17 weeks

My first prego picture! I am now 17 weeks and feeling better little by little. There is still the constant nausea... especially at night but, at least I feel like I can function. A big milestone this last week has been feeling the baby move around. Even though I have been through this 3 times before, feeling the baby move still doesn't get any less amazing! Due to the inability to sleep, I lay awake at night feeling it's little "thumps". It particularly doesn't like it when I lay on my stomach... guess I'm to that point of being too big! The baby will kick, kick, kick until I change positions. My 17 week check up went well yesterday. Tys and Katie were able to be in the room with me and had built up great anticipation at hearing the baby's "heartbeep". Well, Dr Z (one of 3 doctors in at my doctor's office. He is from Africa and no one can say his last name so he's known as Dr Z) had a difficult time getting the baby to stay still long enough to get the baby's heartbeat on the doppler! After quite some time, he was able to get it just long enough for Katie and Tys to detect the "heartbeep". We were laughing about how active it is and Dr Z predicted a boy. Of course I laughed and said "no, everyone is wanting a girl"! lol

Bed Head Trent

Trent woke up with a major case of bed-head on Sunday! We all had a good laugh, told him he was cute than, daddy got the job of taming that wild hair down before church! lol

Ladybugs and Bellies

On Saturday I sewed another summer dress for Katie. This dress took a little bit longer than the last one but, was still an easy pattern. I added the flounce on the bottom to give the dress some length since, Katie has long legs. Katie loves the lady bugs on the material! I got this material for 2 specific reasons: 1. Katie loves lady bugs 2. my mom had bought the boys summer outfits (red shirt. black/white/red plaid shorts) and I wanted Katie to match. My kids always have to have at least one outfit that match each other :)

Katie and I are headed to Elko for my doctor's appt. this afternoon. She is looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat! My belly is definitely starting to "pop" out... last night I asked Tys if he wanted to feel my belly. He felt it and said "wow, mommy, it's getting big!" Then, he pushed his belly out and asked "do you want to feel MY belly?"

Dress for Katie

Today was a good day! I felt the baby kick early this morning and, actually felt pretty good today (until this evening) Then, it was so beautiful outside that my friend, Lisa, and I took the kids to the park. They enjoyed running around in the sunshine! At one point, Trenton ran into a pole and cut his upper lip. He has a bit of a fat lip now but, is a tough little boy and barely even cried. Since I have the "itch" for spring, I made a cute little summer play dress for Katie this afternoon. It was a very simple pattern and only took a couple of hours to sew. I was proud of myself for sewing the entire dress on my own (usually I have to call my mom for questions. And, mom ALWAYS has to re-pin my pieces since I place them on the material wrong) Like I said, it was a very easy pattern :)

Naps

At 3 1/2 yrs old, Tys still loves his naps! Every once in a while he'll go without a nap and do fine at the end of the day. So, today I explained to him that he can play with his toys in his room for "quiet time", he didn't have to take a nap and that I would let him know when he could come out. I heard him playing for a little while, then... silence. I went to check on him and found him sound asleep. Guess he loves naps just as much as I do!

Bowling

With no school today for Katie and Casey off of work, we loaded up our family and spent a fun day together in Elko. Along with my parents, Tracey and Briana, we all went bowling. For the kids, this was their very first time! They did a great job and had a very fun time. They quickly got the hang of rolling their bowl down the lane and watching the pins fall (thank goodness for those kiddie bumpers!) On our last game, Katie bowled an 83 and even got a strike! The boys were too busy eating their pizza to play that last game.... isn't eating pizza and drinking soda all part of bowling too? My camera wasn't taking the best pictures due to the lighting but, you can get the general drift and see their happy faces :)

We also enjoyed the sunshine and played at the wooden park for a little while and ate at Burger King, where the kids got to play in Playland. By the time we left for home, they were exhausted!

Auntie Ri

On Friday evening, Marie arrived from Boise to be here for Katie's birthday weekend. Katie had been anticipating her Auntie Ri's arrival for 2 days and was SO excited to see her! Marie brought us yummy chocolate cookies and Katie's birthday presents which, Katie got to open that evening. We had lots of fun guessing which animal the sponge "thingy" would grow into!

Two Pretty Girls...

Marie was a huge help for me during Katie's birthday party! She whipped up 3 batches of frosting for the sugar cookies and used her artistic abilities to draw a big castle for the party's "Pin the Princess on the Castle" game (since the one I ordered hadn't arrived in the mail yet) Thanks, Marie, for your help!

Katie turns 5 yrs old

Yesterday our baby girl turned 5 years old! I guess that no longer makes her our "baby girl"... sigh... where does the time go? To begin her 3 day celebration, Katie woke up yesterday to our traditional birthday breakfast of donuts and she was allowed to open a present from Casey and I. Later in the morning, Papa brought over another present for her to open. So, she spent the day playing with her new Jasmine Barbie and Polly Pocket set! Katie has looked forward to turning 5 yrs old for quite some time now ~ she loves birthdays and embraces them with zeal and happiness! For last night's birthday dinner, Katie requested a "royal dinner because she's God's little Princess". At first I had no clue what I'd make her that would meet her standards of a "royal dinner" but, she later helped me out by choosing her favorite: salmon, rice, corn and "royal bread"... followed by an ice cream cone!

Today, Katie's birthday celebration continued when she brought cupcakes to school to share with her classmates at snack time. I was busy this morning with baking MORE cupcakes for tomorrow's party and didn't make it to her school in time to take pictures. But, Katie told me that her teacher let her pass out a cupcake to each student and that they were all "grateful" for the chocolate frosted goodies!!

We love you, Katie, and are so thankful that God has given you to us. You are so special to our family!

CA

We were able to spend Christmas Day evening and the following Sunday with our family in CA. It was so good to have everyone together again! Jerry, Bernice and their boys had flown in from IL for the week of Christmas and, Marie arrived for the Christmas weekend. Our time together was short but, lots of fun and worth the drive :) After morning service, we were able to get a family photo. The kids were happy (for the most part, Trent always has to give his "look of death"!) and we were able to capture our special time together.

Auntie Ri and baby Peter

Grandpa and Oma with their 6 grandkids!

After church, we were able to visit Grandma Dora at the Bethany Home. Going to CA wouldn't be a completed trip without seeing her!! As always, she's looks fabulous :)

Katie and Great Grandma Dora

"the girls"

"the boys" and "one girl"

The cousins had a blast playing together! I love how they can be the best of friends even though they don't see each other everyday.

Trenton got to celebrate his birthday for a second time...

And, they played some more....

Oma, Katie and baby Peter. It was wonderful getting to meet little Peter; I think Katie fell especially in love with him :) She has been talking about him since we got home. I have a feeling she's going to be a terrific "big sister" when our new little one arrives!