#11.

She is beautiful, opinionated, smart, and stubborn.
She is kind, giving, and has the best personality.
One minute she has me smiling, and the next she can have me frustrated out of my mind.
She loves her family, and her animals and her friends with everything in her.
She loves to draw, sing, and dream of being famous someday.
She's messy, and has a huge problem with cleaning her room.
She likes to have the last word (hmmm, can't figure out who she got that from) and she tries to push her boundaries every now and then.
She is still her 'daddy's girl' and I have a feeling she always will be.
She is clumsy, and not-so-coordinated, but she is passionate about things that she is interested in.
She has a bond with her brother that makes me so proud. The whole great big sister thing? Yep, she has that down.
She loves fashion and is very into looking her best everyday (this means that even if we are just running to the post office to mail a letter - she has to get ready.) Drives me insane.
She is goofy, spunky, and silly, and I love that about her.
She cares about people and is respectful to others.
She wants to be friends with everyone, and because of that - people are drawn to her.
Her smile is contagious and her laugh makes me happy.
She is my little girl growing up way to fast - right  before my eyes.

Happy Birthday beautiful. 

The pogo maniac.

Layton has some serious skills when it comes to the pogo-stick.
Yesterday, I watched him hop on that thing for over 30 minutes straight in our driveway.
Really hoping now, that his new-found hobby just doesn't lead us to any broken bones or busted out teeth.

Add-on: UPDATE.

My house looks entirely different.
Over the weekend the cutting began to start the hallway.
I couldn't stand to be here to watch so, Becca and I took off.
Stuff like that just seems to give me major anxiety.

They got the holes cut, the framing all up, and the connection completely attached.
Major progress, and it looks totally awesome. I can now begin to invision it being finished and it is going to look way better than I had thought it would. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Kaylee is also all moved into her new room and she absolutely LOVES it.

Job well done to her daddy and ALL of the great guys who have been helping us with this little project of ours. A special thanks to Mark, Nate, Greg, and Jer for taking time out of their lives to help us out, and an extra-special thanks to Pete. Lee and him make one hell of a team, and he has been here on every single one of his days off from morning til' night helping. It means so much to both of us (just so you know, mister - it's appreciated.) Ha!

Next, will be the insulation and the sheet rock in the hallway, and closing off the nursery with a new wall.
(Right now, there is a huge hole there, so it looks rather white-trash.)

From the looks of it, we get to start prepping it next week.
Yay!

Month: Eight

-- I can no longer see my feet when I look down. This means that clipping or painting my toenails, putting on socks, tying my shoes, or picking things up off of the floor are not easy tasks.

-- I also have started to 'waddle' and even though everyone around me says its adorable, I just feel like an uncomfortable and awkward looking duck. I can't seem to stand up straight anymore though and in order to relieve the pressure off of my back, I have no choice but to walk around looking like that.

-- Ava has the hiccups all. the. time. She has them at least 10 times a day and 2 or 3 of those times usually come in the middle of the night. I actually love it though and it makes me smile every time.

-- I found out at my appointment yesterday that she has finally turned to the head down position. HALLELUJAH! I was super worried about this because Kaylee and Layton both turned early on and I had this huge fear that I would have to have a c-section. The midwives had even started discussing with me that they wanted to try and turn her from the outside if nothing changed by 35 weeks. That had me just as freaked out because from what I researched - the pain is unbearable. So, I am more than happy with the news that our stubborn little stinker decided to cut me some slack.

-- Work has been pretty busy for us and I have noticed that I am slowing down just a little. I find myself hurting a lot more the bigger I get. Cleaning is so much more labor intensive than I had first thought it would be. It could be the fact that I am 8 months along and I am sure that after she is out, it won't be nearly as hard as it seems right now but, I have decided, because of this that my last day will be April 20th. That will give me a little over 3 weeks before her due date to get everything ready for her.

-- Our add-on is coming along nicely. Beyond nicely actually. Lee told me tonight that Becca and I should have a nursery to paint the week after next, and we move Kaylee into her new room tomorrow. It would be an understatement to say that I am totally ecstatic about it!

-- Still dealing with insomnia - no fun, and last night I even counted the amount of times that I got up to pee (just for the hell of it) in a 6 hour period: seventeen. I guess this little one thinks that right on top of my bladder is a super comfy place to hang.

-- I have also been experiencing a new 3rd trimester symptom: shortness of breath. Umm, this is not one that I have dealt with before and holy crap, it is not a fun one either. Just changing positions in bed at night sometimes leaves me gasping for air.

-- I have noticed that she loves to hang out on my right side (just like Kay did) and her most active time to move around is between 9 and 11 at night. Unfortunately though, she is getting pretty cramped in there so most of her jabs are starting to hurt now. That part? Not so awesome.

