Last Post of 2013

It's quarter to 11:00 p.m. and I'm fighting to stay awake until midnight.  Funny how it used to be no big deal to stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

Unlike previous years, I'm not sad to be saying goodbye to the holidays. Our month of December was a whirlwind and I'm ready to ring in the New Year and start over...with hopefully a low key January. Aside from being incredibly busy with the usual holiday festivities and parties, we've had to deal with sicknesses, cranky kids due to one too many late nights, fixing vehicles, and even ending the month with an ER trip and an emergency appendectomy (poor daddy).  Intermixed with all of that craziness we had some wonderful moments too, like finding out we're having a baby girl,  getting to tell our families that she is a "she", and celebrating Christmas with our wonderful families. We are so blessed! But yes, I'm ready for the new year. The 2014 calendar is on the wall, and there's so much to look forward to.  This time next year, we will be ringing in 2015 with 5 year old, 3 year old, and a 7 month old.  Crazy!

So about this new baby girl... she's a mover! First of all, it's a little surreal knowing she is a she. We didn't find out the sex with the other two, so I'm used to just saying "the baby" or "it" when I'm pregnant. I haven't gotten used to saying "she" and "her" yet. It's getting easier by the day though, especially with how much she lets herself be known.  She's by far the most active baby I've had.  She will kick non stop for hours at a time. She never stopped kicking during the 4 hours I was at the ER with David.  My stress level might have something to do with that, but I have to admit it was comforting to feel her while we waited to find out what was going on.
I was able to get two ultrasounds this month so I've gotten to see her twice.  I love it!  She spent the the entirety of both ultrasounds doing sit-ups...not even kidding.  Both technicians commented on how hard it was to take her measurements because she was moving so fast...which is all fine and dandy, but I hope she mellows out some before she's born hahaha. Gosh I can't wait to see her! The nursery decorating has already begun...I'm going to have fun with this one :)

Happy New Years everyone! Here's to an exciting and wonderful 2014!

Recital night

Last night was Gemma's first dance recital.  Let me just tell you, I had been looking forward to this since the idea of enrolling her in dance classes first came up. So excited!

There is currently some construction going on where she takes classes, so the Christmas recital was very low key this year.  It was just a handful of classes on her night (only the other classes that also meet on Tuesdays), we didn't have to pay for her costume, and it was free to all the guests! Nonetheless, I was excited. That's not to say she hasn't been just as excited. She's been asking me for weeks who all was going to come watch her. She woke up yesterday morning knowing it was recital day and asked me if I knew where her red tutu was, she was also very adamant about not being late for it. While she was at school I bought a few last minute things she needed, and planned the rest of the day around the recital so we would have plenty of time to get ready. She seemed a little tired after school (didn't eat much and didn't want to play very long on the jumpy toys at the mall) but she was still excited about her recital, so we just went home and had a mellow afternoon.  Getting her ready was a heck of a lot of fun!  She got her outfit on, I put her hair up, put some make-up on her, and smothered her in glitter! She looked as cute as cute can be.  Forty minutes before we had to leave, she started wining a little and saying her legs and arms hurt, then her head, and finally her stomach.  Knowing Gemma, I figured she might need to go to the bathroom (those of you who know her, know what I'm talking about). Once it was time to go she was acting pretty emotional and telling me she just wanted to go to sleep. She cried the whole way there. After we got inside and to where we were supposed to be, I took her coat off and instantly realized she was running a fever..and she was still crying.  I calmed her down enough to where she was willing to go on stage and sit down next to her friend Zoey, but unfortunately there were still 15 minutes before the recital started. My excitement had officially switched to worry and nerves. She didn't make it :(  Right before the curtain went up I heard her crying and had to go get her. We watched her classmates do their adorable dance and then headed out.  She wanted nothing to do with anything or anybody except going home.  She even declined a cookie from Santa! The car ride home was a quiet one, she slept in the back while I fought off tears from feeling disappointed and also feeling guilty I didn't realize she was sick sooner.  Oh well :(  Thankfully a dose of Tylenol broke her fever shortly after we got home, and she slept well all night long.

This morning we made a little video for everyone who came to the recital and didn't get to see her dance. We put on most of her recital costume, she made up a little dance, and then apologized for not being able to perform (totally her idea). Sweet girl! She let me know that for her next recital, we need to feel her forehead before we go, "just in case". Duly noted Gemma!

Here are some pictures I took (not the best) right after we finished getting ready and before things started going down hill...

