14 week belly

I figured I had better start documenting the belly progress, since I really started showing at 10 weeks! I am 14 weeks here!

The Chillins

Here are a bunch of pictures of my adorable kids, for your viewing pleasure!

Dallin's Preschool Graduation

Dallin officially finished his second year of preschool. I have been so pleased with our choice for his preschool this year in Indiana. His school was a based on a Montessori curriculum, which Dallin really responded to well. Dallin had a great year, was "the center of attention" his teachers say, and he learned TONS! Dallin is already reading short words, he can add and subtract basic numbers and despite being the youngest in his class, he is totally ready to start Kindergarten in the fall. Dallin made quite a few good friends, a few of which we get together with for playdates. We are so proud of our little squirt, and like most mom's say, "I cant believe my baby is so old!!"

Conor, Dallin, and Delaney. The three amigos.

Dallin's best bud Conor! He and Dallin get along so well, and we love having playdates with him!

Dallin and his "girlfriend" Delaney! What a cutie!

The only family picture we could snap, thanks to my busy 2 year old

Our babysitter, Dani and Dallin. My kids ADORE her! In fact, Dallin always makes me count down the days until Friday when Dani comes! She was so nice to come watch Dallin at his graduation!

Easter Festivities

I had to work Easter Sunday, so we opened packages from the grandparent's on Saturday night! The kids loved their baskets full of goodies! Easter morning the kids were up bright and early, so I got to watch them do their egg hunt for just a few minutes before I had to leave. Claire caught right on and had a ball finding her eggs. Dallin was a big helper and once he found his 10, he helped Claire find all of hers. The kids got all cleaned up and ready for Church with Dad!

Baby Talk

The other day I broused through old blog posts and it made me think how grateful I am to have this blog. Even though I dont update near enough, it's fun to have documentation of things that I forget all too quickly. With that said, I am going to try and continue to document more frequently during this pregnancy so I can years from now flash back and re live these special moments!

I am just about 10 weeks along now, feeling decent. I had my first doctor's appointment where they did an ultrasound and we saw the little heart beat. I have been feeling exhausted, which I know is normal in the early stages, but mine seemed a little more unbearable than I had remembered in the past. I had a feeling that my thyroid was off, and sure enough, the labs came back that they were elevated. My OB adjusted my medication dose, so hopefully I can start feeling a bit more lively here as I enter into my second trimester. As far as "morning sickness", I dont really have any! Sometimes at night after I eat dinner I feel a little blah, but my days go pretty much nausea-free! As long as I keep that belly satisfied (like every 2 hours) then I am good to go! Speaking of that belly, it's definitely starting to make an appearance! 3rd baby syndrome for sure, plus I tend to show pretty early anyway! We waited to tell Dallin about the baby until after my first appointment just to be safe. When I told him, he just LIT UP! Now, he cannot stop talking about it. He tells everyone he sees that "mommy has a baby in her belly". He wants a brother, and if you ask me, I am pretty sure that is what he will be getting! I never had a "feeling" about the gender either way, but this time I am about 95% sure it's a boy! Part of me is secretly hoping for a girl, for Claire's sake. THey will be under 2.5 years apart and I think it would be fun for her to have a sister. BUT, obviously I am happy with either, and Dallin would love a brother! I cant wait to find out! Well, I bet the next post will consist of some sort of embarassing belly shot, so stay tuned!

Easter Egg Hunt

We took the kids to a local easter egg hunt this past weekend. They had a blast, despite the chilly weather. The kids were separated into age groups, so Andy went with Dallin, and I went with Claire. Claire was ADORABLE! I love how she is starting to really grasp things and is really becoming a kid, not my little baby anymore :( Here are a few pictures from the day!

Andy's B-day and BIG NEWS!

