My favorite things

I am now 39 weeks and still no baby. Yet, she really does not have a lot of time left to bake. So, I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of 2012. I am an over achiever (wink wink) and trying to get this post in before life becomes ultra busy.

Now enjoy pictures of my family whom I love more than Life itself! They make me crazy, happy, worried, stressed-out, silly, and so blessed it makes me want to cry.

I am so aware that my life is so blessed, and i am truly so thankful to God for my blessings.

My heart is full...

Baby Week #3

I am sorry but I was out yesterday. I had good intentions but, my intentions were taken over by my kids! I was exhausted by 8:30pm.

So, today I thought I would blog on this topic....PARENTING!
About 3 months ago, Andy and I watched the show Addicted.
I don't know if you have seen this show, but it is about a person who is addicted to something and their family tries to intervene to save them. The addictions are all different but mostly the show shows people addicted to drugs and alcohol. It also does a small bio on the person, to try to explain why they are addicted in the first place.
Anyway, we watched an episode where the man was addicted to drugs. During the Biography section it said that when the man was a little boy, both his parents worked 60+hours a week. And that he was constantly at a babysitters house.
This part struck me!
I could not imagine being away from my children for 60+hours a week.
Its like you have one chance to parent small children. They are small for so little of a time. I am ever so thankful that I am able to stay home with them. But, this is also where I struggle. Because I really want to be a part of the Adult world. I am slowly finding my balance of what makes me feel like I have an outlet.
 It is overwhelming some days to parent small children. The days when they don't nap and the days when they are fussy and don't want to do what you want. Or when tantrums are thrown.
But, I am growing more and more to LOVE this precious time that I have. The cuddles and the loving on me.The velcro child to my body. I am their Momma, and it truly is what I was meant to do.

Thank you Lord, that I get to be with my children everyday. That so many others are not able. I am truly blessed.

Baby Week Post #2

Who should Baby #3 share a room with?
This is the dilemma going through my mind. Should it be with Miss Sydney or Henry.
Really this is not a dilemma, because we have an extra room. But I sort of want to keep that room a playroom. But, for now we are going to make it a playroom/ baby room. It will be the baby's room and the nursery.
But, this is only until the babe can share with her sweet/sassy sister.
Her 18 month old sister who is completely obsessed with her binkie and blankie. Her sister who is a lover of brushing her teeth (obviously as seen in above photo)!!!
Her 18 month old sister has been struggling with her naps lately, which makes a Momma wonder!
Her 3 year old brother is probably not going to have to share, just because he is the boy and the only boy.
And because we just think he should get to have his own special room.
So really there is not a dilemma, just my thoughts written out for you.

I have cute bedding and yes, another crib. But they are not up yet. They will be soon enough.
I am excited for the girls to room together, because I have some awesome memories of sharing with my sister. But golly, I am excited for the day when all my children just sleep as late as possible and I have to literally shake them out of bed....
See you tomorrow!

Baby Week

Well, I am now 37 weeks pregnant and I think I have posted a grand total of 3 times on this little bambina.  Some might say, are you really pregnant? That answer is YES!
I have dedicated this week to sweet baby #3, so I am going to post every night this week to update the world on my sweet blessing that is growing within.

This pregnancy has flown by and in all honesty been sort of an emotional one.
With all of our plans that have changed and changed and changed. I am sad to say that I have sort of "forgot" about this one. Maybe it is also because I am beyond busy with 2 other ones. Anyway, I am truly thankful that I am blessed with easy pregnancies. If I were to have been sick at all, i really think life would have been a little too much for me.

But, God is faithful. He knows all that we can bear and I am rapidly approaching the end of this pregnancy.
So, this post is sort of just how this pregnancy has been.
At 37 weeks pregnant, i am feeling pretty good.
I am not nearly as big as I was with Sydney Jean. (Thank God)!!
I can still wear my wedding ring.
I think my nose has become misshaped???
I have no new stretch marks.
Babe is laying on the right side with her head down and in place. Same as her sissy!
I am peeing a ton. I think it was a record 5 times last night..............
I am told by random people on the street that I don't look 9 months pregnant. Which makes me feel GREAT!
Both Andy and I are pondering what Miss Reed is going to look like.
We have had a horrible time with names. Seriously, we cannot think of one!
Henry has been loving on my belly and is excited to meet his sister.
Sydney I think is going to have her world rocked a little. Seeing that she is semi-velcro to me all day.
Little Miss likes to move around a lot.
I have been eating lots of sweets... I am eating Nutella like it is going out of style.
My prayers have been for a healthy girl, and that my Mom would be here.
Also, that all my million of worries, would really not be worries at all.

