The End in Sight...

39 weeks today

This pregnancy has been so incredibly different from my previous two.  from start to (near) finish, it has flipped everything I thought I understood about my body on its ear and completely surprised me.

With my first two I was ravenous.  All day. Every day.  I wanted to eat everything in sight, and I did.
This time, I couldn't stand to even think about food for basically the entire first trimester.  I could literally take a bite of something I thought I wanted to eat and instantly feel nauseated and gross.  I never actually upchucked, thank God, but I sure did feel close a few times.  I lost nearly 12 pounds in the first trimester!  like, what?!  that's definitely different from both times before.

The color run Atlanta 2014

Something else that I actively made different this time is that I was much more exercise-conscious.  Shoot, I did TWO 5K's during this pregnancy, and ran in the neighborhood in between, until my pitiful pelvis just wasn't having it anymore, and even then I started walking at least 3 times a week, often more than that.

I slowly but surely, once I was able to stomach, oh basically anything, put on the 12 pounds I had lost.  this is to be expected.  you can't go from not being able to eat to suddenly having a normal appetite without a little gain.

my beautiful and talented friend did my maternity pictures

Up to now, at 39 weeks, I have gained a total of 18 pounds from my starting weight.  Can we say miracle?!  Just as a reference point I gained 85 pounds with my first, and did only slightly better with my second gaining a whopping 65 pounds!

Given, I didn't start out at my ideal weight with this pregnancy.  I started off technically overweight according to BMI standards.  and they say that the more heavy you are before pregnancy the less you should gain.  According to nurses at my doctor's office I should have gained only 15 pounds being overweight to start.  oh well.  I feel fantastic at only 18 pounds.  Nobody can bring me down from this high.

Nobody of course except my own anxiety perhaps.

I have been surprisingly calm this pregnancy.  I haven't been especially miserable, and with my managed growth I have been able to stay comfortable and not have any complications.  My blood pressure has stayed nice and low (with my oldest I had pre-eclampsia, so that is always a looming fear) which is such a blessing.

I did discover this pregnancy that dairy does not agree with me and since then my heartburn has drastically decreased and my acid reflux at night has all but disappeared which makes life much more bearable, like, you have NO idea.

thankfully I can get Soy ice cream...

So, what's the problem you ask? I'll tell you.  Since I haven't been especially uncomfortable or swollen, and since all in all this pregnancy has been rather pleasant, I haven't reached that point where you are so miserable you're saying "somebody get this thing outta me!!" I'm content.  Which makes my scheduled induction in 2 days all the more anxiety-inducing.  I'm think to myself, oh crap...  Am I ready?

Yes, I know, I'm a veteran at this. I have 2 babies already, and for the most part, despite making poorer decisions with the 2 of them (diet and exercise wise) I had smooth deliveries.  I have taken this pregnancy head-on with a much more positive mantra and a much more healthy perspective.

So why am I so nervous?

I am anxious to meet my newest princess, Alice Aurora.  And I'm so excited to be able to go back to sleeping on my stomach, like woah. And I'm excited to be more maneuverable.  But I am so stinking nervous at the same time.

He's so precious

I feel like there is still so much to do.  There really aren't too many things that are especially pressing.  Most of it is all in my head as my precious husband is constantly reminding me.  But somethings are.  For instance, I am being induced in TWO DAYS and I still haven't packed my bag...  yep  procrastinate much?  Don't get me wrong, I have a list, and a bunch of things set aside to be put in said bag, but I'm not done.  I think (here I go "psychologizing" myself) a big part of that is that if I get that bag packed and ready I am admitting to myself that this is happening.  No going back.

Well, for now I think I will procrastinate some more and  go and sit in the tub and soak for a while.

Preggy Poo Update and Other Whatnots

Hello....

Is anyone still out there??

Wowzers, it has been a spell (as my grandmother would say) since I have been 'round here.  I hardly recognize the place.  sheesh.

