WW: Cast your vote!

With our anatomy scan quickly approaching {just a few more days.... EEEEKKKK!} it's time to officially cast your votes! 

What do you think little IV will be... a boy or a girl?  

I added a poll to my sidebar so feel free to vote over there and/or own up to your vote by commenting on this post.  Can't wait to hear what you think!

My ultrasound is at Maternal Fetal Medicine at 9:15am on Friday morning and will be a Level II 3D/4D scan.  It should take about an hour.  Then we're doing the reveal dinner on Friday night, so I should know around 6pm what this little bugger is {nope, we're not finding out at the ultrasound... we'll wait and find out with our immediate families!}

And guess what?  We're taking Carter with us!  I'm so excited to take him and he can't wait to "see" the baby. We have to run errands after the ultrasound anyway, which includes taking him to finish getting his school supplies {HE STARTS ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, OMG!} so we thought it would be fun for him to just come to the appointment.  It's nice that he's finally old enough to understand what's going on this time.  I'm just a little worried about his reaction if this baby is a boy.  He really, REALLY wants a girl and won't even talk about boy names with me. He just KNOWS this will be a baby girl named Sawyer {according to him} and that's that. Ha!  But I'm sure he'll quickly adjust to the idea of another brother, if that's the way it goes on Friday :)

So yeah... cast your votes! And please send all of your good vibes for a healthy baby!

16 weeks!

For some reason, 16 weeks sounds really pregnant to me.  Not like, 9 months pregnant, but like "oh my god, I'm really pregnant."  And 16 weeks also means that I find out what this little bugger is in 2 short weeks!  One of which will fly by because, I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow!!

Ocean City here we come!

The weather looks gorgeous for the week, which is starting to make me really excited.  Of course, I haven't started packing yet {nope, not a single thing and we leave in the morning.}  And I'm still somewhat shocked over the fact that I'll be pregnant 2 vacations in a row {I want a beer on the beach, damn it!} But alas, it could be worse. I could be this pregnant...

{36 weeks pregnant with Reid - OBX 2012}

Whew, that looks painful.

I doubt I'll be around here much next week, so be sure to follow along on Instagram!

Pregnancy: 16 weeks  

Weight Gain: 3 pounds

Sleep: Not terrible, although Reid has been sick with a summer cold, so he hasn't been sleeping that great.  Which means I haven't been sleeping that great either.

  

Gender: We find out August 30th at 18w1d. 2 weeks from today!

Names: No clue. Check out my name post here.

Feeling: Pretty good.  A little stressed out these past few days, but fine in general.

Health:  With my BP issues, I try to actively reduce my stress levels when I can, but that's difficult to do when things are so crazy at work.  Hopefully vacation helps!

Movement: Moving around like crazy!

Belly: This past week or two, I've been super crampy and uncomfortable.  Then a few days ago I noticed my belly looked so much bigger, all of a sudden. I guess it popped out.  I do think it looks bigger in my picture this week!

Also, for reference, here are my side-by-side weekly belly pics of my entire pregnancy with Reid. 

Next Appointment: OB Appointment: Thursday, September 5th at 19w0d {Um, that would be the day after Carter's very first day of kindergarten and 2 days before Reid's 1st birthday party.... If I could drink? I would. A lot.}  Next ultrasound: Friday, August 30th at 18w1d {my anatomy scan!!!}

WW: Annual Vacation Shirts!

Every year, I design t-shirts for our annual family vacation and we all wear them as we drive down to the Outer Banks.  It's an obnoxious tradition that we adore.

This year, however?  Things are... different.

Well, for one, we're not going to OBX.  We've decided to stay local and head to Ocean City, NJ.  We used to vacation in OCNJ all the time, but for the past 9 or so years, we have enjoyed heading down to the fabulous beaches of Corolla, NC.  And honestly?  You can't beat the gorgeous houses. But this year, however, there aren't as many family/friends going for various reasons, so we decided to stay local.  And, while I'll miss OBX tremendously, I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to the one hour drive to OC with 3 kids as opposed to 7-9 hours {depending on traffic & bathroom/food stops} to get to OBX. {Mamas, are you with me on that?? I thought so.}

So, yeah.  We have a change of scenery this year, less people going {17 as opposed to 28, give or take a kid} but, obviously, the biggest and most heart-breaking change of all is...

My dad won't be there.

This is our very first family vacation without him.  It hurts my heart to think about him not being there to collect shells with the kids, cook pancakes in the morning, jump waves with Carter, eat Pringles on the beach... hurts. my. heart.

So, yeah. We thought a change of vacation-scenery might do us some good this year.  We'll see.

With all that change, I questioned whether or not we should even do our family t-shirts this vacation.  When I brought it up to my family, they thought about it too and together we came to the conclusion that... yes, of course we should keep up this tradition. Not only for us, but for the kids.  They love having matching t-shirts and they wear them proudly. And so do we.  Why not continue something that makes us happy?

So, with that, here are the shirts...

Did you notice the wave? =)  My sisters and I just didn't feel right leaving my dad off the shirt this year, so we wanted him to know that he's still with us... always.  The quote, obviously from Finding Nemo, has been somewhat of our motto this year.  Just keep swimming.  It also works well for the beach though too, right? The hashtag is just a little stupid inside joke.  We think we're funny. ;)

So there you have it... our annual family t-shirt. We leave this Saturday and we can't wait! Vacation can't come soon enough for this family. We need it.

