Birthday Celebrations (and more)

Wow. What a busy week it has been! First off, I did my glucose test and never heard anything back from the doctor, so I'm assuming all went well woohoo! I have my next appointment on Thursday and have been promoted to bi-weekly appointments. I cannot believe how fast time is flying. Tuesday will mark 29 weeks, which only leaves 11 more weeks. Eeeeek! AND, if I really think about it, and add in the factors that Addisyn and alyse were a week and a half and two weeks early, respectively, it really won't be that much longer. Crazy! Plus, add the stress of Christmas to the mix and it's almost more than I can handle lol. I need to start shopping early. I normally don't do belly pics, but here it is at 26 weeks (two weeks ago) in all its glory!

Alyse on her 2nd birthday

Now, to the exciting stuff! Addisyn and Alyse had their birthdays last week. Friday, the 21st, Alyse turned the big two. We spent the day as usual but after dinner made a trip up to Twistee Treat for birthday cake and ice cream. Mom, Dad, and Eric came up and joined us. These girls sure do love their ice cream. We brought a small gift along for Alyse to open, since she wouldn't be opening other things until her party. Sunday, the 23rd, Addisyn turned 4. We also had a joint party for them on Sunday at mom and dad's with almost the whole family. It was nice to have everyone together, but really and truly we should be renting a big hall to have a birthday bash in order to have enough room for everyone.

The kids had a craft table set up outside where they painted and decorated "fairy houses." I think they enjoyed painting and adding all the feathers and glitter to them. They all turned out really cute. We also had lunch. Doug stayed up the night before the party cooking two huge pork roasts on the smoker. They came out really good and there was hardly anything left.

Alyse is STILL not a fan of the camera. Just like her dad.

The girls were showered with tons of cool gifts. It was quite hectic supervising the opening of two kids' gifts and trying to keep track of who belonged to who and from whom it was from. I think I know the majority of where the gifts came from lol. Everyone, just know that the love each and every gift and are very thankful to have had everyone come out to celebrate their special days. We're going to have to have some sort of a system next year ;) Poor Alyse was gifted out and gave up after opening two or three. She still had some left to open the day after the party!

After cake and presents, the kids had to walk the plank to become a pirate. They got a pirate eye patch and pirate hat for not falling into the water. Then, they got their first clue for a treasure hunt. Boy, those kids were fast. They were running all over the place searching for the next clue. They finally made it to the treasure and were so excited to open the treasure chest and find their goodies (I knew holding on to my treasure chest from my classroom would come in handy!!). 

Getting ready to sing "happy birthday"

All in all, it was a success. The girls had fun, and felt really special that so many people would come out for them. Alyse was especially pooped and fell asleep on Grandpa's lap before we even left to go home.

Wendy and Tink!

Then, last night we had one last birthday celebration for them. Doug and I got them tickets to go to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party out at Magic Kingdom as their birthday gift. They had a blast. Addisyn wore her Wendy dress that Gramma Joiner made her and Alyse wore her tinkerbell costume. I can't even count how many compliments Addisyn got on her dress and several people asked where we got it. So, great job Gramma for doing such an awesome job!! 

LOVE this!

Alyse wasn't too sure about these two rats ;)

The party started at 7, which is when we got there. We were able to trick-or-treat at all the candy stations (woohoo to TONS of candy... the good kind!) as well as rides, fireworks, and the super awesome Boo To You parade. They were in their bags of candy pretty much whenever they were sitting in the stroller. By the time the party was over at midnight, they were tired. We started heading out of the park and the main monorail line was down, leaving just the resort monorail and the ferry. Both lines were ridiculously long and I thought the ferry may be quicker since they had both running and they could hold more people (totally guessing on that). Well, that turned into a HUGE mistake. We waited an hour and half for that dern ferry. The monorail line had completely cleared out. We were on the last ferry ride of the night. Seriously. The girls passed out a few minutes after getting in the line, so luckily we didn't have to deal with their crankiness. But, my feet were so sore and my right ankle was starting to swell (28 weeks pregnant). It was nice to finally make it make to the car. Needless to say, we didn't get home until after 2 am. It was a fun, but long, night!

Too much Disney!

27 weeks!

