it's time for a guessing game.

okay.

so i thought it'd be fun to have a little "guess when this dang baby will get here" contest.

if you want to enter, here is what i need in your comment.

guess these things:

date of the bean's arrival.

weight of the bean.

and boy or girl.

after "it" gets here, i will then proceed to narrow down all the comments, and find a winner.

fun, eh?

and look at these fabulous prizes you shall win, if you turn out to be psychic.

ummmmmmm.

yah.

if i was only 1% more greedy, then i would be keeping them all for me.

thank you to ashlee at tweetbabydesigns over at etsy for supplying the fabulous owl scrapbook and fabric covered art journal.

and miss maggie donated the amazing lil' accessory pouch. stuff your sunglasses, cell phone or extra chocolates you want to hide from your kids in that cute thang.

and last but not least, chelsea over at hatfield habitat sent the a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e onesie and camera strap, slip-cover. yah, again i say...i think i may steal some of these items.

thanks girls!!

so, before you leave your guesses, i wanted to make it fair to everyone and give you my birthing history with the other little people.

don't worry, no details about how many pushes or what kinds of cuss words i screamed during labor...just the stats.

caedmon:

due date: march 1

actually born on: feb. 28th (it was a leap year too)

weight: 8 lbs. 0 oz.

hadley:

due date: nov. 14

actually born on: nov. 5th

weight: 7 lbs. 14 oz.

milo:

due date: august 20

actually born on: july 27th

weight: 7 lbs. 0 oz.

*************************************

i went into labor naturally with all of them!

now, with this baby, my due date is nov. 7th.

we don't know the sex.

and i'm pretty sure it's going to be a sumo wrestler size baby.

here's my 34 week pic:

caedmon took this picture, hence the little person angle.

okay, so does that give you enough info to guess?

hope so.

have fun and good luck, bloggies.

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edited to add:

i forgot to mention that in order for me to be able to deliver at the birthing center, i have to keep this baby in until oct. 18th. otherwise, i'll end up at the hospital.

so, we are doing all we can to hold off until then...not sure if that will affect your guesses or not...

dual function.

i love when the baby bump is big enough to double up as a snack tray.

happy thursday, ya'll.

33 weeks.

here's the belly, ladies and gents.

i'm ready to pop this baby out.

i feel like you could poke me with a pin and i'd burst.

only a few more weeks!

stay tuned for a really fun contest/give-a-way!

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on a side-note, somebody asked me how i'm getting my photos so big.

i first upload them to photobucket.

and then copy and paste the link into my post.

very easy, let me know if you have any more questions!

somewhat of a crafty thing.

okay, so i LOVE this shirt.

it's been with me for 10+ years...but in the past few years, i just haven't given it the love that it deserves.

so, it was time to pass it on down to hadley bean.

only it (of course) didn't fit her.

so i made a little t-shirt dress for her.

here's a quick tutorial, but let me clarify that i'm not a sewer.

i own a sewing machine, but i couldn't tell you a dang thing about it, except the color of thread in it.

here's the shirt:

i started by cutting it in, plus cutting the sleeves off.

i did no measuring of any sorts, which probably makes the sewers out there want to pull their hair out.

then i turned it inside out and sewed it up.

don't do what i did, and accidentally sew the arm hole up.

i had to re cut that side and fix it.

here's the finished product.

like i said, i'm no sewer, but i love that she is now rockin' one of my favorite tees.

warning: complaining ahead.

maybe it's the fact that i'm 32 weeks prego with my 4th child.
or maybe it's the fact that every bone and muscle in my body aches.
or maybe it's the fact that i'm tired and want to sleep all day, but can't because of responsibilities (a.k.a. my children).
or maybe it's the fact that i'm so hungry, but can only eat 1 grape at a time without feeling bloated and stuffed.

or maybe it's the fact that i was up for half the night last night with killer heartburn (my first time ever to have heartburn, by the way).
whatever it is, my joy is gone these days.
instead of being joyful and enjoying this stage of my life, i feel like i'm constantly just trying to learn to coexist with my offspring (and while we're at it, with my husband as well).
every noise is louder than usual.
every need is more needy than usual.
every child is bugging me like crazy.
i need a full time nanny for the next few months.
any takers?
i'd pay you in enchiladas (i make a mean enchilada).

