As the seasons change (where will the Lord have us now?)

And there it goes ... summer.

I use to obsess over the summertime, I would never miss a single moment of being outside under the beautiful blue skies as long as I could help it. But lets get real, I don't live in Oregon anymore, where summer lasts somewhere around 6 weeks, and still has rainy days intermixed. I live in the state of neverending sunshine, where the idea of wearing a jacket excites me because FALL is upon us.

This summer has been superb ... really, it has been very unique, in that, due to my bettering of health, Jeremey and I have consequently thrown the whole "lets pace ourselfs and pick and choose what activies to do" attitude right out the window, and instead have just gone for it. 2 kids, no biggy, long road trips, piece of cake, every weekend filled with activites, easy ... No not exactly ... but we still did it.  Having 2 children, though much harder, makes you want to just get out there and start those family memories and traditions even more so. So that is what we did. This is a season in my life I want to NEVER forget. My babies are young, life is realitively simple, I live in the "coveted" state of California, where my husband works 1 minute from our house, I serve a beautiful and loving and gracious God ... and I feel GREAT. For any of you who read this, if I ever relapse back into my previous illness, remind me of this season, please, don't let me forget it. With that, I bid fare well to a summer I hope to always remember, full of countless beach trips, lots of extended family, bbq's, late nights with friends, and watching my babies grow.

One last thing ...

(As summer ends, and the seasons begin to change, our family seem to be following suit as well. For those in the bible college circle, most of you know that Jeremey has been asked to become the pastor for Calvary Chapel Hot Springs (the church here on campus). When approached with this opportunity several months ago, as you can probably imagine, it came as quite a shock. For months, nearly a year though, Jeremey and I had been praying about where or what the Lord was leading us to in the next season of our lives, so it was interesting timing to say the least. We have yet to make a final decision on whether Jeremey will take the position, but right now, he has started teaching every couple of weeks at the church. We are seeking the Lords guidance and are still prayerfully trying to count the costs, and hear from the Lord as to what direction He wants to take us. We know that if this is where the Lord is leading, that with it will come much responsibility and much change to our family. Jeremey and I both feel like such fish out of water at the thought of such an opportunity, but we know that the Lord often uses those who feel the least qualified. Pray for us in this time of seeking the Lords direction for our lives.)

1/3 of a year old ... my boy

My sweetheart of a boy is 4 months old today ... 1/3 of a year old, and I am begging for my time with him to slow down ...

River is past the stage of all day sleep marathons, and easy going couch placements, and has moved on to 2 to 3 naps a day,  has been faithfully rolling across the living room for a month now, and is soon on his way to crawling. My second time around as a mother, has been such a pleasant one. The Lord has been so gracious with me in giving me the most easy going baby. Not that Tatum was very hard at all, but with her I was desperately sick for almost the whole first year of her life, and missed out on enjoying so many of the little precious moments of early motherhood. So this time around I have been soaking up my time with my little boy, knowing full well that he will soon be an "independent" toddler full of spunk like his sister.

Things about River that melt my heart

1. He is so so gentle, he has the sweetest demeanor of any baby I have ever met ... He is just so go with the flow and pleasant to be around.
2. His deep brown eyes, and darker coloring. When I was still pregnant with River, I had a very strong feeling as to what he was going to look like. I always felt that he would break the mold of his sister and have his moms dark eyes and skin, and thats just what we got. So happy to have my brown eyed boy.
3. He is the most curious, alert little man ever. Seriously though, he is very attentive to everything around him, almost like he totally understands whats going on.

4. His huge contagious smile. He smiles ALL the time, at everything and anyone. Truly so so happy, and he has the cutest little dimples on the right side of his face when he smiles big.
5. He is very forgiving, especially to his big sister who loves with all her strength and often can't help but tackle him and accidentally hurt him. But far more often than not, he isn't even phased and will grin right through it.

Who am I??? The blogs future.

