5 1/2 months along

My prenatal appt went well yesterday. I did put on a good seven pounds in the past month thanks to all the delicious sweets I have been craving this pregnancy. Also, I have not been active at the gym like I was with Maelynn so I guess the weight gain is to be expected. So far I have put on a total of 18 pounds. Blood pressure is great 108/53 and Madilynn is kicking away....all the time and usually at 11pm!

The girls room is just about done. Maelynn's adorable toddler bed is up so she can practice getting in and out of it during the day and get used to having it around when we transition her. She is already jumping on it and Derek has had to tell her, "no monkeys jumping on the bed!"



We were wondering if it would happen before she turned one. I wasn't pushing it but was curious if she would because Madisyn was doing it by eleven months. Well, she is! Yep...Maelynn is walking! She practiced ALL DAY yesterday walking back and forth between toys and today she has barely crawled. I laugh every time because frankly it is really funny to see such a little person walking around. We are so excited for her new found freedom and she happily thrives off our praises. Maelynn is also cutting her two top molars as well as two more on the bottom. That gives her ten teeth already! DROOL DROOL DROOL!
Maelynn's new vocabulary:
Thank you, up, doggie, kitty, Dada, Mama, baba, eye, all done, hi and bye.

Madisyn will be leaving this weekend for Grandma and Grandpa's. She is so excited to do crafts with Grandma Beverly. She is also anxious for the s'mores she was promised. I wouldn't mind some of those right now actually. Madisyn also lost her fifth tooth the other day! Unfortunately the "Tooth-fairy" fell asleep on the job and had to reschedule her visit for the following night. Thankfully Madisyn wasn't too upset even though the "Tooth-fairy" still managed to leave the tooth behind along with the money. You know you're a tired parent when.........

Everyone here is doing well. We are just keeping busy and looking forward to the new changes in our future. I'm not going to lie, I am exhausted and hurting everywhere! We are so thankful for this new blessing but this has been the hardest pregnancy by far. We thank God for three healthy, beautiful little girls and we are now done having babies. I admit I will miss the baby phases when they out-grow them. Derek and I have our hearts set on adopting in the future when the girls are more independent. We would like a little boy around two or three years old. We definitely see it in our future but until then we are so excited to watch our amazing girls grow up.

Madilynn Marie Berg

Today we got to watch a VERY active little girl bouncing about and giving the technician an extremely difficult time. To top it off Madilynn had the hiccups and was also switching between kicks to thumb sucking. She is measuring right on track and very healthy. Everything looks great they said and the icing on the cake: my placenta moved and is no longer an issue for delivery. Whoo Hoo!

I have had no problems for the past four weeks straight and though this pregnancy is a lot harder physically, we are really getting excited to have another little beautiful girl in our family. We even went stroller shopping because now we need to upgrade to a double stroller. It was horrible and too much like car shopping but after trying out 10-15 different strollers, we finally found what will soon be the younger children's new ride. It isn't too heavy for me to lift or fold and doesn't take up the entire storage area in the van. Thank goodness we are done with that process!

Madisyn: Our big little girl will be spending Spring vacation with her wonderful great-grandparents Dieter and Beverly. We get a little pang at the thought of her being gone so long but they (including Madisyn) are all really excited about it and we think she is finally old enough. I think it will be wonderful for her to have quality one-on-one time so she feels special. I have noticed I do not get enough of that with her so I decided to take Madisyn to dinner after Girl Scouts every other Thursday. Just the two of us. She really seems to enjoy that time. She is growing up to be such a wonderful, caring, beautiful girl. I just can't believe she will be seven soon. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I actually gave birth to her. It seems to surreal.

Maelynn: This little monkey is at my absolute favorite age. Ten months and she has learned to play on her own awhile, she can get around by herself and her personality is starting to shine. The other day at church she insisted on waving and saying "Hiii" to everyone that passed by her. Then she would clap when someone would say "Hi" back. I was laughing so hard I thought I would wet my pants. She also surprised us by taking her first steps but not just one or two but FIVE! Yep, in a row and of course she thought it was hilarious, grinning ear to ear showing off her adorable dimples.

We are so blessed with these angels. I'm so happy God chose us to raise these little girls. They give us such joy everyday, and even when the times get rough there always seems to be a toothy grin or silly giggle to make it all better.