Big News and Birthday Time!

We're going for it.

Baby #3 is on the way.


3 children. Under 3 years old.

A challenge? Yes.
Exciting? For sure.
A blessing? Indeed!

I haven't been to the doctor yet, but we're thinking that our third little one will be joining the family sometime in February of 2010. We didn't "try" for the baby or "not try". We left it completely 100% in God's hands. And He blessed us. And we're thankful!

We told our families on the 4th of July. I made the kids t-shirts. Kenzie's said "I'm the big sister".
Ryken's said "I'm the little brother" on the front and "AND the BIG BROTHER" on the back.

Here's a cute shot of the kiddos swimming on the 4th of July at their great grandma and grandpa Brown's house:

I go to the doctor on August 5th. So I will be able to update more specifically then. But for now. I am somewhere between 6 & 8 weeks along and feel great. I get queasy in the mornings, but as soon as I eat something I feel much better. My super-sniffer pregnancy nose is back in full force...wonderful for changing those stinky diapers. And my belly is already getting quite bloaty and round in the evenings. I'm not sure that I am ready to be huge again so soon....but there's not much I can do about that.

So that's about it as far as baby news goes.


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Part 2 of this post = my 24th birthday

I turned 24 on July 9th. It was a great day : )

Ryken woke me up early. Really early. 5am to be exact. But it was ok. I needed to get some work done by 7:30 and it was a good thing he woke me up because it ended up taking me longer than I was thinking it would and I finished at about 7:15.

Chip let me go back to bed at 7:30 until he had to leave for work at 8:30. I was grateful for the extra rest! Chip worked from 9am-5pm that day. Kenzie and I watched TV and played while Ryken took his morning nap. When he woke up I packed the kids into the minivan and headed out into the EXTREME heat to get some free birthday food : ) First we went to Joes Real BBQ where Chip happened to be working the To-Go window. I got a quart of mac n cheese, a kid's sized bun, and a piece of lemon cake in place of my "birthday meal". So it was FREE : ) Then we headed across the street to Liberty Market. You get a $10 credit for your birthday there. I ordered the vegetarian pizza which is $9.50 and a water. So again. FREE : ) I fed the kids their mac n cheese and enjoyed my delicious pizza. We had enough leftovers for another meal....BONUS!! We shared the lemon cake and went on our way.

We got home at 1:30. Both kids fell asleep in the car. Both kids woke up as I transferred them inside. Both kids got completeley WOUND UP and would NOT go back to sleep. I think they FINALLY fell asleep about 2 hours later. It was an ordeal.

Chip got off work at 5. His mom came over to babysit at 5:15. We left at 5:30.

We got to go to dinner AND a movie! We usually do one or the other. So it was pretty special : ) We ate at Brio, a nice Italian restaurant. We had a gift card so we splurged and got things like appetizers and lemonade. I got way too full. I felt pretty miserable. But it sure tasted GREAT!






We went and saw The Proposal. It was a dissapointment. I had heard from a few people it was really good. And it wasn't bad. Just not that great. But it was still fun to sit with Chip and hold hands and be somewhat entertained for a couple extra hours with no kids.

We stopped on our way back to the car and took some pictures. Just goofy stuff. But it was fun. And it felt like a date.







We got home at around 10pm. Ryken was crying. He apparently woke up and missed his mom. Poor guy. And poor grandma. Not very fun trying to take care of a mad screaming boy. But I nursed him and he went back to sleep and that was that.

The next night Chip's parents and grandparents came over and brought Buster Bars from DQ. YUM. Chip's mom got me an H2O mop to steam clean the floors. She must notice how dirty they are every week when she babysits! (Just kidding...I know that isn't true and I was not offended by the gift AT ALL...I'm actually really excited about it!) I used it tonight and it worked really well. And when I am 8 1/2 months pregnant it will be REALLY NICE not to be down on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor!

Ryken had a little birthday surprise planned for me that night...he started taking steps...2-3 at a time...back and forth between everyone as we sat on the couches talking. It was fun for so many people to share in such an exciting accomplishment for him!



Last night we went to Red Robin for my free birthday burger. Chip and I split it and bought a kids meal for the kiddos to split. Then we headed to DQ with my birthday buy one get one free blizzard coupon. Yum!

So I think now that it is the 13th my birthday festivities have finally come to an end. It sure was a wonderful birthday though!