I have taken a sort of blog haitus lately, I'm partly sad about this, because I love documenting lifes milestones with my children and husband, but really, that isn't what my blog was intended to be about. The original premise behind me starting this was to document my life as a chronically ill wife and mother. To get the word out there, that what may seem IMPOSSIBLE in our flesh, is indeed possible with the Lord. I have shared many battles, trials, triumps and acchievements through my writings over the years, and hopefully it has been an encrouagment to you who read it. But now I sit here at a stand still, wondering what direction to go in the future with my blog, considering that I am feeling SO much better, and don't have the constant up and down battles with illness/motherhood to write about like I use to. (I do still have my hard days with vertigo and fatigue.) But for the most part the Lord has drastically healed my body, and my 8 year journey with illness is becoming something of the past. What beautiful words to be able to write. Words that I thought would never leave my fingertips.

Now my battles consist of finding who I am outside of my illness. Not that I really "battle" with it because the word "battle" usually alludes to something bad, but it is definitely an adjustment. I became sick when I was 21, and now I am almost 29. Some would say the years of your 20's are some of the most crucial, life changing and adventurous, but I lost a lot of those years within the walls of hospitals, and at the hands of doctors. Now here I am turning 29 in September, having just come out of 8 years of illness, and feeling as if I am back to being 21 again, hahaha. Except for the tiny little details of getting married, and having 2 beautiful children. I look at my life and think, how did I ever get here in the midst of all that trial? I am not my 21 year old self anymore, but I am also not a chronically ill bed ridden girl either, so who am I?  It's simple really, who I am now is an indiviual who has seen the goodness of the Lord through hardship, someone who has seen desperate pleading prayers be answered, someone who can come alongside others when they are suffering and someone who really does appreciate the small things in life, because for many years even those small things didn't exist. I am a wife, a mother, and a friend ...  I really believe that because of it all, that I have wisdom beyond my years. Wisdom that I hope to pass on to my children as they face trials in the future.

As for the blog and what its future holds, I'll write as the Lord leads, and as for my life now, as someone having been set free (for the most part) from extreme illness, I will continue on in the new craziness that the Lord has set before me ... the crazy, non stop, frantic, wonderful life as a wife and mother of 2.

Just because I haven't posted in so long, and my babies are growing so fast. I had to post a few pictures. Even though they don't go with the blog at all. (please excuse the fact that my daughter has only her undies on, it's the middle of summer in southern California, can't avoid it.)

(Yes I know that is a ridiculous picture of me, but it's me.)

Road tripping with 2 ... oh my

This last thursday we packed up the car and headed out for a long weekend to Arizona. We usually try to spend a good 10 days there each summer, to get a lot of family time in, but since the baby was born just a couple of months ago, Jeremey is out of vacation time. But nonetheless we braved the 6 hour drive (turned 8 hour drive), even if it was for just a couple days.

The days of sweet little Tatum quickly falling asleep in the backseat while Jeremey and I spend hours talking about life and catching up, have come to their end. We are now a family with a car full of children who feed off each others crankiness, and try to outdo the other with thier screams. Haha, no but really, it was hard, but the difficulty didn't last long. We had about an hour and a half of claustrophobic ear peircing madness, where we had to force ourselfs to take deep breaths, ask the Lord for patience, and choose which battles to fight with the toddler. But soon enough both kids settled down and settled into a grove. Considering how many hours we were on the road, it really wasn't that bad and definitely could have been worse.

Our time in Arizona was wonderful though. We got to introduce River to the rest of the family that hadn't met him yet, spend three days soaking in the sun in the pool, and got to have lots of cousin time (for Tatum). She loves it in Arizona, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even notice if we left her there and headed back to California. Things are definitely different with 2 kids instead of one though, "vacation" doesn't quite mean the same thing anymore like it use to, but we are totally fine with that. In fact, even during lunch today Jeremey and I were discussing road trips in the future and how we will soon be needing to upgrade to a bigger vehical as our family continues to grow. We are excited for the chaotic adventures that we have ahead as we look towards the future. Our marriage, since day one, has been nothing short of chaotic, mostly due to my illness, and now that I am feeling much better, why stop the madness now, we have never known anything different, haha. This wild ride has just begun!

