So long sleepsack!

Celebrating Baby Ruby - 4/12

On April 12th, we got to celebrate a very special baby girl cooking away in her sweet Mama's belly!  My precious friend/college roommate, Katie, was due to have her first baby in mid-May.  Us 2521 girls were soooo excited about Miss Ruby's upcoming arrival.  :)

Unfortunately, Halie and Laura didn't get to come for our fun weekend.  We missed them so much!  However, I was able to talk Katie, Cindy, and Traci into turning the 2 hour shower into a bit of a roommate weekend.  Yay!  We rented a hotel room and had a good, old fashioned slumber party - just like back in our college days.  Y'all, we had such a great time together!  We talked for hours and hours - it was sooo good for my soul!  I think that the mark of a true friendship is when you can go for months without seeing each other, but pick up right where you left off when you are together.  That's how it is with these girls for me.  We never miss a beat - our bond is just that strong!

We couldn't wait to get our hands on Miss Ruby - literally!

 Katie was such a cute pregnant gal!  She is a gorgeous girl!

 Hostess Pic

 Roommate Pic (minus Halie and Laura  :( )

Fast forward to May 19th, and Miss Ruby made her arrival.  Yay!  I was so glad that I got to come to the hospital and see that sweet little thing!  She is beautiful - just like her Mama!

 Squishy newborns are the best!  She and I were instant friends.  ;)

Congratulations, Katie and Wes!  Thanks for letting me share in this precious time in your lives!  I am so very thrilled for your family.  :)

Deja Vu

Clayton circa 6 months old

Owen at 7 months old

2 Month Comparison Post :)

I know that I say this all of the time, but I just can't get over the fact that Clayton, Drew, and Owen all look so completely different. I know that you aren't supposed to compare your kids, but it is so hard not to!

I did a comparison post when Drew was 2 months old, and I thought that it would be fun to do again. :) Here are some pictures...

Wade at 2 months

Me at 3 months

Clayton at 2 months

Drew at 2 months

Owen at 2 months

See what I mean??? None of us look alike. Wade and Drew do the most, I suppose, though. It's just so hard to tell. What do y'all think? Maybe I am missing something...

I also wanted to include pictures of all three of my boys at 2 months old in the same outfit sitting in the same chair.

Clayton at 2 months old

Drew at 2 months old

Owen at 2 months old

Clayton looks so tiny with his head full of jet black hair. Drew was such a chunk! Get a load of those cheeks... and thighs... and belly... It looks like he is vacuum packed into that outfit! Man, he was cute, though! My O has so much less hair - hardly any on top. He is right in between the other two size wise. The 0-3 month outfit still has plenty of growing room, but it isn't swallowing him up either.

My 3 sons are all so different, but I love them all the same! Variety is the spice of life, right? :)

Double Digits!

We are still iced in! Schools are still closed (today being snow day #4!) and everyone is still hibernating at home... It is just crazy! I cannot get over it...

In other exciting news, Baby Boy #3 is due in 99 days! Double digits, y'all! I realized that yesterday started the 100 day countdown and had a mini panic attack. ;) I feel like there is still so much to do, and time is just ticking away! We will be ready and waiting, though, when May 14th rolls around! The little punkin' is still super active, and I continue to be grateful for the constant reassurance that he gives me. Having a newborn is one of my greatest joys, and I get to experience that all over again very soon. What a wonderful blessing to look forward to! I'm anxious to see my sweet little May Baby's face! :)

Baby Boy #3 Updates

I feel like I have not adequately blogged enough about Baby #3. :( I don't want for him to look back at blog books in 20 years and to feel like the neglected 3rd child. I just can't have that! So, I thought that I would do a little run down of my pregnancy up until now, in an effort to properly document this baby's history. :)

