COMING SOON...

I bet you're probably thinking this is a picture that Noah drew... WRONG! Spencer drew it.

I'm sure now that I've told you who drew the picture, you're probably wondering what the picture is of...

well... look real closely. Those 4 silly cauliflower shaped thingies are clouds, and that's ME flying threw the sky on my DYSON VACUUM (apparently my husband has the misconception, along with the rest of his family, that I ENJOY vacuuming so therefor I always have it in hand) with a super cape (YES LADIES, though my husband never admits or tells me so, he DOES think I'm a mom and wife with SUPER POWERS thus calling for the super cape) and those 3 little faceless stick figures riding on the vacuum are our BOYS, NOAH, IAN and COHEN (take notice: Spencer didn't care to make them all different sizes, that's because though they're all at least a year apart in age from each other, they're all pretty much the same size right now; well at least, what I mean to say, they're ALL wearing the same size diaper- YES, even the baby Cohen)... and take one last good look, my husband added one last important detail to the picture...

See it?...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... .... ... ... ...Spotted it yet???

That last important detail folks (in case you didn't see it or recognize it for yourselves) is a BABY BUMP!!!

YES! IT'S TRUE for those who have been wondering... (apparently I can't put as my status on Facebook that "Stephanie is puking like crazy" with out at least 10 of my friends immediately responding back to ask if I'M PREGNANT!).. but yes, I am, I AM PREGNANT AGAIN with our 4Th child!!!

Now before I begin to tell you more about our little "ARRIVAL TO COME" I first have to explain the reason Spencer drew the picture above. You see it was the weekend just after New Years during which one of the mornings we were up in South Jordan, along with the rest of Spencer's family, enjoying breakfast at his sister Laura's house. After breakfast was over, Laura asked that we all stick around and play a few games together... one in which each family member had to draw the name of another family member and then with only a pencil draw on a piece of paper a portrait of that person whose name they had picked. After everyone was done drawing their portraits of their "chosen" family member, they were asked to fold the paper twice in half and put it in a pile along with everyone elses; after which Laura told us we were all going to guess by each drawing alone A. who the portrait was of & B. who drew it. (by the way, we were told as we were drawing the pictures NOT to include any props in the pictures; apparently my husband DOES NOT like to follow the rules because he HAD to add the cape and the vacuum). When it came time to show off this masterpiece featured above, NOBODY hesitated even for a second before saying it was ME and that Spencer drew it (I bet it was the vacuum that really gave away the picture or maybe it was the 3 tiny stick figures that all looked alike); did I fail to add, this was Spencer's CLEVER way of announcing to his parents and siblings that baby #4 was "in the oven" (he's OH SO CLEVER).

Anyhow, back to breaking the "BABY NEWS"... we have known that baby #4 is on its way since CHRISTMAS EVE. Of all days to take a pregnancy test, I hadn't thought to do so until that morning and VOILA- after peeing on a stick and watching the fancy little time clock on it beat away, a minute later it read loud and clear PREGNANT!!! (wouldn't it be FABULOUS if only the same pregnancy tests could also tell you immediately what the sex of the baby was, instead of having to wait around for another 18 weeks to find out at the doctors office).

Some of you reading this may be thinking, maybe even saying to yourselves, that we're COMPLETELY CRAZY! 4 kids in less than 4 years!... Yes, I'll admit, it's slightly crazy, but, it's what we've chosen. NO, life with 3 babies (well, 1 baby and 2 toddlers in diapers) isn't EASY BREEZY, so much so that I want to run out and have half a dozen; they all have their meltdowns and even Mom (me) and on occasion Dad (Spencer) also have meltdowns of our own; but by the end of the day, when I see all my boys, even the baby, tackling Spencer in one last wrestling match before bed time, I tell myself I wouldn't want 10 less toes to tickle or grab at... I wouldn't want life any other way. It just wouldn't be family without all my boys, the way we are now. And for some reason or other, both Spencer and I felt a few months ago that our family still yet indeed had more growing to do, so come August 20Th, give or take a few days, we'll welcome baby #4 happily into our family- our hearts full.

I once heard a quote "as I parent, I promise you, no matter how many children you have, you will NEVER regret having children". So true.