So much has been going on, and I don't even know where to BEGIN explaining my prolonged absence.  All I hope is that y'all haven't broken up with me and my blog for leaving you hanging for so long.

(I like to believe in my own little world that y'all have been waiting around, checking your blog loving feeds and pouting pitifully wondering where I had wandered off to, however, I'm pretty sure most of you are more confused because you don't remember me anymore.  it's fine.... I understand)

Anywho.  Last I blogged I was telling y'all about being all pregnant and whatnot.  Well, things are going pretty great!  I'm feeling much better and that's a good thing and a bad thing.

GOOD: because I'm not feeling sick anymore, and I can actually eat!
BAD: because I can eat again... and it's hard to stop...

I had this issue with both of my other pregnancies, all will-power (when it comes to food) goes straight out the window, and that my friends is a dangerous dangerous game...

We found out we are having a girl, as you can see in my Gender Reveal post here.
And yes, we have a first name picked out, but not a middle name yet, so we are playing our cards close to the chest until we figure that out... sorry for the suspense.

Here's a little collage of where I am in pictures:

I always regret not having many pictures of me during my first two pregnancies, and so I am trying to resist the urge to hide from the camera and take one every week.  So if you follow me on instagram, you'll see a new pic of this ever-growing bump each Sunday morning.

I'm trying really hard to keep exercising and control my food intake as well.  Yep.  That's right.  I'm going to condition this baby to love exercise!

In fact we took this little baby for a run on her SECOND 5K in utero this weekend (no pics from that unfortunately).

The first 5K she tagged along for was the Color Run in Atlanta in April:

Baby's first 5K!

Anywho, That's about all for now.

I've got A LOT of catching up to do on here, for instance we painted and redecorated Bunny's room, and painted the living room and office, and we are working on some pretty cool big projects, not to mention all the ideas I've got for crafting and just wow, so many things.  

Stay tuned for all that madness....

Baby 3 Gender Reveal!

For no reason that we can articulate now, my husband and I were just plain SURE that this baby was going to be a boy.  We had no evidence, no proof, just a belief and a hope....

I did this same thing when I was pregnant with Grace, I was just sure, from the day I found out I was pregnant that this was going to be my girl.  So much so, that I was already adding girly things to my registry well before we ever found out for sure.  

Luckily, that time I was right, I mean, I had a 50/50 chance...

Anywho, the day we went to the doctor to find out baby gender we were ready to just finally be told we were having a boy so that I could start getting things together and making quilts like I did with my other two and so on and so forth.

I made these yummy cake balls with a secret colored center to reveal to the kids what the baby was going to be

literally I could eat white chocolate on just about anything...

So, this is how we told the kids....  

When the ultrasound technician spilled the beans that baby #3 was in fact a girl we were so confused.  We made her check another time and still another after that....

But alas, Baby Girl it is.  We weren't disappointed, we had already decided that we would be overjoyed no matter what we were having, but to say that we were shocked was an understatement.

We had to take a couple of days actually to recalibrate.  We had friends and family practically knocking down our door trying to find out what they told us at the doctor, but we couldn't utter it, strictly because we were still in disbelief of it.

After we got it together and got used to the idea and then excited about the idea we decided we would reveal it to our kids, and thusly everyone else through facebook.

We are Very pleased to be bringing another beautiful little girl in the world to love and pamper!

Have you been shocked by your baby's gender before too like we were?  I would LOVE to hear about it in the comments!

Ahem Ahem, Announcement Time

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook already know this, and have for about a week, but me and the Hubby are expecting Baby #3!!

We are just plain crazy excited!

Some of you might be thinking, "seriously guys?  A third baby?  Didn't we just get past the craziness of buying a new home?"  and then answers to those questions are yes, yes and yes.

We can't seem to go too long without throwing a wrench at life and making more chaos!  We thrive on chaos frankly...

