My 30+ birthday

I celebrated my 31st birthday as a very, very pregnant lady! Kevin 'surprised' me by inviting my parents and brothers over to spend the afternoon with me. I had a weird goal of having 3 kids at age 30 but looks like I just missed it by a couple of weeks! October 2, 2011 was not only significant because it was my birthday but also because Hana lost her first tooth! What a milestone! She was so excited, especially about the 'tooth fairy' coming. So much pain and suffering (for her and me) for that first tooth to break through and 5 years later, it's out to make room for the permanent teeth. So bittersweet! Hana lost her first tooth and then I literally lost her first tooth and cannot find it to this day. So much for keeping it as a memento!

September 2011

This is me with only one more month of pregnancy (ever?!) to go! I have been feeling pretty good, keeping up a solid exercise routine and just trying to get through the warm weather we've been having! I can feel though that this boy is going to be big...my belly is all baby and I can feel him from the top of my ribs down to my pelvis...

First Day of Kindergarten

Oh, I was excited but mostly sad about Hana's first day of kindergarten! The countdown until the days until school started was in my mind all summer. I took her to shop for her 'first day of school' outfit and this is what she picked out. A girl who loves Hello Kitty is a girl after my own heart! I'm smiling but really want to cry! Can't believe my little baby girl is off to school.

We walked in to the classroom and were handed a list of items to find with Hana such as her cubby, the bathroom, her assigned seat, etc...I held my tears until I walked out of the door. The first day of school was hard on me but the second day so much worse. I was bawling my eyes out after dropping her off and long after I drove away from school, I had to call Kevin at work telling him that I just couldn't do this!

The evening of the first day of school, Kevin and the girls were playing rough in their bedroom. I think they were pillow-fighting or something but all I heard was a huge 'thunk'. Turns out, Hana had smacked her head against the corner of her toybox and ended up with this huge welt. So, she went to her second day of school (and a few more after that) with a crazy black eye....

I am thankful for the close-knit community we live in and so thankful to know so many families with children the same age. Turns out, the 2nd day of school was not just hard on me but on other moms from Hana's playgroup as well. We got in contact and decided to meet after drop-off on Friday. There were about ten of us that gathered together to share our tears, experiences and emotions about our babies starting school. That was such a special time that I will never forget!

Tahoe 2011

July was extremely busy and Kevin was away for work for most of the month. August slowed down a bit so we decided on a completely last minute trip to Tahoe. We planned to only go up for one night but ended up staying in Sacramento for a night as well. We visited Old Town Sacramento...this is me at an old time schoolhouse. Here are my girls in the aptly named 'Candy Heaven.' We finally understood what the term 'Kid in a candy store' really means!! The girls were so happy to fill their little buckets with sweets!
Here we are walking through Old Town Sacramento....I am oh, 7 months pregnant!!
Then we got to Tahoe and our hotel room was great but only had a king sized bed. We got the girls to fall asleep (kind of) on time and they looked so comfy and cuddly!
Tahoe is full of these amazing bears carved from wood so we made the girls pose in their matching oufits!
The next day, we took Hana to do some semi-bungy jumping. stuff. She loved it and did such a great job! Alaina was so not interested in giving it a try!
But she was interested in posing by the carved bear :)Such a quick, fun trip but I am glad we were spontaneous enough to do it!

July 2011

6 months pregnant with my grandmother's first great grandson! 4 generations - such a special picture!!

May 2011

This was the month we found out the gender of our baby! At my 18 week appt, I asked my OB (we call him Hammy) to check the gender, which he gladly did. Kevin came to this appt with me because he was as excited to find out as I was. So, Hammy was scanning the area and saw nothing. He checked for about 5 minutes, said the baby's legs were crossed, was being vague, said it was a girl but gave us a 40% chance it could be a boy....he was all over the place. Now, Hammy knew we had 2 girls and knew Kevin wanted a boy. Hammy also backtracked about Hana being a girl because I started crying in disappointment when he told me (horrible of me, I know!) So, knowing how he operates and seeing no visible penis, we were pretty sure this was another girl. We were so convinced it was a girl and I was way super excited and Kevin was probably disappointed but putting on a good face. We told my parents, who were probably hoping for a boy too, but they told me how great daughters are. Well, I had my official sonogram scheduled for the next day and since we 'knew' we were having another daughter, Kevin didn't even come with me. I am no expert at reading sonograms but as soon as they got started, I saw the picture below and no one had to even tell me what it was! I got all teary-eyed and cried out "I am having a SON?!!" I had never felt happier for Kevin in my life! No sonogram I've ever had up until this one has ever turned out 'normal' and this one had concerns too. I hate that moment when the sonographer gets all quiet, repeats their measurements, keeps checking while disguising their conversation to sound positive and then brings in the real doctor to break the bad news. After it was all finished, I called Kevin and said "The good news is you're having a son!! The bad news is he might have something wrong with him." Yeah, I know how to kill the moment! I got home, where my mom was watching the girls and told her she was finally getting a grandson and she got all teary-eyed and gave me a huge hug and said "I knew it! Oh Jenn, I told you!"
Of course, I waste no time planning ahead and already had some boy clothes hand me downs just in case and was so excited to hang them all in the closet!!!