Wow. We have been so busy! It's been such a long time since I've put an update up. The past few weeks I have been swamped with grading essays. I think I've already done over 1,000 essays. It almost seems that it is all I do ALLLLLL night long. Then, there's toting the girls around and getting Addisyn to school three times a week. Phew. Need a bit of a breather.

On top of all of that, this weekend are the girls' birthdays. Alyse is Friday and Addisyn on Sunday. So I've also been prepping things for that. I can't believe that they are going to be 4 and 2 years old. Absolutely crazy how fast time flies by. They are very excited for their birthday party, which we are having on Sunday. We've baked the cakes and have them all ready to decorate on Saturday. Crossing my fingers that they come out decently. They may not look the best, but I do know that they taste good ;) Their party is going to be a Neverland theme and I have a few cute activities planned for the kids.

On the baby front, 27 weeks today. I go in on Thursday for my glucose screening. So not looking forward to drinking that nasty orange drink. I have a couple of questions to ask the doctor too. The big one about getting the vaccine for whooping cough. I'm not sure if it is ok to get while pregnant, but I do know that I want myself and Doug to get it this year (as well as the flu shot) to protect the new baby since she would be the one most at risk. It's actually recommended for all people who will be around her to get the vaccine.

I'm feeling good, aside from a tiny bit of ankle swelling at the end of some nights. I've noticed it takes my breath away if I have to bend over. I'm sure it's my growing belly smashing my lungs in half lol. I really have nothing to complain over, and still don't feel much more different from when I'm not pregnant.

On an exciting note, this little babe has nightly dance-a-thons in my belly. I can just feel her kicking and squirming for a good portion on the evening. It's one of my favorite things of being pregnant. The other morning, I had Addi place her hand on my belly while the baby was moving around and she was able to feel her for the first time. Her face lit up and then all the questions started to flow. Her biggest question was when was the baby going to come out so that she could hold her and pet her. She's such a good big sister. Hopefully, she will stay this loving as her little sisters and her grow older. Alyse still doesn't grasp the concept of the baby. But, if you ask her where the baby is she will pat my stomach. She understand what we are talking about, but I think the concept of the baby is still too abstract for her at this point.

Love my girls!

First Day of School

After many months of waiting since registering, the big day finally came. When I woke Addisyn up this morning she had the world's biggest smile. "Do I get to go to school TODAY?!?!" was the first sentence out of her mouth. She got ready and ate breakfast pretty quickly. Then it was time to wake Alyse up and get her ready. Of course we went outside to take before school pictures. Addisyn insisted that one of the pictures be of her new backpack. What a cutie pie. I just hope that her enthusiasm continues through all of her school years.

We loaded up into the car and we were off on that less than a minute trip to the school (I plan on walking there most days, but with the hustle and bustle of getting into a new routine we took the easy way today). The whole way there I think Addisyn was grinning ear to ear. We walked into the classroom, Addisyn hung her backpack in her cubby, then Ms. Jill took a picture of the three of us along with a picture of Addisyn on her own. Gave her a hug, said an "I love you," and then she ran across the room and just settled right in with her soon to be new friends.

I sure am glad she was ready and willing to go. I can only imagine how hard it would be to leave her if she were crying lol. Oddly enough, it was Alyse that was the one crying. She wanted to stay too saying "and me!" while I scooped her up. She calmed down when we went across the hall to the Preschool's Boohoo, yeehaw! Breakfast. This kid will do just about anything for food.

Alyse and I headed to Publix to do some grocery shopping. I forgot how much less stressful it is to go with just one kid. I think Monday mornings will be our new shopping day ;) Then we came home, put the groceries away, and piddled around until it was time to pick Addi up. We walked into her class and she was busy playing with a new friend. She was still in smiles and said she had so much fun and got to do a lot of things. Ms. Jill gives out a paper with the daily news on it and said that Addisyn fit right in and had a great first day. Addi can't wait until Wednesday, when she gets to go back.

