As I mentioned with my last pregnancy, when I first started this blog I thought I'd be able to get on here and write about my life as it was happening as a sort of time capsule for my children. Boy was I naive! I had no idea what I was in for when it came to actually RAISING children of my own. I have still tried to record the big happenings of our lives here as sort of a "baby book" for the kids to look back on someday. I'm finding that Matt and I are enjoying looking back at old posts more than the kids are so far, but either way, it will be here for them if they ever what to see what they were up to as kids.
So, with two little boys and a full time job keeping me busy, I have been behind almost ALWAYS on this blog. I am finding myself actually caught up at this point in time (just for about a month and then Alex's next post is due, oy!) But anyway, since I'm actually caught up and since I wrote about my other two pregnancies (Alex's much more than Declan's) I thought I'd update the old blog with the news that we are expecting baby number 3!!!
We are very excited about the new addition to our family who is due to arrive sometime in May While May 16th is the official due date, who knows when the baby will actually come? With Alex having been induced 8 days late and Declan coming in like a hurricane 8 days early, it's hard to say exactly when this baby will make an appearance.
We found out I was pregnant on September 3rd. I put Matt through so much with the big surprises with the other two that I just told him that I was going to test that Thursday morning since it was 10 days past ovulation (that's when I first tested positive with Declan). Woke up that morning and went to the bathroom. I came back to bed and Matt asked, "Well, what did you get?" I waited 5 minutes then went back in and told him I saw a faint line.
Here's a little side note to explain what I did next:
When I was planning to get pregnant for the second time, I went to see my OBGYN for my annual exam. This was at the end of November. I told Dr. Bale that we were planning on starting trying soon and asked him for a prescription for prenatal vitamins. He gave me the prescription and said good luck and told me to call when I get a positive pregnancy test. Well a mere 2 weeks later I found out I was pregnant, so I called the doctor's office to let them know. Dr. Bale said, "Didn't I just see you a couple weeks ago? Man, your husband must be shooting golden bullets!"
Okay, so back to baby number 3 . . . After I saw the faint line on the pregnancy test, I pulled out a gift that I bought after we tried for this baby. It was a "Golden" bullet inscribed with his name. Matt opened the gift and smiled. Then he said, "You are lucky I know what this means, otherwise I'd think you were trying to tell me you have a bullet with my name on it!" I honestly hadn't even thought of that. So glad he knew what it meant!
A couple days later I used an expired digital test to further convince Matt since the line was so faint on the test at 10 days past ovulation. Even the expired test showed that I was pregnant :)
We didn't keep the news to ourselves for long. I was already experiencing the first trimester fatigue so we decided to tell the kids right away hoping that we could get Alex to help out a little more around the house. The whole telling them early pretty much back fired on us. They either weren't excited at all or they just didn't get it.
Right after we told the boys, we decided to tell my parents. Sometimes a girl just needs to talk to her mom about this kind of stuff. So we headed over to their house with Declan dressed in Alex's old "Big Brother" t-shirt. Of course neither of them noticed at first (or they did notice and just thought he was wearing a hand-me-down). Finally my mom looked at Declan's shirt and said, "Hey you big brother - you're not the big bro . . ." Just then it clicked and she looked over at me and said, "Is he the big brother?" I told her yes, he is the big brother and there was a lot of happiness and hugging!
We told Matt's parents a couple days later. We tried the same tactic with Declan wearing the "Big Brother" shirt. That did not work at all with them. It took forever and so I eventually just told Alex to tell Grandma Gerry. So Alex went into the kitchen and said, "Hey Grandma Gerry . . . my mom has a baby in her belly!" At first she didn't think it was real, but when we confirmed there was more rejoicing.
Once the whole family knew, we started slowing telling close friends. I was fortunate enough to be able to see all my college friends within a month of each other so I actually got to tell them in person. All except Katie of course who is in Africa. Once all the family and our close friends knew, it was time to make it official . . . Facebook official that is. We waited until Halloween and then we posted this:
That one didn't take too much explaining and we got a lot of congratulations and well wishes.
So now that the news it out, I've been getting all the same questions including, "How are you feeling?" The truth is that with this pregnancy I was NOT feeling well at ALL for the entire first trimester. I constantly felt like I was going to throw up and I was so tired all the time. Luckily this became a bit better around 10 weeks and by 14 weeks it was pretty much all alleviated. Now I'm still pretty tired, but I think that has more to do with having a full time job and two very active boys to take care of.
