It's Almost time.....

.....for baby girl:))). I know it has been a while since posting and putting up any pics but we have had some computer issues and I can not download my pics right now. I have plenty though for later. We are looking at new computers but that is secondary these days as you may guess why.

I am now 38 weeks and 6 days and feeling good. I have had a lot of false labor over the last week. Some days where I didn't feel so well but than it would subside. I honestly thought I would have gone into labor by now with how I have been feeling, not to mention I went early with Emmah. But, tomorrow night is the night though. We go in for them to start to induce me (if I make it till than anyway). I am a bit nervous about being induced I went on my own with Paiyton & Emmah so this is new for me. We are excited to meet our third baby girl and her sisters are too. They have been asking me everyday for a while now the same question "Is today the day to have the baby?". So I will keep y'all posted with the news!

Sooooooooo Excited......

Excited isn't even the word for this week...... after having yet another ultra sound of sweet baby girl. This was a follow up ultra sound to measure her again. She has been measuring two weeks ahead in the previous ultra sounds, so they wanted to do another check of her measurements. She still measures a week and half ahead at this point and they are not concerned just telling me she is going to be bigger than what Paiyton & Emmah were. We are just thankful that she is growing and doing so good after the worries earlier on in the pregnancy.

All of us went to this ultra sound this week. The girls were so fascinated by seeing her on the screen and trying to figure out how she is in my belly. They have lots & lots of questions all the time. "Paiyton asked one day if she has a bed in there?". They keep me laughing with their child like wonder and questions...I love it!

As the tech was doing this ultra sound she was interactive with all of us and once she was done with Baby's measurements she was getting some great views of her face and her little crossed feet for us all. Than all of a sudden we were seeing her face literally....I was so excited. Just as I was asking the question "Is that her" the tech says to Tim and I "Now don't tell any one I did this for you". She had switched the machine to the 4D ultra sound and we could see her face....IT WAS SO AMAZING & EXCITING....the girls were just as excited. We were seeing it in the 4D colors on screen as well. I have posted three of the face shots of the regular ultra sound and three of the 4D ultra sound face shots. Our pictures are all printed in black and white's, though you can still see her face very well. She looks like Paiyton did as a baby with her pudgy little cheeks. We are more excited than ever now to meet this sweet baby girl!

Traditional Ultrasound Pics

4D Ultrasound Pics....Look at her sweet little face:))))

Mother's Day 2010

Here are a couple of Belly Pictures for the scrapbook, thought I would post them. People have been asking to see them so here they are.....I LOVE being pregnant there is nothing like it.....and such a blessing.

29 weeks & 5 days

2010 Soccer Princesss'

Well, a new year of soccer has begun for Paiyton and Emmah. This is Paiyton's third year playing and Emmah's first year playing. We always play with the Upward Program and we love it. We love the Christian based and teaching the kids to play the game and team building before keeping score. Paiyton has just taken off this year with it. I have had several parents say to me how good she is and how focused she is with it. She scored her first goal of the season this past Saturday as well......she was so excited and I was very proud of her. I am sure I looked like the crazy Mom on the side lines cheering for her as she scored.....it was fabulous!

Emmah is getting started and learning how it all works but is also more into it than I thought she would be for the first year playing. I am seeing some of the same things that we saw with Paiyton her first year.....like picking flowers in the field it is funny and cute all at the same time. She loves it though and so we will see if she continues to feel that way or not.

I love watching them play and get involved and they also have been practicing together at home and at the field. Paiyton is a very good little teacher to Emmah in more ways than just soccer, which is funny because she already says she wants to be a kindergarten teacher when she grows up. So it is lots of summer time fun already started for my little Chicky's.

Paiyton in Action!!!

So Happy after her first goal of the Season giving high fives!

Emmah in Action!

Kicking the ball!

Enjoying the Flower weeds...

I am always giving Emmah the "I'm watching you sign" so she was giving it back to me on the soccer field...this kid has such the sense of humor...always keeps us laughing!

Playing Dolls....

