Baby #4

I know I am a little late in posting this, but YES, we are expecting baby#4! I am actually 17 weeks along and am due at the end of April. My midwife gave me a due date of May 1st, but I calculated April 28th which was confirmed by ultrasound. My midwife isn't changing the due date she gave me, but I figured that if this pregnancy is any thing like the last three I don't think I will be making it to either one.

Isaac took these pictures for me since Rian wasn't home. As you can see, I already have a nice little 'baby bump'. Because of my history of preterm labor, my midwife will be monitoring me closely again for this pregnancy. I started my weekly shots of progesterone this week which are supposed to help prevent preterm labor. I will also be having ultrasounds to measure my cervix about every three weeks. Hopefully I will be able to make it full term for a second time.

Trunk or Treat!

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, but Moses Lake had the trick or treating today (Saturday) for the whole city. It made it nice that the kids didn't have to miss out on that. Our ward also had a trunk-or-treat in the parking lot of the church. Isaac and Ian were ready to take off right away to go and collect their candy. Isabelle, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure about going up to different people. (Especially when they were dressed up a little funny.)

However, it didn't take her long to get over her fears. I think it helped once she realized that she got candy out of the deal. After the trunk-or-treat, we went home and Isabelle helped me hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters while Rian took Isaac and Ian around the neighborhood. Isabelle actually had more fun handing out the candy than she did receiving it. In fact, she gave away all of her own candy when I ran out. We still had to turn off our lights at about 7:00 because we had so many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood!

Happy Halloween! - from Iron Man, War Machine and Spider Girl. (We had a super hero theme this year.)

1st Day of Kindergarten

Yes, Ian is a big kindergartner now! He was so excited about starting school this year. Rian took the morning off (like he does every year) so he could walk the kids to their classes on the first day. It's both exciting and sad to have two boys in school now. Ian was excited about going to school until we actually got to his classroom. Then he started getting a little scared and shy. I'm really glad that they have the parents come with the kindergartners on the first day to make it easier on them (and me.) Ian looks so big hanging up his backpack. Rian didn't get to stay for the parent orientation with me because he had to go to work. As you can see Ian was not very happy about that and started getting a little teary-eyed. At the beginning of the class/orientation, Ian got to sit with me and color while I filled out papers. Then he and the other kids went with assistant educator to tour the school and play on the playground while the teacher talked to all of us parents. I thought Ian might actually cry when I first got there with him. However, when it came time for me to leave and say goodbye after the hour of parent orientation, Ian was completely happy and I was the one who was about ready to cry. when I picked Ian up at the end of kindergarten he told me, "School is fun, Mom!" I'm so glad he had a good first day of school!

1st Day of School

Today Isaac started his first day of school as a 3rd grader. (The step in front of the door makes him look a lot shorter.) Here he is outside his new classroom. I still can't believe he is already in 3rd grade. I was fine with him starting 2nd grade, but 3rd grade means he is that much closer to starting middle school in a few years and I am definitely not ready for that.

Beauty Queen or Football Player?

I was in the bathroom getting ready this evening and Isabelle came in and grabbed something off of my counter and ran away. In the 20-30 seconds it took me to realize what she had taken and catch up with her, THIS is what she managed to do with my mascara:

Of course, this was right before Rian got home and his Dad came over so they got to see her beautiful self make-over. At least I remembered to get the camera and take her picture instead of getting upset. (At first she wouldn't look at the camera because she was mad at me for taking MY mascara away from her.)

Izzie's birthday celebrations

We did a few little things throughout the day to celebrate Izzie's birthday yesterday.

In the afternoon we had her friend, Abby, over for lunch. Izzie says her name, "Babby," which is pretty cute. "Babby" is the first friend that Izzie has learned their name and even recognizes where she lives. The girls enjoyed their mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, carrots, and cupcakes of course.

For dinner, I made my traditional birthday pancakes for the kids. (I usually do this for breakfast on the kids' birthdays, but we had a crazy schedule in the morning so we had 'birthday pancakes' for dinner instead.) Everyone got a #2 pancake in honor of our little birthday girl.

For dessert: cupcakes, of course! Rian made it home just in time for us to sing happy birthday and .......

....enjoy the cupcakes. YUMMY! We kept it simple for Isabelle's birthday, but I think we had fun. Happy birthday (again) Isabelle!

Look who turned 2!

Today, my sweet little Isabelle became a big 2 year old. I took her outside for some big-girl birthday pictures and she cooperated for a few of them.

I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Happy Birthday Isabelle!

My Birthday

A Night Away

Last fall, the parents from the soccer team Rian coaches went in a coach's gift which I also got to benefit from. They got us a room at the Davenport hotel in Spokane. For anyone who has never heard of the Davenport Hotel, it is a pretty fancy hotel that was originally built in the early 1900's and has been completely restored. It is definitely the fanciest hotel that Rian and I have ever stayed in. This is a picture of me standing in the lobby downstairs. Our camera doesn't do the hotel justice at all. This is a picture of one of the many ballrooms. I love the ceiling on this one. We had fun going on a walking tour and seeing all of the beautiful ballrooms and old pictures. (One or two of the rooms were closed off for weddings, but we still snuck a little peek inside.) This was such a nice little getaway for Rian and I. Thank you to Rian's soccer team and to Rian's parents for watching the kids for us.