I can't believe we are almost ready to have our little girl. Although I am a bit uncomfortable and I am very anxious to meet our sweet girl, I get sad when I think about my prego belly being gone. Although she pokes and stabs and stretches out way too much, I love the feeling of her inside of me.
It seems like just yesterday that Andy and I were driving down Highway 5 to his 10 year class reunion in LA. It was about 10:30p.m. and we pulled off in Bakersfield to get gas and a little snack. It was then that I told Andy that I really felt like eating some soup. His immediate response was "You have got to be pregnant." (I had this same craving when I was pregnant with Andrew). Well, we hadn't taken a test or anything, so we weren't for sure. I got my tortilla soup and enjoyed it thoroughly. Andy was laughing at me the entire time and gagging from the smell in the car. Later that weekend we bought a pregnancy test and our prediction was correct...we were pregnant with #3. We told the boys when we picked them up from their weekend at Oma and Pake's house in Merced. Andrew still asks me today how the baby got in my tummy when they were at Oma and Pake's (Jesus put the baby there is always my response...at least for now) Andrew and Luke had the fun job of telling everyone that mommy had a baby in her tummy. They told just about everyone they saw.
About the time we returned home from our weekend trip I felt gross. I spent the next 6 weeks feeling yucky, taking lots of naps, not being too productive, and wondering when all this was going to end. By Thanksgiving I was feeling better....Praise the Lord. In January we found out that we were having a little girl. Andrew was convinced it was a brother and it took a couple weeks for the "sister thing" to set in. Andrew and Luke are going to be amazing big brothers. They love their sister so much already. They have helped get her cowgirl room ready and have looked through her little clothes numerous times and showed my belly all her shoes and new toys. They each picked her out a special gift to bring to the hospital. Andrew bought her a pink stuffed animal pig (he loves stuffed animals). He named her Sunny. He tucked her into sister's crib everyday for a while and then he put her in a special gift bag so that it was ready for the hospital. Luke bought her a little pink snuggly blanket, just like his "baby" (his little blue blanket). He keeps wondering where the holes are in her blanket, since his blanket is pretty much one big hole. They both love hugging my belly and talking to her...I can't wait for them to get to the hospital to visit.
So, we are already at the end of this journey....after week #12 it hasn't been so bad. It was definately my hardest pregnancy, but I can't complain. I've been able to do just about everything I enjoy doing during most of my time being pregnant. I am excited to meet our little girl and see if she really does have Daddy's redish color hair :). It could me any day or it could be a couple weeks. I just wanted to post my thoughts and recap on this pregnancy before she arrives. Hopefully our next post will be of our little girl or of her cousin. My sister is ready to pop as well...I think she'll have little Kate before I have our little girl, but one never knows.
We can't wait to meet you girls and watch your little relationship begin to grow.
All tired out after watching big brother.
These two munchkins have been keeping themselves busy. Today after soccer they played in the backyard for some time and so beautifully colored their faces and their toys with their sidewalk chalk. It was great entertainment and tired everyone out. We had our first day of all three kiddos taking naps at the same time. They all slept from about 1:30-4:30...yeah..and daddy and mommy even got to rest a little too.
Luke loves to help, hold her, kiss her, and smother her. He gets so excited about her. He always says "one little nose, two little ears." He is also Allie's spokesman. He asks her questions constantly and always tells me "she said yes mommy." He teaches her to grab her toys and encourages her by saying "Go Allie, Go Allie." He is adorable with her and loves her so much.
Daddy sleeping with his little girl. She loves to be held when she is sleeping, but dad and mom are both enjoying our cuddle time with her. She is so precious.
Andrew holds her for the first time. He likes to look more than he does touch, but he has been a great big brother. He constantly says how cute she is and he gets so excited when she tries to open her eyes. Our favorite line from Andrew so far was when we got home from the hospital. I took Allie's hat off and he looked at me with a questioning look and said, "mom is this is boy?." I said "no honey this is Allie." He replied back, "but she has hair like a boy." I guess he thought she was going to come out with pigtails or something. He is doing great with his sister and loves her so much.
Allie opening her eyes for us at dinner.
Mommy reading and feeding before everyone takes a nap for the afternoon.
Donuts for breakfast....
Andrew loves when we sing Happy Birthday to him.
The kitchen table all decorated for the birthday boy when he woke up. I always do this for the boys on their birthdays and this year I was so worried that I would be in the hospital having the baby so Andy had strict instructions and the bag of decorations has been sitting in the closet all ready in case I wasn't here. I'm still in one piece though, so I was able to do the decorating after all.
Wearing his new helmet from grandpa and grandma and jumping on his pogo stick from uncle Paul. He loves both of these things. He jumps all over on the pogo stick inside and outside of the house.
The big 4 year olds. Andrew really wanted to dress like a soccer player for his party, so he had on his soccer jersey and shorts.
A special Lighting McQueen cake made by grandma. Luke likes to join in the celebration as well.
Our new cousin and niece Kate Marie arrived this afternoon. She was 7pounds10 ounces and was 20 inches long. She has light brownish hair and she her skin looks beautiful. She is very precious. Big brother Ben and Big sister Heidi are doing well and enjoying their time with grandma. We were all at the hospital tonight and Ben was so excited to show his little sister off. All four kids were so cute with her. Andrew pretty much keeps a distance and just looks, he's not quite sure. Luke constantly was shrugging his shoulders and getting so excited to be looking at her, but he didn't want to hold her. He loved her little toes and fingers. Ben is curious about everything that Kate is doing and his mommy I'm sure will have lots of explaining to do. Heidi just hangs out and she played with all her stuff that her mommy put in a Big Sister bag, she was just worried that her mommy's foot under the blanket was another baby. Jenell and Kate will hopefully get to come home tomorrow. The hospital was busy, so she was sharing a room and was pretty cramped, especially when our whole gang tries to fit in the room with her....her poor neighbor. I would have taken more pictures but we were just there a short time and there wasn't much room to move about. I also broke my computer screen so I am trying to post from Andy's computer which is not as easy, but hopefully you get a taste of what little Kate looks like. Welcome to the world PRECIOUS KATE MARIE.
Mommy with her new little girl. Jenell did great . I didn't get all the details, but the epidural worked, they had to give her some patossin (sorry for spelling) but it was fine, and she didn't push for too long. Baby Kate finally arrived healthy..so that is all that mattered.
Heidi loves Uncle Andy...she always runs to him and tries to say his name...doesn't he look so cute with a little girl.
Aunty gets to squeeze little Kate ...I forget how little they are!!!
The BIG BOYS enjoying the hospital cafeteria.YUMMY!!!
Sitting on her baby cousin, just waiting for her to come out, so they can meet.
Daddy and Mommy finally bit the bullet and got an amazing new running stroller. We have gone through two other ones and got rid of them because they had horrible stearing and they gave us way more of a workout than we ever wanted. We use this stroller all the time, so we decided to splurge and get a BOB. It even came in red, perfect!!! I took the boys for our first ride this morning to the Nugget market to get bagels. It was amazing, I actually enjoyed my walk and my arms were not dying in pain. Eventually the baby will sit next to Luke in her carseat and Andrew will have to ride his two-wheeler. Now we just need this baby to come so we can hit the road running again. Only 10 days until the due date!!! 
