Caitlyn's Pre-K Graduation

Caitlyn graduated from pre-k at Kids for Jesus May 15th 2014.  She is so excited to end this chapter and start Kindergarten later this summer!

 They had a super cute program. They sang 4 songs & there was prayer time.

 

Then they received their certificate and a little gift (Children's Bible). 

 

This is Caitlyn with her teacher Miss Mandy.  She was awesome this year...we will miss her dearly!

Aunt Beth was awesome and made her a dairy free cake!  I've learned that she doesn't need the cake just dairy free frosting!!! 

 

 

Since pre-k ended Caitlyn's moved up to the school age class.  They have a fun summer planned with guests coming to visit and field trips.  Lots of water days, ice cream/popsicle days and dress up days!  She's so excited that she doesn't have nap time anymore.  I think that is the biggest perk of all!  I'll update all her fun at the end of summer before school starts!  My little girl is growing up so fast!  

 

Kindergarten Round Up

My big girl!  I can’t believe she’s going to start Kindergarten this year. 

 

She turned 5 September 2013 and she is so ready.  Last summer we contemplated having her tested into Kindergarten because she fell into the old age range before Nebraska changed their age cut off.  We went to the parent meeting but ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth it.  Testing in was an IQ test and they were looking for the gifted children that would skip a grade anyway.  The year before they had tested over 30 children and not one had passed to get in early.  I fully believe she was ready academically but socially and emotionally I think she’s really benefited from waiting another year.  Everyone we discussed this with at the time stated the same sentiment. 

 

 

Now here we are.  A couple of weeks ago she went to Kindergarten round up.  She was so excited.  She had a little bit of nerves in the car that lasted about 60 seconds and she was off.  We walked in and they weren’t quite ready for sign in’s yet.  Caitlyn was trying to push me out the door! 

 

 

She was so excited when I picked her up.  They gave them all a book and she couldn’t get over that she got to take this book home and keep it.  She didn’t have to bring it back.  Over the moon excited! 

 

 

She’s now asking me constantly when she gets to go to Kindergarten.  She loves her friends at pre-k but she’s so over nap/quiet time.  After her pre-k graduation this week she’ll get to move up with the school age kids…I hope this helps a little bit.  They take more field trips over the summer as well with the older kids. 

I just want to cherish this time with her.  I’m really working on being in the moment with her (and Cole) and trying to be more of a yes mom.  They are only young once and I want them to have great memories of their childhood and their time with Jared and I! 

It's A Baby....

Girl!!!

We had our 20 week u/s this week.  We took Caitlyn with us.  I had my concerns about this as she was adamant it had to be a girl.  If it was a boy she was moving next door with Trinity.  I asked her the night before if she wanted to come and see the baby on the u/s and she said yes.  I told her there was a very good chance it could be a boy and would that be ok with her.  Nope…she wasn’t having it!  But I knew she’d enjoy the experience and didn’t want her miss out.  A very good friend of mine said if she did freak out and cry that it would be a good story later and we’d all laugh about it. 

 

 

 

This baby girl kept us wondering for 40 minutes!  I thought we might have to wait and pay for a separate u/s to find out the gender.  She had her legs crossed at the knees and then again at the ankles and then up by her forehead!  Baby looks healthy and everything is measuring right where it should be.  When the tech finally got the gender shot she froze the screen.  I could tell right away.  She told Caitlyn to come over that she needed her help.  On the keyboard they have a “it’s a girl” key and “it’s a boy” key.  She let Caitlyn press the “It’s a girl” button!  Now Caitlyn thinks she got to pick that we are having a girl! 

 

Other pregnancy news:

•    This pregnancy has been much harder on me than either of my other ones.  The morning (all day) sickness was much worse than with Cole (it was non-existent with Caitlyn) and lasted longer.  I’m still beyond tired at 20 weeks.  Part of that may be the insomnia at night.  The insomnia is due to the pain in my hips and under my belly for the most part.  Whenever I’m at home I just want to be in bed.  It calls to me.  I started seeing a chiropractor for the first time in my life last week.  Hopefully it will help.  My OB suggested getting a maternity belt.  Blech.   

•  I’m happy to be half way done. 

•  I’m not having any consistent cravings but feel like I’m eating All. The. Time.  I do crave more fruit / fruit flavored things.  Strawberries, grapes, orange sherbet, lemon drops, starburst jelly beans, popsicles and so on...!

