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Dear Baby girl,

Another fairly uneventful week. Work has been pretty quiet, the weekend was busy but was able to get some extra rest, which i think really helped me kick the cold I’ve been struggling with. So no news is good news!

  Baby Development: My app tells me you’re just over 6″ long and wight 5.5 oz. You are learning to yawn and hiccup as well as developing your nerves and senses.

Thoughts on the photo/bump: I think it is kind of starting to show, but it could easily be judged that I just gained to much weight over the holidays. The bump size really changes based on what I’m wearing and when in the day I’m analyzing myself. This is the first maternity shirt I’ve worn and was going to try and hold off until 20 weeks, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it. Nearly every time I put on a regular shirt, I say to myself, well this is the last time I’m going to be able to wear this one, so my pickings are getting pretty slim.

Cravings/aversions: Salads are still tasting delicious and queso sounds amazing too, but haven’t fulfilled that temptation. We made cupcakes with frosting for Grandma’s birthday and a little gender reveal, but neither sounded very good so I don’t even think I had a taste (gasp because cake batter and frosting=delicious!) Most food I make sounds/smells gross. It is OK if someone else makes it, but if I have to, it is way less appetizing.

What I’m anticipating the most: Definitive baby movements. I’ve felt a couple flutters and they are becoming more frequent but they haven’t been strong enough to say, yes that is the baby. Also in full on nesting mode and want to get our house projects going and wrapped up before you arrive.

What I’m loving: Still love knowing that you are a girl!

What I’m missing most: Having energy. Maybe it is the winter blues, but everything feels like a chore. Every place I go, everything around the house. It’s not that I’m not loving life either, it just feels like work.

Differences between pregnancies: I didn’t have an update with Lexi this week, but with William, I think the bump is bigger than it is now. I also talked about how thirsty I was, and am totally feeling that again. I can easily chug 8 oz of water and still be thirsty. My lips are also very chapped, which could be a result of the winter dryness. Another difference is my appetite. I feel like I have been way less hungry this time around then previously. For example, last night I had half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a handful of chips and was full for the entire night.

How I’m feeling: OK. I only puked once this week which is good, but still not feeling the greatest. Low energy, get tired going up stairs, a little moody.

Best Moment of the week: I had a couple of sweet moments with Lexi and William this week that reassured me I’m doing a good job as a Mom and I have a good gut instinct with you.

That’s all for now!

Love,

Mom

To my two biggest littles,

WARNING: Emotional and pregnant mom thoughts on the loose.

Two nights ago, William woke up 3 times within an hour and a half. Let’s blame these thoughts on the pregnancy hormones, but I’m borderline bi-polar at 4:45 in the morning. At one point, I’m so annoyed to have been woken up and think to myself, ‘Child, just roll over and go back to sleep’, but after 2 years, I know this is not how you function. I check the monitor and you’re standing at the crib railing whining ‘I want my Mommy’. I muster up the energy to go into your room and immediately upon entering your room, your sweet and innocent little voice mutters ‘Oh Hi Mommy’ as if you’re super surprised to see me. Instantly all of my annoyance is wiped away. I pick you up and sit down sideways in the rocking chair. You curl up in a little ball with your little toes tucked into the crease of my legs, rest your head on my shoulder, I put your blankie around you and your sleeping within 30 seconds. We repeat this little ritual two more times in the next hour. Each time, I have these irrational conversations with myself. My rational side says, ‘He is sleeping, put him back in the crib and go get some sleep, you and this baby are going to be so tired tomorrow.’ Yet, my emotional side just can’t. As your warm little breaths drift across my chest and your long eyelashes grace my cheek, I just can’t put you down and argue with myself ‘He is going to be two in a couple of months. He is going to be in a big boy bed in a couple of months and you’re not going to be able to do this then. Enjoy these moments with your ONLY boy while you can’. So, I give into my emotional side for awhile and tell myself, this is where you need to be in this moment, regardless of how tired you are going to be tomorrow. This sweet little boy just needs his mommy.