Paiyton & Emmah asked me this morning when Baby Girl arrives can she play dolls with them. Oh my sweet girls, they are so excited for baby sister to arrive......they don't get that Baby Girl will be a little doll her self and unable to play yet.....so sweet though that they already want to include her. We are all getting very excited to meet her and counting the weeks for her arrival!

Thought's on Heaven....

Paiyton had a new thought about heaven tonight as I was putting her to bed. She said to me "Mom did you know that all there is to eat in heaven is fish and bread?" I said really? and also trying not to laugh. She than says "yes, and I think we need to take some other things to eat up there, all they have is fish and bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner". I love the way children think and how they are still learning at this age and the things they say. I love my sweet Paiyton Rea...I am so blessed to be her mommy.

Question for all....

......ok, I have a question for you Mom's / money saver's out there. Which do you think is better in regards to the wholesale clubs? Sam's, Bj's, Costco? We have always had a Sam's membership and have loved them but I received a free 60day trial to BJ's and wondered what you all use and have found. I am also thinking about having to buy diapers again here very soon!

Answered Prayers:)))))

Hello all you prayer warriors..... 48 hours ago was our "Echo Fetal Cardiogram" and it went fabulous. After an hour of them doing the high tech ultra sound of her heart the high risk Dr told me that he did NOT see anything wrong with Baby girls heart. Talk about wanting to get up and sing praises and do a dance.....I know they would have thought I was completely out of my mind though. So I continued to lay there and let them finish and silently give praise to God for this news. Not to mention Tim was/is out to sea and couldn't come w/ me so all I wanted to do was get home to send him the email of news so that he could know too. He was anxious not being able to go w/ me. My girl friend Deb has been in town from Michigan for the last week so she was awesome to watch the girls for me while I went for the test. Thank you dear friend!

This was a long two weeks but I have to say thanks to the prayers and God for the peace that he gave Tim and I during those two weeks. I know it was his divine hand that was covering us w/ the peace that only he can give and how thankful I am that he did. I was reminded daily of his great hands that were holding baby girl & us. I heard the song " I Am" by Mark Schultz (playing now on my blog) very often on the radio during that two weeks and it was the same song that would suddenly be played and heard earlier in the pregnancy when things were concerning. He is the great "I Am" and I am so amazed and blessed that he hears me and knows my heart. Thank you Lord for the grace & blessings you give to us each day when we do not deserve them. I can not wait to see how God uses this baby girl!

Update....

...Just an update that the Fetal Echo Cardiogram is scheduled for Monday April 12th @ 8:15am. Ugh......we have to wait another week before we know anything else about baby girl. Tim can not attend this with me because he will be back out to sea at that point. Thankfully my girlfriend Debbie will be here from Michigan and she will be keeping the girls for me. Thank you all for your continued prayers, we soooooo appreciate them.

Please say a prayer......

I was at the OB yesterday for my monthly visit and they have concerns about a heart defect w/ baby girl. They are sending me for a fetal echo cardiogram / high tech ultrasound to check her heart. They are scheduling that appointment for me at the High Risk Clinic downtown...so I do not know when that is as of yet. Please pray that baby girl's heart is healthy and strong and for peace and calmness for me. I am very anxious.

IT'S A...........GIRL!!!

Yes Y'all it's a Girl. I know some of you have been going crazy wanting to know what we were having and it is official. We are sooooooo excited to be adding another sweet baby girl to our family, I know she will fit right in around here. I am also very glad that I have kept most of the girls things too, I don't have the 0-3 mths that I will need for this one but have plenty of the others...or at least I think that I do....depends on seasons. Paiyton & Emmah are very excited & are still asking me daily "When is the baby coming out?" as they say it. So there you have it folks the News is out! Not a good scan but.... here is Baby Girls sweet little bum bum!!!

