What do you see?

Monday, February 4, 2013

winter fun

It's February!

We've had a variety of weather this winter, including some really warm days in January, and a bunch of snow lately. Which is fine, because the kids are really wanting to play in the snow.

Gabe to Henry ice skating one evening and Henry loved it!

Peeking out from under her hat :)

At the beginning of winter, all we had a was a little snow to make a pretty pathetic snow man

And lately, the temps have been too cold to even go outside. So we brought snow inside in a big project box, put on snow pants (and they had gloves to begin with but then just wanted to dive right in) and the hats were their own addition.

When the temps were a little warmer, I did get outside to play with the kids in the snow. I don't mind it in the 30s or high 20s, but when the temps are in the single digits or teens, it's just not worth it to bundle them for 10 minutes. Luckily, Gabe has been good about taking them in the snow when he has to do the driveway, and Henry will last a little longer than Maggie so they've been going while she finishes her nap.

Henry's version of a snow angel. Goof ball!

Gabe is lucky to have lots of helpers to shovel!

Henry said after a few days of snow, "Well, Daddy and I are going to have to scrape the driveway AGAIN!" Daddy feels his pain

Running down the icy street in the sled. Maggie LOVED it!

And two kids back to back

Here's to more snow!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

making room

We've been busy the last few weeks making changes and shifting things around to make room for the baby. Henry and Maggie got bunk beds for Christmas. Henry went right to sleeping on the top bunk and loved it, and we moved Maggie to the bottom bunk a few weeks ago. She took right to her big girl bed too, and has done a wonderful job sleeping in it. Maggie was able to adopt to her room right away, and Henry has even called it "our room" instead of "my room".

The car seats are all moved around as well. Henry moved to the back, and while we're struggling with him being able to buckle himself (he is able to do it 50% of the time, but the other times are major points of frustration and melt-downs for him) he really loves being in the back and having some books and room back there. Maggie turned her car seat around, so she now faces forward, and we put the baby's car seat in too so the kids could get used to it. And mommy got some rear view mirrors, something I've never had in the car but wanted since Henry is so far back there and I think the baby will be sleeping in the car seat perhaps more than the other two if we're picking up from preschool, etc.

And I was most excited to make some changes to the nursery! Maggie had the same decorations Henry, and while I love them, I was a little tired of the same thing and wanted something new and fresh. I had fun picking out new colors, patterns, and materials. I was able to sew everything and buy with coupons at the fabric store, so it really wasn't too bad to redo. Plus, after we moved Maggie over, we kept the door shut to her old room. Recently, we let the kids peek in when it was all completed. Having everything look different is helping her in the transition since there was such a little amount of time between her move and the new baby's arrival. She said, "baby B's crib" and "baby's room" so hopefully that will stick when the baby is actually in there!

New crib mobile (the old one was broken anyways) and bed skirt. Same crib, sheets, bumpers and teething rail.

New cover for the rocking chair and bedside table. (sorry for the dark pictures, I was doing everything at night while the kids slept)

Curtains from our living room with added ribbon (sewed new ones for the living room from an old tablecloth!), ribbon detail on the lamps, and some new changing pad covers since the old ones had shrunk and didn't fit anyways

Painted canvas above the rocking chair

This shelf was in our basement, got some fresh paint and the two pictures in the middle are from Henry and Maggie! Henry drew him and Baby B and a wreath (it was around Christmas time)

Really love the changes and can't wait to rock a new baby!

Monday, January 21, 2013

This Baby

We've affectionately been calling this new little baby Baby B, which Henry pointed out was like the animal, so we've also been calling him or her Baby Bee. We called Henry Little Baby and we called Maggie New Baby, so Baby B it is. (although alphabetically it would be Baby C, but that's just confusing!) I'm 36 and a half weeks, and ready to meet this new one. Physically ready, but not mentally ready, nor is my house ready! But we'll get everything figured out with life with three kids as we can. The due date is February 14, which would be a fun birthday for the baby, but I'd like to have the baby before then I think. I've talked about an induction date with the doctors, but since this baby is growing well, we won't discuss it until 39 weeks. So we're anxious, excited and nervous!

