January...Will You Ever End?!

January was pretty much survival mode at our house. Even on a good year, January is THE longest month of the year. This year, it was never ending for me. I was sick pretty much every day & not able to do much. The fact that I took practically zero pictures with my camera says a lot about how I felt...terrible! We spent a lot of time at home watching movies, coloring, and taking naps. The girls spent a lot of time playing with Daddy, while I laid on the couch and watched. Here are some random pictures and a few video's that I took on my phone during January.

The girls have been so, so good to play & let Mommy rest. I know they don't understand why I don't feel good all of the time. Mackenzie has prayed several times at bedtime for me to feel better. A few nights ago her prayer was, "Dear Lord, Please help Mommy to feel better and not be pregnant ANY more." It was very sweet, but sad too, because I kind of feel like I am neglecting them a little bit. I am not meaning too, but I just feel so terrible all of the time.A shopping trip to Wal-Mart...poor Madison was buried in there! Looking at this picture, you can tell Mackenzie wasn't feeling well. She got another ear infection in January. The poor little thing still has trouble with her ears, even after 3 sets of tubes. Just hoping & praying we can push through it this time without having to do tubes again.

I'm pretty sure Mackenzie got ahold of my camera and took this picture of Madison! One of their favorite things to do right now is play babies! I took these pictures of the girls on a Saturday night & sent them to G-Ma...her response was, "I need to see them, bad!" and she surprised us by showing up at our house after church the next morning. I don't know who was happier about that...me, or the girls!One morning before ELP, Mackenzie drew these pictures for Ms. Janis and Ms. Anne. I was beyond impressed with her giraffe! Of course when I took Mackenzie's picture, Madison wanted me to take one of her too! Little sleepy heads! We have been pretty slow moving in the mornings. I'm pretty sure I was laying in bed trying not to throw up, while they made up their own game of playing "Pet Shop" in the laundry basket. Brian took Mackenzie with him to watch Curtis Simmons play in a Band Concert. She loves Curtis & had a great time with her Daddy. He took her to QT for a drink. Madison got to stay home with me...I don't think she would have been able to sit still and quiet long enough.Mackenzie's video of Madison!

Mackenzie "teaching" Madison how to say words...hilarious! And yes, I was driving while I did this, but I PROMISE I was watching the road and just pointing my camera back at them. I didn't even care if I could see them, I just wanted to video them talking. It was so incredibly funny!

Brian is THE best Daddy in the world! I don't know what I would have done without him these past several weeks. He has done the laundry, taken care of the girls, given them baths, cleaned the house...pretty much everything! He even has dance parties with them! What's most impressive is that he even put on his suit jacket, because Mackenzie wanted him to "dress up."

Is it Really January?!

The weather has been so beautiful & uncharacteristically warm for January. We are loving it! I have been cooped up in the house so much, feeling sick, that it has been nice to take a few walks to the park to watch the girls play. I'm just hoping that this warm weather isn't a sign of an extremely hot summer to come...I am not looking forward to being pregnant all summer!Swinging the normal way is just boring...Monkey See, Monkey Do!

Pajama Day at ELP

This was Pajama Day at ELP and the girls were both SO excited! They got to bring their stuffed animals & anything else they would want for bedtime, to school. Mackenzie brought her Happy Napper & Ellie, the elephant. Madison brought Pony (of course!) and her Dora pillow pet. Getting everything in was a chore...we all had our hands full! They got to watch a movie, have pizza for lunch, and do some special activities. Mackenzie's class got to have color put in their hair & fake tattoo's on their cheeks! They both had a great time & were exhausted when they got home.

I posted the picture above on FB & someone commented, "That little one sure looks ornery!" My response..."Oh, yeah!"

We went to Target the day before & found houseshoes! Pure Cuteness! Love the sleepy look!And this is what Mack looked like when she got home!!! She was so excited about having her hair painted pink. Daddy took her & Madison to a basketball game later on that night & he said, "Am I supposed to take her like this?!" I said, "Well, of course!" What's not to love?!

Mack's Eye Appt.

Mackenzie had a follow-up appt with the eye doctor to make sure everything is okay with her eyes. I was very relieved when he said she looked great & didn't need to come back for another year, and also SO glad she didn't have to get any drops in her eyes. She doesn't like that at all! I always worry about the girls' eyes, just because I had glasses from the time I was 3, due to one of my eyes turning in. Mack's turns in just a tiny bit, but not enough to worry about. Mackenzie knew all of her letters & liked playing the eye "games." I was feeling SO sick during this appt...I was just glad I made it out of there without throwing up! Morning sickness is NO fun! She looked so big and grown up sitting in that chair like this!

