It's an alien! 

Just kidding. (Although, look at it...) Today we had our anatomy scan! Where they check on baby and make sure everything looks good. Everything went smoothly, even the little people sat during the scan (which is very very rare.) Squish's little heart was strong, and this baby would NOT sit still! In fact, at one point she went to take a picture of its leg and it quickly pulled it away from the tech! It was so cute, and quite funny. I was holding back the tears as the little people pointed to the baby and watched in awe. 

We told the tech that we do want to know the gender. Mr. Daddy and I are NOT the kind of people who can  wait. She asked us if we wanted a boy this time. While we are just so blessed to be having our third, a boy would be nice. I did tell her that we have EVERYTHING for a girl (clothing wise). A few minutes later I thought I saw something on the screen, but it is so hard to tell! Then she said...

"You wont be able to use hand me downs this time."

I looked at Mr. Daddy who seemed a little shocked. She then pointed out what was undeniably a

BOY! 

That's right our girls will now have a little "brod-her" to pick on! 

I am just so full of joy, I can't contain it. The little people are very excited, and Mr. Daddy is ecstatic!

After the scan we went to eat and then did a bit of shopping. We got some great deals at Kohls and Gap. I can not tell you how fun it was to shop for a little boy! Now I just need a place to store his stuff... (or you know a new house.) 

So no bump picture this week (again). But I hope you enjoy the ultrasound pictures! Next week I will post a picture of my new hair cut/color!

This week has been BUSY. No rest for the weary, and our weekend will be just as busy. This morning was my monthly midwife visit. So far I have met two of the three midwives and like all of them. It is still a bit of a adjustment, since my last MW knew me so well. The visit was pretty uneventful, other then her telling me that I need to take it easy and rest more. I explained to her that I have been having head aches for the past three weeks, she thinks it is stress and me over doing it. (Apparently she pays attention when my kids are jumping on the chairs while I am talking to her.)
Seriously, taking it "easy", especially at dinner time is virtually impossible. I run all day with the kids, make dinner, clean the house, home school, do the yard work, ect. Plus after they are in bed is when I start working! Mr. Daddy is out 2/3 times a week, plus we have youth group on Fridays. Our weekends are jammed packed, it just seems like we are always on the go. The MW advised that I take Skull Cap before bed. I bought some on Amazon tonight so we'll see how that works. 
In other news I have been officially diagnosis with gestational diabetes (again).  I knew from about 12 weeks that this diagnosis was coming. I have had to adjust my diet, and go on a medication. For now though it is under control. I should be adding some of my GD friendly meals and diet plans soon! 
TWO weeks from today is our "big" ultrasound. Hopefully Baby Squish will cooperate and we'll know if we have a brother or a sister!! Squee! This is always one of my favorite moments in pregnancy. 
I also made my first baby purchase today. I bought a neutral little bouncy seat. Our original one is purple, we'll put it in a yard sale this year, regardless of what we have. 

This is literally the BEST bump picture I could come up with this week. Mr. Daddy wasn't able to take one, and my usual photographer, Ballerina, refused to help me today. At least I can always count on Lady Petunia for a photo bomb.

This weekend was Mr. Daddy's birthday! We had a fun packed weekend, complete with a yummy TraceyCake!

This week marks 16 weeks of this pregnancy. In another month I will be halfway done with this pregnancy. Pregnancy is a strange mix of time speeding by, and slowing down all at the same time. I think "how can I be 16 weeks already?" one minute. The next minute it's "wow only 16 weeks, I have a long way to go." 

I keep forgetting that I am indeed pregnant (that is until I look down), lately I have been pushing it. Then I have days like today when my head is pounding and I have zero energy. With two kids, a husband, a business, and ministry I literally can not afford to stop. I am making sure that I have mommy breaks. They usually involve coffee...okay they always involve coffee. Not to mention my new found obsession with candy crush :)

This has been an interesting week. I had what I thought was an eye infection and it turned out to be a reaction to my contact solution! This left me behind on my sewing and shipping. Turns out that you need your eyes to sew and drive. 

Of course I think everyone is burdened by this weeks tragedy. It's these times and moments when you question whether bringing more children into this world is a good idea. Or how on earth can I protect my babies from the evil of this world? 

The truth is, as much as I try, I can never protect my kids from everything. While I watch what the eat, how they speak, what they see, where they are I can never fully protect them. Sometimes when thinking about it anxiety takes over. I start thinking crazy thoughts about building sustainable compound and never letting them leave. But that is not reality. Reality is this world is broken. We can either let the brokenness of this world eat away at us, or we can chose to give our fears to the only one who can fix it. 

I can't control what others do. But I can teach my children to love their neighbors as themselves. It is my life goal, my calling, to raise my children to be disciples of Jesus. We must teach them that while evil seems to overwhelm, death has already been defeated. 

Pray. Pray for the city of Boston. Pray for our nation. Pray for our world. Teach your children right vs. wrong. 

