With the recent blog update, I thought it might be good to include some updated photos of the family. (I had a beautiful picture of my wife, but critics asked that I remove it at the last minute). In about a month I’ll have to do it again with our upcoming addition, but thats what a blog is for, right?
There are people out there that still read our blog! HOORAY! I actually finished the last post December 28 though I started it on Dec 6. Just to those that mentioned not checking in for awhile! I am a slacker 
We made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! I plan on blogging about those holidays but wanted to answer a few questions first.
My due date: February 25, 2010
Currently: 32 1/2 weeks
The ultra sound technician said we are having a boy but I am not 100% convinced.
The pregnancy is going well although I can’t wait to be done! I am a little nervous about being a mother to 3. I don’t look forward to sleepless nights (hey wait I already have those!)but I would like to bend over again someday. The Doctor had me do the blood glucose test twice. My first test at 20 weeks my blood sugar level was 111. At 30 weeks my blood sugar level was 130, right at the tippy top cut off before you have to do the 3 hour test for diabetes. Whew! I am so happy to have passed. I have gained about as much weight as the other pregnancies, 28 pounds. I still think this baby if born near his due date will be over 9 pounds. Since 8 week pregnant, I was taking Zofran for nausea 2 times a day then in December I reduced it to once a day. I was without it for 2 days and very nauseated. I love my medicine! If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Tonight, Michael and I made a list of things we would like to get done around the house before the baby is born. The main item on the list is getting the baby’s room ready. I plan on posting pictures as we get projects done. The kids are doing well. I wish they could run around outside but the single digits and 2 feet of snow prevent that. I hope you are all warmer than us and enjoying the new year!
Audrey got glasses near the end of the month. Her prescription is very minimal but sometimes her left eye doesn’t stay in sync with her right eye. The glasses are forcing her left eye to relax and focus through the lens. At least that is my understanding of what the opthamologist said. She loves wearing them. Six weeks later she had a follow up appointment and her eye is already doing better. This is a picture of her the first morning she got to wear them to school. I think she is so cute with her new accessory.
My cute mouseling.
That Friday, Audrey’s school had a Halloween Costume Parade. Gabriel and I went to see it and ended up leading her class in the Parade. The parade consisted of kids walking the halls past the other children then out to the play ground then back inside. It was fun but sooooooo cold and windy. Once the kids were inside the parents handed out the candy everyone brought plus cookies and juice boxes. The teacher said she had never see so much candy brought in for Halloween in her 35 years of teaching.
That night was the ward Trunk or Treat. For the last two years the dinner has consisted of chili with cinnamon rolls on the side. Apparently that is a big Iowa tradition. I can’t say Midwest because I didn’t hear of it in Wisconsin. Sadly Michael had to work late, so my friend handed out our candy while I took the kids from car to car.
My mouselings all ready to go haunting.
I love this cute little boy so much! He looks so grown up.
So you would think we have plenty of candy by now. But we still go trick or treating on our street. I walked around with the kids while Michael handed the candy out. Gabriel was scared of a few houses so I sent Audrey up to get the candy by herself. He also didn’t like costumes with scary masks. He would wave his arm about trying to say go away.
The kids and I in the front yard right before trick or treating.
Michael sat on our front steps and handed out over 6oo pieces of candy to the little ghouls. Yes folks, over 3oo kids stopped by our house in 2 hours. I also wanted to include a picture of our decorated pumpkins. Audrey painted hers all by herself. It is a ballerina with big blue eyes and a pink tutu.
This is Audrey’s whole costume. I made the ears and tail and luckily Grandma Enszer had given her the dress for her birthday.
Happy and stuffed full of candy!
To end the night I made cheesy broccoli soup with homemade French bread. Right after we finished dinner I started to feel sick. I rang in the new month with a 24 hour stomach flu or food posioning. Thankfully it was the weekend so Michael could be home to watch the kids. I love you honey!
A month later, the kids candy bags were still half full. Michael took our left over candy to his parents for Thanksgiving which got gobbled up in no time. Those crazy turkeys!
Blogger is not letting me add on to the last post so I will just make a new one. 
The baby and I are very healthy. He weighed in at 15 ounces, average weight for 20 weeks. I think it is interesting that all my babies are average weight at the 20 week ultrasound then pack on the pounds before they are born. If the baby is full term I am guessing he will be over 9 pounds like his sister and brother. That means the baby has 8 pounds to gain in 19-20 weeks. Since I have big babies the Dr. is testing me twice for gestational diabetes. I did the test on Wednesday, my blood sugar level was 111, high is 130. Needless to say I was very relieved. My next test will be at 28 weeks. I have gained 12 pounds which is good. I don’t look forward to gaining 20+ lbs. 
