A Griswald Christmas!

Christmas 2010 will surely go down in the books for the Ferrie family! At times, Kevin and I felt as though we were in the middle of a "Griswald Christmas" - and thankfully, Kevin and I are the type of people who try to laugh their way through trying times. I have to say, we surely learned some good life lessons that will affect the holidays in the future! :)

As you may have read earlier, our oldest, Mairead, came down with the stomach bug on Wednesday night. I spent all of Thursday sanitizing the upstairs. When we woke up on Friday morning and the remainder of our little family was still healthy, I was amazed. Could We? Are we....Dare we say it? Healthy? We got up, and prepared for our third annual Christmas Eve Open House. I baked cookies and prepared our dinner. In the mid-afternoon, Kevin said he felt a little funny, but it didn't stop him too much. By the time my parents got here and our friends arrived, he started to feel yucky. He wasn't puking, but he was visiting the bathroom a lot.....Hmmmmmmmm....before we knew it, he was throwing up. Thankfully for him, it was just once, and he was blessed with just an annoyance of wonderful diarrhea. 

Here are the girls with my mom cutting out the cookies.

Lilah decorating her cookie for Santa

Mairead looking proud of her decorated cookie! 

The kids had a blast decorating cookies for Santa (each year, I bake cookies and then the kids decorate them to give to Santa) and playing together. Everyone was having a blast! Kevin would try and socialize every now and then, but you could tell he felt yucky. Once our friends left, my parents helped us get the girls ready for bed. We read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and put the girls to bed. My parents left and we got ready to start wrapping. Yes. You read that right. Start wrapping.

The girls reading with Nana & Papa before bed (just a short time before the "storm")

Lesson #1: It's not a smart idea to wait until Christmas Eve to start wrapping. And I mean, start wrapping. 

So, Kevin and I started wrapping. We sorted out all the girls toys. Kevin was about to put together the girls baby doll bunk bed and we learned yet another lesson: 

Lesson #2: It's not a smart idea to leave all the gifts in their packed boxes before inventory, or making sure everything has all the pieces. 

Yep. The bunk bed came without screws. No screws. The "big gift" for the girls had to stay in the box. What a major disappointment. If that wasn't disappointment enough, at the same time, we heard yelling upstairs...."Lilah's puking!"........NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I thought. This can't be. Well, it was. We ran upstairs and Lilah was puking all over the place. I felt horribly. We cleaned her up, bathed her and changed beds around, and went back to wrapping.

For about 10 minutes. Until the 2nd round began. 

Lilah was puking again. And again. In between puking episodes, we'd return to wrapping. 

Lesson #3: It's pretty difficult to prepare for Christmas with a puking child. Never wait to wrap every. single. gift. Not smart. 

Once we got Lilah settled, we went back to wrapping. Then, we hear Clara crying on the monitor, which was unusual for her. I had weird feeling. Since we have a video monitor, I was watching her, and then I heard her wretching. I flew upstairs and sure enough, puke all over the place. Oh, and the smell........she was covered. I bathed her while Kevin changed her bed. She wretched some more. Have I mentioned how much I hate watching a small child vomit? It has to be on the of the saddest things ever. They are just so helpless. I just felt horrible for her and Lilah. I nursed her back to sleep and put her to bed. By now, it's about 1030pm, and we're back to wrapping.

Lesson #4: It's even more difficult to wrap your kids Christmas presents with two puking children. Of course, they couldn't plan their puking episodes together, so about every 5-10 minutes we were running upstairs to clean up and care for a puking princess. 

Lesson #5: Not only is it tough to wrap gifts with two children puking, it's tough to wrap gifts while doing mounds of laundry. With the rate of puking children, we were quickly running out of pillows (until we got smart and started using garbage bags underneath the pillow cases to keep the pillows safe), blankets and loveys! 