* We found out that we were pregnant on Saturday, September 4th. I was just as excited (if not more so!) at that moment as I was with our previous positive tests. It is crazy how just that one second of time changes your whole life! One minute I was the mother of two, and in an instant I realized that I was the mother of three. I was screaming and giddy with excitement! I couldn't wait to come up with some cutesy way to tell Wade. I just woke him up out of a dead sleep to show him the test and announce that we were expecting. Once he got over the initial shock of being woken up, he was thrilled too! :)

* I saw my OB for my first prenatal appointment on September 27th. The baby's heart was beating at 152 bpm and that tiny little flashing heartbeat was just as reassuring as I remembered it to be.
* We told Clayton about the baby on October 1st. He had been begging for a wallet (wanting to be as much like his Daddy as possible). We gave him a wallet and inside we put 2 pictures. One of the pictures was of him with Drew and the other was our sonogram picture. His reaction was priceless! We have it all on video, and I will treasure that forever. He loved his wallet and the picture of him with Drew. When we asked him about the sonogram picture, he was really confused. He said, "That's a picture of Drew when he was in your tummy, right?" I was shocked that he remembered my sonograms with Drew! When we told him the picture was actually of our new baby, he was super excited! He started laughing with this nervous laughter that he couldn't control. It was super cute. :)

* I saw my OB again on October 25th. That appointment was probably my favorite memory of this pregnancy thus far. My OB does a sonogram at every appointment for all of his patients, and that is such a blessing! I was overwhelmed with emotion during my sono at that appointment. At my 7 week appointment, there was just a small white ovalish figure with a flashing light of a heart. But, by this appointment (11 weeks) I could see a formed baby! There was a definite head and chest and 4 limbs. I remember telling Dr. N., "You would think that since this is my 3rd baby, that I would remember how much they change in such a short amount of time, but I can't get over it!" His reply was so sweet and tender (I love my OB!). He said, "Sarah, I do sonograms everyday, and I am still amazed by the whole process. Every baby truly is a miracle!" It was at that moment that I felt like this baby was a real person. :) His heart rate was 168 and he was moving all over the place! It was so fun to watch!

* At my appointment on November 22nd, we found out that we are expecting Boy #3. I blogged all about that HERE. His heart rate was 167.

* I had my 19 week appointment on December 20th. The baby's heart rate was 163. We could see the brain, bladder, stomach, spine, and most of his other bones. Everything looked "perfect" according to Dr. N. That was music to my ears... :) He wanted to wait until my next sono in January to further examine the heart. He said that he waits until the heart is bigger, so that he can get a true picture of what is going on. There are definitely 4 chambers, but we will have to wait until my next appointment to get more details. Once his heart all checks out okay, I will feel a sense of relief. The nurse in me just can't rest until I know that all of the anatomy is functioning just as it should be. :)

* I have been blessed with very easy (if there is such a thing, I guess!) pregnancies, and this time is no exception. In fact, I would say that this has been the easiest so far. I felt nauseous literally twice during my first trimester and never actually got sick. (I got sick a handful of times with both of the other boys.) I am just starting to experience that pesky heartburn (my most annoying symptom both of the other times), but it is totally manageable. Zantac is my new best friend!

* I just started wearing my first maternity clothes this week (week #20), which is later than either of the other boys (19 weeks with Clayton and 17 weeks with Drew). Hopefully, that means that this baby will be smaller than Drew was???

* I felt this baby moving while we were in France and I was 16 weeks pregnant. I thought that I felt flutters at 15 weeks, but told myself that it was too early for that. But, at 16 weeks, I was laying on my stomach trying to fall asleep and I felt a for sure kick. I didn't feel Clayton's first kicks until 19 weeks and Drew's at 17 weeks. So, it has gotten earlier each time. I guess maybe I have just gotten better at knowing what it feels like. :)

* So far, this baby moves a ton, just like Drew did. (Clayton wasn't as active as either of his brothers in utero.) This baby has been super active during all of my sonograms (making getting measurements difficult) and I feel him moving all of the time! I'm hoping that maybe he will follow in Drew's footsteps and get all of his craziness out in the womb and enter the world as a laid back baby. That sure would be nice!

