Thing 3 loves his big brother and sister

All my things :)

James is seriously such a happy baby he is always smiling and talking! 

Jenna loves reading to her brother! It is now part of our nightly routine before bed!

 Jenna can't wait for James to be able to talk to her, so she spends lots of time just talking to him :)

I love how protective she already is of him... the second he cries she is by his side!

These pictures were taking at 4 1/2 weeks old, and my strong boy is already holding his head up! 

 I wasn't sure how Kade would be once the baby is born, but it has been wonderful!

He is so enamored with him, and when he is here staring at his brother is his favorite thing to do!

My adorable boys make me so happy! I can not wait to see how close they are as they grow!

Kade says his favorite thing to do his hold his brother, and that he is going to coach his football team someday!

Big Sister and "Her Baby"

Jenna is definitly becoming a big sister, and we are learning the ups and downs even before "her baby" (which is what she has decided we all call baby Reece) is here!
Jenna has always been the baby since she was a baby. It was just me and her up until Mike and I met when she was 2 when she became daddy's girl, and Kade's little sister. She has been the only grandchild living near my family up until last month, so every holiday and get together she is the center of attention. Needless to say the world has revolved around her for 7 years... and she is learning all of a sudden that is changing. Mommy can't carry her everywhere, on Easter the baby got just as many gifts as her, and now we are making plans that include having to think about a new baby.
She has asked a lot about her role in all this, but as much as I feared her not liking the change she seems to be excited for the new responsibility. She likes that she will get to take care of the baby, and like that she will have a sibling that is with her all year around... we will see how she feels when the baby is 4 and following her around lol

Her latest thing is that she is   wanting to know how the baby feels, what the baby wants to eat, and what she can do for the baby. She will get me food in the morning if she gets downstairs before me, reminds me I have to take the baby's vitamins, and will ask what the baby wants for dinner.... I no longer have an opinion ;)
She loves sitting on my lap and cuddling more than she ever have, so that the baby will kick her. And she likes to read the baby bump books, so that "her baby" is smart when born!
She gets so mad if I call the baby he when referring to it ..."if it is a girl she will be so sad mom"! She says she wants a girl, but thinks it's a boy. She hopes it looks like her!
I know that we will go through ups and downs as they get older and she moves into the role of big sister, but I am truly in love with how excited she is too meet "her baby"!
I have been looking for ways to make the birth and days in the hospital extra special for my sweet girl, so any ideas would be much appreciated!

Well we are almost to May which means getting to see daddy, but until then me and his babies are enjoying this bonding time! We have been so well taken care of, and the guys from Mike's shop are my new heroes (Thank you Sean, Jake, Rich, and Jones)!
 I am loving my 2nd trimester and how active baby Reece is!
The Nursery is coming together (pics to come) and Gender Reveal Party invites go out this weekend (thanks to the amazing Jammie)!
Tonight Sara is taking me on a date to get maternity massages... so excited!
 

Bump Update 7- 22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: At my midwife appointment at 20 weeks I had gained 7lbs, but after being sick for a week at my appointment last week I had lost 3lbs. I have an appointment again this week, and I am honestly hoping that I am back up to my weight from 20 weeks. 

Maternity clothes? Of course! My favorites are some comfy cotton tops that Sara bought me, and Maxi skirts! 

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep: I have slept more the last 2 weeks than I have in my whole adult life! I am definitely loving my snoogle pillow! It wraps around me and baby, and makes my new "shape" a lot easier to make comfortable ;) 

Best moment this week: I got to talk to Mike a bunch this week which always makes everything so much better!