Last night, Lexi was overtired and inventing new excuses to prolong bed time and was just generally pretty irrational. ‘I’m so shivery cold’ (even though you had 3 blankets on). ‘I’m too hot’ ‘I can’t get comfy’. ‘I want to sleep on the floor’ ‘I forgot to brush my teeth’ ‘I need some water’ ‘Will you sing me a song’ ‘We forgot to read a book’ After 45 minutes of this non-sense, I was fed up (yes, it really took me this long to lay down the law!) I put you in bed, covered you up and turned on some instrumental lullaby music. Initially you continued to complain about how cold you were, so I started rubbing your feet and within 3 minutes you had calmed down to be a rational 4 year-old again and were beginning to fall asleep. Then all of the sudden, you lifted your head and said, ‘I can’t hear the beautiful music Mom, can you turn up the volume.’ And I sighed in relief as that was just the reassurance I need to not go crazy.

As maddening as these moments can be, they are also so rewarding. I adore being your Mom and am so grateful that I am able to be there for both of you and this new little sister on her way. I’m sure I’m doing a lot of things wrong and I’ll look back or you’re tell me how I messed up your life, but for now, I feel like I’m doing a pretty darn good job. Thank you for giving me this opportunity and balancing the maddening moments with rewarding.

Love,

Mom

Dear my sweet little baby,

Big news this week is we found out you are a GIRL!! The news is still pretty fresh and am still digesting it and anticipating what our family dynamics will be but I am loving knowing what you are!!

Thoughts on the photo/bump: It is starting to become a little more noticeable and harder to hide with regular shirts. With that said, it doesn’t look like a pregnant belly most of the time, just more looks like I’m putting on some weight.

Cravings/aversions: Craving salad. I was over at Grandma B’s house and she had made this salad that looked amazing and went to the grocery store the next day to buy all the fixings–it included oranges on it and was pretty delicious. I’ve also craved a McGriddle and hashbrown from McDonalds–greasy delicious goodness! Aversions: Taco meat–which I normally love and crave! We currently have some left overs in the fridge and it looks and smells disgusting! Pizza (specifically frozen). I have it on our meal plan for every Friday and every week go with something else.

What I’m anticipating the most: Actually looking pregnant verses just fat and feeling your sweet little kicks for the first time.

What I’m loving: Knowing you are a baby Girl!!

What I’m missing most: Feeling like a regular human being. I’m waiting for that 2nd trimester energy boost and not being ultra-sensitive to foods and smells.

Differences between pregnancies: I’m almost spot on to weight gain with Lexi and you, William I was up 5-10 lbs at this point. Lexi is over the moon excited for you! While changing after swimming lessons this week, she rubs her face against my belly and announced, I’m nuzzling the baby mommy!’ Heart melts!

How I’m feeling: This changes by the day. At the front half of this 17th week, I was feeling pretty terrible. I threw up 3 days in a row, and it wasn’t just a little–it was enough for me to question, Do I have the flu? But no other symptoms so I’m chalking it up to you! I get headaches about every other day and am flushing a cold out of my system so lots of nose blowing and pressure to my head when I bend over. Other than that, I just don’t feel like my normal self. I’m not nauseous or exhausted but just don’t feel good. I feel best laying on the couch. Sleep seems to be going pretty well. I can still sleep on my stomach with very few issues which is awesome!

Best Moment of the week: Finding out you are a sweet little girl!

Love,

Mama

My sweet baby GIRL,

Obviously, we made the decision to find out your gender and are thrilled! We would have been excited either way, but I’m surprised at how much I am loving knowing what is going on in there!

As I’ve written previously, I’ve really been debating on whether to find out your gender or not (probably to an unhealthy level), but ultimately decided that I wanted to know. Knowing your big brother and sister will be home with me during maternity leave and they can be quite the handful, I wanted to have as much time as possible to bond with you before you arrive. I also wanted to mentally prepare for how our family dynamics will be, two little boys or having girls be my two bookend babies. Just another thing to daydream and obsess over.

How we found out: 

Last Thursday, I finally made the decision and then called the genetics counselor Friday and requested she write down your gender and send it in an envelope to us we both Daddy and I could find out at the same time. I was antsy all weekend in anticipation of finding out and was hoping it would have arrived on Monday, but no luck. Tuesday, Daddy worked from home and I texted him later in the afternoon to see if it arrived, but still no mail. Then, on the way home, I received a text from daddy with a picture of the envelope and was elated. I told Lexi, when we get home, we get to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy. She was very curious how we were going to find out but was pretty darn excited. She came tearing into the house and yelled ‘Daddy, we get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!!’ She began stifling through the mail and I had to get her too cool her jets for a moment so I could take my jacket and shoes off and go to the bathroom. I eventually helped her find the right envelope and she tried to start to open it, but reminded her we needed to go upstairs and open it with daddy. So we head upstairs and she tears the thing open and then looks at the paper and was a little confused. I asked her ‘what does this word start with? And she says, ‘B’ and I say ‘Nooo’ you know this, what is this letter? And she goes, ‘G’ and I say, what starts with a ‘G’ and she shyly yells ‘Girl’! It was such a sweet moment and I was so happy how excited she was AND that daddy got it on video!