<center> <a href="http://www.jennifromtheblog.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2jae260.png" /></a></center

15 weeks... and oh hey, it's my birthday.

{Shirt: Old Navy | Jean Shorts: Target}

Never in a million years would I have guessed that I'd be pregnant 2 birthdays in a row.  Yet, here I am.  15 weeks pregnant with baby #4. Everything happens for a reason, right? :)

My birthday has been great so far... I woke up to the kids throwing presents in my face. {No, really. Ha!}  They got me a pregnancy massage and Pitch Perfect on BluRay. {They know me so well.}  Then Carter said "Mommy, I have one more present for you, are you ready to open it??"  I said "Of course!" and he ran up and gave me the biggest hug. 

Best. Gift. Ever. 

I then got ready and ran to my OB appointment and afterwards, went and had lunch with my mom at her house. I'm now relaxing and hanging out with the kids and later, Bob is taking me to my favorite restaurant for dinner tonight.  YAY!

So, about that appointment I had today {such a fun birthday present, right?} Everything looked good, for the most part. My BP was kinda high.  It's actually been kinda high for my last 3 appts.  Nothing terrible though... I'm usually 120/75-80 when I'm not pregnant, and the last few appts I've been 140/84. Like I said... still fine. But I'm only 15w pregnant and I really hope it doesn't get worse.  I had pre-e with both Carter and Brynn but was fine with Reid. My BP was always perfect with him, so...  we'll see.

Pregnancy: 15 weeks  

Weight Gain: 3 pounds

Sleep: Considering that Reid was up 3 times last night?  I'm tired.  Very tired.

  

Gender: We find out August 30th at 18w1d. 3 weeks from today!

Names: No clue. Check out my name post here.

Feeling: Okay... finally getting over that stupid cold I had earlier this week.  Whew!

Health:  Just hoping my BP doesn't turn into an issue this pregnancy.

Movement: Moving around like crazy!

Belly: Slowing down a bit, but still larger than average, I'd say ;)

Also, for reference, here are my side-by-side weekly belly pics of my entire pregnancy with Reid. 

Next Appointment: OB Appointment: Thursday, September 5th at 19w0d {Um, that would be the day after Carter's very first day of kindergarten and 2 days before Reid's 1st birthday party.... If I could drink? I would. A lot.}  Next ultrasound: Friday, August 30th at 18w1d {my anatomy scan!!!}

14 weeks!

A little late with this post, but whatever... =)

{Shirt: Motherhood | Pants: Joe's}

Not too much to report this week.  I've been trying to come up with an outfit combo for the gender reveal photo session that's pretty neutral (i.e. not too girl friendly or too boy friendly... don't want to offend the baby!) which is a lot harder than I thought it would be!  But I think I've come up with something cute, so hopefully my vision looks halfway decent in the pictures.  We'll see.

I'm starting to get excited about finding out... just a few more weeks!  A lot of people are asking if we have a preference, and the answer is... not really. I mean, part of me really wants a sister for Brynn, which is only natural given my close relationship with my owns sisters.  I'd LOVE for Brynn to experience that. And to have 2 boys and 2 girls??  The. Best.

On the other hand, I'd love another boy.  I just look at Carter and at Reid and my heart fills with so much love and joy.  How could I NOT want more of that??  And I know that's what Reid would want if he could talk, lol!  He already has his cousin Aubrey, his little birthday twin, so I think he'd really want a brother closer in age to him too (Carter is 4 years older than him and his cousin Ben is 5.)  With this baby being just 16 months younger than Reid, it would be great that they'd be so close and could share a room, etc.  How perfect!

Either way, I am so eager to find out because I know for sure that this is my last baby. {What? It is.} I just want to know who is going to be completing our family.  I'm so ready to start this life as a family of six {OMG} and move in to the next phase of our lives.  Not a life of pregnancy after pregnancy {after pregnancy after pregnancy} but a life of soccer games, and school plays, and recitals, and family vacations, and report cards, and tee ball, and homework and family dinner conversations.  I just can't wait. And while I certainly do not want to rush these early years by any means, I'm just ready to feel complete.

And no longer pregnant. ;)

Pregnancy: 14 weeks  

Weight Gain: 1 pound {I'm sure that will change this week though.}

Sleep: Getting kind of uncomfortable already.  I think I need a new pregnancy pillow... any recs?

  

Gender: We find out August 30th at 18w1d! 

Names: No clue. Check out my name post here.

Feeling: Really sick.  I have a stupid summer cold, and I can't really take anything for it.  Just kinda toughing it out over here...  I've only gone through 2 full boxes of tissues.  NBD.

Health:  I'm going to ask for a prescription for reflux meds.  Nothing seems to be working.

Movement: Moving around like crazy!

Belly: I feel like it's growing slowly now... which isn't such a bad thing ;)

 Also, for reference, here are my side-by-side weekly belly pics of my entire pregnancy with Reid. 

Next Appointment: OB Appointment: My birthday!... This Friday, August 9th at 15w1d.  Next ultrasound: Friday, August 30th at 18w1d {my anatomy scan!!!}