Baby Blankets

 I told you a few posts ago about the baby blankets my mom has made for each of my babes, and today I had them all together for the first time.  They make me so happy, and they tell the story of my journey into motherhood.

{Logan's baby blanket & bubba}

 When I was pregnant the first time, I was convinced it was a girl, but was not going to find out what I was having.  Because of my plan to be surprised, I picked out greens for the baby blanket, and bought giraffes to decorate the nursery.

{Jack's baby blanket & bubba}

At 20 weeks I had my big ultrasound where I informed the tech that I was not going to find out what I was having unless it was twins.  We all laughed.

The joke was on us-- it was twins.  So we ended up finding out that day that we were having not one but two little boys.  So I ventured back to the fabric store with my mom and picked out coordinating blue fabric for boy #2.

{Wyatt's baby blanket, taggie & bubba}

Three years later when it was time to make another baby blanket, for yet another little boy, I wanted to have some fun with it.  So for Wyatt I chose brown chenille for the edge & some fun fabrics for the quilted part.  I also chose white minky for the back, which made it super soft & cozy.

{Carly's blanket & two bunny bubbas}

At Carly's shower, my mom and sister surprised me with yet another baby blanket.  This one, made in corals & mint greens, is backed in an extra fluffy coral minky without dots, and brought me to tears.  I love it so much and can't wait to wrap our little girl in it three weeks from now.

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The River- one last time!

A blue crawdad!

Me & my sister

We found a dead salmon in the river...

Which the boys couldn't just leave alone!  It had to be held, photographed and "petted"... Boys!!!

I just can't leave any pictures from summer out. I know this post looks like so many others I've put up from this summer, but seriously, we spent so much time at the river, and every time felt like magic. So here's yet another trip.  Good weather, great company & awesome memories.

Branstetter Reunion // Summer 2015

Every summer my mom's cousin Amy comes to visit from her home in Hawaii.  It's a perfect excuse to get that side of the family together.  Among us, there are 8 boys and only two girls.  So it's a bit of a little-boy-palooza!

This time we met up on the Columbia River and the boys had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand.  The twins still talk about it.

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Christmas Tree Hunting + January's Coming

Early in the season, my parents asked if I wanted to take the boys "Christmas Tree Hunting" since they've never been (in their memory at least) before.  So we loaded them up & off we went.  

They enjoyed it so much, and my dad even had them help cut it down.  I was especially proud when they picked it up & carried it all the way back to the car by themselves!!!

Once we got it home, we decorated it with my mom.  It was so fun to look back on all the ornaments from my childhood & the twins' baby days.  This is the first holiday I've spent at home in four years and I was soaking it all in!  

{Flashback ornaments-- my favorite!}

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Now as we prepare to wrap up the 2015 holiday season, I am becoming all too aware that in four short weeks, our baby girl will be here.  It's leaving me feeling equal parts excited and panicky.  

I am nervous about parenting four kids without Josh here. 

I am nervous about undergoing my third c-section.  

I am nervous about getting it all done.

I am excited to have a daughter.

I am excited to see her face & get to know her.

I am excited to see our family grow & watch the boys with her.

The thing that honestly is bringing me the most panic today? This blog! It's so silly, but I have 30 (THIRTY!!!) drafts sitting in my blog post queue, and with more sure to come after Carly's born, I have an intense desire to post as many as I can before her birth.  So I am going to go with that and try to post at least one each day until she arrives. I may even post more than that, just so I can get caught up (I still have some from summer! Yikes!).

In the meantime, I am grateful for the amazing baby shower we had, and the opportunity to sort through all the baby stuff in our storage unit today with Josh so that I am as ready for #4's arrival as possible.  She'll be here before I know it!

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Daddy's Home & Christmas is Near

 Josh got home last weekend after bad weather had him stuck in the village for a little over 12 hours.  Thankfully he got out and managed to find room on all the other flights he needed!  I was overjoyed to see his face & bring him home late Saturday night.  Sunday was a family day-- we just hung out, Josh made pizza (with help from our littles) and we watched the Seahawks game. (And by "we" I mean Josh and the boys, because I went upstairs and took a nap. It was lovely.)

Monday we went to get a Christmas tree and on the way, we stopped at our favorite swimming spot to check out the rising waters.  It was crazy to see how all our favorite "jumping" rocks were under water.  During the severe flooding the waters rose all the way into the parking lot, as you can see in the pictures below. 

Tuesday we went to see my grandparents at the coast and enjoyed a lovely few hours visiting and catching up with them before heading back home.  My grandpa seems so great-- up & about with no dizziness and not as tired as he's been in the past.  (Yay!)  My grandma also seems good-- happy to see the grandkids and relieved the flooding they had in town is gone! (Double yay!)

Yesterday the boys decorated rice krispie treats with their cousins & grandma in the morning, and then went for their dentist appointments in the afternoon.  After that I was able to sneak away to dinner & a movie with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday.  It was so nice to be out with other grown ups, knowing the boys were perfectly content (ecstatic may actually be a better word) to be spending the evening with their beloved daddy.  

Today I went to the chiropractor (we're still working at keeping my low back pain under control) and the grocery store to pick up ingredients for cinnamon rolls which we will make this afternoon.  

I am about a month from meeting my little girl (which seems unreal) and the third trimester exhaustion has hit with full force.  I find it very difficult to keep my eyes open, but when I lay down to go to sleep I find that I can't get comfortable or  I have to go to the bathroom or my Restless Leg Syndrome (which is made worse by pregnancy) makes it impossible to fall asleep.  Nonetheless, I am trying to get as much rest as possible because I know it will only get worse once she's here. 

I feel smaller this pregnancy than with the other two at this point.  That's a nice feeling.  Although it's still really hard to move around at eight and a half months pregnant!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday & I'll be back soon to report on ours!

(Now for pictures-- here's the river...)

 

(See the water line from the bad flooding?)

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And here are pregnancy pics for fun:

34 Weeks with Carly

34 Weeks with Logan & Jack

34 Weeks with Wyatt

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And Christmas Tree Farm pictures: