What's up lately? Not too much!

Since my last post... not too much has happened....

Let's see...

Madilyn:

She has gotten cuter, of course! Here's some cute things she says or does:

* "Hi guys!", "See you later guys", "Love you guys" to me and her daddy

* "Hmm... let's see, what Madi want..." - when she is shopping with me, looking in her closet for what to wear, or looking in the pantry @ meal time.

* "nuggle?" - when she wants mommy or daddy to snuggle with her at nap or bed time

* "Madi love (insert item here)" - she has started to express her love to different people or animals, so sweet!

* Last night when I went into her bedroom to tuck her in, I lay in bed with her, with my head on my hand, laying on my side, propping myself up... she scooted in really close facing me and attempted to do the same... :) So precious!

* She constantly is singing... anywhere, anytime... as loud as possible! :)

* She is starting to pretend, talking with her stuffed animals, talking on her pretend phones, making me soup in her little "kitchen", etc.

* When she falls, or trips, or whatever, she gets up and says "Madi ok!" to reassure mommy that's she's ok.

* She loves stuffed animals more than baby dolls... WAY more... she will throw her baby dolls on the floor (quite roughly) to make room for her animals. It cracks me up. We'll have to work on this before baby brother comes!

* We purchased a baby doll that is a boy to start to practice being gentle. Mommy carries it around a bit, so she'll be used to mommy's arms being full of a baby, and we practice holding ever so gently... etc. Hopefully it will help the transition when baby brother comes along! She sure tries to be gentle with that doll, but only that doll.... :)

* She likes to help mommy in the kitchen. She can be so whiny sometimes... the key for me lately when I am trying to get stuff done in the kitchen is to put her on the step stool and give her something to "cook" or help with. She loves to help mommy "cook" or help with dishes... usually a mess follows, but I don't mind. She's so happy helping!

Mommy:

* Up finally from pre-pregnancy weight. I have gained a total of 2.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight.

* Officially 24 weeks pregnant as of 7/4/11

* We decided on a name!!! His name will be Levi Hudson

* He is so different already from Madilyn! I can't wait to hold him and get to know his sweet personality!

* Already uncomfortable, and feel bigger than I did @ this point with Madilyn. My shirts are getting smaller much more quickly also.... We'll see what happens! :)

Family:

We went on a couple of road trips recently! A couple of weeks ago we went and visited John's granddad for the first time since we have been married. I had never met him, and neither had Madilyn. He lives in Mobile, AL... and it was a bit over an 8 hour drive in the car. Madilyn did AMAZING! I was so worried about the long trip! I loaded up on activities and snacks, and we stopped every couple of hours (more for pregnant mommy than for Madi!) and she did so great! She wasn't so sure about great granddad, but definitely showed off a lot of her sweet personality to him. She also got to see her Uncle Stephen (John's brother) again, and really warmed up to him quickly. He drove up from Ft. Meyers, FL to see us. It was so fun to see both of them! We were definitely exhausted by the time we got back though!

Madilyn in the car playing w/one of her toys on the way to Alabama

Madilyn w/her Uncle Stephen reading "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" :)

For the 4th of July, we went to Helen, GA with my parents and brother, Mark. We stayed in a cabin way out in the woods from Thursday to Monday (the 4th) and it was SOOOO relaxing! We drove out to some waterfalls in the Amicalola Falls park, went to Dahlonega, GA (36 miles from our cabin) to see the town that John used to visit when he was younger. We even ate at the Smith House, which John last ate at when he was about 15! It was so much fun! The cabin had a hot tub, which we kept the heat at about bath water temp so Madilyn could use it. She called it her swimming pool and loved floating around in it! :) We did a little bit of shopping, a lot of snacking... and a whole ton of relaxing! John got some good "guy time" in with my dad and brother. They went tubing, and wi-fi hunting, and ice cream eating and video gaming.... ;) It was just a great trip overall. We got back in the afternoon on the 4th and crashed... we all slept until about 5:30pm! HA! I thought Madilyn would be afraid of fireworks, so really didn't plan on going and seeing any. Around 8:30pm we got her ready for bed, and just for kicks took her outside and saw a few going off by the neighbors... she LOVED it! Wasn't scared at all! So, now I feel like a bad mommy for not planning on letting her enjoy one of the fun parts of the 4th of July! So we quick got in the car (while it was sprinkling and lightening...) and drove up to the elementary school that was nearest the shopping center where I knew fireworks were being put off. We didn't want to go to the shopping center since I knew it was getting close to time for them to go off, and it was already QUITE crowded, and I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. We parked @ the school with about 4 other cars, and saw the fireworks just over the tree line. It was perfect! We only stayed for about 10-15 minutes since they didn't start till about 9:15pm, but Madilyn got to see some pretty fireworks, then saw more on our way home from almost every direction! She was so excited! She went to bed talking about the fireworks.... so sweet!

Well... that's about it for now! Here's some pictures from the last couple of months:

Downtown Helen, GA @ night when John and I were on our date night

The Cabbage Patch "Hospital" that was in Cleveland, GA near our cabin

Front of the Cabbage Patch "hospital" where the CPK are "born". :)

A nurse helping a Cabbage Patch baby be "born"...

