Wow...it has been a while!!!

Ok, so it has been a while since I have posted anything and for that, I am sorry to my family! I really like using this blog to document our lives so that I can remember all the wonderful crazy things that are going on. I thought about doing a bunch of little posts to try to catch up, but have decided that one big post of what we have been doing for the past 2 months would be best!

Ok, here goes nothing!

So I started my new job as a nurse practitioner at the local health department on February 6. I was very nervous about starting work and disrupting our whole family life. Liam started daycare on this day and Taylor continued going to Pre-K.

Also, on that great day...we found out that baby #3 is going to be a...

Girl!!!

I have to admit, I was pretty excited. As me and Will were watching the ultrasound tech fill the screen with images of the baby she was peeking between the legs and I could already tell it was probably a girl. She said at this ultrasound that she was about 90% that it was a girl. I was also told at this u/s that I had a low-lying placenta and she couldn't get a good look at the baby's heart or face. So we were scheduled to come back in 2 weeks for another u/s.

That Friday we had a "Gender Reveal Party" at our house to tell our family what the baby was. I was disappointed that more people didn't come, but Nonnie, Poppy, Kimberly, Logan, Tim, Amber, Will, Taylor, and Liam enjoyed dressing up in either pink or blue and finding out what the baby was by cutting a cake I had made. Everyone was very surprised to find out it was another girl.

It has been a big transition for all of us with me starting to work full-time. Taylor is being dropped off with Grandma in the mornings at 7:30 and she is not a fan of that. She wishes that I still dropped her off to her teachers at 8:15 like I always had been doing. And it was an adjustment for Liam to start daycare. He is enjoying his teacher, Ms. Marleen, and he remembers a lot of the kids from when he went to daycare while I was in school. He really has adjusted well. The kids just don't like getting up so early in the morning and I can't say that I am a big fan either. Taylor is being picked up from school every day by Grandma and sometimes she doesn't like that either. She still wants me to pick her up like I had been doing. It is just a learning experience for all of us and we are having to adjust to this new normal. I don't know that any of us are happy about any of it right now, but having another paycheck coming in will definitely help us out in this season of our life.

My job was going pretty good. The first 2 weeks were very boring. I spent the first week at my site doing absolutely nothing productive and I hated it. The next week was spent at the regional office going over slides and manuals and watching boring videos. I was really hating my new job at this point!

The next week started out with another u/s on President's Day. We brought the kids with us to this u/s and they enjoyed getting to see the baby on the screen. We confirmed that the baby was indeed a girl...even though Liam is still convinced that it is a boy! We saw her heart and everything looked good, but we still couldn't see her face. I was also told that my fluid level was a little low and the baby was only in the 25% for growth. The great news was that my placenta had moved up and out of the way so I would not have to have a c-section because of a previa! We were scheduled for another u/s in 2 weeks to check growth and the face.

I was able to follow around a nurse practitioner at Blount Co on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and it was good to be in the clinic and see what I was going to be doing. On Thursday and Friday I went to Lab Training in Anderson Co. It was no fun, but we got out early both days so I was able to pick Taylor up from school and she really enjoyed that.

The next week I started my public health nurse training at Blount Co. I was very resistant to doing this training because I didn't see a need in it since I was not going to be working as a nurse in the health department. But I was able to work with some really nice ladies and I really did learn a lot about the different programs. I just didn't like having to be checked off on a bunch of stuff I already knew how to do, like blood pressures and head circumference.

My birthday was on a Sunday this year. Me and Will got to go out to eat on Saturday before. We left Taylor with Kimberly for the night and Liam with Nonnie and Poppy for the night and headed off to Knoxville. We went to see The Vow and then went to Peerless to eat supper. After that I introduced Will to the wonderful world of Burlington Coat Factory (couldn't believe he had never been there before!) and we browsed around for a little bit. After that we headed home for a quiet evening with no kids!

On Sunday I had nursery during church and then we all went over to Nonnie and Poppy's for lunch. I had asked Nonnie if she would cook a roast for me. She was happy to oblige and we had a wonderful meal followed by some wonderful cheesecake! I enjoy being with my family so much so that is just what I wanted on my birthday!

I had another u/s on March 7 and we were barely able to see our little girl's face. Just enough to know that she didn't have any abnormalities, but not enough to see what she really looked like. She is really squished up in there and is in a frank breech position (feet at her head and her bottom at my cervix). My fluid level had returned to normal (thank goodness because I had been drinking almost a gallon of water a day for 2 weeks! I also gave up caffeine...no more sweet tea for this girl for a while!). Little girl's growth was now in the 65% and she weighed about 1lb 5oz. I made another appointment to come back in 4 weeks this time.

Then it was back to work for more PHN orientation in Blount County. I oriented to all the different departments and knew how to do everything except be a nurse practitioner at this point :) But they eventually let me come back to Roane County the last 3 days of the month to finish up my nursing orientation and call it done.