Funny sidenote: At my appt. the automatic blood pressure cuff couldn’t get a reading. The nurse had to do it by hand. She said my blood pressure was so low the machine couldn’t read it. 90/54 She said I must be a mellow person. I just smirked. I wouldn’t describe myself as mellow, but I definately am not high strung either.
Pregnancy History (for those that care). I finally started feeling like myself at 18 weeks. That was a total of 12 weeks of yuckiness.
5 weeks: I was nauseated but if I ate it would dissapate.
6 weeks: Threw up one day, it stopped, then was just miserable thereafter.
7-13 weeks: Started medicine for nausea, but was not able to leave the couch much. I would make food for the kids and then head back to the couch. Luckily Audrey could operated the DVD player so I didn’t have to get up for that. I had to eat about every 2-3 hours or I would throw up bile.
14-17 weeks: I was able to be up and around but still was somewhat nauseated and soooooo tired. Still having to eat every 3 hours.
18-19 weeks: FINALLY! I was feeling normal. I was cooking dinner and cleaning. Still eating often. My groin started stretching and aching. I had to sit a lot to keep from making it worse. My belly started to look pregnant. I also started to feel the baby move. I love feeling him and knowing he is alive and growing.
Now I just need to work on my HUGE to do list and come up with a name for this little guy!
We were pleasantly surprised to have the ultrasound technician at the doctor’s office tell us that our next baby is most likely a boy. Now we have to come up with some boy names….hard to do…we can never agree on boy names. I have provided some of the ultrasound pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Half way done. Everything tests fine for now.
I’m pregnant with baby 3! We are so excited to have a new baby join our family the end of February. This makes me 13 weeks along. We found out I was pregnant on Michael’s birthday. He said it was the best birthday present. The last 8 weeks have been rough. I am currently on zofran and leading somewhat functional days. I haven’t thrown up a lot this pregnancy because I got on medication before that kicked in. But I have been very tired and extremely nauseated even on medication. I am grateful I have been able care for Audrey and Gabriel despite the countless hours I have spent on the couch. Audrey is thrilled we are having a baby and is convinced we are having a girl (I am too). Gabriel just shakes his head no when I tell him we are having a baby, silly boy!
Other big news, Audrey started kindergarten last Thursday. When I picked her up the first day I asked how her day was and she said “It was so much fun Mom!” She LOVES school! She was sad she didn’t have school on Saturday. This has created a huge transition in our family, an early sleeping schedule! The kids and I used to wake up around 9 am and now are waking up between 7 & 7:30. Crazy how one change in life effects so much. I am glad Audrey has started school but also sad she is gone for 7 hours everyday. I just hope she continues to love school and always learn.
Last tidbit of news, Gabriel is finally talking. Well not all the time nor on demand but talking nonetheless. He says: mama, dada, ball, pup, ba for his blanket, please, Jesus, hot, itch, bus, star, mine, juice, meow for cat, roar for dinosaur, where dada mama? and wha dat mama? He understands almost everything we say. If he agrees with us he nods his head yes and makes ahh ahh sound in agreement. If he doesn’t like what we are say he shakes his head no and makes uh uh sounds. He can also point to his body parts when we ask where they are. We are so excited he is talking and communicating better with us.
Audrey holding her cousin Mason.
Two exciting things have happened to Audrey this week!
Audrey lost her first tooth on Monday at preschool. She was so excited to show me her tooth in a ziploc baggie when I picked her up. It was loose for about 2 months. Her new tooth poked through a few weeks ago and has grown quite a bit. The spot where her baby tooth was has almost healed in 2 days. Her other front tooth is loose too and the adult tooth has already popped through behind the baby tooth. It doesn’t look like she will be toothless for long.
Today we registered Audrey for kindergarten. I was really nice to see the inside of the school and meet the teachers. She did really well on the academic testing. She does need to got get her ears rechecked, the problem might possibly be that she has had a cold. Gabriel had a blast playing with the toys in the classrooms we visited. Audrey got a bag full of activities to do over the summer. I am so excited for her to start this new chapter of her life.
Hi! I will give ya’ll a quick update.
We started the evening by having a yummy dinner of 7 layer TexMex dip, quesadillas for the kids, and dinner roll sandwiches for Michael and I. 
Here are the kids sitting by the tree. Our tradition is to open one present, which is always new pajamas. Aren’t our kids so cute.?
Audrey loves her new nightgown.
The kids look so cute in there Christmas jammies.
Then we sang Chrismas carols. Audrey danced while Daddy and Gabriel played the piano.
The Christmas tree after the kids were in bed.
We hope you all had a loving family filled Christmas too!
