20 Weeks!

20 weeks! The half way mark.  What a great feeling!

Yesterday, Derek and I went to my 20 week ultrasound.  Such a blessing to see a healthy baby BOY on the screen, and get confirmation again that everything looks absolutely perfect!  The baby was so active!  One minute he was chilling out with his hand behind his head, and the next minute he was face down.  The ultrasound tech wasn't sure she would get a good view of the face, and then 30 seconds later he flipped around again!  I just had to laugh, because he already acts so much like his brothers!   These 3 boys are going to keep me busy but I am looking forward to every minute of raising 3 boys!

Here he is chilling out.  

 So sweet!

At the 14 week ultrasound, the baby was loving his hands near his face.  Same at 20 weeks. 

 Just snuggled in so cozy!

A very obvious gender reveal photo!

 I have to be honest... I have known since 14 weeks that the baby was 90% sure a boy.  The ultrasound tech wasn't looking for any parts, she was just scanning around taking different measurements of my cervix.  She skimmed over the legs and butt of the baby and immediately, what looked like little boy parts, caught my eye!  I said to the tech 'Woah, go back.. it's a boy isn't it?!'  She smiled, and said it was too early for her to say for sure, but she told me not to go to selling any of my little boy clothes :)  This view is exactly what I saw at 14 weeks!  For sure a boy :)

  

Boston had the opportunity to come with us to the ultrasound and go to school a few hours late.  When he asked a few weeks ago what day the appointment was, I told him it was a Wednesday morning.  His immediate response was:

'That's a gym day and I don't want to miss.  Just tell me after school!'

So that's exactly what I did.  The plan was to let him use the Juice Stop certificate he had won at school this week for having the most reading periods.  I was going to go in and order something blue or pink, and then when he saw what color it was he would know the gender.  Well, believe it or not, the Juice Stop doesn't have anything BLUE!  Onto plan B.  I let him look at the ultrasound pictures & read the 'It's a BOY' picture.   He was happy!  Most happy because he had won a bet with his dad!  Derek was guessing it was a girl, and Boston guessed a boy, so they bet each other $1. Dad still hasn't paid up, and $1 gets added each day!  I took a cute video of Boston finding out the news, but when I went to upload the video to my computer I couldn't find it.  I blame Brigham.  That kid finds my phone no matter where I have it hidden.  Super bummed that it's gone, but what do ya do?!  Darn boys!  

These boys are just the cutest!  Their faces show how excited they are!

People have asked if I am bummed we are not having a girl this time.  My answer:  Not at all!  A girl would have been perfect too, but having three boys is really how I pictured my life as a mom, especially with 2 boys already!  It's a perfectly healthy baby, and honestly, I just feel truly blessed that having another baby was part of God's plan for my life!  Derek isn't disappointed either.  I think he would have enjoyed the experience of having a 'daddy's girl', but he isn't bummed out enough to want to try for a 4th!  :)

The snacks Boston brought to school to tell his classmates he was having a brother!!

Another year with Jaxon!

A year ago this week, I was giving Jaxon away to an animal rescue center.  Little did I know that only days later, I would be getting him back again! What an emotional week that was.  I mentioned to Derek this morning that it had already been a year, and his comment was 'I think this is the year that Jaxon gets hit by a car.'  Not really the response I was looking for, but you are all well aware of their relationship.  More hate than love.

Jaxon looks 100 times better today than he did a year ago.  Looking back at pictures of him when he was so sick just brings tears to my eyes.  I feel awful that he went so long, feeling so crappy, and nothing we tried helped him.  Surrendering him to the Shihtzu rescue center was a true blessing in disguise   They pinpointed his problems right away, and he has been a completely different dog ever since.  He still takes a few pills every 3 days or so, and that seems to keep his itching under control and the yucky smell away!

A year ago.  B saying goodbye to Jaxon.  That tear just tugs at my heart!

Poor dog was bald, red, smelly and skinny!