On the baby news front, I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow. Over half way! I just think, only a few more weeks until 30 weeks, and then it's just a few more weeks and we'll have this sweet princess here in our arms. I can't wait to have that baby smell back in our house. I am starting to worry over going through labor and the mere fact of having three kids, but I'm pretty sure we'll adjust perfectly, just as we did the last two times around. I've been having a bit of acid reflux. Nothing in particular triggers it and pregnancy is the only time I ever notice it. Hasn't been bad enough to go get any medicine and I'm hoping it never get to that point. I remember having to sleep sitting up with little Addi because of reflux. I also started noticing some "tightness" in my ankles at the end of days where I've been up and on the go all day. From looking I can't see any swelling, but I sure can feel it. I really don't want the yeast roll/water balloon legs that I got with Addisyn. I'm hoping that this pregnancy follows suit with Alyse's rather than Addi's! I had my checkup about a week and a half ago, and I had only gained a total of 8 pounds, and everything was measuring right on track. Things are still moving along nicely :)

In other news, we spent the weekend at the boathouse. Addisyn and Alyse had fun as usual, but the weather wasn't the best. It felt like a mini hurricane coming through on Saturday morning. It eventually cleared up and we went on a short evening boat ride. Sunday, it started off sunny, but rain clouds moved in. We didn't make it to the island since we were scared we'd get stuck in bad weather, so we made do with the pool.

Addisyn after her first ballet class

Last week, Addisyn had her first ballet class of the new school year. This year she is in a light blue leotard and she is extra excited because she gets to tap along with ballet. She came out with the biggest smile, saying she got to wear her "tappy-tap" shoes. She has been eyeing those things all summer long! She also got her DVD of the recital that day and has gathered up audiences to watch it with her. She will even copy the dances while they are playing. Today, the both had ballet class! Alyse's Tu-Tu-Two's class started today. On the way to the studio Alyse kept clapping and laughing and yelling "and me!" because she was finally going to get to go to dance too after watching Addisyn go in for the past year. She went right in with no troubles at all. She looked a little worried once it was time to go into the classroom, but Addisyn walked her in and she was ready! Her teacher said that all the kids did great and there weren't any criers! I'm very happy that Alyse was happy about dance. I was worried that she might be upset leaving since the last time she was dropped off somewhere was the last time at daycare which was when she was six months old. She came out of class with a huge smile on her face and proudly showing off her butterfly sticker! So proud of my little dancers!

One night last week, Alyse decided to sleep a night in Addisyn's bed. They had tried to do it a few other times, but it just never worked out. Addisyn kept complaining that Alyse kept talking. Alyse was also pulling Addisyn's hair. But, I let them try one more time and it was a success. After about 10 minutes of talking to each other they finally passed out. Alyse woke up several times crying throughout the night and Addisyn said she doesn't want Alyse in her bed anymore, so we haven't let them do it since. It's a battle to get Alyse in her own bed though because she always climb's into Addisyn's, lays on the pillow, and pulls the covers up. She'll even say "eyes" and then proceed to close her eyes. We may end up moving them into Addisyn's bed together once the new baby is ready for the crib in her room. But for now, we'll let Alyse get a bit older..for Addisyn's sake ;)

Heart Check

Profile view...her head is on the left and she's looking up

Tuesday, July 24, I went to Winnie Palmer for a fetal echocardiogram. At the sonogram two weeks prior the ultrasound tech was not able to get a good view of the little bit's heart because it was still early (17 weeks) and the position she was in (upside down and facing backwards). Just to err on the side of caution Dr. Lambert sent me to Winnie Palmer to get the heart views and measurements needed to check to make sure everything was on track.

Thank goodness everything was absolutely perfect and at this time I will not have to go back to Winnie for a sonogram. Which is a huge sigh of relief in terms of that place was a mad house. So busy! I waited for over an hour past my scheduled appointment time and that was after arriving half an hour early per their request. Good thing I brought my kindle with me to keep me busy (finally got to start reading Defending Jacob, and have like 5 more library books waiting for me).

Looking from the bottom of her foot, like she's standing

The sonogram itself was the longest one I have ever had. Probably a good 45 minutes. The ones at my doctors office normally don't last over 10 minutes. The tech literally scanned every inch of this little girl's body. Well, aside from not being able to double check that she is in fact a she because her legs were crossed tight. There were over a hundred pictures by the time she finished. She was a pretty awesome tech though. She told me every single thing we were looking at (good thing she knew what most of those body parts were lol). We saw bones, toes, feet, fingers, hands, arms, spine, bladder, kidneys, her brain, and of course her heart. The little stinker was still in that same position from the sonogram before and made it very difficult for the tech to see everything that she needed to see. Even with all the poking and prodding she wasn't about to budge. Also, almost every time the tech would get a decent shot of her profile/face, she would instantly throw both of her hands up and cover her face up entirely. I guess she's a bit camera shy and/or stubborn. This behavior does bother me slightly because it truly reminds me of the spunky little Alyse we have. And, frankly, two little Alyse's running around is quite a scary thought ;)

Her face, skeleton style lol she has a bit more fat she needs to put on!

