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2.09.2014

And baby makes five! Or seven, depending on who you're counting.


our gingerbread family

We are thrilled to share our news that we are expecting our 5th 'gingerbread' at the end of July.   We don't know whether we're having a boy or girl yet.  But when we were making our gingerbread family at Christmas time, the kids informed me that the gingerbread boy is more gender neutral than the gingerbread girl.  So we went with it.  We are hoping to find out the gender of our newest little one next month!

I have had terrible 'morning' (um, 24/7) sickness this time around.  Not the 'try some ginger ale and crackers' variety like I had with Jude and Iris.  It was more of the 'I feel like I've had a stomach virus for 9 weeks straight' kind, like I had with Indigo.  It came on so strong at five weeks that I started convincing myself I was carrying twins.  (My maternal grandmother conceived two sets of twins naturally, so it wasn't that far out of the realm of possibilities.)  But the sonographer assured us that there was indeed only one baby in there.  "Are you sure?"  I asked.  "I'm sure!" she responded, quite possibly with an eye roll.  :)

 I'll be 16 weeks this week and I'm still feeling a little green here and there, but I feel significantly better than I did in my first trimester.  That blessed turn of events happened right around 14 weeks.  Sooo grateful!

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Emerging baby bump

I'm also grateful that I didn't have the bone-tired fatigue that I had with my first two pregnancies.  I definitely had much less energy than usual, but I didn't feel like I was going to fall asleep during the day or anything like that - except for two weeks around Christmas.

And that brings me to how thankful I am for Dan. He has been so wonderful and supportive in every way.  He has cooked so many meals and washed so many dishes - just a rock star all-around.

pregnant and pensive - ha!
 Dan and I joking call this the obligatory 'pregnant and pensive' photo.  

Most of all, we're thankful for this gift of new life!  And so very excited, too!

28 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Congratulations! You have a beautiful family!

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  2. Haha, lol for the obligatory 'pregnant and pensive' picture! I have 3 adopted children, so I always do some eye-rolling seeing these kind of pictures… sorry :-)
    Anyway, congratulations on this new pregnancy, it's fantastic news!!

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    1. totally. we thought it was so funny - definitely not trying to be serious with that photo! :)

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  3. Lovely news! I hope the sickness goes completely and stays away, urgh. Love the photos - can we expect the obligatory hands-in-heart-shape-on-belly one sometime? :)

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    1. hahahaha! i was thinking the very same thing!

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  4. Wow, congratulations. How you can have so many children and so few (none in fact) frown lines is beyond me! Must be that wonderful Dan! ;)

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  5. Congratulations! That is wonderful news.

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  6. Oh my goodness! Congratulations!!!! I'm so excited to watch your amazing family grow again!

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  7. Congratulations! I've been curious to see who my online "pregnancy buddies" would be this time - I'm 14 weeks, due at the beginning of August. Unfortunately, still bone tired, and it's only my 3rd!

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  8. Rachel! Funny we always seem to be growing our families at the same time! We are expecting another little boy mid-June .... Was a bit of a surprise! I also have dealt with longer lasting nausea this time and it is not fun! Maybe these babies are getting out their crankiness now unlike tanner and your littlest who don't seem to allow us much sleep! We are in the middle of moving from Colorado to vermont...with a current stall in PA until we move into a rental (yep....a rental!! ) home next month. I never knew my pregnant self could agree to a rental....sight unseen.....in vermont....in the middle of winter!! :). Not sure what god is preparing us for...

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    1. Shannon! Congratulations! We are living parallel lives! I was thinking the very same thing - perhaps this will mean an easy baby. Indigo was my most sicky pregnancy and my easiest baby. My pregnancy with Iris was downright idyllic and she was very colicky and a terrible sleeper. Hmmm. :) There's an old wives tale that claims that's how it works!
      We've given up trying to get Iris to sleep on her own and now she sleeps the whole night with us. She sleeps well, as long as she's right next to us. I night weaned her when she was around 20 months old(ish) so it doesn't really bother me to have her sleeping with us now that I'm no longer the all-night buffet. :) It's a lot easier than trying to get her to stay in her own bed.
      And we are currently in a townhouse while our house is being repaired. I hope your move going well and congratulations on your newest little one!

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  9. That is excellent news! Congratulations! What a lucky baby to be joining your wonderful family.

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    1. well, that's about the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. :) thank you!

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  10. Congratulations!!!!!! Love the pics!!! The red is your colour.

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  11. oh!!! congratulations, rachel! i love announcements of this variety, especially from lovely families like yours. so, so happy for all of you. xo

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  12. Yay! Oh, congratulations Rachel! This is so very, very exciting! I'd love to give you a real-life congratulatory hug but a cyber one with have to do:) So glad to hear that you're starting to feel better and have hopefully turned the corner with the "morning" sickness. What a lovely family your new little one will be entering . . . so exciting!

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    1. Thank you so much, Lucinda. You always say the most thoughtful things. <3

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  13. AHHHHHH! (That was an electronic squeal.) CONGRATULATIONS!!! So exciting! Can't wait to (virtually) meet him or her!

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    1. Electronic squeal! I love it. It's always hard to know what best says electronic squeal. :)
      I hope you can meet him or her in person. We'd love to see you guys again! xx

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  14. YAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Congratulations, my friend!! You look absolutely beautiful, even if you actually *feel* like hurling - I can't tell! Hehe. Here's to the "magic second trimester" as we called it in my family - the only trimester where I wasn't a raving lunatic of one kind or another. ;-)

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  15. Oh, wonderful!! Congratulations to your whole family, such a lucky little baby to be entering into your loving home. Wishing you a joyful, healthy pregnancy and happy delivery.
    -Jaime

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    1. Thanks so much, Jaime. That means a lot to me.

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  16. Congrats!! That's fantastic news!!!

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  17. Another beautiful babe to add to your brood! So exciting! Congratulations- from what I can tell, your family is a great one. :). Seeing what you sew for another little person is exciting for me! Happy news, Rachel!! Xo Erin

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  18. yaaaay congratulations!! cat's out of the bag now! and hey guess what - i had my little guy on Monday! should probably get a blog post up... :)

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  19. congrats, congrats!!! such wonderful news - so happy for you and your growing family, Rachel!

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  20. Wow, congratulations! How exciting! You look lovely, and that red really suits you!

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