All we could think about was how we would never forget this Christmas! If that wasn't bad enough, I felt like crap, too. I had a killer head cold and just wanted to go to bed, and Kevin didn't feel too well either after puking and pooping! We were a mess. Finally, around 12:30am, we headed to bed. We were still dealing with puking children, but thankfully, they were slowing down. We tucked the girls in and fell asleep. I hoped the girls would wake up feeling better so we could all enjoy Christmas morning together....

Just before the girls saw what was under their tree! 

...and we did. The little girls woke up feeling better and happy. They were so excited to get downstairs to see Santa. When they saw all the presents under the tree they were just shocked...He really did come...They didn't wait to long to start opening, each gift was better than the last. Lilah was psyched about her new set of scissors! HA! $2 pack of scissors was a hit! Who needs to spend big $$$ on kids!?! Clara enjoyed romping around and just exploring. Mairead was just in heaven - she was so very excited! 

Clara enjoying her new baby doll from Kevin's parents

Mairead proud of all of her gifts! 

Lilah shows her daddy one of her gifts!

Clara opens her first gift! 

Just an idea of how Christmas looked at our house...how special is this?

Since the majority of our family was sick, we decided to stay home and not go to my parents. It was a big bummer because I wanted to see my brother and his family, but, there was no way, I could put my little girls in the car after having such a rough night. They each threw up one more time on Christmas day, but all in all, they were happy and had a really great day. They played. They napped. They were happy.

Mairead & Clara sharing their new toys together.

Mairead playing with her new puzzle

It was actually awesome to just spend the day at home. They played and played and played. They couldn't get enough, and it was nice to not have to take them away from all of their new things. I felt kind of queasy in the morning and thought I was next on the chopping block, but, I was okay. Every time I ate something, I wondered if it would come back to haunt me later! 

Clara taking a sink bath after a diaper blow out! 

That night, everyone was on the mend and went to bed early and slept until almost 9am! We were all very tired from our Griswald Christmas Eve! We all woke up happy and feeling good! yeah! We headed to my parents to celebrate Christmas with  them. We exchanged gifts and had a great lunch together. My mom and I headed to a local shoe store so I could buy some boots for the impending BLIZZARD that was coming for us! I bought some sassy snow boots and can't wait to wear them! Overall, it was another great day!

Mairead enjoying her new gifts at Nana & Papas

Clara and my dad

Lilah proud of all of her new gifts! A second Christmas!

My new boots! Aren't they awesome!?! And they're waterproof! 

Even though our Christmas was filled with lots of germs and sickies, it was actually a really special Christmas. We spent it happily together. I try not to complain of sickness as our family is so very lucky. Our girls aren't sick very often, I just wish the timing had been better...but like always, it could have been worse. Kevin and I tried to laugh when possible and keep things light. We enjoyed each other and had a nice day spending quality time with our three little princesses. How could I ask for more? 

And as Jimmy Buffett would say........"if we couldn't laugh, we'd all go insane..."

Merry Christmas!

We've had quite a crazy last 24 hours! But that's for another day...another blog...another story! 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Ah...The JOYS!

Of the holiday season........!

You know, the sniffling, coughing, snotting, puking and even pooping time of the year! 

For the last two Christmas', I have had a cold, so why would this year be any different? On Monday, Mairead came down with the sniffles. She was a bit snotty, but by Tuesday, she was much, much better....of course, on Tuesday, I had a scratchy throat. Damn it. Yesterday, I woke up, my ears were blocked, I felt congested and just felt icky. Clara was also a little snotty. Here we go!

As if that wasn't bad enough, I took an ambien to knock myself out last night and get a good nights sleep - and you know, whenever I expect to sleep through the night, it just never happens. So, when I heard Mairead crying at about 11pm, and hear Kevin yell "Steeeeephhhhhhh!", I know it's never good. 