Baby Kline # 3 is due September 21st, So I am just about 13 weeks along now.  I have been using the Baby Bump App on my phone and it is so cute and educational and just cool in General, you should definitely check it out, they have forums and even baby name polls posted by real women who are toting a bump just like me!  I spent an hour and a half the other night voting on other people's baby names, it was awesome, and completely addictive...

It has been such a relief to let the cat out of the bag.  This pregnancy has been quite different from the other two so far, as you may remember from my post about our Baby Dinosaur, When I got pregnant with Grace I could literally have eaten the whole house, my appetite was through the roof, it was so awful, but I couldn't control myself!  This time around I haven't been sick per se, but I haven't felt good and hungry either.  It got to a point where I could barely eat a bite of food, no matter what it was, and I would feel hugely bloated and nauseated, it was awful!  I have actually lost about 10 pounds since the beginning of this pregnancy, which is basically unheard of for me.  But I couldn't eat!  I was either starving or nauseated, no middle ground and that was for weeks!

I also ended up giving up coffee too.  It wasn't exactly a choice, I just got to where it disgusted me, the flavor the smell, all of it, I just couldn't stomach it anymore.  I have even taken the coffee maker off of the counter and put it away in a cabinet. Weird, since I normally can't get my day started without my yummy iced coffee, but right now the idea just gags me.

I have been chugging water like crazy and really can't bring myself to drink anything else, which is great, because I am staying super hydrated.  But also crazy tired!  between cold turkey on the coffee and just general 1st trimester sleepiness I have been utterly pooped all the time!  I can't wait for that energy blast that's just around the corner!

Another thing that is different this time around is that I was more active before this pregnancy than I ever was in the previous two, So I have been getting out and running and walking through the neighborhood and eating much healthier, more veggies and fruits.  I think this baby is going to be a health nut, no complaints there!

I am so excited to share this news with all of you!  I look forward to continuing to share my life with y'all!

If you haven't already please follow me on bloglovin', I lost all my followers when I rebranded my blog, and so I have a wee little following of a whopping two people through there right now!  Yikes!  Down from about 120-something!  Share me around and if you comment with your blog link I will gladly share the love right back!

Open Call for Testers for My Newest Creation

What Time is it?!

ADVENTURE TIME!

If you creep my instagram then you may know that I started and also finished (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!) a new crochet project this past week, despite having been swamped with schoolwork from my least favorite class I have taken these last almost two years, but that's for another post altogether, ugh...

Watching The Big Bang Theory really got me in the Geeky Mood to make Finn

Anywho, I don't know if you remember from my Halloween costume post last year, but we are big dorky fans of Adventure Time here at our house, and we thusly dressed the kids as Finn and Jake.

"Adventure in Ooo"  Adventure Time Halloween Costumes for Kids

Well I decided after considering it for quite some time that I was going to dive in and make my own Finn the Human.  Adventure Size.

Finn is taller thn Grace! and she's a tall 3 year-old!

This was SO. MUCH. FUN! I had such a blast designing this and writing the pattern and even though I will probably change just a couple things I am so proud of the job I did on this!  (Yes, I am indeed tooting my own horn)

The kids had so much fun playing with Finn.
Tristan started drassing him up in costumes and
Grace was wrestling him.

We took Finn to visit "Bandad" and they chilled out in the recliner together

Now the question I have for you is, who would be interested in this pattern for an oversized super awesome Finn? I'm considering having a couple people test the pattern and then maybe putting it on Ravelry, what do y'all think?

Who would like to be a tester?  

We Ditched the Dish

Well, We did it.

We ditched the dish.

The days of recording our favorite shows and complaining about having to watch live tv are through.

