Baby #3

I haven't done very many (or any?) posts about this pregnancy. As any mama knows, the more kids you have, the less time you have to devote to thinking about a new baby. This pregnancy has been harder, in a different way, than the other two. Kids are not sensitive to mommy when she feels sick. They don't care that my back hurts or I am tired...they still want food! and shows! and their toys! and to go somewhere! I also have had nausea throughout this entire pregnancy, instead of it ending after the first trimester. This is lame and I don't think it's fair at all. Having food aversion, nausea and gestational diabetes is basically the worst combination ever. I HAVE to eat so my blood sugar remains steady, but eating makes me want to (or actually) vomit. It is a difficult cycle.

My weight gain has been good - less than 10 lbs with 4 weeks to go. I worked really hard to walk and watch what I ate in the hopes that I could avoid gestational diabetes and be able to *gasp* go into labor ON MY OWN. What a novel idea!? Unfortunately, it does not look like that is a possibility, which is, of course, disappointing. BUT I am grateful to be a mom to another child, and how she gets here won't matter. At this point, I am just praying that they will let me get to 38 weeks. She is measuring about 2 weeks ahead in terms of size, so fingers crossed! Things have been a little stressful including contractions that came every 10 minutes for over 15 hours, shooting my blood sugar into the 300's, and generally freaking this mama out. They are estimating baby to be well over 7 lbs with 4 weeks to go, which is scary for several different reasons. ;) I am trying to take things easy and remain optimistic though!

I have to give a quick shout out to my Mom and Dad, Emily, and Elena for completely saving my life these past few months. My parents take my kids every time I have a doctor's appointment so I don't have to bring them with me. They have been helping with preschool pick up and drop at least a few times a week this past month or so. They take my kids out of the house when it feels like more than I can do. Emily and Elena drop off meals, go to the grocery store and run errands for me, and generally make my life worth living most days. Brooke and Beth have also stepped in to help when they can and I am so grateful to all of you!

We have been getting this question a lot, so just so you know, Jared and I do NOT have a name picked out, but we have LOTS of possibilities. We never pick a name before we meet the baby, but we usually have a "short list" of 2-3 names we both like. This time around it is proving much more difficult to agree. Jared really wants to have a family name from his side of the family, but with this being grandchild number 18...the pickings are slim. I would love to have at least a family name for the baby's middle name, so hopefully we can come up with one we both like!

Jared's current favorites are:
Jade
Rose
Addison
Roxanne
Josie

My current favorites are:
Bianca
Josette
Lydia

 Fingers crossed that we can agree before we leave the hospital - or come up with something better!

Baby's First Picture

20 weeks

28 weeks

32 weeks

36 weeks and wearing the same shirt. Thank goodness it still fits!

Emotionally, I am doing a lot better with this pregnancy than I did with number 2. There haven't been very many panic attacks or freak outs that I am making a horrible mistake! Just a few ;) I do not feel ready for this baby, but I am excited to meet her. I feel blessed to have this opportunity, and I try to remember this when the days are long and hard, and when I feel like crap. I am so grateful to be surrounded by friends and family who are so supportive over this crazy life we have chosen. Thank you to everyone who makes me laugh, asks me how I am doing, offers to help, and listens to me cry when things get overwhelming. Love you!

A Leila update and picture overload

I don't even know how to start this update. Leila is....beautiful. Inside and out. She is feisty and FUNNY. So, so, so funny. Christian always makes me laugh because of what he says, but often he is totally weird. Leila just has it. She doesn't even need to use words to be a complete comedian and she constantly keeps me on my toes. About 7 weeks ago, I started watching my friend Emily's foster child. Her name is Elizabeth and she was 19 months when she first joined us. She is a fire cracker too, and although Leila and Elizabeth butt heads, I have been completely amazed at how much Leila has grown. So many of my fears of having this new baby have been alleviated as I watch Leila interact and play with someone younger than her. I can often hear Leila calling out, "M'on!" which means come on. She calls Elizabeth "Baby" and will constantly give her hugs and kisses. In so many ways it is like having twins, and it has been such a joy to watch Leila grow into the role of older sister. I can't wait for this new baby to join our family now!

Leila's speech has been a continual problem. SO many people have told me to just wait, and that it would come; that one day I would be so surprised because she would just start talking. While I have appreciated the love and reassurances, I also knew in my gut that it just wasn't true. She and I have been working continuously on making new sounds and trying new words, and she really is making leaps and bounds, but the doctor has finally scheduled her to be evaluated at the end of this month to see if her speech problem is neurological or muscular. I am, of course, praying that she just needs to strengthen the muscles in her tongue and mouth, but look forward to the help and guidance I know I will receive from speech therapy regardless of the problem. Right now, her speech is considered on target for a 12-15 month old, and she is 28 months. We have some definite ground to make up, but I know that once she learns to speak, NOTHING will hold this little girl back.