I walked into Mairead's room and said "What's wrong", well, since I just ran into her room and didn't have my glasses on, I didn't realize there was puke all over her bed. Kevin says "She puked! All. Over. The. Place." Yah. then I started to smell it. I bathed Mairead while Kevin stripped her bed. We put her back to bed and yet again, it happened. More puke. This can't be good, I thought. After that, it's fuzzy....the ambien had kicked in and I was no use to Kevin. He was left on his own.....but, that's okay, there have been plenty of nights where I have been up with the kids and he has had absolutely no clue until the next morning when he says "Wow! The kids slept good last night, huh!?!" Of course, I chuckle and say "HA!" --- so, I guess, I deserve a turn to enjoy some of the absolute goodness of sleeping without realizing exactly what is going on! 

Today, I felt better, and Mairead obviously wasn't herself...but thankfully, it wasn't a day full of puke. I sanitized the upstairs from top to bottom with bleach and lysol....and I mean, stripped every bed, washed the crib mattresses down with bleach, and every thing that could tolerate bleach, got a good washing.....washed the floors, vacuumed and just cleaned until I couldn't handle it anymore. I baked some cookies for our Christmas Eve open house tomorrow night and took care of my girlies. 

So, here it is, 8pm, all three girls are in bed. I don't think it will take too long for them all to pass out. Mairead has only puked since 1 time since 2am....and I think the 2pm puking episode was from an absolute stupid mommy moment when I felt bad for Mairead and let her have a Hershey's chocolate mint after she downed a cup of water. OOPS. 

Here's to a healthy Christmas morning and praying that no one else gets the pukies......being pregnant with a cerclage at 20 weeks pregnant makes me very, very nervous! And a sick husband is never fun!

**Spoke too soon. Mairead woke up puking again at 930pm. Hope this is it! Oh, and note to self, red italian ices don't come out looking very appetizing! 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lilah Loo Loo!

Happy Birthday to the funniest, sweetiest and craziest Lilah Loo I know!!!

 I don't even know where to begin. Lilah has brought so much to our family and has taught us so much before she was even born. When I was pregnant with Lilah things were so difficult for a while. After we left our 19 week ultrasound we didn't know if Lilah would be born too soon, premature or healthy. I was given an emergent cerclage, Kevin had to give me weekly progesterone shots and remained on bed rest for about 15 weeks. It was such a stressful time for our family looking back. Kevin worked from home for a lot of it and our extended family didn't really understand the gravity of what was going on. Having an incompetent cervix isn't something that most people know about, like heart disease, or cancer or anything like that - they don't realize the amount of women who lose their healthy babies to this. But, thankfully, our little Lilah arrived safe and sound in our arms and she has filled our lives with so much joy and laughter. I remember the moments after Lilah was born, it was just so special. I would look at her in amazement thinking how relieved I was to have here with us, safe and sound and perfect. I can't even describe the feeling...I think because I am now pregnant that I think about all the feelings we experienced during her pregnancy and birth that make her birthday this year even more special.

It just doesn't feel like it has been three years... I have written about how she was our biggest surprise. Lilah is special. She is certainly her own self and does things on her terms. Her mind moves too fast for her speech and it isn't uncommon to find her eating her words because she tries to talk too fast! She has one speed - fast. The last year we have seen so much change in Lilah. She has gone from toddler to a little girl in the blink of an eye. I look at photos of her from last spring and I see a different child. She is so happy, loving and sweet - though, she isn't afraid to tell you how she really feels, and well, sometimes it isn't always the nicest things! We call her "Lilah Loo" but her real name is "Lilah Ann" - when we call her "Lilah Ann" she gets pissed and says "I'm not Lilah Ann! I AM LILAH LOO!" She loves her sisters, loves to dress up in anything and everything girly. The kid may be an athlete someday, but she is as girly girl as they get, there is no denying that for one second. She has started dance lessons and is doing fantastic. She really, really loves it! She also does swim lessons and continues to excel in class - she is with kids who are 4-5+ years old, and has no problem keeping up! She loves to have her hair braided and loves to fall asleep in her variety of leotards and tutus. Not only does she love to be wild and crazy, she also is like her mamma - loves her sleep! If the kid is tired, she sleeps. No problem! It's hard to think if Lilah wasn't born into our family - she has just brought us so much laughs! She's amazing! 

