Where I've been

In general, I try not to go too long without updating my blog.  When I get too far behind, I find it really hard (and a bit overwhelming) to get caught back up.  But, sometimes life happens, and you have to put the blog on the back seat for a while.  And lately, it feels like life has been happening a lot.  So, this post will be to hopefully catch up on the big picture of what's been going on in our lives and then I really do hope to go back and fill in my gaps.  

 May always seems to be a crazy month for us.  For one thing, there are just a lot of birthdays (including Ryan's 4th)!  Combine that with end-of-year preschool happenings and the various other typical things, and it can get a little wild.  This year was made even more crazy by the continuation of house settling-in, and our biggest news of late... 

I'm pregnant.  Surprise!  We actually found out in early April (10 days after moving in... no wonder I was so tired!), but the first trimester was still in full effect for most of May.  While I am thrilled about this newest member of our family, this pregnancy has been much more challenging than my previous two, with a good bit of nausea and extreme fatigue.  Thankfully, I have now reached the beginning of the second trimester and I've been feeling much better.  I was able to have a 12-week ultrasound, and it was wonderful to see our little baby with a strong heartbeat and moving all around.  If you don't like ultrasound pictures, skip ahead now.

Hand

Head/torso

 

 

 

 

 

3-D Photo... apparently he/she was feeling shy :)

Not surprisingly, Kaeden is completely oblivious, but Ryan is very excited.  When we told him, he just got this big smile on his face, reached out and touched my belly, and then leaned over and kissed it.  He is quite adamant that the baby be a girl, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts if he's wrong.  He loved seeing the ultrasound photos, and quickly decided that he was going to draw the baby a picture.  This is his depiction of what the baby looks like:

The circle is my belly, baby's in the middle, the brown stuff to the right is the umbilical cord, and the red and yellow stuff in the bottom right corner is the food.  I guess he does listen to what I say after all.  Note that there is a bow in the baby's hair... we could be in big trouble.

During May, we also had a wonderfully refreshing trip to the beach with Mason's parents and a fun visit from my parents and brother.  After a rough couple of months, both of those weekends were incredible and I am so thankful for supportive families!

June was supposed to be our catch-up month.  We don't have a whole lot going on... school's out, so we have a lot more flexibility during the week, and fairly wide open weekends.  Well, on May 31, Mason badly sprained his ankle playing ultimate frisbee.  So much for our catch-up month.  Mason's had to be off his feet most of the time (all of the time during those first few days), and I've been taking care of the boys, house, etc. pretty much on my own.  It's been challenging for sure, but I am just so thankful that I am at least feeling better now.  While it's still quite painful to be up on his feet for very long, Mason has been able to walk without crutches the last couple of days and can help out a bit more.  We'll take what we can get!  

I feel like life hasn't been "normal" for a very long time now (with selling the old house, preparing to move, moving, settling in, first trimester pregnancy, etc.) and I am someone who craves routine and consistency.  So, it's been a challenge for me lately, but I know that God is teaching me some important lessons through all of this, and I am learning to take things as they come.  The day-to-day is not always easy, but I am extremely blessed and thankful for God's abundant gifts.  

And that's where I've been.