With my husband's new job came new financial challenges.  You may remember from this post that he is currently living in two places.  An apartment that we were SO blessed to have been hooked up with, and here at home with us, 1.5 hours away from work.  This new chapter in our lives has presented some new challenges, and reminded us of some old ones, not the least of which is the pay cut that we took for this job.
When I tell people how significant the pay cut was to take this new job people think that we are nuts, but let me explain:  The schools here in the county we have been living in are rated between 2 and 3.... and that's out of TEN mind you!  That's horrible!  Don't get me wrong, this place had its uses and charms, and we are all too grateful for the opportunities that we have had here, but we have always known that this place was just a pitstop for us.  The schools in our new county are rated up in the 8 and 9 range!  Good gracious, what a glorious change!  I know that leaving the good money and taking less all for the sake of providing our children a better education and a better community and really, a better quality of life was the righteous choice for us to make for our family, and I am proud of and stand behind that decision, no matter how hard this is. 

What we've gained...

In a way, ditching the dish is something I have been secretly wanting to do for a while.  Having "cable" hinders us from getting up and getting going.  It keeps us from interacting as much with each other.  It keeps us lazy, and it keeps us plugged into the TV when we should be plugged into each other and having quality time together.  

Cable is a trap.  Don't get me wrong, I am  having withdrawals (to a certain extent).  I hate that I missed Sister Wives on Sunday, and the finale of Top Shot All-Stars, and Futurama, and Adventure Time (lol, that's an odd collection, huh), But something I am definitely NOT going to miss is the $73 per month we were paying for it.  Having cable or satellite is a luxury and not a necessity, so we kicked the dish to the curb, and we aren't looking back!  

We aren't totally lost without it though, we still have tons of shows on DVD and enough movies to make your eyes bug out, and oh dear the video games!  We are still able to entertain ourselves, only none of those other sources of TV fun make you feel trapped the way satellite/cable seems to.  And frankly, it is so much easier to get lost in TV because there are so many choices, you can hardly step away.  But with all these other things, you can only be sucked in for so long, and then you get kind of bored.  

Another thing that rocks about ditching the dish is that I have gotten back into reading more.  I didn't realize how much I missed it.  So that's a bonus!  Right now I am speeding through the 3rd installment of the Fallen series, "Passion".  It's not too bad, and it's a pretty quick read.  who knows what is next, I'll probably read Catching Fire again so that I can refresh my memory before the movie comes out (<---so stoked about this!).  I'll probably throw the Twilight and Harry Potter books in the queue as well, I can never go too long without reading them through again.

What comes next...

I just found out this morning that another house we looked at a while back, which ended up going under contract, is back on the market.  Could this one be our house?? Who knows.  But Lord knows I'm on my knees daily praying for the opportunity for us all to live together again!  I want so badly for us all to be together, and to be homeowners for the first time!  

I know God will bless us in due time, and unfortunately for my nerves, I just need to keep praying and stay positive and most of all trust that when the right thing comes along God will set it aside for us! 

I hope y'all are having a PERFECTLY AWESOME long weekend and I look forward to hearing from you

(nudge nudge comments? nudge nudge) lol

House Hunting Rocks & Sucks

Hello All, and let me start by saying, UGH.

We have been on the hunt for houses in the new place where my husband got a job in June.  It has been kind of a culture shock because the housing market there is much different, and you get a lot less house for your money.  I get it, really I do, the schools are better there (a huge reason we chose to move there) and it's a nice place on the whole, but it just really sucks for people like us.  My husband is the sole provider while I'm in school and so our income is limited, ipso facto, so are our choices.

The reason house hunting rocks is because it is so fun to go into these places and just see the differences in space and architecture.  It's fun to see the way that other people decorate.  It's fun to wander around the empty ones and imagining where you would put all of your stuff.

The Reason it sucks is that we have kind of run out of choices.  We were on the hook for this one.  Then it didn't work out because the owner was giving his current tenant first opportunity to buy and she got approved.  Back to the drawing board.  There are a ton of houses for sale in the area, but the average price is in the $300-500k arena.....  do you know how much Cops get paid?  You don't?  ok, let's just say not enough to buy those, not by a long shot.