General thoughts:

To be honest, I haven’t had much time to process the news yet. I am loving knowing what you are, which I’m really surprised about. I kind of thought the excitement would be over once I knew, but 3 days later, I’ll catch myself just smiling knowing you are a little girl! I also kind of love having this be a secret right now. We haven’t shared the news with anyone yet, but will be sharing in the next couple days. There is something sweet just keeping this news to us right now.

I’m so excited for you and Lexi to be sisters. I think a bond between sisters is something really special and am excited that you both will be able to experience it. I am curious what your relationship will look like considering you will be 4.5 years apart. Will the age gap and having William between you reduce the bickering that sisters can have? Will it be challenging to have a relationship considering the larger age gap or will none of this make a difference and you’re still going to have moments where you are each other’s best friends and worst enemies?  Time will tell and I’m sure it will vary based on each of your ages. Hoping that you two will be best buds, especially since we plan on you sharing rooms once you are big enough to be out of a crib.

Another major bonus is you also get to have a big brother!! I loved the idea of big brothers watching out for their little sisters and protecting them. We’ll see how your’s and William’s personalities develop over the years and if that is something he will do or that you will enjoy but it is pretty awesome to have both a big sister and brother to pave the way and watch out for you.

I’m sure many more thoughts to come on this topic in the following months.

We love you!

Your Mama

 

Dear Babes,

Not a whole lot new going on this week. Cross my fingers, I’m starting to feel better. I’m still gagging, but having better success in controlling it and fewer runs to the bathroom. I haven’t gotten the surge of energy that the second trimester brings, but I guess I’m only two weeks in so it could still be on its way. I’m not sleepy tired, but just don’t have a lot of energy and get winded VERY easy (like sometimes I need to rest after I walk up our stairs). This also could be a symptom of having a cold. Other pregnancy symptoms….increase in nasal congestion. I think I’ve had a running nose since November and just lots of drainage, which does not help with the gagging.

Things at work and at home have been pretty uneventful. This past weekend, Mom, Dad and William all had some pretty nasty colds so we spent a lot of time relaxing inside.

You’re big sister is very protective of you. She tells William he needs to be careful of my belly when he is trying to wrestle or when he wants to be picked up because there is a baby in there. She is also very inquisitive about you: How big are you?, Where is the baby going to sleep? How does she come out of your belly? Is she going to be able to talk when she comes out? What are we going to name her? She continues to insist you are a girl and told me she would like to call you Caitlin because there is a girl train on Thomas that is really really long.

We still haven’t made a decision if we’re going to find out your gender or not. I continue to go back and forth. I just need to make a decision and move on. I’m spending way to much time thinking and analyzing this decision which tells me I need to get some more hobbies because it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

No major changes in the bump, at least in my opinion. It is kind of there, but I’m still able to hide it pretty well at work as it just looks fat. This is such a hard stage and am getting ready for the belly to ‘pop’. I’m skipping a photo this week as it is closer to the 17 week mark and am just going to take one for next week.

Love,

Mama

Dear William,

This has been a fun month with you and your comedic personality shines brighter and brighter every day. You love to laugh and make others laugh-even though you look pretty serious and like to give people the stink eye.

You love, love to be tickled, tackled, chased and just generally rough house. After you are tickled, you like to announce it ‘Mama tittle (tickle) me’ or ‘Daddy Silly. Daddy tickle’. You love to fall off the couch and then laugh, have pillows thrown at you, or walk around with blankets or baskets on your head. If I say, ‘I’m gonna get you’; you run away like a crazy drunk laughing your head off. When you do something that makes Daddy or I laugh, you say ‘show sister’ and you love to make her laugh. After you fall down (off the couch, or while dancing or while being chased) you look up at me and say ‘I’m oh-tay’ between gasps of giggles. It is pretty hard for Daddy and I not to have a smile plastered across our face when we’re home with you as you’re always making us laugh.

