Well the new year is off to a far more chipper start than the end of 2016 and I’m thankful for that.  I’ve found my footing after a severe rough patch and hopefully things stay manageable!

The weather has warmed up considerably again and as long as it’s not hot (think 70’s), I’m happy.  A few cold days here and there are good too but after a number of cold days in a row, it’s always nice to have a brief break!

Nathan has adjusted very well to being back in school after the long break. We all do well when we have a schedule and this is especially true for Nathan.  William has had a bit of a harder time getting back into the swing of things and has been sad when I drop him off at school.  He says he just wants to stay home and snuggle with mommy, which is so sweet and just makes me want to keep him home with me sometimes J  But he always ends up having a good day when I pick him up so all is well in the end.  And Colin jumped right back into school with glee.  He loves it 🙂

Lately I’ve been feeling like an elephant seal.  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those things move around but it ain’t pretty.  The baby had a massive growth spurt over the holidays and at my 30-week appointment last Monday, I was measuring 32 weeks.  Normally I’d be pretty freaked out over this and the prospect of birthing a big baby, but I seem to remember this with my last pregnancies.  The babies would have huge growth spurts and then things would settle down a bit.  The doctor assures me that my history of having babies 7-8lbs is a far better indicator of the size of the baby than what I’m actually measuring.  Let’s hope that’s the case!

Since I’ve always delivered 10-14 days early, my dad is arriving 2.5 weeks before my due date to stay with us for a couple of weeks so he can take the boys when I actually go into labor.  After he leaves, I have my mom coming out for a week just in case the baby is late and/or to help out with things right after the birth.  I am so thankful they are able to do this for me and it eases my mind greatly knowing I’ll have some extra help around that time!  David’s parents have always done this for us in the past and my water has always broken on the same day they arrived so the timing could never have been more perfect 🙂  I am hoping that we have a similar situation this time around and the baby doesn’t decide to stay put and come way later than in the past, but you never know!  We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it I suppose!  I am just hoping my water doesn’t break while I’m out somewhere with a massive gush.  At least with William and Colin, I was home when my water broke (although with William it really did break with a massive gush like a bucket and I screamed with horror/surprise).  I keep desperately praying that I’ll go into labor in the evening when David is already home and the boys have been picked up for the day.  That way Dave and I can just calmly drive to the hospital without him having to scramble home from work in traffic and then leave my dad to pick up all three boys from school.  Ah!  Must stop worrying about these things and just let events unfold as they will.  Pre-labor jitters I suppose!

Ok – here’s a long overdue belly shot.  As I said – elephant seal.  And I still have 2 months to go.