Lilah & her sister, Mairead....love this photo, thanks, Mom! 

Her third birthday was just special. I think because this was the first time that she really has "got it" - she has been talking about her birthday for so, so long, and now, it is here, and I really think she enjoyed every second of her birthday weekend. The look on her face when we were baking and decorating her cake was just special, and the reaction when her family and friends sang 'Happy Birthday' to her...and only her was priceless - she was truly in awe, and I don't think she could believe we were actually singing to her. She was very excited to have "her very own friends" at her "very own birfday party". This year she chose to have a "swim party" at her swim school - it was such a great party for a winter birthday! It was just really, really great this year. I love seeing the happiness and joy in our children, it just makes everything worth it. 

Lilah enjoying her birthday party! Cannonball! 

Now, it is Sunday evening. Our birthday girl is fast asleep upstairs with her new pillow pet, Madeline doll and whatever else she decided to bring/wear to bed tonight. I kiss her sweet little cheeks, tell her I love her and thank our lucky stars for having the chance to raise such an amazing little girl. 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Little Lilah....We love you! 

Making memories

Me & Lilah baking the cake together

Ever since Mairead's first birthday, I have started the tradition of baking a homemade birthday cake - it doesn't have to be from scratch, it could be from a box or homemade, but the gist is to do something together - the birthday girl and me. We bake the cake together and then decorate it. I talked more about our little tradition and how it started in this post from Mairead's birthday.

On Wednesday, while Mairead was in school, me, Lilah and Clara went shopping for Lilah's party. She picked out her cake, her cake colors and what she wanted for a cake - a purple heart cake. Much easier than Mairead's castle cake! She picked out her decorations and got really, really excited for "her own birfday party".

Last night, we baked our cake, a marble cake. We ate the batter and got silly. It went over much better than our Gingerbread House Fiasco yesterday! I love when precious moments like these actually go as planned. Lilah was just so excited, and I loved every second of it. This was her first birthday that she actually "got it" - she talked about it every day and just couldn't get enough. Her little words just rambled out of her mouth incessantly about her "very own birfday party". When she saw her heart cake come out of the oven, she was in love. She was even more excited. It was hard to tell her that we would have to wait to decorate it until the morning, but she understood! 

Mmmmmmmmm! This frosting is SO GOOD!

This morning, we got ready for the party while daddy was at the store picking up a few things. When he got home, we were able to make the frosting and decorate her beautiful heart cake. She ate the pudding frosting while I frosted the cake. She watched intently wondering when it would be her turn to decorate the cake. She was in awe over the color purple! She was so sweet and let Mairead help decorate, too. Of course, we all had our fair share of the pudding frosting.......Mmmmmmmmmmm.....vanilla pudding mixed with heavy cream - nice and healthy! 

"That's my own birfday cake!?!"

After I wrote "Happy Birthday, Lilah" it was their turn to decorate. They placed the pretty pink flowers Lilah picked out, and placed crown candies all over, then, finally, poured sprinkles all over the top. Lilah was so proud of her cake and Mairead was excited for her birthday to come - in May! I love celebrating birthdays....they certainly are bittersweet. I'll write a post tomorrow for Lilah's official birthday. 

Gingerbread House FIASCO.

Starting the project off happy, happy! 

Do you ever have some days where you ask yourself "why?"......or do you ever have these grandiose ideas about how wonderful and fun and exciting a project will be with your kids?

Today, I had those grandiose ideas, and then I found myself asking "why"....

I should have known that today shouldn't have been the day to attempt that grandiose idea with my three, beautiful princesses. The morning started off rocky. There was little listening and a lot of arguing. I kept threatening to pull the plug on the big gingerbread house project, but, they redeemed themselves, and I thought it was worth the try. After all, it is the holiday season and I wanted to have a fun day building gingerbread houses and baking Lilah's birthday cake (more on that, later!)... So. We tried. And I failed. 

