1 down, 2 to go

Today I got to hear Player4's heartbeat for the first time! It was a strong 158 bpm and the doctor found it right away (maybe player4 won't be as stubborn as miss Ilyana!). Player4 was also moving around a lot while the doctor was trying to listen, I suppose they have to keep up with big sister who doesn't want to stay still! I was sad to find out that my usual OB was out of town for a family emergency and it sounds like she won't be back for a while. I'm hoping to try out a doctor that a friend recommended at my next appointment and assuming I like her, stick with her until my doctor comes back. We are now (almost) done with the first trimester! I have been feeling pretty good lately, I usually have a day once every week or two where I feel pretty nauseated, but I can't complain too much, this has been a fairly easy pregnancy. Jake and I have narrowed down names, which has been fun, but we won't share officially until we've fully decided on both of them. As for Player4's gender, we've decided this time around to go team green and let it be a surprise at birth! I'm so excited to find out in this way, I really think it will be a very special experience! We're so excited to meet you, Player4!

Ilyana's half birthday!

It's hard to remember what  life was like without Ilyana but it's also hard to believe that she is already 6 months old! Ilyana is such a sweet, funny, curious, and joyful girl. She loves to scoot around exploring everything (especially things she's not allowed to play with like power cords, daddy's belt, and her favorite: plastic bags). She is constantly chasing Nala around the house and always gives her the biggest smile when she sees her. Nala definitely has her boundaries of how close Ilyana can get, but I think she secretly enjoys the attention. The other morning she even played with Ilyana, rolling a ball back and forth. Ilyana is working hard on learning to crawl, developing fine motor skills (like putting food in her mouth), and constantly adding new sounds to her vocabulary. We're also working on teaching her some baby sign language; we're currently working on: milk, eat, and all done. She tends to think that it's really funny. We've also been having a lot of fun exploring all sorts of new foods. This girl loves to eat! So far she has loved everything we have given her to try. I think her favorite has been a combination of apples, carrots, and parsnips. I couldn't get the next spoonful in her mouth fast enough with that one! Ilyana has been doing great with sleeping lately. She generally sleeps about 12 hours at night, sometimes waking up for one feeding, and she usually takes 3 naps a day. We are so lucky to have such a sweet, smart, and happy girl!

Ilyana likes: Other babies (she's going to be such a great big sister!), Nala, musical toys, food, anything that she can chew on, plastic cups, mommy and daddy, and the animals on her mesh crib liner.

Ilyana dislikes: having to sit still, having to be patient, being tired.

Ilyana weighs: 13 lbs.

Ilyana's height: 26"

Marzen Player 4

Life has been a bit crazy keeping up with Ilyana so I haven't had a chance to write this blog post until now, but Jake and I are excited to announce that we are expecting! We had been hoping to get pregnant again rather quickly after having Ilyana. Having siblings so close in age just sounds like so much fun! Our bold prayer had been that we would be pregnant again by mid-July. By the end of June I was starting to get discouraged about becoming pregnant again, I hadn't even got my period back so we had next to nothing to work with, timing-wise. I can remember on the night of June 30th lamenting to Jake about how discouraged I was feeling and praying together that something would happen soon. The next morning I woke up feeling nauseous and tired, I didn't even think about the possibility of being pregnant and just accounted it to fighting off some sort of bug. By mid-morning I was starting to feel better and that's when it started to dawn on me that maybe I was pregnant. I decided to take a test that afternoon. I knew how unlikely it was that we had gotten pregnant before my cycle had even returned. Most of the time the first few times a woman ovulates after pregnancy she's not actually fertile. Before testing I prayed for God to protect my heart and give me peace no matter what the results were. As it turns out, the test immediately turned positive! I couldn't believe my eyes! I ran downstairs and had little happy freak out with Ilyana and immediately called a close friend, I had to tell somebody! After celebrating the good news with a friend, I used a plain white onsie of Ilyana's and painted on "Big Sis". I texted Jake and told him that Ilyana and I had made a craft and asked if he would like to see it. He said "of course" and I sent him a picture, he was ecstatic and couldn't believe that it was true! To announce to family, we used the "Big Sis" onsie as well. Everyone was so excited! It was fun to watch the realization of what it meant wash over everyone's faces. On 7/13 I had a dating ultrasound and found out that Player4's due date is March 4th 2016. We were even able to see a little heartbeat on the ultrasound. We are so excited to meet our newest little family member!
So far, this pregnancy has been a bit of a roller coaster. I had about a week of miserable, unable to function, morning sickness. Since then, most days have been pretty manageable as long as I don't think too much about food. However there are still the occasional days that I feel horribly sick again. With Ilyana I definitely felt sick more consistently but didn't feel as horrible. Some other differences this pregnancy have been having a lot more heartburn and feeling a lot more exhausted (I was even taking care of 3 kids when I was pregnant with Ilyana!). Jake has been so wonderful with helping me out. I'm excited to continue to keep everyone updated on Player4!