Third Baby Bump | Gender Predictions

In true third baby fashion, I haven't documented this pregnancy like I did with my last ones. I'm going to blame that on the two who already keep my hands full! haha

We are well on our way through the third trimester though and on the home stretch to meeting this baby in just 6 to 7 more weeks! Our kids have loved following along with the baby's growth through the Baby Center app I have on my phone and love getting to see the baby change from week to week. Pregnancy no matter how hard is such an incredible miracle!

Some updates ... my wedding ring sadly no longer fits. I think a lot of it has to do with this daily 100 degree summer we have been experiencing this year. I'm looking forward to wearing it again, along with he rest of my wardrobe. Physically I take things a day at time ... some days are easier than others. I'm sleeping pretty good, still waking every 2 to 3 hours to pee but am able to go right back to sleep. I've learned my acid reflux can get the best of me at night depending on what and when I last eat. My tail bone hurts a lot of the time like my legs catch as I walk which is something I haven't experienced before. Hoping it returns to normal post baby! The big thing lately is my energy is incredibly low. I was low on iron during my glucose test blood draw (passed the glucose test part!!) and have started taking a supplement for it which felt like it was helping my energy the first few days but I haven't noticed much of a change since. Supposedly vitamin c helps with iron absorption so I've added a cutie to my daily diet too to see if it helps. I've had my first experience with braxton hicks contractions this time. They were unnerving at first but after doctor reassurance, I'm not as on edge about them now. I've found myself taking a nightly bath before bed to relax my body and it feels nice to be weightless for a while. I'm still exercising daily but the movement has definitely changed ... more walking and lifting lighter weights than intense cardio. 

Some fun things!!! Lyla girl and I went through all of the the baby gear and clothing bins in the garage together. She loved every minute of it and it feels good to have most things set up! The crib looks so sweet in our bedroom and I just got a new crib sheet for it thanks to a sweet gift from my friend! Our dresser also has the cutest changing basket on top making our room feel like a haven for me and baby soon. I got the coziest robe to take to the hospital and I've lived in it every morning lately. I'm really looking forward to getting together with family and friends for a baby sprinkle my sister-in-laws and mom are having for me and baby next weekend! We also have family/maternity pictures scheduled in a week and a half and it is hard to believe this will be the last pictures as a family of 4!

The BEST part of pregnancy for me has always been feeling the baby move! It's the one thing I will miss and have noticed I'm hanging on to the most being that this is our last baby. Unfortunately, I have an anterior placenta this time so I don't feel baby as much as I did with Liam and Lyla's pregnancies. It has made it difficult for the kids to feel the baby move much or to document any videos of it. I swear baby knows when I put a hand on my tummy or hit the record button because the movement immediately stops. haha Little stinker!  

 We are all getting so excited to meet this baby! It feels so real to see the daily countdown now be at 52 days left! The biggest question besides when will I go into labor is who will we get to meet in the end, boy or girl?! We are all so curious and excited for that surprise! Liam and Lyla are set on a girl. Liam, because he wants to keep him and dad as the only boys in the family (which I think is really sweet that he'd want another little sister and loves his time with his dad so much) and Lyla, maybe because she already has a brother? Wants to dress up her sister like a dolly? Wants a best friend who loves all the girly things she does? I'm not sure! haha I do know however she is loving testing out all of the baby's things just like Liam did when she was born. She also needed convincing that we weren't having one of each gender ... dad wasn't carrying the boy baby in his tummy and mom, the girl baby in hers. haha It's so hard to understand at that age. We are just crossing our fingers that there is no disappointment from either of them if this baby is in fact a boy! 

I thought it would be fun to look at some gender predictions like I did before Lyla's 20 week ultrasound and see if they turn out to lean one way or the other?!

- Gender Predictions -  

Nausea ...

Lots (girl) None (boy) | GIRL

Baby's Heart Rate ... 

Above 140 bpm (girl) or Under 140 bpm (boy) | GIRL

Chinese Gender Calendar ... 

Based on age and month of conception | BOY

Mayan Predictor ...

Based on age and year of conception, both even or odd (girl) or one even and one odd (boy) | GIRL 

Carrying Baby ...
High (girl) or Low (boy) | GIRL

Cravings ...

Fruit & sweets (girl) or Meat & cheese & salty (boy) | GIRL

Chest ...

Not grown (girl) or Has grown (boy) | BOY

Ask a Little Boy ...

If a little boy (ahem, Liam) shows interest in my pregnant belly (girl) or Not interested (boy) | GIRL

Observe Your Curves ...

Face is rounder (girl) or Bum is rounder (boy) | GIRL

Ring on a String ...

Swings in a circle (girl) or Swings side to side (boy) | BOY

7 predict baby girl and 3 predict baby boy so we'll see! Last but not least ... all of my baby's ultrasound pictures in a row! Who do you think baby looks more like, Liam or Lyla?!