•  Caitlyn is requesting we name baby girl Unicorn. 

•   I’m feeling the baby move more and more.  That would be the 2^nd good thing about pregnancy.  Feeling the baby move.  First thing is listening to the baby’s heartbeat.  Best sound ever!    

Color Me Rad 2014

April 25th I signed up to do a color run 5K with my sister and some girlfriends.  Being pregnant I didn't / couldn't run it so I decided to bring Caitlyn along.  We had so much fun!  She got a little tired towards the end.  I asked her if she wanted a piggy back ride for part of the way and she said "no thank you mommy...I don't want to pop your belly."  I don't think I will ever forgot that!  It made me seriously laugh out loud at her!  Love her so much!  Here are some pictures from the day! 

Before the run

 After the run!

 Sister baby bumps! 

 Before group shot!

 After group shot minus Caitlyn

 

Caitlyn wasn't interested in the last group picture.  But over all it was a super fun day!  Beth, Caitlyn and I all went to brunch at Cracker Barrel afterwards.  So yummy! 

That will be my last 5K until after this baby though.  My hips and under the belly hurt so bad afterwards.  I had my first ever visit with a chiropractor this past week and plan on continuing.   The pain with this baby is much more intense than I remember with either of my other pregnancies. 

2012 Catch Up

Some more catch up.  Here is a picture a month from my last post in 2012 through December 2012.  I'll have another one for 2013 soon.   

June

Camping with Grandma and Papa Darling at Ponca State Park!

 

July

Summertime Fun!

 

August



A mommy daddy trip to Atlanta for the Big 10 Pub Crawl!

 

September

 



2 Pictures from the kids birthday! 


October

 Halloween!

November

Helping Daddy with the finishing touches on the remodel!

December

Christmas 2012!


 

Infertility Awareness Week

Since this week is Infertility Awareness Week I thought I might share our story.  Most of you know bits and pieces of this story but if it helps even one person to not feel alone during their journey then it’s worth putting it out there. 

Jared and I were married in June 2005.  We basically started trying right away to get pregnant.  A year went by and nothing.  I asked questions at my annual OB appointment and he did some blood tests and prescribed Clomid (an oral infertility medication).   After my blood tests came back I was diagnosed with PCOS and prescribed Metformin (also used for Diabetes patients).  This medication did a number on my stomach.  But I got used to it after a while. 

After 5 months of Clomid and numerous other tests, acupuncture and no pregnancy my OB referred me to an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist).    We tried  Clomid with an IUI our first round with the RE and got pregnant!   We got to see the heartbeat at 5 weeks with the RE and were released back to my OB.  At 9  weeks we found the baby’s heart had stopped beating.  I had miscarried.  I had no symptoms of a miscarriage.  It’s what they called a missed-miscarriage.  I was at the appointment by myself and had to drive myself home.  I was a wreck.  I had a D&C the next day. 

We waited 1 month before we tried again.  This time we did injectable infertility meds with IUI.  We did this twice with no success.  In August 2007 I had to have a surgical procedure done to remove polyps.  We started IUI with injectable medications again in October.  Neither October or November worked.  Our RE stated that she’d do one more IUI then we needed to think about IVF.  Jared refused to talk about it.  His opinion was that you didn’t talk about the next “game” until the current game was over.  I on the other had wanted to know what we were going to do next.  I had little faith that this last IUI would work.  I didn’t want to try IVF, if we were going to spend that kind of money I wanted to move towards adoption.  But Jared’s heart wasn’t open to that at the time.  I let it go. 

We did the last IUI in December and on December 30th I got a positive pregnancy test.  I was excited but cautious.  In January (on a Friday night) I started bleeding.  I freaked out.  My RE’s office said that some bleeding could be normal and they scheduled me for an appointment on Monday.  Jared was helping my sister move to Des Moines that weekend so I was alone…again.   At Monday’s appointment we couldn’t see the heartbeat yet (too soon) but my RE could see blood clots in there and what was happening as the baby and my uterus was growing it was pushing the blood clots out.  I was so thankful that it didn’t look like another miscarriage.  I ended up having a very non-eventful pregnancy with Caitlyn and delivered her in September 2008.

With Cole we tried naturally for a year again and when nothing came of that visited the RE again.  It took 3 IUI’s with injectable medications to get pregnant the third time.   I had some morning/all day sickness with Cole’s pregnancy throughout the first trimester and the rest of the pregnancy was uneventful. 

