In His Hands!

Remember back in December when I rearranged the kids rooms around? Well here is what Ella's room looks like now. See that baseboard heater behind the rocking horse? Ella's bed used to face the other way so part of her bed was by the heater. We never really thought anything of it until the other day when I was changing her sheets.

That's when I noticed this discoloration on her bed and...

the burn marks on her mattress!

Seriously I felt like my stomach came up in my throat when I saw this. I immediately called Michael in to have a second opinion on what I was seeing. One of the first things he said was, "Praise God He was looking out for her!" I couldn't have said it better. God was absolutely looking out for our baby girl!!

Obi Wan Kenobi Would Be Proud!

Similarities!

Last night Michael and I were looking at the latest ultrasound of our newest babe. I have all the kids ultrasound pictures on my mirror in the closet. I noticed there were some definite similarities between Baby Z...

Baby Z 18 weeks 1 day

And Baby Jack.

Baby Jack 17 weeks

I see it the most in their cute noses and chins. When I had my ultrasound with Ella Michael and I noticed that she had similarities to Owen and they do actually look a lot alike. I wonder if Baby Z will end up looking like Jack.

18 Weeks 1 Day

We did it...we made it through the appointment without caving and asking what the gender was. After the appointment I asked myself if I felt deflated since we didn't know and I can honestly say I don't feel that way at all. I was just SO SO SO thankful to see a healthy baby moving all around in there. Baby Z is definitely a wiggler. One second the baby's head was on the right side of my body and then it's feet were. Crazy baby! I did find out that the placenta is on the front of my uterus so that's probably why haven't been feeling the baby move much. The placenta is taking all the blows!  

During the appointment the tech took all kinds of measurements. We got some great views of the heart and mouth. She said those can be tough to get sometimes. While she was measuring the legs she had us look away since Baby Z was so wiggly she didn't what us getting a view of something we didn't want to see.

The kids were with us at the appointment and they thought it was all pretty cool...for about the first 10 minutes! Poor Ella Bean was fine when we left the house, but then she threw up once in the waiting room and once in the exam room. She took a nice long nap when we got home, woke up, ate lunch and is now doing just fine. Let's hope it stays that way for her and us!

This is a shot of the baby sucking it's thumb. It was so cute to see the little hand move right up to the mouth. I wonder if this one will be a thumb sucker like Ella. Right after getting the wonderful news that everything looked great we all headed over to my OBGYN's office for my normal appointment with her. She went ahead and penciled in May 31st as the day of my C-Section. We can't officially schedule anything with the hospital until one month before. And so the countdown begins! :)

Today Is The Day....

We WON'T find out the gender of the baby! :)

I'm still sticking to my guns and don't want to find out. I really want to be surprised this time around. We have FINALLY settled on names though! Such a relief!

I'm gonna be a stinker and not tell the names. A few people know the names we've chosen so it's not a complete secret, but I think it would be fun to announce the name when the baby is born.

I will say that both names we've chosen start with the letter 'Z' so we are referring to the baby as Baby Z. We did that with Owen...he was Baby O since he was either going to be an Owen or an Olivia.

I also find that it's quite fitting to use the last letter of the alphabet since this is our last baby. We've reached the end people!

I Don't Know About You...

but I can absolutely see a resemblance between my Auntie Donna in the picture below...

And my sweet Ella Bean!

Christmas @ Ga-Ga & Pa's!

For the last two years we've gone to my parents house on Christmas afternoon and then spent the night so we can have a second Christmas morning with them. We had Christmas dinner with family and friends on Christmas night.

Pretty girl in a pretty dress!

Sweet cheeser!

Fake cheeser!

Even though Ella had a nice nap at home she was a bit exhausted from the activities the night before. She spent a bunch of time snuggling with Uncle Ry and Ga-Ga.

Christmas Tree Picture!

The next morning we got up and it was time for presents.

The kids got tons of gifts from Ga-Ga & Pa and Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie. This one was their Grow To Pro pitching machine. Super cool!

They got Ella her pots and pans for her kitchen. They are identical to my real pots and pans...she LOVES them!

Ga-Ga just had to give Ella her very first Cabbage Patch Kid since she got me mine when I was little girl. I still have Mildred Patricia. Ella's CPK's name is Harley Kaylie.

This is Jack's Toy Story present that he was sure had a Big Buzz in it and he was right!!