This last weekend was so amazing! I started Saturday going to Kade's soccer game with Sara and my sister in law Mandi. Kade is doing great, and seems to really enjoy playing :)

 Then we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt at my family church! The kids had so much fun, and got enough candy to feed an Army! That night Sara, her sister in law Leanne, Mandi, I went to Red Robin and to see Captain America (I am in love with Black Widow). It was so nice to have a kid free girls night :)

Sunday Sara and I took the kids to church and then gardened all afternoon. It was so relaxing to be in the sun and use some of this 2nd trimester energy for good :)

Miss Anything? Still miss my Airman so much! We are almost down to 30 days left!!!! I missed food a lot last week, but I am eating just fine now! 

Movement: SO MUCH!! When I was in the hospital Baby kept kicking the monitor... so my kid :) Anytime I lay down I can feel my little gymnast and if I watch I can actually see baby move! 

Well big sister has decided she wants baby to know her, so she will lay in bed with me and talk to Thing 3 till she gets kicked :) It so sweet to watch how excited she is to meet her baby! 

Food cravings: ummm everything! I love food! No more food aversions just food excitement! I still like meat way more than I did pre pregnancy especially Red Robin's Royal Burger!  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not since being sick last week. I am seriously feeling amazing now! 

Labor Signs: Nope. They put me on an IV last week to make sure that I didn't get dehydrated. Apparently it can put you into preterm labor, but me and baby made it out just fine :)

Belly Button in or out? Still in

Wedding rings on or off? On and it fits now

Happy or Moody most of the time: Life is good! My baby is growing, my daughter is at such a fun age, I get to see my son once a week even though Mike is gone, and even with our marriage exists via facetime my darling and I are doing so great! I had a lot of time to reflect not working last week and all I could think about is how blessed I am... it makes for a pretty happy outlook! 

Looking forward to: Jammie and I are planning my gender reveal party which happens after Mike comes home, so mostly looking forward to May! But for now I am looking forward to getting back to work this week, and for spoiling Jenna on Easter (Mike bought her a sweet gift and it should be here soon)!! 

Thing 1 and Thing 2 Play Basketball

So as much as this mommy likes talking about our new addition I wont ever be less proud of my older babies! This was Kade's 2nd year and Jenna's 3rd year of basketball, and look how much they have grown since season 1 :)

They each had a great season for different reasons, and both grew so much! It is such a rewarding thing as a mom to watch your kids get better at something you love! 

Luckily they are still silly little monkeys, and are not to big to play at the park together yet! 

Telling Thing 1 and 2

We decided that the 1st people who should know should be the kids. We weighed the pros and cons to telling them now or later, and decided that telling them now was best for our family for some of the following reasons. 

• We know that "people" say telling kids before the end of the 1st trimester is not safe, but we know people who have lost babies all the way up to birth. We would rather tell them now, and be honest with them about how I am feeling, what is going on, and tell them like all life this baby is in God's hands to decide if it comes to earth or stays with him.
• Jenna and I are really close, and she knows when something is wrong with me. We felt like it was best to keep ahead of her questions or worry. 
• We didn't want me to start showing or have someone else tell them, and leave them feeling left out. 
• This is such an exciting time, and we want them to get to be as much apart of it as possible. 
• We really try to make Kade feel as much apart of our family as possible, but with us only having him every other weekend that doesn't always work. We didn't want him to find out after Jenna, or because someone else told him. We feel like he may struggle the most with a new baby, and wanted him to know he is just as much the baby's family as anyone!

Seeing it is Christmas Season we decided to play that into how we told them. We have a yearly tradition to get the kids an ornament and new pj's on our "Christmas eve" with Kade. 

We sat them down, and told them they have one last ornament to hang. 

I asked, "Jenna what year is it"? "2013", she said.  
Then I asked, "Kade what year will next Christmas be"? "2014", he said. 

Then Michael handed them this

They read it... 

And then their eyes got big, and they danced!

Safe to say they were pretty excited! Jenna wants a girl to play dolls with and Kade wants a brother to wrestle. Jenna kept asking questions about the babies name, and Kade was more interested in what the baby was making me feel like! It was such great thing to get to see their faces get excited for our future baby!
I am glad they get to be apart of this!