Name Reveal!

I know you've all been anxiously anticipating the name of our third child. I still can't believe that we're going to have 3 children in 16 short weeks. Even though it seems like we shouldn't have a lot to do, we have so much to get ready before the baby comes. We need to get our basement finished and find a place in Olivia's room for the crib... which we still need to get Chase out of (he sleeps in it occasionally). Olivia's closet also need some more shelving so that we have room for both girl's clothing. 

Let's not draw this out any longer. ;-)

Here is baby girl's name!

Almost done!

:)

Swimming at Grandma's house. :)

4th letter! 

Letter #3

Next letter

Here is the next letter! ;)

Now you can see the color scheme I'm going for with her letters.

Name Game

Ever since finding out that we are having a girl, we have been throwing around names trying to find something that goes well with the other children's names. A few weeks ago we finally got a name chosen! I know there are some couples who keep the name secret until the baby is born, but we haven't done that with either of our other children and this one is no exception. I also have had a little tradition of making letters for the kid's room and while making the letters for the baby's room, I decided that I would reveal the letters one at a time until the whole name is spelled out. 

Today is the first day and here's the first letter!

Gender reveal! :)

My wonderful sister in law, Kate Bro (Discover.Create.Live), was kind enough to take some time out of her evening to come over and take some photos of our gender reveal. It wasn't a huge deal, but the photos are super cute!

Walking over to the box.

Olivia was excited to open the box, even though you can't really tell.

Chase decided he wanted in on the action.

Posing with the balloons.

Chase still doesn't care too much. :-P

It's true! We'll be adding another little princess to our family! 

Olivia hasn't even entertained the though that the baby could have been a boy. She's told us from day 1 that "I want a girl. And we'll name her Rapunzel." Don't worry, we'll come up with a different name for our baby girl. ;-)

"Foto" Friday

Just thought I'd share some photos that were taken this week.

Olivia and I enjoyed some popsicle's one hot afternoon while Chase napped. 

Olivia has been super into painting her fingernails so I bought her some cheap nail polish that she could use herself (in nail polish approved areas, of course!).

Jesse has been coaching a soccer team and we decided to surprise him one evening and go watch part of a game. Chase was happy to be outside!

As was this sweet girl!

They ran up and down the hill and while they were up at the top I was able to capture this photo with the sunset behind them. They are too cute!

And finally, yesterday Olivia and I went shopping with my sister, Mary. Olivia decided to try on these purple sunglasses. For some reason the lenses had hearts all over them. Pretty sure that's going to cause some car accidents.. But Olivia sure looks cute!

Last things Thursday

Last thing I...

{Wanted to buy: Fragrance}

I have some freakish obsession with Britney Spears perfumes. The one I'm currently obsessed with is "fantasy".

{Wanted to buy: Makeup}

I have this eyeliner in 3 of these colors and currently my purple one is running low. I LOVE these eyeliners as they go on smoothly and have a lasting color that's not too crazy.

{Am Obsessing Over}

My husband children got me a body pillow for Mother's Day (per my suggestion) and I can't believe I didn't have one of these for my previous pregnancies. This thing is amazing! I am currently on the hunt for a giraffe pillowcase... ;-)

{Finally Bought}

This Liz Claiborne purse. I have needed a new purse for forever, really, and finally found one that is perfect. I wasn't even aware that it had a little pouch inside which has quickly become Olivia's purse. She thinks it's so cool that she has a purse that matches Mommy's. (And yes, that is the correct color!)

{Am Loving -- Pink Lilies}

I had these flowers as my wedding flowers and loved them. Recently I've been looking for things to plant in the front of our house since it's so bare and decided that I was going to plant a bunch of these. I can't wait until we actually get it done!

{Wanted to Make RIGHT NOW!}

These delicious looking Oreo cheesecake bites. 

{Ate that I want to eat 10 more of}

Watermelon. I know that seems silly and simple, but this pregnant lady can't get enough of watermelon (or any other fruit for that matter!)

Linking up with The Life of the Wife

Mommy Monday

Today's Mommy Monday is definitely going to be a little bit different from every other Mommy Monday. Today we have a pretty big announcement to make!

This is how we told our families that we will soon be adding another BABY to our family! This is a picture of the Valentine's Day card that Olivia and Chase helped make (their thumbprints!). Olivia drew the heart as well.

Shortly after telling Olivia that we were going to have a baby, Olivia drew this picture of me. That circle in the middle is the baby in my tummy. 

Olivia wants the baby to be a girl. She doesn't even consider the possibility that it could be a boy. She wants us to name the baby "Rapunzel". She wants the baby to be a girl so that the baby can sleep in her room. She's not worried about the baby crying because she will just come wake us up and tell us to get her a bottle and then Olivia will go sing to the baby. This baby is going to be surrounded with love! Can't wait!

