18 weeks

Cold night in Bauxite!  Robinson won!  I got maternity jeans this week and they. feel. so. good.

The biggest election of our lifetime is next week and I was so glad to take Anderson and Izabella with me to vote early!  Izabella was prepared for a wait so she brought her Barbies!  So many prayers for November 3rd🙏🙏

and then she gave herself a hair cut...💇

Adam and the kids carved their pumpkins!

Finished product!!!

Anderson's teacher at school sent me this pic of him working 💓

I love a good reason to wear a wig and fake eyelashes!  We dressed up at work today for Halloween🎃

My photographer this week was Anderson and he captured the pic below and I didn't know :)

STILL having bouts of nausea...

Things I have tried:

Unisom and B6

Sea Bands (accupressure wrist bands for nausea)

motion sickness oil concoction Jesi gave me to put behind my ears

taking a plain baked potato to work with me and taking a bite every hour

Papaya enzyme tablets

mineral water (couldn't tell that it made a difference but that is how I discovered sparkling mineral water and am now hooked because of the carbonation LOL)

"It ain't easy being queasy" 😂 drops from Target

Greek yogurt and turkey sausage made me sick this week!

Currently loving:
orange juice
baked potatoes
soup- any kind except tomato
Chicken Salad Chick seasonal strawberry salads
Impossible Whopper (been craving a cheeseburger but that is out because of my Alpha Gal tickbourne allergy)
any drink mixed with sparkling mineral water (Adam actually surprised me with Reese's pumpkins and strawberry Perrier one night this week!😍)

Feeling the baby kick so much and I forget the sickness because it is THE. BEST. EVER.💖💛

Midwife appointment is next week and then 20 week anatomy scan (not finding out gender!) will be on Adam's 39th birthday in two weeks!  🎉🎉🎉🎉

Just a reminder, any Comments you leave will be printed into BABY A #3'S baby book!  So feel free to comment for him/her 😁

October, baby!

Almost 17 weeks

Gone are the days of "Your baby is the size of a plum."  Hello cassette tape!  Another app said it was the size of a game controller😂

I keep thinking the nausea is going away, and then it will hit me again for 2 or 3 days in a row. 

 
Still loving:
Baked potatoes

Broccoli and cheese

Broccoli and cheese soup

Kit Kats

Perrier sparkling Strawberry mineral water

Can tolerate Greek yogurt now!  Happy about this so I can up my protein :)

Felt the baby move several more times this week!  One time I sneezed and it flipped like 5 times!  Poor thing has no idea what it's in for with this loud family!!!!

Another great night of football!  It actually got COLD!  Uncle Chad joined us!

Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch with cousins and Nana and Mammaw!

The pic we got of all the cousins

The effort it took to get that pic!😂

We celebrated Myles' 8th birthday afterward.  

Izabella loves high ropes courses, so Nana did it with her!!!

Here we go! 16 weeks

Here is the back story of how we told our families :)

We were posing for our routine after game picture, and our friend, Dede, another coach's wife, held up the ultrasound pic with the camera, so this pic below is everyone looking puzzled at what she is holding up 😂😂😂

See video footage here: here

and here

Then everyone realizing what was happening

12 weeks!!

Adam had been DYING to tell people.  He has never been one to keep secrets and has spoiled my birthday/Christmas gifts on more than one occasion LOL

So he was super happy this night!

Uncle Chad and Aunt Claire were out of town so we facetimed with Eloise and she was so happy and shocked about her new cousin 😍😄

Yes, we were at Target!

Grandpa Mike came the next day so the kids surprised him!  The video capturing Mike Reed's classic reaction here

Backing up to the morning before our announcement pics we had made:  This is when we told Anderson and Izabella about their new baby brother or sister.  It was precious and they were both so happy and surprised and excited 💕💗

Adam gave them their signs we had made for the pictures and then had them turn them around and read them.  Video here

Izabella said, "Mommy, I whispered when you told me about the baby because I was about to cry!"😭

Later on,  she said, "Wait a minute,  were you pregnant yesterday too and you didn't tell me??" 🤣

Izabella made plans right away.  She started reading to HER baby 💓💓

My friend, Cristina, let me borrow a bassinet that I planned on keeping in the garage for now, but Izabella promptly put it in her room and had to prepared for a baby in about 2.3 minutes😂😍

She made a list of everything we needed and wanted to go to the store THAT DAY to get everything:
Stroller

Toys

Diapers

Baby Bottles

The thing you change their diapers on

I told her we didn't need to get everything right now wo we went to Target to pick out some things we liked and she bought a book and a rattle for the baby!

