26 Weeks with Baby #4

How far along: 26 Weeks

Due Date:  September 6, 2013

Total Weight Gained:  None.

How big is baby?  Our sweet pea weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches from head to heel.
 
How baby is growing:  Baby #4 is able to hear voices as you chat with each other. He/She is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of the lungs.  {from babycenter.com}

Maternity Clothes: I'm still wearing my regular clothes, and my regular pants are still loose.

Stretch Marks:  None!  I've never had one before, so I'm hoping that trend continues!

Sleep: Sleep...sucks.  I can't seem to get comfortable, and I'm having Braxton Hick's contractions all night.  I always wake up around 4-6 AM with an urgent need to pee, and I always wake up sore. 

Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: Feeling those crazy movements.  It now feels like there's a hefty human being inside of me!

Movement:  The baby is very strong and active!  He/She always seems to wake up around 6 AM.  I refer to him/her as a spaz, because the movements are usually so frantic. 

Food Cravings:  None.
 
Food Aversions: All but a few things.

Morning Sickness: I still have hyperemesis, and I'm taking daily medication for it.  Apparently, I even get it in my sleep.  Grant couldn't sleep last night, which is extremely rare, and kept waking me up because I was gagging in my sleep.  Every time he woke me up, I felt so queasy. 


Gender: It's our 4th surprise!!!  We have never found out the gender of our babies.  I keep calling the baby a "she" but I think that's because my last 2 babies were girls and I'm used to saying that! 

Names: The girl name is chosen, but we still have a huge list of boy names and nothing sounds perfect!

Symptoms:  Hyperemesis  (morning (ALL DAY) sickness), Braxton Hicks contractions (irritable uterus), abdominal pain, anemia, exhaustion,  peeing more frequently, and irritability. 

Exercise:  Treadmill workouts Tuesday-Friday this week.

What I miss: Feeling normal.  I have been sick since January 3rd!

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our sweet baby!  It's going by so quickly, and he/she will be here before we know it!

26 Week Picture: This week's picture is brought to you by 2 hours of sleep. I'm so tired this morning, so this is the best I can do!

Memorial Day Weekend

I love Memorial Day weekend!  It's the "official" start to summer, and usually packed with birthday parties and picnics and fun with friends!

The weather didn't really cooperate on Memorial Day, but we had a great weekend!

On Saturday, Lexie and I did some shopping, then our friends came over, and we had tacos and root beer floats.  Dylan ended up spending the night at their house and Grant and I had a relaxing evening after the girls fell asleep. 

On Sunday, we celebrated my great-niece Aubrey's 7th Birthday with a Fiesta!  I absolutely adore Aubrey.  She is the sweetest little girl.  She spends an hour at our house every day after school, and I'm going to be watching her all summer.  Lexie is thrilled!










We had a great time with my crazy family!  Lexie had a sleepover at Aubrey's house, and after our kids were in bed, Grant and I started watching Season 4 of Arrested Development.

The weather on Memorial Day was cool and rainy, so our pool party/picnic was moved indoors.  Grant had a lot of work to catch up on, so he went into the office for a few hours.  As soon as he got home, we drove to our friends' house for the picnic. 

Dylan ran off with the group of boys, so he was barely seen all day.  Lexie took a 3 hour nap thanks to her exhausting birthday party/sleepover the day before.  Lily had a great time running around with her toddler buddies, and, well, eating.  The men disappeared into another room, and us moms sat around the living room and talked.












We had a great time with our friends, but soon, it was time to leave!  It was, after all, a school night!

It was a great Memorial Day weekend!

Trendy Tot Tuesday-Patriotic Style

I am linking up with Megan, Kelly, and Lindsay for Trendy Tot Tuesday!

I love dressing my kids for holidays.  I also love items that they can wear again!  Dylan, Lexie, and Lily all wore their outfits from last summer for Memorial Day yesterday.  I'm really glad we got some more wear out of them!

