Peter's Birthday

This weekend we celebrated my favorite person in the worlds birthday! He never takes any time for himself and he rarely gets to do the things he enjoys doing so we tried to plan a day with a few of his favorite things. 

Starting with a stop to get some of his favorite donuts 

And the flavor of the month just so happened to be delicious raspberry! 

We normally do a "real" hike but between the pregnancy, hot weather and kids who really don't enjoy hiking we took it a little bit easier this year and just did a short local hike with some fun views of Portland.

We were all a bit tired and hot and cranky (did I mention the kids don't like hiking?)  but Peter's favorite lunch stop cured everyone of the grumpy's! 

Even better we were able to come home and take naps and then enjoy the evening with the kids and Peter's family!  It's never much fun to have to work on your birthday but hopefully the little bit of time we got to spend with Peter for his birthday was fun enough! 

Peter, I love you so very much and count my blessings that you were born and are a constant part of my life! I could not imagine life without you in it. You love your family so sacrificially and I hate that at times I take amazing you for granted! You work so stinkin hard for your family, working and commuting long hours and during this pregnancy you have been such a rock for me. Never complaining but willing to put aside your own stresses, step right in and help with the kids, help with dinner, help with cleaning, run out at 9:30 to fulfill a craving. It's not fair to you but your efforts are not going unnoticed.  I know it's hard work and yet you make it all look so easy. You are one amazing guy and these years I've got to spend with you in my life have been the best kind of blessing.  I hope someday I can love you as well as you always love me. I hope you felt a little bit of that love and appreciation as we celebrated you this weekend. One of the best blessings ever is seeing how much our kids adore and look up to you.  You are so loved by all of us every day of the year but I hope you really felt it for your birthday!  

20 Week Ultrasound

Yes, we have crossed over the halfway point in this pregnancy and we are cruising right along!  I have been so eager to get a glimpse of this little baby that the last 5 weeks since I made the appointment have dragged on and on.  But we finally made it and I just love staring at that screen and getting to really "meet" our baby for the first time!  

The baby was so active all morning and had quieted down a little bit before the appointment so I figured it was napping but I was surprised to see how much this baby was moving around in there when I wasn't feeling it. I feel like this baby is so much more active already than the other kids so it was sweet to hear the ultrasound tech laugh and watch in amazement as this baby never sat still and made getting measurements really difficult! 

It was as equally difficult as the other two kiddos were at their ultrasounds, and maybe more so since I have to go back in a couple weeks to try again to get some measurements they weren't able to get because of our uncooperative little one. Baby is measuring almost a week ahead and weighing in at 14 ounces.  I'm a bit surprised as our other kiddo's measured on the smaller side but this kid is showing us in every way to not compare it to the others lol!  And very much unlike his or her siblings who were still hiding low in my pelvis at 20 weeks this one was up high and laying transverse which also probably doesn't help with how big I feel already! 

The ultrasound report was great news in every way, everything they were able to get looks perfect and even my cervix which was short by this stage last time is measuring well longer than average meaning I don't need to be worrying at all about preterm labor at this stage in the game! I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that news and just in general know that everything is going great in there!  I am so thankful and so blessed to be carrying this little blessing!  

This picture definitely looks like Daddy and big brother to me but that doesn't say anything about gender because both of our kiddo's came out looking like their Daddy! 

We elected to not find out gender again. With 2 of each the decision was very easy to make! I was surprised to find out the tech didn't even check out gender this time so it won't even be on my chart and nobody including our doctor will know until the big reveal! 

But just for fun, here are a few of the common old wives tales or comparisons to my past experiences having a boy and girl, although this baby proves time and time again that he or she is unique and their own person.  I am so excited and can't wait to meet this little one! 

1) Placenta location in early pregnancy: BOY
2) Carrying Low: BOY
3) Lots of Acne: GIRL
4) Heartrate: Indecisive, it was in the 160's at 12 weeks, which says girl but now it has settled in the 140's which in my opinion seems to be right between boy or girl rates.
5) Cravings Fruits and Vegetables: It's more like my BOY pregnancy where I could not get enough fruit than my girl pregnancy where I craved sweets.
6) Chinese Gender: Seems a little indecisive since baby was conceived during my birthday month.
7) Morning sickness:  More like my BOY pregnancy where a slight yucky feeling has lingered whereas my girl pregnancy was intense sickness but gone around 12 weeks.
8) Fatigue is much more like my BOY where I am still struggling with being tired and feeling yucky, once I was out of the first trimester with my girl I was good to go!

So MOST signs point to boy but you just never know until the end :)  We will be thrilled no matter what and count ourselves extremely blessed to just have this opportunity again!

Our 4th of July Weekend

Knowing we had the long weekend ahead and Peter really wanting to be at the beach for the ultra low tides, it was a no brainer to head to one of the kids favorite places, great grandma's house! 

We got in pretty late so the first thing on the agenda the next morning was one of the kids favorites - sour dough pancakes! Peter used to always rave about these pancakes before I had tried them so it is fun to share one of Peter's favorite memories with the kids now!

After breakfast we had a very low key afternoon. The kids love exploring Grandma's yard, there's much to explore! 

Recently the kids have started talking about kites, so we decided to buy a couple cheap ones and test them out. After a little trial and error, they got one flying pretty good!

  

  

And the sunsets are always the best! 

The next morning the kids were out on the beach early to take advantage of the ultra low tides and seeing things they normally wouldn't see. They even got to save a fish who was caught in a pickle. They love exploring the tide pools anyhow but they had the rare opportunity to see things they've never seen before. 

 And then it was time for another yummy breakfast and some afternoon activities and visiting before it was time to head back home.

But they certainly look forward to their time at Grandma's every year!