Looking back, the first trimester was pretty rough on everyone, as it normally is for my pregnancies. I was definitely on medication for nausea which helped tremendously, so I actually didn't get sick very often, but was feeling sick all the time and tired too of course. It came early at 6 weeks, the earliest of any of the pregnancies, but luckily was gone early too, by 13 weeks. (Henry came at 8 and went at 14, and Maggie came at 10 and went at 12). So about 7 weeks of misery is typical for me. Gabe was amazingly helpful in taking care of the kids and house.

The second trimester is always a welcome relief. Gabe calls it my "crafty trimester" as nesting for me means making a bunch of stuff, or at least planning on making a bunch of stuff. We also had fall travel in there, which was a busy time, followed closely by all the holidays. So it went by quickly of course.

And the third trimester has been quick as well, simultaneously too quick and too slow! I'm doing as much as I can to get ready, but feeling like my to do list is long and getting longer instead of shorter. This is the first time I've felt quite a bit of pain before delivery, since with Henry and Maggie I felt nothing until it was go time. I'm hoping that will lead to a faster labor and delivery with the third! The baby is weighing in at 5 pounds 3 ounces, so no sign of bedrest thankfully. The doctor did a quick ultrasound last week and has monitoring growth and weight gain closely due to Maggie's growth restrictions, but everything looks good. I took a slip on the ice two weeks ago which gave me a quick trip to the hospital, but again everything was fine. Seems like that is my standard procedure a month out, as I went with Henry for a fall and Maggie for gallbladder and growth rates.

The gender of this baby is also a surprise! Although I really wanted to find out this time, more so than the other two times, I've held strong and we'll wait to delivery. We are still debating names, and will probably decide last minute like we normally do. This is the first time I haven't had a clear indication of what I think the baby will be. I've had dreams of both boy and girl, heart rate 140s right in the middle of the rates of the other two. No dark line like I had with Henry, just the one that never went away that I got at the end of Maggie's pregnancy. Craving sweets like I did with Maggie. Nausea pattern more close to the one with Henry. I carry all my babies about the same. I think it is a boy, but I'm not sure and have gone back and forth. So we really will be surprised! Come on baby, we're ready to meet you!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

It's about time

that this little one made an appearance on this blog!

Baby Brown #3 is due to arrive in mid-February - February 14 to be exact!

I'm currently 32 weeks, but these pictures are from September when the baby was only 18 weeks.

we are so so very excited, so so very busy, and getting ready to be even busier.

More details to come soon!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Santa 2012

Santa comes to the garden store near our house every year. They do a really nice set up, the Santa is very nice, you can spend as much time as you want, and take as many pictures as you want.

Checking out Santa - we had Henry bring this little Santa when he was 2 and 1/2 and it really helped so we thought we'd try with Maggie.

It didn't help much!

She calmed down pretty quickly though

Henry talked a lot with Santa - on his list this year: a new toy barn, construction trucks and a notebook to practice his letter writing so he knows how to write his letters when he goes to Kindergarten. So sweet

After awhile, Maggie warmed up a little to him too, as long as we kept our distance!

After Santa, we went to the ND women's basketball game. Maggie was much happier with a hot dog and some basketball!

And guess who followed us there!

She had no problem saying "bye Santa!" either!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Halloween 2012

We had a fun Halloween! Maggie sleeps with a little bunny and loves books about bunnies, so her costume was an easy choice. She loves this hat too and has chosen it to wear everyday since Halloween, which is good because it encourages her to keep it on!

Henry had a little bit of a tougher time settling on a Halloween costume. We pretty much went through a different option every day - magician, chef, cowboy, peach seller (not sure how I was going to pull that one off!) to name a few. Finally we settled on magician, and the green mask was his own addition.

And mommy sporting a pumpkin belly!

The night before, we got our pumpkin ready. Gabe and Henry getting messy in the garage.

Henry designed the face

And Gabe carved it in. It came out pretty cute I think!

It was a cold and rainy Halloween day, but we bundled the kids and braved the cold. Henry had a blast of course, and was unaffected by the weather. Maggie had fun getting CHOCOLATE! which she squealed every time someone put some in her basket. She went to a few houses, then rode most of the way in the stroller. She got really cold half way around our circle and had a tough ride back while Henry finished trick-or-treating with Gabe, but we made it.