Once she was finished getting all the measurements she had the doctor review them and then he came in to tell me that everything looks perfect and that he has absolutely no worries and to continue doing whatever it is I'm doing. Hopefully we'll actually get a chance to get a good look at the little babe inside before she makes her debut! We hardly have a profile shot of her because of the awkward position she is in. I just hope that by the time D-Day comes that she is set and facing the proper direction. I also had a bit of encouraging news that she's measuring overall on the smaller side, so maybe we won't have a toddler on her birth day after all!

A couple of side notes:

1) Winnie Palmer/Arnold Palmer now have free parking! woohoo! I was getting ready to pay at the guard gate (even made sure I had $4 cash with me before leaving) and the guard told me no more charges. I always thought it was quit dumb to make patients have to pay to park their cars during their visit.

2) Addisyn has named the baby. She said her name is "Onray." Note quite sure the spelling she has chosen but she pronounced it as ON-RAY. I guess she likes original names, as I asked her where she came up with it and she wasn't able to tell me.

3) Just three more weeks until the girls start their Ballet classes and four more weeks until Addisyn starts PRESCHOOL!! How in the world is she old enough for PRESCHOOL?!?!? :/
4) I updated my blog design, the other one was really annoying.

It's a....

GiRL!!!

Yes, that makes three of a kind! I am beyond excited to be adding a THIRD baby girl into our family. As excited as I am, I think little Addisyn is even more excited. Alyse doesn't understand, but was more than willing to eat some delicious cake. Doug, well, he claims he isn't disappointed. I know otherwise though. I know he will love this little girl just as much as Addisyn and Alyse, but he was REALLY hoping for a hunting buddy. Guess he will just have settle on three little ballerinas :)

Just before cutting into the beautiful cake by Sweet Ashley Rae's

On Friday, July 13th, we had our big gender reveal party. It was so exciting to find out along side some of the most important people in our lives. All four of us went to the sonogram the Tuesday prior, and Doug and I really and truly turned our heads when the tech told us she was going to be looking at the baby's legs. She didn't let off any hints and she even wrote the gender down AFTER we left the room. No cheating on our parts! Straight from there it was off to the baker to give the envelope away so there would not be any temptation. 

It was a long three day wait, but I just tried my best not to think about it. Doug was sure it was a boy because he said the tech saw things too fast (ha! It felt like we had our heads turned forever). But honestly though, it could be just as simple to see something NOT there as something that WAS there.

there were still some votes to come

The party itself was simple and the whole point was to just cut into that dern cake and find out what our little baby was. We did have everyone cast their votes on a chalkboard. The boy side of the board was completely full and there were just a few votes on the girl side (including mine and Addisyn's and a few "cheater" votes where someone couldn't decide so they marked both). We even demonstrated the ring test old wive's tale where it predicted three girls and then a boy (oh, geez!).

Once it finally came time to cut into the cake we had Addisyn and Alyse come to help. Little Addi was so excited and had been saying all week long that she was so excited because she was going to get to have a pink cake. While we were cutting she was staring that cake down. I think she was probably more nervous than us. Doug got the first glance of the pink icing and his "awwwww" gave it away to everyone else that it was a girl. Once the slice was pulled all the way out, there was some yelling and "it's a girl" going on. I can only imagine what would have happened had the icing been blue.

Addisyn patiently watching to see if it will be a boy or a girl.

So happy for pink!

All in all, it was a successful party and reveal. Although so many were hoping for a boy (there aren't many boys in either side of the family) I think most are still excited over a third girl. Not too many families have three of a kind. Who knows maybe there's be opportunity for a full house. Totally kidding! I told Doug on the bright side, there's not much we need to buy to be prepared. Goodness knows we have oodles of clothes that are still in great condition. 