Praise reports as we near the 2 month mark!

With each pregnancy I fear what will happen to my already neurologically challenged body, I fear that I will come out on the other side, more sick, and less capable than I was when I began. But I'll tell you what, pregnancy, though a thorn in my flesh for 10 months, has proved to have some sort of healing component to it. Just 7 weeks post pardom, I feel nearly as good as I did just before I became pregnant a year ago, and for those that follow my blog, you will know that that is a miracle. I feel fantastic, I am not 100%, I doubt I ever will be, but geez I have 2 kids now and am surviving, not only surving, but enjoying it, and cherishing it, when just 3 years ago I could hardly get out of bed and used a wheel chair more often than not! We could say the bettering of my health has to do with the balancing of hormones after pregnancy, or we could just face the fact that the Lord saw fit for me to feel better in this season, and that it was nothing outside of Him that could make me feel this good. What a praise report that is right? I am also sleeping better than I ever have .... go figure ... maybe my 14 year run at insomnia is coming to a close?

We feel like we are finally getting into the swing of things. Some days though I feel like I am still drowning in the chaos, juggling a crying baby and a needy potty training toddler, who is in the "whats this momma? why momma?I want to tell you everything I've ever seen or done with you looking directly at me every second momma" stage. Oh but I love them more than anything. My patience definitely runs out quicker now, and I have for sure had my share of freak outs and dramatic moments, but really, every bit of chaos is worth it, and it is truly forcing me to cling to the Lord even tighter.

Milestones ...
- River only wakes up once a night to eat!!! Yay!
- Tatum has taken off verbally. It's like I can have normal adult conversations with her. You know, the type of conversations about Mickey and Minnie, and potties and pooping. I'll have to post a video of her telling a story soon, this stage she is in is too funny to let slip by.
- River is cooing and smiling a ton now. Oh he's so sweet, such a gentle boy.
- We are out of the, how do we go out in public with two kids without our worlds falling apart, stage. Now we just go, and deal with whatever comes our way. I'll say we have been doing pretty well at it. Most of the time ;)

Till next time, there's your update.

What's been goin on ... the first 5 weeks as a family of 4

Since the writing of my last blog post things have changed quite a bit around here ...

- I started feeling MUCH better. Praise the Lord, no but really. I know it was ONLY the Lord that healed me. I spent 3 weeks hardly able to even stand up from my bed, and then randomly I woke up one morning and felt like a different person. I had about 60% of my strength back, I could stand up without falling over and my headaches were gone. I was a human again! I am back to full strength now, which as a mom of a newborn and a crazy toddler, doesn't mean a whole lot, but considering where I was, things are looking pretty bright around here.

- Our extended family is officially gone. We had help for a month straight, and I cannot explain how much we needed every single ounce of help that we had. With so many emergency runs to the hospital, it would have nearly been impossible to survive without it. Thank you mom, and Diana, for all of your sacrifice. Also thank you Melissa Gonzalas for setting up a whole week of dinners for us. Not only has it been so nice to not have to think about what to make or eat every night, but everything everyone made was delicious. Shannon Deane, Ashley Wingo, Andy Spitzke, the Cunninghams, Melissa, the Mitchells and Monica, you guys are amazing. Thank you so much!

- How am I doing on my own with 2 kids???  My first week went well. Of course there were snags here and there, but it was bearable. As many of you moms of mutiple chidren know, it's the toddlers that make things mighty difficult when you have a newborn, not necessarily the newborn. Tatum demands more attention now that River is here, and is more irritable and needy, and that is just something we will all have to adjust and work through in the next few months as we get use to a family of 4. But I will say, that having 2 kids really does make the time fly by much quicker, probably because I am constantly on the go, and there is no time to look at the clock. I actually really like the hustle and bustle of it all, go figure.