You’ve always had a special bond with your daddy, but this month you truly became his shadow. You want to be wherever he is. If he is downstairs, you’ll stand and bang at the door and say ‘See MY daddy’. When I pick you up from school, you run to the door and say ‘See MY Daddy’. While Daddy is outside plowing the snow on the driveway, you stand at the window and just watch him. If he goes out of sight, you run to find me and say ‘Where MY Daddy go?’ You love to just snuggle with him while watching TV. You’ll regularly tell me ‘I’m watching Footbol with MY Daddy’. The capitalized MY is not a mistake, you always call out that he is yours and and emphasize the ‘MY’ when you’re talking about him. After putting the Christmas decorations away, daddy has put together several different elaborate train setups for you and you are in heaven. You love to play with them (particularly the pieces that make noise) and will create trains that are 10+ cars long and lay down and just push them back and forth. Upon finishing breakfast, you regularly tell me, ‘I go play trains’. Occasionally, you’ll ask Daddy or I to play with you, but yell at us when we touch anything so it really is more that you just want us sitting next to you while you play, but not really doing anything. You’ve also grown quite the affinity to ChooChoo Bob. You mainly watch this for a minute or two before you go to bed (when Daddy puts you to bed. Mom makes you read books) or when Mom and sister are out, you’ll watch one of the DVDs. You regularly request to watch it and will even go and get a remote and hand it to us, sit yourself up on the couch and demand, Bob.

As evidenced above, the vocabulary and sentences improve every month! One of your favorite things to do is tattle-tale on Lexi. ‘Lexi bite me’ ‘Lexi hit my head’ ‘Lexi push me’ and you’ll come running to me with some crocodile tears. Nine out of 10 times, you are fibbing and Lexi hasn’t done anything to you. We’re going to need to keep our eye on you, you little fibber!

You can also repeat the number sequence of 1-13 and so so regularly. You’ve also gotten pretty good at identifying colors. If I ask you what color this is, you get it right about half the time, but if I say, show me where the Blue one is, you get it right. You’re also starting to use colors to describe things. The other day, you kept asking for the ‘red’ one. I thought you were referring to a red bowl, but you were referring to what was in the red pan.

Other favorite things about you right now:

• The way you say ‘Yeah’ has this little inflection that the pitch of your voice raise as you finish the word and it is just so sweet to hear.

 

• If you can’t see something, it is hiding behind a tree. I’ll ask, ‘Where’s your socks?’ or ‘Where is Doon?’ and you’ll say ‘Hiding…hiding behind tree’. I think this comes from the song ‘Mr. Golden Sun’ but it is still pretty funny.

 

 

• I think your hair is curlier now than it was before we cut it. There have been a couple of moments where you’ve gotten really sweaty and it curls up into little ringlets.

 

• You love to have clean hands and wash them. When you’re done eating, you announce, ‘Wash hands’ and get down and run to the bathroom. Even during the middle of a meal, your hands will get dirty and you’ll request to have them cleaned half way through

 

 

• At the beginning of the month, you went to your first movie, Moana. I brought Grandma with us as I wasn’t sure how you were going to do sitting in a movie theater for that long, or didn’t want to have to take you with if Lexi had to go potty. You were a rock star bud. You had your little cup of popcorn and your water and treats and munched away and just watched the movie the whole way through. You loved calling things out like ‘Monster’ or ‘Scary’ or ‘Silly’ throughout. It was so cute to look over at you in the big chair and you cuddled up next to Grandma. So sweet!

 

 

• You also had a pretty nasty cold this month which made sleeping fairly challenging for you, lots of runny noses, eye goop, overall congestion, coughing and sneezing. It lasted for about two-and-half weeks, but I think we’re finally on the tail end of it for you. Hoping the rest of the winter is pretty healthy!
• Favorite toys: trains, Mickey Mouse camp fire truck (which you call the ice cream truck), pretend ice cream cones, Tonka Truck, balls, vacuum cleaners, your drills/tools
• Favorite books/TV shows: Trains, Trucks, Little Blue Truck, Monsters, ChooChoo Bob, Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Roadstar Racers, Curious George, Tigger and Pooh
• Favorite foods: pretty much everything but you ask to eat cereal every morning

 

That’s it buddy! Next month you’re two!!AHH!!