* The biggest dilemma that we are facing right now is what we are going to name this baby. We cannot seem to agree on a name! Wade shoots down every name that I come up with and I am not crazy about his choices either. The main problem that we have run into this time is that our friends and family all have really good taste in boy names. :) Most of the names that we agree on are already taken. We both love Jackson, William/Will, Luke, Caleb, Grayson, Eli, Collin, Grant, and several others that our friends and family have used.

We have come up with a few good options, but nothing for sure yet. Both Clayton and Drew have family names as their middle names. We would love to continue that trend for this baby. So far, the family names that are in the running are William, Thomas, Paul, and James. All are great options, so that is nice! We are just going to have to pick a first name and then decide which middle name sounds best. :)

I am hoping that we can come up with a name soon! I am anxious to start monogramming everything in sight. ;)

* I have already noticed one fun perk of having 3 children that are all the same gender. We already have everything that we "need," so I can buy things that are "wants." We already have lots of clothes, equipment, and toys. We aren't going to redo the nursery, so that is already done. Since all of those bases are covered, I don't feel guilty spending a little more money on the fun stuff. :) I have already bought Baby #3 several outfits that I wouldn't have splurged on the first 2 times around. (By "splurge", I mean that I have paid $30 for a couple of nice outfits that aren't from Target or Old Navy. I'm not going crazy paying boutique prices or anything. :) ) I also feel less guilty about using a really great photographer and getting the pictures that I will cherish forever. I find myself justifying the things that we didn't buy for Clayton & Drew because Baby Boy 3# is so cost efficient. Ha! I guess that there are perks to being the 3rd boy!

Alright, now I feel like everything is caught up as far as documenting this sweet babe. Hopefully, we will have a name announcement to make soon!

Gender Reveal...

At my 15 week appointment (on 11/22) Baby Carpenter wasn't shy at all, and we learned that we are having a BOY!!!!
I knew that you would all scroll to the bottom if I didn't announce that information first. ;) So, here's the full story:

I asked Dr. N. at my appointment when I was 11 weeks along if we would be able to determine the gender at my next appointment. He said that it was "possible, but not likely." So... we all (Wade, Clayton, Drew, and I) piled into the sonogram room on 11/22 to see what we could see. :) The doctor started the scan and Wade was holding Clayton up right next to the monitor, so that he could have the optimal view. Clayton leaned in so close that his nose was about to touch the screen and said in a muffled voice, "This is sooo exciting!" I loved seeing his nervous anticipation!

About 2 seconds later, Dr. N. announced, "I think that you're going to have a BROTHER!" Wade and I smiled and cheered, and then the doctor continued the scan. When he was finished and the screen went black, Clayton said, "But wait! You didn't tell us what the baby is!" Apparently, when Dr. N. told him that he was going to have a brother, he thought that he was referring to Drew. He was waiting to hear a definitive "It's a Boy!" or "It's a Girl!" Ha!

I must admit that I was just sure that this baby was a girl. I have always dreamed of having a daughter, so it has taken a month and a second sonogram (I had another one yesterday) to wrap my mind around the fact that there will never be a big pink bow in our family picture. But... I know for certain that God's plans are ALWAYS better than the plans that I come up with on my own. This baby boy will be one of the biggest blessings that He has ever given me! I will just have to start praying now for really great daughter-in-laws and maybe a granddaughter or two. ;)

One of my precious friends, who has the God-given ability to always know exactly what to say, texted me the sweetest words when I sent her a text to tell her the gender. She said, "Congrats! God knows that you and Wade are pros at raising young gentlemen! The world needs more men of character. What an important job!" That was the sweetest thing that anyone has said thus far. I know that raising Godly men in this wicked world is a HUGE responsibility! I feel so blessed that God has given us that challenge 3 fold! I hope and pray that we can raise these little boys to be men who love the Lord and are spiritual leaders of their homes. That is my biggest prayer for all of my baby boys!

