We signed Spencer up for a video email from Santa. He was so excited to hear Santa use his name and show him pictures he had of Spencer. Spencer was in aww and it confirmed in his mind that Santa really is watching.
We started our long weekend off by going to the Twite's house for some Christmas cheer. It was at the Twite's house that we announced our big news. If you haven't heard already, Ryan and I are expecting baby #3 at the end of July! I will go into that more at the end of the blog. The boys showed up wearing matching shirts and just waited for people to notice. I ended up leaving early to help celebrate my friend Renee's birthday while the rest of our family stayed at Twite's. Spencer ended up staying up till 1:00 am that night! I was surprised when I got back to my parent's that they still weren't back home. I think that's officially the latest he's ever stayed up. He must be getting ready for New Year's!
Christmas Eve morning Ryan got up and went down to the lake to clear a spot so we could take Spencer skating for the first time. He was so excited (Ryan that is)! Spencer made a couple of laps around the square but decided to wear his boots the rest of the time. This is only the begining I'm sure.
Today our baby boy is 11 months old! I just can't believe he's that old already. I still think of him as my new born. It's crazy to think in only a month we will say goodbye to bottles and formula. I'm curious to see if he will be able to drink whole milk or if he will need soy since's he's on soy formula. So what is our 11 month old up to? He's into EVERYTHING! You can't take your eye off of him for a minute and you never know what you will find him doing. He might be elbow deep in the toliet or putting paper in his mouth. I think he's going to be our sneaky child. His Grandpa clams he is the happiest baby ever. He tells him that all the time. He's such a good baby.
Eating: He will try anything and everything. He's a very good eater and loves to eat. He doesn't get anymore baby food, it's all table food now. It's nice that he can eat on his own but of course he's very messy! He's also drinking 4-5 bottles a day.
Sleeping: He still takes 1-2 naps a day lasting anywhere from 1-3 hours. I try not to let him nap very long in the morning only because I want him to take a long nap with Spencer in the afternoon. He goes down around 7:00 pm and gets up around 7:00 am.
Things he loves: playing peek a boo, and having you chase him. He likes to crawl up the stairs and wait for you to try and catch him so he can crawl away. He loves to stand on his own, cuddle with his blanket and play with all of his brother's toys (this drives Spencer crazy!). He also loves baths or playing in water, and putting everything in his mouth.
So, onto our other exciting and surprising news. We are expecting #3! A shock I know! Everyone's reactions have gone something like this..... Wow! That's so exciting!! Wait, when are you due? How old is Easton? Wow you are going to be busy! Everyone's reactions have been totally what I expected and actually more supportive then I thought.
Finding out I was pregnant was a WAY different experince then in the past. If you've been around me you know how badly I wanted to be pregnant or maintain a pregnancy before I had Spencer and now this time I wasn't even sure what to think. I had this strange feeling that I might be pregant (Grandma says she will never watch our kids over night for us again!). I actually woke up at 4:30 am one morning and just couldn't shake this feeling that I was. So finally after an hour I woke Ryan up to tell him. He told me I should just go get a test since I wouldn't be able to rest until I knew for sure. So there I was at 5:30 am out at the store to get a pregnancy test. Did you know that the only place you can buy one that early in the morning is Wal-Mart! I figured I was already in my pj's, it was early in the morning and I was buying a pregnancy test, I would fit right in! The first 3 tests all came back negative. So I thought ok maybe I'm not... it just must all be in my head. Then people started saying stuff to me like "I think your pregnant" or "I had a dream that you were pregnant again." It was from really random people and I didn't think I was feeling or acting all that different. I would just laugh and say there is no way I can be pregnant, I have a 9 month old! Well, a few days later I still couldn't shake this feeling and I started to have strange symptoms that really reminded me of being pregnant so I thought I would take one more test and sure enough if came back postive. In the following few weeks I took a total of 4 more tests just to prove to myself that what I saw was correct.
