Yikes...

So after I talked about my BIG OLE' BELLY I decided to look through some pictures of my previous pregnancies... yeah... I'm scared.  

34 Weeks With Jacob (Last Known Belly Shot)...

31 Weeks With Grace (I got a little lazy and missed another week until 39 Weeks, were I was larger)...

I wish I could do a side by side by side... to really show how close they all are, but this will have to do. I don't know the reason why this belly is getting so big so fast, but its a little scary to me!

Missing Turkey...

Have you seen it???

No seriously... this is a picture of our little turkey at 15 weeks. This morning all of a sudden I'm having a hard time "sucking it in" (Mom's you know what I mean!!). Doe said maybe I swallowed a turkey... hmmmmmm. I am a bit frightened since I swear I looked like this at 36 weeks with Jacob!

Giving THANKS...

Today after a busy morning of decorating our tree and giving baths we headed over to the Kohl's. Jacob got to help in decorating the tree (the bottom half, putting 6-8 ornaments per branch!) and doing and re-doing the advent calendar!  We had a nice dinner (Grace's outfit reflected how much she loved Bet's jello!) and then headed to Doe's.  Tete was already there.  We had declared a PAJAMA thanksgiving.  Grace changed but my boy wanted to stay "handsome" as he called it.  He just loves being dressed up.  We ate our dinner and relaxed... it was very small but I was thankful nonetheless for having both my Mom & Aunt there to share it with my family.  For dessert Gigi, Aunt Caffy and Cuncle Tim came over.  We had pie, brownies and cake and watched the video from Tim & Cathy's wedding.  At the end of the night when we discussed what was going to happen tomorrow... lots going on... Doe offered to have us spend the night.  I was going to but then I remembered I wouldn't have a car when Greg left.  So instead of me driving him home and then all the way back Doe offered to keep the kids for the night... so nice as this doesn't happen everyday!  

While we were at Doe's Jacob was on the potty and I told him I am so thankful for him... he said I'm thankful for you Mom.  I am so thankful to be a Mom, but more importantly their Mom.  I cannot imagine loving any two kids more.  I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who helps out and is a terrific, loving father.   I have a supportive loving family, a great group of friends, and a job that I couldn't love more!  BUT at the end of the day the thing that keeps me going is my family.... they do mean the world to me.   AND I'm so very, very thankful to have them in my life. I would have never imagined motherhood would be so wonderful... I cannot wait to do it a third time.  I know pregnancy isn't always the best for me, but I do think it is such a miracle and love going through it each time.  Each time is so different.  I cannot describe the different yet similar feelings that you have each time... I feel blessed to be able to do it three times! Thanks to all those whom we've spent our day with, we are thankful for each and every one of you.... and feel so thankful that you are in our lives.  

In Jacob's words... Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Mommy's Day Off = Sick Kid

Well this morning Grace woke up super early and I knew something was up as soon as I held her. She was so warm and had that fever feel (you mom's know what I mean).  I took her temperature 101.4 and she didn't eat ALL morning long.  As a matter of fact she wanted her "buh" (pacifier) so I gave it to her and she feel asleep on my shoulder.  She was in my lap or arms the entire day. Around 11 I talked with Tete and she said I should probably take her in... I didn't know what to do since she is still on antibiotics for her ear infection she had last Thursday.  I called the office but they were already at lunch by the time I got around to it.  (I had an excited boy talking his head off about the decorations we put up the night before).  When I got ahold of the office they said they were booked the entire afternoon but they would have a nurse call me back.  When the nurse called back she said it was "a bit alarming" since she is on zithromax (a stronger antibiotic than penicillin since she is allergic to penicillin).  At that point I wasn't sure if it was still her ears or perhaps an urinary/bladder infection. They said to bring her in to the night owl... thank god for the night owl!  I left her take her nap, then after nap she woke up and seemed to be a little better.  Less clingy and she ate a piece of pizza and a yogurt.  I took her temp again... 100.1 so I decided I better just take her in rather than worry about it all day on Thursday when I knew they'd be closed.  We went and it was quite an ordeal.  They decided to do a urine collection (those of you who have done this with a girl know it is oh so much fun!), then a CBC (blood work) and since when they checked her ears they had a hard time seeing in AGAIN they decided to give her an ear wash.  Sounds easy right... NO.  Dr. Mac checked the rest of her out and everything looked ok.  Then came the ear wash... it lasted forever and Grace SCREAMED the entire time.  The nurse did warn me that it is very traumatic and that is why they were going to do it first... lovely.  After that we had the blood draw, more fun.  During all this she did pee but most of it ended up in the diaper and not the bag.  They did get enough to test it and both the urine and blood came back clear.  Her ears were rechecked after the wash and they were fine so Dr. Mac dropped the "V" word... yup virus.  Oh well at least we know and the best part is she seems to be doing better already.  