Pocatello

 Last weekend we did our final trip of the summer and visited family and friends in Pocatello! In the 10 years I lived there, I thought I had pretty much seen the whole city but then my father-in-law suggested going for an evening walk after dinner on Friday night and took us to a path I'd never been before. It reminded me so much of the Eagle greenbelt which runs alongside the Boise River. Instead, it was called Sacajawea Park and it was a paved figure eight path that followed the Portneuf River. It was so beautiful! It was still fairly hot out so Lyla quickly asked for a ride. haha

We saw baby ducks and found tons of walking sticks. ;)

I have to give a quick shout out to my father-in-law ... he has lost 65 pounds from walking 4 miles a day with their puppy and I'm so proud of him!! This baby bump and I were having to sprint to keep up! 

Liam was totally in his element!

"Come on Bella, follow me!"

These two shared a bit of a love/hate relationship during our visit. Smothering love from Lyla and constant retreating from Bella. haha

Saturday morning we visited another new-to-me spot, Edson Fichter Trail and Nature Preserve. It had a few ponds to check out and ran right along the railroad tracks. 

They opened a Children's Museum in the mall and we got to check it out with some friends. We met the Southworth family there and our kids had a blast together building this car ...

How cute is she with her tape measure?! And Liam's face as he hammered ... haha

Teamwork makes the dream work, helping him hold up the car so he could attach a wheel ...

They loved climbing the rock wall too!

Saturday evening we went to a few stores (real life: it turned into a total souvenir fighting match with our children) and had dinner at Winger's with my mother-in-law. I loved that I was able to get a picture of Nic with each of his parents this time! 

On Sunday we got to see our friends, the Bradley family, who we haven't seen in 4 years! They live in Arizona but still have family in Pocatello like we do. This year we happened to time our summer trips at the same time! Our kids got along so well and had the best time "swimming" in the pool-temperature hot tub, watching Angry Birds 2 on Netflix, and testing out their virtual reality goggles. I'll give you one guess what Liam is now begging for. ;)

Love these friends so much! No matter how much time has passed, we always pick up right where we left off last time ...

We ended up driving home Sunday evening. My body was ready to be done traveling until this baby comes. I had my first braxton hicks contraction in the middle of the night while we were there and it was definitely unnerving. I've had many since and am glad to be home trying to rest up for the remainder of the summer. Everyone was sad to say goodbye, especially Lyla to Bella! Looking forward to them visiting us when the baby is born!

We spotted a deer on the way out of town!

Shockingly enough, we drove 8 hours to and from Washington without any car sleeping but 10 minutes into this trip, Lyla fell asleep with her uneaten dinner in her lap. She slept all 3 hours and woke up just as we were rounding the corner to downtown Boise. Bless her heart, I think even the kids were worn out and need a break from traveling. Until next time, Pocatello! Can't believe we'll have 3 kids the next time that comes around!!

Saying Goodbye to our friends

 Shortly after we moved to Meridian, we met the Cardon family and they quickly became our best friends! It's not often that you meet a whole family where the kids get along and the husband and wife both enjoy the other couple's company too. Lauren and I would get together once a week for a playdate with our non-school aged kids during the week and twice a week in the summer. We'd have playdates at each other's houses, visit every park in the city, go to the river, play at the library, etc. We've gone to the zoo, the birds of prey center, and Sandy Point as families on the weekends. We created annual traditions of Halloween and Christmas parties, as well as a double date to the pumpkin patch/corn maze every fall. Our kids have grown together and so have we. 

As many people are experiencing, including Nic, the work environment changed during Covid and some businesses closed their doors and made the transition to working from home a permanent one. This is what happened with Spencer's job which opened the opportunity for them to live anywhere they wanted. Their dream has been to have land and fruit trees so they bought a home in Shelly and we helped them move on Friday. Not before one last Saturday spent together at Sandy Point the weekend before though ...

Our two Liam's together! 

They chased the geese with squirt guns all morning! haha

And even found some tadpoles in the shallow water ...

Liam was determined to unearth this root until he realized it was connected to a whole bunch more and went a lot deeper than that tiny shovel would allow him to dig to very quickly ...

No falling off the turtle today which is cause for that big grin on her face! She doesn't like getting wet unless it is on her own terms. haha Boy will she have an experience at her first swimming lessons this next week!

Lauren and Griff on a kayak ride together ... our kids are begging us to get one of these!

All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth!

Lyla did fall off the kayak while riding with Ephriam ... she didn't understand that she needed to keep her body weight in the center and kept leaning to the right. She was NOT happy!

Super dad to the rescue! He pulled her around while she laid on the back of the kayak like this instead ...

Like a big kid on that tube with a paddle! haha

Nic also made this cute fish with a moat around it for the kids!

Man I'll miss this girl! It's friendships like these ones that are the worth every bit of the extra effort when you live long distance. Time to make new traditions together. <3

Baby #3 Must Haves

 Now that I'm caught up again on our happenings from the last couple months, I can share some fun pregnancy things. Starting with some baby #3 must haves! Considering we've had two babies now, a boy and a girl, we already have almost everything we need this time around. We bought a car seat from a friend over the weekend and I couldn't believe how tiny the little insert is for a newborn baby! 