So, here we are.  Dying for the opportunity to get moved into, might I add, our first home, and yet, we are coming up empty handed over and over.  I just wish I knew what God had in mind for us, because I really felt in my heart of hearts that it was that one.  I'm just a little lost.

Hopefully in a few months we will be able to look back at this time and understand what the purpose of this back-and-forth and all this waiting was, but as for now, I'm stumped.  We are just so desperate for the change, and for the opportunity to be home owners we can taste it.

More waiting....

Checking Up

Rainy day here in GA 

Well, I know apart from Wise words posts, I haven't really posted in a little while.  It's been a little stressful and busy around here.  We are house hunting and the like and that can be very irritating at times.  We found our perfect place, but there are other complications around it that are out of our control.  We are ready to go on it but we can't yet because of other people.  I hate feeling like I don't have any control!

Me and my Bunny-girl hanging out

Our Baby Dinosaur

When we got pregnant with our daughter, Grace (aka Bunny), we knew almost instantaneously that I was pregnant.  In fact that is one of my husband’s favorite stories to tell.  But I’ll save that one for another post.  

Anywho, I was a little bummed about our first appointment because it was so early on that I knew she wasn’t gonna look like a baby yet.  She was gonna have a huge t-rex head and little nubs and a tail….  Babies are weird…  This is where Bunny got her first of many nicknames:  Baby Dinosaur. 

8 weeks.  not much to see here.

Marital Hilarity

So much has been going on lately, I have really been losing track of just about everything:

my schoolwork that needs to be done

my exercise regime

my left flip flop....  

(Where the heck has that thing gone?! I'm seriously considering just mis-matching shoes to see if anyone notices...)

Anyway, I have been neglecting the blog a little bit and I want to fix'er up before it gets out of hand like last time.

*******

My husband is my best friend.  In just every possible way.

We have our romantic moments

And our silly moments

and our just downright hilarious "bro-moments"

I have joked with him for years that he got a great deal with me.  I grew up with 7 brothers so I know my way around the male brain and sense of humor all too well, so he got a great gig marrying me, because I can be a sweet little wifey, and then I can be his bro.

He doesn't particularly like me referring to myself as a "bro"... none-too-sexy I'll admit, but I can't think of a better way to describe it.

Anywho, here is a little marital-hilarity plucked from my own life that I thought I would share with you all.

Wise Words Wednesday #3

I took this picture myself out in the front yard, you may remember the post

A Little Girl and her Giant Dog

It was one of my favorite photography posts because it was unplanned and turned out amazing anyway.

Sometimes all it takes is just stepping outside with your camera and no plan at all to capture something truly beautiful.

Ok, stepping out of my deep hipster hole.

If you like it please feel free to let me know in the comments below and you are more than welcome to share it, just hover over for the "Pin it" button.

Thanks Y'all

25 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Run

By NO stretch of the imagination am I a professional runner.  

These are just some things I have learned in my time spent running that have helped me,

And I thought I would share with you!

*******

1.  Have the right gear. 

 as with anything, you need the proper tools to get a job done right.  in this case you will need some running shoes.  the proper footwear is

Wise Words Wednesday #2

I took this picture myself.  

These are my son, Tristan's hands holding a dirt clod.

you may recognize this picture from the visit to the park we took earlier this year where the boys were skipping these clods on the lake, 

If not you can check out all the pics here.

I wanted to emphasize the hands and how they were covered in dust, and so I chose this verse from Ecclesiastes.

If you like it then let me know in the comments section below and 

Feel free to share this, just hover over for pin it button

Thanks Y'all!

Back-and-Forth and Back-Talk

You may remember from this post that my husband got a new job.

Just as an update, he really loves it.  There is a bit of a learning curve, just because they are WAY more together than his last job and they do a lot of things differently, but it has been a very enjoyable challenge so far.  Plus the schedule there is amazing!  

3 day weekend EVERY OTHER WEEKEND!  