I don't know why I video'd and took so many pictures of this, other than I was trying to distract myself from feeling so sick!

Hello, Sweet Baby!

Oh, the joys of pregnancy! I wish I could say that I am one of those women who just loves being pregnant...unfortunately, that is not the case! It is just very difficult for me. I started getting sick this time at about 5 and a half weeks. Here are some pictures from the first three ultrasounds I did, all in January. One of my favorite things about Tulsa Women's Health Care is that I get to do an ultrasound at every visit. In the midst of the sickness, I am just so thankful that God would give us another little blessing! I know it will be worth everything I am going through, in the end!

5 Weeks & 5 Days

This was our first ultrasound, done on January 9th. I woke up feeling terrible & a little crampy, so I called the Dr. and he worked me in. I wasn't supposed to have an appt until the next week. I love Dr. Nilson, but he is very up front about everything, and when he told me that it looked like my gestational sac wasn't the right shape, I was very worried. He said the yolk sac was there & looked good, but that we would have to just give it a week & see what happens...but not to worry about it. Uhhhh, okay...that's kind of impossible! Especially when you are a worryer by nature. It was still too early to be able to hear the heartbeat. Later that week, I was feeling terrible so I went to see Dr. Lebetter. He looked at the ultrasound picture & said he saw nothing to be worried about, which made me feel a lot better. The morning sickness was definitely setting in at this point...no fun!

6 Weeks & 6 Days
Well, a week & a day later, I had my 2nd ultrasound & was SO relieved to hear Dr. Nilson say that everything looked great. Praise God! We were also able to hear the heartbeat for the first time! There is no sweeter sound! It was around 120, which Dr. Nilson said could be a sign of a boy! (I am trying to get Brian to not be too overly excited just yet!) I have been so, so sick with this pregnancy...definitely more than with both of the girls. I just try to remember that being sick is a good sign that everything is okay. I have ZERO energy & feel like just making it through each day is such a chore. I cling to the words that my Momma always says, "This too shall pass." I know it will, but it doesn't feel like it at the moment! 8 Weeks & 5 Days
My most recent appointment, on January 30th was really exciting, because this little peanut is actually starting to look like a baby! Other than feeling awful (all of the time), everything is going great. I remind Brian daily that this will be the last time I go through this...at first, he said, "You can't decide that right now..." and then I think he figured out that I am VERY serious about it!

Happy Birthday Collin!

We drove home from Newcastle in time for Collin's 10th Birthday party on Saturday evening. It was an "Army" party & everyone had a lot of fun! Josiah painted the kids' faces & they had Nerf gun fights. Can you say hilarious?! I was laughing so hard...Danny & Amy's brother's had Mackenzie on their team & when they came down the hall with her behind a tree, it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. She was so serious about it! Then they sent her up into battle on the stairs by herself...poor little thing! =0) Brian & Madison played too, but Madi wasn't too sure about all that craziness, so she didn't last long! Mackenzie made it her goal to collect as many Nerf darts as she could find for her Uncle Danny. She was exhausted by the time the night was over! It was complete chaos, but extremely fun...I'm just glad that other than a pretty bad bruise on Mack's chest, nobody got hurt!

Before the party, Grandma & Grandpa Baldwin came to our house & we told them about Baby #3. They were very excited! About halfway through the party, we told the rest of the family. This will be the 9th Baldwin grandchild in our family. It is so hard to believe Collin is 10 years old...time goes by way too fast!Pizza!Presents!Cake!Face Painting! ...and WAR! That gun was nearly as big as she was!See what I mean?! Hilarious!!!!Mackenzie's making her move... Oh, how this makes me laugh! My little "girly-girl" princess was loving this Nerf fight. She wasn't afraid to get right in the middle of things!Then it was Daddy & Madison's turn to make their move!Poor Madison had to close her eyes...it was just too much! I think Daddy was having a little trouble holding onto her & getting the gun to work at the same time. Sometimes multi-tasking is hard business!Mackenzie had the perfect pocket for collecting extra darts!I don't know who got him, but this dart stuck right on Collin's head!