TOTALLY looking forward to this again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Adam had a bye week the next week so we went to visit Grandma Hays!  94 years old- she is amazing!  She went to the casino the week before this pic was taken!

Izabella was my photographer today.  I am almost 16 weeks!  Baby just started pooching out this week but doesn't look like much more than a "good greasy dinner." 😂

Hoping to cherish these changes more this time with a different perspective on this little miracle growing inside of me!  It is so fun telling the kids what new development is happening each week.  (It is the size of a box of crayons now) They love their baby brother/sister so much already!  Izabella hugs and kisses my "belly" frequently. 

This is my "thing," my secret to my big ol' healthy babies:  Brewer Diet that consists of tons of protein (around 100 grams a day), 2 eggs, and lots of other whole foods.  Except I still can't eat that much without getting sick.  I was only able to eat one piece of this toast.  Adam was making me eggs every morning (just like he did with the other 2 babies!) but it has been hard to get them down.  It got better around 18 weeks with Izabella so I know I'll get there!

Things that have tasted good to me lately:
macaroni and cheese

baked potatoes

mashed potatoes

corn flakes

pickles

anything carbonated (I love Zevia "sodas" but I have been adding sparkling mineral water to my water, orange juice, etc. to add in nutrition)

NOT able to drink coffee! 😞  Which is the same as the last 2 pregnancies.  It is so sad because I LOVE coffee normally.  I thought it sounded good last Saturday and after I drank it, I felt sick the rest of the day!!

Football game from Friday in Nashville!

The highlight from this week was getting to hear the baby's heart beat at my midwife appointment!!  

The midwife who delivered Izabella has moved out of state so I have a new one this time but she was so kind and explained everything to the kids.  I am SO SO thankful they get to experience this and learn about how miraculous and empowering pregnancy and childbirth is, and not something to be feared or managed.  Here is the video Anderson took while Shea was listening for the heartbeat!!  You hear Izabella say, "I don't hear a baby!?"  I am not sure what she was listening for, maybe a baby crying!?  LOL

It was a relief to hear it since it had been a month since the ultrasound where I "saw" the heartbeat.  I have felt the baby move 3 times so far, starting this past week!  I'll feel a lot better when I can feel him/her move regularly!

All grown up

Well, well, well, look who it is!!  It's us, all grown up!  Anderson is TEN and Izabella is EIGHT!  After Izabella's AMAZING birth, things got soooo crazy for us.  It began with Adam being laid off at Arkansas Baptist the following year, a move to Searcy, Arkansas for 4 years (where we literally knew no one), and after a crazy string of events, it ended with Adam being hired on at Joe T. Robinson high school, a football program he has admired for years- and bringing us BACK to the Little Rock area.   It's been the most tumultuous time of our lives, but also one that THANKFULLY, we can look back and see God taking care of everything, even if I felt so abandoned by Him throughout most of that time.

I got away from this blog because of the craziness , but I have gotten the urge to pick it back up several times recently.  First of all, I love writing, and it helps me process things.  And secondly, Anderson and Izabella love seeing their stories and I was able to make it into a book for each of them.  And third, I am also kind of over the "look at me" culture and otherwise becoming more and more toxic social media, and prefer not to share our lives in such a public arena.  

But here we are!  With a totally new perspective on so many things in life, we are hoping to stay put for a while.  Here in Bryant, Arkansas, in our most perfect little 1500 square foot house (see, I told you new perspective! Like who am I?), and expecting a third baby in the spring.  Life is calm (for now), and I am just enjoying this season.

She wanted to take a pic with me!  She is so excited about this baby.  She said, "Were you pregnant yesterday too?!" 😂  I will have post the video of us telling her and Anderson if I can!!! 💓