At last!

Introducing

Frances Gene Ray

"Frankie"

March 24, 2010
5:01am

9 lbs, 11 oz
21 inches

More details to come...

Hmmm...

So yesterday the baby ticker said 0 days to go.

Today it says 1 day to go.

Does the baby ticker know something I don't?

Talented Talent Show

On Christian's birthday Alexis and her cheerleading squad had the opportunity to be the closing act at the middle school talent show.

This is the big time baby!

I started recording, and then doubted if I was really recording, so I stopped and then started again. So here are the 2 videos of these little cuties.

So fun!

D-Day

Here we are at another due date without a baby.

At least I was prepared this time. :)

I had a very productive week, one of the highlights being this:

A completely finished to do list! Sooo made my day!

Another highlight of this week has been the weather. It has been so beautiful! 65 degree days, we were at the park everyday soaking up the sunshine.

Look at her, playing at the park, without a coat!
Hallelujah!
(as a sidenote, she decided she wouldn't go down the slide by herself so I climbed my large gestating body on up at which time she told me "Sit!" so I sat and went down the slide with her. Can't hurt, right?! But oh what a sight!)

I won't mention that it rained all day yesterday, today, and is supposed to rain tomorrow as well. I'll leave all of that out.

Do you know what this picture means?
(besides being so cute I could eat her up!)

Addie is pretty much officially potty trained, at home.
(see, she's eating her "potty snack" of the week - nerds.)
I don't like the idea of pull-ups, though I might change my mind, and I'm not brave enough to keep her in undies when we leave the house yet. But we are on a serious roll and the leaving the house part is coming soon!

And because we're still pregnant, a couple preggy shots.
Here I was last Saturday.

And here I was last night, enjoying my daily bowl (or 2) of ice cream

Lovely, huh?!

I talked with out littlest girl and we've decided that she'll come either Monday (Ides of March) or Wednesday (St. Patricks Day). We've heard not-so-good-things about the on-call doctor this weekend, that's why we're waiting. :)

Until then!

We love you Christian!!!

Here is the long awaited photo tribute to our sweet boy.

Just a few hours old.

Christian was the best baby! He never cried, he was always just content. Like, you could forget him in a bowling alley kind of good baby. Not that anything like that ever happened.

Ever. ;)

He's always been our funny guy. Even when he was 2 and 3 he used to make funny voices and say silly things to make us laugh.

Remember those Chili's commercials (I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...)
Well Christian used to make a super deep voice and sing that and we would laugh and laugh. Then he learned that if he was in trouble he could usually sing that and just how could I still be mad at him???

He's always (unfortunately) been a ladies man. I remember looking through his Pre-K yearbook with him and him saying -
"There's my girlfriend. And there's my girlfriend. And she's my girlfriend..."

And he's always been a gentleman! Alexis and I would always wait and he would run up to any door and open it for us. And he has also always been the official bug killer.
Until Matt came along at least. ;)

So suave!

He's a good little brother. Even though he's bigger.

And now he's a good big brother. Addie always has so much fun with him.
Even if it's not always the safest.

He is a lover of anything outdoorsy.

And he usually excels at whatever he does.

Christian, I am so proud to be your mom. You will do great things with your life!
We love you
sooooooooooooooooooooo
much!

And sorry your birthday tribute post was 2 weeks late. :)

And I wonder...

Writing my last post felt so familiar. It reminded me of this post I wrote just a few months ago. And I started thinking about all the times I need to be reminded how very blessed I am. Or to stop doing something. Or that I need to be better. Or, or, or.

And then I start thinking about all the times I have to repeat myself to my children (and husband:) and how frustrated I get. And I wonder if our Heavenly Father ever gets frustrated with me?

And it helps me be more patient. Until next time I need to be reminded. 

Work in progress, right?!

One day at a time

I'm taking a new lease on my life right now. I know I for one am tired of myself complaining about the waiting and the pregnancy and blah, blah, blah.