Thanksgiving Staycation

David took a whole week off over Thanksgiving which completely put me in the "holiday mode". Sadly, today we had to go back to our regular routines. It was so much fun doing stuff with the kids, getting things done around the house, and sleeping in every day. What a treat to not have to wake up at 5:00 for my runs!! Throughout the week...

 We officially started the beginning stages of finishing off our basement. We have somewhat of a "timeline", but I'm pretty skeptical we're going to be able to follow it. As long as it's done before baby #3 arrives I'll be thrilled. Unfortunately, Makael doesn't do well at all with loud noises, so we had to leave the house any time they were working downstairs.  Looks like we will be visiting lots of friends or spending most of our days at the library in the coming months.

Gemma had her 4 year check up and we were pretty excited to find out she's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.  I haven't been worried about her at all, but it's still a nice feeling to know your kid is healthy and growing.  Now if we could just get her little brother to jump up in the percentiles too!

We bought a mini van! It hurt a little bit I'm not going to lie, but I have to admit there are definite perks about it, and the kids love that they can open and close their doors with the press of a button. I guess I'm just officially old...or maybe just a little less cool.

Baby #3 decided to let himself/herself known! Actually, I felt the first few flutters on Gemma's birthday, but last week was the beginning of "consistent" movement and David got to feel a kick for the first time on Thanksgiving day! This kid must like special occasions. Since then, Gemma has also gotten to feel a kick...you should have seen her face light up!  Now that I can feel him/her, things are starting to feel more real, and I'm getting anxious to start on the nursery.  It's crazy how excited I am this time (about the baby, not the nursery). We won't be finding out the gender again, but I have my suspicions of what it is :)  Unlike with Gemma and Makael, we aren't having as hard of a time figuring out a name.  I think our boy name is pretty much settled on, and we have our girl name somewhat narrowed down. That's not to say we won't change our minds between now and May, but we are way ahead of the game compared to where we usually are at this point.

We of course celebrated Thanksgiving...twice.  Thursday we celebrated with the Boyd side of the family, and Friday we celebrated with the Yarbrough side.  Both days were filled with fun, food, and thanksgiving! And woulnd't you know...I didn't take any pictures.  So if any of you have some, please pass them on my way :)  Makael spent most of Thanksgiving day jabbering on about a "stomping elephant", while Gemma spent the entire day recruiting people to play with her.  Natalie, just so you know, she told me playing with the girl with the striped dress and black tights was her favorite part. So know your time with her was much appreciated :)
These are the only two pictures I took...

Natalie with Gemma's and their block creations. 

Showing his great great grandma the "stomping elephant".

 We ended the week getting the house ready for Christmas. Once David had the tree up, I of course had to do all the work. Those darn Christmas lights!! Gemma "helped" by getting all the ornaments out of the box and gently placing all them on the coffee table.  She got excited about every single ornament! She would pull it out of the box, show it to David, and go on and on about how beautiful it was.  It was a perfect afternoon. I'm looking forward to our Christmas staycation!

These pictures have nothing to do with the week, I just like them and they were on my phone too :)

One of his favorite activities.

This actually did happen last week! Not the best picture of it, but he took a pretty bad spill and hit his nose on the top wooden stair. 

I love this one of her!

Big bug's comming!

If you remember back about six months, I was concerned about the fact that Makael wasn't talking yet...thanks to his older sister who started talking at 7 months. Now I have no clue what I was so worried about.  Although he's been talking for a while, sometimes it still catches me off guard when he perfectly forms a 6-7 word sentence like, "come on mom, let's go down stairs". What's been especially fun recently is his pretend play.  A few days ago he randomly started telling us that there was a dinosaur in the house, then proceeded to run down the hall screaming.  Ummmm okay? We thought it was strange but pretty dang endearing, while Gemma just took it as her cue to join in on the "chase".  They've been running around the house together yelling "there's a dinosaur in the house" for days.

During nap time today, I helped Gemma make a party hat (I guess she hasn't quite accepted that her birthday is over).  She decorated it with a bunch of stickers, one of which was a big lady bug. When Makael woke up he quickly found the hat, saw the sticker, and immediately yelled, "big bug's coming"!  So of course Gemma joined in and they continued to chase each other around the house. That has been the ongoing game ever since.  Next time you see him you should ask him about the dinosaur and the bug, guaranteed he'll tell you all about them.  He was more than happy to tell a sweet older gentleman at the grocery store all about the dinosaur in the house.

