Blogging Break

It has been a while since I've posted and it will probably be a little while longer before I get back to blogging. I've got plenty to share, but not enough room for it. You see, I've maxed out on my free 1 gig of space for photos and I'm really not into blogging without photos. Jonathan and I are currently looking for a solution, which will likely be in the form of a new blog (a new look and a new location).

I hope to see you all soon!

Lily is Here!

So, Lily's due date (11/17) has come and gone. I haven't posted in a while, which may indicate that Lily has made her arrival.

She's been with us for a bit over a week now and we love her to pieces. We are still getting used to taking care of three little ones and, as of December 1 I'll have to get used to taking care of the three girls all over again because Jonathan will head back to work.

Lily came a few days before her due date, but the timing was actually perfect. My Mom and sister had Sunday off, so they were able to take care of Abigail and Sarah. My sister also watched the girls so Jonathan could pick me and Lily up from the hospital a few days later.

Here are a two fun facts we've learned over the past week or so:

Sixth Sense - I should have figured this out with Abigail or Sarah, but newborns have a sixth sense that weakens as they get older. This sense enables them to know the exact moment your head hits the pillow. They also know the moment you are about to nod off.

How Many? - If any of you were wondering "How many Kapaldo's does it take to change a diaper?" the answer is at least three (during the day anyway). The girls are really good about gathering supplies to help change Lily.

We'll be posting more in the coming days. Stay tuned!

What's in a Name?

Some people grow up knowing what they want to name their children. Others wait until the moment their baby is in their arms before the name comes to them. Once we knew "boy or girl" we went to work on what we wanted to call our little girls (though Abigail was a for sure name before we were close to having kids).

We wanted something biblical for our kids. Abigail and Sarah both fit the bill. But then it came time to look up other biblical girl names this time around, which we were able to narrow down to Naomi and Leah.

The meaning behind each name we picked was not as important in our decision-making, but I am happy with our results. Abigail means "Joy of the Father" while Sarah Elizabeth means "Princess" and "God is my oath".

What about our third front-runner, Lily? I stumbled upon the name while reading a girls name post in a message board I am part of. Suddenly it hit me, the name Lily is biblical in a way and also has great meaning.

When I found out I was pregnant with our third I was happy, of course, but also scared. Three kids? Three? But when I saw the name Lily I was soon reminded of part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:25-34 (emphasis mine)

So there you go, no need to worry. If God takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field He will surely take care of us, no matter how many children He blesses us with! There is not enough time and space to go into the meaning of her middle name, Grace (which means favor or goodwill). God has blessed us more than we even realize sometimes in how He has provided for our financial, spiritual, and emotional needs.

We can't wait to meet our little Lily Grace!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Part of the reason I wanted to find out if we were having a boy or a girl was so we could get started on picking out a name. I knew this would not be an easy decision to make. With Abigail it was a piece of cake-we had her name picked out long before we ever got pregnant. With Sarah it took a bit more time, but we were able to agree pretty quickly. With Baby #3 it is a different story.

Jonathan and I decided to come up with three name possibilities each. Then we would share our lists with each other and voila, we would magically agree on our baby girls name. Well, we shared our names with each other and now have six names to choose from instead of three.

I won't tell you who picked which name, or which one is my favorite, but we are sharing our options with you. Please click here to vote on your favorite (or click on the button to the right of this post).

On another note, I had a second anatomy ultrasound Friday because our baby girl wasn't in the best position for heart pictures. I loved my Ultrasound Tech, because she was so friendly and because she printed out eight new pictures for us to take home. My favorite one is below-look at that crazy leg and that cute profile!

Oh Boy...

It's another girl :-)

We had our anatomy ultrasound today. The technician didn't get to the real reason I was there, but looked for what she could find first. After a look at the heartbeat (160), the spine, arms, legs, stomach, etc she went looking for the gender.

I thought to myself as I watched the screen, "Oh, it's another girl. No! Wait! A boy? No, that's a girl." the technician confirmed it.

So, remember those "tests" I subjected myself to? Most were wrong (including my gut feeling). I didn't tell you about another test I took a few times though: the Abigail test.

Test: Ask Abigail if she thinks Mommy is having a boy or a girl.
Verdict: GIRL. And she was right.

Jonathan and I are very excited to meet our little girl (name TBD) in about 21 weeks!

Three times the giggles, smiles, twirls, drama, pigtails, chipped nail polish, and "Daddy, Daddy, look at me"s!

And maybe some more of this...

And this...

I love our silly girls.

Three

So, Abigail has been three for a few weeks now. So far, so good. But that isn't what this post is about. It's about a different sort of "three".
Curious? Read on...

I am writing this post on March 19, 2011. Today is the day I cried happy and scared tears. Today is the day I found out we are pregnant with our third baby. Our THIRD baby.

I found out I was pregnant with Sarah when Abigail was 10 months old. I cried then too. I was just getting used to the whole "mommy" thing and now I was going to start all over again. But, not too long ago I was thinking about it and looking back-this was really perfect timing. The girls really get along and are so good together (minus occasional fights over toys or personal space).

So, today, May 2, we are happy to announce that we are expecting baby number three. I said it again...THREE!

Sarah is 17 months old (or was when we found out), so she and the little one will be just over two years apart. Abigail and the baby will be over 3 1/2 years apart. I think that will make for some good spacing.

Right now (as of the actual posting date) we're almost 12 weeks along with a due date of November 17, 2011. Right now baby number three is about the size of a lime. We are almost in the happy trimester where hopefully I will have more energy and less nausea.

Here is an ultrasound picture from earlier today. All is well! We also got to here the baby's heartbeat for the first time today.

Stay tuned for more! Life is going to get interesting!