Kelly's Belly Week 32

Reflections:
*I took this picture using the timer on my camera. I wish it wasn't at that exact angle; it seems to make the belly look extra large!
*I feel pretty good. I have been really hot though. On Saturday, it was over 90 degrees here, and I just kept thinking about how thankful I am that this pregnancy will be over before summer really hits!
*I went to the doctor today, had gained an alarming amount of weight in 4 weeks, and then headed to Taco Bell for lunch. I really can only blame myself!
*Crushed ice is so extremely satisfying to me lately.
*I have to cut myself off on the glasses of ice water in the evenings. Several nights ago I went to the bathroom at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 5:30, and 6:30. And I woke up hot as can be each time. The first night of sleep that you get after having the baby is so nice... You are instantly more comfortable. I have been thinking about that a lot lately.
*If Luke comes when Caleb did, I have 2 1/2 weeks left. Hopefully that will not happen!
*If he comes when Abby did, I have 5 weeks left. That would be great!
*Luke is a kicker. I keep thinking about what his personality will be like. I am getting so excited to have him here in our arms!

Sisters and Brothers

These two have actually starting playing together more and more lately. Like sometimes I want to wake Abby up from her nap because I know she will keep Caleb entertained. He kind of tells her what to do a lot, and they mostly play with her toys; but they will be interacting and busy for long periods of time together. It is such a fun thing to see as a mom, and it gives me a little encouragement that I can handle having three kids. I guess it doesn't matter if I am encouraged or not, we will have three kids sometime in the next 2 months! We are all excited about Luke's arrival and looking forward to it. For now, I am enjoying watching these two develop a friendship (with a fair share of fighting mixed in). They both sure look like kids and not babies here, so I guess Luke will be the perfect addition!

Faces Outside

We are enjoying every outside moment that we possibly can. Yesterday it was 86 degrees- maybe a little too hot! I just almost pulled out the kiddie swimming pool. It may come out today.

Caleb and Gianna's Bouncing Party

We celebrated Caleb's birthday with a combo jumping party with his friend Gianna. These two have done a lot together in their short 4 years, and I love that they are so close in age. It makes things fun for the moms. I didn't get any pictures that were in focus of the kids bouncing... guess they were just too fast for me (and I need to work on shutter speed!). But, here are some pictures from the party room:

Nothing like juice boxes to make everyone under the age of 5 really happy!

The Birthday Boy enjoying his juicebox

Abbers enjoying her juicebox

Gianna and Caprice looking like such big girls!

Selah, Gianna's sister, enjoying her pizza

The yummy cupcakes that Emily made- Caleb was very concerned that he would have to have a princess cake, since it was a joint party. We made sure that there were indeed princesses for Gianna, but also trains for Caleb.

Caleb blowing out the candles.

Caleb happy about his James cupcake

The three expecting mamas: Emily, Jennifer, and me. We are all due within a week of each other. It will be fun to see which baby comes when!

Our family of four, soon to be five. Somehow my camera got set on black and white, which I am annoyed about. But, it still captures the moment!

Caleb at 4 Years Old!

Caleb is four years old today. Here are some of the things that he is up to these days:
*He still wants to wear pajamas all of the time. I don't fight him much on this one- just not worth the battle!
*He went to the doctor for his 4 year checkup today and was in the 75 percentile for height and 40 percentile for weight. He also got 4 shots. He cried a bit during the shots and then wanted me to take the band aids off immediately. I guess that they were a reminder of getting those shots.
*He is still a huge fan of trains. In fact the tracks are overtaking our play room, but I don't mind too much because a lot of the time he will play by himself with them.
*Most of the time he prefers playing at home by himself to going somewhere to play. However, we do get out and play with friends a great deal.
*Caleb and Abby have started having brief moments where they will play together. Caleb is learning that he can calmly ask her to return a toy to him, and she will usually just hand it over. I am glad that they are working out their differences calmly, but I hope he isn't being too bossy about it! It sure beats screaming, grabbing things from her hand, and pushing her, which is the other likely scenario!
*Caleb is signed up for 4 year preschool in the fall. He is a structured kid, and I think he will like a classroom school environment. He tells me that he doesn't need to go to preschool because he already knows all of his letters and numbers and colors.
*Caleb has started to make everything into a boy girl thing. "I don't like that because it is too girly.", "I don't want to play at a girls house.", etc- not sure how he has learned this so quickly! ?
*Caleb still talks about my mom often. This morning, he woke up and told me that he had a dream that we were celebrating his birthday at the park, that my mom was there eating cake with us, and that it was snowing. It touched me in special place to hear that he had that dream. I don't know if anyone can speak to us from heaven, but before my mom died, I asked her to come to us in our dreams if that was possible. So yeah, I have no Biblical basis for any of this, but it was a sweet thing to hear from Caleb. I know that my mom would have been the first one to call and sing him Happy Birthday this morning.
We love you son! You are growing up very quickly, and we are so proud of you!

Abby Girl: Little Mommy on the Go

The Cousin Crew

Around the yard...

Spring

is

making

its

arrival,

and

it makes me so very happy!

Almost 4...

I remember going to the NICU to hold my little 5 pound 12 ounce redhead. We suspected his hair was red, but we weren't sure because he was in too fragile of a medical condition to be cleaned. Also he had to have light therapy for jaundice and had a little hat covering his head. And now he will be four in a little over a week. The time has gone by so quickly. We love our redheaded Caleb!