I'm just accepting that this is a new stage in life. I was happy about keeping up with the blog, even when there were two little humans in the house, but being pregnant with #3, I just don't have the same motivation or energy to grab the computer, send pictures from my phone to my email, and write it all down.
So we're doing a weekly "catch all" instead of a daily update...we normally don't have as social of a week as we did last week, but it was fun just the same. By Friday, though, we were done!
The weekend...
We decided to surprise my parents at the last minute and drive down to Florida on Friday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but my parents have been in the process of moving my Grandpa out of his house and into a small house across the street from them. It hasn't been an easy time for them, and they needed some Mimi and Papa playtime.
The girls had a blast, and were definitely worn out by the time we climbed back into the car on Sunday morning to drive home.
This deserves its own post, and Evelyn, you have my permission to complain about forgetting your "special" posts because you are the middle child. Yes, we did document every single breath that Bella took when she was a baby; you'll just have to trust me that we love you more. (Kidding!)
When we got home on Sunday afternoon, Steve was playing with Evelyn and started to help her stand up by herself. And she did!!! It was so awesome! She's done this in very short increments (like 3 seconds), so when she stood up in the middle of the room for about 10 seconds, we were thrilled! She's getting braver, but still doesn't seem to care too much about standing; she'd much rather be carried everywhere. (Me too, for the record.)
Monday
Little Human #3 update: I'm not sure what God or this baby is trying to teach us, but this has been a very different pregnancy than the girls were. At our first visit, we were told that the baby had an enlarged heart chamber- not an emergency, but something to keep an eye on. Because of this, we had to have another ultrasound during the following appointment. The nice part was that Steve got a chance to see the ultrasound and baby in-person.
The report was good; the heart ventricles have evened out (?) and the baby is measuring on target. The midwife, though, told us that the placenta has moved down lower than it should be. I haven't had any bleeding, so I don't need to do bed rest; at this point, I just have to be careful with heavy lifting or exercise. It was very frustrating in that moment to feel like it was one more thing to be worried about.
I'm still getting used to this midwife because I'm at a new practice, so I'm getting used to personalities, etc. This practice has both doctors and nurses, and Steve and I aren't sure if this is the midwife we'd go through the entire pregnancy with. We're also thinking a lot about our birthing options. We've been talking about not doing a homebirth this time since there seems to be additional complications here and there. Honestly, I haven't completely decided on that yet, but it's how we're leaning. That would leave us with a hospital or birthing center. I think I'd prefer a birthing center, but the ones around us are downtown, so we're thinking about logistics, etc.
Lots to pray about with this little human! It's definitely a new experience for us, since Bella and Evelyn were so low-key. (The pregnancy is a new experience, not prayer!) :)
Tuesday
I just found out through Facebook that one of my friends from high school has moved about 30 minutes away! Her name is Kim and we played soccer together, sleep overs, camps, all that fun stuff! I was so excited to touch base with her and plan to meet in a park with our assorted babies!
I don't think I've seen her in 12 years! I pray and hope that I am such a different person than I was in high school, but she is the exact same! In all the best ways! She and her husband have such an incredible heart for God and for other people! I loved meeting her kids (5!) and having them play with Bella and Evelyn. It was a great visit and we made immediate plans to get our families and menfolk together for dinner!
Bella was completely worn out after so much fun in the park with new friends! She doesn't take a nap anymore, but every afternoon, we have "Quiet Room Time" while Evelyn takes her afternoon nap. On Tuesday, I walked past her door and realized it was very quiet inside. I peeked in and this is what I found - she had just passed out on the floor, shoes and all!
Tuesday night was my meeting with Missions Committee, and I always come home from those meetings to encouraged and excited about what God is doing through our church and our people! Can I just brag on my church for a second, and say that we are currently sponsoring 7 different church plants across the world! And 2 of those came from people in our church and are reaching others in our own area! It's incredible!
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Bella had her dentist appointment. This was only her second one, but she already had improved leaps and bounds! I'm not sure when other kids start going to the dentist, but I was really happy that we didn't do it until Bells was just shy of 4. She was old enough to understand and listen to what the dentist and I were telling her.
During the first visit, she sat in my lap and did well, but wouldn't let them get near her with any sharp tools. This time, I prepared her that the sharp tools would be in her mouth, but they would only touch her teeth; they wouldn't poke her and they weren't shots. She sat all by herself and babbled away with the hygienist. She did great through each step and was thrilled to pick a pink stegosaurus out of the treasure chest! Oh, and she was perfectly happy in this picture of the waiting room; she just likes to be overdramatic on film. (Don't we all?)
Wednesday night, we hosted our Bible study, I Am Second, at our house since Trey and Whitney are in Idaho all summer. I love having people over and we had a great discussion about being purposeful in how we live out our Christian faith!
Thursday
Unfortunately, that's where my pictures end...I wish I had taken more! Thursday mornings, Caroline and I are meeting for our Bible study. The original hope/plan/desire was to host a Bible study in my home this summer for preschool moms. We contacted ladies on two different occasions, and had great responses, but when the day came to meet, no one showed up. It was extremely discouraging, but I just had to accept that God clearly had a different plan for me than hosting a Bible study this summer. Caroline was going to be my "buddy" in hosting, so she and I decided to go ahead and do the Bible study anyway.
The girls and I met my friend Trina for lunch at Chick-fil-A. Trina's husband, Todd, was our Family Pastor for awhile at church and I consider the two of them my "parent mentors". I used to plop myself down in the chair in Todd's office, and say, "Okay, what about __________?" I think he got tired of me stopping by at random times, because he finally gave me Trina's number and said she was the real parenting expert. Trina is a very calm parent. I love the way the two of them approach parenting - very purposeful and loving. They know what their end goal is and they're good at keeping that in sight in spite of the rough ins and outs of daily parenting. It's always so encouraging to talk to Trina and I walk away refreshed as a parent!
Thursday night was dinner plans with our friends, Ashleigh and Ryan. (I told you it was a social week!) They have two children that are the same age as our kids, so we've been trying to coordinate a dinner date for ages! It was a blast! Ashleigh made a divine dinner and dessert, Molly and Bella got to play for hours, and the adults got to sit around and talk about everything from poop to miscarriages to good music. I'm pretty sure we solved the worlds problems by the time we left. :)
Friday
We thought Friday was going to be our crash day, but on Wednesday, I got a call from one of my cousins who was driving through with her 3 boys and wondered if they could crash at our house on Friday night. Their boys are very rambunctious boys, but a lot of fun, too! We haven't seen most of my Maryland family since just after Bella was born, and I miss them so much! It was great to see just this small piece of my very large extended family!
So, that was our week! What a special time to see so many wonderful faces and be so refreshed by those we share our life with!
Oh! I do have a couple of more pictures to share! Chick-fil-A has an annual "Cow Appreciation Day" where they give free food to anyone who dresses like a cow. If you dress "head to hoof" in cow gear, you get an entire value meal for free, so that was my mission! We planned to meet my friend, Emily, with her two children, and it was a blast!
Getting ready - all of us had cow spots on, cow ears, and some sort of "hooves"; I wore pink ballet flats, Evelyn wore her black dress shoes, and Bella rocked her sparkly TOMS.
At Chick-fil-A; Emily's brother, Zach, was dressed as the cow mascot, but the girls weren't thrilled to be that close to a giant cow, so we just took a picture by ourselves. Friends, laughing, and free food! Win-win-win!
Oh! And since this was the Friday that we also decided to drive down to Florida at the last-minute, I kept the girls in their cow costumes, and we got free food again when we stopped at a Chick-fil-A on the road for dinner. Look at me being a thrifty mama!
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