Another question is "Are you hoping for a girl?" To be honest, I'm already sick of this question. No I'm not "hoping for a girl." I was hoping for a baby and it looks like I got what I wanted! Honestly, I think Matt would really like a girl, but he would be thrilled with another boy too. I know that boy or girl, this baby is so special and we are all going to fall in love with him or her. I, myself, am already in love and there is nothing this kid could do to change that.
Which leads us to, "Are you going to find out the gender?" The answer to that is no. Matt really wants to find out because we are all out of boys names. If it's a girl, we don't have to go through the pain of trying to find a name. I really loved being surprised with the boys and I really don't want to ruin that moment in the delivery room so I made the decision that we will wait again. I told Matt that we need to just assume it is going to be a boy and come up with a name so we are prepared either way. So we are still discussing boys names and we are taking suggestions if you want to put in your 2 cents ;)
Another question is, "Are you showing?" With this being baby number 3, I'm pretty sure I started showing the day after we found out. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I really did pop out early. Here are some of my "bump" photos:
6 Weeks (in the Willis Tower in Chicago):
8 Weeks:
15 Weeks:
17 Weeks:
Another question is, "Are you sure there is only 1 in there?" Okay, so this is the question I keep asking my doctor. I'm just so much bigger than I was with my other 2 pregnancies! (See 17 weeks with Alex and 16 weeks with Declan). Dr. Gosser (my new OB since Dr. Bale retired) said that it is normal for the uterus to stretch out sooner after having had a few babies. Plus I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and there was definitely only one in there:
I was also able to hear the heartbeat at 12 weeks and 17 weeks and it was strong at 150 BPM.
I am scheduled to have my big 20 week ultrasound on January 6th. So excited to be able to see the baby again! I'm planning on bringing Alex along and maybe even Declan too. We shall see. Hopefully I will find time to post the pictures from that ultrasound but of course that will all depend on when I can squeeze some non-existent time to do it. We shall see! If I do have time to do that I will also post more pictures of my belly. It's getting bigger and bigger. No one even questions whether or not I'm pregnant right now.
We are thrilled to be bringing another life into this world. We can't wait to meet you our precious little baby!
You are 2 years old now! We had so much fun celebrating your birthday!
Dad and I woke you up with the Beatles Birthday song. You weren't thrilled at first, but you got pretty excited after we finally got you out of bed:
After we got dressed, we headed out for some Ex-Cop Donut Shop. They made you your very own donut with blue sprinkles on it. Mom brought candles and we sang to you.
After breakfast, we headed to the Botanical Garden. We had a blast playing in the Children's Garden. We started at the Lewis and Clark Canoes where we tried to get your brother to entertain us. It did't go as well as we had hoped, lol!
We also attempted to get you and Alex to dress up like Native Americans again this year. It went about the same as last year:
You still love to put your hands up when going over bridges:
You seemed to really like going down the slide this year . . . with either me or Aunt E of course:
You also walked over the rope bridge with my help of course!
And you did a great job climbing up the rope ladder:
But of course your favorite part about our trip to the Garden was the splash pad!
After we got you all dried off, of course mom tried to get some cute pictures of you on the flowers. You of course were just not having it:
We went to Adriana's after the garden. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of that :( But you know the drill. You and Alex split a pizza and Aunt E bought you a special birthday treat for dessert. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of fun.
The next day we had your birthday party! You absolutely LOVE The Polar Express. So what if it was August, we were going to have a Polar Express birthday party for you anyway! Mommy made you a Polar Express cake and cupcakes:
The whole family came over to celebrate. You had a blast playing with your cousins all evening and you loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday to you:
And of course you LOVED eating the cake:
You weren't exactly thrilled with opening gifts. You pretty much just wanted to play with the first one you got. We pushed through though and you ended up loving everything you got:
After the party was over all your cousins got to take home a Polar Express Party Favor consisting of a train whistle, a bell, and peppermint stick and some other candy:
It was such a special weekend celebrating a very special little boy. I love you so much my sweet Declan! Here's to many, many more birthdays together!