- How is River??? He is a gem, but he is definitely changing. He is up more now, and seems to be having some tummy issues which makes him have some pretty extensive and exhausting crying fits. River was actually born with a tounge tie. They did a minor procedure on it while it in the hospital, but he will more than likely have to have surgery later to snip it further because the tissue was so thick, and it is still slightly tied. I am assuming that his tounge tie issues are leading to him not being able to eat as efficiently as a typical newborn, thus he gets tired really quickly while eating and only nurses for 5 minutes at a time. This also messes with his tummy and makes him swallow more air. Hopefully it will work itself out as he grows. Other than that, he sleeps pretty great at night, is overall a very chill and sweet boy and he loves his sister. Sometimes when he is hysterically crying, Tatum will be the only one who can calm him down. How sweet!

- Tatum is POTTY TRAINED! Thank you grandma Diana for grabbing the reigns on this one, and doing all the hard work while I was laid up in bed. We have gone days now without any accidents, and I couldn't be more proud. Only one kid in diapers now, not 2! My tiny little gal, without a diaper is now wearing size 12 month pants/shorts again ... ummm she is 28 months old. She is so tiny.

- This semester at the bible college is officially over today. I cannot beleive how much has happened in just these last 4 months. Jeremey will be teaching his final class this evening, and then we are set for summer to begin, and for the chaos to slow down a bit. Below is a video that Jeremey just finished up for the semester, something a little different, but equally as awesome. I'm excited to share it with you all.

Set Up For Success from CCBC Videos on Vimeo.

The birth story ... of River James Wilson

(I didn't intend on this taking so long to post. My blog has been at a stand still, as I have been battling some pretty intense and debilitating after labor symptoms for the last 3 weeks. but it's time. It's time to officially announce to my blog world, that our little man River James Wilson is here, and that makes us no longer the Wilson 3, but the Wilson 4. We have shortened the blog title to a new and improved "Dub4" (ya know, Dub, as in W, for Wilson).

Well, here he is ...

 

Of course I am biased, but I think this birth story is quite a fun one … I hope you think so too!

My last blog post "40 weeks - Due date dinner" was posted at 10:00 AM Saturday morning April 13th… It was JUST in time. You wouldn't believe everything that happened in the following 24 hours … Here is a play by play.

10:00 AM: I finished my blog about how I had reached my due date, and spent my last night with my family of 3 in downtown San diego for dinner before my mom was to come into town. I closed up the computer, and jumped in the car to head to the airport, where we picked up my mom around noon.

1:00 PM: Tatum went down for her nap, while grandma got settled in to our place. I was terribly uncomfortable, but I had been for weeks. At this point I had almost convinced myself that I was for sure going to have to be induced on the 20th of April, a whole week later. My mom said to me like 3 different times. "Maybe you will go into labor tonight!" I just rolled my eyes and said "I would never be so lucky, my body doesn't know how to go into labor." 

4:00 PM: Tatum got up from her nap as hyper as ever, and Jeremey suddenly stared to feel really sick. He felt nauseated and had little appetite except he was craving vegetable soup, so my mom Tatum and I decided to leave him home to rest while we went out and got him soup for dinner. (I think he was having sympathy pain).

6:00 PM: we ate dinner, and suddenly I started to feel nauseated too, even Tatum sat at the dinner table and said "my tummy hurts." I thought for a second, did we all eat something earlier that could make us all feel nauseated? 

10:00 PM: Before bed, Jeremey and I decided to watch a movie together. While laying there staring at the screen, I started to feel what I thought was just another series of annoying and misleading braxton hicks contractions. It started off as intense pressure like it always did, but then started to lead to painful pressure. It perked my interest, but I had had so many "this might be it moments" in the last couple of weeks, that I tried not to get excited. So I causually started timing the span of time between each bout of pressure. Sure enough it was right around 5 minutes apart, lasting around 45 seconds each time.

