::YOU ARE MY SONSHINE::

Here is a silly little collage I made from some pictures I took of my belly the other morning in the bathroom mirror:



We got the crib set up...well it is actually sitting in the living room upstairs at the moment, since Bryan has to take it apart to get it to fit through the bedroom door. I am so excited to get the mattress in and decide which of the many sets of linens to put on. I got a new washer and dryer! With three boys, an extra large capacity washer with steam capability is a must!

The bassinet is set up next to our bed in the master bedroom, it is so special to me that all three of you boys will have slept in it. The only thing I still need is a nice rocking chair...oh and to find the newborn clothes. I know I combined them with another age category for storage, so it is just going to be a matter of rummaging through all the crates.

Then we are set! Can't wait to meet you, Nolan. I am dying to see what you look like, since Warren takes so strongly after Bryan and his mom's features and Jack is a spitting image of Grandpa John...we'll see if it's in the cards for one of you boys to resemble me and/or my family!

I got the most fabulous new stoller and carseat. I found it on Craigs List and had to drive across town to get them, but oh so worth it to have a Peg Perego travel system (with the Prima Viaggio carseat) that retails new for over $500, all for $125. My favorite part is the stroller, which is the A3 Pramette model. It converts from a regular unsuspecting stroller to a Pram-style buggy with a few simple steps. I have always wanted to have one of these European looking buggies to push my little babe around in. And the icing on the cake...it is a lovely shade of orangey-red!

{traditional stroller mode}

{complete travel mode with the carseat clipped on}

{pram mode...with a baby doll modeling in for Nolan ;)}


I had another appointment on 4/28 and all is well. Gained 6 more pounds and most importantly got my one and only concern taken care of. See, Jack was essentially born in the car on the way to the hospital. And, we live considerably further from the hospital now at our new house. So, naturally I asked my doctor what we (meaning Bryan) would need to do in the event that little Nolan is born at home. Big sigh of relief, doc said we will just make sure that doesn't happen by going in for a scheduled induction at least a week before my due date. It is official, our newest son will be here in July and most likely in the middle of the month. Yeah! Can't wait to see his little face peeking out from the new (to me) buggy!

...Mommy loves you!!

The thing about brothers is...

...they sometimes overindulge.

{Warren made a Boppy pillow tower in the nursery at the Children's Museum in Nolan's honor after I told him that we will be getting our Boppy pillow out soon for when mommy is feeding the baby}



...they love a little healthy competition.

{Playing the "Hungry Hippo" game that the Easter Bunny brought them. There's plenty of room for another set of little hands!}




...they gravitate towards things with wheels and/or triggers.

{So many cars, so little time!}



But the main thing about brothers is, they stick together and love each other immensely!

Last night Nolan had the hiccups for the first time that I have been able to tell. There was that very distinct jumping in my tummy and it went on and on for almost an hour and kept me awake. So, I am tired today but every time I think of him in there with the hiccups, I just have to giggle. It is a good sign that he is doing his practice breathing and developing right?

Jack wanted to "talk to Nolan" a minute ago so I happily obliged and let the two have a brotherly exchange. This involved Jack giving him a kiss and sharing a gummy worm with him...how sweet!



{..."Bite for you Noli, then a bite for me"...}

Yesterday, March 30th, was the "Systems Check" ultrasound and prenatal appointment.

Here are some little tidbits at this time in the pregnancy:

~You are still a boy. Hah! No changes there. And I am so glad you are a boy. Not only have a come to terms with my boy mom status, I am now fully relishing in it and wouldn't have it any other way.

~You were sleeping at the beginning of the ultrasound, all curled up and very peaceful. Then as the wand passed over and over my belly you began to move and acknowledge that your little nest was being disturbed. I saw a clear shot of your face and you kept your right hand in a fist near your face.

~You are 13 ounces, just three more and you'll be into the featherweight category at a whopping pound! Keep it up!

~I weigh 128 pounds right now, so I've just barely got you beat ;) Here's something kind of remarkable; I was the exact same weight at this point in my pregnancies with both Warren and Jack. I get a gold star for consistency.

~You checked out just perfectly. All of your organs and systems are just dandy and you are cute as a button. Lots of movement and I am able to now tell when you are asleep as well as when your precious little feet are digging into my bladder!

I didn't get any digital pictures from the ultrasound and truthfully you are kind of camera shy so far. Every time we were able to manage a good shot, you would quickly move or turn your head. So, I'll just have to make up for it after you're born when you can't escape me!

Daddy is now more "into" the pregnancy as he always is once I really start to have a big belly and call the baby by his name. I can tell he is awful proud to tell everyone that he has three boys. He is already protective of you and often fetches me my prenatal vitamins and commends me on eating so much to make sure you are getting enough calories.

Well, I have to admit that both Warren and Jack's baby books are in various forms of incompleteness. And I found the majority of the pages to be a little silly, especially when I found myself asking and then saying:

"Bryan, what is the average cost of the newspaper right now?"

"How about for a car?"

"What was your paternal Great Grandpa's middle name?"

"Oh, forget it. I'll skip this part and do it later."

Yeah, later never happened. At least not yet. So, I am trying something different this time around. I can type much faster than I can write, and uploading pictures is so much easier than printing and cutting and gluing.

I will try my best to mimic a traditional baby book, minus those annoying parts I mentioned already. And after Nolan is a year old, I will print the blog content into a glossy, beautiful book using Blog Books, where they "slurp" your blog into a real book. How cool is that?

So, here we go!

I said, "here we go!"

...Oh yeah, I still have 18 weeks to go before Nolan is actually born...

What can I say, I'm excited.