So I have to clarify, just in case if you're reading this post and thinking to yourself- "WOW, I can't believe Stephanie didn't tell me she was pregnant again until NOW"- don't worry, you're not alone. Immediately after finding out that we were expecting, Spencer and I decided we wouldn't tell a soul, not even our family UNTIL we knew what the sex of the baby was (that's at least 16 weeks for those of you reading not familiar with pregnancy); I thought it would be more shocking/surprising to tell our friends and family later on when we knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl; or at least something different from how we've chosen to announce our previous pregnancies and besides, I wasn't quite ready to hear all the "ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!" responses... I get enough unwanted comments and remarks in the grocery store from strangers (especially old people) who either stare in disbelief and then proceed to tell me they think I'm crazy for having 3 in diapers or look at me and my boys and only say "WOW!", and then there are a dumb few- who tactlessly ask if my husband and I have heard of birth control and know how to use it- um yeah- thanks... I want to punch those people in the face.. We'd be jail bait in China for having four, especially so quickly- but maybe our punishment wouldn't be quite as severe once the authorities see how well we've produced boys... ANYHOW... Well, our agreement stuck for about 2 days, until the day after Christmas, when Spencer got together for lunch @ J&W's with about 10 of his close friends and announced we were expecting again!!! I was FURIOUS when he told me he shared the news with his friends!!! FURIOUS because the day before on Christmas I begged him to break the deal so that we could surprise my parents and his parents THAT DAY by telling him the news (I've NEVER gotten to tell my parents the news of us expecting "in person"; it's ALWAYS been over the phone since they live in San Diego); Spencer was a strong "NO GO" on the idea of breaking the news early, so I kept my mouth shut and didn't tell. BUT OH THE NERVE HE HAD to go and "let the cat out of the bag" to his buddies. I WAS FURIOUS!!! It wasn't but a week later that I decided to proceed and tell my own family and while I was prepared to SHOCK them with our news, they weren't a bit surprised at all. In fact, my parents said they were kinda expecting a baby announcement from us sometime sooner or later.

At present I am 18 weeks (19 weeks on Monday) along in the pregnancy. It hasn't been "smooth sailing" but the morning sickness has been more manageable than the previous 3. Since week 7 I've been taking the generic form of Zofran to aid off nausea... before I got my medicine, for about 2 weeks, I was about as useless around the house as a sack of potatoes; I threw up CONSTANTLY and only wanted to sleep all day as to try and not think of how sick I felt. Even with the Zofran, I still throw up at least once a day (normally in the morning- just before I brush my teeth), and I dry heave a lot during the mornings- in fact I think my boys think it's something funny to imitate cause often times I'll look over to see them copying me; Noah's learned just recently how to make himself vomit (should I worry he might become a 3 year bulimic?! just kidding of course). Along those same lines, I'm slightly dehydrated, I've felt like a snake sloughing my dry skin for weeks now... but this pregnancy is MUCH MUCH BETTER as compared to my previous pregnancies... perhaps it's because the baby will be a GIRL!... my fingers have been crossed since day one. Before I elaborate on about how dearly I want this baby to be a girl, I think it's important to add due to the Zofran I've been taking, I get KILLER HEADACHES! I'm talking not just any headache, migraines; they usually come on by about afternoon and I'll usually fall asleep at night with the same migraine- sometimes I'll even wake up the next morning with the same migraine!!! OH how I wish my doctor would let me take something other than Tylenol for the pain but all he can suggest is that I drink a little Diet Coke to help- YUCK! I am not a fan of caffeine or soda for that part. Also, I was always a bit TIRED with my last 3 pregnancies, but nothing like this one! By the time the boys are ready for nap during the afternoon, I'm ready for one too; and once 7:30 rolls around, just after we've put all the boys to bed, I'm ready for bed myself!!! Seriously! I've been falling asleep by 8 or 9 nearly every night- poor Spencer has no one to talk to in the evenings; I'm blogging less in the evenings cuz I'm sleeping and I find him blogging more on his JAZZ blog cuz he has nothing better to do. I'm not entirely sure though that I can solely blame my exhaustion on this pregnancy; I do chase after a 3 year old, an almost 2 year old and a crawling 9 month old baby EVERY DAY, from the moment they wake up in the morning till the time they fall asleep at night, and funny I mention sleep, because my 9 month old still likes to wake up at least once, usually twice, sometimes three times, every night for a bottle (I don't give him milkshakes and cookies during the middle of the night, it's just plain ol' soy baby formula; you'd think he could wait to interrupt my sleep in the morning just after the sun has risen), and if I'm not already up getting Cohen a bottle, I'm up using the bathroom; I have to pee at least every 2 or 3 hours- no joke- it's ridiculous. So sleep- yeah... I can't seem to catch enough of it; I'm already up past my bed time right now just trying to write this darn post.