The Name Game...

We have been playing the name game... BIG time!  Our problem is we keep throwing out the names that we had from the last two times around.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of them, but like I keep telling Greg lets think up some "fresh" ideas this time too.  So we can make sure we really like what we have or perhaps find something we like better.  We have done some narrowing down ALOT but would love new ideas.... so here's where you come in.  Post a comment to this message with a "fresh" name for us to consider.  :)  You may remain anonymous.  ;)

Baby Kohl needs your help! 

Caseville For The Weekend!

Doe, Greg, the kids & I had an awesome weekend in Caseville.  On Friday afternoon after I got out of work Doe & I took the kids and headed up.  We stopped in Bad Axe for a few necessities at Walmart (where we had a funny incident with the kids... they would say HI non-stop to shoppers and as soon as the shoppers said Hi back they would say NO and turn up their lips and noses... I was SO embarrassed!) and then went to eat dinner at Jakey's favorite Bad Axe stop "The Big Boy" (don't know why but he loves it there!).  After our errands we headed to the cottage and arrived about 6.  The kids were wiped from the long afternoon but so excited to be there.  Daddy got up there about 8:15, just in time to watch us blow up Jacob's "Big BOY Bed"... good thing because as soon as we blew it up Jacob wanted to go to bed, he was just so excited to be in it and sleep in it.  It is only a blow up mattress designed for kids that has sesame street characters on the attached blanket area.  (The next day it did double as a boat for him and Grace!).  On Saturday we got up... yes Jacob slept all night 8:20-7:30... and had breakfast and then bundled the kids (snowpants, gloves, hats, and coats) so we could go rake and play in the leaves.  The piles were so high it was a blast for them. They even liked watching Daddy get on the roof to blow out the eaves.  After the leaves they played with the chalk for a bit before heading in for hot chocolate and lunch (where Mommy almost blew up the cottage because I had not lit the burner and was leaking natural gas into the house from the gas stove, whoops).  During nap Doe & I went to town. After nap Doe & Jacob headed back out to wrap up the jobs and watch the sunset.  That evening Uncle Tim came up to hunt and we all had a nice big dinner.  We had such a big day the kids went to bed super early and so did the adults... we were all asleep by 9:30!  Sunday morning we woke up (really early for Jacob and I, not so good sleeping as he didn't feel the best) Uncle was already out hunting (he really wanted to get a deer to show Jacob).  Jacob had been up coughing a ton and his nose was really runny.  I'm so convinced he has allergies/asthma it isn't even funny! No fever, no signs of infection, nothing.  Tete thinks maybe because of all the older carpet and he slept so close to the ground maybe that festered it up.  Doe took Jacob down to the beach (since he was so insistent about going!) and we cleaned up to get ready to go.  As we were packing up we got a call from Uncle Tom saying Uncle Tim got a deer.  We waited outside for them to come back so we could take a few quick pictures and then headed in and re-opened the kitchen for lunch!  After lunch we headed home. Doe, the kids & I stopped at Gigi's to celebrate Tete's birthday!  (Greg went home to rake leaves... fun, fun, fun).  It was the perfect end to our perfect weekend.  Grace & Jacob loved the carrot cake that was homemade by Gigi and Grace wore her cherry outfit just for her Tete. Tete is so important to us... all of us! We love being with her and not only does she adore the kids they really do adore her and are soooooo blessed to have her in their lives.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TETE!! 