You are 2 years old now! As usual, this all happened in the blink of an eye! We had so much fun with you from 1.5 to 2 years old. Here's what we were up to:
Mom had to go on a work trip for an entire week. That was a VERY long time for both you and me! When I returned home we headed straight to the Magic House. You had so much fun playing at the construction site.
A little later in February, you weren't feeling very well, so I took you to the doctor.
Later that night Gram called to see how you were doing. Based on this video, I'd say you were feeling much better that night!
At the end of February, we celebrated my birthday. You guys gave me a pink John Deere shirt, the movie Love Actually and some Chocolate Covered Strawberries and truffles. You were a little upset because you didn't get as much truffle as you wanted.
We also celebrated at Paw Paw and Grandma's Gerry's house.
With March came one more snowfall. You and Alex really wanted to play in the snow, but Gram didn't want to take you guys outside until after nap. You were both thrilled to get up from your nap and be able to go outside and play in the snow!
You absolutely adore your brother. You call him "Bro". When I pick you up from daycare, I always say, "Who are we going to get now?" And you enthusiastically say, "Bro!" It's adorable!
With the weather starting to get nicer outside, we started trying to do a few more outdoor activities. One of your favorites is the Zoo. You and bro love the sea lions!
You absolutely love your Poppy and he love you too! He loves you so much that he pulls you and bro around in a wagon. You guys just love this time with Poppy!
The middle of March brought St. Patrick's Day. We had a great day! We got all dressed up in Green and then headed downtown. We at breakfast at Rooster then headed over to Aunt Elizabeth's condo for a bit and then headed down for the parade. It was such a fun day!
We had more and more warm days at this point in time, so we took many visits to the park. You love following Alex around the park and you love when he pushes you in the swing.
At the end of March, we had Palm Sunday. For Palm Sunday, we went to DeSmet for their mass in the gym and Easter Egg Hunt on the field. You and Alex had so much fun picking up eggs from the field and eating all the candy. You also loved eating the donuts afterwards.
You have a lot of fun with your friend, Olivia at Lisa's house. You guys love to look at the trash trucks as they pick up the trash.
In early April, Aunt E became a doctor! We were so proud of her and wanted to let her know it, so we made this video and took some pictures:
And then it was Easter time. You and bro woke up very excited to see what the Easter Bunny left for you in your baskets.
After that we went to mass and then to Aunt Debbie's house for lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt:
After Aunt Debbie's house, we headed over to my Uncle Thos's house for dinner and another Easter Egg Hunt. It was a great day!
Gram bought you some sunglasses for Easter. One day I caught you hanging around the house like this:
You guys still absolutely love the Museum of Transportation, so we try to go there whenever we can. You love riding the mini train and you love going in all the different train engines and cabooses.
April 13, 2015 was a big day for mommy. It was 5 years of being cancer free for me. I really wanted to go out and celebrate, but I had so much to do with packing up the house (we were moving at the end of the month) that I didn't think we had time. But then when I picked you boys up from school, I decided that packing is for the birds and we need to celebrate. So we went to McDonald's for dinner and then off to Cold Stone for some ice cream. It was a great way for me to celebrate all the blessings I have because I survived cancer. You and your brother are my greatest treasure!
One of my favorite things you do is play a "Peek-a-boo" type of game with the glass doors in the bath tub. I was hoping I could get you to do this one last time before we moved so I could capture it on video. I was lucky!
We did the Color Run again this year. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We brought the stroller, but as it turned out, we really didn't need to. You had so much fun actually RUNNING in the Color Run! You didn't run the whole thing, but you did make it for most of it. And you loved having the color all over you. It was a great day!
At the end of April, there was a Parents as Teachers Event that had a Fire Engine, Ambulance, Police Car and lots of other fun activities. You and bro had a great time.
At the very end of April it was time for us to say good-bye to our first home. It was a bittersweet moment. We made so many wonderful memories in that old house, but we are looking forward to all the memories that will be made in our new house.
With the last time in our old home, came our first time in our new home. You guys were pretty excited when Grandma Gerry dropped you off for the first time at our new home:
Right after we moved, mom and dad's 7th wedding anniversary came up quick! So quickly that we forgot to get a babysitter for you and Alex. No worries though, we decided to just celebrate with you guys. It ended up being one of the best anniversaries ever! We started the day at the Museum of Transportation.