Whowhat!?

"Ya can't beat that with a stick" as we say down south.

Anyway, with the job being an hour and a half away he has been going there and staying while he is working, and then he drives home and stays here on his off days.

Then he turns around and goes back

This is all just temporary until we find our home there.

But Lord knows we are all having some growing pains.  

Progression of an Irish Wolfhound

While putting off my math homework today

I went through some pictures on the computer of my sweet baby Maggie

Well....  She was a baby here:

I fell in love with her from this pic, look at the little outline of a heart on her chest!

Not so much anymore.  It's hard to believe it was only a year ago that she was this tiny.  

Now she is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool monster of a dog...

with the gentle heart of an angel.

(Sounds cheesy and hokey, I know

But it's so true)

I decided to throw together a quick little photo montage of the progression of our Sweet Magma to show you just how much a year has changed her....

Enjoy!

Memorial Day and What it Should Mean to You

Memorial Day when I was growing up was basically just a cookout and hangout occasion.

I had no idea what it really meant for a good while.  and I can say now that even when I did find out what it was, I STILL didn't REALLY understand what Memorial Day means.

What changed my view of Memorial day was marrying into the military.

My husband was in the Navy (a Corpsman) but was stationed with and worked solely with the Marines.  

He went on 3 combat deployments during his 5 and a half years and let me just say, that business will bring the strongest person to their knees.  

the stress, the worry, the danger.

Its horrible.  

But by the time you make it to the end of the seven months (or 4 or 12 or 18 depending) it's magic all over again.  the separation was all worth it because it's over.

Going through the whole shebang really made me hurt for those who over the years haven't been able to come home.  or the ones who don't have someone to go and wait for anymore.

It genuinely hurts my heart,

I started crying in the car the other day driving through town because they had the crosses out along the road with the names of fallen soldiers, marines, and sailors and where they served.  

I was blessed enough to get my husband back, and so many have not been so lucky. 

So Memorial day isn't about getting together and drinking beer and grilling out.  It's about honoring those who have protected our right to do those things, and honoring those who've lost loved ones in the armed forces.

So this weekend when you are together with friends or family or you are having that beer and grilling those burgers and dogs, just take a moment to honor those service-members.

They earned the right to be called citizens and they deserve to be remembered fondly and respected for their sacrifice.

*******

The following are just a few of the pictures from my husband's homecomings that I wanted to share.

These pictures and these events commemorate that we made it through some of the most difficult experiences a marriage and a family can ever go through and we were stronger for it. 

I am thankful to God everyday that He guided Elliott safely home.

2007

2009

Shining Happy Changes!

I am so excited to announce that my husband just got a new job!

He starts at the first of June, and we couldn't be happier or more excited!

source

A Walk in the Park... or Rather a Run and a Picnic

This past Saturday we went to Hamburg State Park in Warthen, GA to just spend the day and have a picnic.
We had such a good time, as usual.
You may remember we made a similar trip in September, if not here's the post  and you can see the pictures and how much has changed in the last 6 or so months.

This was an awesome day:

This is for my dad, who insisted I find a better pic of him to put on the blog.

Spring Brings Change...

the Bradford Pear in bloom in my front yard

Spring is not my favorite season, it never has been.  I can't really explain why, it's just always been kinda "meh" in my book.

My husband was telling me the other day why he loves spring so much and I realized I need to start looking for the beauty in spring. 

Tough Mudder GA 2013

So, The day finally came last Saturday 

The Tough Mudder.

We had been preparing ourselves for it since November and it was finally here

"probably the toughest even on the planet"

I found that I wasn't as nervous as I expected when we arrived.  

I was actually like CRAZY pumped for it!

The week before the mudder we were running and I just had a break down, my form wasn't good, and I couldn't find a groove and I was feeling really fat and basically all the negativity was mounting and I was subconsciously trying to convince myself I couldn't do it.  

That  sucked...