As a little side note... I'm down 13 lbs.  AND STILL SICK... three times today! 

Stay tuned for tons of pictures from our weekend!

Doctor Visit & Furniture Store...

Well since we are heading to Caseville this weekend and Grace has been tugging at her ear I decided to take her to the doctor.  After work today I called and they got me right in... YES!  We went and although it was really hard for them to see in her ears (I guess she has really small ear canals and because of this the wax tends to build faster and makes it harder to see, that combined with her BIG screams) but they did look red and that combined with the symptoms (tugging on ear, runny nose last week, lack of appetite, trouble sleeping) I told Dr. Treblin lead them to believe she probably did have an infection.  He put her on zythromax and away we went!! Dr. Treblin told me he loved Grace... from her earrings, to her bracelet, to her fancy shoes, to her pebbles doo!! (Hey this Mommy loves GIRLY things!). 

Tonight after dinner we met Daddy at Art Van to see what they might have for furniture for our boy who is believing he is going to have a purple airplane room... whose breaking the news to him???  We didn't find anything we LOVED so our quest continues.  I'm firm on the fact that I want a trundle and that is hard to find.  I think we may have found one online tonight so lets hope that it works out... I do LOVE this one! Just weary of the wood color... for the future. 

Still working on that cuking picture!

Be sure to check out our new little baby gadget on the side... I like it way better than the last one as it only told you the dates.  For this one you can click on "Open Week ____" and it will give you a run down on what our baby is doing NOW! :)  

It's A Date...

I made my appointment this afternoon for my 18 week ultrasound!! When I called they, of course, asked for my due date and then said "The first day you are able to have your ultrasound is December 24th."  I then asked the lady if they were even open that day.... to which she replied yes!! So we have scheduled our ultrasound for the 24th... CHRISTMAS EVE! What a great gift! 

I'm soooooooo looking forward to it... stay tuned to see if we find out! I'm may put a little spin on this... some don't share their names.... maybe we won't share if we are finding out, lol!

On a side note, I'm still trying to capture Jakey "cuking".  He hasn't done it since, little stinker! 

HILARIOUS!!!

Today while playing downstairs at Doe's Grace dropped a wooden stool top on my toe... it hurt soooooo bad I was hopping around and screaming.  Tete & Doe thought I was in labor! Turns out that later I did have a blood blister under my nail so I did have reason for the screams!

Anyways as this was all happening my Mom started laughing and telling us to look at Jacob.  I hobbled up to see Jacob pretending "cuking" (puking) over his play potty!! I guess he has seen Mommy on a few too many mornings (I leave the door open in the morning because I don't want to leave the kids out by themselves).  ANYWAYS... the best part is that (and forgive me if this is TMI) he had his pants pulled down as he was "cuking".  Reason being is sometimes Mommy pukes so hard that I pee my pants... so in the morning I pull them down so I don't get any pee on my pants (then I'd have to change them!).  We got a picture on Doe's camera phone but I didn't get the camera in time and he wouldn't do it again... we'll try to capture it tomorrow.  

Grace Signs I LOVE YOU & Jacob does a TRICK!

On Tuesday 11.11 while on my way out to my car for a long night of conferences Grace signed "I LOVE YOU" to me!!! It totally made my night!! 

I also took some hilarious pictures day of "HERBIE" (all you Rudolph fans know who I'm talking about... the elf who wanted to be a dentist!) when Grace gets up her hair is HORRIBLE and I finally made the connection that she has Herbie Hair!! I'll post the pictures soon... it was a LONG night of organizing our storage room so I'm beat. 