For anyone wondering: No, we are not telling the name again! Sorry, folks. You already know the game and it's not changing this time around. Plus, it is going to be quite a hard task to come up with a THIRD girl name. So hard, that it hasn't even been discussed yet anyways. Plus, it's more fun this way...at least on our end ;) I love surprises!

Also a big thank you to Zoe for helping throw everything together! LaShaun for taking these awesome photos! And, Sweet Ashley Rae's for the beautiful (and delicious) cake!

Have to throw this picture in because Doug actually smiled for a picture!

What's it going to be??

Today was the big day, the gender scan!! BUT, we still do not know if it's a boy or girl just yet, because we have a gender reveal party planned for Friday. I am so excited, and even though it's just a few days away, I feel like they are going to drag by. The ultrasound tech was awesome and just before she went to look in the leg area, she told us to look away. Doug and the girls came along to view and even to Doug's dismay he cooperated and didn't look (don't worry, I watched him since he was on the other side of the room from the screen). He is dying for a boy, but I keep telling him he's wrong. It will be so exciting to see for sure what this little babe is. I was sure to double check with the tech that she was sure over what she saw and she responded that she was because she had a clear shot. She also didn't write down 'boy' or 'girl' until AFTER we left the room so we wouldn't even be able to try to guess how many letters she wrote! She brought the sealed envelope to me in the waiting room, and after the appointment it went to the baker!

During the scan she was not able to get a view of the baby's heart (although she heard a perfectly strong heartbeat). She said this was probably due to the fact that I was only 17 weeks, when the scan is normally done at the 20 week mark. The baby also had it's head facing my back which was an awkward position to get that view of the heart as well. So just to be sure, my doctor is having me go to Winnie Palmer for another scan with better technology. She assured me that she wasn't worried over it, but was just going to be on the safe side. Hey, it's an extra chance to see the nugget, and I'll also have them confirm the gender and get to see for myself!

At my appointment, I also had the second round of blood work drawn for the NT testing. They said they would have results back within a week (which would then be combined with the initial blood work and ultrasound) to determine baby's chances of being born with a genetic disorder. If I don't hear from them in a week, all is well, and results will be gone over during my next appointment in August. Hoping for no phone call!

Until Friday, we'll be sitting around and speculating over who's right in the gender guesses...can't wait!

16 weeks!

Four months, and finally starting to feel a bit better. I can't remember the last time that I took a zofran, which is a good thing. Definitely not feeling 100% "normal," but that's expected during pregnancy. A friend asked me today if each pregnancy gets harder each time, and honestly, I really don't think it does. Maybe it's because I'm still on the younger side? Or maybe it's because the other two kiddos keep me busy that I don't even have time to think about it?

This morning when I woke up to Addisyn crawling up into the bed with me, I could totally feel the little babe balled up on my right side just near my belly button. I was definitely feeling the baby, just not the typical kicking type movements, moreso just feeling the baby floating around in there. I'd press down on the lump and could feel little Baby Dupp react to the pressure. So neat. After getting up and moving around though, baby seemed to disappear back into its hiding place somewhere in my belly. I'm excited to get to feel the little babe all the time and the kicks and rolls, one of my favorite things about being pregnant. I'm also anxious for Addisyn (and Alyse too!) to get to feel her brother/sister kicking around and really understand what's happening. She was a bit to young to piece everything together during Alyse's pregnancy, which is basically the age Alyse is now with this baby.

A week from today is the big ultrasound. Hopefully the tech will be able to see boy or girl, because we have a gender reveal party scheduled for the Friday afterwards. I'm getting anxious to find out what it is, and the car ride from the doctor's office to the cake shop is going to be torturous knowing that the baby's sex will be right inside my purse, haha! It's going to take EVERYTHING in me not to take a peek during the sonogram and also in the car. I can do it though, because I don't want to ruin the surprise. It will be so fun to find out with everyone else. I only worry that if it's pink there won't be much of a reaction from others, because everyone seems to think we "need" a boy. I'll be happy either way, and I'm not just saying that ;)

Tomorrow, we have a big day planned for the fourth. Swimming out at my parents, and then coming back to our house for a cookout and our annual [pregnant] walk down to the lake to watch the fireworks. I'm just glad I'm not as pregnant this 4th as I was when I was pregnant with both Addisyn and Alyse. Yuck. Hot and miserable.