Madilyn looking @ Elmo and Grover instead of Babies...

Holding a purple squirrel instead of a baby... ;)

Holding a squirrel & sitting on a dog instead of playing w/babies... ;)

There was a baby in this stroller, till she threw it on the floor for her purple squirrel... lol!

The cabbage patch doll you see on the floor was in that chair, till she threw it on the floor and I had to set it up so it didn't look so pitiful...

With stuffed animals and hugging a giraffe @ the baby doll hospital... ;)

with another stuffed animal... yes, you're getting the point right... what cabbage patch dolls? Look @ the stuffed animals they have here!!! LOL!

A hug for the stuffed animal! :)

Sitting in the cabbage chair @ the entrance

I look away for a second, and she climbs onto a table and starts laying out blankets for her bear "Georgia"... lol!

Watching "somefing" at the cabin

The Amicalola Falls

Daddy and Madi @ the falls

John in deep thought over his wonderful food @ The Smith House restaurant in Dahlonega, GA

Madi being cute in my lap.... made me smile! :)

Hope you enjoyed my rather LONG post! :) So much for a short post!! :)

God bless!

Madilyn's 2 yr well-visit

Well, I FINALLY picked a new pediatrician on this end of town and took Madilyn in for her 2 year well visit... about a month and a half late, but hey... I did it! :)

She is officially 24 lbs. and they say she's 32 1/2'' tall... she seems a little hunched when the nurse measured her though because she was scared of whatever was measuring her... I think she's a tiny bit taller, but it's all good.

I asked the doctor if I should be concerned that she's only 24 lbs @ 2years old, and she said definitely not because she's perfectly proportioned. She's between 15 and 25% in all of her measurements, so it's just that she's petite! I always was as a little girl too, so she gets it from me! :) I think I was only slightly concerned because her 1 year old cousin is 23lbs... but he's gonna be a big guy! :) I was told she's advanced (of course she is....in my opinion...slighly biased) in her verbal skills, she showed the nurse how she can show you on her fingers how old she is and also told him. She sang him her ABC's and a couple of other songs quite loudly... :) She perfectly demonstrated her climbing skills on the tables and stools for the nurse and running skills by running around the room. She checked out perfectly! I was also thankful she was potty trained because we had to get a urine sample... can't imagine how that would have gone w/out the potty training... wring it from a diaper? Sit on the toilet till she tinkles? Not sure! She made it easy on her momma! THEN came the finger prick. She had not met the doctor yet at this point... a different nurse came in, I told her precisely what was going to happen (didn't want to lie!) and she got her finger pricked, watched the whole collecting process (crying the whole time) and then got a pink sparkly bandaid. She was furious... by the time the doctor came in she was about inconsolable. She just clung to me and didn't want the doctor to touch her, even though I reassured her that the doctor was not going to poke her, just check her heart and tummy. The doctor asked her her name, how old she was, etc... Madilyn just looked at her with a curiously angry look and shouted "NO!"... I told her to be polite, but told the doctor that she wasn't going to be cooperating after that finger prick... oh well! At least the nurse got to see her happy cute self before the crabby part came out! So, she was perfectly healthy in every way (no shots at this visit, yay!) and she got to have tacos at Moes with mommy and her Uncle Mark as a treat, which she was quite happy about! We even got to see our friends Chase, Jacob and Luke there with their mommy and daddy! :) She did pretty good overall!

I went to my 20 week appointment like I mentioned in the previous post... our little man is growing perfectly. We have a couple names in mind... working them out. I should have known it was a boy with how different this pregnancy has gone, but I guess I was in denial. With this pregnancy I have been soooo sick. I still get nauseas at times, I am sore so much earlier than I was with Madilyn, I am still 1/2 pound under my starting weight... and at this point with Madilyn I had gained over 10 pounds! He stays really low in my pelvis, rarely moving out to help mommy be a bit more comfortable... he doesn't move as much as Madilyn does, but when he does I definitely am aware. It's like he's more purposeful about it. I am not as hungry all the time as I was with Madilyn either. I constantly felt starving and could eat large meals. With him I get a little hungry, eat a little and then can't quite finish my meal. I eat probably 5 or 6 small meals a day. I also have way more food aversions. Things just look or smell gross. For example: I have ALWAYS loved peanut butter, I could sit down with a jar and a spoon and be completely content... now, just the smell grosses me out. Can't go near it. It's getting a bit better to where I can make Madilyn a PB&J w/out gagging... but it was bad! I am getting excited to meet him! I can't wait to find out the differences between little boys and girls, and just sit and enjoy watching him grow. It will be fun to see how Madilyn interacts with him also. I can't wait to see her be nurturing and sweet (hopefully!) and all motherly to him.

Well, that's it for now! Thanks for reading, and God bless!!

New blog name?

