Veggie of the week: a LARGE eggplant. Declan weighs around 2.5lbs, and his lil blinking eyes now have eyelashes! Big development over this week and into those to come is brain development. He is moving SO much now! When I'm sitting quietly I can watch my whole tummy jump with his strong movements. Braxton Hicks contractions continue to occur regularly. They are quite strong, so I have to take a moment to let it pass. I seem to have alot of "just give me one moment"'s . . .Lord have mercy coz soon this baby boy will be the size of a watermelon!
I've decided that being pregnant over the holidays is a good thing - with my organs being shoved into my diaphragm, there is little room to indulge. I walked away from Christmas not gaining a single pound! In fact I've been sitting at the same weigh gain for several weeks now.

27 weeks. . .



and Declan's room is done!

This was also the week of the glucose test. Waiting for the results still, but in the meantime, I do know for sure that my iron levels are perfecto! Declan is measuring on track, and has a strong heart rate. Things became REAL at my last doc appointment as I am now on kick count duty - AND I have been handed  the instruction list of what to do WHEN I go into labor. What?! My doctor appointments are occurring more regularly now - down to every other week. 3rd trimester sure does make it real, folks.

Much Merry swing over here. . .Chloe is pretty excited every time she sees a christmas present, and exclaims "MY BIRTHDAY!". We had christmas this past weekend with Jon's family, and Chloe was super excited to experience what she thought was her 2nd birthday in a month. Last year she was too young to get into the excitement of the season, but we're definitely seeing it this year. You always hear parents say holidays, especially Christmas, are more exciting when you have kids, as your joy comes from their joy. . .I totally get that now.

Before I work up the energy to roll myself off the couch ( :) literally) , I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! May you find joy in this happy season! xoxo

If we're being mathematically correct - I am officially in my 3rd trimester!

And I'll be finishing the trimester out alone as Natalie had her little bubs this week :) We knew Arabelle would make an early appearance as Natalie has had numerous prenatal issues which started with her going into pre term labor at about 29 weeks. She's been on bedrest since we got back from Mexico, so an early, healthy baby has been a relief for them. Lil Arabelle is truly adorable - and TINY!! When you hold her you can barely believe her size!

This week kicked off ALOT of braxton hicks contractions. Round ligament pain is also at a new level. Although with little Declan measuring the size of a lettuce head, I'm not surprised my abdominal muscles are protesting - they're stretching out to max capacity. . .and then hello, he grows a little more and I'm reminded of the incredible design of our bodies. I believe Arabelle's arrival has given us a new realization that we're having a baby!  (coz you know, this belly wasn't a big enough reminder :) )
We've been in the festive mood over here. . .Christmas music playing each evening to the sparkle of the Christmas tree. The house smells of cinnamon and apples, and I'm keeping the hot chocolate industry in business. Ever since Chloe and I celebrated our birthday's she'd found a new love for saying "happy birthday". We're using this to our advantage given the season, so we're teaching her all about Jesus and his birthday. She is soaking it up like a little sponge! I was reading her the story of Mary and Joseph at nap time yesterday and we were having a very in depth discussion over the donkey that carried Mary (she loves animals remember). . .much to my amazement, on the way to school this morning Chloe had a sudden light bulb moment where she remembered the donkey, so we talked about the donkey all the way to school. He is becoming a very famous donkey in the Addington household.

Before we sign off on week 26, here is a little snap shot of Arabelle when she was only a few hours old. . .so much beauty in a new life!

Last time we took a belly picture together we were sitting on the beaches of old Mexico. I was 15 weeks and Natalie was 25. Now here we are 10 weeks later! No more bikinis - instead bundled for warmth!

Declan measures the size of a cauliflower this week. He has been SO active. I've determined he is a very light sleeper as he wakes for the smallest sound. This week he also learned which was is up and which way is down. Pretty neat hey? So now he'll know when he's hanging upside down kicking me in the ribs. . .

This weekend we celebrated my 31st birthday. I was laying under my covers that morning soaking up the warmth of my bed while Jon and Chloe were busy in the kitchen making coffee and I could hear them chatting back and forth between them...next I hear Chloe's little pitter patter on the hardwood floor as she makes her way to our room. She goes on her tiptoes and leans into me and says "Happy Birthday Mommy!". There is no better way to wake up on your birthday - EVER! It was a special day all round that ended with Jon and I enjoying a quiet evening on the town together. We had a calm and relaxing dinner that was not punctuated by Bah Bah Black Sheep, or Old McDonald Had A Farm :) While we happily enjoy a 2 year olds' interjections, it was also good to sit across from my life long partner while we talked about our dreams, hopes, plans and what the next 3 months means to us.


This weekend we also brought our Christmas tree home! Chloe had an absolute blast at the Christmas Tree farm - in fact I don't think she stopped once...there was just too much excitement! Once home, we warmed ourselves up by the fire as we tangled christmas tree lights. Yes, tangled...she was SO fascinated by the lights that the 4 strings of carefully wrapped christmas lights became a huge pile of glowing bulbs that took me 30 minutes to untangle later :) When we had our little gal safely tucked in for the night we finished lighting the tree. It is officially up and glowing...and we are ready for the holiday season!

YOU: are a foot long and measure the length of an ear of corn! You continue to twist and roll. This week you started giving me sharp jabs with your little knees. Last night I felt your hiccups for the first time. Your big sister always had hiccups - your's are not as frequent, yet. Daddy treated me to an hour and a half prenatal massage and a warm sugar scrub this week. I'm pretty sure you enjoyed it too coz you kicked like crazy the entire time.

ME: Still recovering from what feels like the 547th cold in 24 weeks. We keep passing new germs around the house - each week we rotate being sick. Cold weather doesn't help things, but we had a nice warm spell this weekend. We threw open the windows in hopes the germies would fly away. I'm itching to start the Christmas season, can't wait for our first good snow and could practically live on hot cocoa with extra marshmallows. We're off to the Christmas Tree Farm this coming weekend. That's our most favorite tradition! Soon it will be Christmas - soon it will be March!

Chloe had a really good birthday. She's still young so we kept it low key and at a level she'd understand. We were so surprised at how well she understood that it was her birthday. We now have a two year old. Is that really possible?
 Chloe was born at 5:00pm on the dot. This is the sunset, two years later. So golden.