Then that evening we headed out to Kirkwood for Dewey's Pizza and then over to the custard stand for some yummy frozen custard.
After we finished our custard, we noticed that the firemen were outside the station. So we went over to see them. They gave you and Alex each a fire hat and an ambulance card. We all had a great night!
Gram and Poppy's back yard in May is a great place to be! We have so much fun playing baseball and feeding the fish. Gram says if we put our fingers in the pond, the fish will nip at our fingers. You and Alex each have a fish in there. Yours is named Nemo and Alex's is named Zero. We have so much fun in the spring at Gram and Poppy's.
We got a brand new kitchen table for our new kitchen. We got a bench seat for you and brother to be able to sit together. We did get you to sit there with him once, but you still prefer to sit in your high chair. I'm sure you guys will sit together again soon.
We try to go to Frisco Friday at Frisco Train Store as much as possible. You guys just love the train store. You are starting to get more and more into all the activities there. You get your hand painted and you LOVE the cookies. But most of all you absolutely love playing with the trains!
In mid-May, we celebrated Mother's Day. You guys gave me some mascara and chocolate covered strawberries. I had a great day with my boys!
In late May, we celebrated Aunt E's doctorate. You and Alex were more than happy to partake in the cookies I made for her:
It was finally Grant's Farm season too! We did plenty of Grant's Farm this summer and you were finally big enough to ride on the carousel. You weren't crazy about it at first, but once it got going, you had a great time!
Daddy has to work sometimes on the weekends so we like to go to the Museum of Transportation. You guys are just in heaven there with all the trains. This summer they started running a street car on the upper lot. You guys had so much fun on the L from Chicago!
The strawberries were delicious this time of year, so I made you guys some popsicles with them. You guys loved your strawberry popsicles!
With the new house, came a big bathtub in mom and dad's room. You and Alex really like the bath, but you do not love the jets. We just don't turn those on. It's so much fun!
With June came school picnic season. We headed up to our new parish, St. Margaret Mary. You guys had a blast playing all the games. You especially loved the candy prizes!
You guys really wanted to see a parade, so we headed up to our old parish's school picnic, but unfortunately there was no school picnic this year. Big bummer! But luckily your friend Hudson has a school picnic parade that goes right by his house. So we headed over to Hudson's house and watched the Queen of All Saints parade. You guys got candy and stickers and cheered the kids on.
There was a day in June where Lisa had to cancel on me at the last minute and I couldn't find anyone else to watch you that day. Darn, I guess I had to take the day off and hang out at the Zoo with you. It was so much fun hanging out with just you all day long. And this time you stayed awake for Adriana's!
One night when daddy was out of town on business, Aunt E came over to hang out with you guys. You love it when Aunt E comes over. She played with you and read you books.
Since we have a nice new house, we like to have friends over sometimes. We had a fun little pizza and pajama party one night with your friends Jordyn, Braden and Cate.
We took you to the June Frisco Friday and again you had a blast. Dad and I love your cookie decorating/eating technique:
Aunt E wanted to take you and Alex to her yoga class, but unfortunately you have to be 2 years old to do yoga at her studio. No worries though, I took you out for some fun in Lafayette Square while Aunt E and Alex were in yoga class. We started with a trip to the coffee shop. You loved the blueberry muffin I got you. You didn't quite know what to do when the muffin started to crumble, so you just put it down on the table and dug in:
After the coffee shop, we stopped by the fountain to make a wish:
Then we went to the playground to play for a bit until Aunt E and Alex's class was finally over.
Speaking of playgrounds, daddy and I decided that since we have a nice big backyard now, we could get you your very own playground. You and Alex love playing on you playground in the backyard. Alex loves pushing you on the swings and you both love climbing up the ramp and going down the slide.
And that swing set came in handy when we hosted Father's Day too. You guys loved playing on the swing set with all your cousins.
Dad had a great Father's Day. We started the day with a pancake cake and bacon and then we gave him his gifts.
Then we had cookie cake (for Uncle James's Birthday) and home made ice cream. It was a great day!