{Liliana}




Ruffle Romper:  Girls Crochet Headbands
Headband and flower clip:  Girls Crochet Headbands
Shoes:  Stepping Stones

{Alexandria}



Dress (with matching headband, not shown): Savannah

{Dylan}



Shirt: Sonoma (Kohl's)
Shorts: Carter's

25 Weeks with Baby #4

I'm 25 weeks pregnant today!  That just seems so hard to believe.  Only 15 weeks until my due date!  Pregnancy flies by when you have 3 other kids to chase around!

How far along: 25 Weeks

Due Date:  September 6, 2013

Total Weight Gained:  I had an appointment on Wednesday, and I lost 2 lbs since my appointment in April. Luckily, my OB was understanding!

How big is baby?  Our sweet pea is around 1 1/2 lbs and 13 1/2 inches long!  Even better, he/she is viable if born early.  While we don't want that to happen, I can breathe a sigh of relief now!

How baby is growing:  Baby #4 is beginning to exchange the long, lean look for some baby fat. The wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he/she will start to look more and more like a newborn. He/She is also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture. {from babycenter.com}

Maternity Clothes: I'm still wearing my regular clothes. My regular pants are still loose.

Stretch Marks:  None!  I've never had one before, so I'm hoping that trend continues!

Sleep: Sleep is a bit more difficult now.  I have to sleep on my side, and use a king-size pillow between my knees to stay comfortable.  Plus, I have to wake for an early morning pee break!

Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: Hearing the heartbeat at my 24 week appointment.  It's always a wonderful, reassuring sound! Also?  Getting through my glucose test!!!

Movement:  The baby is very strong and active!

Food Cravings:  None.
 
Food Aversions: All but a few things.

Morning Sickness: I still have hyperemesis, and I'm taking daily medication for it.  It's *kind of* funny in a pathetic sort of way when you reach 25 weeks and you're still sick every day!  But...it is what it is, and I'm growing an awesome human being, so that's why you won't hear me complaining too much!

Gender: It's a surprise! We didn't find out with Dylan, Lexie, and Lily either!

Names: The girl name is chosen, but we still have a huge list of boy names and nothing sounds perfect!

Symptoms:  Hyperemesis  (morning (ALL DAY) sickness), Braxton Hicks contractions (irritable uterus), abdominal pain, anemia, exhaustion,  peeing more frequently, constipation, and irritability. 

Exercise:  Treadmill workouts Monday-Friday this week.

What I miss: Feeling normal.  I have been sick since January 3rd!

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our sweet baby!

25 Week Picture: I'm not quite sure where my bump went this week!  The baby is very low and laying sideways, and apparently well hidden.  

Zoo Day

On May 10th, the kids had the day off from school.  My friend, Amber, and I decided to take our kids to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium for the day.

The day didn't look too promising.  Early that morning, we almost canceled due to the weather forecast, but we decided to go anyway.  By 8 AM, as I was loading my kids and my great-niece, Aubrey, into the car, the rain was pouring down.  It was still raining as we picked up Amber, Audrey, and Jack, and it rained the entire way into Pittsburgh. 

It turned out to be a GREAT day to visit the zoo.  When we first got there, it was raining, but nobody else was there!



The rain quickly slowed to a drizzle, and the animals were all very active. 



The baby sea lion was the hit of the day.  It was literally playing with the kids.  It would swim  in front of them, stop, and touch its nose to theirs.  When we walked away, it curled up into a ball and stared longingly at us, so of course we returned!  The kids were mesmerized.  Especially Lily!!!





We decided to go inside the reptile house for a bit to see if the rain would stop.  The kids ran through the bat cave, checked out the reptiles and animals, and went down the indoor treehouse slide a few times.





By the time we walked outside, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out behind the clouds.  We decided it was the perfect time for a snack break, followed by a bit of time on both playgrounds. 





After the kids had finished playing, we moved on.  By that point, it was sunny and warm, and we started to run into crowds of people.  There was still plenty to see, though, including the aquarium and primate house!

 











The kids ended up having a great time!





I'm so glad we decided to ignore the weather, and go to the zoo that day.  We had so much fun together!