There's so much more of you to love

Well, it has been a while...again! For starters things are going fairly well. kayLynn is per usual is a joy to have in our home. Sometimes that joy is hard earned and other times just freely given! Like tonight, we were getting some food and she had to be taken to the car. however, just minutes after she s smiling even more happily and just loving on mommy and daddy. Though it is not always the case I love it when discipline so clearly is shown as a good thing, meaning that when we discipline her, she loves us more!

Though very verbally skilled, KayLynn is often playing catchup with her fine motor skills. lately we have been working on them a lot, playing with pennies, changing doll dresses on her own and to night she did a paint by number(except instead of numbers it was shapes) It was so good for her to sit there and focus on drawing in the lines and following directions. I have noticed a te improvement in her ability to sit and focus on things since Christmas. now we can sit and read stories by the hour, and color together with little fuss. she even wants to just sit and hold my hand while I read to myself sometimes, which is a feat for her! I am so proud of how hard she has been working on all of this-of course, she sees it as play, so that is great.

Her ability to be still has been a great blessing to me as I am exhausted all the time. Generally I get up and get as much as I can done before the fatigue hits me. The nausea has Abated to a degree and is now mostly caused by food smells. max has graciously allowed me to mostly have cold foods in the house like sandwiches and easy to warm soups. After that last meatloaf, I had to take a break. our next appointment is next week and I am looking forward to hearing the heartbeat, as is KayLynn... I have reached the point of pregnancy where I look and feel bloated (although have only gained 1 pound, thank you Lord). Nothing fits right, maternity or not and I feel so totally unattractive most of the time. my husband says he loves my curves bless his heart trying to make me feel lovely. I have a good man.

well, I will leave off for now since I have written a novel already...

Today, thanks to Kjerste's recommendation we met our new midwife Nancy. We loved her and she made us feel very confident. She confirmed that I am due August 17th, and that the baby is healthy and right on schedule. we got a picture which looks remarkably like a white-ish circle on a black-ish background and yet it was amazing! Something about seeing that heart beat inside you that just makes me euphorically happy. Sometimes I have a hard time getting over just how amazing it is that my child is growing inside of me-not that I want to 'get over it'.

Praise the Lord for this wonderful miracle that He allows us to witness.

Be patient, you are now an incubator...

I have to keep telling myself this! The Lord is growing a human inside of me, and it's exhausting! I can't believe how tired I am this time around. I was so busy and overwhelmed with school and work that there wasn't a whole lot of time to focus on that part, but this time?!?! Anyway, life is going on much as it always does, lots of cleaning, puking, laundry, puking, cooking, more puking and then lots of sleeping. When K goes to bed, I quickly follow. Although today I had Jack and for the first time in weeks he did not nap at the same time as KayLynn and so neither did I.

I am however proud to say that I have been able to keep up the normal duties as well as getting a lot done around the house. Poor Max did have the same pesto pasta for four days in a row, but today I made him some yummy French dips to make up for it! I made appointments to meet with two different Midwives and am excited and nervous about meeting them next week. Due to some good advice we are strongly considering a home birth should all things go well.

On another note, as of yesterday, my dog is ale to have babies and therefore has to go in and have a little surgery...poor girl! However, she is so tiny that if we let her go and she got pregnant with a neighbor dog it could kill her! So, that's on the schedule now too.

Another big project has been getting budgets set up for our kitchen remodel!!!!!!! We are going to be doing a lot by ourselves, but have to hire a few things done, so I am making appointments and looking at tiles granite and paint!

well, I think that's the update so far this month, hopefully after I go to the midwife I will have some ore details!

Oh swell...2012

Its been a while. Our Christmas was so busy that I just didn't have five seconds together to post. We enjoyed friends, family and Lots of Christmas crafts and candy! KayLynn is really blossoming and becoming such a big girl. She loves to help when I babysit and clean and always wants to be near me. She is also very empathetic, and everything that my baby makes me feel, her baby makes her feel!!

We are all looking forward to the new baby, although a few of the side affects have been a little hard to handle, I had forgotten! In a couple weeks I will see the midwife, and until then I am ok being nauseated. In the last few weeks I have consumed about 4 jars of pickles, 3 jars of artichoke hearts and am about halfway through a jar of green pickles, not to mention the kimchee! it seems my salty sour cravings are back with full force. Cooking any type of meat makes me physically ill, unfortunately my husband and daughter still like to eat! The only other thing really bothering me is that I am exhausted all the time. Due to that I have had to change my gym time to later in the morning, but I am sure I will get used to it.

As far as our goals for the years... Max and I are going to spend the next few months really focusing on making our marraige better by working harder to be more focused on The Lord. this last year seems like such a blur and we feel like we let a lot slide because we were so overwhelmed, but we are done now!

Our second goal is to gradually ease KayLynn into the big sister role! I tend to baby her and not make her do things by herself even when she is able, however I need to stop, it's not good for her and it won't work when the baby is here!

I have a few personal goals as far as health and schedules as well.

Hope the New Year brings you all blessings.