I also have to add that I know that having a third son could become a bit repetitive and there may not be the level of excitement that there was with our firstborn or would have been with a girl. But, I have been so pleasantly surprised by our loved ones! We have gotten several cards and congratulatory gifts from friends. Some friends and family members have even given this baby Christmas presents! I have a sweet friend who already insists on feeling my belly every time that she sees me (even though there isn't really any movement to feel!) just because she is so excited. I have several other girlfriends who keep track of my doctors appointments and are always kind to ask about how they went. It has been fun to watch our friends and family be excited even though this is our 3rd baby boy! A baby is exciting no matter how many kids that you have, I guess. :) So, thank you so much to everyone who has shared in our joy and made us feel like this baby is just as special as our first and second babies were!

Three

Three

3

III
Tres (Spanish)
Trois (French)
三 (Chinese)
Tre (Italian)
três (Portugese)
ТРИ (Russian)
San (Japanese)
Drie (German)
Theen (Hindi)
Ekolu (Hawaiian)
שלוש (Hebrew)

We are elated to announce that we will be the parents of THREE children as of May 14th, 2011!!!!

Shower for Baby Caroline

This past Saturday, we had a baby shower for one of my dearest friends, Holly. Holly is expecting Baby Caroline at the end of October, and I CANNOT wait for her sweet babe to get here! I just know that she will be precious. :)

Abbey, Leah, and I had fun planning a party for Holly & Baby Caroline. We had a great turnout and Holly got some wonderful, wonderful things! I think she is set now. All we need is a baby!

The Food Table

Leah made these super cute "bow-quets" with hairbows for Holly to start Caroline's bow collection. Such a cute idea!

Hostess pic with the Mama-to-Be

Many of the girls from our Sunday school class got to come.

I've known Holly since we were in high school, and I have always thought that she was a pretty girl. However, I think that she is absolutely stunning as a pregnant gal. It agrees with her, for sure!

In just a few months that baby bump will be gone, and Holly will be holding a sweet newborn. I can't wait!

Sadie Rose

Well, I am about to commit a big blogging faux pas. One of the cardinal rules of blogging is "Thou shalt not blog about someone else's news before they themselves blog about it." Errr... maybe I made that up. ;)

I do agree that one shouldn't share news that isn't theirs to share. However, I am busting at the seams to blog about my friend, Leah's, new baby girl! She gave me permission to blog away, so that makes it okay. Right? ;)

Just do me a favor, and no one tell Emily Post. K?
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Sadie Rose Hunt was born last Tuesday (June 29th) at 1:10 pm. Leah did such an amazing job bringing Miss Sadie into the world!!! I have a whole new respect for my sweet friend, for sure. She was sitting up, laughing in bed (and looking beautiful, I might add) within minutes of having Sadie. I was so impressed! She has made the transition from 1 child to 2 seamlessly. She honestly made it all look so easy (even though I know that it isn't!).

Sadie is a doll baby! She has the most beautiful peaches and cream skin with lots of dark hair. When I saw her through the glass in the newborn nursery, I said, "She looks just like Snow White!" She is such a beauty!

I texted Wade with all of Sadie's stats & a picture as soon as she was born. His reply was "Awwwww, so sweet. Grab her and run." Ha ha! Believe me, if I thought that I could get away with it, I would have followed his advice. ;)

Just a couple of hours old...

Can you say "new Mama glow"???


The Carpenter family is pretty smitten with Miss Sadie!

1 week old today!


So sweet...

I have exercised extreme restraint by not spending every waking moment over at the Hunts' house. It has taken LOTS of willpower. :)

I can't wait to watch this precious baby girl grow up. I know that she will be such a blessing to everyone that she meets. In the mean time, though, I am going to hold her and breathe in that sweet newborn scent as often as possible. Man, I love newborns...