Family of Five

This is our first picture as a family of five. Of course, it took 2 1/2 weeks to take one, but here it is. We were at Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI.

Getting Away

Two days till we go to Michigan to see my family for Christmas. I CAN'T WAIT! I am so glad we're leaving town for Christmas. I need to get out of this town. There is far too much drama here right now, and I would like a drama free Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing my best friend, my family-both my mom's side and my dad's side, and just having a good time. I can't wait! My kids will get to play with all my cousins kids. It's going to be a fun time!

It's a GIRL!

Adleigh Rose Cunningham was born on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 6:49 PM. Adleigh (pronounced Add-Lee) weighed 7lbs 12.5oz and was 20 inches long. She has dark hair and chubby cheeks. We are in love with our newest addition.

Still no baby...

No baby yet. We have a date, but it's a secret. It's later than I wanted. I'm not happy about it at all.

New family member!

My sister Nikki had her first baby today. Delivery wasn't as planned and she had to have a c-section, but Nikki handled it well, and I'm proud of my sister. She and Jeremy have a beautiful baby boy, Easton Michael. He was 8lbs 7oz 22 inches. The outfit they took for him won't fit him because he'll be too long for it. I welcome her to mommyhood. It's the toughest job she'll ever have, but so very worth it. She's going to be a good mommy!

Ultrasound

We had our 3/4D ultrasound yesterday. It was so nice to see our baby. S/he looks like Kylee and Elijah did in their ultrasounds as well. It's fun to see these pictures and see how far they have come in medical technology. We told the tech right away we do not know the sex of the baby, nor do we want to. She told us she wouldn't even look in that area so she wouldn't see and slip either. It was great. The baby was much more active in this ultrasound than in my last one at 18 weeks. The pictures aren't fabulous because of how the baby is positioned though. There wasn't a lot of fluid by his/her face, and the more fluid, the better the photo. I was happy to find out the baby is already head down, but I know that could change at any point in time over the next few weeks as well. I can't believe we only have 7-10 weeks before we meet this baby!

The eyes are a little creepy on this one, but the tech caught a smile.

Mouth open

I think this might be one of my favorites.

Me at 28 weeks

Me at 30 weeks.

Fall is Here!

Fall is officially here! According to the calendar, it's been here for a week, but now the weather has FINALLY cooperated! I love this weather! I love that we don't need the air on during the day and I can have my windows open. We got the long-sleeved shirts and the hoodies out. Best of all, we had chili and cornbread for dinner tonight! YUM! I've got a two ziploc bags of chili to put out in the freezer as well. I love fall! The leaves are starting to change. It's my favorite time of year!

Belly comparison

Happy Anniversary!

Today we are celebrating four years of being married. Time sure has flown and so much has happened in the past four years. Thankfully, I've had an amazing husband by my side through all the good and all the bad. I love my husband!
This is what we looked like on September 10, 2005

Us with parents, siblings and grandparents

Allison, Aaron, and Ali

One of my favorite pictures from the day

Aaron Chenoweth and Nick

Nick and the guys

Our wedding party

My dad and me. I love this picture and how the cross is in the background.

My grandparents and me

Allison Chenoweth, me, Ali Gross

Me and my bridesmaids

My sisters, Bria and Alexis, me, my cousin Chelsea

Dr. Gregg Chenoweth, a family friend and youth pastor for many years, officiated our wedding. It was so special to have someone who watched me grow up officiate.

Double Digits!

Today we have officially made it into the double digits! Only 99 days until "Purple baby" is due to arrive. If it's anything like my two previous pregnancies (and I hope it is as far as delivery timing goes!), we'd only have between 70 and 86 days to go. It seems like once I hit the double digits in the last two pregnancies the time just flew by. We have so much going over the next several weeks, I think it is going fly by. Not only do we have both Kylee and Elijah's birthdays coming up, we have our anniversary (THURSDAY!), our trip to Michigan, Biker Sunday at church, my sister's baby is due in a few weeks, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and some other things planned. I've also got to get Christmas shopping started soon since this baby is due so close to Christmas.

