well, it's a ............

PENIS! Yes folks, baby boy #3. Apparently when Chad finds something he does well, he sticks with it. A little disappointed, yes but totally grateful that he looks healthy. I had some really cute girl names picked out too. I'd like to be a little unique with the name this time, but for boys I seem to keep coming back to very traditional names. We will see and so will you in May 'cause we're not tellin'! Gotta keep something a surprise.

The boys really wanted a sister, but quickly came around to the idea of a brother. I told Jack he could play tractors and trucks with his brother and Chad told him they could wrestle. Jack said, "Not when he's a little baby!" Now only if Alex could grasp that concept. I've said he's like George of Of Mice and Men who loves just a little too hard.

Totally spaced on whatever else I was going to write so I'll try to take more pictures and post some of them soon.

houston, we have movement

I'm sitting here right now after a large glass of apple juice and a granola bar (OK, two granola bars) and the baby is moving! Definitely not gas this time! I have a guess that the placenta is anterior-or in the front of the uterus-like it was with Alex since I haven't felt any movement really so far. The placenta absorbs all the kicks until the baby is large enough to kick right through it!



I have been waiting weeks for this and now all I want to do is drink the whole gallon of AJ. Not a good idea since I would like to sleep in my bed tonight, not on the toilet. So cool! I know I've done this twice before, but each time is special.



This time feels slightly different that the previous two, so there might be hope for a girl? We will see. I just really hope the baby is healthy and that's the main thing. The Internet can be an evil place when you are pregnant. You innocently enough search for baby info and you end up coming across a woman who was pregnant with two sets of identical twins at the same time (4 babies) and went into pre-term labor and lost all four babies. Great. I feel so much better. Ahhhh!! Makes my petty yearning for a girl seem pretty stupid. Healthy baby, healthy baby, healthy baby.



It's all good. No worries. I'm freaked out enough thinking about natural child birth and if Chad is going to be strong enough to get me through this. He's never yelled at me before in the almost 12 years we've been together and I have a very, very strong feeling he's going to have to get in my face and bring me back from the brink. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he'll find his calling as a doula!



I highly doubt it!



This kid loves to dance! He/she will fit right in. I should really figure out how to load video on here because you would all pee your pants if you could see Alex and his moves! He's definitely a white boy and is totally our kid.

big boy bed

We just switched Alex over into his big boy bed a couple of weeks ago and, knock-on-wood, it's been going great.

Our plan is to move Alex into Jack's room after the baby comes, but for now to get used to it, we put a mattress on the floor in Alex's room so we can still leave the crib up. We'll probably split the bunk beds for now because Alex climbs the ladder to the top bunk but can't get back down. I'm sure we'll have plenty of falls from the top bunk over time, but I really don't want the first one to be with a two-year-old splitting his head open while I'm home alone with three children ('cause you just know that's when it would happen).

Here's a couple of shots of my guy enjoying his first nap in his new bed.

I know, the outlet right next to his head isn't optimal, but he doesn't bother it, so it's ok.

This last one is blurry, I know, but it's too cute I had to post it.

it's a.........baby!

I had my first "real" appointment with my midwife on Wednesday and there's a baby in there! Only one, she thinks (but I'm kinda holding on to a tiny bit of hope for twins. Sick, I know.)

Baby sounds good (heartbeat) and I really like the midwife. We (I) decided to go with the midwives this time for a "natural" water birth. We'll see how far we get with that, but since this might be our last baby, I really want to do this. I have the option of changing my mind at any time and can get an epidural so not to worry. Chad can even deliver the baby if everything goes as planned. How cool is that?

We're scheduled for an ultrasound on Alex's Birthday, Nov. 24th. I'm pretty sure we're going to find out the sex again, so stay tuned! Since we switched hospitals, I won't be getting a 4D ultrasound this time :( As long as the baby is healthy, that's all that we need.

I'll try to get on here more and post some great Halloween picts. We have Jack the Spiderman this year and Alex the cow. We're going down town trick-or-treating with Jack's cousins so it should be fun!

oh, the things you find on the internet

Last night Chad and the boys were watching videos on youtube of tractor pulls and cranes getting stuck and other 'boy' videos like they've been doing for weeks now. All is well--I hear some "whoas" and "what was that?"coming from the boys. Once, I heard something coming from the computer and I asked Chad, "Did he just say 'Oh, crap?" And Chad's like, "Sure. That's what it was."

Cut to a few minutes later and I distinctly heard "HOLY F***ING S**T" coming from the computer over and over and over again. I told Chad that's enough, turn it off and two seconds later, our lovely son Jack says "He said holy f***ing s**t". AWESOME! Thanks Chad.


***It's actually kinda funny when you hear a three year old utter profanity (but you didn't hear me say that!)

post turtle

Ran across this little ditty and thought I'd share--don't know how many of my family will think this is funny/true...


While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President. The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.'

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.
The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.'

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. 'You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.'


(sorry, Grampa)

fair time!

It's that time of year again--Vernon County Fair time!!
It's gone from fun when I was a kid, not so fun when it's just me and the Mr., to fun again now that we have kids. There is always a display of farm equipment, and that's where we spent most of our time. See for yourself...

Here, Jack poses with his groovy shades he snagged at the fish hatchery booth.

Alex riding the Bou Matic cow. Super fun!

The first night we went out, Jack wanted to go on the big slide that you sit on a burlap sack and go down. Ok, fine. We got the tickets and Chad took him down once and he had a blast. Then the meltdown began. He threw a huge fit because we wouldn't let him go again so we went home.

Yesterday went a lot better because he knew if he was a shit, we were goin' home! It's pretty awesome when you follow through on something and it works. We ended up staying for a long time and got to see a lot of the tractor pull that night. The boys didn't get to bed until 11pm. All in all we had a very good time. We'll see if I have it in me to take them myself this weekend.