Baby #4...

is on the way and due March 30. That means that I'm 13 weeks today!

This baby was a bit of a surprise. To make a long and detailed story short and to the point, I didn't think that I could pregnant yet because of nursing Finley and that thing we have to have every month still hadn't started up again. After we got back to California I was extremely tired all the time and I ended up taking a pregnancy test the morning the movers were coming to load our house and it was positive. I was thinking I was like 4 weeks. The day our stuff arrived here I had some problems and so I went to the doctor that day. They did an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay and told me that I was 9 weeks! That was 4 weeks ahead of what I was expecting!! I was in shock for a few days because I honestly had no idea that I was that far along.

I decided to go to Brookwood Hospital because I really want to have this one naturally (as in drug-free) and their new hospital that opens in December is more natural birth friendly than any other hospital in Birmingham. I found a new doctor and saw him this past Monday. He is super nice and I think I will be really happy with him.

I had to go back Tuesday and see a different doctor because I wanted the first trimester triple screen done. I had an ultrasound and I'm still amazed how much the baby has grown in just a few weeks. They could also tell the sex of the baby! I don't want to find out what the baby is but Jason does. He wants a boy really bad and he said he needs to mentally prepare himself if it's another girl. I say just prepare for a girl and if it's a boy he will be really happy. I really want a boy too and for the sanity of our house we need a boy, but I also think it would be great for Finley to have a sister that is only 2 years younger than her. We want to have one more after this one, so if it is a girl Jason will still have another chance.

I have felt much better the last 2 weeks. I have never been sick in any of my pregnancies, but I definitely was nauseous for a while. I don't feel as exhausted as I did a few weeks ago either. I'm trying not to gain 400 pounds this time! No, but seriously I want to gain 30 at the most. I gained 60 with Tyler and 45 with both of the girls and I just don't want to be that big and have to lose all of that weight after I have the baby.  The first 25 falls off after a few weeks, but that last 20 likes to stick around. It took me 9 months to lose it all with Finley. Of course she was 4 months old before I even started trying to get the weight off, and breastfeeding helped a ton so I can't really complain to much. I have noticed though, that the older I get the harder it is to lose baby weight.

Here is the baby at 8 weeks and 6 days.

Here it is at 12 weeks and 5 days. Amazing!

I love this picture! It had its little legs crossed and was just relaxing. Hopefully that is a good sign!!

20 Months

Finley turned 20 months yesterday. I can't believe in 4 short months she will be 2!! She is the most animated child we have. She is very, VERY, independent and I can't think of one thing that she is afraid of. She loves to eat and will eat pretty much anything. She is so picky about music. If it's not something she wants to listen too she will say no until you change it! Her favorite words are yeah, mo (no), and mama, but she can pretty much say what ever she wants.

My dad has bought all their granddaughters a cabbage patch doll and so he finally found one for Finley and she loves her! She sleeps with her, carriers her everywhere, and even feeds her. It is precious! I don't think Bella was that "motherly" when she was Fin's age.

Thankfully Finley adapts to change really well and our latest move doesn't seem to have affected her at all. She remembered everyone from when we were here in the summer and she is always excited to see them.

She is doing great sleeping in her room. I have not had to go up there one time since we moved in. I can't even put into words how great it is to be able to sleep all night after 19 months of getting up AT LEAST 3 times EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. She goes to be between 7 and 8 and sleeps until 7 the next morning.

Getting settled

We finally got out internet and home phone set up Thursday!! I didn't realize I depended so much on it until we didn't have it!

Our move went pretty well in California but we had problems when it got here. They packed everything on 8/15 and then loaded it up on 8/16. DAS also picked our cars up on the 16th. We flew to Birmingham on the 17th and stayed at my parents house until our stuff arrived on the 25th. We have several pieces of furniture that were damaged during the move so now we have to file a claim and that is such a pain in the butt! Our cars didn't get her until the 31st, but we have everything and are pretty settled. Now it's time to start looking for a house so we can do it all over again!!

I'm so happy to be back here. At first I had mixed feelings, but now I know this is exactly where we are supposed to be.

Tyler and Bella are loving school and soccer. They both had their first games on Saturday and played great.

Here are a few pictures of the kids that we had made when we were here in July.