Legacy

Hi Everyone, this is a repost from Proverbs 31 Ministries. You can subscribe to their daily devotions by emails or follow them on FaceBook. I love these small devotionals they help me stay focused on the right path in the midst of a busy day. they also do radio broadcasts.....Love'um! "I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth." Psalm 89:1 (NAS) What do your children think of when they think of you? Their answers would be very revealing, wouldn't they? One day in early elementary school, Zachary came home with a Mother's Day picture he'd created for me. In the middle was a lovely portrait of me, wearing a dress made in my favorite colors of pink and purple. Then around the picture his teacher had told him to write four different words to describe his mom. He wrote: reading, napping, chocolate chip cookies, and laughing. His words made me smile with their accuracy. Every day we are leaving our fingerprints on our kids. What do we want our children to think of when they think of their parents? A mom who was gentle and firm in her discipline or a mom who flew off the handle easily? A mom who seemed permanently attached to her phone or a mom who was available for life's big and small moments? A mom who occasionally went to church or a mom whose love of God was a part of her everyday life? A legacy can be defined as "something handed down." Every day through our words and actions we are developing a legacy to be carried in the character of our children. It's easy for the busyness of life to keep you from being purposeful in your parenting. Let's decide today to leave the legacy we really want. Let's make sure it's a legacy not born of busyness and urgency, but one born of purposefulness and prayer. It always helps me to remember that God is a parent too. So who better to turn to for parenting advice? It also helps me to know that God loves my children even more than I do, and He will fill in the gaps for me and Scott as we seek Him first. No matter what kind of parent you've been, today you can decide to add to and improve the legacy you are leaving. These are the only days we have with our children. We don't get them back. Let's begin today to be the parents we really want to be. Dear Lord, thank You so much for each of my children. I need Your help every day to be the parent You want me to be. Lord, I'm human and I know that as a parent, I've made mistakes and will in the future. Lord, redeem the past and strengthen me for the future. Lord, thank You that You will give me Your love, wisdom, strength, direction, and patience to be the best parent for my children. Help me to leave a legacy that brings You glory and one that will enable my children to know how much You love them. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

It has bugun.....

....the belly that is. As you can see in the picture below I had to start wearing my maternity jeans a lot sooner with this baby than with the girls. I didn't need them with the girls till my 19th week and with this baby I started wearing them at 15 weeks. This entire pregnancy has been the opposite of the girls though from sickness to getting daily shots. This pic was taken Valentine's Day at 17.5 weeks along. We are very excited and can not wait to meet this new little one. Every one has begun the voting on the sex of the baby as well, it is official place your votes for the gender. Currently the votes are about equal, half for a girl and half for a boy. Tim says a girl too! But hey he's so out numbered....even the cats are girls.

Lost Tooth....

.......well on Valentine's Day Paiyton lost her other front tooth with a little bit of Mom's help. It has been just hanging there for weeks and I did one little tug and out it came. It is so funny to see her with out both front teeth now.....and to hear her talk it just hilarious. It reminds me of when I lost both of mine, I was a year older though and I was so self conscience of it. Not Paiyton....(thank goodness), she is loving and embracing it and so are Mom and Dad. Tim keeps coming is with those "S" words that sound so funny for her to say. My baby girl is growing up so fast we love it and embrace it but also makes me want her to stay right at this age, she tells me "Mom I have to get older", of coarse I know this but one can dream. She is so beautiful and we all are having lots of fun with little miss tooth-less lady!

My Favorite......

.....Tea that is. I love this tea, I used to by it at Panara Bread but they do not sell it any more. I have since been stocking up when home in MI but it can also be purchased on line. It is soooooo Goooood!!

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!

Fun in the snow!

Sliding down the hill in our beach raft.... Emmah is loosing it because she lost a glove in the raft coming down the hill.....snow is a love hate relationship for this child.....she hates being cold.

Snow Angel......Paiyton is really already an angel she just doesn't know it!

SNOW.......SNOW.......SNOW......and WE LOVE IT. It has been a SUPERB Day here in Va Beach with our 9 inches of snow. We have felt like we were getting a little taste of home from Michigan today. Now, I do not miss the long long winter's up at home but having an occasional day or two of snow here is just a little piece of heaven. Job 38 God replies to JOB Vs 22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail". It's a great reminder of HIS ABSOLUTE GREATNESS! We took the kids out twice today to play in it and we also went to have lunch and NOTHING was open......cracks me up.....so we came home for lunch. We wanted to be out in it all day, while everyone else was considered to be "Snowed In". I understand the fear of it when it is not a regular thing, but for us "Michiganders/Yankees" this was just a dusting. Below are some pics of the girls having lots of fun in the snow here today.......PURE HEAVEN!

