Beach Beach

It's beach season, baby. And we are LOVING it! 

and we like having visitors! :-) 

St. Augustine Weekend

Sometimes it just feels good getting out of town for a few days. We decided to make it our "family baby-moon" and it really turned out to be a great time. Traveling with kids never really is a vacation, especially when not everything involved is "kid fun," but we've always wanted to go to St. Augustine. It's far enough away to feel like we are in a new area, but close enough for a big 33 week pregnant mama to be able to survive the drive. Speaking of which, do not go on a driving trip after 33 weeks. Yeeesssssh. I tried to keep a smile on my face, but I was pretty miserable. 

After we checked into the hotel, which was right in the historic district of St. Augustine, we crossed the street and walked onto the Mission grounds. It was a gorgeous day. The girls did okay walking around, but looking at statues and the scenery isn't a kids first choice. 

You can see this gold cross anywhere in the city. It's pretty amazing. 

The next morning, we went to Alligator Farm! It was a crazy fun place. SO MANY ALLIGATORS! The girls loved it. Well, Brinley loved it. Ellie clung to Ryan and said over and over again, "Those dinosaurs are scary! They going to eat meeeee!" 

We missed the main feeding time, but there was an enclosure with smaller alligators inside and you could feed them little dog-food like crunchies. Brinley loved this. She was laughing so hard. Her dream in life is to be involved with an animals somehow, (in her words), a marine biologist, a wildlife explorer,  or a paleontologist. 

After a few hours of quiet down time at the hotel, we ventured out again and went to Harry's for dinner.

Since it was our last night in St. Augustine, we decided to walk around the historic district. Ryan and I kept saying how much fun this would be someday to make the trip to St. Augustine without kids. So much history. So many fun places to eat. And so much to explore! We were limited to where our double jogger could squeeze through, and how far this mama could walk (which wasn't far).  

Always a good time when you find a Kilwins! Yum!!!

We had to check out of our hotel at 11am, so we went down to the beach and explored a bit before starting our 3 hour drive home. 

SO MANY SHELLS!

We had so much fun! Maybe on our next family "stay-cation" we will go to a water park resort or something so the girls can get out and do more kid-friendly activities. Kids just like to run around no matter where they are. Florida is FULL of awesome things to do and see and we feel so lucky to live in this state!

33 Weeks

I feel like we have finally turned a corner in the pregnancy. We are now into March, and I can finally answer "next month!" when someone asks me when this baby is due!!

In the last month, I took and passed the glucose test and got my rhogam shot. I am still having my blood drawn every 2 weeks to monitor an antibody that was found in my blood at my first appointment. It has been so low the doctors haven't been able to identify the titer, however, there are a few antibodies that could be fatal to the baby, and so that is why they are watching it every 2 weeks to see if there is any change. I swear, I can't just have a normal time at the doctor. I wish I kept count how many times I've been pricked since having my molar pregnancy. We gotta be 50+ right now. 

So far, my weight gain has been around 30 pounds, but man oh man, those added 30 pounds feel like 3000 pounds. I don't ever remember being this physically exhausted when I was pregnant with Ellie. Grocery shopping has become my "exercise." I can't go anywhere without my mason jar tumbler water bottle. I always find a new water bottle during my pregnancies that becomes my 3rd arm. Ryan laughs when I ask for a filler up and apparently my ice chewing has become a bit ridiculous :-) 

We finally have an official c-section date, April 22nd! I am really happy about the doctor that I picked and he seemed thrilled that I wanted him to be my doctor for it. I have been extra nervous this second c-section go around, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because I know what to expect this time? Maybe it weirds me out they are reopening my incision? And this time they are either doing staples or sutures, depending on the scar tissue. He even asked me if Ryan and I wanted him to tie my tubes while he was doing the c-section. Never ask an 8 month pregnant mama if this will be her last baby. Yeesh. I am tired and miserable and the idea of never doing this again is appealing, but I really have no idea. While we feel like this could be the conclusion of our family, we are definitely open to being surprised. 

Brinley is getting more and more excited to be a "big-big sister" as she says, and who knows about Ellie. We talk about baby brother all the time and where he is right now, but until she sees that baby with her own eyes and realizes he isn't going away, her true colors will shine! Ellie is at a difficult age. I remember Brinley having this same hard time, but since Brinley was closer to 3 before Ellie came, we pushed through the stubbornness phase pretty easily. and I wasn't as exhausted or frustrated when I was 8 months pregnant. Ellie pushes my buttons until my buttons are broken. She is so stinking adorable, but man, she can turn on the sass really fast when she doesn't get her way. I know whenever we leave Brinley's preschool, or the store, or church, with Ellie in mid-tantrum, people must think we are crazy having another kid. The looks I get are pretty entertaining (read: humiliating). Yes, I guess we are crazy adding another kid into our family, but guess what? I would much rather sacrifice my sleep, my body, my own wants and desires right now in my 20's, then to be doing this in my 30's and 40's. Yes, we have our hands full, yes they are full of energy, yes we are thrilled to be adding another baby, and yes this was all planned. 

