It's A...

Dec 21 - I haven't done a great job documenting this pregnancy so far. I guess that is what happens when you have 3 small children to take care of! But, on Dec 21st, we went in for the ultrasound and to find out if we were having a boy or girl. Such an exciting day!!!

Poor Logan has been begging for a brother since before Avery was born, so he REALLY wanted a boy! He was SO sure that Avery was a boy when we went for her ultrasound that he argued with the ultrasound tech for quite awhile that she was WRONG and that he could not possibly have another sister and when we got home from the ultrasound, he refused to come into the house. He said he wasn't coming in until he got a baby brother! The girls also really wanted a boy. I don't really know why. Rylee really wanted it to be an even number of boys and girls at our house and I think Avery just went right along with the others. Anytime you asked her if it was a girl baby or boy baby, she ALWAYS said Boy! I knew Darren wanted another boy and I did too. My girls fight like crazy and I figured a boy would be good around here. (Although the thought of not dressing a baby girl up is a little difficult. Especially since I discovered ruffle fabric!!!) Anyway - I was feeling a little pressure going into the ultrasound. I was a little worried what would happen to everyone if it wasn't a boy, especially after Logan's experience last time! We talked to the kids a lot about loving our baby, no matter if it was a brother or sister and talked with Logan about how much he loved Avery now and was so glad she was part of our family. I was still worried they might be disappointed, but they were very excited to go to the ultrasound.

Cute little Avery said "ulta sound" so cute and couldn't wait to see the baby. I think she was the most excited one of all! We did have to explain that the baby wasn't coming out yet though. My little brother Jeff was up because he went to an Aggie game with us the night before, so we made it a fun day out and checked Logan out of school for a little bit and took the kids to lunch at Noodles and Co. Then it was time to find out the BIG news!
Me and my pregnant tummy at 21 weeks. The ultrasound went great! The kids were so excited and loved watching it up on the BIG TV on the wall. The ultrasound tech was really cute with them and good at explaining everything and showing them things. Avery LOVED hearing the heartbeat and still talks about it all the time. It is the cutest thing! They were all really into it. Just a few minutes into the ultrasound, the tech figured out that they REALLY wanted to know if it was a brother or sister, so she did some checking and it was....

A BOY!!!!

The kids were SO excited!!!! And so were Darren and I. She got some VERY clear shots, so there wasn't much doubting it. When Logan went back to school later, he told his class that "Sometimes Heavenly Father does give us what we really want." When I was telling someone that later, Rylee overheard me and corrected me. She said, "No Mom. Heavenly Father gives us what we NEED!" I guess they had listened to all our conversation about Heavenly Father sending us what our family needed, even if it wasn't what they hoped for. So cute!

Our new baby boy - This is the first time that they have done a 3D ultrasound on me. It was pretty neat, especially for the kids to be able to see the baby so much better. We got some really great shots of his cute little feet, but this picture was the best one. It is so amazing to see and every time I have one, I am still amazed at the miracle of life! The ultrasound tech printed the kids each their own pictures. They were so proud of them and couldn't wait to show all their friends!
We are having a BROTHER!!!!

So...Since I haven't done a good job writing much about this pregnancy, I'll add a few things here. This pregnancy has been a little tougher than my other ones. Not bad. Just a little bit more uncomfortable. I guess since I am now in the 30s Club and it is my 4th pregnancy, that is bound to happen. And that I have 3 other kids to take care of. I was a little bit more sick in my first trimester and it lasted a bit longer and I was SO tired all the time. I still have struggles to stay awake at night and can barely keep my eyes open past 9:30 if Darren and I sit down on the couch to watch something. I am quite a bit bigger than my other pregnancies, so I feel more uncomfortable. Sleeping has been SO difficult! The baby is higher than my last couple and my ribs are always sore when I wake up. For a little while after Christmas I was having these awful pains and a lot of pressure. I could barely walk sometimes and there were days when I was in tears because it was so painful. But, they have gone away for the most part and I am doing better now than I was at that point.

I haven't had any real cravings so far. I remember really specific things I wanted with my other pregnancies, but I haven't really had too many this time around. I am hungry constantly but can't eat much at a time. I like snacks. Way too much!!!

My favorite part of being pregnant is being able to feel the baby move. I just love that feeling! I don't know why. It is not always the most comfortable, but there is something so amazing about it and reassuring. I love sitting down on the couch at night and just watching my tummy move and dance all over the place! There is something that really bonds you to the baby, or at least I feel like it does.

I felt the baby move for the first time at about 20 weeks. The first few times, I wasn't completely sure that was what it was, but the night before the ultrasound, the baby was very active and I knew that is what I had been feeling. Darren was also able to feel the baby kick that night, which I always love sharing that with him. In the next couple weeks, all the kids were able to also feel him move. Cute Rylee got the most excited face when she felt him. Logan and Avery weren't as patient or interested. But, now that he is moving more, they all love to feel him and get excited. Avery always laughs and says "he kick me!" and sometimes she will lay her head on my tummy so sweet and talk to the baby or give him loves and kisses. Sometimes she tells me he is crying and she is constantly asking when the baby will come out. Right now she says "after the easer bunny (or sometimes she calls him the easer baby) then the baby come out!" Rylee has been drawing some great pictures of me with a GIANT belly! I will have to post them sometime.

