First I just was going to create this post as a tester – and then delete it, but seeing sweet tennyson looking so small and sweet was just impossible to delete!

awwww – my baby!!!! where does the time go!?!

Ok – NOW I can make a slide show from my beach pics (oh and everything and anything else my heart desires!), so hold on to your hats people! Be back later.

Here are the boys are all dressed in their new Christmas Eve jammies and ready for Santa to come, look at how sweet they look! How could Santa possibly resist these sweet faces (albeit a bit mischievous about smiling for the camera!)
Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Yep – IT’S a BOY! Apparently we do boys so well God just keeps sending them our way!

I’m feeling very excited, and happy to have seen our little one, and now that we know a boy, it just feels right. For all of you doubters out there, you should know there was NO denying it – this guy was more than happy to show the goods even when we were really trying to look at other body parts (hehehe, how boy is that of him???)

Anyways he looks totally healthy, did a bunch of wiggling and moving for us, and even gave Gareth and Owen the thumbs up! – which they were beyond thrilled about ofcourse!

Now I can focus on getting things all ready to go for our little man around here I’m excited!

So – just because I’m thrilled and because I’m wanting everyone else to be with me, here is a little goody for you up for a limited time!

Thanks for coming by and celebrating with me!

Luckily it seems like week 17 was FINALLY the magic number – and I’m making up for some lost time now eating my heart out!

I feel like there are so many things I want to share, life has been filled with inspiration, even sitting sick on the couch my life has been rich and full of love and life, the little men marching around the house (making a ruckus, but reminding me too how full my heart is) and the little one growing in my tummy getting bigger, moving more and more and making itself known and making mommy smile.
I just am beyond behind with blogging – but the basics are, I’m feeling well (FINALLY!) and the kids are doing great, gareth is still loving second grade. We are all enjoying the season change… less miserable heat, more pretty pretty rain… Okay maybe not ALL of us are loving it, poor Reece broke down in tears today when it started raining again because he wanted to play outside. But I have to admit, I’m loving it and welcoming a bit of cool fresh weather after what seemed like a miserable long summer.

So, all I have for you really are a few pages I’ve done over the past well month or so, but I thought I’d get them added on here so that my bloggy is all up to date.

The most recent page I did, I was dying to scrap a page about Gareth starting second grade so I opened up all my pictures of him all proud in his back pack, and getting on the bus and then this little series g took of him and I waiting for the bus were the ones I just had to scrap…. I have issues with scrapping “events” so this was my way around it for the time being:

This is a page I did in AUGUST (okay maybe these are more than a month old!) For a Sweet Shoppe Sugar Free Challenge I hosted. My theme was “Real Life is….” and this is where I went with it:

This GORGEOUS back ground is from Lauren Grier. Black Paper and Cardboard Doodle is from Robin Carlton’s Space Invaders. Alpha is my Graffiti Grunge Alpha. All from SSD. Fonts: Windsong and Problem Secretary

This, also from August was a scraplift of our Treat of the Month. I just had to lift the amazing Amy Pearson! I chose her page “Crazy Photographer” and I love what it inspired me to create!!

This is Dani Mogstad’s incredible kit “Saturday Market” at SSD and DesignByDani. Aged Frame by Jessica Bolton. Fonts: rusted plastic, centaur, scriptina, prestige elite std, LainieDay.

Finally, here is a page I promised to show you a long time ago, but I just keep sitting on it because I think I’m going to do something more to make it not so terribly simple…. but you know… I can’t seem to do it, so here you have it just as it is:

This is a kit of Shabby Princesses that I got quite some time ago, specifically FOR birthday pictures And that is my grunge frame. The number 3 is from Manda Bean’s “Algae Eater” at SSD.

So there you have it… pretty measly little selection there considering I have MONTHS with out showing pages off…. I really am feeling the urge to get better about this, my little guys are just growing up right under my nose and I want to capture it before it is gone… but you know how life is, keeping me hopping… Life is a marathon it seems and sometimes inspiration is just really hard to find when you are so tired you can’t see straight! But you know… tomorrow is a new day, and I’m confident that I’ll find a way to fit in everything that really matters when it is all said and done.

And with that – I should get my pregnant little self to bed. I should be back soon with more to share, but if not, you can expect to hear from me on OCTOBER 19th at the very latest – because that is the big day when we get to find out if this little monkey is our even boy number four, or our life changing little baby princess…. Wish me luck with the waiting until then! AHHHHH!

So I called the dr. shortly after finishing my last post (mostly because g and lauren were putting the pressure on, I hate calling the doctors office, it is such a pain!).  But when the nurse heard how sick I’ve been, and that I’m still not putting on any weight at 15 weeks, she really wanted me to start a new medication so that I would start eating more.

Anyways long story short, the Dr. called in a prescription for Zofran for me, and when I took my first pill I could NOT believe the difference, I actually could sit down and eat with out feeling like every bite might make me puke, or paying later with by fighting major waves of nausea.  Anyways a day later and I’m just reveling in the fact that I don’t feel like I want to hide away in bed anymore or avoid food at all cost.

So little tiny baby in there, be grateful for Zofran and be sooo grateful for daddy’s job and INSURANCE, because rumor has it, these puppies are like 40 dollars a pill!

Happy sigh… Now I am going to try to do some actual work, and go switch the wash, because I actually feel up to it for the first time in a long time.