Never say "never"

Before I had kids, I swore I would never let one of my kids have a Barney or Hello Kitty themed party. I'm not really a fan of "themed" things in general so my brain doesn't even think that way when planning parties or decorating. I was a totally dumbfounded when Gemma told me she wanted a Hello Kitty theme for her 4th birthday. Who is this girl?! I wasn't going to say no just because I don't like Hello Kitty, and admittedly, it was pretty cute to see her get so excited about planning her own party. Overall it was a success. I'm still holding on to "never" having a Barney themed party :)  Out of 11 of her friends that came, only three of them were girls.  Props to all the boys who came to her girly party! She had an absolute blast.  She couldn't ask for a better group of friends!

We had a small celebration on her actual birthday here at home...

Playing with her new appliances from Aunt Brenda.

Look at her face!!

How is she already 4?

Wearing Hello Kitty head to toe.

There are just way too many cute pictures of her birthday party so I decided to just post a link to my facebook album.  But here is a picture of Gemma with all of her friends (minus cousin Ariya).  Aren't they cute? https://www.facebook.com/audrey.y.boyd/media_set?set=a.685119898178477.1073741825.100000414194522&type=3

 

"I shirt"

A couple of cute Makael phrases/words these days...

Borgen-open: (garage door opener)
Puita: Lita (what we call grandma Yarbrough)
Pipa: Grandpa
A-cha-milk-too: chocolate milk
Out: elephant (he just recently actually started saying elephant right, but last week it was still "out").

He has no problem saying his name, but when he was first learning, we would point at him and ask him what his name was.  Confused he would grab his shirt and say, "my shirt".  So of course that quickly became a game.  Although he knows very well what we are asking and has no problem saying Makael now, he still likes to play the "shirt" card.  I don't blame him.  He gets a laugh out of us every time!

Fall Fun

As much as I love fall, the change in seasons usually means an increase in sickness.  We've all taken turns fighting off colds, and Gemma and Makael both had a pretty nasty stomach bug last week. Because of that bug, Gemma missed a day of school last Tuesday. You would have thought the world was coming to an end.  She was devastated!  Come Thursday she was beyond excited to go, and to make things even better, it was picture day!  I'll admit I spent a little extra time doing her hair but I went ahead and let her pick out her outfit.  She always has such an opinion about her clothes that I thought it might be fun to capture her personality and "tastes" in her first school pictures. It's only preschool right? I highly doubt her 3 and 4 year old classmates are really "that" in tune with fashion to even know if her clothes match or not, so it's not like she was going to be embarrassed. Oddly enough, she picked an outfit I would have probably picked out for her. A cute dark purple shirt, jeans, and her pink shoes.  She looked pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Makael is getting used to our one on one outings during the time Gemma is at school. Sometimes I wish I could go home, turn on a movie for him, and get all of my cleaning done before we go pick Gemma back up. Unfortunately Makael doesn't approve one bit of that idea. I've tried it a couple of times, but the second I pull into our neighborhood he starts crying and yelling "go back, go bye bye". He's definitely not a home body. So we find other things to do, even if it's just going to the mall to play on the jumpy toys.  I had NO idea how many mall walkers there are at 9 o'clock  in the morning.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch this week. It was so much fun! The last time I was there, Gemma was only 10 months old and I didn't think it was that memorable.  Well, going with a two and an almost 4 year old is a completely different experience.  The LOVED it.  Makael ran around most of the time just yelling and wanting to get up on the tall straw horses.  I'm surprised he didn't lose his voice given how cold and windy it was. Gemma was all about feeding the animals and picking out a pumpkin.  Pretty sure she picked one of the uglier pumking out there, but whatever. It was fun regardless.

10 weeks today with baby #3  and I'm feeling hopeful that my days of morning sickness are behind me. I might have an hour or two throughout the day that I feel crummy, but as long as I don't wait too long between meals I usually feel okay. My mind is already racing and keeping me up at night. What names do we like? Should we find out the gender this time? What color should I paint the nursery? David has been leaning towards finding out the sex of the baby this time, but I haven't been able to fully commit to that idea yet...don't know why.  I know we still have some time to decide, but knowing me, the decision won't be made until we are at the ultrasound and the Dr. asks us if we want to know.  Regardless, I'm crazy excited about this little guy/gal.  I'm pretty sure this is our last baby so I'm doing my best to enjoy every moment, but I am more than happy to say goodbye to the nausea and dry heaving.

 

Makael's favorite 

 

Feeding the goats

You would have thought they climbed a mountain.

And again...he could have spent the whole time here.  

Not ready to end the fun at the end of the night.