1 Month Old

Pieper was one month old on October 1st. ONE MONTH!! Where has the time gone??!! I can't believe that my baby...my LAST baby...is already one month old. I am seriously not liking how fast this is happening. She is going to be one year old before I know it. I am loving having a little newborn in the house again. It is SERIOUSLY a lot of work and it is hard, definitely hard, but I look at that sweet face and it melts my heart. Pieper is such a sweet baby and loves to be the center of attention. She loves to be held (surprise, surprise!) and loves to be talked to. She loves her sister Paige and often gets "kidnapped" by her to be taken to their bedroom to be sung songs to or played with. She is going to have the best time when she is older with her big sister. She is sleeping pretty good throughout the night, usually waking only twice. I can live with that! Matt has been a super good helper at night, taking turns with the feedings during the night. It is so much harder with #4 because the three other kids have so much going on, I can't just sleep in or take napes when she is sleeping. Parker has school, Paige has school, Paige has to catch the bus, Parker has homework, Paige has homework, dinner needs made, laundry washed, grocery shopping.....the list goes on and on. So in that aspect it is so much harder. But Matt and I both knew that she was meant to be part of our family and now we feel like we are complete! Here she is 1 month old and counting!

30 Weeks

July 5th I was 30 weeks along. This picture was taken on the 4th before we left for our family reunion to Heise. Less than 100 days, 70 in fact! It has been SO SO HOT! I am feeling very hot and uncomfortable, but other than that I am doing good. We are getting a few things ready for the arrival of our little girl. Not much to get ready since we already have a girl. Paige is getting so excited for her sister to get here and had already called dibs on holding her first when she visits me in the hospital. She talks to my belly every day and tells Pieper (that is the name we have chosen) how much she loves her and how excited she is to meet her. It is pretty sweet.

25 Weeks

The 31st of May, 25 weeks pregnant. I am feeling good. It is starting to get really hot and i am not feeling very motivated, but maybe that is a good thing. I am taking it easy and my blood pressure is cooperating!

Gender Reveal Party

Because I knew this is our last baby, I wanted to do something fun a special to celebrate. Gender reveal parties are becoming quite popular and I wanted to join in on that trend. I sent out these cute invitations to a few of our close family and friends and couldn't wait until we would find out if we are going to have another little boy or girl in our family.

Visit with Zander

My kids got to finally meet their newest cousin on the 11th. He was here with his momma to get some darling newborn pictures taken. Charyn stopped by for a little bit so that we could see him. The kids were all sick when he was born and we decided to wait a few weeks until they were all better before we introduced Zander to them. They all loved him and both Parker and Paige had several turns holding him. They are always asking me when they get to see him next. He is pretty darn cute and I love cuddling and holding him as well, Paxten doesn't really like it when I hold him, he's a little jealous. Guess that means it isn't quite time for number 4 yet! hahaha!

Auntie

Guess what??? I am going to be an Auntie again...this time to my little sister Charyn!! Her and her husband Mike are expecting their first in November. Today she found out that she is having a boy. We are all so excited for her. Paige will be a little out numbered with all the boys around, hopefully one of us will get another girl in the mix. I can't wait to start getting supplies for her and I can't wait to meet my new nephew in a few months!

Pregnancy Update

20 week prego picture.

The kids insisted on their picture being taken too.


Our cute little baby's profile


Well I am officially halfway there. I am 20 weeks and 2 days (I think, they keep switching my due date almost every time I am at the doctor). So I guess I can start the countdown until the baby gets here. I am feeling relatively well, tired a lot more than with the last two. But that is probably because I have two more kids to chase around and take care of than before. I can't believe how fast it has flown by and I am sure the next 3 months will fly by fast as well with all of the holidays coming up. It will be the last 6 weeks that will drag on forever. We had our big 20 week ultrasound today and the first thing I said to the technician was that we did not want to know the sex of the baby. I wanted to make sure she didn't accidentally tell us or show us. The baby was being a little stinker and did not want its picture taken. When the technician would move the thing(what is that called anyway, I cannot think of it for the life of me) to the right the baby would go left and vice versa. It made it very difficult to get all the measurements she needed to get. The baby looked good all of the measurements were normal. Normal amounts ouf amniotic fluid, 4 heart chambers, 2 functioning kidneys which meant a working bladder. A good size placenta, a nice thick umbilical cord, and all the right parts in the brain. So the baby looked perfect. We are excited and grateful that it looks healthy so far. Matt was able to go with me today, so it was the first time he had heard the heart beat. I think that made it more real to him. As we were leaving I asked the technician if she would have been able to know the gender if we had wanted to and she said that she knew, but she would keep it a secret. So she is the only one that knows. I watched the monitor the whole time and I don't know so we are looking forward to February when we will find out.

Christiansen #3

Here's the newest little one. I had to get an ultrasound at my last appointment because they couldn't find the heart rate and wanted to make sure everything was fine. I was okay with that because that just meant that I got to see the baby instead of just hearing it. I also got more pictures for my scrapbook. It was really fun to see the baby at about 12 weeks because it looked so much different from the initial picture at 8 weeks. I could definitely differentiate between the body parts and could even see the little heart pumping and working hard. Unfortunately with Matt's crazy schedule he has been unable to go to any appointments with me. I am hoping that by the time we do the big ultrasound he will be able to come and see the baby with me. That will make it more real for him. I think the kids will be amazed too to see something in my belly. We keep telling them there is a baby in there, but sometimes they look at me like I am crazy. I know once I get bigger and after they see the ultrasound they may realize I was telling the truth. I think the third pregnancy is just as exciting as the first and I am feeling good and excited for the outcome!