1:30 AM: I had fought the doubt and denial long enough, and the pain was getting much more intense, so we called the hospital to ask what they thought we should do. I DID NOT WANT TO DRIVE 45 MINUTES FOR A FALSE ALARM. We told them the stats, and they said to come in. Jeremey woke my mom up by saying "Are you ready to be a grandma again?" (I thought that was cute.) Due to the fact that I thought I would have to be induced this time around as well (like I was with Tatum), we of course did not have ANYTHING packed. So Jeremey and my mom began to raid the house for all the items we might need in the hospital. Meanwhile I paced aimlessly around the house, continually saying "I don't want to go in unless this is the real deal," while simultaneously doubling over to fight for breath during another contraction. Looking back now, I can't believe I wasn't convinced I was in labor.

2:00 AM: I went into Tatums room to give her one last kiss, while tears streamed down my face from pain and excitement. I had another contraction while kneeling at her bed rubbing my hands through her hair. It is a moment I will never forget. We loaded up the car, and told my mom goodbye. I must have told Jeremey 15 times "I'm sorry if they turn us down and send us back home. He just kept saying, "it's better to be safe than sorry."

2:45: After having about 15 contractions in the car, that were getting much much more intense and hard to breath through, we found ourselves in the parking lot of the kaiser merino valley medical CLINIC. I told Jeremey that it didn't look familiar from when we visited for our hospital tour, and that there wasn't even one car in the parking lot. To which we both quickly realized that the mapquest had led us to the medical clinic, rather than the hospital. Much to our surprise, I didn't actually panic too much, haha. I think I knew that if I panicked, that getting through the contractions was going to be even harder. Jeremey called the hospital and asked for directions, and we were there within the next 15 minutes. 

3:00 AM: Upon arriving in the hospital parking lot, I had us both wait in the car so I could breath through my next contraction before trying to walk in. The last thing I wanted was to double over in the parking lot on the pavement. We prayed, then proceeded to QUICKLY walk into the ER, where they ushered us up to labor and delivery to the triage room so I  could get checked to see if I was dilated enough to get admitted. Strangely at this point, I still had doubts, and thought we might get turned away. So dumb.

3:15 AM: The nurse said I was dilated to a 6, and we were IN!  We were going to have a BABY!

6:00 AM: 3 hours later, after getting blood work done, being stuck with IV's, and fighting increasingly painful contractions, I was finally given my epidural. Jeremey laid down for a rest, and I laid in bed watching a static TV. Then strangely, the power went out … and I laid there for a second wondering, who turned off my static? Then a bunch of random ladies came into room looking for power outlets and began moving machines in my room. I was too tired to really care much, but then a nurse came in and said that there was a planned power outage that was taking place for the next 8 hours in the hospital. A planned power outage, what does that even mean? They said the room was probably going to be pretty dark, but that the sun was coming up, so there would be enough light to deliver the baby. Imagine the confused look on my face as I imagined giving birth in the dark. haha. I guess they were trying to run power through generators to my room, and were trying to search for more outlets. It was funny, because the nurses kept asking me if I wanted ice chips, or warm blankets, but then would come back to me and say "well there is no ice, because the power is out" or "the blankets aren't heated because the power is out." I guess they weren't used to planned power outages either.

8:00 AM:  We decided to call my mom to see how Tatum was doing. She said she was fine, and that she had a hard boiled egg from our refrigerator for breakfast. This is where I began to panic. That hard boiled egg was sitting in a bowl in the back, and had been accidentally left there from before Easter. Over 4 weeks old. Instantly I saw visions of my little Tatum having to be rushed to the ER to have her stomach pumped from food poisoning, (but my mom didn't have a car with her.) Which meant Jeremey would have to drive 45 minutes home to get her, then 45 minutes back to the ER, and hope that I hadn't given birth already. As honest and as serious as I can be, this was the most stressful moment of the whole birth experience. Jeremy proceeded to call around to get info on what happens if something is consumed under our conditions, and my mom called poison control  ….

8:15 AM: my water broke … i heard a "pop" over the heart monitor, and also felt a pop. but still wasn't sure what happened so Jeremey hurried out of the room to tell a nurse. She came back in to check and then things began to get really interesting. It was if there was this silent panic that swept through the nursing staff, as more and more Drs and nurses began entering the room. (Meanwhile in my head all I could think about was Tatum, and how she more than likely had food poisoning and no way to get to the hospital. I was a mess.) (ps the power is still off at this point too, the few machines that we had in the room were running off generators.)