Love,

Mama

Dear Babes,

You have grown to be the size of an orange. So crazy to think that when we first saw you 8 weeks ago you were the size of our finger nail and now you’re the size of our fist! There have been a couple of times where I’ve questioned your movement, but nothing definitive yet.

Yesterday morning I had another check-up, this time with a nurse practitioner. You are still sitting super low, but have a strong heartbeat ranging between 154 and 157, which is exactly in the middle of the range they like to see. So no indications of whether you are a boy or a girl. I didn’t record Lexi’s heartbeat around this time, but William’s was 145 so not to far off.

Everything else at the appointment went well. Still no weight gain, which I’m thrilled about, but know it will eventually come. We also have your ultrasound scheduled for February 24th, which makes me 20 weeks and puts me back on the ‘traditional’ timing for weekly appointments.

I still haven’t made a decision if we want to find out your gender, so in a way, I’m making the decision to not find out. This week, I’ve caught myself referring to you as ‘she’ or her, but that maybe out of Lexi’s confidence in you being a girl. She talks and asks about you frequently. She talks about how she is going to help give you a bottle and hold you. Yesterday morning she was pretending that I was the baby and was showing me how she was going to burp you. William has no clue what is going on and just wants to tackle me.

Still not feeling the greatest. I’ve ruled out that I’m not nauseous anymore, but just have a really strong gag re-flux which is causing me to be sick. I’ve also determined that most of the gagging is induced by smells, and they are very unpredictable. The smell of the parking ramp (the salt) is pure torture, I went to freeze some BBQ chicken that has been in the fridge and opening the container set me off, I also fried some sausage for dinner one night and when I came back into the house after Lexi’s swim lessons I was pretty horrified. I’m hoping this will go away soon, but the Dr. warned me, it maybe something that follows me throughout pregnancy.

I’ve still had several headaches in the evening time frame that are no picnic and send me to bed as soon as the kids snoozin. Also, food doesn’t seem to help me feel better in the ways it had 4 weeks ago. When I don’t feel well, I keep trying to eat something, but nothing really seems to help me feel better. However, over the weekend, I was really craving some spinach artichoke dip and had Daddy pick some up for me and also ordered some maple bacon jalapeno wantons on a whim and pretty much melted in delight as they were so nummy!

I’ve pretty much put all of my regular pants away and am wearing maternity pants exclusively, although they are big. I can fit into the other pants, these are just so much more comfortable, it doesn’t seem worth it to wear the non-preggo pants. Overall, bump seems smaller this time around than with William. There is something there, but looks squishy and fat verses round and hard like a true pregnant belly. Definitely looking forward to ‘looking preggo’ verses just fat.

Love,

Mama

Dear little Babes,

We are officially in the 2nd Trimester! Yeah! The most exciting news is we officially got the blood work back for all of the genetic tests we did last week and you passed with flying colors! This also means, we can find out your gender. However, now I’m second guessing if I want to know. Originally, I always thought I would find out with Baby #3, but everyone I know that has found out and been surprised, likes being surprised better. I loved the anticipation and surprise of not knowing with Lexi and William and am fearful I’ll miss that if I know. Daddy has no preference, which isn’t helpful. Time will tell on if we decide to find out or not.

I’ve started to feel a tiny bit better this past week. Fewer moments of nausea, but still gagging and throwing up. It happens in odd scenarios too. For example, I gag every time I walk into the parking ramp at work–specifically when I’m leaving for the day. The smell of the salt literally makes gag Every.Day. Brushing my teeth is still torture and I’m starting to worry about the health of my teeth and getting cavities and gingivitis. I’m going to force myself to brush again at night and floss. Coughing also makes me gag. I think it is the intensity I cough at. I know people that would cough so hard they throw up, and this is similar, but I’ll only cough once and have to run to the bathroom.

I’m able to stay awake past 8:30 again and am not as drained by 3:00 as I was about a month ago. I seem to be having fewer migraines and food is no longer disgusting. I would say very few things ‘sound good’, but I can eat almost anything without getting sick. I do still have some stomach pains, but was doing a little reading and have self-diagnosed these pains as round-belly ligament pain. I didn’t have this with either of your siblings so I’ll ask the Dr about it next week to confirm. I’m also predicting that you’re going to give me some pretty good heartburn. There are moments were I can tell it is already flaring up.

