I can't believe it either!

I feel very prepared for this baby! I'm almost 26 weeks along there is very little that we will need yet! It makes me excited and relieved. I am such a planner that I remember freaking out a little when I was just ready for Will at 36 weeks!

We are planning on keeping my car just for a little while longer after baby is here. Because of this, I needed to find three car seats that fit across one row. This is a challenge really! Thanks to the help of some car seat techs on Facebook, I bought three new car seats and YES! They all fit! It's quite a tight fit and I'm sure a load of curse words will be said until we find a new car but it will work until then. Will has troubles buckling his seat belt but we can help him and it'll be fine. Will smiled all shyly at the car seat and said "I can't wait until there is a baby in there." He is such a good big brother!

As I said above, I'm almost 26 weeks and still at about a 15lb weight gain. I'm okay with this! There was about a week or more that I couldn't even walk for exercise. I had bronchitis and it was truly so hard to breathe and having to blow my nose every 90 seconds makes it hard to be too far from a box of Kleenexes!  I'll have my glucose test week after next. I'm truly not too worried about it as I've always had more of a low blood sugar issue. I did fail it with Will but that was because I had a bit to eat before the test. I passed the 3 hour test after that. 

Blackberries! Do you see the size of these puppies?! There is a place not too far that is a you-pick farm and Mom and I went and picked 7.5lbs in about 15 minutes. I have a hard time sharing them!

Over the 4th, we went to a pond with some friends and the kids had a blast! We thought about camping out with them but I had to work in the morning and lets be honest... would Lillian actually stay all night? We'll try it at some point but that night just wouldn't have worked out. It was a great time and I hope to do it again soon!! 

I may only have one reader but hey someone reads this still! lol Thanks sister!

Every now and then, I go back and read my blog, so after about a year break, I am truly going to try to keep up with this. Going back to read what all we did when is fun and brings a smile to my face. So, I'll start with a pregnancy update!!! Something I never did with the other two and something I wish I did was say how much I gained when... I am 23 weeks and 4 days and up 14 pounds (morning weight, who goes by the Dr. scales anyway?!) I gained 40 with each of the other kids so I'm just trying to be less than that, 30 if possible!!!

Gym selfie at 23 weeks 1 day. 

Don't let the gym selfie fool you though, I've been struggling with staying active. At about 10-12 weeks along, my lower back started to hurt so badly I would go to the chiropractor every week if not twice a week. It seemed like she could never get the pain to go away. All the lifting that I have done over the last 4 years has come to a complete halt. The only pain relief I get is if I roll a ball on my lower back and ice it. Even after that, there's not a ton of relief but it makes it manageable. My fitness has gone from lifting 5-6 times a week with cardio here and there down to just walking (trying for three miles) 4-5 times a week and that's it. By this point with both other pregnancies I had quit working out all together because it was winter and I didn't have gym membership and just didn't.

At my doctors appointment I was measuring about 2 weeks ahead. I did this with both the other two too and seeing as how Will was so big and then Lillian was only 8lbs, I think it's just a fluke kind of thing. Although I am rooting for a bigger baby than Lillian.

We were going to keep this baby a surprise but at the ultrasound, Dennis caved and we found out. I left it all up to him if we found out or not. He had me all excited to not find out and then he changed his mind, so I am a bit bummed that we know but it's okay, I've had fun shopping! We have no clothes left from Will and Lillian so I needed to shop anyway.

Lillian with her matching sister's outfit!

Since we knew, we thought it'd be fun to keep it a secret between just us two. Who of us spilled on accident?!?!? ME! Talking about the ultra sound with Mom, I said "Sh-it was measuring 4 days behind.".... She caught on so figured oh well, might as well share. Will is still holding out hope that it's a boy and Lillian is of course so excited!! 