This photo was taken at my 13 week appointment. I went a week later than you normally go because we were in Arizona while I was 12 weeks pregnant! I am currently 16 weeks pregnant and am feeling much better than I did during the first trimester. This whole pregnancy is different from the other two as I didn't experience any morning sickness with Olivia and only a very slight case with Chase. Crazy, huh? 

Catching up... again

I'm going to do a little catching up on the blog today. There's been quite a few different reasons why I've been ignoring the blog, but things should be slowing down in the next couple weeks which will be wonderful!

In April we flew down to Arizona to visit Jesse's parents. While we were kind of worried that the kids would dislike flying, they were great, though it was difficult for Chase to sit still and not be too loud during the 3 hour flight. 

Family picture at the Phoenix Zoo in front of the giraffes!!

Chase loved the goats.

He also loved pushing great grandpa's walker around.

He loved riding around on the golf cart and would even sit perfectly still.

Olivia liked going for walks and picking oranges.

Her most favorite part of the trip was Bullet, Jesse's parent's dog. She took him on walks and followed him around everywhere.

She also loved hanging out with her Papa.

Happy Easter! :)

Isn't he just adorable?!

My little princess "Rapunzel". 

Tune in Tuesday

Today's Tune in Tuesday is pretty old as it is from 2007. It is an American Idol performance from Blake Lewis. I have watched almost every season of American Idol and this is BY FAR one of my favorite American Idol performances. 

Favorite Friday

If anyone knows me at all, they know that my all time favorite soda is Vanilla Coke.  It came out in 2002 and I've been obsessed ever since. 

In 2006 Coke decided to "shelf" Vanilla Coke so to speak. They came out with Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and while it was nowhere near how magical Vanilla Coke was, I was forced to buy it if I wanted any version of Vanilla Coke.

Once Coke realized that they couldn't replace such a marvelous beverage, they reintroduced Vanilla Coke in 2007. It is now marketed as Coca-Cola Vanilla. They can call it whatever they want but it will always be Vanilla Coke to me.

Seven x Seven

I've been absent for the past few days as Chase came down with some kind of sickness last Tuesday. We took him to the doctor on Monday where we found out that he had a double ear infection. He also had to have some chest x-rays to see if he had pneumonia, which, thankfully, he didn't. However, this poor boy has a super runny nose, a horrible cough, and has just plain been grouchy since he came down with it. Olivia has only had a runny nose so far. Hopefully she'll be able to miss out completely. I got a sore throat last Friday and have now also come down with the chest cough and runny nose. I haven't felt this horrible in who knows how long.

Moving on: Tuesday, Kate Bro at Discover.Create.Live awarded me the Seven x Seven award.

So here's how it works:

• Link back to the blogger who nominated you
• Share 7 facts about yourself
• Share 7 blog posts that fit into 7 categories
• Nominate 7 award-worthy blogs/bloggers, and leave them a message letting them know!

7 Facts:

1. I got married directly out of high school to my high school sweetheart. <3

2. My favorite music artist by far is TobyMac. I've had a ridiculous crush on him since Jr High and I'm okay with that. My newest favorite music artist is Michael Buble. I just can't get enough of either one.

3. Volleyball is my all-time favorite sport. After playing it for 7 years I've been given the opportunity to coach it for the past 3 years both at the high school and Jr High level and USA club.

4. I'm an avid reader. My favorite authors are Gilbert Morris and Karen Kingsbury but I'll read almost anything. 

5. I've never broken any bones, not even a finger. I have had 2 x-rays though, one for my thumb (sprained) and one for my ankle (probably just sprained as well). 

6. I have horrible eyes. My contact prescription is a -9. I also have to use Restasis as they are super dry. I've also worn glasses since Kindergarten.

7. I've had the same best friend since Kindergarten. And now we're next door neighbors. :)

7 Blog Posts:

1. Most Controversial - What Not to Wear Wednesday: Muffin Tops

2. Most Personal - Feeling Nostalgic

3. Most Animals - Favorite Friday

4. Most Rears - What Not to Wear Wednesday

5. Most Laughs - Tune In Tuesday

6. Most Helpful - Thankful Thursday

7. Most Information - Catch Up

7 Blogs

1. Amy @ The Idea Room

2. Jen @ Simply Living

3. Shelley @ The House of Smiths

4. C Mae @ Happiness is...

5. Danette @ A Day in the Life

6. g*rated

7. Julie @ Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

Favorite Friday

Friday's will be the days that I post different things that I love. This will be like a "get to know you" day, but hopefully without all the words and awkwardness. ;)

I'm going to start with my most favorite animal in the world: the giraffe.

Aren't they magnificent?

How could you not love that face?

I mean, seriously? LOVE! <3

I think that giraffe loves me, too!

My favorite daughter was even a giraffe for Halloween. (Yes, that is an adorable monkey, too)

They even make a giraffe pillowpet. Someone must buy me this.

Danette even bought Chase a giraffe shirt. :) (Sidenote, I can't believe how big he is)

Photo: Cassidy VanMaanen

I fed this bad boy at the zoo! And yes, it was one of the best days of my life. :D