‘The Bump’ is officially here. Stomach sleeping is starting to get challenging as I can feel the hardness of my belly when I lie. I’ve also tried to wear regular pants several times this week and regret it every time. I bought a bunch of new maternity pants in multiple sizes and am trying to figure out which sizes to keep. It is proving to be more challenging than I anticipated. One size fits me now (in the legs, butt and belly) but I know they’ll be too tight in several months.

Lexi insists that you are a girl and wants to call you ‘Girl Bood’. She asks lots of questions about how you got in there and how you’re going to get out and when are you going to come out. William has no clue what is going on and just wants to tackle me and play choo-choo trains.

Love,

Mama

Dear Baby,

I jinxed myself last week and saying I was over the ‘sickness’ phase of things because I have felt sick everyday. Nausea, stomach aches, and migraines have left me on the couch and in bed by 8:30. Rough stuff. Really hoping this phase ends soon. I put on my first pair of maternity pants this morning hoping the elastic waistband will help me feel better and that maybe my pants were just too tight and causing me to feel sick?!?! Willing to try anything at this point. Some co-workers brought in some Ginger mints and tea. I didn’t like the mints but we’ll give the tea a try. Two days ago, I had a genetic screening and everything on the ultrasound showed you’re a healthy little babe. Your heartbeat was at 150 and are measuring to be 6 cm long from crown to rump. Through the ultrasound, I was able to see your femur developing as well as your spine and both hemispheres of your brain. They also took some blood work and we’ll be able to find out if you are a little boy or a little girl in the next week or so.

Originally, I had a pretty strong intuition that you were a girl. However over the past two weeks, I’ve had two dreams of you being a boy and my intuition in general is flipping that you are a little boy. If I had to put money on it right now I would say that I’m about 80% sure you are a boy.

This will be the first time we are finding out the gender of the baby. We kept it a surprise for both your big sister and brother. You will be our last baby and I would like to get rid of some clothes we won’t need if we can and it feels kind of exciting to know and be able to bond with you a little more.

It has been EXTREMELY cold these past few days and your mama hates it. As I have been dropping your big siblings off at daycare, I’ll have thoughts pop into my head that next year, i’ll be bringing a baby out into this cold, only to remind myself that you’ll be nice and cozy at home with someone 🙂 We don’t know who that will be yet, but I’m grateful I won’t be getting three kids ready each morning to head out the door by a certain time.

Love,

Mama

Dear Baby,

I took a couple weeks off as I felt like I was writing the same thing every week. A couple of updates that happened over the last few weeks.

1. We’ve told people you’re on your way! Our original plan was to announce via our Christmas Cards, but we never got around to actually ordering the cards, so we just posted it online. Either way, the secret is out of the bag!

1. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think I’ve turned the corner of the 1st trimester sickness. Outside of brushing my teeth, my sickness always hit me in the afternoons/evenings. However, over the last week, there have only been 2 times I haven’t felt well. I don’t seem to be as tired as I was either. If we’re out doing activities, I get tired, but I’m not exhausted like I was. Most food is agreeable these days. The mere thought of something doesn’t make me gag like it had a couple weeks ago and I can pretty much eat everything again. Some things sound better than others but the intense cravings have drastically diminished.
2. At my 10.5 week appointment (I went a little early due to Dr. G being on vacation) I had lost 3 lbs. All but one pair of pants still fit me which is a bonus and at least 2 weeks longer than I lasted with your big brother. I don’t think I’m showing yet either. There is a bump there but, it was there well before your arrival so you can’t take credit for anything quite yet.
3. Daddy and I continue to have lots of conversations about what we are going to do for childcare once you arrive. The only thing I think we have decided is that you and your siblings won’t be going to daycare-now it is just a matter of figuring out who will be here with you. This is by far my biggest anxiety right now. It keeps me up at night and I’m constantly thinking about it. Regardless of the decision, there are so many things that will ripple out of the decision. Ultimately, we want what is best for you munchkins, but we also want an ‘affordable’ option that won’t drastically change our lifestyle. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is an option out there that meets those needs, so then it comes down to what is the next best option.
4. This past week we celebrated Christmas. We had a great time celebrating with family and Mommy and Daddy were both home the whole week. It has been so nice to just be home as a family playing games and laughing and snuggling. It is so crazy to think you’ll be 6 months old at this time next year and how that will change things for us.

Love,

Mama