The baby bump

So, I know that there really isn't much to see here. But being as this is my first pregnancy and it was a LONG awaited one at that - I'm taking advantage of every pregnancy thing I can. :) With that said, I present to you the first of the "baby bump" pictures. The first one is at 9 weeks with nothing there so you have a starting point. Any bump in the first picture is just fat or bloating. LOL

9.5 weeks

This second picture was taken yesterday at one day shy of 14 weeks. :) I know it's not much - but it's MINE! :)

14 weeks

1st Day of School

Today Kaelyn officially started the 2nd grade! One great thing about homeschooling is that you can wear your Darth Vader socks wtih your pink pants and no shoes and no one cares! LOL We had a great day. School started right at 8:30am and we were done by 10:30. :) We built a timeline in the hallway that we'll use throughout the year, started our history/geography notebook, talked about the fact that names have meanings, and did some refresher math pages. It was a good morning and it was even better when Kaelyn said, "I think I'm going to like this year better than I thought!" That is enough for me! I think the hardest part of the year is going to be keeping Cooper quiet for longer than a half a second so I can actually explain something to Kaelyn. We'll see how that goes!

12 weeks

I'm pretty sure that everyone that reads this blog already knows this, but just in case....

Jeff and I found out at the beginning of July that we are expecting our third child. Biologically. After 10 years of no birth control and a miracle of God, I am actually pregnant. And amazingly enough am having a "boring, normal pregnancy" according to my midwives. LOL At this point I'm officially 12 weeks along (well, a couple days past 12 weeks) and am due around March 11th.

Even after an ultrasound at 8 weeks, lots of weeks of being nauseous 24/7, taking humongous prenatal vitamins and hearing the baby's heartbeat beating as strong as can be - it's still very surreal. It's hard for me to believe that this is happening to ME!

I think I MIGHT believe it when I can feel the baby move and when I am as big as a truck. LOL We'll see.

Take me out to the ballgame

This event happened a couple weeks ago, but due to my grandfather's death it got slightly overlooked...

My brother works for an awesome company that buys season tickets to the local Triple A baseball club. We took advantage of some of those great tickets and took the family to the baseball game on Tuesday the 23rd. I was anticipating an evening of whining, complaining, fighting, and ending with us all coming home by 8pm.

I'm SO glad I was wrong in ALL my assumptions.

We had the. best. time. ever. I could not have asked that my children behave better, have more fun, or spent more quality time together. It was simply the best. However, the best part for Kaelyn was that she was asked to play tug-of-war with Rubarb (the team mascot) ON the field in the middle of the 6th inning. She learned a lot about baseball while she was "counting down" the innings until she got to meet up with the fun squad, meet rubarb and make her way onto the field. She pulled and pulled and pulled until the backup catcher came out of the dug out and "assisted her" in winning the game. Rubarb, of course, was devastated that Kaelyn won and Kaelyn was ecstatic that she had defeated him! LOL It was darn cute. I wish that I would have charged my camera battery before we left as I wasn't able to take a video of it. I did however catch a few pictures of the night. :)

We came home very late, stayed for the whole game and had tons of fun. I can't wait to do it again. Thanks Jason for getting us the tickets!!!

Grandpa Van

Today I lost the first of my grandparents. I am so thankful that I KNOW that my Grandpa Van Gilder (Grandpa Van as we called him) is dancing on streeets of gold and singing sweet songs of praise to Jesus right now! And if I know him, he's talking everyone in heaven's ear off. While talking to Kaelyn tonight about Grandpa's death, she again suprised me with her thoughts that are so beyond her years. We were talking about how Grandpa is in heaven and how much happier he is now that he can walk and dance and sing again. She then said, "You know the best part mom? Grandpa gets to see his (earthly) mommy and daddy again! He must really like that". That's so true Kaelyn. While we will be sad here on earth that he is gone from us, we have to remember not only is there a big reunion party going on up in heaven tonight, but that we WILL get to see him again! On the glorious day when we see Jesus. So, Grandpa - thanks for leaving our family with an amazing family history. Thanks for instilling in my father the love for Christ and the importance of a relationship with Him so that he could pass that down to us. Thanks for showing our family how a marriage can last as long as your did. Rest in peace Grandpa. And enjoy your party with Jesus.