#4....Here we go again!

I spent a good chunk of my Sunday evening reading through past blog posts and being SO sad that I don't blog anymore. I've been trying not to feel guilty. Life is busy. Work keeps me busy, and three little girls keep me busier. And even though I still have things like Instagram and Project Life, it's just not the same. There's nowhere to write my thoughts and feelings on an Instagram post or a 3x5 journaling card. And sometimes I just feel like writing!

One of the things that's hard to update is pregnancy. Baby #4 is joining our family in November, and I've been thinking about how I've kept a record of every pregnancy but this one. Someday, I'll really regret it if I don't write anything down. Mostly because I have a terrible memory and all my pregnancies and deliveries tend to blur together as time passes.

Our little pregnancy announcement. I still giggle every time I look at their faces. :)

So, here we go. I'm 17 weeks along right now. Due date is November 10th. Since this will, for all intents and purposes, be our last kid, I was really hoping for a spring baby so that I'd have one in every season (so far, we have winter, summer, and fall). But that obviously didn't work out. It took 9 months to get this baby here, so we ended up being grateful for ANY due date in the end.

I've been feeling good, just like my first three pregnancies. I feel very blessed to be able to say that. But I can definitely tell this is the fourth time around that I've done this. For one, I could swear I started to show the minute I saw that positive pregnancy test. At this point, I'm in the chubby-nothing-fits-me stage. Like, really. Nothing fits. A little part of me wants to hide in a closet until I have enough of a belly to scream to people, "yes, I'm pregnant!" But I can't do that. Obviously.

The other thing that has been wildly different this time around is how tired I am. If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT a nap-taker. Like, not at all. If I take a nap (even a tiny 10-minute one), I turn into an insomniac at night. So I never take them. That is, until 17 weeks ago. And now, I literally cannot get through my day without crashing for at least a few minutes at some point. And even if that nap is a one-hour Sunday nap, I can still drop into bed at 10:00 and immediately fall asleep. It's crazy stuff. And really annoying. I don't have time for naps!

Other than that, everything else has been pretty typical. A little bit of heartburn has started. I have no doubt that will get worse as the weeks pass. (But that means another baby with a full head of hair, so that's always fun!) A few random cravings here and there - I was craving grape juice and sushi (I love California rolls) for a few weeks. It still sounds good, but I don't have to have it like I did for awhile. I also went through a brief pasta stage. And right now, I love dill pickles. If that's not stereotypical, I don't know what is.

And finally, the girls. Sadie and Ellie are SO excited for another little sibling. They have both had a million questions and it's so fun to feel the anticipation radiating from them. They both say they want another little sister, but they'd be okay with a brother too. Kevin's rooting for a boy, obviously, and I'm happy with either one! And Avery? She could care less. She's finally starting to catch on to the fact that everyone is saying there's a baby in mommy's tummy but she's very confused when she lifts up my shirt and can't see any sign of any kind of baby there. I think she's going to be in for quite the surprise. :) The big gender reveal is in a little over a week. We're all super excited to find out!

And I'd say that's about the long-winded update I was going for! Over and out.