See my beautiful creation in the background?

Little did I know I set myself up for failure before we even started the project. I usually buy the already built and ready to decorate gingerbread house, so it's quick satisfaction for the girls [and me]...but noooooo, I must not have been paying attention and bought the you can build, hold together for hours until it dries gingerbread house. Yeah. It didn't quite work. And with three little kids who want it and want it now, that is...impossible. 

See the proof? We actually did try

The girls were excited and I was afraid of the outcome. We all started of happy and having fun together. We made the icing, I read the direction, and then found myself holding the gingerbread house together, afraid to let go. I used cans to help hold it together. The girls started to fool around, eat the "do not recommend eating icing" after I told them a gazillion times not to eat the icing (Yeah, I know it's too tempting) and then they just started being fresh. Before I knew it, Lilah was in time out, and then she got out, and Mairead was in time out, and by then, the gingerbread house was.....well, not standing anymore. At that point, the girls were just not behaving. I looked at the counter and it was a huge mess, icing everywhere with a house that was no longer standing. The kids were screaming. I wanted to scream. And suddenly, this awesome, grandiose idea of building a holiday gingerbread house with my three little princesses.....well, was just a memory. 

Our end product. In pieces.

Note to self....next time read the box and make sure it reads house pre-assembled or that the house comes with gorilla glue that you don't have to wait a million years to wait dry! 

Short & Sweet - 19wk Ultrasound

19w1d Ultrasound (face shot with arm by head)

Short and sweet....not referring to cervical length, thankfully!

Not much to report today...had my usual every two week cervical length check and ultrasound. We were the last ultrasound of the day and you could tell the ultrasound tech wanted to get out of town, so the ultrasound did not last very long! I honestly think she rushed it just a tad too much, but whatever...

My cervix measured 2.0-2.2cm, a little shorter than two weeks ago, but still acceptable and within the norms for me at this point of pregnancy. The baby looked good, she didn't do measurements or anything, but did do a quick fluid and heart rate check, and all was normal! 

The baby was moving all around - I am really starting to feel his  movements a lot. Kevin is starting to feel him, too! 

Sesame Street Live! Imagine 1-2-3

On Sunday, we took the girls to see our third Sesame Street Live show. The last two shows have been awesome and we had been lucky enough to sit in the front row. The girls have walked away from the show in awe at what they had just seen as the characters get down on the floor to dance, hug and interact with the children. It's like a dream for them! And to this day, they still talk about it!

This year when we went to buy tickets, we learned that we wouldn't be able to sit in the front row unless we paid DOUBLE the money, which included the seats and a "meet and greet" with the characters. There was no way we could afford to spend that kind of money and take all of the kids, so we thought the 2nd row would be just as good! The girls were so excited to go, and to be honest, we were pretty excited to take them knowing how much fun they had the previous years.

I have to say this years show was a disappointment, I don't even think the girls were that psyched about it either. In the past, the girls talked about the show for days, but as of today, the girls haven't really mentioned it...The characters didn't get down on the floor and interact with the kids nearly half as much as they did previously. Honestly, I think they did this on purpose since the people in the front row paid more for this "interaction" before/after the show. Don't get me wrong, the girls had a blast, got to shake hands with Ernie and get up close with Zoe, but they didn't get to hug or dance with any of the characters like they have previously. Call my kids spoiled, but I think they were a little sad because they didn't understand why the characters didn't go up to them!

Overall, the girls had a fun time! Clara watched the first 30+ minutes in awe and didn't move off of my lap. Lilah and Mairead were in dancing heaven and just enjoyed themselves....not to mention, enjoyed the cotton candy, too! We are so fortunate to be able to take our girls to things like this!

I will say that after this years disappointment, I probably wouldn't bring them to another show again - plus, I think they're ready to move on to bigger and better things :) and so is mommy & daddy!

Lilah couldn't believe her eyes! Mairead was in awe...

