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:

 

 

 

 

Carly's Oh-So-Sweet Baby Shower

 As time continued passing since my miscarriages, and my pregnancy with Carly progressed, I went from feeling sad, confused and achy about those losses to feeling positive, optimistic and hopeful about the future.  I found many pins on Pinterest (a great place to be inspired) that matched my improved outlook:

This one might be my very favorite, considering Cinderella is, hands down, my favorite fairy tale.

 

These two spoke to me because I believe them.  

I believe that God would not put me through something without a purpose. 

I believe God has good plans for my life.

And I believe that the rainbow coming after the storm that was last year,

is totally going to have been worth the tears.

Sunday afternoon at my parents house, 

surrounded by all my friends & loved ones, 

we celebrated just that.

 A beautiful rainbow theme filled every corner of the shower.

From the fruit tray...

 to the clothes line...

 to the diaper cake...

 I wish I had taken more pictures-- there were so many people (whom I love so much!) at the shower.  And they spoiled me so very thoroughly. 

 Honestly, I felt like I was opening presents for hours!

Here is where I make a little confession-- I've had trouble believing that #4 will really be a little girl.  I guess it feels too good to be true.  So I have bought three (count 'em three) things for her. Two outfits and one blanket. That's it.

So opening outfit after outfit for sweet little Carly was very exciting.  Everything is so precious for baby girls-- little ribbons, bits of lace and sparkles everywhere!!!

One of the most fun gifts I got was a tiny Ergo (baby wearing backpack) for Carly to wear her dolls in when she gets bigger. It is an exact replica of the Ergo I have. It made me so excited about having a little girl.

My sister printed wish cards and reading through them today was so much fun.  Everyone at the shower filled out their hopes for sweet little Carly, and they have such big dreams for her.  It makes the future seem limitless.

This fur shrug from my aunt is one of my most treasured gifts-- it's fit for a princess and made me very excited for all the dress up (and not the Captain America variety) in my future! 

There was one gift that made me cry-- 

this beautiful hand made blanket from my mom and sister.  

My mom has made a baby blanket for each of my baby's.  My first pregnancy, I was not going to find out what I was having, so we chose sage greens for the baby blanket.  Then at my 20 week ultrasound, we found out it was twins and decided that was enough surprise for one pregnancy, and asked what sex they were.  When we discovered two boys were headed our way, we made a coordinating baby blue blanket to go with the green one.

Then when I was pregnant with Wyatt I went wild and chose super colorful polka dots & stripes, as well as frogs for the baby blanket.  And instead of flannel, which I had done on the twins' baby blankets, I did the entire back in minky.

This pregnancy, I just never had the strength to want to face Fabric Depot and all.the.choices of fabric.  So I put off going, figuring eventually I would have to.  Then my mom surprised me with this blanket that she and my sister pieced together, basing the colors off the one blanket I bought from IvieBaby the night I found out it was a girl.

Those tiny quilts, sewn with love by my very own mom, always remind me of the hospital, so seeing Carly's was a very real reminder that soon I'll have a baby to wrap in that blanket, just like I have before.

After two losses and the ensuing heart break, imagining a baby in that blanket at the end of January feels like a dream come true.

The shower truly was a labor of love, and no detail was left unattended.  I am so grateful for my mom and sister who know me so well and love me so much.  We're all three elated to welcome a little girl into our family of boys (my mom has only grandsons-- six of them!!!) and their excitement is starting to rub away some of my disbelief.

My sister teased me that at the hospital, when Carly's finally in my arms, I'm going to have a moment and shout, "It's a girl! It really is a girl!"  Ha! I think she's probably right!

Me & my baby girl at 33 Weeks

I am getting really anxious to meet this little one
and see her sweet face.
She's already a dream come true.

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