Wrapping Up The Week

One day last week I got to stop into one of our town's new little consignment shops, Plato's Closet. They're around Nashville and larger cities, and it's great they're finally here! They have lots of great name brand items at low prices. PC doesn't carry maternity clothes, so I had a perfect excuse to browse the racks with my post-baby body goals in mind! It was one of my final social/shopping outings for the summer, so I was psyched that I found this great A-line paisley skirt for just $8! What a great incentive
to get back into my regular size!!!

On Friday my summer school term ended! First time back in school in 8 yrs, and I earned an "A"! To celebrate the success of my hard work, and more especially in hopes of helping relieve some of my back pain, Chris sent me
to a local spa for a massage!

What a treat! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to relax
and have some of my toughest aches worked on!
(Obviously that's not me in the pic above, as I'm
pregnant & can't lay flat on my stomach, but same idea!)

Saturday morning Chris let me sleep in, and he washed multiple loads of laundry, organized contents of our kitchen cupboards, and did serious cleaning--like inside the fridge, window sills, multiple floors, etc.
Later in the day I cleaned the bathroom ('cept the tub) and the kids helped with dusting (they're serious fans of the Swiffer!) and picking up their own toys. Friends came by in the evening just to hang out and chat, and by the end of the night we were all zonked!

Water Fun!

(For the record, we're NOT completely wasteful
of water on a regular basis! The photos below
are from a rare & spontaneous occasion!)

Since I'm not able to play with my kids as actively as I normally would, they're not getting all the fun outdoor play I'd like for them each day of the week. So to entertain the kids in the late afternoon on Thursday, we tried on their new swimsuits (which I got for $8 per kid!) and Hubby took them outside for some t-ball and water fun. I truly appreciated my guy doing this and the kids loved it, too!

Baseball time

Just bein' a cutie

Kyleigh got a lil' wacky w/ the power of the hose!

She soaked Siah...

Then sprayed him...

...in the face (*totally by accident)

Siah got his sister soaked, too

Glad the kids had a good time tryin' to beat the heat!

Getting Caught Up

I'm behind on updates (sorry, Grandparents!).

Over the last couple of weeks I've become less and less active with my kids and family, and that's really affected me emotionally. It's hard for me not to be able to do the hands-on things I'm accustomed to. I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of my own life. As I'm sitting on the sidelines, though, I'm determined to take some pics of the world happening around me, just enjoying the simple moments in my truly blessed life...

This Summer we discovered Skittles are allergy-free,
so this is KyKy trying her first Skittles candy!

Josiah was excited to try his Skittles as well!

A lazy day at home

Kyleigh loves helping prepare for Addison's arrival,
even enjoys Swiffering baby sister's bookcase!

Kyleigh gave her former crib bedding to Addison,
and was glad to help set it up (trying to tie bumper)

Art time w/ crayons and water colors
(Siah likes to line things up, he's a lil' OCD like me!)

Sometimes Siah sleeps on his bed...

...Sometimes he just throws toys on his bed & sleeps w/ KyKy!

Big kids brushing their teeth
(they're just so cute!)

Josiah's 1st dental exam, he did far better than anticipated!

Bubby even got a balloon when he left, so exciting!

T-ball Princess

Kyleigh loves to look cute while playing in the dirt!

Dance fever!

Kyleigh likes to give ballet lessons!

I'm not much of a ballerina these days,
but I can still read bedtime stories to my kids

Patriotic blue popsicles for our fireworks show

We did a few fun fireworks at home this year
to celebrate Independence Day

Well, that's a lil' of what we've been up to the past couple of weeks. We have a few more fun things happening soon, so I'll try to keep updates rollin'!

34 out of 40

This pic was taken just a couple days shy of 34 complete weeks with Addison. My hubby actually took the pic twice 'cuz she photographed surprisingly high in the photo, but in real life sheAddison is loooowwww! Wow, so low! I can feel how much she's dropped in my back and my bladder and round ligaments! Only 4-6 weeks to go!

32 out of 40 + 3D/4D Ultrasound

Further depths of our journey...

We are 80% through our journey to meeting Addison! That's shocking to me! This pregnancy has been my toughest so far, on both a physical and emotional level and for a variety of reasons. But no matter the trials and situations along the way, it truly does go by too fast.