9:00 AM: After much closely watched fetal monitoring, I was checked for dilation and was at a 10. The Dr came to my beside and told me that the baby was turned the wrong direction, and that the labor was going to be much harder if I wasn't able to flip him around, and that that could lead to having to suction him out or an emergency c-section. They suddenly covered me with an oxygen mask, and asked me to get in this strange position to help flip him. Meanwhlie my husband had basically been pushed to the wayside while at least 6 medical staff surrounded my bed. All I wanted to do was hold his hand, but he was too far away.

9:15 AM: The panic in the room continued to heighten, as one of the Drs said they thought the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck or shoulder of my baby because of the position he was in. They needed to get him out quick, and asked if I could feel the pushing sensation. If I didn't they would have to get him out on their own. I told them I could try, and they gave me the go ahead. The pushing process this time around compared to Tatum's was much more intense. They were giving me very little time to breath, and basically just telling me to hurry. The Dr looked me straight in the eyes and said "you have to put every once of everything you have into these pushes, I want to see popped blood vessels in your head or we are going to have to take him out." Scared out of my mind, I was not going to hold  anything back, I DID NOT WANT A C-section or anything to happen to my baby …

9:30 AM: River James Wilson was born April 14th, with much excitement filling the room. He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces, was 19 3/4 inches long, and had a head full of hair. All I kept hearing was "wow he is a big boy, where was he hiding inside of you?" I finally had my son in my arms, and he was perfect. It wasn't till one of the nurses said to me "Brynn you almost gave me a heart attack" when I realized that it wasn't just my heightened senses and emotions that made me feel like the labor was intense, but that it really was. Thank you Lord for protecting my baby boy!

It was almost exactly 24 hours, from the time I posted my blog post about being overdue, to the moment I delivered River … oh how a mere 24 hours can change your whole life.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

River will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. He came home the following morning from the hospital, and has been rocking at life ever since. So far he is a calm gentlemen, who sleeps most of the time, and only cries when he gets his diaper changed (so far). In my opinion he looks nothing like me, and really not too much like Tatum did either. hahaha, that only leaves one option … yes he looks identical to his daddy. Through and through he is his fathers son. Tatum ended up being ok with the whole "egg" situation, the poison control told my mom that more than likely she would just throw it up if she needed it out of her body, which she never even did. My little girl loves her brother. Her favorite thing to say is "my baby brother is cuuuute." His first couple of days home, she acted just a tad strange, as if she was a little nervous, but she is back to normal now and loving her big sister roll. Jeremey is doing great as a father of 2. He spent the whole first week of Rivers life at home with us which was such a blessing, but he is now in the final stretch of the end of this semester and is super busy as usual. 

I am … well I'm alive… but I have had 3 of the hardest weeks of my life. We don't really know what caused it all, but I have had extreme fatigue (not to mention a million other strange symptoms) since the birth. To the point where it's been even difficult to hold River at all or even stand up without feeling like I'm going to pass out. We have been to the ER, urgent care, OB, and primary care in just the last week, and nobody is quite certain why I am still feeling this way. We are just praying for the Lords supernatural healing. For those that may think I'm probably just fatigued form having a newborn, thats not it, River is a great sleeper so far, and I have gotten way more sleep since he's been born than I did the last 4 months of being pregnant (I hardly got any sleep then). Besides all that, I feel much more comfortable with a second baby that I did with a first. I'm not so much of a fish out of water this time around. Being a mommy of 2 is such a surreal feeling, its wonderful, and exciting, and overwhelming, and a bit scary, but I couldn't be more thankful. The Lord has overfilled my cup … our cups. Let the Wilson 4 begin!

And finally, if you haven't seen it already on facebook, here is a video Jeremey put together of Rivers birthday and of Tatum meeting her brother for the first time.

River from Jeremey Wilson on Vimeo.

