Home Sweet Home (part 3)

We left my Dad's after church on Sunday morning and headed up to my mom's. We love going there because we love hanging out on the lake all day. This summer was Lincoln's first time on the boat and he loved every second of it. Riley loves riding on the boat too, but she must have been tired because she fell asleep on Kolby's lap the first time she went out. I decided to give riding the boat a try, but we had to turn around pretty quickly because baby couldn't handle the waves...thankfully Kolby and Britton were there and were able to hold the kids while I sat on the dock and Ty was riding the jet-ski.

We hung outside all day and it was HOT, they also don't have air in the house so I was swollen and tired by the end of the day. Thankfully they are in the middle of building their new house on the lake and it will definitely have air conditioning! We had dinner, put the kids to bed and went to bed pretty early ourselves because we were leaving Monday morning at 8. Kasey, Corey, Micah, Kolby and Britton also came up on Sunday so we got to spend a lot of time with them and I got my baby fill for the weekend.

We were walking through Mom and Jeff's new house and Jori carried Lincoln for me!

Picture of the new house (the back of the house--facing the lake) in progress!

Kolby, Riley and Jori.
Lincoln's first boat ride, being held tight by Aunt Britton.

Poor Ty had gotten REALLY burned the previous day when he, Corey and my Dad went to a car show so he kept his shirt on a lot of the day :)! Poor guy goes from white to red and back to white :)! Riley definitely has his skin complexion (I can't tell yet with Lincoln). Thank goodness for sun screen!

Corey, Jori and Ty tubing! Looks like Ty may be trying to pull Jori off!

Riley was learning how to play Frisbee!

What a sweet picture of my two handsome men!!

After the kids (my two) got a bath! The babies are often naked when we're on the lake :)! They look so big compared to Micah!

34 Weeks (Updated)

Update: This afternoon (34 weeks, 6 days) I had another doctor's appt and ultrasound, we are now going every week. It's great getting to see our baby so often. She's definitely going to look like Ty...she has those eyes, you can really see them in the 4D scan. She was a very active peanut and her HR was in the 160s. We're having all these ultrasounds because they are watching how big she's getting and watching my fluid levels. After the ultrasound we met with the doctor. I had my Group B Strep test and he checked my cervix. We should know the results next week and he said my cervix is closed.

He is a little concerned about my fluid level because it is "increased" as he called it. There could be a number of reasons for this, but he's fairly confident it's just because the baby is big and bigger babies produce more urine, hence the increased fluid. Speaking of the baby's size she is measuring at about 7 lbs already (and I'm measuring 40 weeks). He said average size babies at 34 weeks is about 5 lbs (my little sister, McKenna, was born at 34 weeks and weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz). I am fully aware ultrasounds can be way off so I'm not too concerned about her size and neither is the doc. Both of the other kids were big, so I definitely wasn't expecting to have a little baby :)! Although, I am pretty sure if she keeps gaining like she is he'll want to induce because she'll be at least 10 lbs (if the ultrasound is accurate).

In a completely different direction, I am feeling decent but am tired of not sleeping. Riley and Lincoln have been waking up by 5am the past 5 days and I haven't been falling asleep until at least 1am because I have the worst pregnancy insomnia. We're also not getting out of the house as often as we usually do because 1. it's HOT down here and 2. it's getting so much more difficult for me to take both kids out. As much I love being pregnant (I really do, even if I complain about it sometimes) I don't like these last few weeks because I am gigantic (even my doctor said I was :))!
We have another appt. next week and another ultrasound...we'll probably have an ultrasound every week until I deliver her. Thank goodness for good health insurance!!

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Finally found my camera so I could post these. Here's my 34 week picture and no judging on what I look like right after I wake up :)! I'll update this post after my u/s on Wednesday!

Family pictures

Since all of my siblings were together this weekend my Dad wanted to get family pictures taken. We aren't home at the same time very often (in fact, the last time was Kolby's wedding--2 years ago). Kasey, Corey and Micah are in Arizona; Kolby and Britton are in Indiana; Dad, Jamie, McKenna and Reagan are in Michigan; and we are in West Virginia, so you can imagine coordinating everyone's schedule is difficult. One thing I really miss about living in Michigan are the beaches. I spent so many afternoons growing up laying on the beach, relaxing and getting a tan. I can't see that happening again for a long time :) but it was nice to at least step foot in the sand again!
Candid shots:

I didn't know we were getting family pictures taken when we went to Michigan until after I had already gotten them taken in a studio around here. We wanted one last family picture of the four of us before the babe gets here. Our last one was when Lincoln was 4 months old! They turned out decent considering Lincoln was sick and running a fever! These are two of my favorites:

Home Sweet Home (part 2)

After we spent some time at Ty's house we headed to my Dad's. Riley was so excited to see everyone but was especially excited to meet "Baby Micah" (she can't just call him Micah). To say she was excited would be an understatement! Unfortunately Ri had gotten a fever and wasn't feeling good the night before so I didn't let her hold him until the following day. She wasn't happy about that, but once she got to hold him she was thrilled.