-- One of my favorite things to do lately is watch my tummy jiggle from the outside with the kids. They get a total kick out of it and I feel this really cool connection during those moments with all three of my kiddos.

The springtime snow.

Today is the kids' first day of spring break and what do we wake up to? SNOW.
Crazy? Yes. But, totally awesome? Um, YES.
It started coming down last night and Bentlee at first did not know what to think of it.
Today, however - totally different story.

The kids and him played in it forever.

Making memories.
One snowball fight at a time.

Add-on: UPDATE

Kaylee has a new room.
Completely built, and painted.
All that's left is the molding to go up and the hardware for her closet.
[I also must say that my husband is rather awesome to have been able to pull it all off in just a couple of weeks.]
What a stud, he is.

And this weekend?
The hallway work begins.

A little (okay, ALOT) on the creepy side.

[I know that Sarah will especially be bothered by this post. Ha!]

Last month we went in for a 3D/4D ultrasound of Ava.
It was a free service that my midwives provide so we thought why not?
We got a few pictures of her and while yes, they are interesting looking and a little hard to figure out, we did enjoy getting a small sneak peek of what she will look like. (I actually compared them to baby pictures of Kaylee at 5 days old, and there is quite the resemblance - which was kinda cool.)

Here it is:
(labeled for those who need help figuring out what things are)

Now, here is the creepy part.

After posting it on facebook, a firend of mine called me and asked why "father time" was in her ultrasound scan.
I was like huh?

Lee and I then studied it for awhile and finally - what she was talking about, popped out at us.
Honestly? It did freak us out a bit, because it looked EXACTLY like a mans face:

See? Creeeeeepy - right?
I have had it posted on the fridge ever since, but the worst part is all I see now when I look at it is the FACE.
I actually have a hard time focusing on the baby.

Layton likes to tease me all the time that she is going to come out looking like an old, hairy man.
Um, not funny son... SO. NOT. FUNNY.

Because life isn't fair.

Bentlee has had his world a little rocked as of lately.

A few weeks ago, he got out of the house without us knowing and ran away.
Luckily Lee found him about 10 minutes later about 2 blocks away wandering the streets.
[Might I add? I never knew that losing a dog could make me feel like my child was missing but in my case - it does.] He was then held prisoner in his kennel for punishment and because we were afraid he would keep digging in the backyard when we couldn't watch him.

With all the rain/snow we have been having (yes, in MARCH) it has become a huge mud-pit back there anyway, and guess who likes to track it all over the house?
I finally got sick of following him around with the swiffer mop and decided to block his doggie door and just take him out to potty until the weather clears up.
Well, he isn't a fan. We have had a lot of company lately helping with the remodel and he will just sit at the window. looking depressed:

I find it kind of cute, but something tells me that he isn't finding it very funny.

Baby shower: SUCCESS.

We had my shower for Ava baby over the weekend.
Becca, Steph, and Tirzah worked extra hard to make it a special day for me.

It was all pink, and a great time.
I had fun catching up with everyone who joined us to celebrate and feel so much more prepared now.
The best thing of all? I only have 3 more things to mark off of the "have to get before baby gets here" list... and it's a fabulous feeling.

It's starting to resemble a room.

The add-on is coming along.
We now have walls, and soon we will have paint on them.
It's looking a little bit 'blah' at the moment but it is major progress:

Lee has been working hard at it and with the help of his friends this weekend  - they have us ahead of schedule.
Exciting.

Seriously, Where has my time gone?

Lately, (as in the last month and a half) I have been nothing but busy.

With work, photo shoots, a house to keep clean, errands to run, kids to keep up with, karate lessons, baby appointments, birthday planning, and living in a complete construction zone - I haven't had much time for anything.

I would like to say that things should slow down soon. But, they won't. The next couple of months are going to be just as crazy, if not more-so.

Happy to report though that the add-on is moving along very fast. Faster than I had first thought it would. This weekend we are ready for electrical and after next? Kaylee's room will be ready for paint and flooring. Super proud of my hardworking husband and our family and friends who have offered their helping hand. I have one excited girl and pictures to post soon of the progress.

Also, I have a goal of blogging at least every 2 days. I have plenty to talk about (it is me after all.) I just feel so overwhelmed lately with all that is going on that I can't find time. Whenever I am sitting at the computer it is either to edit pictures or to check my Facebook status. I MUST make more time... as soon as I find it, that is the plan.

Add-on UPDATE.

The addition is now in full swing.
I promised to post pictures as we went along so here are a few...

Looks kinda like a shed still but we are well on our way...

This is the window and door that was put in yesterday.

Today, Kaylee helped her dad for hours and even got to go to home depot with him to pick out her paint swatches and flooring of choice but, I think my favorite part had to have been when Lee taught her how to use a hand saw. She loked pretty adorable in her safety glasses.

Tomorrow, we (okay, not me - Lee and whatever help he has) start building walls.