I am currently in nesting mode and trying to get a million things done and clean and rearrange rooms and all of that! I'm glad I have some energy left. I just wish it was easier to do things, but being so big makes cleaning and everything difficult at times. Good thing I have a fabulous husband who helps me a ton!

We are counting down to the big day. I have an appointment tomorrow and they are supposed to schedule me then. Only about 6 weeks left! I can't believe how fast it has gone. I got to watch my neighbor's baby the other day and I couldn't put him down! It got me so excited for our little guy to get here!

Now, if we could only come up with a NAME! I hate not having one. Avery didn't have a name for about 3 days and it was hard, so I want to have one this time. But, we just can't decide. We have LOTS of boys names that we really like and agree on, but nothing that we are SO excited about that we know its the one. Hopefully, we figure it out soon. I have been asking the kids for suggestions, but they haven't helped much. Logan likes Ben, which I think is cute, but then he told me he wanted Ben for Ben Kenobi from Star Wars. We like the name Brock a lot, but Logan says he only likes Brockeith, who is an Aggie basketball player. He also suggested the name Mosiah. Rylee hasn't really suggested anything. She just doesn't like most of the ones we have come up with. Avery likes "nana" for some reason. She calls most of her dolls that and suggests it as a baby name a lot. She also likes "Baby Asher" because our friends just named our baby that and she suggested Elmo the other day.

Our Ultrasound

We had the ultrasound for Baby #3 on Wednesday, May 13th. The kids were pretty excited to go back to the Dr office to see the "baby in mommy's tummy". They thought the ultrasound was really neat and especially liked hearing and seeing the baby's heartbeat and liked the body parts that they could identify - like the feet and hands and head. Logan paid a lot more attention than I thought he would and was pretty into everything. Rylee watched for a little bit and then was more interested in flipping power switches and other things.
Our little one was pretty active and was moving constantly so it was hard for the tech to get great shots. It was the best ultrasound I have had in terms of being able to see everything. We even saw the baby's little mouth open and close, which the tech said is pretty rare to see. Here are some pics of our new little baby:ProfileAnother profile shotA cute shot of the baby's legs and feet - I love how they are crossed

I think this is the baby's head and face. I am not too good at telling what some of these pictures are! This one is my favorite - You can actually see so much of the baby!

Darren and I both kind of had the feeling that the baby was a girl, but Logan was convinced otherwise. When the Ultrasound tech told us that the baby was a GIRL, poor little Logan was not too happy with the news that the baby was a girl! On the way to the ultrasound, he was talking all about seeing his new baby brother. I told him that it might be a sister, and he said that it was a brother. We asked him how he knew that, and he said "I just know already. I'm smart." Even after the ultrasound tech announced that it was a girl, Logan kept saying "Oh, look at that cute baby boy!" and "There is my baby brother!" It took some convincing to tell him that it was not a boy and then he was pretty upset. He kept saying "I don't want a girl baby" and "I already have a sister, Mom!" On the drive home, he had a bit of a meltdown and yelled "I don't want a girl baby!" I told him that Aunt Heather was having a boy baby, so he could still have a boy cousin, but that wasn't enough for him. He said "I want OUR baby to be a boy baby!" When we got home, he refused to come into the house and when I asked him why, he said "I'm not coming in because our baby is a girl!" Poor kid! We finally got him to come in the house and Darren convinced him that it was going to be cool to be the only boy and be Daddy's special buddy and that they can do lots of cool things - just the two of them! They talked about football games and campouts and other things that would be just for boys and Logan decided that sounded pretty good. At nap time, he said to me "Mom, I'm getting excited for my baby sister now!" It was very sweet! He still occasionally mentions that he wishes the baby was a boy, but I think he is doing much better now! Rylee is just happy to talk about a baby - She could care less whether it was a girl or boy baby. She might care in a few years when her sister wants to borrow her clothes or use the phone, but for now, she is OK with it. These are the pics that prove our baby is a girl. Apparently, it is a pretty clear shot. Our tech told us "I'm trying to make it a boy, but this one is definitely a girl!" I guess we can start picking out PINK!

Now for the hard part....the name! Darren doesn't like to talk about names before we know the sex because he says that we don't need to fight over 2 names when we could just fight over 1! I have a list of about 8 or so girl names that I like, but none are sticking out too much yet. With Logan and Rylee, we knew the names we wanted right away, but this one has been different. Darren wants to wait until she is born, so I guess we will narrow down our list and see what she looks like and then decide.

I am SO far behind on our blog postings (besides this one, which is current!) I have lots of things that we have been doing lately - Rylee's birthday, Easter, baby animal days, the move.... So hopefully, I will do some catch up soon!

IT'S A....

GIRL!!!!

That is all I have time for right now, but more news about the ultrasound (and Logan's reaction!) to come soon!