It was nearly impossible though to get a picture of all the kids together – four squirmy little boys with better things to do do not like to pose for the camera that is for sure!  Here is the one picture I did manage to get of them all at once (and only with the promise of Popsicles)

When I asked Connor what his favorite part of the visit was he said “fishing in the river” so Connor this one is for you – this is at the river behind my parents house:

Here is one I snuck of Lauren and Connor watching the river:

On another day we went to Multnomah Falls, although the kids weren’t feeling especially photogenic that day… Here is one picture I did manage to snap of Reece watching the falls:

We also took Connor and Lauren to the zoo, here are a few pictures I managed to get of them there:

And on Lauren’s last day here we took a day trip to the coast.  It was a perfect Oregon Coast day, nice and cloudy and fresh, and the boys couldn’t have possibly had more fun playing in the sand or running from the waves.

And Lauren and I posing for a picture at the beach with the zoom accidentally on   Still, we can’t help but be total cuties!

We had a great time together and although things are notably more calm around here (funny because my kids are the wild ones but there is something about that extra element of another child, no matter how calm, to really stir things up), we all miss the other part of our family – because I swear it really did feel that way!

• Gareth started second grade!
• My little niece visited
• We had my wonderful designer pal Lauren and her cutie pie son visiting for over two weeks
• Lots of fun sight seeing, and little day trips
• Getting things in a row around here, we found a crib, two beds for owen and reece, and a table that our whole family actually fits at!  things on that pesky to do list are finally getting crossed off.
• Did I mention I’ve been SICK and tired and pregnant?!

In addition to all of that, life has been it’s regular old busy and all consuming self, but you know what, it has been good to me too I feel blessed and happy and so well taken care of…. sigh (sappy moment, sorry)… life is good.

So I know, these are all things that need posts of their own, so be patient with me, and I’ll post them over the next week (otherwise you will all be completely overwhelmed with pictures and my rambling – plus I’ve taken my anti-nausea pill that makes me drowsy and wobbly headed, so there is no guarantee that it would make sense any ways!)

Come back tomorrow and I’ll give you some more…. In the mean time, check out what lauren and I did while she was here:

I really just love this kit.  It is totally bright and cheery and great for LITTLE BOYS this time too!!

Then Lauren’s fab CT member Lisa Wells put together this CD album for us too!

You can see the Kit HERE at SSD and the CD album HERE.

Okay and that is all for me for now, I’ll be back with more tomorrow (really!) and then now that things are settling into routine again around here, I’m hoping I can do a better job of keeping things all up to date for you here.

I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but for some reason, when I get pregnant, I feel the need to get it all figured out AS SOON as possible – I’m perpetually late by nature, but with new babies I feel like if I’m not ahead of the game I might go crazy! Honestly if we had a car seat already, I would be hard pressed not to buckle that puppy into the car right away (or at least buckle it in and make sure that everything fits and works)… Any of my local friends, if you see me wandering around town with my cabbage patch kid in my snuggly, please don’t think badly of me! I honestly just feel the need to feel like everything is ready to roll. My poor husband will tell you, even the baby names had to be decided the MOMENT we decided to start trying to conceive.

To boot, all of my lovely baby supplies from when Reecey was little has been out in my back yard shed (in hind sight this was a very bad idea) is now covered in MOLD, so after scrubbing and failing for the most part on everything, we have a new list a mile long of baby gear we need to get AGAIN for baby Clingerman number 4. Plus we are going to be doubling up the bedrooms, two kids in each, so I need to figure out the perfect plan for bed placements and organization….

All of this is what is tumbling through my brain as I’m holding back the need to gag and fighting for the strength just to function in early pregnancy…. I’m at 10 and 1/2 weeks now though, so at least I know some second trimester energy will be coming soon enough…. Or so I can hope!

So – Trying to rock but mostly failing… I hope I can figure out the way to fit it all in, or maybe I’ll find the peace to lower my expectations just a tad! Who knows… maybe this rush of need structure and organization will be great for me and our little family.

And speaking of the new little family member – I thought everyone might like to see baby’s first photo!

When I had my ultrasound last Friday it brought tears to my eyes to see this little “guy” (sorry, can’t help it, I just keep calling it a little guy, we will see if they surprise me!). It was wiggling and squirming around SO much, waving tiny tiny stubby little arms, looking completely…. ALIVE, for lack of a better word. It was both relieving and moving to really see for sure, that there is a little person growing in me. Although I’m tired and anxious and nauseated all the time, I am also walking on air, this is what I’ve been dreaming of for a long time (maybe I’ll post more on that another time)! The tech tried to see if we could sneak a peak at teeny tiny gender specific organs, but baby was NOT having it, this little one was really on the move – Dr. said she was really surprised to see how active it was, that I may be in for some trouble!

Okay, I’ve got two pages finished up from the past few weeks, and one in the works that is kicking my butt – I may have to buy a multi-photo frame type thing to help me out, but I will be showing those off soon I hope.

So – now you know what I’ve been up to – basically a whole lot of obsessing and a very little bit of actual progress… But such is the life of a sick, tired, overworked, hormonally deranged pregnant momma! hehehe!

I AM PREGNANT!!!

Oh my gosh I can’t even begin to tell you how happy we are around here!

Well right now it is super duper early still, I’m 5 and a half weeks along – I know technically most people wait to share this news until they are further along, but everyone has just been so supportive of me and I want to share the great news now!

So the due date tentatively is March 8th, but I’m still waiting on hearing the date the doctor gives me. I am thrilled about march though, we don’t have any other march babies and I’m not going to be hugely pregnant in the hot summer.

I’m feeling pretty good, just exhausted a good bit of the time, and a bit of morning sickness and tummy uneasiness is setting in, still all of it is wonderful as far as I’m concerned, because I’m just so happy to be PREGNANT!

I made a little page last week about it after I found out:

This is Lauren Grier’s Beautiful kit “A Thousand Miles Away” over at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

So YAY – there is my news! Please keep me in your prayers that little baby clingerman is healthy and stays put right where he (or much more unlikely she) belongs.