The verse we have found for this baby is Ecclesiastes 4:12.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. We really love this verse and thought it was perfect for her. She will always know that we were not complete without her and that she is the combination that was needed for us to be the Reed's! She was the combo that made the three Reed children strong and not easily broken. See you tomorrow.

Changes

Big changes have been happening to these kiddos over the last couple of months. And they really have been champion kids. They are about to experience another new change. Miss Baby #3 is about to make her debut. She has been "cooking" for about 9 months now and i am feeling the winds of change a happening. AKA: Braxton hicks!
I do want to say that we have indeed Moved!  We did not move to England.  We have actually moved to the unexpected Springfield, Mo. This is an incredibly long story and I need to wait a little bit to write more.
But, for now, we are getting moved in. We are finally getting ready for Baby #3, who is still yet to be named. Her due date is December 26th. I am personally hoping to go a little before. :)
No pictures of me because I am feeling a little bit like a house. I am not as big as I was with Sweet Sydney, but gosh, if i have to wear those pregnancy jeans one more day!!!
So, I promise to be back soon and to post some good prego pics!
Chao for now!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

 This is my post on my sweet/sassy Sydney.
If she was a food she would be: Sweet and Sour Chicken!      But alas, she is not! She is Human.

Sydney is now 15 months old almost 16 and boy has little Miss Independent been showing her true colors.
Sydney is my sugar bear and then can turn into my little sour patch kid in .5 seconds. Truly, it has been a lot for this mama to handle.
Don't get me wrong, I am completely in love with everything about my sweet little baby girl, I could go without some of the drama!
 I don't know if it is a girl thing, but holy monkeys this girl can turn on the pout.
 She can both smile and melt your heart and then if you touch her and she wasn't in the mood then boy you better get ready for some tears.

I have talked with other Mother's of Girls and this has helped. Someone said it best like this: Boys are usually not that attuned to feelings and being sensitive to moods. Girls can pick up on that very easy. Well, Sydney is that Girl. She really can be quite sensitive and dramatic about things.
And like most girls, this will go on until she is...... Wait, i am pretty sure she is the carbon copy of her Mother!. I am still sensitive about things and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon....:)

 But, all in all. I feel honored to be this little girl's Momma and help her figure out her feelings and console her tears. I LOVE that she is extremely snuggly and sees and looks intently at my earrings or my rings. I LOVE how she loves on her babies and cuddles them, and then flings them across the room in the next moment.

I LOVE how she laughs at her brother and how they are now starting to fight about toys.

I LOVE how she sings songs and rocks out to songs in the car. She really is a fan of country songs (her Aunt Mish would be glad)!

 I LIKE not LOVE that she refuses to hold my hand because she is INDEPENDENT!!!!!!! She has a mind of her own and she is showing me that  she can use it.












                                                                                    I LOVE that she is obsessed with SHOES!

I LOVE that she can say like 20 words and refuses to say them for most people. She saves her best for her Momma and Dadda.



Pretty much I am in complete LOVE with her even with her moodiness and all. And, I am pretty sure that this is howAndy feels all the time about me! :) HA!

So, lets bring on Girl #2!!!!!!

Summer in Iowa aka: Memory Maker!

Hey Friends,
Yes we are still here and I'll be honest this one has been a story for the books. We were totally ready for  our departure to England and have been living with my parents since July 1st.
So, we have had a lot of Quality Time with family and friends and done lots of fun stuff in the mean time. Particularly so I don't go out of my mind. Truly this has been a summer to treasure with family and friends and here are the pictures to prove it.

1. Henry and Sydney have gotten over their FEAR of dogs because they were forced to live with my parents dog Lucky. Who has been a pain in my you know what! While we have lived here he has managed to eat a bag of marshmallows and a whole stick of butter and regularly drives me crazy..... But, we love him! Sydney says good morning to PUPPY everyday in the cutest little voice you could ever hear.

