Hannah's September Birthday Parties

Ashley Gage had a tea party where Mom's and Daughters were to come in their best dress.

Hannah also was asked to bring her favorite doll or stuffed animal to the tea party.

Carole did a great job orchestrating the decorations and making everything so proper, it was so fun!

Hannah made Ashley a card. This was the FIRST time I had seen her write another persons name. 

She wrote Ashley and her name, Hannah. She was so proud of herself!

31 Weeks Pregnant with Kathryn Anne

  Well, here we go...

31 Weeks with Hannah Grace

(I was so much more compact, and smaller)

Sarina's 29th Birthday

This year I turned 29 year old. It's my last year in my 20's and it's kind of surreal that I am already here. 

When I was 19, I was married. I kept thinking that I would feel older and my age when I hit 25. Since all my friends were older than me...in their 30's, I always felt like the "child". Since I am now almost 30, I finally feel right for my age. The gap is closing. Where I was once the youngest, I am finding that I am now in the middle. I have friends younger and older than I and I don't even notice the gap. I don't ever feel inferior or out of the loop. I feel that I am right where God has me to be. It's a wonderful feeling to be here. I am excited for my 30's to come, but I will enjoy the last year in my 20's. This last year will consist of hopefully wrapping up our child bearing years and beginning life as a complete family of 5. I am excited to see what this year will bring as I say good bye to my 20's and hello to my 30's. 

To celebrate my birthday this year:

-Dan took the day off

-Dan let me sleep in, caring for both kids

-Dan made me a beautiful breakfast

-Dan gave me a huge bouquet of roses, which I loved

-Dan helped Hannah make a card and she even traced her hand and wrote my name on it, precious!

Little Mama

Hannah feeding her babies with her baby bottle.

She takes an old formula container, fills it with a few cheerios, take the scoop and scoops up a few cheerios to go in a 3 oz. bottle full of water. She shakes it up and there you have it!

Babymoon

This past weekend, Daniel and I had our first trip away from the kids since the adoption in April. 

My parents moved here and went through all the necessary background checks, FBI fingerprints, TB tests,etc. to be legally able to watch Jensen before our adoption is consummated in November. 

They did it because they would be living with us for longer than 2 weeks and the agency required it. 

Because of this requirement, that meant that we could now leave him in their care with a peaceful mind, knowing it was legal and he would be well taken care of!

We wanted to take a trip away before Kathryn arrives in just a few weeks. 

We needed some time to be away to just do absolutely nothing, relax and just be together without the responsibility of caring for our children. 

We had originally planned to head to Corpus Christi, but the weather was so rainy and nasty outside that we decided to just head to our family ranch in Dime Box. It was BLISS! We got there on Friday night, and actually sat down on the couch after unpacking...we BOTH fell asleep for 3 hours, waking at 7:00. 

Here we are the first night after out nap!

Baseball

A few weeks ago, we were blessed with free tickets, thanks to David and Sharon, to our local Sugar Land Skeeters Baseball game. Jensen had never been and neither had my parents since they moved here. 

We all went together with several other family friends. The kids went to play by the water area and playground and some of the other adults stayed to watch the game. Out friends were sweet to take Hannah to play with all the kids while Dan and I stayed with my parents at Jensen. 

30 Weeks (7 1/2 Months)

Yesterday, I was 30 weeks pregnant. 

I feel like I have a giant basketball in there!!

Growing Pains at 28 Weeks

Week 28 has been a week of growing. I could literally feel my belly button disappear over the course of the past 4 days. Every day I would wake up and feel a little less area inside my belly button. Hannah has been asking me where it's going? haha. I feel stretching taking place, but haven't seen any stretch marks yet. I think they are bound to happen sooner this pregnancy than later. I had stretch marks with Hannah during the LAST week of pregnancy...I was disappointed. I think this time, it's inevitable...they are going to come. 