This picture cracks me up! Poor Micah was getting a little too much lovin'. We're going to have to work on her being gentle especially once our little one gets here.

Hmm...I wonder why this poor kid is crying...last time Riley got a hold of him she squeezed him to death :)!

Uncle "KoKo" and Lincoln after going down the water slide.

The kids had their first bonfire experience and their first s'mores. YUM! We all loved them. All Riley wanted to do was roast the marshmallows and pass them off. Lincoln was very happy to be on the receiving end of her generosity. He didn't care to roast marshmallows, he only wanted to eat them! Riley did eat one, but enjoyed burning them more than anything.

Lincoln was thirsty, so McKenna and Reagan happily helped him get a drink.

Lincoln cuddling with Papa and eating a s'more, he had at least 3 of them.

It was so nice to be home, I know all of us being together again probably won't happen for a while so I was glad I was still able to travel and spend time with everyone. The time was way too short, but I was thankful for that time.

Home Sweet Home (part 1)

We were planning, for a long time, to make a trip home over Memorial Day. My entire family was going to be home and Ty hasn't been home since we moved in December. Ty ended up taking off Thursday and Friday so we could leave on Wednesday after work and have an extra day for an already busy and full weekend. We figured we got 1 full day with each of our families which is never enough, but when they all live within an hour of each other we definitely wanted to see and stay with them all. We started off the holiday weekend at Ty's house and the kids, as always, had fun running all over their farm. I was so thankful to have Ty's Gma and his Dad there because I literally could not chase them anymore, I was exhausted by noon. I cannot believe how much energy Ty's Gma has, she kept up with them when I definitely couldn't!! The kids pretty much played on the farm, rode on the golf cart, went to DQ and got ice cream, and Riley played with the puppies all day long. We had a lot of fun and hope to make it back again soon.

I think Lincoln ate more of the dog food than the dogs did!

Riley didn't put that poor puppy down!

Getting the water ready to feed the animals.

Ty's dad, Lincoln and Riley were feeding the goats.

Gpa and Lincoln. They were pals while we were there. Lincoln loved him because he fed him cookies 24/7 and Gpa was laughing while Lincoln was playing with him. It was sweet to see them interact.

This is what I did when I wasn't chasing a kid...sat in the sun and attempted to get a tan.

Riley and "Ella". Everything she names, whether it be a puppy or doll, is named Ella.

Group shot. Ty, the kids, Gma and Ty's mom!

Longest night of my life.

Last night was literally the longest night of my life, for a few reasons. First I tried to fall asleep but, like usual, was having a hard time. I got up a few times hoping I'd fall asleep soon, but at 1:30 I still hadn't. Then 1:30 rolled around and Lincoln woke up, but not only did he wake up but he decided to climb out of his crib into our bed. NOPE. Not happening. I'm not getting into the habit of him sleeping with us. Thankfully Ty is home and put him back in his bed, screaming. He probably got out of his crib 15 times in a short amount of time. Then I heard him getting out again but as long as he was in his room I didn't care. He could fall asleep on the floor for all I cared. However, I then heard Riley crying. He had gone into her room and woken her up. I was not happy, to say the least. So now I had two kids crying and it was 3am. Riley went right back to sleep and after almost 2 hours of Lincoln waking up he did too. However, I did not. I was tired, exhausted and not happy but still couldn't sleep. I came downstairs to sleep on the couch but ended up on the computer writing my mile-long "to do" list instead. (I suppose at least last night I wasn't dreaming that I was having Tiki Barber's baby like I kept dreaming the other night)

After trying to get Lincoln to sleep I just couldn't shut my brain off. I kept thinking of all the things I need to get done before the baby gets here and what I need to still buy but mostly I'm freaking out about what to do with the kids when I go into labor. I need to have a definite plan and I'm freaking out that no one will be able to watch them and I'll be in the hospital without my husband. It's hard to have a definite plan when I don't know when it's going to happen. I'm just praying I don't go into labor in the middle of the night like I always have and that one of my friends down here can watch the kids until my mom can get down here. However, my mom is not even sure she'll be able to come. I guess we'll see when that time comes. God will work it all out, but I can't help worrying about it! I did end up falling asleep but not until at least 5:30 am. That's the time I saw last on the clock...I'm tired this morning!

Anyways, I'll try to post a belly picture later today when I find the camera (Riley hid it somewhere).

Jump, Jump!

Definitely Lincoln's (and Riley's) favorite birthday gift that we got him is the trampoline!! Riley probably likes it even more than Lincoln does and she'll even jump on it in front of the TV when she's watching a movie. This girl never sits still. Lincoln decided that it would be fun that whenever the certain music came on to scream at the top of his lungs and Riley has followed suit. Wonderful. He also likes his new little basketball hoop!