Finally some baby bump pics!

Here I am at 24 weeks. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm not that big, but I wish I could find a picture of me at 34 weeks with Allie because I was about the same size. Plus all those wonderful things that I have come to expect from late pregnancy (ie. frequent potty breaks, aching hips, low pressure, Braxten hicks (sp?) have all started much earlier than they did in the first two pregnancies. I had a doctors appt. yesterday, though and am measuring at exactly 24 weeks and I've gained 10 lbs. (5 in just the last month) and according to the doc all those things are expected much earlier in pregnancy #3. The best part though is that I have been able to feel her moving since about 13 weeks and she is a busy girl! She loves to wake up and start doing summer salts just as I am laying down to go to sleep. I hope that habit doesn't continue on after birth!

Speaking of kids, after much thought and prayer I decided to quit my job as a voice teacher at Vista Charter school so I could be home with my kids. It wasn't that I was working a ton, I mean it was just 4 hours 5 days a week, but it was taking a toll on Tate and Allie. We had had quit a bit of issues trying to find and keep a sitter, since I didn't make enough to go pay for a daycare, and with one car Alex was getting in trouble at work for having to leave to pick us up and drop us off. But more than that I kept getting the distinct impression that I needed to quit. So just before the Christmas break I told my boss that my kids needed me more than we needed the income. He was very accommodating and understanding and told me that I was still part of Vista I was just taking a long sabbatical for however long I needed it and that I would have a job there whenever I was ready. It also so happened that about the time I got the job was around the same time that Alex injured his knee and had to stop taking shifts at the fire station. Then about the same time he got the okay to go back I felt the inspiration to quit. Not only that, but the moment I decided to quit, Alex's real estate business boomed like crazy. I know that Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end and that we can be so blessed if we follow the promptings of the spirit.

I am so happy to be back to not missing a minute with these two little rascals, to have been able to help financially when necessary and gain some wonderful experience at work.

A special thank you to Amanda for watching the kids for as long as you did, Hillary for filling in and Rachel for taking two more when you already had your hands full.