Thank you, Baby!

Running on less energy the last few months has been frustrating. I've had to focus on the essentials and let other things I wish I could do just slide. Not fun. Usually I'm crossing things off my to-do list in the afternoon and evening, but that hasn't happened in a long time. Making me feel a little down on my self.

Then, things started happening lately that have helped me regain my perspective. First, a little bump and a thought of "Was that the baby?" Little bumps have turned into harder and more regular kicks. I'm so grateful to get these gentle reminders from my baby every once in a while to remind me why my body is so tired. It will pass and for now I have to accept it. It sure does help to have a baby tapping me every once in a while to say hello and remind me of what I'm doing.

I'm very excited for my ultrasound in a couple of weeks. We're not finding out what we're having, but it's so nice for us to see a glimpse of the baby. Joe will be able to go, and we're going to take Dillon and Lilly so this becomes a little more real for them, too.

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Look what greeted Joe this morning when he went to take the trash out to the curb. He said it's the biggest spider he's seen in North America. (I don't want to know what he saw in Brazil!) To give you perspective, it was about the size of his palm. Yuck! I'm glad he took out the trash today!

A Sunday Walk

We continue to find treasured spots around where we live to walk and explore. We walked the trail around Lake Pine here in Apex. Unfortunately, we weren't sure how long the trail was so we turned back just before we hit a mile. Turns out the trail was 2 miles. We'll know next time. We saw lots of turtles, ducks, and geese. The kids loved it, and it was a great way to get out and enjoy nature on a Sunday afternoon.

The girls...

The boys...

And some ponytail cuteness...

Updates

A quick update so I don't let the blog slip away into oblivion...

I'm almost 13 weeks pregnant now. I can't wear any regular pants although no strangers have asked me if I'm pregnant yet. :) My nausea in the evening has vanished (thank goodness!), but I am still soooooo tired. Everyone keeps saying, well you do have 4 kids, but I think it's really just different this time with this pregnancy. So, for now, I lay down every afternoon and am ready for bed just after the kids go to sleep at 8. Rest is good, right???

The garage door opener was found and a new cell phone was bought. Guess we'll be eating with chopsticks eventually! :)

I'm looking forward to a great little day trip with my mom tomorrow. More on that to come!