He was so happy to have a big Buzz. He's been saying for months that he wants a big Buzz!

Owen got the pirate ship he wanted to badly!

Pa surprised him with a radio control car.

Here the boys are waiting with their eyes closed for their last present from Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie...Hometown Hero's fire station/police station. It's huge! It's 4 stories tall and has an elevator.

Ella also got her very own luggage so now when she goes to Ga-Ga & Pa's she won't have to use Jack's Buzz Lightyear backpack anymore.

The Great G-Kids with GG! She got to come up from Denver and spend Christmas with us this year.

Later on in the day Ga-Ga found out that Ella likes Eggnog spritzers. There is nothing that girl doesn't like!

Owen playing with his car.

Jack with his Buzz! Don't let his face fool you...he LOVES his Buzz he was just completely and utterly exhausted at this point.

The whole family!

This is what happens when Ella is the only one that takes a nap! I have a feeling that he kids are going to be exhausted for a few days.

Christmas Morning!

Christmas Time Is HERE!

The kids went to bed at 10:30 on Christmas Eve so they slept in until 8. I got up at 7:30 and was able to go downstairs and get music turned on and candles lite.

Coming down the stairs!

Here's a video of the kids finding their Christmas presents from Santa.

Ella and her baby in her highchair.

Jack and his Evil Dr Porkchop!

Owen got the rocket that he asked for.

Jack and his Toy Story Garbage truck...see a theme here?

Ella got some appliances for her kitchen.

Owen was so excited about his rocket he wanted to go outside and shoot it off right away. It really is the coolest toy and it wasn't expensive at all. When I started looking online for them I found a couple that required fuel and looked really complicated. I wanted something Owen could do on his own over and over. This is just Styrofoam rockets that you place on a base and stomp on a peddle. The air shoots the rocket up. Hours of fun!

I think Daddy is going to have as much if not more fun with the race track than the boys.

The kiddos got movies in their stockings and I think I'm more excited about this than they are...finally something NEW to watch!

Ella got panties in her stocking...come March we are going to try potty training her.

She also got a cute pink flip phone....she has been "talking" on it nonstop. It's the cutest thing...she actually went up into her bedroom, laid on her tummy on her bed and I heard her saying, "Um yeah...ha ha ha ha!" She's already a teenager!

Enjoying her cash register.

Owen playing with his other request....garbage truck with robotic arms and Jack playing with his Toy Story Tri-County Landfill. Again...hours of fun!

Ella decided it was HER turn for a spin around the track.

The boys were so happy that we got to put the last star on the tree.

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve was at our house this year. Becky was hoping they would be in their new house in time for Christmas, but it just didn't work out. I love a house full of people...especially family so it didn't bother me any!

Becky just recently had lap band surgery so she's on a liquid diet right now. She still wanted to help cook though.

Kids table...crazy how big they are all getting!

Adult table...I'm actually surprised that their is only one person on an electronic device in this pictures.

After dinner Ella thought she should help clean up a bit.

So excited to open presents!

Shana and James...James was so excited to play with all of our toys he almost wouldn't sit still to open his present. He was pretty bummed when it was time to go home.

This year we did something different, we took turns opening presents so everyone got to see what everyone else got. It was nice and not such pandemonium! Jack got a Leapfrog Count & Draw which Ella quickly latched onto and spent almost the whole night walking around with it clutched in her arms saying, "MINE!"

Ella got a bunch of food for her kitchen and a cute white puppy...she loved it!

We got our nephew Stevie a gift card to Best Buy...it's hard to believe he's only a couple year away from being an adult!

Owen got a Leapfrog Scribble and Write.

We didn't get to see Paige on her actual birthday so I gave her the purse I made for her. I also had time to make her a couple flower hair clips and she loved them.

Christmas Tree Pictures 2011

Me, Ella, Jack, Michael and Owen in front.

Rick, Michelle, Avery, Cooper & Paige

During the end of the night while we were trying to get all the family members together for pictures Owen decided to retreat under the coffee table and eat some candy.

Mom and Dad AKA Grandma & Papa Martin

Ella Bean was up WAY past her bedtime and was almost asleep in this chair until she heard me say I was going to take a picture of her so she woke up a bit and decided to cheese for me.

James, Steve, Stevie & Shana

Becky, Samantha, Jon & Camryn in front