2. Speaking of Sydney she has reached and conquered many milestones this summer. She is done NURSING, we were still nursing 4 times a day until 14 months and then we quit all in one day and she did Marvelous! I had to give myself and my boobs :) a break before this next little Sister comes out!  Sydney is  MOBILE as in she is now walking and getting better everyday. Sydney is also only taking one nap in the afternoon, she could still probably take a morning one but we are having fun leaving the house in the morning so NO looking back! She is also quite the little chatter box. She can say lots of words and just like her brother she has a quite little sweet voice! Her favorite words are PUPPY, SHOES, SISSY.  She and Henry are starting to play together more and also starting to fight. But truly there are not enough words for me to describe how PRECIOUS it is to see them love each other. It really warms my heart!

3.  We have been able to spend about every family birthday with our families this summer. That has been super fun. We have gone out for dinner for most of these birthdays. Speaking of out to eat... we have concluded that eating out with small kids is quite the TASK!!!. I just need to remember that one day they will sit well and eat all by themselves and that day will come quickly. This still has not stopped us, and i do love not doing those dishes afterwards. :)

4. Henry is getting so big and i am seeing this little boy of mine slowly slipping out my hands into the Big Man he is going to become. (INSERT TEARS HERE). He is growing and growing and talking and talking and asking question after question. And while some days it does indeed press all of my patience buttons, most days it is quite sublime and lovely to watch him figure out the world around him.
He is a sweet, sensitive little man. He is loving life and loving LEGOS, ANIMALS, and lots of IMAGINATION games.
Here is a little funny Henry Summer Story:
 We all went to Adventureland this summer and for the first 1hour in a half we looked at all the rides, because Henry was a little tentative (to say the least). Then finally he started riding the rides and loved it. Except for he HATED the Frog Ride which is the equivalent of the Adult ride that shoots you up in the air. Anyway, he screamed the whole time. And to be honest, Andy and I just let him stay on. I mean it only lasted like 1 minute, so really it was no big deal. But, i will be honest, i was dying laughing, and Andy was standing right next to him...... yes, you may judge me as a bad mom. But, i don't know, it was so funny at the moment. Anyway, he was fine and kept telling us how brave he was and that he really did not like the FROG ride. I just always want to remember it.

I also got to take a fun little"Thank God I am not Nursing Trip" or get away with my mom, sister and brother. Just the 4 of us to Kansas City and spent the night with our cousins and then went outlet shopping and back home the next day. It was a quick trip, but so much fun, and really only possible because my husband is awesome and offered to give me a break for the day. What can I say, I married the most awesome man in the history of men! :) We of course took no pictures on this trip, which is a bummer! But, lets say we just did a lot of laughing!

 A couple of other noteworthy fun events:

1. I had a father/daughter date with my dad and we went to the Iowa State Fair to see Larry the Cable Guy. For whatever reason, i deleted the photos but have them on a different part of my computer. I just can't figure out how to load them here. Anyway, we had so much fun and it really was a highlight i think of my life. How many times do you go on dates just for fun with one of your parents now as an adult? It was really fun! And i will treasure it.

2. Andy, Henry, Sydney and I visited the Science Center and we also made it on the news. First off the kids loved the science center and all the activities, i will be honest, it sort of grosses me out to think of how they probably are the 1000000 kid to touch this toy/activity, and the germs on it. But, it was a fun morning and we got to see them tape the weather part of the news. My brother DVR'D it and we watch it a lot!

3. Baby #3 is getting big and moving lots and lots. I am getting bigger too ;) I have really been digging Peanut Butter and french toast. No wonder I am getting bigger!  I am not to worried. I will get back to normal eventually! I am 6 months prego and feel good. I like this stage because people look at you and know for sure you are pregnant and usually give you a smile or a nod that states "Go Momma, you Rock!" But, this time, it seems when I am with my other 2 kids people give me this look like "YOU ARE CRAZY" they see I have 2 kids and another one coming soon. It makes me wonder if they know something I don't! I have decided they don't.  :) That is unless they have the secret to SLEEPING and not worrying about random things like are the sheets on Henry or did he kick them off again. Maybe I need to go check at 1:30 AM, while I am up peeing anyway. I think that is a Mom thing and I can't shut that off or they would not have a Mom would they.

