Joys of Pregnancy

A couple weeks ago my wonderful friend, Mandy, took some maternity portraits of me.  It was a really fun time.  Although I look completely comfortable in the picture, I wasn't.  It was a really hilarious set up, but the results are stunning.  I especially love this picture, and when I get more images, I hope to post them.  

Looking at the photos that Mandy took, I thought about how beautiful pregnancy is.  How Heavenly Father made us so perfectly that we could grow little miracles in our wombs.  I love being a mother and despite all the nausea  heartburn, aches and pains, the frustration and as I call it, "pregnant brain," pregnancy is so worth every moment.  The other day I texted, my dear sweet husband about how tired I am, at 34 weeks pregnant, and trying to kick an infection.  I told him, "I'm ready to be done, I'm ready to feel like me again."  While this is true, I can't wait to have more energy, and be able to bend and move without the restrictions of a belly in the way, I know I will miss my belly.  Feeling the baby move in my belly, the little joys, like being able to hear the baby's heartbeat through a Doppler when I see my midwife and see the baby on an ultrasound. are the things that make all of this become real, before we actually get to meet our little one.  

I am so excited for this baby's birth, to meet her, cuddle her, and smell her.  She is so loved already, and her sisters are all ready to be amazing helpers.  

It's Been a Long TIme! Summary

Wow, I'm a terrible blogger!  So much has happened since 2010, when I last posted.

Hailey is 8 1/2, Leah is 7, and Alice is now almost 2 1/2.  In addition to that we are expecting another baby in March.

Lets see if I can summarize.  Mac has changed jobs a few times.  The girls, Hailey and Leah that is, went to a Montessori school for a year 2011-2012, and now they are attending local schools here in Jefferson county.  Hailey was baptized last February by her Daddy, and we have made lots of new friends.  Hailey and Leah both did dance in 2011-2012 and participated in the dance recital.  This year they have both opted to do horseback riding, instead of dance.  Alice is eagerly awaiting when she can start, next May, when she turns 3.  In the mean time, she gets to do gymnastics, which she loves.

Final wall in Kitchen

We finally textured the wall, and painted the last walls in the kitchen, just in time for family and friends to come over after Alice's baby blessing. I think that my mom and I stayed up until 3 am or something ridiculously late.
Alice is a very needy baby, that is, she knows when she is not in Mommy's arms, so I held her while I painted. When I got tired of holding her I strapped her on in my mei tai.
Here is the final wall:

The best part is that no one even notices!

Alice is Here!!!

Our Baby Girl Arrived!!!

Now that she is 2 months old, I am writing this, but life has been a little hectic.
Alice Liberty Wilson was born May 20th, 2010 at 5:57 pm. She weighted 8lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. She was born at home into our arms and has not had to be away from us for a minute.

Pregnancy

With my due/guess date fast approaching, I reflect on this pregnancy.

This pregnancy has past so quickly. The first trimester, we didn't want to tell anyone our news. It dragged on and on. I got the swine flu really bad at 10 weeks and didn't know how the baby would fair. When I was over that, and we still found a heart beat, I felt much better.

For a long time I didn't know who my care provider would be. We knew that we wanted a homebirth, but not what midwife we would use. We have since found a wonderful midwife who we are extremely happy with. We are so excited to have her at our birth.

It seems like I have caught every bug out there this pregnancy. My immune system must have been weakened significantly by the flu at the beginning of my pregnancy. I have had cold after cold and really bad allergies, and then I think that I got 5th disease too. Miserable!!!

With about 2 weeks remaining, I hope that the baby and I can stay healthy. My birth supplies have been ready for weeks, and now the house is just waiting for the finishing touches to make sure that it is a clean environment for our birth. Is it ever going to be perfect? No, of course not. We do live here, and I have 2 little mess makers already. Some days it is really hard to keep up with them.

Ah well, we will see when this sweet little baby decides to make her entrance. We wait with open arms and hearts.

Remodeling updates

I am writing this late at night, while I wait for grout to dry in the kitchen. I have to do it when the kids are asleep, since its messy and especially because Leah would have to come investigate what I am doing.

Since my last post about the bathroom remodel, we have all but finished the girls bathroom, including putting Tinkerbell on the wall.
As you can see it needs a few finishing touches like new fixtures and window trim and the ceiling painted, but it is functional. HURRAY for 2 working bathrooms and a working shower. Considering we ripped out the only working shower in February 2009, we are excited to have it.

We have put in all the new kitchen cabinets. We did half at a time.
We did the first half back in June.
Then the second half of the kitchen in November of 2009. Talk about spacing our projects out. Mac keeps on apologizing for taking so long on fixing up our house. I just tell him that we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we bought the house and we have come a long way. Sometimes it really drains me to have construction mess, but it is really getting better. After living with it for 2 1/2 years I am kinda used to it. Besides, the main living area is mostly done now. So the mess has migrated.

Tomorrow when I have finished sealing the tile, I will post a pic of our close to complete kitchen.

The next project is the master bathroom. We are planning to change the layout and include a walk-in closet, and install our new deep soaking tub. Mac has a time limit on this one, because I plan to use the tub when we have our next baby in mid to late May.

Our little Mommies

We went on a walk the other day, because the weather was so nice. Leah wanted to ride in the stoller, of course.

Hailey insisted on pushing Leah in the stroller. We didn't get too far. Just to the end of our street and back. Both girls had so much fun.

Hailey loves to baby out cat, Giggi. He doesn't always appreciate how "loving " she is. She puts him in a basket and carries him around the house. Today she was carrying him around in a box.

Leah pulled out one of my Mei Tai's, an asian style soft baby carrier. She wanted to wear her baby. How cute. She carried her baby on her front and then on her back. She doesn't have much patience to keep her baby in the carrier for long though.
Leah at 3 and a half years old, and 35 lbs, still likes to be worn in a baby carrier. I can wear her for short times on my back. The other day I wore her for a walk and a meeting at the Rigby City council for about 1 hour. I was still fairly comfortable after that. I guess that my body has gradually gotten used to her weight.