This is Jaxon in May of last year.  Just 3 months after getting him back!  Already a huge improvement!

 Jaxon enjoying the summer months outside!

And these are a few pictures of Jaxon today!  Still happy and healthy (and a little naughty)!   

Next month Jaxon will be 10 years old.  He has lived in 6 different homes with me, and will soon be around for another addition to our family!  He still doesn't know any tricks, has recently started eating toilet paper, and some days we think he's gone deaf, but at the end of the day, he is truly a good doggie to have around!  

Big things going on.

I feel like it was a big week for the Gerdes', and in more ways than one!

For starters, my belly is getting big!  Tomorrow, I am 19 weeks along!  I started to feel the baby move around this past week.  It's such an amazing feeling.  I put together a gender guessing game this week, so if you want to put in your vote, follow the link on the home page!

Last Saturday, I was recognized at the Multiple Sclerosis Banquet with an award for Special Events Volunteer in SD!  It was quite the honor!  I honestly can't remember a word that was said about me as I walked on the stage because I was too nervous.  Boston had his last basketball game that day, and coach Derek didn't want to miss, so my mom, sister and niece came to show their support.  The MS Bike Ride is always the first weekend in August, and since the new baby is due mid July, I will not be able to be such a key role in volunteering this year.  I have still offered to sit in on the planning meetings & do as much as I can to prepare for the event.

Accepting my award!

Even got mentioned in a fancy booklet that was handed out to all guests!

The next big thing that happened, was that Boston learned how to tie his shoes on Friday!  Oh my word, I never thought this day would come!  I also remember thinking he was going to wear diapers until he was 5, and never learn to ride his bike without training wheels, and then something just clicks and he learns in a matter of minutes.  Shoe tying is a big deal in Kindergarten!  He has untied and retied his shoes 100 times in the last 24 hours, and also thinks it's awesome that his sweat pants have ties!  His aunt Lacey told him on Friday that she would give him $20 for his piggy bank if he learned to tie his shoes in 2 weeks or less.  Within an hour after this was mentioned, he had it mastered!  Ha.  He is anxiously waiting for his pay out!

Aren't these two boys the sweetest?  They wrestle and make each other mad most of the time, so it's sweet to see them snuggling up and quiet once in awhile.

On Thursday, I heard a bouncing noise coming from Brigham's bedroom.  I go into his room and find him in his crib, jumping on the bed and giggling with a little kids rocking chair propped up on the side of the crib.  Derek didn't believe me that he had managed to move the chair and climb up and in all on his own, so the next day when the same thing happened, I caught a video!  He is such a stinker.  A transition to a new bedroom and big boy bed are in the very near future!

Glady & Les delivered the boys some cupcakes on Valentines night, so bedtime snack the last few days has been a cupcake.  I just thought it was too cute that Brigham would not put his blanket down for snack. He would take a bite, suck his fingers awhile, then take another bite. Notice how the corner of the blanket is hooked on his pointer finger?  He walks around the house with his blanket like this all the time!

'I think I will just eat the cupcake right out of the bowl!'

And last but not least, our entire basement is painted!  Derek primed for 12 hours on Wednesday, and I worked on the trimming during nap times for a few days. Yesterday, my friend Renae watched the boys (a huge help!!) so that my dad, Lisa and I could paint all day.  We started at 9 am, and had two coats on by mid afternoon.  It's complete and looks awesome!  Ah, such a good feeling.  Now we wait a week for the wood floor in the bar area, and tile floor in the bathroom and shower!

So anxious to see how it looks with trim and doors!

And the days continue to fly by!

