LOOK WHO'S 5!!!

Luke turned 5 yesterday... yup, 5... I almost can't believe it.
He's just about finished up his preschool year, and in September he starts Kindergarten...the first of 13 years of his school career.

To celebrate, we let Luke pick a few friends, and we had their families over for a little hotdog bbq on Sunday evening. I think everyone had good fun.

A little about Luke:
He is still into Angry birds (it's been about 18 months now), so we had an Angry bird themed party.
He LOVES crafts and drawing. He's quite the little artist.
He loves being outside, and riding his bike. (We got him a bigger bike for his birthday)
He's a total sweetheart. He has the most sensitive, kindest heart I think I've ever seen in a little boy. He's a doting big brother whenever Kate will allow him to be, and he just loves it when she wants him to play with her (their getting along is usually determined by Kate's mood, lol)
He's a big helper... loves to help Kate and me with various things and is trying to be more independent. I think he'll be a fantastic help in a few weeks when Eden is born.
He has 2 best buddies... his friend Josh, and Josh's big sister Maya. They are the cutest little trio. (See picture below)
He is well mannered and a really good boy. He can be whiny at times, but he rarely if ever intentionally does things he shouldn't. He's my little gem.
We are so blessed to have had 5 wonderful years with the sweetest boy on the planet. I love his gentle nature, and sensitive spirit.

Best Buddies... Josh, Luke and Maya

5yrs old.. on the morning of his actual birthday.

BIRTHDAY VIDEO

Jake made a birthday video for me.
Some of the photo's he chose to use are probably not ones I'd generally have made public. lol. (a bit dorky or embarrassing), but I love that he made it. I love the song he used, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the footage of the kids.

I have a cute family.
So, 'spastic' photo's aside, here it is. lol

28 WEEKS AND 29 YEARS

So today I am both 28 weeks pregnant, and 29 years old.
First day of my last trimester, and the first day of my last year in my 20's.

1 year older, and 1 trimester away from being the mom of 3 :)

Things didn't exactly go according to plan, but all turned out ok in the end.
We had planned a fun day at the zoo with the kids... welcoming in spring, and a birthday outing all wrapped in one, and then Jake and I had a dinner date planned for tonight.
Instead, both my kiddo's got hit with a really yucky stomach virus this week (Kate's bout was just yesterday) and mother nature decided not to make today a particularly 'springy' day.
So, our plans have been put on hold.

Instead, I attended a preschool event this morning with Luke.
We got to hold a big python, :p


We just hung out at home for the afternoon.
Jake treated us to a yummy grilled chicken dinner, and I bought a delicious Chocolate tuxedo mousse cake for dessert. (A birthday just isn't a birthday without cake!)

I was also spoiled by some wonderful friends.
An unexpected knock on the door, and my sweet friend had brought me the beautiful tulips that are on our dinner table
I also got some yummy homemade cookies from my other awesome friend yesterday... sadly no picture because they've already been eaten. lol :p

It wasn't the day I had in mind... but underneath the overcast weather, and rough week I had, is my wonderful family, and my thoughtful, kind friends. Life is good.. even when it doesn't go according to plan :)

THE BABY IS A....

Well, the much anticipated day finally arrived... and to our COMPLETE SHOCK, we found out that the baby is a GIRL!!!
We were sooo sure we were having a boy... in fact I was so sure, that I even gave away some of Kate's baby clothes, but hung onto all of Luke's.
Jake and I were pretty stunned when we found out our 'he' is in fact a 'she', but we're really excited.
Ironically, despite thinking the baby was a boy, we hadn't come up with any boy names yet...
We do however have a girls name already picked out. We are happy to announce that we are expecting a healthy baby girl in June and she will be named
EDEN ELIZABETH GEDDES

19 weeks 4 days

It would appear that the sausage and beans are missing from this picture. lol.
We were SURE it was going to be a boy. :)

ANOTHER YEAR GONE BY...

2013 was one FAST PACED year.
Lots of things happened for our family.

Our year in a nutshell.

1. We visited my family in South Africa... AWESOME trip
2. We packed up and moved our entire life from North Carolina to Michigan with only 4 weeks notice. We had to temporarily downsize from our nice big house to a 2 bedroom apartment... not the nicest part of the move... but we're happy to be back in Michigan
3. Jake started a new job...the reason for the move
4. We all had birthdays... Carla - 28th, Luke - 4th, Kate - 2nd, Jake 34th
5. We had the best summer EVER... trips to the zoo, Greenfield village, lots of time at the 'beach', etc.
6. Part of our awesome summer included Grandma & Grandpa Geddes visiting and us all taking a trip to Niagara falls, Canada - SUPER FUN
7. Luke started Preschool
8. We found out that baby #3 is on his/her way
9. Jake and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary
10. Kate is 'mostly' potty trained. YAY

To start our new year, we got LOTS of snow on new years day.
Totally not my idea of a 'warm welcome' into 2014...you all know just how much I 'love' the snow...but the kids enjoyed it..

Here are some cute photo's of my kiddo's on 1/1/14

HALLOWEEN, NOVEMBER AND A SPROG

The 2 months since we found out we are expecting baby #3 have pretty much been a blur.
Between sickness and exhaustion, I've been little more than a vegetable, and time has gone without me. Fortunately the last couple weeks have brought some relief. I'm still feeling pretty much comatose all day, everyday, but the sickness has eased up and mostly only bothers me in the evenings now.

Here are the highlights of what we've been up to recently.

HALLOWEEN:
Luke wanted to be Thomas the train, and Kate was an adorable little strawberry.
We went trick or treating (in the rain) with some friends, and the kids had a great time. Kate caught on really fast about the whole 'free candy' thing, and was on a mission. And at the end of the night when the other 3 kids were begging us to carry their full, heavy buckets of candy, Kate would not part with hers. She hauled that bucket all the way back to the house on her own, despite barely being able to walk while holding it in both hands. Funny girl.

WINTER:
We got our first snowfall for the season some time in November... it wasn't much, but it was enough to excite the kids so they went out and played in it.

 

 We took the kids to Frankenmuth (about an hour north of us) so that Luke could go to Bronner's.. the biggest Christmas store in the world. It was pretty busy, but he enjoyed seeing all the christmas lights and decorations etc. We let each kid pick out one ornament for the tree. It was FREEZING that day.. well below freezing to be precise. lol.

Watching them make fudge.

The fudge making was pretty exciting business... especially because mom and dad bought some for us to eat afterewards :)

THANKSGIVING:

 Luke had his Thanksgiving party at preschool in November.
Jake took a long lunch and attended with him which Luke LOVED.
Daddy had to wear a pilgrim hat, and Luke was a little Indian.
There is a really cute video on my facebook page of Luke singing '10 little Indians' with his class. He made me so proud.

Thanksgiving, we spent with 2 other families at our friends house. Lots of fun and far too much good food (never good for a prego woman who's already gaining plenty. lol)

THE SPROG:
A couple days ago I had another ultrasound. (I'm 13 weeks today). Luke and Jake went with. Luke's been really interested and excited about this baby.
Sprog #3 officially has limbs, and looks a little more like a baby, and not so much like a blob anymore. 1 more week and I'm out of this dreaded first trimester. Hopefully on to more energy filled, good days. :)

CUTENESS:
And here are some pics I wanted to share just because they're cute. I have adorable children.

Ready for stake conference, with her bag of entertainment goodies and snacks to keep her busy.

 And that is our October and November in a nutshell...