Last month Andy turned 29! I was full of surprises that day, which these days are hard to pull off. I was scheduled to work until after 6 that day, but I had previously arranged to get off work early without tellin Andy. I also scheduled our Nanny to come over and sit at the house after the kids went to bed so we could go out! Andy was shocked, he had no idea I had any plans up my sleeve! Before we went out we celebrated with cake and gifts with the kids! We went out to dinner and enjoyed a nice meal without interruption!


The best part of the day was definitely the birthday card I gave Andy. At the bottom I wrote,
"Love, Ashley, Andy, Dallin, Claire and Little Bean."

This was his reaction!!!! In case you dont get it, we have another baby on the way!
I found out the day before his birthday, so I thought it would be fun to tell him in a creative way! We are thrilled, and cant wait to complete our family with this "little bean"

Surprise!

So Andy surprised me by booking me and the kids a trip to Utah! We had talked about me going, but I really didnt know if it would actually become reality! We will be leaving on March 30, and coming home April 6. I am so excited to meet my new neice, June Elise Sylvia! I am glad she will still be in her tiny newborn stage, my favorite. I cant wait to see my family and friends too, it's been really lonely out here! The best part, Andy gets to fly on the same flight as us on our way to Denver, so that will be a huge help! I will post pics when we get back!!!

Winter Blues

This has been the longest winter OF MY LIFE! I think it has been worse this year than ever before for a few reasons.
1. I now have 2 busy kids who are getting utterly sick of being inside all day
2. I am away from all of my friends, so the usual winter outings/playdates
have definitely been cut short this year
3. I still dont know all there is to do in this new city, so most days we end up home

BUT, I see and end to the cold, snowy/rainy/icy/floody days here in Indiana. I know my days spent wiping drippy noses and bundling up are soon coming to an end. Let me tell you, I have never been so excited for a little sunshine. I have definitely been feeling a little bluesy lately. Being lonely, and cooped up, and stuck inside during this horrid weather has played its toll on me. BUT, better things are in store. We registered Dallin for soccer (YEAH!), I have started a new job that gets me out of the house and socializing with other adults, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my newest niece, June.. still soo sad that I wont be there. Like, REALLY REALLY sad :( And, we have an awesome summer vacation planned at a beach house on Cape Cod! Now that's what I am talking about! My kids are going to DIE, water is so their thing, and the beach is going to be heaven on earth for those kiddos! Lastly, I just found out my dearest cousin is getting married in Virginia over labor day, so I am really hoping to make a mini road trip (10 hour drive) out of it and spend a few days out at Virginia Beach! All of these things keep me going every day... I have something to look forward to... that all involve SUNSHINE!

Been missing these cute faces lately....

I always wanted to be a nurse....

So I got a new job working at an Immediate care clinic! I will be working part time: one 12 hr shift a week and every other weekend. Perfect! I was supposed to start on Thursday, but turns out the nanny I hired decided to disappear off the face of the earth and never showed up. So, needless to say I had to call in my very first day telling them "I cant make it". I was mortified. Fortunately, they understood and it wasnt a big deal. Lucky me. So anyway, yesterday was my first official day and I was very excited to get back into the field. I hadnt worked for 5 months, so I was a little nervous I would be rusty! The day went really well, and it turns out the xray techs there are basically "just one of the nurses". I did everything the nurses did like go out and get the patient, bring them into a room, take their vitals and medical history etc. I take strep tests, help with urine samples, irrigate ears, heck maybe actually do an xray in the midst of all of that! It's been a great learning experience for me, but I am always up for a challenge! I enjoy all of the patient interaction on the nursing side, but still get to enjoy doing my job as an xray tech! It's the best of both worlds! As far as the nanny goes, I honestly haven't heard from her... I've called, left messages and emails. I dont know where she is, I hope she is not just being a total flake and avoiding me. Seriously, who would do that? So, I decided to start looking for someone else and I have a nice girl coming over on Tuesday to interview so hopefully she is a good fit! I have really enjoyed the time I spent being a stay at home mom, but I am excited that I have something to do just for "me". I get to meet new people, have some adult interaction and get a little break from the demands of my kiddos! Luckily, I am still going to be home with them most of the time, and they get some wonderful daddy bonding time during the weekends that I work!