The pregnancy itself--the baby herself--has NOT been an issue and there have been NO complications. But while I'm pregnant, my body is strained in other ways. Unlike my first two pregnancies, I had severe morning sickness this time around...and it lasted far into the 2nd trimester, so I was knocked on my rear in an unexpected way and for an unforeseen amount of time. As that subsided and baby grew, back issues from an old injury became prevalent. So after months of feeling inadequate as a mother to Kyleigh and Josiah, I finally got some energy back, but lost my usual physical abilities. I had to seek out twice-weekly physical therapy for pain relief.

This was especially tough emotionally because of issues with the home we're living in and my husband working a lot of tough hours and feeling like neither of us could deal with it all (thankfully he's now more available and we're able to start preparing this space for Addison to join us!). Even simple household chores can leave me laid up on the couch for a couple days, so I'm no longer allowed to do them---that's anything w/ bending or lifting (dishwasher, laundry, cleaning car, scrubbing bath tub, vacuuming--though I still vacuum 'cuz our awesome vac weighs only about 2 lbs!). I'm not even supposed to lift my kids the final 12 weeks, but sometimes I have in the past few weeks, and I'm sure it'll happen again in the next 8 weeks, too--that's just part of motherhood w/ two toddlers; that's just real life.

My PT has banned me from walking through large stores like Walmart and the mall. Ya know how we went to the zoo recently for Siah's bday? Well, there are pics I didn't post that show me having to use a motorized cart to get around part of the day, and I had to take pain medication upon heading home. I'm not sharing all this to complain...just journaling. I want to be sure to record this season of life as it truly happens...the good and the bad and everything in between! I don't believe in looking back on life and pretending everything was roses in bloom--let's be real, even beautiful roses have thorns. I have always said about parenting that not everyday is easy, but everyday is worth it--and that starts in this part of the journey. Keeping our eye on the prize, here is our 3D/4D ultrasound experience and a sneak peek at what we have to look forward to in a few weeks:

I'm incredibly thankful for the excitement
our kids feel about Addison!

So happy to see our sweet Addison Olivia!

I'm truly blessed with an amazing husband who's also
the most natural father I've known in my entire life!

We were complimented several times on how well-behaved
our kids are...that always makes a mama's ♥ happy!

Just a few pics of our lil' girl, we also got a CD & DVD

Our baby girl, Addison Olivia

She has all her fingers...

...and all her toes

Her sly grin

For those wondering--YES--
like Kyleigh, it appears Addison has my nose!

Look at those cute lips, so smoochable!

It's exhausting being so adorable everyday!

Many New Posts!

8 New Posts Below!

Feel free to read and leave (appropriate) comments! Delay was due to pic/video upload issues, but after all that, let us know you stopped by!

Possibly another post later tonight, so get your reading on!

28 is gonna be great!

I truly love getting older, but until last year I hadn't celebrated my birthday since I was a teenager. In '09 I let my hubby talk me into going out to dinner w/ friends--only so long as there were no gifts and no surprises! It was a nice time, so this year we tried something else...

No dinner, no party, but this year I did notify my husband of gifts/acts of service that would interest me. Of course rather than just choosing one or two of those suggestions, he just ran with the whole list...and then some! I think he was happy to finally be able to do something for me after all the years we've been together! Hehehe

My list of interests I expressed went something like this:

*Clean the minivan inside & out
(typically I would, but my PT has prohibited certain work)
*A particular Bible study/personal study book & guide
*Buy One Get One Free Bebe Au Lait Nursing Covers
*3D/4D Ultrasound of Addison

My birthday loot went something like this:

*I got to take a nap

*Bday Cards from Chris and kiddos

*Scratch-off ticket...won another ticket!

*My hubby had the minivan washed/detailed last wknd*Whole fam went to a 3D/4D ultrasound Tues
*Chris got a deal on my books & they arrived UPS on time!

*Cupcakes--Kyleigh picked them out w/ shimmery sprinkles!
*Milanos (I only eat these twice a year, they're addicting!)
*Nursing covers due this wk (1 surprise pattern, 1 below)
The gifts and gestures were very nice, but mostly what I appreciated was that my husband simply listened to the desires of my heart and made attempts to fulfill my wishes. People say men don't listen--not always true, or I'm just a really lucky chick! I'm so grateful my husband was willing to do things I couldn't do for myself and to treat me to things I wouldn't have given myself! The thought he put into each thing was super sweet! So far so good, and I think 28 is gonna be great!