4th of July weekend I pulled down all of my baby bins with Lyla and she had a hay day going through all of the tiny things I've saved. After taking inventory, these are just a few things that are on our list before baby comes that I thought I would share for anyone who might be expecting a baby too! We registered at babylist.com and I've loved that you can link items from several different websites all in one place! 

Binkies | Most of the ones I had melted a bit in our storage bins in the garage (oops!) and while we have yet to have a baby that loves them, they are handy soothers during the fussy awake times in the first couple months.

Swaddle Sack | I got the larger sized swaddle sack when Lyla was a baby and used it with her every day. Since we plan to have baby sleep in the crib from day one, we'll need the smaller size in the beginning. 

Crib Sheet | Our crib sheets have been well loved, Lyla's even has holes. This one looks so soft and gender neutral!

Electric Nail Trimmer | This product is new to me but I've heard such great things. There is nothing I cringe at more than the thought of trimming a baby's tiny tiny nails. An electric nail filer seems like no brainer. 

Nose & Ear Cleaner | Also a new product to me but may be a little less weird than the Nosefrida we have where you have to suck the snot out of their nose. haha

Diaper Cream Applicator | I'm loving the thought of cleaning off an applicator instead of my hand post diaper change. haha

Nursing Cover | Similar to our crib sheets, the nursing cover I used for my babies is covered in holes (probably from getting snagged on our carseat because it can be used as a cover for that too). Luckily, our new carseat comes with a built in one so I can use it just as a nursing cover this time. 

Nipple Balm | Because nursing in the beginning takes a toll!!

Boppy Cover | Our boppy pillow is one of my most used baby products with my other two. I love the  color "earth stripe" in this cover!

Hatch Sound Machine | We have one of these in each of our kids' rooms and love them! Baby needs their own too. 

Ergo 360 Baby Carrier | I love using the Solly Baby wrap the first few months after the baby is born but then the Ergo offers so much more back support for a heavier baby. The one we have doesn't allow forward facing like this one does ... it will make for one happy baby when they are old enough to want to look around at everything and not be stuck facing your shirt!

Still can't believe we'll have a baby in our arms using all of these things in just a couple months!

4th of July 2021

 The 4th of July this year was equally as hot as the entire month before it. It meant no afternoon bike parade this year and as much water as possible! We snapped a quick family picture before heading to Josh and Nicole's for a family bbq and apparently Nic's genes really do run strong in this family ... haha the triplet eye squint!

I tried a new recipe and made watermelon lime slushies to cool us off during the day. They were so yummy! I have the perfect shelf these days to set mine on too. ;)

We brought red, white, and blue water balloons to the family bbq for all the cousins and they had two pools set up for the kids to cool off in. If I hadn't stayed inside most of the time, I would have jumped in there with them! 

Matthew, so proud of his water balloon!

These two were cracking me up the whole night. They either had a snack bowl full of chips they were sharing or scavenging for other people's water bottles to backwash into. haha

Pa gave them all a challenge to see who could pick up the most water balloons and that person would get a dollar. Grams footed the bill. ;)

My poor dad tripped over a park bench backwards that morning so he was hurting pretty bad. I wanted to be out of the heat so him and I hung out on the couch together most of the night! We'd occasionally have visitors who wanted to join the party and the festive glasses came out.

We were grateful to Josh for being the bbq master and feeding us all! You should have seen what he was wearing! I didn't end up with a picture of it but it was a pair of flag shorts overalls with nothing underneath them and a handlebar mustache. hahaha It was a sight to behold!

My sister-in-law pulled out my niece's tooth while we were there and we all started encouraging Liam to let her do the same. He has hung on to this front tooth he hit on my mom's couch back at Christmas time and refuses to let anyone touch it. I had scheduled an appointment to take him to the dentist a few days after the 4th because the adult tooth was coming in front of it but after a night of trying to gain his trust and many attempts, he let his auntie pull it out right before we left! Two days later, the other front tooth was hanging by a thread too so I convinced him while he was distracted watching a movie to let me try the dental floss trick and it popped it right out! The cutest toothless grin and a very busy tooth fairy!  

After we got home from the bbq, we did a few fireworks as a family in front of our driveway.

We let them take turns choosing which firework to hand dad next but Lyla always had a whole lineup in her arms ready to go!

They felt like they were missing out by not getting to help light them so safety dad let them each have a turn ...

He saved the best for last (the dragon one).

Then we had some fun with sparklers! Only one moment of tears at the very end when Lyla touched a hot part while trying to throw it in the bucket of water. Nothing got burned but it was still a stressful moment.

Baby, you're a firework! #29weeks

We let the kids stay up past dark to see a few of the big ones and then everyone (including Nic and I) crashed long before the sounds disappeared into the night sky. Can't believe we'll have another member of our family when we celebrate this holiday next year!