Over the next few weeks, Ryan and I are going to start organizing and setting up the baby's "corner" in our bedroom. We live in a 3 bedroom condo, and have an extra room that just houses all the random crap we have, but the baby will be staying in our room for the first few months anyways. We have been so lucky to receive gifts and boxes of hand-me-down baby clothes. Seriously, I have maybe bought 5 items of clothing, and a few blankets, but we are so lucky to be on the receiving end of so much love.

Valentine's Day

What a fun week! I love Valentine's Day! It never bothered me when I was single that I didn't have anyone to love over and buy chocolates for, so now that I have three lovies in my life, it is so much fun!

Quick hilarious story from my single days:

I was "dating" this guy, nothing was official, I guess we just hung out a lot, and Valentine's day was right around the corner. I didn't think much about it, but I didn't want to bring it either. I didn't want to put pressure on him and make it awkward. So, on Valentine's day, I went to work, and around lunch time, a huge beautiful bouquet came addressed to me. Everyone rushed over to see who sent them, and guess what? THERE WAS NO NOTE! I could have come from anyyyyyone. Heck, my dad has been known to do something on Valentine's day for his daughters too so I really had no idea! So that night, when that guy and I were hanging out, I was trying to think of a million ways to ask him if he had sent them without being weird. Eventually, I said, "Soooooooooo I got this bouquet of flowers at work today, but the weird thing is, there wasn't a note. Do you have any idea who might have sent them?" He blushed so bad, and said, "Ugh! I thought that was going to happen when I ordered them." And then we never said anything about it again!!! So basically, getting flowers isn't always a glorious experience.

Friday night was our designated date night and Ryan and I went to a new restuarant in Stuart. We spent way too much money, but we rarely go out anymore and when we do, we don't go anywhere fancy. This place was so much fun. I wish I took a picture of all that we ate, but that would just be gluttonous. I started with a blue cheese wedge salad and Ryan had a chipotle bisque. It was unbelievable. Best bisque I've ever had. For our entrees, Ryan had a locally caught swordfish and I had the most tender steak I've ever had in my entire life. Seriously, the best steak ever!! We weren't in a rush to leave the restuarant after our amazing meal, so we got some dessert too. In house special, the dutch apple cobbler. Sooooo yummmmmmy.

After dinner, we were trying to think of things we could do, and like the old married couple that we are, we went to Best Buy to update our phone plan and get new phones. Sad day for me, no more iPhone. We are now rocking the LG G3 phone and it has been a pretty smooth transition. 

Ryan made his special Valentine's Day breakfast on Saturday morning. Red velvet pancakes, strawberries and raspberries, eggs, and sausage. Yum! Later that day, Brinley went to gymnastics and I worked. We really had such a fun day together and I am so grateful for these cuties!

Brinley at 5 Years Old

Brinley seems to be getting better and better with age (if that's even possible!). That girl never ceases to amaze me. Her sweet personality. Her generosity. Her love for others. Her care and concern for her sister. Her smarts. Her wit. Her sass. Her sensitive heart. Her athletic ability. Everything, she is just the best.

She has loved being in school. It takes us a lot to get out the door some mornings, because she loves to poke around and get distracted. I need to invest in a timer or something because she takes forever to do the simplest tasks. Brushing her teeth can take up to 10 minutes because she is also looking at hair bows, washing her hands, then cleaning the countertops, and then using her toothbrush as a wand.

Her teachers adore her. They are always telling me funny things she says in class. Brinley in doing so well in her preschool, I have no doubt that she will rock it in full-time kindergarten next year. She can count to 100. She can identify some simple basic words and names. She can write her full name. She can write all her numbers. She remembers everything. I think that's what impresses me the most about Brinley. She remembers everything! She can watch or listen to the simplest thing on her favorite show (Wild Kratts) and tell me in full detail days later about what she learned. She has wanted to be a paleontologist, marine biologist, a zoo keeper, and lately, she wants to be a "Wildlife Biologist." She loves all animals! I wish we had a zoo close by. But thankfully, books from the library, educational shows about animals, and just her curiosity helps fuel her need for information. I guess the perfect word for Brinley's interest is EAGER. She wants to learn everything. Can't blame her, we live in a very interesting world!

This video sums up Brinley pretty accurately.

Another thing I love about Brinley is her sensitive little heart. She is always helping, loving, and caring for Ellie. She loves to give Ellie hugs and kisses and make sure she is happy. Brinley does the same thing with me. Kisses and hugs all the time. Brinley rarely has a sad crying moment, but she still can throw a pretty nuclear tantrum. She melts down when she didn't get enough sleep the night before and is rundown from the day (don't we all feel that way sometimes!?). Some nights, she begs just to go to bed. "No books. No songs. I just want to sleep, mommy."

Brinley can't wait to be a big sister again. She is constantly asking me what she can do to help when the baby gets here. She has been finding her and Ellie's old baby toys and setting them aside for him to use. I know I am going to appreciate her helpfulness with the baby, but especially about Ellie. Entertaining Ellie and keeping her out of trouble is Brinley's favorite thing to do, so I know she will be happy to boss her around.

Brinley, you're the best and we love you!