40 weeks, Due Date Dinner!

(I wrote this yesterday, just didn't have the time to get it up)

So today is my due date. April 12th, a far far cry from way back in July when we first found out we were pregnant ... back when April seemed like a foreign place somewhere off in never never land.

But here I am, I have made it (we all have made it)... it is a gorgeous day outside, the sun is perfectly warm and not too hot, and our family is READY for River's arrival. We just aren't sure if he is ready yet ... So following in Brynn pregnancy overdue tradition ... we will wait!

As we wait, I will tell you a few things that set this pregnancy apart from my previous one.

          - My first trimester was a glorious one, no throwing up, and little nausea. Unlike Tatum's, that had me throwing up for 20 weeks straight several times a day.

          -  My second trimester, though always the hardest, still in comparison to last pregnancy, was much more pleasant. It took place during all of falls amazing holidays, which probably aided in taking my mind off all the intense symptoms I was feeling.

          - My third trimester seemed to come out of nowhere and slap me in the face. Since Tatum's 3rd trimester was by far the easiest of the three, I was expecting the same things to be true this time. I was wrong. My body seemed to fall apart this time, dizziness came in like a roaring lion. Flu season hit, I got the flu once, a fever once, and a bad head cold, while the rest of my family did the same. My body fell apart much quicker, my back pains have been excruciating , the Braxton hicks contractions far more intense,  and my sleep nonexistent. I've felt like an 80 year old women the entire 3rd trimester.

          - I have gained 13 pounds this pregnancy, half the amount I did with Tatum at 26 pounds. River is definitely positioned much different in my belly. It almost feels like my belly looks like a little triangle that sticks straight out, rather than a big beach ball that encompasses my whole body.

          - River is much much more active in the womb ... yikes.

          - I had gestational diabetes this time around. It's inconvenient, but tolerable. I definitely cannot wait to eat some sugary junk food as soon as River arrives.

          - Due to my gestational diabetes, the doctors won't let me go 2 weeks overdue this time ... thank goodness. My induction date is next Saturday the 20th, if he doesn't come sooner.

          - I had a toddler this time ... a toddler who turned 2, and got a really big opinion about things in what seemed like overnight. Being pregnant with a little one has definitely made pregnancy this time around quite different. 

Speaking of that wonderful toddler ... Today is my last full day alone with her, FOREVER. Yes I cried thinking about it. Partly because I will miss my momma individual time with her, and partly because I can hardly move and didn't know if I could take on even one more day of her crazy energy on my own while this uncomfortable. My mom comes tomorrow, and we will have family here for the next month straight, between Jeremeys side and my side. It's all pretty hard to believe. Jeremey and I always say that Tatum has been a wonderful first child. She came into this world late, and has been trying to make up for the lost time ever since. She made us parents and changed our lives forever. Never has a day gone by in the last couple years, where she hasn't cracked us up, with her contagious sense of humor and over exuberant love for life. The Lord gave us the perfect little girl. The perfect fit to our quirky family. A family of 3 was fun, it was manageable, fairly simple, and we had tons of time to devote to our one and only baby, but boy are we ready to make it 4! Knowing that having 2 children will take away much more freedom, much more "me" time and "us" time, we are still ready. Our hearts desire is to have as many children as the Lord sees fit for us ...

On our last night alone as a family of 3...EVER, we drove down to San diego to go to this restaurant named "Hash House A-go-go." We had seen it on a favorite tv show of ours, and Jeremey had been wanting to go for years. Despite the fact that I couldn't eat hardly anything due to my Gestational diabetes, Jeremey and Tatum claimed to it being the best restaurant they have ever been to. The portions were seriously bigger than any plate I had ever seen in my life. So big that there were pine trees sticking out of them. We definitely will be going back. Along the way we took many pictures and just strolled around the city trying to get labor started. It was a wonderful night spent with my family, reflecting on all the amazing moments we have had in the last 3 1/2 years, and 2 years with Tatum. Hopefully the next blog I write I will be able to introduce you to our little man!