Clara had just woken up from a little nappy....my tired little baby girl

Christmas Party

Our family

On Friday night, Kevin and I went to the annual Coast Guard Christmas party held at a local hotel here. My parents were a huge help and watched the girls so Kevin and I could enjoy the party! This was the first time we had ever left Clara before bed time, and the first time anyone besides me or Kevin had put her to bed...She's so easy now, I didn't anticipate a problem, and thankfully, she was an angel, and went to bed just perfectly! The big girls had a blast, too! They ordered pizza, played and watched a Christmas movie together. Kevin and I had a nice time, too! It was nice getting out to socialize without the kiddos, even if it was a work sponsored event!

I also thought it was time to post a few preggo photos of me...I had seen this black dress at The Gap and wanted to buy it, but refused to spend $68 on it....but low and behold, I was at the mall on Thursday, went into Gap Maternity, and it was on sale for $36, not to mention, I got an additional 30% off! 

Me (18w4d pregnant) & Kevin

Bath Time Fun!

We love bath time in our house!

Most nights, Kevin usually bathes all three girls together and they love it! They splash...blow bubbles and have fun! We bath them almost every night, but only because they love it so much, and it is just a way to have a little fun before we head to bed! 

Lilah wasn't cooperating with the camera, so she is left out of these photos...but I can assure you, she was participating in all the silliness :)

Clara has had a little obsession with towels as of late. She hates when you try to put the towel on her because she insists on doing it herself...So, here she is prancing around with her cute little body and her towel....

Due Date Debate

I am seriously getting annoyed.

Anyways, had a regular OB appointment today. Met the 2nd of two new docs in the practice. I liked her, a lot. I think she fits in well with the other docs there, unlike the one I met last time. She was very nice, easy to talk to, and seemed fairly laid back.

I talked to her about my "due date debate". I have three due dates...

May 2nd - which is my last menstrual period date and the date in which MFM (high risk docs) are using. They say since the baby is measuring within ONE week of this date, they won't change it. 

May 9th - date based on my 9 week ultrasound and every single ultrasound I have had since 9 weeks, not to mention, it correlates perfectly with when I ovulated and got pregnant. I am 100% sure of that.

May 14th - the date the OB office is using based on a 5 week ultrasound. This ultrasound wasn't even done at an obstetrical place, so I don't have much faith in this one and the doc today even agreed on that one! 

I spoke to the OB about the dates and how the May 9th date is the accurate one. After I "pleaded" my case, she agreed, but since the doc from last time wrote a note about me discussing it with her, she wasn't comfortable going behind her back to change it - which I completely understand. I know you're probably thinking, it's only a few days...but, in my world a few days is a lot. I tend to carry my babies super duper low and by 36 weeks, their heads are so unbelievably low and I am quite uncomfortable. Think about stitches keeping your cervix closed and a 6-7lb body/head pushing down on it....ouch. I can feel the tension and it isn't nice. The pressure is just intense and I dread it! 

Anyways, I just don't get it. They are going by one measly ultrasound that wasn't even done at a place that does OB ultrasounds regularly. The date does even come close to correlating with when I know I became pregnant (and ovulated), let alone 25 days INTO my cycle and Kevin being deployed to the oil spill. I'm annoyed, but I think we will get this settled sooner than later! 

Other than that, just a typical OB appointment. I'll be going back in two weeks....can't wait! :)

Halfway.

Today, marks 18 weeks and the halfway point to the day I will get my cerclage removed. Lilah (our 2nd daughter) was born 6 days post removal, and Clara (our 3rd) was born just two days after removal.

It seems like the first 18 weeks has gone by fairly slow, but I know, the next 18 weeks is going to fly by. I hope the next half of my pregnancy will go as smoothly as the first half. 

Now that we know we are having a boy, we have lots to do to prepare for him....there is no way I will be able to wrap our beautiful baby boy in a pink or purple blanket! He's going to have a hard enough time maintaining his "male identity" in this female dominant household - though, I question that statement after what I witnessed during our ultrasound on Friday.

