Our Life: 4 Years Later...

Well, 4 years later.....and I finally make another entry!! Ha! I guess things got a little busy....to say the least!! I had actually forgotten that I had this blog until Grandma Polly sent me a link to it and said, "Remember this?" And it's really sad that I just saw that email today and she sent it in November! Yeah, I'm a slacker!! I don't even know where to begin. I notice my last post was my positive pregnancy test for Kinsey.

After 3 miscarriages in a row and 2 years of trying, we finally had a pregnancy stick! I had lots of horrible morning sickness that ended up lasting all day. I lost about 20 lbs being so sick during the beginning of pregnancy. I also ended up having terrible kidney stones which landed me a 3 day stay in the hospital. I thought the pregnancy was going to be terrible, but after the first trimester ended, it ended up being a pretty smooth-sailing pregnancy. We found out we were having a girl and on February 19th, 2011, Kinsey Elizabeth made her way into the world, screaming and crying and letting us all know she didn't like that! The birth was very easy and way better than Jack's! Thank goodness!! Jack did SO great at being a big brother. We had a few tears early on and it broke my heart when he was crying and told me he didn't think I was his best friend anymore, but he really bonded with Kinsey and she just loved having him near. She was a pretty easy baby, though at the time, we thought she was really hard, but that was in comparison to Jack who really was the easiest baby ever!! She was a loud crier and we were not used to that. She didn't actually like to snuggle much, she wanted to be on the floor playing and looking around. She did get agitated easily and that is true to this day. She is very particular and needs to have things just so. We just celebrated her 3rd birthday this year!! Jack also turned 6 this past fall and started Kindergarten!! It is so crazy to think that he was only 1 when I started this blog!! Time FLIES!!

So when Kinsey was 11 months old, we actually found out I was pregnant again. I was NOT happy! I mean, I knew it must be God's plan, but I had just finished almost a year of exclusive pumping and I finally had myself back to myself and BOOM!!! Here we go again!! I blame Kevin, haha!! At the time, I was in pure shock. After all, we had tried so long to finally have our second, so I guess we didn't think things would happen so quickly, but that's how we got Baby Surprise. And then the lovely all day sickness started along with SPD which started at 12 weeks and plagued me horribly the whole time. It was a difficult pregnancy. I also had placenta previa the first months and had to take it easy. Luckily, that corrected and I was able to have a natural deliver, not c-section. We kept the surprise theme during the pregnancy. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby. We also kept names a surprise until the end. Kevin and I had a bet going: If he was right about the baby being a girl, he could pick her name. If I was right about it being a boy, I would choose a boy name. It was pretty fun walking the halls in labor and still discussing names and trying to decided our final decisions! Baby Surprise indeed surprised us by coming pretty quick! In fact, I had no epidural or medications and was trying to tell the nurse the baby was coming....she didn't believe me and then, "SURPRISE!" Out came baby! I had just been checked about 1 minute before and was dilated to 6. Not to a 10, but within in a minute or so, boom!! Well, anyhow, the next thing I hear from Kevin was, "I was right!" I knew it was a girl then! So Elyse Cherie was born October 9th, 2012. Big sister Kinsey was just 19 months old! Jack was already good at holding his new baby sister. He was happy to have two sisters to protect and play with. I absolutely loved my hospital stay with Elyse. Seeing how she was our third, there were no worries, things seemed so much easier and calmer. I really took advantage of all the snuggles I could.

Elyse was such a sleepy snuggly baby the first few months. She slept so much. She was quiet and happy for the most part, but soon found her voice. I am pretty sure she had to keep up with her big sister....loud! Loud cries, loud screams and just having to be heard. I am also pretty sure I did my best to hold her and spoil her as long as I could because having a tiny baby is just so amazing and when it's your third you learn to appreciate every minute of time you can snuggle with them. They grow up way too fast!! Elyse is soon going to be 18 months already. She is such a character. She's a binky girl and loves her blankie too! She has been the most demanding child, but I guess that's her way of being heard around here! She is starting to potty train and talk, it's just really exciting!!

We think we are probably done having babies, although I might possibly want one more! It's just hard for me to be pregnant. Right now, we are focusing on our finances and our health. We recently moved in with my parents in hopes to save money for a down payment on a home we can call our own. We have been renting for 8 years. I have also been dealing with health issues, possibly hypothyroidism, and it's been quite a drag. Waiting on blood work to come back so I can see where to go from here. Soooo many things I could write to catch up over 4 years, but this is a start. I would like to continue updating on here. I had much fun going back and looking at what I wrote as a mom of just one, especially as now I can barely remember those times! So that's what I've been busy with....being a mom to 3 kiddos!!