Oh Where, Oh Where, Can You Be?

And... this is what happens when you are on your third kid, haha! You have all intentions of doing the same things you did for the previous two, but life gets in the way! I've been meaning to post since January, but it's now almost the end of March!

January 15 - Baby was looking good. About 2 lb 9 oz by ultrasound, with a heart rate of 141.

In early March, we had a sweet little Mother's Blessing on Zoom where I got to catch up with some friends and family. Some of you sent very generous gifts, allowing us to get a couple of things we needed to update or replace for the new little one. We are very appreciative!

March 18 - Baby was estimated at 6 lb 6 oz by ultrasound, with a heart rate of 138.

Life is throwing us some lemons lately, but we are moving through it with an immense amount of trust in God. Our peaks lately have included some wonderful academic growth from Gabriel since we started homeschooling mid-January. He is reading short books on his own now and picking up all sorts of life skills like how to mud sheetrock, how to make a bed, and how to take things apart/put them back together. He also has an amazing interest in God and the life of Jesus. Grace, of course, is like a little sponge and learning some of the things we have been doing in homeschool. She chats up a storm now and knows the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, some phonics, etc. I'd call her the demanding drama queen overall, but she is really sweet and affectionate (when she wants to be!). It's been beautiful watching their growth this last year while I've been working from home. The two of them go through this adorable love-annoyance relationship. I capture as many of the cute moments as I can.

The picture above also includes the crocheted blanket I made for the baby -- that accidentally came out bigger than the crib, haha!

Craig has been busy renovating half of our basement this winter and now prepping the pool area for a new liner and patio. I'm always amazed at the sheer number of things he knows how to do well! He's my Renaissance Man. 

I'm enjoying working from home -- aside from navigating the kids' schedules with mine -- and I'm also still working on my doctorate. Gabe and I talk often about how strongly he dislikes the pandemic (we don't use the word hate at home, but he thinks it applies to the virus); I told him the one bright spot I have found in this pandemic is the time we have been able to spend as a family together. Life outside of a pandemic is just so much busier.

I can't not talk briefly about the death of my Nonna, my paternal grandmother, who was two months shy of 103 years old. Nonna was an inspiration to me because of what she accomplished in her life. I'm proud to have her name, Vincenza, as my middle name. (I desperately wish I could have attended her funeral, but at 37 weeks pregnant, I couldn't risk a 6hr drive into a COVID-heavy area.)

Here are the recent bump pictures I've taken -- one of the few pregnancy efforts I've been consistent with!

As we approach the last two-ish weeks of waiting for baby, it's getting real. Most of the baby stuff is ready aside from a few last minute things we need to do this weekend. My 'nesting' has mostly consisted of making recipes I haven't made for a decade, haha, like rice balls and this week's endeavor of Babcia's pierogi.

If you made it this far, enter your hunches about the baby at https://www.babyhunch.com/pool/P1002L9HM0EN

Use password: babylatour

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's pretty obvious that we've been busy by my lack of posts with this pregnancy! Busy even during a pandemic when there's not much to do!

We spent a very quiet Thanksgiving with my mom in NY. The kids were so excited to stay at Babcia's house. Gabriel even said he was going to move in with her, and Grace kept repeating "Sasha's house" (that's currently her pronunciation of "Babcia") for days after we returned home.

The anatomy ultrasound we had in November went really well! No concerns with baby.

I've been feeling really good, just tired. (Makes me think it's a boy based on how similar I felt with Gabe's pregnancy!) Managing working from home, my dissertation classes, hybrid kindergarten, and entertaining Grace have been challenging. We are blessed to have Grandma here one morning a week and to have found a really nice nanny who comes two mornings a week. Now that kindergarten is fully remote (hopefully temporarily), it's even more difficult to navigate everything, but thankfully, my work semester ended for winter break already. 

We had the LaTour family over for a small family Christmas gathering this past weekend. Santa came, and you can see how that went over with Grace, haha!

I couldn't resist getting a picture with my mom in our role reversal. She used to be Santa when we were little and now I am for my kids.

Maybe one of these days I will start showing, haha! I'm just happy to be past the halfway mark now!

Three Weeks of Craziness

Yesterday we hit 19 weeks of pregnancy, and while I have no baby bump yet, I've been feeling little flutters from this little one for a while. I'm thankful it's a much easier pregnancy than with Grace and that I feel really good, aside from tired. It makes me wonder if it's another boy! 😊 Either way, we're almost half way there! Monday we have the anatomy scan so if you could pray for everything to look great, we would appreciate it. 💓

The last three weeks have been crazy! We had a Halloween Trunk or Treat here (the kids were pumpkins), then rang in November with Gabriel's 6th birthday. We had a small family gathering for both kids' birthdays the following week, and will be celebrating Grace's actual birthday on Saturday.

Thump Thump

I headed in for a regular OB appointment on Monday, where I heard baby's heartbeat on the doppler (about 170 beats/min). Everything is looking good. I have an anatomical ultrasound scheduled in November. And nope! We're not finding out the sex of this baby either! I love a good surprise, especially after 40 weeks of exhaustion/nausea/aches/brain fog, haha!

Craig made me ask the doctor about scheduling the c section for 4/3/21 because he can easily remember that birthday, hahaha! Unfortunately, that's a Saturday and they won't do scheduled c sections on Saturdays. Craig says he has to come to the next appointment to try to compel the doctor to abide by his wishes! I about died laughing.

I can't believe it will be November in a couple weeks and the kids will be having birthdays. Gabriel turns 6 on the 1st, and Grace turns 2 on the 14th. When did my babies get so old?!?! 

Chugging along

Well, we're into the 2nd trimester now!

There isn't much of a baby bump yet, mostly a food belly, haha! But things are good otherwise. I am much less nauseous. I'm still exhausted though. I'm glad we just passed midterms at work so the semester is over halfway done. I need a break!! My doctorate is going well, though that is time consuming also. Hybrid kindergarten with Gabriel takes a lot of my time, too. I'll be thankful when everything can get back to normal -- and not this 'new normal' but the old one. I want to be able to bring Grace to storytimes and to get together with friends whenever and wherever. The one thing I have appreciated during this crazy pandemic is being with my family. These kids and Craig are the most important things in the world to me, and it's been a blessing to be 'forced' to be home with them more this year (as much as we might also drive each other crazy sometimes!). 

My next doctor appointment in next week, but it's just a brief one to check on baby's heart rate. I was finally able to hear it on my own doppler machine at 14 weeks + 2 days after searching for weeks. That was exciting and relieving. 

A Fun Announcement

Got a hunch when baby will arrive? Enter your guesses for baby's stats at https://www.babyhunch.com/pool/P1002L9HM0EN using password babylatour

Miracles just happen like that

Yay for an amazing ultrasound today! Baby is 5.82cm from crown to rump, measuring right on time at 12 weeks & 2 days. His/her heart rate was 169. (Baby's head is on the right with a little button nose; his/her belly is on the left.)

This baby's "anthem" is Miracles by Colton Dixon. It was playing on the radio when I went in for several appointments this pregnancy.

I'm unbelievably happy that all is well! I can't wait till we tell the kids! Gabriel will be so excited; he mentioned the baby we lost in April and seemed so sad. This will be great news for him! 

I created our baby announcement the other day, with the theme of The Three Little Pigs. Now I just have to load the pictures in. I can't wait for everyone to get it!

This pregnancy has made me so emotional with everything going on in the world and in our lives. Having something to celebrate just changes my whole mindset. Thank God for this gift!