House talk

Lately I have been thinking a lot about our future, mainly houses! When we moved here to Indiana we decided to rent a house since we knew nothing about the area or the market out here. We found a house online that fit our criteria but we never even got to se it before we moved here. We like our house, it's big and the kids have tons of room to run around! There are a few things that I really don't like, the main one is location. Because it's on a golf course, the majority of people in this neighborhood are retired. My poor kids haven't met any friends :( Also, Andy has found himself driving into he city most days which takes about 1 HR or more with traffic. Basically, if we could pick our house up and move it closer to downtown in a more family friendly area that would be perfect!! Obviously, that is not possible so now we have to consider moving... Again.... The thing that frustrates me most is that real estate here is so cheap, and we could serioulsy buy our dream home for 150,000-175,000, which would be cheaper than rent! The problem is we don't really know where Andy's job will take us in the comin years. I don't know if we are ready to buy something here, and then get a job opportunity somewhere else down the road. When you work in the sports industry, moving is inevitable really. The job he has now could likely be the first of many as he works his way up in the industry. So, you can see why I am battling the idea of buying a house vs renting. I will tell you one thing. I hate white walls and not being able to decorate MY house the way I want. It's hard being away from everyone here, and coming home to a boring house that I can't make my own... It's killing me! The plan as it's stands now is start looking for a new rental house around July (we won't move in until September when our lease is up). We want to know where we will be living by the time school starts in August! I can't believe Dallin will be in Kindergarten! But, I will continue tossing around the idea of buying a house...

The best tree EVER

I had to post a picture of my Mom's Christmas tree this year! THis picture seriously doesn't give it justice. Every year I look forward to seeing how my mom decorates, and this year she chose the theme "winter wonderland". She is so talented, and we all keep telling her she needs to make a business out of it! Cant wait for next year!

Home for the Holidays!

We were so excited to make it back to Utah for Christmas! We flew out in the evening and didn'e make it to Utah until 2:00 in the morning (4am Indiana time). We were all walking zombies and my kids only slept for like an hour during the whole time traveling. AHHH. But, we bounced right back and were ready for some Cafe Rio the next day! LOL! We stayed in Utah for 15 days, and had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends. We spent some time with our friends, watching football, girls night out, guys movie night, snowboarding with the boys, and much more! Our Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house for our annual Christensen family party! I look forward to this every year, it's the only time I see my mom's extended family! Since we were staying with Andy's family, Santa came there and brought the kids lots of presents! We only opened Santa gifts before heading out to an amazing breakfast at the Little America down town with Andy's family! YUMMY! After breakfast we made it over to my mom's where we opened gifts and spent the afternoon visiting! We headed back to Andy's parent's house where we finished opening our family gifts and had dinner! We were busy until 8:00, which although tiring, was so nice! It was better than having Christmas over at 9:00 AM. My kiddos were so spoiled, and so were Andy and I! Dallin was all thing super hero... and I mean EVERYTHING. Costumes, action figures, shaving set, books etc. etc. etc. Claire was showered with girlie things like an Ariel Doll and Princess TuTu! It's nice to finally have some girl stuff in the house, although I will say she sure does love all of Dallin's toys. It might take a while for her to learn how to be girlie! Andy and I got lots of clothes, gift cards, money, and a Wii! Dallin is totally excited about this one! I also got a beatuful necklace from vintage pearl with my kids names engraved on the pendant. So cute! Well after all of the Christmas hype died down, we enjoyed more time with family and friends. I wasn't able to get everyting done that I wanted to, even in the 15 days we were there :( Sorry to anyone who I wasnt able to see. We are hoping to make it back in late March to see my neice June after she is born! I had to fly home alone with the kids, which I was totally dreaing. Fortunately, the kids did great, both flights were faster than expected and it worked out fine! Here are a plethera of pics from the trip. Sorry for not commenting on each one, but you all get the idea!