Merry Christmas!

Pregnancy Dreams...

Last night, I dreamt that an 800-lb shape-shifting rhinoceros was trying to eat me and my friends Reggie and Ronelle, in France (that was actually more like the Philippines). We were using the bathroom in a dilapidated outhouse-shack of sorts, when suddenly a rhino snout as big as my body was trying to bust the door down. I scurried up onto the roof of the shack (leaving my friends inside), and the ginormous rhino reared up on its hind feet and slammed its body against it, trying to knock the whole building over. But then (never fear!) Dr. Cullen magically appeared and fed the rhino some mysterious food, and the giant beast turned into Antonio Banderas. We all laughed and went home.

Pretty creative, right? How many great (weird, dumb) movies have started as a dream do you suppose? Think I could sell the rights to Hollywood?

21 Weeks

Officially 21 weeks today. I have been feeling a bit on the touchy side when it comes to food lately. I would prefer not to eat dinner at all, and most nights I don't. But then around 10pm, my body (and my baby) get irritated with me and demand some sustenance. So I whip myself up a quick snack that always involves peanut butter. Another constant favorite anytime of the day is Honey Crisp apples. Things I avoid because they make me sick: anything overly greasy, anything too sweet. I suppose it is a good season to be sickened by "sweet" things. It'll keep the extra holiday pounds away. I am much more inclined to salty food items.

I am feeling the wee babe kick a whole lot more now. I even felt it through my stomach with my hand last night! Jared has not gotten to feel it yet, but I suspect this might be the week. Perhaps Bambino is planning on giving that to Daddy for Christmas.

Merry Christmas all!

21 Weeks

20 Weeks!

HALFWAY, folks!

And as my wonderful friend pointed out, probably more than half way in my case! (I usually go early).

Every thing is pretty normal again this week. I haven't felt too queasy, though I have noticed a "sluggish" feeling in my belly, which I'm positive is my metabolism slowing to a crawl. I have also noticed that I usually feel pretty gross after sneaking even one Christmas cookie. Perfect timing, right?

I have been getting more excited about baby this week. I looked back at some pictures of the other kids as newborns and started getting all warm and fuzzy. I also bought some yarn that I LOVE, and am going to start knitting a wee baby blankie.

That's all for now!

20 Weeks

Christmas Through the Years

2006

2007

2008

2009



2010

Our Christmas 2011 is still to come. Tune in after Christmas to see the latest and greatest of our clan!

Decoratin'

Here are some pictures I missed of the kids decorating the tree.

"Deeeez"



Jazi mostly looked on in approval



More Amazingness

My incredible sister is at it again!

Check out Anna's latest photos...





19 Weeks

Not much to report this time. Everything has been much the same as last week. I will add that I am feeling those precious wee baby kicks more frequently, and with more strength. I cannot wait until Jared can feel them too!

I finally had my first Dr appointment this week, but I may as well have skipped it and saved the money. It lasted exactly 4 minutes, and consisted of the Dr walking in and asking, "Do you have any questions? Have you had any issues you want to talk about? Your blood pressure and weight gain are great and you look perfect on paper, so unless you have any questions there is nothing left to do here. Let's listen to the heartbeat and then we're done." Sophia and Jazlyn were present and so they got to listen to the heartbeat, which was cool. The look on their faces was worth it. We are planning to bring them to the ultrasound too, which is scheduled for January 5th. I will be 22 weeks for that, so it should be good!

Other than that, I am feeling pretty good. My stomach is just starting to get mildly uncomfortable, but I know I am going to kick myself later for saying that at this stage. I know what's coming, and this is nothin in comparison. Blah.

19 weeks

Tree Hunt

We went on a Christmas tree hunt out in my parent's field this year! At 5:30pm. Which, as any upper-midwesterner would know, was pitch black. But it was an adventure. The three kids were each equipped with a flashlight, Mama with a headlamp, and Daddy had his high-intensity LED flashlight. So after tromping (and falling) through the field, we chose our tree and Daddy heroically sawed it down.Well... the top 10 feet of it at least. We left the bottom 5 feet firmly planted in the ground. It looks awesome. Half a pine tree. No really.

Jared dragged our 10-ft of enormous pine up a steep hill to our car, then in one Herculian motion swung it effortlessly up on top of the van with one hand. He's mine.

The Fam (minus one, who was NOT in the mood for picture taking) with our tree!

Set up...

And decorated!



My Sugar and Spice

18 Weeks

My 17th week was the first week that I felt "well" and normal all week. No queasiness or food aversions. Yay! Here is a picture at 17 weeks...

17 Weeks

I am now 18 weeks along. I am still feeling good as far as the pregnancy goes, though I have been sick all week with a sinus/throat virus of some kind. I have noticed a slight increase in appetite over the past week. I eat a normal portion of dinner, and find myself not feeling quite full, and wanting just a little more. Strangely (very strangely for me!) I have not been all that interested in sweets this week either. As I type, I considered getting a bowl of ice cream (because it's 9:45pm, and the kids are in bed, and let's face it... that's where my mind goes when it's 9:45 and the kids are in bed), but then I very quickly realized I don't really want ice cream. It doesn't hold the delight it used to. Sad.

I also have been struggling to make it through each day without feeling like I could fall asleep standing up. It hits around 3:00 every afternoon. So far, I have successfully made it through each day without falling asleep and landing on the stove or one of our children. So that's a plus :)

I have begun to feel the effects of the relaxin hormone now. On occasion, my hips stop trying to stay together like they are supposed to and just give up. This is very painful for Mama. Dislike.

