36 weeks

Oh how I love this sweet girl!!

Aubrey, thank you for getting some pictures of me and Hazel together!

AND my baby belly!!

Hazel's kisses and interest in this sweet baby makes me feel so good.

I am very thankful for this pregnancy.

I feel so blessed to be doing this again!

Baby #4 is an amazing blessing!

I thank God for this journey.

My friend Mylanta, "take me home" outfit ...

I have had heartburn that is kicking my butt. Seriously annoying and really tough to get rid of. I bought Mylanta yesterday. The tums weren't cutting it. Last night I slept well. No aching hips last night and no heartburn, wow... it felt like some sort of pregnancy miracle! So here I am, raring to go. And that is good -- it will be a busy day today with lots of things that need my attention.

Yesterday at Target, Hazel and I bought a baby stroller and a "take me home outfit" for this baby boy. Ohhhhh... the sweetness. This little take me home outfit is precious. Hazel's excitement over all this baby boy stuff is pretty heart warming too. :)

Last night Merit had a baseball game. He has two a week right now. This child showed us very early on that he is a pretty intense kid, I think we saw this when he was about six months old. Channeling that intensity has been a process. I love it that he loves baseball, but sometimes it is too intense, he is too serious. Aren't a bunch of kids just supposed to go out, play ball and have fun? I think too much pressure is put on Merit and maybe a lot of the pressure comes from within. He is in a hitting slump. I think he would feel a lot better if he could put the bat on the ball a few times. :)
He has a coach who is constantly helping the kids learn and who expects a lot, this is good.
Overall, it is a lot of fun... but I do want to be sure HE is having FUN.

Willem and Hazel love the baseball games. They don't love watching baseball :), but they sure enjoy the socializing, playing on the playground, enjoying the weather and running off energy! Hazel sleeps like a rock the nights after the games. It has been a good activity for our family.

Natasha is on my heart and mind like crazy. Just saying lots of prayers for a smooth recovery and good rest.

The sun is shining, it looks like a gorgeous day! Hope to get outside with Hazel after appts and errands and enjoy it!

Catch Up

We bought a camper/5th wheel trailer last week. I think our family will make a lot of memories camping. The kids were so excited to take it out this past weekend, Willem probably being the most excited! There's lots of storage, lots of room, a toy hauler for our bikes, motorcycles or golf cart. We ended up "camping" at Grandpa Vic's.

Fun in the 5th wheel!

Back at home...

So fun to have green grass again!

Natasha has her ICD now. She is in the process of recovering. Prayers for a speedy recovery would be appreciated! Also, her throat feels raw from the breathing tube and she is having some muscle spasms. She is brave. She has proved this time and time again. I ams so thankful for her and although it makes me sad she is faced with these heart issues, it is good she now has this life saving device.

I have been looking through garden centers lately. This time of year I just love browsing through these centers, looking and planning a bit. Hazel likes this activity too. :) We need to keep things pretty simple this year with planting and gardening. With a May baby on the way, we know we will be busy with a newborn and with other busy kids. But it is fun to look and so often I am reminded of people when I look at plants and flowers. Fuschias always remind me of my Grandma Dorothy, tomatoe plants remind my of my Grandma Ken. Geraniums and full, thriving hanging baskets remind me of my Grandma Alma and my mom. Nasturims, petunias and marigolds also remind me of my mom.

Papa Stan and Gramma Adie always have a beautiful garden.

Gramma Kris always has fantastic succulents and fun grasses.

When Lesha and I were little, our family lived on the Sunrise Road in Custer, WA. My mom didn't plant much then, but I do remember her planting yellow and orange marigolds.

Different flowers remind me of different "seasons" of my life.

The last weekend I saw my mom we bought tulips together for a bridal shower she was hosting.

She was looking forward to making her front porch cheery and full of spring and had plans to plant lots of flowers again.

Flowers always provide some cheer.

Yesterday my friend Katie gave me a fun spring bucket of flowers! Again, a piece of cheer!

When I have this baby boy, I would love for my mom to be able to be at the hospital to meet this new bundle and to help watch over these three great kids of ours! I wish she could be in Kodiak right now taking care of Natasha's kids as Natasha recovers from her difibrillator procedure. I would love it if she could celebrate her 58th birthday this month... but really, deep down I know - God knows what He is doing. Trusting Him is the best plan. I also think that being faced with loss and hardships makes us stronger and more appreciative, or at least it can. THINGS don't matter, PEOPLE and RELATIONSHIPS do.

And I need to be thankful that God always places people in our lives that can help us get through what we are going through. Natasha's mother in law is in Kodiak now with Lane and Estelle - it is great she could go up there! And I have been so blessed to be offered lots of help when baby #4 arrives.

We have a busy Tuesday in front of us... I better run!

Counting my blessings, anticipating the arrival of our 3rd son

I was so blessed this morning with some time with dear friends!!

I received some very thoughtful cards, gifts and wonderful words.

We enjoyed breakfast and visiting.

I am thankful!

I am finally "nesting" a bit. But our home looks like it may need months of nesting!

I hope I can be productive over the next few weeks.

I love the wonder.

The pure joy.

The innocence.

I am so blessed by time spent with Hazel.

God has RICHLY blessed us with this little girl.

I am overwhelmed and excited to think this baby could come in 3,4,5 weeks. My due date is May 20th. WOW! Is our family ready?! Oh, adding a fourth child will be busy and an adjustment and wonderful, I'll bet! I am so excited to meet him. I am so excited to hold him. I am excited to sleep on my stomach and back again. I am tired of waking up with sore hips and shoulders. The anticipation is great. Listening to the kids "prepare" for this baby boy is heart warming! We thank God for this sweet baby boy!

The weekend is here! This means time with these sweeties and their dad!

Spring Break!

We hadn't  been to Lake Lenore Caves in about 5 years and we sure had a fun afternoon of hiking and soaking up the beauty!! Willem especially loved the hike.

Dirty faced, exploring cutie

That night some AWFUL tooth pain set in for me and then an emergency root canal the next morning. OUCH! I was out of it for a couple of days. Having a root canal is no fun! Especially when pregnant.

After a few sleepless nights and slow days at home trying to get back to normal, we headed to Yakima for camping and a baseball tournament. We had a fun get away.

Merit sliding into 3rd and he was SAFE!
This tournament team is so much fun to watch.


My computer is SUPER slow... so this post took a long time. Hopefully I can get it working better so that I can keep blogging!