At the end of June each year, the nursing home by Grandma Gerry's has a picnic for the community to celebrate early the 4th of July. You guys had a great time eating snow cones and popsicles. You also loved getting your hand painted and dancing to the music. But your favorite part was the bounce house! Neither you nor your brother are too into fireworks yet, so we headed over to Uncle Boris's house for the fireworks show so we wouldn't be too close to them. Honestly, we didn't even last long over there. But we had a wonderful time that evening overall.
At the end of the month, we met some friends out at Shaw Park. You guys had a great time eating our picnic and playing on the playground, but your favorite part was the splash pad. We did bring your swimsuit, but you just ran right in before we could even get it on you!
With July came another trip to Grant's Farm. You weren't so sure about the goats this time, but you loved the carousel!
Shortly after this trip to Grant's Farm, your brother unfortunately got sick (you escaped it, Thank God!). But because he was sick, we got to have a little pajama party. We rented movies and you and I ate some popcorn while brother was recuperating.
Luckily by the 4th of July Alex was feeling mostly better so we decided to have some fun. We went downtown to have some breakfast at Rooster and then headed over to City Garden to play in the fountains and pools. You guys had a lot of fun at City Garden.
After all the fun at City Garden, we headed over to your friends Braden and Cate's house. You guys had fun running around and eating patriot popsicles. Yum! After that we went home early since you guys do not like fireworks and you were so tired from the lack of nap that day!
We did the July Frisco Friday. You really liked getting your arm painted this time. You asked for a blue engine. You also really liked the Frozen Custard we had after all the fun with the trains!
We bought a new blow up pool for you guys to splash around in. You weren't so sure about it at first, but seemed to enjoy cooling off as long as you were with mom. You really liked hanging out next to the pool with a popsicle!
We celebrated your brother's 4th birthday. You had a great time at this Paw Patrol party. We had lots of kids over at the house and you played with them and ate cake and ice cream.
We headed over to America's Incredible Pizza for Alex's actual birthday. You had a great time running around the mini-golf course and in the tiny tot area.
Daddy likes to take you guys to the airport to watch the airplanes take off and land. You guys always have a good time with this!
With August came some more hot weather. So we filled up the pool and hung out in the back yard. Again, you weren't so sure about the pool itself, so you much preferred to just hang with mommy.
You like to play a silly game with Poppy where you say, "No train, no train, BRIDGE!" Here's you and Poppy playing that:
At the end of July we had to pull you out of your daycare at Lisa's. Long story of what happened, but let's just say we were thrilled when we were able to start you at Casa Dia with your brother. You took to your new school like it was nothing. You sat and ate breakfast and then you went to your classroom and started playing as if you had been doing it everyday. It was a great transition and you really seem to like your new school.
Daddy and I took you to your first Cardinals game this month. You loved cheering for the Cardinals too. We walked around a lot and you were just in awe of the stadium!
We went to Fritz's Frozen Custard. You just love ice cream and we love taking pictures of you eating it!
You still seem to like dumping thing out all over the kitchen floor. Dad and I have to get better about not leaving things within your reach!
Here's a box of pasta:
And here's some sprinkles:
You love to play baseball and we pull out the tee every chance we get.
You've gotten pretty good at brushing your own teeth (of course mom still takes over after you are done);
You also like stacking things. You will stack anything you can get your hands on . . . including my baking supplies, lol:
You still love your Lambie and it has been a comfort to you whenever you go somewhere you aren't too sure of. You also love sleeping with Lambie every night.
You love ice cream and your brother loves feeding it to you. It's a win win!
You LOVE trains! You and bro are so happy to have a nice big room to play with your trains now too. Daddy likes to make you guys big tracks to play with. You guys are in heaven with your trains!
You like to do whatever your brother is doing. When Alex put on his rain boots in his underwear, you put your rain boots on too!
When Alex got Paw Patrol pajamas, you had to have some Paw Patrol pajamas:
You like to take baths with your bro, although I'm not quite sure why. Although it looks like he is waterboarding you, I assure you, you loved this! You also love it when he squirts you with the Ninja Turtle squirt gun!
You both love firetrucks too!
And you both love donuts!
And of course popsicles too!
You love to dance. It's so funny. You will stop whatever you are doing to dance if you hear a good song. Daddy and I have been playing silly songs called "Big Block Singsong" and you go nuts over them.
And this leads us to your 2nd Birthday which I will make its own post. I love you so much my Little Britches!