Ryan and I always knew we wanted 3 kids. I just didn't think it would happen this fast or that they would be this close together. My emotions have been up and down since finding out. Part of me is so excited and there is a big part of me that is nervous and scared. I thought about all the changes that are going to happen in the next 9 months. We either need to finish a room in our house or move. We need a minivan to fit 3 car seats. Ryan brought up the fact that when we are empty nesters are kids are all going to leave at the same time and I cried because we will have 3 college tuition's to pay for at the same time! We have a few trips planned this spring and even though I can go pregnant it just won't be the same. I was excited for my sister that she was going to be pregnant alone since we shared our first pregnancy I apologized and felt bad about that. I think the hardest thing though was I feel like I was rushing Easton and Spencer to grow up a little bit faster. Honestly though when I think about all of that it just can't take away how excited I actually am. I love my boys and I know we are busy right now and things will only get busier, I just can't imagine life with out my kids. People tell me that going from 2 to 3 kids is really hard and that the first few years are the hardest but everyone that I've talked to that have kids this close together say how great it is in the end. Their kids are close and have become great friends. So if I could change things and space it out a little more I probably would but things happen in life for crazy reasons and we will love this child just as much as we love Spencer and Easton. Spencer is already liking the idea of another brother or sister and he's been such a good big
brother.
 |
| Meet baby #3! |
So here are the answers to a few questions we often get........
#1: Was this planned? Obviously as I've mentioned this wasn't planned (yes we know how it happens). Honestly we never thought we would just get pregnant like that. We tried for awhile before having 2 miscarriages. We tried 2 rounds of infertility medications and then finally when we were on a break we got pregnant with Spencer. I never went back on anything not wanting to mess with my system and when we decided we were ready we got pregnant with Easton. So even though this wasn't planned and I cried for a few days after finding out we are finally getting used to the idea that we are going to be having another baby.
#2: How old will Spencer and Easton be? Spencer will be just over 3 and Easton will be 1 1/2. So we will have three kids three and under! It sounds kind of crazy when I think that we had a baby in 2010 and will again have a baby in 2011! We figured out this weekend if you include my miscarriages I've been pregnant the last four our of five Christmas's.
#3: Will I continue to work? As of now I'm planning on it. Only time will really tell I guess. I'm just not sure I'm cut out to be a stay at home mom. I enjoy my days at home with the boys but I also enjoy getting out and working. I like what I do so that would be really hard to give up. I also really like the school or daycare that the boys go to and feel that they are learning so much each and everyday. Spencer comes home talking about all of his friends and loves going to school to play with them. It's expensive to have 3 in daycare and we'll be pretty much working to have them there but overall I think it's the best option for us.
#4: Do I think this will be a girl or are we planning on finding out? The comments have been made by many that maybe this will be a girl. I'm doubtful.... yes it would be nice to have a girl. I know how much I love my mom and the thought of having that someday with a daughter would be great, but in reality I really love my boys (plus I'm not sure I could handle a girl in middle school!) So I guess we will just have to wait and see when #3 arrives if it's a boy or girl because we plan on being surprised again!
#5: How have I been feeling: TIRED! That was my first clue something was up. I was wanting/needing to go to bed at 6:00 pm. When I was pregnant with both boys it was more needing to eat all the time and going to the bathroom 10 times during the night. This time it was heartburn and I was overly tired. I thought maybe it was just being tired because I had started working out (I was really going to try and loose weight after having Easton) and the fact that we are busy with our two boys. My hunger has finally kicked into full gear and this time I want chicken wraps, fajitas, salads, clementines, and then anything carb related! Over all though I can't complain.
#6: How many weeks are you? When are you due? Will you have anymore? Currently I'm 10 weeks. I'm due July 26th. At first they thought July 23rd but we had an ultrasound at seven weeks and it pushed it back a few days. At seven weeks the baby measured as it should and the heartbeat was 146 (both Easton and Spencer were 125ish at seven weeks). Most likely we won't be having anymore.
Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and were able to enjoy time with family and friends. We feel truly blessed with all of the family and friends that continue to love and support us. We look forward to all of the adventures 2011 will bring! I will be posting later about all that we did for Christmas but I'm honestly worn out from this weekend!