and yes, i do know how blessed i am to be having a 4th child.

and yes, i do know that i'll miss this stage, once they are all grown up (but seriously, wiping poopy bottoms? i'll really miss that?)

but dang man.

life is hard these days.

i do get a warm and fuzzy feeling when i see my kids like this though:

why is it that they are so much easier to love when they are sleeping?

i swear, every time i look at my kids asleep, i resolve to be the best mom on the block.

but then they wake up and it's a whole 'nother story.

ahhh, this too shall pass, right?

i swear, he's mine.

brown hair...blonde hair.

dark skin...light skin.

poop brown eyes...green eyes.

chipped, snaggletooth smile...straight (never had braces!) big smile.

asian nose...not-so-asian nose.

carb eater...chocolate eater.

about the only thing we have in common is the rather large size of our bellies. even when i'm 8 months pregnant. the kid has a gut on him, not gonna lie.

but, i swear, he's mine.

people seriously ask me if i adopted him...i've been told he looks like a kid adopted from guatemala.

nope.

born in kansas.

birthed from me.

i've got proof.

but, the proof would be TMI.

so, i won't go there.

i love my little brown, guatemalan look-a-like, 1/4th asian boy.

even if he looks nothing like me.

i've always got baby #4...maybe this one will come out with blonde hair!

random thoughts from a pregnant lady.

30 weeks preg.

since caedmon has started school, i've had the privilege to carpool with a friend.
her daughter is in kindergarten as well.
great story, eh?
the main reason i'm writing that, is because when she is in the good ol' mini van, i have 4 car seats in there at once.
4 children in 4 different car seats.
which makes me think that in just a few short weeks, i'll have 4 of my OWN children in 4 different car seats.
there is no more room in our dang mini van.
we'll have to drive one of those duggar vans.
you know what i'm talking about?
i'm an overly strict person when it comes to car seats, and i believe caedmon should still be in a 5 point harness (which he is)...so, i'll have 4 kids in 4 different 5 point harness seats.
people, i'll be spending 30 minutes to get in my car.
and 30 minutes to get out of my car.
geesh.
no complaining here though...just coming to the realization of all of this.
after this baby comes, i'll be changing the name of my blog to "life with 4 little people in car seats and how crazy i am".
should be interesting.

2 year old photos.

i was finally able to snap a few pictures of milo, for his 2 year old photos.

this session took a whole 3 minutes...and then he was done.

snaggletooth shot.

yah, no more mom.

but then, i promised him a candy reward (such a good mom, i am) and he perked right up for 1 more picture.

such a cutie.

how did you do that?

to all of you who are curious as to how i made my photo collages in this post...check it.

i bought 3 white magnet boards from IKEA (which were only 9.99 when i bought them, but were clearanced at 3.99 a few weeks ago!)

i wanted to find little, tiny, metal magnets, but couldn't find any...so instead, i stuck a tiny bit of tape on the back of each photo and collaged unto my heart's content.

super easy.

super, super easy.

hope this helps you all in your decorating adventures.

nesting.

i'm not gonna lie.

i'm a nesting fool these days.

just ask my husband.

we'll be sitting there, relaxing and all of a sudden i want to get up and move all the furniture to vacuum underneath it.

i mean, come on...isn't it important to have the underneath of our furniture vacuumed before this baby comes?

i thought so too.

well, i have really wanted to get this piece of furniture painted and put into place in our house.

so yes, it's 180 degrees outside, but i've been painting away.

this is the piece before...i had already took the drawers out, but believe me they were nice and ugly.

and here is the after.

this piece is in the first room of our house...we store our shoes in that middle cabinet (much better than the shoe rack i had sitting there previously) and i store toys and other random items in those drawers.

love it.

i feel at peace now that this is in place.

that is until i'm ready to tackle the re-organizing of every closet and drawer in our house.

geesh.

nesting is fun.