I guess I'm gonna have to change our blog name... just not the web address... it's 3 Cains becoming 4! :)

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and got wonderful news! #1, the baby is perfect... 10 fingers and 10 toes and beautifully growing with no abnormalities... squirming and kicking the whole time. And.... we are going to have a BOY! For some reason I was so shocked! Not sure why, that's what they predicted at 12 weeks, but I was just so sure I was going to have another girl. I don't even know what I am going to do with a cute little rowdy boy, but I look forward to it! We now have to decide on a name... we have like 4 that we like... at least there's only 2 middle names to pick from! LOL!

Well... that's about it for now. I'll have to post some pictures of the ultrasound in a bit.

God bless!

Better post before May is over!

Ok, it's been like a month, so I thought I'd better go ahead and post a few things before more stuff happens and I forget! I am quite forgetful lately! It's so crazy, I will be in the middle of a sentence and completely forget what I was talking about. I was talking to John yesterday and I guess I stopped mid-sentence... he asked me to finish and I had no idea what he was talking about! hahaha! Pregnancy brain I guess! I have to put every day tasks and reminders on my phone that alert me throughout the day or I will forget even the littlest things.

I am 18 weeks, will be 19 weeks pregnant this coming Monday! I cannot believe this pregnancy is almost half over! I feel like I just found out I was pregnant. Thankfully I am feeling so much better. My energy is still only partially there, and I can only do so much, and then it's just like my body says "ok, I'm done... so you better sit or lay down or I will just do it for you". :) I have been feeling the baby move quite a bit, and John has even felt it a couple of times! I asked Madilyn if she wanted to feel the baby move in mommy's tummy, and she looked at me like I was an alien... like "what on earth are you talking about?". HA! Maybe I'll see what happens when I am further along and the baby kicks her while she is in my lap... we'll see how she looks at me then! HA! ;) We will be finding out the sex of the baby on June 7th, and I am so ecstatic. I begged them to tell me @ 18 weeks because my mom's birthday was this past Monday, precisely when I turned 18 weeks... well, needless to say, they didn't agree to it. So, I will be bringing my mom and sweet husband to the appointment. Madi will have to stay with a friend since the last time she came to an ultrasound, she was hysterically crying the whole time telling the lady to stop touching mommy's tummy... so, since this one will take a while, I decided she wasn't going to be able to come... We have names picked out, tentatively... I may change my mind another 2 or 3 times like I have over the past month. But we'll see! :) Ok....

Here's some pictures to catch up on the last month and a half with the Cains:

Madilyn and I were waiting for daddy to get off work, so we had a treat... a cake "pop" and a vanilla bean frap... yummy! :)

playing play-do at the kitchen table... Madilyn loves play-do, especially when it's pink!

Mommy and Madi swimming... she got a puddle jumper, but she's still too little for it, so mommy still helps a lot.

Madilyn with her Larry and Bob that mommy and daddy got her for her birthday... she totes them around just about everywhere now... so cute! :)

Grama and Papa on a walk with us, and Madi doing her favorite thing "hold hands" with them... :) She's so sweet!!!

Madilyn playing in the sprinkler on the back patio in her pink princess swimsuit. She has three, but this one is her favorite!

Her first birthday party at Cici's with Grama, Papa, mommy, daddy and Uncle. She wore her hat and had her favorite food : PIZZA! :)

Party #2 @ San Jose's after church with our family, and the all important cousin Preston! :)

3rd and final party with her friends: Daddy and his friend decided to join in on the fun on the see-saw

baby Luke Smoak had fun too! :)

Had to ride the chipmunk!

Run, run, running in the back

playing with her friends Jacob and Chase in her "little" house

The birthday snacks and the yummy birthday cupcakes my mom made for Madilyn. She got pink cupcakes for her 2nd birthday, she was so excited. They were pink inside, with sprinkles on top! Her dream cake! :)

Madilyn trying to get the other little girl Piper to come into her house... she wasn't successful. Piper was smart and realized the house was already a bit crowded...

Just a random sweet picture

This is what happens when you allow her to have a snack in the car. I don't even remember what it was, but this is the result!

"Ky Ky" as she calls Kyle, his mommy and baby sister came to visit the other week... Halle even got a ride in the shopping cart! Mommy protectively walked alongside... :) You never know with those boys and their sisters!!

Madilyn's easter egg hunt, had to take a break to eat some candy!

"What are you doing? It's mine, stop eyeing it, you can't have it!"

Are there more eggs mommy?

Stealing a bite from daddy of her first taste of a "peep"

Needs to open another egg!

Sweet girl in her dress and hat!

Having a tea party on the back screened in porch :)

Madilyn on her birthday present from Uncle Mark, and wearing the present from Auntie Julie and Uncle Ry-Ry... :)

Being too quick and showing mommy how she can "climb" up on anything! HA!

Her current favorite evening activity: Run, run, running in the grass with daddy!

And last, but not least, a pregnancy shot of me at about 17 weeks. I'll have to try to get more as I go! :)

Sorry so long! I didn't realize how behind I was! My next post will be the house pictures. I just gotta hang up the rest of the pictures. Hopefully I'll do it soon! :)

God bless!