I have a regular OB appointment on Wednesday, and I am going to talk to them about all of these supposed "due dates" floating around. I have changed my ticker one week behind my original dates since that is where baby has been measuring since about 8-9 weeks. 

So, here's to another successful and healthy 18 weeks with our little man! 

Christmas Tree

Last year, we thought it would be fun to cut down our own Christmas tree. The girls had a lot of fun doing it, too!After some grumbling from Kevin (he wanted a pre-cut tree - BORING!), we decided to do it again this year! It was actually pretty warm outside even though we had gotten a dusting of snow over night.

So, we dressed up the kiddos and headed out to a local tree farm. While Kevin paid, the girls enjoyed playing in a sleigh they had on display. Mairead remembers last year, and Lilah does not, so this was a great experience for Lilah. Clara was just a wee little one, about 10 weeks old all cuddled up in my pouch, so this was very different for her! She was a maniac! 

Kevin thought he found the perfect tree. Little and easy to cut down. The girls didn't agree with daddy!

Clara thought it would be fun to run away. As you can see above, she didn't get very far. Non-traction shoes and wet grounds didn't mix very well. She thought it was fun! 

The girls were so excited watching daddy cut down their new Christmas tree! They couldn't wait to bring it home and decorate! 

Clara, of course, had to check it out. She was very interested in the trees! She's so cute :)

Daddy and Mairead show off their new tree! Daddy was tired after hauling it up the hill....where was that damn tractor anyways!?!

Hurry up, Daddy! It's cold out here. Mairead forgot her jacket.....thankfully it wasn't too cold and daddy was quick with the hand saw!

The next day, we set the tree up and decorated! I put the lights on while daddy helped me and got dinner cooking! Thankfully, Clara wasn't too interested in knocking the tree down. I thought for sure that would have been first on her list of "to-do's"

Mairead was so excited to place the ornament on the tree. She had been anxiously awaiting the day when she could place her favorite ornament, the Polar Express, on the tree. 

Last year, Lilah was barely two, and wasn't interested in decorating the tree, so she napped instead. This year was an entirely different story. She couldn't wait to help and decorate. She did an awesome job, and her big sister, Mairead, did a great job teaching her! 

The girls worked hard putting all the ornaments in the right place - even the heavy ones up top so Clara couldn't reach them! 

Lilah shows her new skills of tree decorating! 

There is me and Lilah decorating the tree together! 

And last, but not least, there is daddy and Mairead putting some of the last ornaments on the tree. I am so glad we all were able to decorate the tree together. We all had a blast together, listening to some Harry Connick JR, Christmas. Even Clara was into it, and she wasn't such a terror like I thought she'd be. At the end, she did want to take some of the ornaments off of the tree, but she only did it so she could try and put them back on the tree, just like her big sisters. 

A house full of fairies.....

and a prince. 

Do you see that third leg??? 

Yes, you read that right. Our house will soon no longer be filled with just "fairies". We are having a boy. A beautifully, healthy baby boy. We are still in shock. Even though we've known this baby has been a boy for about two weeks, today was just confirmation that our world is about to change. Big time. The entire pink & purple dynamics of our house will soon turn into pink, purple & blue. I am happy. I am happy that it is a boy. I would have been happy if it was a girl. I am even more happy that our baby boy is as healthy as can be - sex did not matter to me. His heart looks perfect. His brain is normal. His spine is beautiful. He has kidneys. A handsome little face. And perfect hands & feet. And a penis that his perfect little hands like to play with. Wow. He IS a boy. 

Profile with his right arm up by his face. 

Our little boy was nothing but shy. This was the third ultrasound in a row that he has had absolutely no trouble with showing off his junk. Today, it was obvious. We have a video of him stroking his penis. It is like nothing you have ever seen before. I'll try and see if I can upload it on here because it is something you have to witness. We (me, Kevin an the ultrasound tech) were in stitches laughing at this kid. I had tears in my eyes. It is that funny! 

