Bullets

• I'm 25 weeks, 2 days pregnant and it's a BOY! I'm feeling pretty good, besides the exhaustion and sore muscles. This morning I had to drink that nasty orange drink and get bloodwork done for the gestational diabetes test. They always make me nervous, since I love my junk food so much!
• Last night Marissa and I went on a "date" to look for fall dress shoes for her. Strike-out at both Payless and Target, but we had fun, and I found some awesome Target clearance deals. A bunch of summer things for M for $1 each! And some cute flip-flops for next summer for her too. I also got a few summer boy clothes for $1, $2, and $3. I'm estimating him to be in 6-9 for summer/fall, so hopefully I'm right! I highly doubt he'll be much different in size from his two older sisters!
• I'd like to take a minute and talk about my oldest. She's growing into a fascinating big girl and I don't want to forget anything! She's currently obsessed with the Wonder Pets. We watch it on Netflix (mainly when I'm getting ready in the mornings) and she turns EVERY situation in life into a "Wonder Pets" situation. She sings the song OVER and OVER at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking because she's singing so hard. She changes the words to fit our situation: "Save the baby princess (toy in car)" "We have to hurry, to get to Mommy's doctor appointment", etc. It's hilarious, but we're starting to get a little sick of the Wonder Pets! She still does not stop talking. She has a question or observation about everything. She is very helpful with Arianna, loves to get her cup for her, hold her hand, and help her play with toys. They play together REALLY well at times, and other times they shriek at each other every time one of them tries to do something. Arianna copies EVERYTHING Marissa does, good or bad. My favorite is when we send Marissa to time-out in the corner. Arianna will NOT stay away from her! And Marissa usually crosses her arms when she's mad, and Arianna crosses her arms too, and it makes us all laugh, and puts Marissa out of her bad mood. Marissa is so talkative at home, and in the car. But when we go to my doctor's appointments, she is very hesitant to talk to the nurses and other people there. But once she decides she's going to talk, she talks about the most random things! She is "so exciting" (excited) about her new baby brother, and is already asking to carry him around Meijer! She has a hard time understanding how Arianna is her little sister, but will be Roman's big sister. She's still taking a "rest time" every day, but not sleeping as often. Today she is singing, probably Wonder Pets! Her imagination is through the roof, as evidenced by her changing the Wonder Pets song. Especially in the car, we have a few little toys, and they always have a Wonder Pets situation for her to resolve. She loves to play with the castle/house and Little People, when Arianna will let her (she carries them around all day!). We went to a church outdoor movie night this past weekend, and the movie was Up. She is terrified of the dogs that talk (Arianna LOVES them), so we ended up leaving early. We drove an hour and back TWICE this past weekend to buy/pick up our new blue Honda Odyssey! It's wonderful, and Marissa loves it too. She keeps asking about which car Daddy is driving, and if we're keeping the van. We haven't started any "school" stuff yet, but I hope to sometime in the next few weeks. She's been asking about certain things and if we can learn them in "school" so I think she's really going to enjoy it!
• And now for Arianna. I really just don't understand her yet! She still only says "up" and "off" regularly, but CAN say "mama" "dada" "help" "tree" and one more that I can't think of right now. She'd much rather just point or "eh" to get her point across. She completely understands EVERYTHING we say though. She puts toys away like a pro, follows directions (when it's convenient for her). And LOVES to play with her big sister! They LOVE to run around like crazy people, holding hands, spinning, racing down the hallway, tickling each other. It's super cute, until one of them starts shrieking! She copies everything Marissa does, and is always watching to see what else she can get into. She has learned how to move stools/toys so she can climb on them to reach something. She can reach all our doorknobs, but so far doesn't know how to turn them. She can reach things on just about every surface in the downstairs, so we keep piling things up on top of the piano! She's awesome at napping and going to bed. The nightmare of her sleep issues was only about a year long. Lol. She sleeps with a pink bear head/blanket thing, and just lays down and babbles to herself until she falls asleep. It's wonderful! Her naps are still only about 45 minutes long, though lately she's been doing better and sleeping for 1.5 hours. She goes to bed at 8, and usually wakes up at 7:15 as Dan is leaving for work. She's still nursing, but only in the morning, and after nap. She LOVES it though, and has a hysterical meltdown if I try to refuse her. I love the time we get to cuddle while she nurses, and I'm still hoping to continue nursing until the new baby comes. It's starting to get very difficult though, since there's no place for her on my lap anymore, and she loves to squish my belly! She has the biggest grin, and is so funny and so much fun. But she is SO difficult, and so very different from Marissa. She is TOUGH: she did a total body flop onto Marissa's pillow the other night and thought it was so fun she'd do it again. But the second time she did a total forehead plant into the WALL, and we all flipped out! But she didn't even cry, just looked at us like "what?"! She has NO fear, which is terrifying! She loves dogs and LOVES babies, and points them both out all the time. I think she's going to LOVE having a baby brother, but she obviously doesn't have a clue that he's coming. I'm terrified of moving her into a big girl bed, so we are going to postpone that as long as possible! She is a mischievous little thing - and I do mean LITTLE. At her 18-month check up, she weighed 19lbs 14oz! She's still about 33 inches tall (their measurements are always wacky), but so itty bitty! But she eats like a horse! She almost always eats more than Marissa at meals, and sometimes eats more than I do! I don't know where she puts it though!