Buuuut... I have started feeling Bambino move! The first time was about 4 days ago while I was laying on the couch. I felt several little kicks, that were so little they almost felt like a muscle twitch. But I have felt the same little kicks at least once a day since then. So I know it's Bambino finally saying hello!

I have my first real appointment with the Dr this Friday. So far, I have only seen a nurse, and had an ultrasound to date the pregnancy (which I told him was unnecessary since I knew the date we conceived, and gave him my due date. Guess what? I was right. The ultrasound was exactly 1 day off the date I gave him. I'm an old pro, trust me Doc.)

18 weeks

I added a video below that gives a brief description of the development that takes place between 15-20 weeks. Watch it if you'd like to see what Bambino is up to.

Click on image to view video

15 weeks

I had to come check my blog to remember which week I am now. I told someone yesterday that I was 13 weeks. Oops. I can't keep track anymore. I was happy to gain two weeks overnight!

The madness with the sauteed onions has subsided. I ate them in various ways for three days straight, but now their charm has worn off. They're nothing special. Eh. No new obsessions have taken their place...yet.

Thank you all for the name suggestions! We got some beautiful ideas. I guess, to be fair, I should admit that we already had names picked out before the request for ideas. We wanted to see if there were any great names we missed and liked better. And no, we are not telling anyone our chosen names. Check back in late April, and we will tell you then. We will also reveal if we tweaked any of our names using your suggestion =)

14 Weeks

In the first few weeks of this pregnancy, I felt pretty gross. Nauseous, queasy, sick to my stomach. That cleared up around Week 8 or so, and I have felt pretty normal until the past few days when I was hit with a fresh batch of hormones. I have felt pretty sick to my stomach again for the last couple days. I am hoping this is a (very) temporary state of being. I just need to come out and say up front, I am a HUGE fan of babies. Love them to death. Adore their sweet little selves. I am not a huge fan of pregnancy. I would go for a month gestational period. Or I could skip it. Either way. That would suit me just fine.

BUUUUUUT... I'm as happy as a clam that Bambino is growing healthy and big, and so is my bel-lay.

I cannot leave you without this story. I wouldn't deprive you of this small glimpse into my pregnant, hormonal life. A few days ago, my stomach was being a rather picky bitch, while at the same time screaming at me to feed her. I was starving, but was absolutely revolted by the thought of eating anything. Anything. So I stood in front of the pantry, sobbing (naturally), searching for something, anything, that seemed remotely palatable. After a solid 5 minutes and not finding any suitable substances, my eyes fell on a bag of onions. And suddenly it came over me. I needed to eat sauteed onions. I stood there shocked and disgusted. But the more I argued with myself, the more pleasing they sounded. So I snatched the bag, stomped into the kitchen, chopped, cried and sauteed. And that night for dinner, I ate the most delicious sauteed onions I have ever had.

Through the Eyes of a Child

My conversations with Sophia and Jazlyn get cuter everyday. Here are two snippets from Sophia's mind this week.

CONVO #1
After seeing me eat a plate of scrambled eggs for breakfast...

S: "Mom, why do you eat eggs, and they turn into babies in your tummy?"

Me: "Haha, no, Sweetie, I don't eat eggs that turn into babies. Girls bodies have eggs in them that turn into babies. You already have some eggs too, right in there." (Pointing to her tummy.) "And when you get older, and get married and have a husband, you can turn your eggs into babies too."

S: "What's a husband?"

Me: "Well, your husband is the man you marry. Daddy is my husband, because Daddy and I got married. You can fall in love with a man someday and get married and he will be your husband."

S: "WHAT?! NO! I don't want a man. I'm gonna marry your husband."

Me: "What!?"

S: "Yeah, Mom, I'm gonna marry Daddy. Sorry."

CONVO #2
Background: We had the girls annual check up last week. When the pediatrician looked in Sophia's ears, she said "Oh look! There is Sleeping Beauty in that ear! And Belle in this ear!" So ever since then, the girls walk around telling me that said princesses live in their ears.

S: "Mom, will you clean my ears?"

Me: "Sure, Baby."

While cleaning...

Me: "Well, looks like Sleeping Beauty is a pretty good housekeeper. There is no wax in this ear. Let's see if Belle is as clean as Sleeping Beauty... Oh nope! Belle is more messy, here is some wax."

S: "Ha...  ha, ha. Yeah, I think Belle went poopoo!"

Il Bambino Nomina

My dearest darling (Jared) has some Italian blood in him. He actually has more German than Italian, and also Scandinavian and a hodge podge of other mingled bloodlines. I have mostly Swedish in my blood. But Italian has the coolest names. So we are pretending to care about naming for heritage, and have decided to choose an Italian name for this little bambino.

Here's where you come in. We are scanning lists of Italian names, but have noticed that every list has different names on them, and no list is ever complete. So if you have any Italian favorites (male or female), send 'em on over. You may just have a hand in naming our fourth-born child (not quite the same ring to as first-born, but take what you can get.)

Apple of my Eyes

Look at all these eye pictures my sister, Anna, edited. She has become quite the accomplished photo editor, and I am super proud! Isn't she amazing? (She is sixteen!) This should be her profession, should it not?

Naomi

Naomi

Naomi

Naomi

Anna

Anna

Anna

Anna