Well, well, well.  It's February 4th, and last I remember it was mid January.  The last several weeks are a total blur.  School, basketball games, daycare, GEMS, everyday errands and the work in our basement has kept us very busy.  We are finally at a point in the basement that our work is done for a bit, and it's so refreshing to see 'workers' coming in this week to keep the project moving along!  Here I sit and blog like I worked my tail off down there, when really all I did was screw a bunch a bunch of sheet rock to the walls and give my dad and Derek grief.  So thankful for my dad, but that deserves an entire blog post in itself.  To sum it up, he's just awesome and very giving of his time and talents.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant and feeling fabulous.  Haven't had a headache since my last pregnancy update when I was complaining about headaches!  Prayers answered.  I don't feel real sluggish either, which is also fabulous because there are always lots of things to keep up on around here.  I see my doctor on Wednesday this week, and am very anxious to hear this little nuggets heartbeat again.  A gender guessing game will be set up soon.  We have done this for our other two kiddo's and it's so fun to see everyone's guesses.  The next ultrasound is in 23 days.  Not like I am counting or anything.  The daycare kids are always asking what I am going to name the baby, so last week we decided on Roger for a boy and Susie for a girl.  They think those names are perfect.

Boston will finish up basketball next weekend.  He has gotten much more confident in himself, and it's so fun to watch him take the ball up the court and make a basket, but most importantly, he is really good about passing the ball around to his teammates too.  School continues to just go ok.  He is doing well, just wishes he didn't have to go, period.  Every day he comes home with 3 short books to read to us, and he is getting much better about recognizing words and sounding out the new ones.  Fun to see that progress!   He hasn't really been into toys lately.  He was gung ho about his new Ninja Turtles for a week or two after Christmas but then had a bad dream one night about them and hasn't touched them since!  I remember blogging a few Christmas' ago about money spent on toys that never got played with.. it's like deja vu all over again.  Thank goodness Brigs thinks the Ninja Turtles are cool.
   

Boston recently became a Vikings fan.  His dad is not real thrilled.  Boston's best friend Jude told him at school one day that they couldn't be friends unless they cheered for the same team.  So B con'd his grandpa into getting him a Vikings jersey.  Ha!

 Handsome boys in their robes after a shower.

Brigs is almost two, and has started to show that more.  Last week he put part of his blanket in the toilet and then had threw a total fit when I gave him a clean blanket so I could wash the wet one.  After he threw himself on the floor, pounded his hands, stomped his feet and screamed for several minutes I decided it wasn't worth the fight.  He snuggled a wet blanket for the night.  Thank goodness it was fresh toilet water!  He talks a lot but we don't always understand what he's saying.  His new favorite thing is take a shower with Boston.  They love to shower in our master bathroom and will usually stand in there for a half hour.  I am hoping since Brigham doesn't mind shower water in his face that he will enjoy swimming a little more this summer!  He continues to love playing the iPad.  It amazes me how he can figure out how to get from one game to the next but his favorite thing to do is play music for us on Pandora.  We are slowly getting him familiar with a big boy bed.  He loves taking naps in either our bed or Boston's, and one night screamed for a big boy bed at bedtime. Luckily he did end up falling asleep fine in his crib, but his brother was more than willing to give up his bed to sleep on the floor in our room :)

Nap time in Boston's bed.

 Nap time in mom and dads bed.  Some days I get to nap with him!

Our entire main floor is covered in a white dust from sheet rocking  but we are DONE!!  I'm a little OCD about having a clean house so it's something I am working very hard at looking past for a few weeks yet.   We have 2 guys here this week working on taping & texturing, and then we move on to painting.

Sheet rocking Jan. 26 & 27

We made a lot more progress in 1 day than I had expected!

 Standing in the bar area looking out into the living room.

 Lisa helped all day Saturday, which was SO nice!  

 Day #2.  Ceilings complete and working on the walls!

My dad hanging the last piece of sheet rock on Sunday, Feb. 3rd!  I had to post this because we were all excited it was the last piece and he cut it wrong :)

Taping & Texturing Day #1, Feb. 4th.

 The plywood showing will be covered with stone eventually.

Last week Thursday (Jan. 31) school was cancelled because the temps were -40 with wind chill.  I had a busy day of daycare already & then added 4 more school kids!  11 kids total, and we all survived!