As for work, I'm still here at the Sheriff's office. I have very close to the same schedule that I used to have with some changes. I now work 4 night shifts of 11pm-7am, 2 days off, then 4 days, 2 off, 4 more days. Some of those days are the normal 7am-3pm, but others are 3a-3p. This will allow me to have a few extra days off here and there. It's never the same and will change often but could have more weekends off! As of right now, with having kids older it's not too bad. They let me nap or sleep early if I need too. I'm quite nervous of how it will go after I have another baby who won't just hang out watching PJ Masks or American Ninja Warrior for a while.

I do still do personal training! I have backed off quite a bit and only have a couple training clients. With my kids the age that they are and unable to leave them at home alone, I'm not trying to get more clients at this time. I have what I can handle and still be at home as much as possible. I will probably pick more up in a couple years when we have a live-in sitter a.k.a. Will. 

It Works is still going! I really enjoy it and love my side sisters. I will be picking that up more too as I will get to show you all MY results after baby! I'm very excited to see what all it will do for me as I already know what it does for others!!

Will is going to be in 1st grade!!! I can't believe he's that old already!! I've been told his sweetness will wear off within the next year or so. I sure hope not because man o man, is he the sweetest ever. Poor kid wanted a baby brother so bad. 

He still has his baby monkey!!

This was at his Kindergarten graduation. 

Lillian is going to be in pre-K (again?) Not sure what they call the 3 year old program but this year she will be going 4 days a week from 8-11. Her daycare will then pick her up and she will spend the day there. Lillian is over the moon excited for a baby sister! We have been working on getting her a little more independent. She is very attached to me. There for a long time, she would come to bed with me almost every night and we finally broke her of that. We still have trouble with a major attitude but I've been told that's just a girl thing! So this her being a big sister and having to share Mom may come to a huge surprise and adjustment. As for now though, she loves on the baby every day. She gives her a hug and kisses my belly all the time. 

This is from a while ago but it fits her perfectly!

Dennis is up to his normal stuff. All of us are praying for rain! It's been so dry and hot that so far this summer has not been fun. I'm sure with the baby this late fall that he will get the rest of the house done this winter being at home more. At least I'm hoping so ;). He was very indifferent with if we were going to have a girl or a boy this time around too.

I think I have caught you all up on our life and what all I neglected to fill you in over the last year! 

Am I back??

Hi there blog world! I has been a very long time. So much has happened and I won't bore you on any of that. I will let you know that we are working on baby number 3 who will join us in October! The kids are more than thrilled. Lately, I have been going back and reading all my older posts and I have really enjoyed it. Since it has been so long since I have posted, who knows if anyone will read this. If I do keep it up again I may share more often but a full year and then some off I'm sure most of you lost interest. I would too!

Like I said, baby number three will be here in October. Will has said that if it's a girl, he will call her Cutie Pie and if it's a boy he will call him Joe. Lillian is afraid to sit on my lap much as she doesn't want to sit on her brother/sister. We announced at their birthday party. After both kids opened all their gifts, we had them open a picture of the sonogram. This is something we had wanted for quite some time now and God has now blessed us with growing our family.

Will turned 6 on his birthday! We took him and two of his friends to a near by indoor swimming pool. We then wen't to Dairy Queen and had lunch and Ice Cream cake. With Lillian's 4th birthday, we had a couple of her friends over for a play date and we made make-your-own-pizza. They had a blast but wore me out!!!

Other than that, life is just the same as it was last blog! Dennis is still farming (who quits that? Of coarse he's still farming!) In the last few days he has been working more on the chopper header so it's getting closer to spring chopping season. I still work at the Sheriff's Office full time, I am down to a couple personal training clients, and then I still have my It Works business! I do love it. Great products is the smallest of the perks with it. I have some of the best friends with it, I have gotten to travel and as of next month, I will be debt free. I have a ways to go before I hit my goal but so far, this journey has been an amazing one.

As for now, I'll leave you with an update picture of the kiddos!! This was from last summer so not so updated but I'll get you one!

Until next time!

Merry Christmas!!!