Tasting her snow creation.....

mmmmm that taste's sooooo good!

Inside and warming up from the snow!

Baby Carlton #3

Here She OR He is...this is a bit blurry it didn't scan well. Ten little fingers and toes and everything measures right on track. This was a "make sure all is ok" ultra sound. Two weeks ago I was told I have a clotting disorder and needed to start daily Shot injections of a blood thinner. So each day I have to give my self a shot to prevent a clot, so I am now labeled High Risk. This is all new to me until the problems started last year I had normal pregnancies with Paiyton & Emmah. They are watching me close and on top of things though. We feel very blessed with this baby and can not wait for she or he to arrive.

Sadness....

and lots of it. Please know this post is not any comparison to the things other people are dealing with right now as well as the Haiti people, my heart is just broken for them. There is no comparison. What they are dealing with is much more important and greater. So, please know that as you read this post.

Do any of you Mom's ever panic and make the wrong decision and it affects your kids? This has not happened to me in this way before. So I am going to try to make a long story short, Emmah was having some breathing issues at night through Nov. & Dec. that I thought was our Dog Sadie. In between Dr's appointments for Emmah and her having these episodes I panicked and thought that it was the dog causing it.....looking back I am not sure how I came up with that...I just panicked....when your child has breathing issues at night you do that or at least I did. Two days before Christmas the dog left. I was thinking that I was doing what was best for Emmah, knowing it would be hard for all of us.

We have since been back to the Specialist (Dr's) to find out that it WAS NOT our Sadie girl that was the problem. Emmah has Asthma and just needed an inhaler to regulate her breathing and control attacks when they happen. I even asked the Specialist the question "Was it the dog and she said NO it was not the dog." Since Emmah received her new inhaler there have been no episodes. On the positive side of that she should out grow it so that is a releif to Tim and I.

Talk about feeling a 100 times worse. I made the absolute WORST decision about Sadie all because I panicked about Emmah and now my poor girls are suffering for my decision, especially my sweet girl Paiyton. I thought that with time AND a new kitten that it would get better but it hasn't. Paiyton still cry's every single day for her Sadie girl and that's a lot since Sadie has been gone now for 23 days. Emmah crys too but its a bit less I think just because she is younger and its harder for Paiyton because of her special attachment to Sadie and she's older.

I didn't think it would be this hard for Paiyton. But when you think about the fact that Tim has to come and go with work, Mom, sissy and sadie were her constants in her life and so this has been so much harder for her than I thought it would be. I feel like the worst Mom ever. Paiyton keeps asking me to bring Sadie backand if I could I would bring her back home. We got Sadie when she was 8 weeks old and Paiyton played and took care if her every day from the time we had gotten her, (with Mom's help of coarse). I have talked to her about it in many different ways to try to help her understand and make it better for her, I pray with her and Paiyton prays about it every night. My feelings are not whats important, it is Paiyton and Emmah's. I know now that all this didn't have to happen at all and it's my fault. It is just hard when your kids suffer from your mistake, breaks my heart.

Adding to the Family....

....Yes, you probably guessed it already.....we are having Baby #3. We found out I was pregnant the first three days we were home from our NY trip back during the beginning of November. I was having some dizzy spells while in NY City but just thought it was because I was very tired and on the go so much, little did I know it was because I was pregnant.

I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and we are Due July 21, 2010. We are very excited and feel very blessed. Our families have known for a few weeks now but we waited until now to let the news out because of the past problems with pregnancy and some other testing that has been being done on me. Everything looks good and baby has a strong heart beat. I am feeling sick to my stomach most all day long which is new for me, I didn't have that with Paiyton or Emmah. I had a Dr visit last week and I was telling Paiyton where I was going and she started jumping up and down and said to me " It's time for the baby to come out", all I could do was laugh. So the kids are excited they just don't get why it takes so long to bring the baby home.

My Dad also has asked Barb to marry him, he asked her on Christmas so we will also have a wedding some time soon. I am very happy for him and we are very excited. It is already an exciting year for the Carlton / Martin families.