I've never been good about keeping a journal. Or a blog for that matter! I've always regretted not taking enough bump pictures, and not documenting my pregnancies enough. So I hope to update here weekly or bi-weekly. 

Today marks 14 weeks. While I look more like I am 17 weeks it all still hasn't felt real. Until the other night when I was laying in bed. I had the sudden realization that we are having another child and that I am not crazy! You'd think listening to the heartbeat or seeing the squish on the ultrasound would make it feel "real." But everything stills seems to be a bit surreal. 

This time around I am seeing a new set of midwives. My local hospital (that I LOVED) closed it's maternity ward :(. I must say though, I really like my new set of midwifes. They have breast feeding pictures all over their walls, I felt pretty much at home. While I would love to do a home birth this time around Mr. Daddy is just not comfortable with it while we rent. I believe that both of us need to be comfortable with the birthing process, not just me. Really, I can have a baby anywhere. He did say that maybe next time when we are settled in our own home that we could consider it! (See prayer works!)

Speaking of homes, we hope to buy a house this summer. Pray for us in this journey. We are pretty set in what we want really don't want to settle. I am confident that God will bring us the right house are the right time. 

Enough with the boring stuff, now for cute pictures of the little people! Oh and maybe a bump picture too! 

Please please ignore my MESSY yard!

I love spring and I LOVE Easter. I am so excited for this season to swing into full force. This Easter Mr. Daddy and I were honored to lead worship at a Good Friday service, here in our town. Along with two other worship teams we were able to lead our community into worship and hear all three Pastors share the love of Jesus. We are truly blessed to be with this community at this special time. For Easter Sunday our church was busting at the seams! Our family then relaxed at home with a nice dinner and an egg hunt.
Today I am feeling just so blessed. 
So blessed that we are finally ready to share very special news with the world..

And for our Easter news... We're expecting a new Jubilee Baby in October 2013!

When I first asked Ballerina what theme she wanted for her birthday this year, I was a little taken back when she told me that she wanted a snowflake party. I honestly thought it was just her being random and that she would change her mind soon. 
I should have known better. When she gets something in her mind, it will not change. I actually really enjoyed planning this party. I have experience with snow themed parties, since that was pretty much my wedding theme. Many of the decorations for this party were actually from my wedding! In fact we know use them for our Christmas decorations! For the other things, I went out a few days after Christmas and was able to score everything 50-75% off! 

A special thanks to Katie, Corrie, Chelsea, Sarah, Tracey, Debra, Rebecca, and everyone who helped make her birthday so blessed.
And thank you to Team Bride for all of your incredible help! Check out Team Bride for all of your party planning needs! 

Once again when Ballerina woke up she put tried to clean Penelope up before I could see! I think she thinks that she is going to get in trouble. Hey, I'll take the cleaning up! 

Are you doing Elf on Shelf this year? I would love to hear what you are doing!

Ballerina is still quite skeptical but I suspect she will grow more and more excited as the days go on! Lady Petunia has no clue really, she loves to hug Penelope though! 
                             Penelope learned on day two that it is not nice to take things from other people. 

Thankfully for day three Penelope decided to take a "naughty" break and play a game. Joseph and Leslie the Dog were thrilled to join her. 

We have a new family member! She arrived in the mail this morning and the little people have already argued several times over her.

Let me start by saying, when I first saw the whole "Elf On Shelf" thing I thought it was kind of strange. Actually, I thought it was pretty creepy. Over the year though, that stupid little elf has been popping up on Pinterest every.time.I'm.on. (Which lets face it, is twice a day.)

Last year, Ballerina's friend gave her a plush elf. We used it as a toy and packed it away with the Christmas stuff. Today, while Mr.Daddy and The Guncle brought Ballerina black Friday shopping, I wrapped Penelope up all pretty. Wrote this beautiful note from Santa Claus, and placed it thoughtfully near the newly set up nativity. They arrived home and I made it this huge ordeal about how Santa sent Ballerina and Lady Petunia a present. I set my camera to right settings (I am forcing myself to actually learn my dslr, by shooting only on raw), then I snapped all of these beautiful pictures. Only later to discover that I had forgotten to put my memory card back into my camera. That is what we call a fail!

Also, we have decided to take a different spin on the elf on shelf. Instead of using the "naughty or nice" list, we have decided to use it as a tool to teach the girls about forgiveness. In the letter from Santa I talked about how even though we sometimes do naughty things that Jesus always forgives us. Santa asked the little people to "keep an eye" on Penelope and to help her learn how to stay out of trouble, and that even when she does mess up to forgive her.

After the little people went to bed I began to research tons of ideas. After three hours and some pie, I am SO excited to do this with them. I hope it becomes a family tradition that lasts, and a memory that they always keep. I will be documented our experience here, and on the facebook page. Make sure you "like" the page to get even more pictures and ideas! www.facebook.com/jubileebabyco Also, be sure to check out the store! We have a ton of sales right now. STORE

Here are the pictures from day one (I remembered the memory card this time!)