SO.

No more. I've decided to soak this period up. This season. Because soon our lives are gonna change, never ever to be the same again. And you know what, I have a good life. I believe the baby will make our life even better, but just for right now, I'm gonna enjoy my life.

Giant watermelon belly and all.

And what if this is our last baby? What if I am never pregnant again? I want to appreciate this. I want to remember this. I want to show that I am worthy of this privilege.  

To create life, wow, I am so blessed.

There are very few life experiences that are as huge and meaningful as bringing a baby into the world, and how wonderful that we are preparing to do just that! The waiting is hard because I am so excited, but instead of just wanting to be there, to be holding our baby, I'm gonna enjoy the waiting. The anticipation. The endless planning. And preparing. 

It's almost like Christmas.

Only better.

And I'm gonna take the advice of friends and enjoy this time with just our three kids. Because soon we'll never be able to go back. I'm gonna fully enjoy having our 2 big kids, and our 1 big baby. Because soon this big baby is not gonna seem like a baby anymore.

We finally took Addie over to our neighbors house to see their baby. She's the one that was due a day before we are, but had her baby 11 days ago. I thought Addie would be all over little baby Ronnie, but she wasn't. 

She was more interested in Sammy, their dog.

These are the cute pictures Jana took. I love Addie's expressions!

And I love these days of our lives.

Numb hands and all.

Click here to view photos

Waiting...

I hate waiting. Seriously. Hate. Waiting. 

I've had some complaints about my lack-o-blogging. As you might have noticed, my month of blogging everyday is over. And I was so glad it was over that I had to take a few days off. AND on the last day of the month I couldn't get my video off the camera so I didn't post that day either.

Anyways, here's the haps around here.

Alexis has kept us running around all week. Tuesday night was a High School Preview. Wednesday night a cheerleading exhibition. Tonight was a friends all-star basketball game. In the meantime we had an appointment with the eye doctor and picking out new glasses. Then this weekend there will be the sleepovers and cheerleading. And I volunteered to work the concessions stand. I was kinda hoping I'd be excused for maternity leave, but now I'm not feeling like that's ever gonna happen. :(

Christian got his phone taken away on Tuesday.  His grades are in the pooper and he hasn't pulled them up yet. He has "forgotten" a lot of work and continues to slack. I was really hoping it was just an adjustment faze upon entering middle school but we've kinda been battling it all year.  Baseball should be starting up soon and he's excited about that. He also started in the Young Mens program at church (now that he's 12) and he had fun with that on Wednesday. Hopefully he'll earn his phone back soon, he is a good boy. 

Addie seems to be growing by leaps and bounds the past few days! She's stringing words together and pointing things out. She leads us around the house and will tell us to "sit down" or "walk." Her favorite book was "I'll Love you Forever" which she calls "mess" because I always point out the mess the little boy makes. Now she's loving on a book called "Love is a Family" which she calls "family" for obvious reasons.  Her vocabulary is huge. She just seems like such a big girl lately! She even told me today that she had to go potty and she actually did. SO big!

Matt has his Navy weekend this weekend and is seriously talking to the baby about coming out soon so he can miss it. He's got it all planned out. He'll check in on Saturday and then I'll call him and tell him I'm ready and then he'll be excused but still get credit for being there. He's being super supportive of my mood swings and occasional grumpiness. :)

And me. No contractions yet. No nothing. I do feel a lot of pressure. It's not very comfortable to walk and I'm waddling more lately. It's strange because I've never felt like this. I never understood why women waddled. Or complained about tying their shoes or bending over. But now I get it. On pregnancy #4, I get it. I don't feel like doing much of anything. I went grocery shopping today for the last time before the baby comes. Again.  I had a little meltdown Monday night. Everyone else has had their baby! Even on "The Office" tonight! They had their baby and I want mine. I'm not good at waiting. And right now it's a waiting game. 

9 more days...