Thursday, June 30, 2016

Maternity leave for the last time and our baby's name :)

Since this is our last baby, this will of course be my last time being on maternity leave ever. You guys, I have always wondered if I will ever feel like we were done having kids and I must say I am absolutely and unequivocally sure that our family is complete and this is our last baby. My hubby is super happy about that of course :).

Yesterday was the first day of my maternity leave and it felt good not having to wake up early and rush anywhere. I am taking 20 weeks off this time around to stay at home with the baby, I don't go back to work until the end of November, woop woop. I figured this is our last baby so I should make the most of it all and I am thankful for a job that allows me to do just that.

I am keeping the boys at home with me until the baby comes. Yesterday was chill, chill and more chill. Don't you just love the sound of that. Hubby will take 3 to 4 weeks once the baby comes and spend some time at home with us while we adjust to life with 4 kids. Gosh, we are going to be a family of 6 very soon.

When hubby goes back to work after his paternity leave, the big boys will go back to Summer camp and I will stay at home with Bean and the baby. When you have 4 kids, only having to care for 2 is clearly a piece of cake :).

Anyway, our baby has a name and we are so in love with it. We are naming our daughter after both my grandmothers and hubby's aunt. I ordered a few personalized items for her, I know, I can't even help myself.

Her very own personalized onesie and hat with her name on it :), first outfit what up
And her blanket :) :) :)
I also got my hair done since I will be out of commission for a while there. My bangs have grown and so has the rest of my hair and I am totally loving it. I know I will lose it all in a few months but for now, it feels good to have hair :)
The first day of maternity leave was super nice. We woke up and lounged around for hours before we actually got out of bed :). We enjoyed a nice late breakfast while watching Paw Patrol and the boys definitely enjoyed that.
Tman went to Summer camp, they had a nice outing scheduled and I didn't want him to miss out. I stayed at home with Jbird and bean. After breakfast, I took the boys out on the deck for some water play, my kids will play in the water for hours so this is always a sure hit.

Two hours in and they were still super excited. I just put my feet up and watched them do their thing. Baby girl's bump was there too :)
When Jbird was done, he came and chilled with me on the glider. Bean just kept going and going like the energizer bunny :). I love this happy picture of me and my Jbird, such a happy kid
After water play, I made the boys lunch, a naked lunch it was because they refused to put clothes on until after their bath :). My boys are hilarious I tell you
After our late lunch, we all got cleaned up and I got the boys ready for a nap. Momma wanted a nap too so we had to make this work. I clearly wore them out with all the water play because they both passed out once they were in chilled mode

Both boys passed out, now that's what I am talking about. I was able to catch up on emails, clean up and take a nap too. It was glorious.
Before we knew it, hubby and Tman were home. The first day of maternity leave was perfect and so relaxing.

Today my brothers came over to hang out with us and brought my niece along for the ride. We also kept Tman at home and he definitely enjoyed hanging out with his brothers and cousin. We pulled the hose out for water play and it was a complete hit
My brother J was in charge of the hose and he definitely delivered. Hours of entertainment was had by all
After water play, shower and lunch, we got 3 of the 4 kids to take a nap at the same time :). Tman was not interested but it was definitely a nice quiet afternoon for the grown up
Maternity leave is going really well so far and I am so happy that all I have to worry about everyday until this little lady comes is take care of my babies. We'll probably just have this schedule on repeat everyday :).

37 weeks with baby #4, I was so happy when we hit full term, by far the best milestone in pregnancy because the baby can come anytime and be perfectly healthy

38 weeks with baby #4, she is moving around so much now that my belly is always lopsided
Look how low the belly is,  she has totally dropped
We are a few days away from 39 weeks and 10 days away from our due date, wowza. My body is aching like crazy, we are having braxton hicks constantly and I feel like every single body part is failing right now. But I relish in the fact that in a few days I will go from 3 to 4 kids when we welcome our baby girl and that is a total dream come true. For now I enjoy these 3 boys of mine and day dream about holding a new baby very soon. I love these boys of mine.
We are going to make the most of the days leading to our 4th baby's arrival. I plan to enjoy these few days of calm before the storm. So now I put my feet up and chill with my boys while we wait for baby girl to make an appearance. We are ready for you little one, you can come whenever you want and please don't take too much of your time :). Maybe the next baby update will actually have some new baby pictures.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

My firstborn graduated from Kindergarten

You guys, I still cannot get over the fact that my first baby, the boy who made me a mom almost 6 years ago just graduated from kindergarten. I was just in the hospital yesterday giving birth to him and now he is almost 6 and heading to first grade. God is good. We are so proud of our Tman.

In traditional fashion, I made a production out of this event as I do with everything :). We invited the whole family to come celebrate our Tman and they all showed up with bells on. I just love how supportive our family is of us and the kids and I am so thankful that we live so close to everyone.

My big boy Tman walking toward the stage
Tman receiving his diploma (I mean, he did master nap time, hehehehehehe)
Look at the smirk on his face, seriously grown up
Hubby's mom chilling with Bean
After they called Tman's name, we waited in the hallway because the kids were getting restless
Our crew: hubby's mom, my brothers, my mom, my niece and our kids. We are so blessed for the amazing support
We waited in Tman's class until the ceremony was over. When hubby brought him over, he was super excited. I am loving the look on his face here :)
Then it was hugs all around
Love this family of mine

I love the way my Jbird and I are looking at each other in this picture
My mom and her first grandchild
Hubby's mom and her first grandchild
I love the chaos of our family right now and next month we are adding another one :)
My brother H and my niece with the graduate
My brother J and my niece with the graduate
Me and my first baby
Hubby and his first baby
I love this picture of Tman and my brother J
My big boy Tman graduated from Kindergarten and he is now headed to first grade. It seems so surreal but I love every milestone that our kids are reaching. Good job Tman, we are so proud of you. I really prayed for baby girl to hold off until the graduation and she did good. Congrats to my big boy, first grade here we come.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Maternity pictures 2016

Our maternity pictures are here and I am absolutely in love with every single one of them. Our photographers did not disappoint and did an amazing job as usual capturing our family at this stage of our lives. I did maternity pictures with all my other kids and I am so glad that we always celebrate this time in our lives.

Our photographers are two moms who are amazing with the kids and I just love working with them. They suggested going to the beach for this photoshoot and I was skeptical because of water and my kids running around but the I am so glad we did. The boys did a great job and we got some awesome pictures. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

These girls made me look so good in the belly loving shot. So much love for my baby girl
Look at that belly
I am so in love with my bump and the baby growing inside

We attempted a family picture on the rocks and it was chaotic but I love this shot of us looking in the horizon
With my love, so excited to celebrate our 7th year of marriage next month
This picture of hubby and the boys is heart melting to me. I am loving the matching and so thankful that they are mine. We added the pink bow as a touch of pink to celebrate baby girl
Belly loving was in full force
Loving our family picture
We always do one of these with our growing brood
They asked each boy to give my belly a kiss and I just love how these pictures turned out


We changed into this outfit that I fell in love with. I can't wait to put baby girl in her "sister bear" outfit in a few months and retake this picture :)
We always do one of these heart pic with the belly
Our maternity pictures turned out amazing. I love them all. Now to choose my favorite and print them so that they are ready for baby girl's room. Do you do maternity pictures when you are pregnant? They are so worth it and are a great way to reflect on this time of your life. Another thing off our list of things to do before we welcome our finale :).