• And baby Roman. Roman Daniel (after Daddy). He is a jumper and roller! Marissa loves to feel him moving through my belly. I love the feeling too. It's so reassuring, even though sometimes the kicks are almost jarring! I love being pregnant, and I love looking forward to labor and delivery. I'm planning on having him in the tub too, just like Arianna. I'm also expecting him to come late, like Arianna! He's due December 20th, and Dan really wants a Christmas baby (like he is), but I'm willing to go as late as Jan. 4 (I think that's 2 weeks late). After that, I wouldn't be able to have him in the birthing center. But I really hope we don't go that late! My sister is coming straight here for her Christmas break, so she'll be here when I go into labor (hopefully) so we won't have to take the girls anywhere. And my parents are coming the week between Christmas and New Year's, so hopefully he's here by then! I'm not sure when Dan's parents are coming, but hopefully around then too! We are slowly starting to buy a few boy things here and there. Marissa picked out an elephant head/blanket thing, and I just ordered a bunch of fabrics to sew into blankets and burp cloths. We have a few newborn clothing items, and now a few bigger things. But it's so weird to start from scratch with clothes! When Marissa was born, I had a wonderful shower, and got TONS of clothes from the family (of triplets) that I was working for. And obviously Arianna had a ton of clothes too. It's kinda fun though. Except for the fact that I don't love all the sports-themed boy clothes. I do like the dinosaur, monkey, dog stuff though.
• Well, I never expected to have this much time to write! I thought for sure Arianna would be awake by now. Tonight is the first actual night of Cubbies, and Marissa is excited! I've got pizza dough in the bread maker for homemade pizza tonight - yum! I'm hosting Bunco this coming Tuesday, so I'm doing a lot of "cleaning" in my head in preparation. I'm gonna make Oreo "mud" since I've been craving it, and I'm not sure what else...probably the same stuff I made last time, since I don't really have a lot of variety of stuff I like to make.
• Oh, I finally found some maternity clothes! I've really been having a hard time with the sizes of most maternity clothes. They certainly make XL and plus-sized clothes, but for some reason XS are ridiculously hard to find. Motherhood is supposedly getting XS in their fall line, but Motherhood is always so pricey! But Target is always my favorite place. I got JEANS there, since they actually have sizes, instead of S, M, L. I thought I was going to have to go to Gap and shell out $70 for maternity jeans, but Target came through, like it always does! I also found a super cute sweater and Kohl's, and actually didn't need an XS there. Although why they have to be so expensive is beyond me. I guess they get away with it, since there's NOTHING else to pick from in maternity! I also got a few huge bags of maternity clothes from a friend at church who is about my size. I still was only able to use a handful of things, but the few capris that were in there were really what I needed. For some reason, this time I'm not able to really wear as many of my usual bottoms. With Marissa and Arianna, I kept wearing the same jeans, capris, etc. as I always wore anyways. But I guess my muscles have had it! I just can't button them this time! I love it though
• I'm starting to get excited for a few things this fall. The first weekend of October is our 5th reunion at Cedarville! My good friend Nicole is coming up and staying at our house for the weekend with her two kids (girl 5 months older than Arianna, and a baby - 5 months I think?). Then we're going to the reunion dinner on Saturday. Dan will be camping (guy trip they've been planning) but we'll have fun walking around campus and reminiscing! Then my "little" brother is getting married Oct. 16th! I still can't believe it! Marissa is their flower girl (she's an old pro by now!) and I'm a bridesmaid. Yes, I'll be huge - 31 weeks I think?! Oy. But the dresses are pretty, as long as I don't stick out like a huge sore thumb. Lol. It's a 9 hour drive, so it will be a long weekend, but at least we will be able to drive it in our nice new van!

Well, I think I'm done! Arianna is almost at 2 hours for her nap today! Yay!