As far as my cervix goes, all was well with that, too. What a huge relief. My cervix stayed the same as last, about 2.2cm. I am not complaining, but I don't feel comfortable quite yet...still have several weeks to go until we are out of that danger period. Like I said in my previous post, it's tough trying to distinguish between "normal" pregnancy feelings and "not-so-normal" ones. I like to think I know my body, and the fact that I've had three successful pregnancies makes me optimistic, but I'm still worried. So, for now, I will take comfort in knowing that all is well with me and our baby. 

Profile

Now that we know this little baby is a boy we can really start to bond and get to know him. It really feels weird using "him" and "he"....just strange. The girls are excited. Mairead has said it was a boy from the get go. She was right. They are infatuated with knowing he has a penis. I have officially been wrong 100% of the time. Go me! I am not disappointed he is a boy, but it does make me a bit sad knowing that our beautiful baby girl clothes will never be worn by any of our children again. It's just strange...but I know this little boy will bring so much joy and happiness to our family. I think he will surely complete us. 

*Oh! I am going to have to think of another title for our blog! I like the "fairies" because our last name is Ferrie.......but now I'll have to incorporate that into our new, mixed gender family :)

Here is the video........I have to tell you that this is 100% REAL and So NOT fabricated....except for me adding text so you know what you're looking at (like you will need help!)

Ultrasound tomorrow....

This stage of pregnancy tends to worry me the most - it is when my cervix tends to do all of the "shrinking". I am 18+ weeks by dates, and 17+ by ultrasound. Tomorrow, I believe I am having what is called the "fetal survey" where they will check all systems of baby to make sure everything looks normal and of course, will be checking the length of my cervix and cerclage. 

Since we've had several ultrasounds to date, nothing has looked abnormal thus far with baby, but that doesn't make me feel any better. There are still so many things still to look at. So many people call this ultrasound the "gender ultrasound" - no people, that is not why they do an ultrasound at this stage of pregnancy, for me, finding out the gender is just an added bonus of determining the health of our baby. This ultrasound is to make sure our baby is healthy. To make sure my cerclage is holding strong and my cervical length is staying in a "safe range". 

So, about gender. If you've read below, you may have read that we already have an idea what this little bean growing inside of me is. It's funny because most people assume that because we already have three beautiful (if I must say so myself) little girls that we are desperate for a boy (or that is why we got pregnant). No. That is not the case. For me, at this stage, it would really just be "easier" to have another girl. Nothing new to buy for, and honestly, the thought of having another little girl is just awesome. Don't jump to conclusions quite yet. If this baby is a boy, it will be great, too. It will add a whole different dimension to this family. This house is pink & purple and having a boy will rock this house royally! If this baby is a healthy baby boy, we are psyched. If this baby is a healthy baby girl, we are psyched. Sex does not matter to me, even after three healthy girls. It just doesn't matter. Really. 

If I said I wasn't worried about my cervical length, I'd be lying. I hate not knowing. I have a doppler here at home and when I wasn't feeling baby move, I'd listen to our baby and hear that glorious sound and feel relieved. Unfortunately, there is no "tool" like the doppler that can measure cervical length at home, so any pressure, cramping, pain, etc I feel is one big fat question mark. Every time I feel my cervix throbbing, I question myself....should I be worried? Is something going on? Or is this just normal everyday cramping that every women that has been pregnant three times before goes through? Do I call the doctor? It sucks. Obviously, chasing around three young girls there is only so much resting I can do, and I try to listen to my body as much as possible - and I try to reassure myself with my history...but that question mark still remains, and until I hit that big 24 week mark, I will continue to have these big time question marks. 

So, tomorrow we will find out a whole lot of things. I pray our baby is healthy. I pray my cervical length has not changed, unless for the better. If we accomplish those two things, I will be a happy, happy mamma. Will update tomorrow....with hopefully some good photos of our little one!