I did something yesterday that totally shocked me, and probably my husband as well. We took a nice long walk-ok, only about 2.7 miles, but it's long when you have a pregnant belly-and we pass both Starbucks and Dairy Queen on our walk. He told me I could have one of them, and I turned them both down!!! What? That wouldn't be me! I never do that. I will take either at any opportunity. I almost did, but I thought about it and decided I'd rather save the three or four dollars we'd spend on me and put it toward our trip to Michigan this week. It doesn't seem like much, but the fact that I was able to turn down something like that actually made me feel good since I am the "free spirit" in our family according to Dave Ramsey. I'm not a saver and I need to be, so this took me one teeny, tiny baby step closer. I didn't save us much, but I saved us a little! I will not be giving up my weekly trip to starbucks though. Monday morning Starbucks is my special treat. Nick got his "crackberry" with the $30 a month fee for internet and whatever else, I get my weekly Sbux! Now if I can efficiently get rid of some of these crazy cravings to cut out some other things...hmmm. I will have to have a chat with "Purple Baby!"

$19.25

I went to a garage sale yesterday. I'm not a good garage saler yet. Maybe someday. We spent 19.25 on some things we were looking for, a couple things we were not. They had a $5 dresser that I desperately wanted, but as Nick walked up to the tent to tell them we wanted it, someone carried it away. I was really bummed because it was in good condition and we need another dresser! I'll have to keep my eyes open.

$5 for this basketball hoop. We've been looking at these and even the really cheap ones are expensive! No net, but I think we can make do for now.
$1.00 Rockin' Tunes Music & Lights Sit-n-Spin. I tried lookin g the price up for a new one, but it seems to be a WIDE range from about $40 all the way up to $129 on amazon. Do people really pay $129 for plastic?

$.25 This was Nick's pick. He wanted a large flashlight.

$1.00 Another one of Nick's picks. Apparently our bathroom needs a clock.

$5.00 ($2.50 apiece) 4T carters footed sleepers. I honestly didn't mind getting these for $2.50 since Carters blanket sleepers are usually marked at $20 apiece. Although they never actually cost that much at Kohl's. They are currently on sale for $10 apiece at Kohls, but I got two for that price, and it great condition.

$2.00 Carters 0-3 month baby boy outfit. I got this for my sister, but I'm not sure if she'll like it since it's blue and she prefers greens, but for two bucks, I picked it up. If she doesn't like it, I'll hold on to it and see if we have a boy.

$1.00 Got this for our baby, but I'm not sure if it is neutral enough, or if it's a little too girly. I guess I'll have to put it on him/her and see. If we have a boy and it's too girly, I've only lost a buck, and I'll save it in case we have a girl in the future. If it's a girl, it will be fine.

$3.00 Carters 4T Jeans. The looked hardly worn, have adjustable waist, so Kylee will be stylin!

We also snagged Kylee 3 pairs of brand new earrings at 3 for $1.00

Annoyed.

It's really annoying and frustrating when someone thinks you did something you didn't do, especially when what they thought you did was years ago. Even worse, it's something that is absolutely no one elses business and is a personal thing. I did not do what this person said, and God can tell him/her that someday and they will feel really stupid, especially after dwelling on it for over four years. If I did it, I wouldn't feel the need to hide it because maybe someone could have learned from my mistake. It's not something I'd lie about.

First day of September!

Today is September 1st! Do you know what that means? Pumpkin Spice Latte's come out at Starbucks! Woohoo!

September is a busy month for us. It seems like we have something going on every night for the entire month! Our anniversary is next week, we go to Michigan next week, Kylee's birthday is the weekend after that, we have Biker Sunday at church, and then other normal activities on top of it all.

I am loving the cooler weather we've been having, and being able to have my windows open! I'm not enjoying right at this moment since the monthly sirens are sounding, and it's much louder with the windows open!

Not much else going on right now!

Applauding

I seriously wanted to stand and applaud him for this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=G44NCvNDLfc

Almost four years

I can't believe it's Thursday already. I'm totally welcoming how fast this week has gone by, but I still can't believe it. It's hard to believe next week we will be in September! Our 4th anniversary is two weeks from today! It's crazy to think that four years ago, we were putting the final touches on our wedding planning. I"m so glad that is done and over with. I loved our wedding, but planning seemed to cause so much drama because some people didn't like what I wanted, and were not thrilled when we didn't do things their way. Oh well. I stuck to my guns and had the wedding I wanted. We received many compliments on our wedding, AND the things that we were told would look stupid ended up being favorites of other people because they were different from what everyone else does! It's so hard to believe four years have passed. Four years, job losses and gains, three pregnancies, a dog, a bad move to AZ (and a good one back to IL), drama, drama, drama, but it hasn't made us weaker in our relationship, only stronger.