Today at Gigi's Jacob did his first un-assisted somersault! He recently found out that he loves doing them (thanks to Ms. Joy... Grace's gymnastics teacher) and has been doing them with help for the last month or so.  Today he did three of them ALL BY HIMSELF! He is so cautious that this is really big for him!

As for a little baby Kohl... he/she is still making me sick! We (well actually I) was thinking about not finding out but I think I'm weakening.  I'm thinking for my own personal sanity it maybe better find out, I'm way to much of an over-organized planner.  I can't imagine bringing a baby home and then trying to find the gender appropriate clothes.  YIKES...

We'll see. We still have just over 4 weeks until we can figure out anyways!! 

Grace's Speech Evaluation & A Funny Story!

This morning I took Grace for her speech evaluation at the MISD.  I was just a bit concerned that she may be behind in speech so I thought for my peace of mind I better just take her in.  When we got there a bunch of other children were also waiting for various things and it was almost humorous because our SOCIAL BUTTERFLY didn't not get off my lap.  She sat there and just stared at the other children.  Granted they were running around like maniacs and screaming!! First they started her with a hearing test, which she passed with flying colors!! Then we met with the family liason, he went over paperwork with us and then took us in to meet the evaluator. They first asked about my concerns and then proceeded to ask about how many words she had... I said maybe 30.  From there they asked (in a category type of way like "Does she say any foods") what specific words she said.... needless to say she made it to 50 and I had forgotten some things she says like please, fall, toe, wow, woah, boo-boo, and I'm sure there are so many more. They both reminded me that it is not important about the clarity of the words but just the point that they are "HER" words.  Words are not necessarily easily detected by friends or even family but mainly from the mother.  (Not sure why).  Then we did talk about her combining words.  Lately she has started to say more words in combination. "MORE CAR", "COME ON", "BYE DOG".  They informed me that this is actually a marker for 24 months.  Soooooooo.... needless to say she is not behind but yet ahead for her age.  Her expressive vocab averaged out at 22-23 months!  YEAH GRACE!! They did tell me that after she turns 2 that if I'm still concerned I can bring her back because children can change and start to digress.  So I feel SO relieved and sooooo much more comfortable!! They also made my day when they told me how excited they were to hear she is asking to use the potty! They said that is very good!

Now onto my funny story of the day.  I was at Jo-Ann's (My Mom is making swaddle blankets) and we were picking out fabric for this baby (our ginuea pig!!) While we were in line (a VERY long line) waiting to get the fabric cut a lady walked by and said "You are going to have that baby before you make it through the line!".  I almost died! I didn't think I looked THAT pregnant but geez! Needless to say I have a feeling I won't be "hiding" my secret at work very much longer! (I'll take pictures tomorrow at 13 weeks and post them soon!). And by the way... YES I'm STILL sick... threw up 3 times today!

 

Grace's Last I-Tooth Is In!!

Today I noticed that Gracie's last (top left) I tooth is in!! Now all we have left are molars (2 year, and more!).

12 Week Update...

Well as a quick update on the baby... I'm STILL experiencing morning sickness. It has been kicking my butt especially at night, UNLESS I take my zofran. I have lost 10 lbs so far. I'm not in maternity clothes yet...

Also I'm including some pictures from our first ultrasound... on 9.29. Greg & I just realized we never put them up, so here they are!!