Since I have this thing called a job that requires my time on holidays such as Christmas Day, we celebrated a day early! We went to church and Santa came then. The kids enjoyed it very much and I'm so grateful we got to enjoy it in the new house this year! May God bless you and your family forever and always.




















Merry Christmas!

November/ December

Not a lot has changed since last time I posted and dumped a ton of photos on you. I just wanted to share a few more pictures with you.



This guy, he was truly my best friend. He would listen to any of your problems and give advise very unjudgemental. He always wanted the best for me. Making sure that I would always be safe and happy. One of the things I will forever be grateful is the time he spent teaching me and leading more to the Lord. I have always believed but Howard strengthened my relationship with Him so much. October 27th he went to live with our savior. I think of him every single day and miss him terribly. With the move we see EVERYTHING we own. It's funny how many things that I had forgotten that he had given me that I find again. It's little things, from books about the bible, or bodybuilding to utility knives and hats. Anything that he thought I would enjoy he gave me. It honestly isn't about the things but the fact that he wanted so much for me to be happy and safe and he took the time to do the things he did for me means the world and I will never forget... Howard was a gift that God put in my life so that I had could learn more about God and then teach others.



Just because that's cute...

November 3rd, late at night Lillian decided to look into a super glue bottle.... and then she squeezed it. This was the outcome:



This was actually much better then it was all that night before. This picture was the next morning at the doctor's office. We were very lucky in the fact that the eye doctor was in Seneca that day so he squeezed her in and they had to knock her out to pull them apart. They pulled 3 of her eyelashes out as they were rubbing her eye and then they dyed her eye to make sure there was no damage and there wasn't.







They gave her some goofy juice before the 'surgery' and she was goofy!!!! These were all her faces, I just coping her!



Just because, he'll hate this ;) Missed the kiddoes so I took a pic and sent it to the babysitter (Mom) to tell them goodnight for us.

After Thanksgiving we were going to see Santa but after waiting for 45 minutes and seeing it was going to be another hour we decided to leave. But this was while we were waiting...



Then we had a birthday boy!!!



He's so excited....



Finally, we got to see Santa!!! Will had to take the John Deere ad to him to show him what he wanted for Christmas. Lillian was quite shy and didn't know about him but she did good and there were no tears this year!!!!

October/ November photo dump

Starting back when it was still warm, I finally got my camera back out. I hadn't taken many pictures on it since I got my new smart phone. Tenley had come over several times as my kids are her Dads are helping each other out a lot.







Lillian was there, I just didn't have any good pictures of her. They were all blurry.

And then there was Halloween!



My pretty princess! And Cousin Elsie the Fairy!



Our Knight and Shinning Armer (s)



Being quite uncooperative... Like every sugar loaded Halloween. Refuses to take pictures with Grandparents. I did miss a few Grandparents but with a sugar high, and a rush to see everyone in one day, I did my best.







Oh how fast life goes by! I am getting my camera out more and so I'll be updating more often.

LIFT!

I'm going to tell you a story. This story is about a woman who took care of herself, ate right and exercised on occasion. She was still healthy but decided to do a little more and hired a personal trainer. (me) If you think you are busy, you haven't met this woman! Making it a priority to take care of herself, we meet several times a week. She works hard. Really hard, every session. For the last 10 weeks, the scales have slightly crept up. It's really hard to see this even if you KNOW that  the scale is just a number. I know! I have dealt with this myself. Even though, I am quite fit, I have a hard time seeing that number in the mornings. So I get this struggle. I kept telling her not to give up and she agreed. Finally, she took 'after' pictures to track her progress. AMAZING, in 10 weeks the scales have gone up about seven pounds. 7! That is a lot when your goal is to lose weight right? Well, look at these for yourself. You tell me, does that look like a 7 pound weight gain?!

 

Yes, the second picture is her 'after' picture. This is why lifting, and taking pictures are SOOO important! I'm proud of you for not giving up and working as hard as you do even when you don't wnat to!!