I am blessed to have a husband who will stand up for me, will stand beside me, and is such a good provider for our family. I can't imagine the stress he must feel at times to be providing for a soon-to-be family of five all by himself. I hope rather than being discouraged, he feels proud of how hard he is working and how he is supporting and taking care of his family. I am proud of him. He's a great husband and daddy. I love to sit and eavesdrop when he puts the kids to bed. Last night, I had to turn the TV down to hear. I love listening to him read stories to them, then sing songs. It's so cute. It makes my heart melt.

None of this means we haven't had our disagreements. We have. Anyone who knows me knows that I am stubborn, so that alone makes it impossible to not have disagreements. But we seem to handle them very differently than a lot of people we know. We've never had an all out fight like so many people have told us they do. We have used a sharp tone occasionally, and while I know I always regret it, I'm glad it has never progressed to yelling at each other. Usually those sharp tones are a sign that there are some things that need to be dealt with. At that point, before I can even reach the yelling point, I just start crying. Even when I feel that vulnerable, and I might be mad at him, it's so nice to know that he's going to pull me into his arms and hold me close. Neither of us are perfect. We don't claim to be. But I've always said we are perfect for each other. There is no one out there who's personality complements mine more than Nick's. There is no one out there who knows me better than my husband. There is no one out there I'd rather spend the rest of my life with.

Not My Child! Monday

It's not my child, Monday! If you want to participate or read other stories, go to MckMama's site and join the fun!

I had to think through and I could only think of a couple thinks. I'm sure there were more, but I couldn't remember.

When my best friend was in town, we thought it'd be fun to take our kids to Barnes and Noble to look at books and play with the train set. I don't know about your local B&N, but ours has an array of stuffed animals. Elijah did not come running over to me carrying an owl and did not call it a "hoo hoo." Thess and I did not dissolve into laughter. We were not thinking that the only thing we've heard called "hoo hoo" is female genitalia.

As I was getting Kylee out of the tub the other day, she did not proclaim, "Look Mommy! I have nipples, now I can feed Elijah too!" (FYI: Elijah has not been weaned for the past 4 months...at least I know I've taught her something, though!).

Scared.

I'm scared. Scared about baby #3. I'm not at all scared about the labor and delivery part. I'm not scared of having three kids. I'm scared of going into labor when Nick is at work. I am praying my doctor will schedule an induction so we know ahead of time. I'm scared because I honestly do not have any idea what we are going to do with our kids. I wish my best friend was here. I wish my mom lived here. Those are two people I know I could always count on to be able to call at a moments notice and say, "We're going to the hospital, we need to drop the kids off." I don't have anyone else like that. My sister will have a new baby, and will most likely be back to work. I am sincerely hoping and praying that we are either scheduled for an induction, or this baby comes over Thanksgiving weekend or the following weekend. When people are not at work. Really, I'm not scared about becoming a mom of three. I'm scared of what's going to happen with my other two kids when that happens.

My Sweet Boy

As promised, here are some Elijah pictures since there were many of Kylee last time. I swear, he has got to be the cutest, sweetest little boy there is. He really lights up our lives and it just wouldn't be the same without him. He is surprise we thank God for daily. He's so loveable. He is a great playmate to Kylee as well. He even lets her boss him around occasionally. I love this little boy so much!

I think we took this when he and daddy napped together. Daddy had the flu but we didn't know it till later. Thankfully no one else got it.

I adore this smile

Funny story: Apparently Nick went into his room in the middle of the night and found Elijah crying, standing in the middle of the floor with jammies in his hand asking to put those on instead of what he was wearing. It was dark so Nick had no idea what they were. I woke up in the morning and found Elijah in Kylee's jammies and I was so confused because I knew I had put his red snowman jammies on him. I didn't even know Nick got up with him that night!

He's ready for a trip to Hawaii. He'll be waiting a while for that one.

Oneof his favorite places to play-in the laundry basket

This was taken this weekend when Thess was here. Elijah was upset about something and daddy was consoling him. I love the picture of my two favorite guys hugging though!

Elijah thinks Barrett is his own personal ride.

Daddy was trying to get him first thing in the morning. This is Elijah when he first wakes up.

Elijah waving a flag to welcome home the troops!

He's ready to welcome home the troops in his red, white and blue "Celebrate" shirt!