This fourth pregnancy was a complete surprise.  Jared and I were on completely different pages.  He really wanted to try for a 3^rd and I felt like we were complete with 2.  I knew I didn’t want to do any type of treatment again so I told him that we could try naturally for a year and if nothing happened we’d stop trying.  A year and a half after that conversation I was trying to convince him we were done trying.  He wanted one more month.  We both prayed.  He prayed for a 3^rd child.  I prayed that God would give Jared peace with our decision to stop trying.  Three weeks later we had a positive pregnancy test.  Jared was so excited.  I was in complete shock.   I was more sick with this pregnancy and it lasted further into the 2^nd trimester.  I’m feeling much better now most days. 

If anyone reading this is going through infertility, please know that you are not alone.  It may feel that way because it seems to be a taboo topic but there are so many going through the same things.  I may have gotten through my hurdles but the pain and frustration is still there at times. 

God's plans were different than mine but they are better than we could ever imagine! 

It's Been Awhile...

Last week I was reading through my old blog posts and I realized I missed this space.  It’s a great place for me to document the happenings going on with us.  It’s also like my baby / child book for the kids!  So here I am with an update of the last almost 2 years…

 Caitlyn turned 5 last September.  She is a great big sister!  She loves Cole and is great with him.  Most times when he’s in a mood or tantrum throwing, she’s the one that gets through to him and calms him down.  She’s in her third year of preschool / pre-k and is so ready for Kindergarten this August.  She is way more ready than Jared or I are for this big transition.  She’ll ask me periodically if it’s time for Kindergarten yet.  Mostly I think it’s because she hates nap time at daycare.  Thankfully after pre-k graduation in May they will transition her in with the school age kids and nap time will be a thing of the past!  She hasn’t napped since I brought Cole home from the hospital (she had just turned 3).  This girl is a cuddle bug and I love it!  And I think because she requests cuddle time Cole usually follows and loves it too.  His time is just much shorter at the moment.  She is finally dressing herself in the mornings and definitely has a style of her own!  She’s great at matching colors but hasn’t learned to match patterns as well.  I love her spirit, kindness and understanding.  She's turning into such a sweet loving girl! 

 

 

 Cole turned 2 last September.  He’s in the toddler room at daycare and has been doing great.  The transition from Beth’s to daycare was a little rough last summer but he’s doing great now!  We’re starting to get into potty training mode.  He’ll need to be fully potty trained to move to the preschool room and will be able to move once he turns 3.  So we have this summer to get in gear!   He is my strong willed child.  I’m told this will be good in his adult life but right now he tries me on a daily basis.   He loves his big sister and is constantly following her around and wanting to do what she does.  He loves all things trains…especially Thomas the train.  We got him a train table for Christmas…it was the best money spent.  He has his cuddle moments but they are usually short.  He also has little patience for tv so far….unless Thomas is on.  For some reason he can sit and watch that all afternoon.  I don’t get it. 

 

Baby number three will arrive in September.  Yes, all 3 of my babies are going to be September babies.  It’s insane.  This one was a little bit of a surprise but we are excited and getting ready.  We’ll find out the gender in 2 weeks, which I’m super excited about!  Caitlyn is super excited and hoping for a sister because she already has a brother and doesn’t need another one.  Cole has just started coming around to the fact that mommy has a baby in her belly.  He was insistent that there wasn’t up until about a month ago.  It’s going to be a huge transition for him but I know he’ll come around and be a great big brother too! 

Zeus is still battling his allergies.  He’s also going to be having a fatty tumor removed in the next couple of weeks.  He’s starting to show his age a little bit.  He turns 13 this month.  Still as loud and obnoxious as ever though! 

 

 

We finished the kitchen remodel.  I’ll post before/during/after photo’s at some point.   

We are still active at church.  We’ve joined a young marrieds group that meets once a month and really enjoy that!  Plus it really helps us grow in our relationship as well. 

 We took a couple of trips.  Last summer we went to Ponca State Park with Grandma Kendy and Papa Rich.  In September we went to Branson with Grandma Barb and Papa Fred.  Then in February of this year Jared and I went to St Lucia for Tony and Darci’s wedding!  It was amazing…even though I was sick as a dog with morning (all day) sickness. 

This has gotten really long!  Looking forward to keeping this updated!