On March 24 we decided to take the kids out to Knoxville and spend some time together. We did a little shopping first to find Easter outfits for the kids and Will. We were very lucky to find the kids outfits very quickly at JC Penny's. I can usually find them something really easily there. Taylor wanted to try on dresses in the dressing room. We both had a good time. This is the first time she has tried on clothes in a dressing room and she was hilarious. She would put on a dress and then strut around in the dressing room looking at herself in the mirror. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her. She picked out a pretty pink dress and we picked out Liam a pants set with a green shirt and vest and tie. They were going to look great for Easter. Will found a shirt he liked at Belk and also some new pants and a new tie. I was glad everyone was going to have some new clothes. I looked for myself something at Motherhood Maternity, but didn't see anything I liked right then. After that we went to Brixx to eat some pizza and then we took the kids to the movies. We had gotten some money from my Aunt Dorothy for Christmas and I told her we were going to use the money to take us all out for a fun night at the movies. We went to see The Lorax and it was really cute. We got the kids a big bucket of popcorn and they sat and watched the whole movie. We were all exhuasted by the end of the night and were ready to get home and go to bed!

On March 30 we went with the church on a trip for the kids to McDonalds and then to the bowling alley. The kids were just as excited to ride the bus as anything else, but they had a great time bowling and being with their friends. I think they each even came in first one of the games they played. We really enjoy being out with all of our church friends and their kids.

After my PHN orientation was over at work I was able to start my Nurse Practitioner orientation (finally!). I started with the Primary Care nurse practitioner at Blount County on April 2 and that is where I still am. I will be with her for a total of 3 weeks and will then do 2 weeks of Family Planning nurse practitioner orientation at Anderson County. Lots and lots of orientation, but I have lots and lots to learn so I don't mind being in orientation for this. I just hate driving so far away to work every single day.

On Good Friday I had my next doctor's appointment and did my glucose test then. I had to drink that sweet drink and then we had to sit in the waiting room for an hour and just wait. Luckily I brought my book to read and Will kept himself busy with games on his phone. I passed my glucose test and the baby's heartbeat was 140. I was measuring fine and I have officially gained 7lbs. I hate gaining weight this time around so I am really watching the scale! My hemoglobin was 12 so I don't need any extra iron right now. I now will start going to the doctor every 2 weeks. I can't believe I am already that far along! This pregnancy is flying by!

After the doctor's appointment me and Will went to eat at Red Lobster. We talked about our baby girl's name and are pretty sure we have the final name picked out. But it will be a secret until she gets here! Grandma had agreed to keep the kids for us and it was nice to be out just the two of us. After lunch we went to Babies R Us to register for my baby shower. We have a lot of the big things that we need for this baby but are still lacking a few things that just didn't make it through both of the other kids. So we got registered there and then went to Walmart to register for just a few things. A lot of the older ladies at church have a hard time making it up to Knoxville so it is good to give them the option of looking for stuff at Walmart since there is one locally. After Walmart I stopped in Motherhood Maternity and was able to find a dress that I liked for Easter. Then we headed back home to pick up the kids.

On Saturday Will got some of the garden planted and was very excited to have started it. Liam enjoyed helping him outside. I started getting the baby clothes out and organized. I still need to wash them, but I at least know what all we have now. That evening we went to Nonnie and Poppy's to celebrate Amber's birthday with hamburgers and hotdogs and games. We had a great evening of playing games outside and watching the kids hunt eggs. We got home way too late and knew it was going to be really hard to get up the next morning!

Easter was April 8 and it was a beautiful day. We had a great service at church and then went to Grandma's to eat lunch. The rest of Will's family had other plans so it was just us and his mom, but we had a good lunch with her. Then we stopped by Mammaw and Pappaw's house to visit with them shortly before heading to Nonnie and Poppy's house for the rest of the afternoon. When we got to Nonnie and Poppy's I was feeling very exhausted and my allergies were really bothering me. So I ended up dozing off in the sunroom while everyone else was outside playing cornhole and hunting eggs. We went back to church that night. We all had a great Easter.

And that brings us to this week. Taylor is on Spring break and Liam is having a hard time with that. He doesn't understand why Taylor doesn't have to go to school and why she is getting to spend the night and day with all these different people and he isn't. It has been a really rough week with him. The kids are both going to stay home with Will tomorrow though, so maybe that will make his week better. I think it is going to be pretty and warm so they should be able to spend most of their day outside.

That pretty much sums up our last 2 months in a nutshell. I hope to be able to post more frequently in the future just so I can remember more things about our lives. Especially with the new little one on the way. I am enjoying this pregnancy so far and I love to feel my little girl moving inside me. I also hope to put some more pictures up soon!