Okay, so frankly speaking now, God I want this next baby to be a GIRL! Please don't misunderstand me- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my boys... I've ALWAYS said I'd much rather have a brew of boys over girls; I'm just not a girly girl- never have been and I wouldn't know how to handle more than one. I WAS ALWAYS best friends with boys and had a HARD time understanding girls; I NO PATIENCE FOR THE GIRL DRAMA- though I'm sure I stirred up enough of it during my teenage and college years; I NEVER took a dance class in my life but played PLENTY of contact sports growing up like soccer and field hockey. I ONLY WANT THIS NEXT BABY TO BE A GIRL SO THAT I CAN FINALLY HAVE A REASON TO BUY ALL THOSE CUTE LEG WARMERS, HEAD BOWS, and SUNDRESSES I SEE IN THE MALL @ BABY GAP or at BABY BOUTIQUES. I ONLY WANT THIS NEXT BABY TO BE A GIRL FOR SELFISH REASONS SO THAT I CAN DRESS HER UP IN CUTE, ADORABLE CLOTHING; I KNOW I'D BE GOOD AT IT, I'VE PROVEN MYSELF BY DRESSING MY BOYS IN THE CUTEST BOY CLOTHING I CAN FIND though I'm not so sure how I'd do styling her hair (I'm a hair retard when it comes to doing anything other than brushing it). Also, I've had 3 boys so I know what mine and Spencer's boys would look like (ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE OF COURSE) but I'm a little CURIOUS to see what a DAUGHTER of ours would look like; who she would look more like- who's nose she'd have and who's eyes she'd have, and would she be blond like I was or dark haired like Spencer was?... Gosh I'm just curious and selfish- I know those aren't VALID reasons for God granting me a daughter but PLEASE! (I promise I won't put my daughter in beauty pageants at the age of 2 and screw her up; I just want to dress her like a doll but definitely not get CRAZY like some of the moms I've seen on TLC's "Tots in Tiaras").

We get to find out the sex of the baby this coming Monday (March the 23rd); technically I could have found out 2 weeks ago had I gone to the mall and forked over a hundred bucks to some ultrasound tech at one of those 3D baby ultrasound places but I've chosen to wait; those 3D ultrasound images are just a little too freaky looking in my opinion. I'm pretty excited, I think Spencer is even hoping it will be a girl, with one exception- he hates imagining how EXPENSIVE it would be should we find out it's a girl because I'd go NUTS buying baby dresses! (no one would see her at night while she sleeps so I did agree and tell Spencer I'd just dress her in the boys baby jammies). I've walked past the baby girl clothes one too many times in Baby Gap on my way to the baby boy clothes- I'm not sure I can restrain and keep myself from buying a little girl dress next time I shop there. Noah's ALREADY started telling people on his own that he's having a baby sister; in fact my in laws almost thought we already knew we were having a girl because Noah told them so. Oh we can't wait to find out! I won't lie; I might be a bit disappointed initially should we find out this baby is another boy but only because that means I can't buy him cute little polk a dot bathing suits or sundresses, but I love "IT", be it boy or girl, all the same and wouldn't mind adding one more boy to the bunch.

Again, we'll find out the sex of the baby on Monday, March 23rd, so in the last week I decided to add a poll on my blog allowing readers to vote and decide if they think this next baby's a boy or girl. Please vote, I'd love to see what our family and friends think we're having now that everyone knows we're expecting. Please, no pity party votes- meaning don't vote girl just because you want to see me have a girl because our family needs a little less testosterone and more estrogen. The voting poll closes on Sunday evening at midnight so please, vote before then, and once we know, we'll share the news!