Well that's all for now chickies!

Dreams

Let me tell you about this lady who works with my mom. Her name is Lynn and she had this dream about me that I was pregnant and it was with a little girl. Well the funny thing is I do not see Lynn very often (like maybe once a year) and she had this dream that I was pregnant, it was right around the time I became pregnant with Reed Baby #3. The even crazier thing about her dream was that she was correct on the SEX.

We found out last week that Reed Baby #3 is indeed going to be another little GIRL!!!!!

Truly this little girl was planned by an amazing God to be gifted to us. I have no doubt!

So, i have been happy and very thankful because I always wanted Sydney to have a sister.
In a short 20 weeks give or take a few, we will meet baby #3. We have no names yet and seem to really struggle with girl names.
I am feeling good, just tired.
Getting very happy to think about the relationships that they will all have with each other.
I also am hugging on my Henry a little more just because we are pretty positive we are done after this third bambino. So, Henry will be my only little boy! How blessed I am.

Missions Update: We are STILL waiting on our visas. It has been since April 23rd when we sent it in and still we are waiting.
But we have been doing well and staying positive that it is all for a reason.
So, when I know more I shall tell.

Chelsea

Man it's Hot!

It has been so hot this summer. So in an effort to cool everyone down we have been using my parents Slip & Slide. IT is a good thing we are living here because they actually have a really good hill in their backyard.

Both Henry and Sydney love it.

Henry got little welts near his ribs because he just kept running and sliding down. And yes, he was only wearing his underwear. :)

We have also been swimming a lot at my grandma's pool in Altoona. It is free and has been the perfect place for my kids to actually swim! Henry  loves to swim in the pool or as he calls it the "cool".

 This hot summer has really brought Sydney's cute curls out. I just had to post a picture of her little ringlets!

Sydney also has received her first bee sting. It was at the pool and a wasp stung her right between the thumb and the first finger. In true Sydney fashion she cried hard core for 2 minutes and then just ate some teddy grams. Truly they fix all problems.  That was enough to tucker this girlfriend out!

And for a quick missions update: NOTHING. We are convinced that our visas are refusing to be processed due to the Olympics. So we are just chillin. We will let you know when things change.

Chao for now!

Hi, I am Baby # 3

Andy and I went to get our first ultrasound yesterday and we saw our first glimpse of Baby #3!
If you would like to get Surreal feeling, just go get an ultrasound.
I really just think there is nothing quite like seeing a little Human growing inside of you. IT really makes me think how amazing God is and what a Miracle LIFE is!  You just instantly fall in love.
We went early thinking that we would be packing and leaving for England in the next few days after this ultrasound. SO, we wanted to know the sex and what to pack.
Well, of course we did not run this plan by Baby 3, because Baby 3 did not cooperate.
But, i am going to tell you that my gut says GIRL.
Just look at that profile! How cute. I promise the babe does have legs, it looks sort of like a mermaid now.
Everything else with the babe is going good. I am not feeling that sick anymore.
Just feeling quite chunky, and I must say that being prego at 4 months is sort of the time when at least for me i feel as though I look just fat. But, with all that being said, i truly feel blessed.:)
Due date is still December 27th, 2012. Our little Christmas blessing.

Quick Missions Update: Our visas are still being processed so we are still in limbo land, but we are happily sitting in limbo land at my parents.
Hopefully we will hear more soon.
God's timing is perfect and we are fine with that.
Chelsea

Flexibility

Hey Readers, Well we have moved in with my parents and out of our house in Ankeny. 

Truly the plans are in motion to move to England.

This was a hard move, just moving in general i would rate to be hard. Maybe grading system i would give a C. Because you can just throw all your stuff in boxes and then unpack at the next location.

MOVING INTERNATIONALLY on the other hand is Moving on Drugs! 

Nothing about it is easy! Every little thing you own needs a decision made on whether you want/need this and can it fit or be shipped without costing an arm or a leg.

I have indeed done this before, but not with 2 & 1/2 kids. So, maybe i was just a lot more wimpy this time around. But, boy am I glad these last few days are done!

My kids have shown that they are able to roll with the punches and be flexible.

That in itself is an answer to prayer, because truly it has been harder on me then it has been on them!

Well, i will update you soon.

Chelsea