Last night, I rolled over in bed and felt like I broke my right hip, I heard and felt the biggest crack. Getting in and out of bed is very tough for me right now. I need one of those handicap bars on the side of my bed to pull up on to get out...no, I don't have one, but I feel like that might help. 

My feet are swelling just about every day, not massively huge, but noticeable in shoes and when standing. I think having such a protruding belly puts more pressure on my knees and feet.

My hands are better this week. The Carpal Tunnel comes and goes, but it's nothing like it was in previous weeks. Kathrin is moving ALL the time now and I LOVE it! Hannah was able to see my belly move this week and she was so shocked. According to her, she has a little Kathrin in her belly too. It's pretty funny to hear her talk about. 

Eating is becoming harder, I may have an appetite, but I can't eat as much as I could previously. This is a good thing for right about now, you'll see why in a second from reading :-)

When I saw my doctor on Wednesday, he said I had gained 8 pounds in the last 4 weeks. He is a funny guy, but when I asked about my weight, he jokingly said, "I thought you were on the California diet?" We both started laughing. He knows me enough to know that usually I would be eating very healthy and watching everything I eat. I had to tell him that it's just too much to think about with having Jensen and being exhausted. He was not concerned. I still do eat well for the most part, but I'm sorry. I admit it. Yes, I have been indulging probably a little too much on those Hagen Daz bars, not giving attention to certain refined grains,etc. Since my appointment I have limited myself :-) To date, I have gained a total of 26 pounds. At 28 weeks with Hannah, I had only gained 18 pounds. I was VERY health conscience with her. So, I am 8 pounds ahead. I am hoping I don't surpass 50! Oh boy, I know my work will be cut out for me after this pregnancy. The good news for me though, is that this is our last pregnancy...unless God has some grander plan :-) So, I plan to get physically fit and back on track once I am feeling well enough to do so after Kathrin is born. I plan to start running again, make time for those good smoothies packed full of nutrients and enjoying healthy living with my family! Anyway, I am beginning my two week appointments now as I head into my 29th week. I have an appointment next week during my 30th week. I'll report more next week!

Until then, enjoy some comparison pictures of my pregnancy with Hannah and now with Kathrin.

As you can see, I am carrying VERY different this time around. 

I am lower and my belly sticks out farther, rather than sideways. 

27 weeks with Kathrin Anne                          28 Weeks with Kathrin Anne

  28 Weeks with Hannah Grace 

Playing in the Rain with Ama

It's been raining the past couple days here in Houston. 

Hannah is afraid of the thunder associated with a typical rain storm, 

so when it was purely raining with nothing else, 

she jumped on the opportunity to play in the rain. 

She also got my mom out there to play in the rain. 

It was so funny watching them run around, being silly, 

dancing and playing follow the leader "Hannah", of course :-)

My mom kept saying that this is a once in a lifetime expereince, so why not LIVE it!

After all, that's what they came to Texas for...MOVED to Texas for.

We are really enjoying our time together since my parents have been here. 

Here's the footage:

Hannah's 1st Day of PreSchool

Hannah started 3 day preschool today.

She is now in the 4 year old class and her teacher is Ms. Kathy.

We went to meet her teacher yesterday and she was really excited to start school today.

This morning, Hannah got up and ate some pancakes on her "special" plate, she even cut them all by herself with a knife and fork. She did a great job! She was VERY proud of herself. 

She picked out her outfit, headbands and shoes for the day and we let her braids down, which caused her hair to be curly. She LOVED it as well and was super excited to have "curly" hair for school. 

She loved the "surprise" chalk board I created for her first day. She wanted pictures with it. 

She grabbed her bag this morning, we took pictures and headed out to school. 

She was very helpful in getting brother situated in his car seat and getting in the building. 

When it was almost time to go in the doors, she was the first in line to lead the way to the class rooms.

She set her things down right where they needed to go and went to pay right away. I was so glad that the drop off was easy. When I picked her up, she said she had so much fun and her favorite part of the day was Creative Movement. 

Here are some highlights from her morning