Jacob's 3 Year Physical

Today Jacob had his 3 year physical... it went really well!! Dr. Kalo gave him the run down checking out everything... we talked about his appetite (or lack of, she said this could be from all the milk he drinks and to limit him to 24 oz a day) his separation anxiety (she commented that school is probably good for him even though he still cries about going), and he showed her his sister's favorite word (NO). We are to keep him 2% milk and continue the vitamins. He weighed 36.8 lbs (75th percentile) and was 39.5 inches long (90th percentile).
She also wanted to get a urine collection, blood draw and he was eligible for the flu vaccine... I was a bit concerned at this point. Jacob TOTALLY surprised me, the nurse and the doctor! He did awesome, especially for a 3 year old. He pee'ed right in the cup, did his flu vaccine (we decided to do the flu-mist which is a inhaled live version... at first he didn't want that but when I told him it was that or a shot he agreed. He inhaled perfectly!! Next was our blood draw... oh... great the "shot" I promised him he didn't have to get if he inhaled! The nurse told him it was a finger stamp... he did it and without any tears! He even let her put a band-aid on, which usually doesn't go over very well.
I was so proud of him when we left... he has come such a long ways in the past year. Speaking and social developement have improved soooooooo much!

Grace is 19 Months Old!!

Grace has really done alot this month... she has started to walk really fast (almost a run, but yet not quite a full sprint!) she also is gaining vocabulary by the day. If you are around her enough you really can tell just what she is talking about. She says "yellow" (banana), water, juice, milk, buh, brother, mommy, dada, doe, Gigi, Te (Tete), Mimi, more, shoe, sock, toe, hand, bye, hi, yeah, down, potty, no, Ca (Conrad), cup, please, dog, meow, eat, and so much more I'm sure I'm forgetting ALOT! She is also beginning to say things together ("come on" & a few more).

Grace is getting so into babies... she loves helping out with Cam. Getting his buh or whatever it maybe. I'm hoping that this is a sign of how big of a help she is going to be with her new little baby in the house. She loves pushing the stroller, feeding her babies, and putting little blankets on them. She also LOVES the wiggles!! She dances, claps, and sways around as soon as she hears their music, it is absolutely adorable!

Grace has become a WONDERFUL sleeper!! She is sleeping 8:30-8 and still taking a 2-3 hour nap... not quite as good as Jacob, but we'll take it! She pretty much asks for a nap... she goes right in and is out. It is really nice. She still has her buh but only at night and nap... which I'm fine with. She gave it up a while back during the day and hasn't had an incident since... even being around Cam with his.

The thing I just love MOST about Gracie is that she is a total snuggle bug... always has been. She cuddles up with us all the time and we absolutely love it. The best is after a nap... she'll lay on you for 15-20 minutes... it is the time with her I truly treasure, she is so very special.

She has continued to take gymnastics (which she loves) and dance (which she is a little wild for). She has a good time, and I'm happy that we could let her have her time to shine.

On another note... Grace has continued to be our good little eater! She will eat anything and loves fruits, cheese, crackers, pasta (any type) and pizza.

Free Eats & Baby Update...

We had a nice low key weekend... busy but low key! Jacob enjoyed jumping in and out of the leaves in our backyard, we went to free eats (Jacob played a barbie guitar, Grace danced and they had fun with Tessa, Noelle, Conrad and Cameron). We also enjoyed Al & Courtee's (Jacob's name for her) company on Saturday.  We also did alot of jobs around the house, which isn't a small task with our two monkey's hanging around!! 

Now onto the baby update.   I'm STILL sick... ugh! Dr. Perry told me I should only have a week or two left of this (to which I laughed very hard at!).  I've been taking the zofran (anti-nausea medication) every night just to hold dinner down.  We have begun to toss around names... I believe it gets easier the more kids you have.  We know what each other likes and we know our list has shrunken and two more names are off our master list, lol.  It is so nice because I HONESTLY don't care boy or girl... probably because we already have one of each (so nice!).  I have always pictured myself with two boys and a girl (in the middle) but it seems as if more cues are pointing to girl.  Only time will tell... just about 6.5 weeks until we can find out (if we decide too!).  Ok now onto the big update that I'm sure most of you will laugh at... I SWEAR I feel the baby moving already! I know it is about the size of a plum but at night when I drink ice water I swear I feel something in there.  Maybe its in my head... but they do say you feel it alot sooner with subsequent pregnancies.