6 weeks

...no, not since the last time I blogged (it's been far longer than that--whoops!)...but until baby3 makes her appearance!  Part of me has a suspicion that this one will come early.  But, of course, babies come when it's their time.  We shall see!  How am I doing?  Thanks for asking!  Honestly, I'm very ready to meet our little girl.  Pregnancy for some odd reason has dragged by this time.  The weeks seem to fly by, but day by day has been long.  I've been dealing with more uncomfortable symptoms this last trimester (nausea, heartburn, an awful cough, fatigue, etc.) that it almost feels like I should be back in the 1st trimester again.  I'm just ready to be able to get up off the couch and out of bed unassisted again.  I'm also ready to have more energy again.  I know the first few newborn months will be exhausting, but I feel like at least I will have more energy.  Please pray for us as we endure this last month and a half!

happy girl

September happenings

Well, here we go again...it's another end of the month and I've realized I've neglected updating anything on here.  It's not intentional, I promise!  September has been full of many activities (as usual).  Mostly, we've been enjoying welcoming in fall--minus all the cloudy, rainy days.  But this is always my favorite time of year.  The weather gets cooler, the leaves changing are beautiful and it's time to start baking again (specifically with apples!).  

So, here's what we did this month....

 ...visited the orchards.  Abbie loved the goats and tried feeding them grass, hay, and basically anything she could find.

 Miriam enjoyed taking pictures by the bus and visiting the corn maze in the background.  

 She also like climbing up the stacks of hay and pretending to be the Statue of Liberty.  I love how she was dressed in sweats the same color as the Statue of Liberty that day!

 Abbie feeding again...

 Family picture!

....stayed inside and listened to music!

Matt has been leading worship from the guitar on Sunday evenings for church and has spent a good amount of time polishing up his skills.  The girls always enjoy listening to him, too.  I'm still incredibly impressed how he basically picked up the guitar one day and started playing (with no music or anything).  He's far surpassed anything I can do with guitar!

....smiled!

...and got some new shirts!  

We found these shirts on Francesca Battistelli's website and decided we should get them.  But, so that I don't stretch out too much more....I think I'll have to wait to wear it again until Baby3 is born!

...last but not least, it's a girl!!!!  

Speaking of Baby3, we have now had 2 ultrasounds to confirm we are having another girl.  We're pretty thrilled!  Miriam was really hoping for a brother, but was so excited to hear that she is officially a girl.  She carries around the ultrasound pictures and shouts, "it's a girl!"  We certainly are prepared with girl clothes, toys, furniture and pretty much everything we need!

"but I still feel like I'm 3!"

I still can't believe it, but Monday was Miriam's 4th birthday.  When she woke up, I asked her what day it was...and she shouted, "my birthday!  But I still feel like I'm 3!"

Since we're going to celebrate with friends in a week, we decided to do a few things as a family per Miriam's request.  We went to a local park/zoo and looked at the animals and played on the park for awhile.  

Matt also had the great idea of surprising Miriam with a "slug bug" to ride around in on her birthday.  He called a family from church and they graciously let us borrow their Beetle convertible for the afternoon!  She has been pointing out Beetles and PT Cruisers for the past few months every time she sees them, so we knew she would be thrilled.  However, she was still a little unsure about the convertible part...it was "too windy."

We opened up a few presents at home...this one was her favorite.  

After going out for dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, we stopped for a dilly bar at Dairy Queen.  She got a ride on the horse while we waited for our ice cream.

We had a fabulous day celebrating our little girl's 4th birthday.  She's growing up so fast!

the latest in pictures

Once again, I have no idea where the past few weeks went.  How is it even possible that the end of August is here?  I wanted to give a quick update of pictures from our recent happenings...

We always spend a week in August at my parents' house to go to the county fair there.  It was fun to take both girls this year and go on a few rides (even with Abbie!).

Miriam got to ride a pony at the fair.  She was thrilled!

Both girls sat on a little Busytown car at the fair.  

Miriam insisted on this picture...poor Matt had to be the pig.

Matt has been taking Miriam out for walks at night after Abbie goes to bed.  It has been a sweet time for the two of them to enjoy some time together!

And here we are all smiles at home....

We've spent plenty of time outside enjoying the summer weather.  Both girls seem to gravitate toward any dirt we have in the yard and get plenty dirty in the process (obviously).  Abbie is also still in an "I like to put everything in my mouth" phase.

So that's the latest... and Baby3 is still growing along well--we find out what we're having at our next appointment in a few weeks!  We're definitely looking forward to that!  

beauty

My extreme absence in blogging has a reason:

We were a little preoccupied over the last part of July.  Matt and I, along with my aunt and uncle and college roommate and her husband, drove a total of 3,886 miles across 8 states to visit here:

Lake Tahoe.  It is absolutely one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Matt and I went there on our honeymoon and jumped at the chance to travel with my aunt and uncle this summer when they asked.  Because my college roommate is a teacher, I asked if she and her hubby would like to join us and was so glad that they could!  We had a great time seeing the beautiful scenery, enjoying the *perfect* weather, laying on the beach, going out for walks, and just spending time together.  We didn't take our kiddos along (which was definitely hard!), but really enjoyed having time for each other.  It was a lovely vacation and we can't wait to go back again someday.  

Yes, this place is a bit of heaven.

splish splashin'

The heat wave we've been dealing with as of late hasn't allowed us to do much outside except get wet.  So that's just what we've been doing!  The girls are enjoying grandpa and grandma's pool and water table.  I guess the heat is good for something! 

faces

a wagon ride full of color

...and smiles!

we have news!

(Alternately titled: "Why I haven't blogged much lately")

We are happy to announce that we are expecting another baby in January!  I am just over 10 weeks along right now and am due around January 25th.

So far, I've been feeling pretty good...mostly just tired.  I have also been dealing with lots of headaches (I remember having them a lot when I was pregnant with Abbie, too).  Otherwise, very thankful that I don't have morning sickness.

I will do my best to keep updating throughout my pregnancy along with the rest of the family, too!  

wordless wednesday