok, so I feel about twice the size with baby boy as I did with the girls. I am just blaming this on the fact that I haven't been able to work out and that he's my third baby. My belly definitely popped out much early than it did with the girls. My appetite has been more extreme and I've had less morning sickness than I did with the girls. I probably need to cut myself some slack here, he's a growing boy and I will continue to fuel "his"/my appetite.

Special moments - I haven't felt a ton of movement just yet, but if I lie back on the sofa we can now see my belly button dip out and back in depending on how much he is moving inside. It's cool to watch, just knowing that he's becoming very active in there. We are still celebrating the fact that will get the opportunity to experience having a little boy. I have enjoyed every moment raising our two girls and all kids are different personalities regardless of gender, but on the same note it will be fun to partake in the active rough and tumble aspect that I hear so much about. I also have had so many moms tell me of the pure love and sweetness that they share with their boys and I am looking forward to claiming this little guy as my mama's boy!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Mama-Mobile Alert!

Mama's got a brand new ride


Well, it's official, we've swapped the good ole hot rod for a new Toyota Highlander SUV with third row seating. The girls love the new SUV as they have more arm and leg space and are no longer within smacking distance of each other. They also enjoy the super sized sun/moon roof for cloud and star gazing on long car rides. Now we will have room for baby brother to fit in our ride! I am going to miss the old Charger though, it's been a great car for us over the past nine years. I think the girls are going to miss it too, since they have already voiced concern that the new SUV is not fast enough (go figure).



Goodbye SRT8 Charger; nothing but great memories

Friday, May 15, 2015

Happy Mother's Day X 3!

It's a BOY!!!


We have some exciting news to share, we are expecting a new baby due to arrive in October. We had a fun little reveal party with our family recently and are very excited to announce that: It's a BOY! The girls are thrilled to welcome their new little brother later this year, and I can't express how much joy we feel to be blessed with this sweet little baby; our son. 

Celebrating Mother's Day as a mom, not only to our two beautiful and sweet girls, but also to this new special little life has me feeling very honored and grateful. The journey to get here has not been the easiest, but I am thankful every single day that we made it. I also have to admit that I was so surprised to see blue on top of that cake. Being a mom to two girls has made me practically color blind to anything but pink (haha). Dad is also very happy to have a new boy on the way to help balance out all the female energy in the house. The girls, I know, will make great big sisters and mini-moms in training. They are already wanting to help decorate his room, pick out baby clothes and debate over who gets to hold him first. I look forward to seeing how the household dynamic shifts when he arrives. I know the girls will be very interested in taking care of him and always be there to protect him. We are very eager to meet you little man, and experience all the joys that you will bring to our family!



Beautiful flowers

Thursday, May 7, 2015

LA Trip Part IV: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

Last stop - The LA County Museum of Natural History

T-Rex and Triceratops fossil display

Silly Elise posing by the dinosaurs

The girls loved the extensive dinosaur displays

Elise enjoyed the mineral display

Minerals & gems at LA County Natural History Museum

Animal exhibits and the preserved mega mouth shark



Our very last destination during our LA trip was the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. We got the double entry pass for both La Brea Tar Pits and the Natural History Museum and while we thought it would be a quick trip, it turned out that the girls did not want to leave and made sure to explore every corner and exhibit. They really loved this place and I would highly recommend making it a top go-to spot while visiting LA. The highlights were the dinosaur exhibit the extensive mineral and gem exhibit. The girls were in awe over the colossal dinosaur bones and Elise especially loved the colorful mineral displays. She declared that she planned to start collecting "beautiful and colorful rocks" once she gets back home. We also paid a little extra to visit the butterfly pavilion and they loved getting to locate and identify the different butterfly species on their guides. 

What a great end to a very fun trip. We had plenty of relaxation, family and beach time early on, so it was nice to spend the last day doing a bit of sightseeing. Elise was thrilled to see the Hollywood sign on our drive back since she recognized it from the movie "Hop". The kids did surprisingly well on the drive back home. We only stopped a couple times and there were no are we there yet's uttered, so all-in-all success. We are looking forward to visiting LA again soon. We want to see our family more often and visit a few more Southern CA beaches. I really want to take the kids to Laguna Beach as I have some great memories there visiting the tide pools with my grandparents. We also still have the California Science Center (home of the Endeavor Space Shuttle) on our future to-do-list. 



Cute Alina posing with the polar bear

South American art exhibit

The Nature Lab was another highlight for the girls

Elise identifying butterfly species; she had it down!

Fun in the butterfly pavilion

Alina found this beautiful monarch butterfly

View of the Hollywood sign on our drive home