At her most recent doctor's appointment, Leila was in the 95th percentile for height, and 50th percentile for weight. So while she is not as tall as her brother, she is definitely tall for her age! Right now Leila loves:

Cheez-its
My Little Pony
Any animals - stuffed or real
"titchers" (stickers)
The Jungle Book
Running anywhere as fast as she can
Snuggling with her Daddy
Drawing/Coloring/Arts and Crafts
Jumping on the trampoline
Nuggets from Chick fil A

Her Best Friends Are:
"Tistan" (Christian)
Elizabeth
Elaine

And now for the onslaught of cuteness.

This girl LOVES her ponies.

Here, she stole someone's Thomas the Train hat. Basically, nothing your kids leaves out will go untouched by Leila.

Throwing a tantrum is a daily occurrence

Happy 4th of July from the cutest girl!

This is from her trip with Dad and Christian to visit Aunt Jen.

Meeting one of Aunt Lesley's horses. She was in love.

While she may be small, she is scrappy. I am always on the watch to see who she may be trying to crush or beat up. Here she is getting CJ to submit!

A toothbrush, headband, tutu, and My Little Pony shirt is all she needs to be happy

Visiting San Francisco. She loved the Bay and watching all the boats and birds.

Arts and Crafts time!

Mom trying to get her to laugh.

Dad can always get a genuine smile...this girl loves her Daddy.

On our way to the zoo!

Need I say more?

Leila got a date with Mommy and Daddy too. We had a great time.

She is wild and crazy though. Why use puppets when you can just stick your head out?

Well, we had a great time until it was time to have her hair cut, of course.

While CJ hated the sand, Leila couldn't get enough of the beach. She is my water baby for sure.

Here she is angry and raging that I am taking her picture while she devours her hamburger.

This Minnie Mouse hat is her favorite.

And who can forget her Rainbow Dash costume? <3>

She is so crazy and inventive. I never know what to expect from her.

Messy face and hair, don't care.

Wanting to be a big girl and go to school with Christian

It's so fluffy!!!!!

She would have taken that unicorn home if she could have.

And, of course, we can't forget the story where Mom couldn't find Leila ANYWHERE, only to discover her in the garage watching the iPad in a laundry basket. Sometimes, she just needs her alone time!

There was something about this picture that just transported me to the future. I can see her, 15 years from now in this photo.

Leila, you are fun and hilarious and sweet and sooo defiant. I love everything about you, and you also frustrate me to no end. As your current favorite book says though, "I love you any way you are. I love you because you're you."

A quick update on Christian

This summer has been so great! I have absolutely loved being home with the kids. Christian did summer camp, we went swimming almost every day, there were day trips (not as many as I would like!) to the bay and beach. We spent tons of time with family and friends and generally did everything you would expect out of summer. It wasn't all fun and games though...we worked hard! Jared is still keeping up a grueling schedule with two jobs, and I also did bookkeeping for a local tax company. In addition to work, being pregnant during summer was basically the worst thing ever. There were so many days where I thought that I would never be cool again! But when I look back at all of our fun and adventure, I am so grateful for the time home that I got to spend with the kids.

Christian is growing like a weed. At his 4 year doctor appointment, they determined that he is the size of an average 7 year old. He is on their heart watch list and he recently had blood work done to see if he has the same genetic mutation as others in the Joyner family. We hope to receive those results soon. He has also started preschool...which has become the bane of my existence, but he is THRIVING. He has made a few friends, and although he is way ahead of other kids and isn't coming home learning a bunch of new things, the social and physical outlet has made all the difference for him and our family. He attends 5 days a week from 12:00-3:00. It is an absolute pain because I have to get him and the other kids out of the car twice a day (the second time during Leila's nap!) to sign him in and out, and that is just no fun at all. But as I am so often reminded, this will be my life for the next few years! He continues to be a chatter box, often getting lost in specific details. While it drives me crazy, I love to watch how his mind works as he thinks things through and applies it to what he already knows. He tends to correct people because he is sooooo specific, and that will definitely be a character trait we will have to work on as he gets older. However, although he may correct others in an unintentionally obnoxious way, he makes up for this with his kind and generous heart. Rarely will you see him raise his voice or his fists. He reaches out to anyone needing a friend, and speaks kindly to his friends and family.

At 4 1/2 Christian loves:
Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Train
The Santa Clause
Oatmeal
Sour Patch Kids
Lego sets
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...especially Raphael and Michaelangelo!

His best friends are:
Elaine
Gavyn
Kaylen

Grandma took CJ and Elaine to Lake Tahoe for their first overnight vacation

Some of CJ's artwork on Snapchat

Building his very first Lego set. He LOVED it

Working on writing his letters

Mommy and CJ date

Time to clean up that mop of hair!

Two peas in a pod

He is so silly and makes me laugh constantly

Body Slam!

His little tan line!

He made a few new friends this summer - his favorite being Jaxton

Dad tried to be cool and create CJ's name....Christian was NOT impressed

Arts and crafts time! His least favorite, but he is tolerating it well

This is from his trip to Utah with Jared and Leila.

I love that he sleeps just like his Dad

Family Breakfast - it doesn't happen often and it was a nice treat!

He somehow got covered in dirt and he looked like a hobo!

Swimming in our backyard

And of course, his Mom is awesome and got pictures with his two favorite Ninja Turtles!

Christian, we love you! Thank you for being such a bright and joyful light in my life.