Just some cute pictures

Rachael and Nixon he is soo adorable!

Me and my little princess

I love her SO very very much!

I feel so wonderful being pregnant I almost want him to stay in there forever :-)

This is one of my most favorite pictures of all time Sienna was showing off her little belly too

Home Again Home Again.....

Chris and I are finally home and it is so good to be back! I really loved the oppurtunity to be able to experience Washington and to get to spend 5 months alone with my husband but to be able to have Sienna again is priceless! I am 22 weeks tomorrow and it just seems like the time has flown, I am finally starting to get noticeably bigger and I am not sure if it's the baby (he already weighs over a pound!) or all the awesome stove cooked meals I am able to eat now that we are back home. For those of you who didn't know, we lived in a hotel for the 5 months we were in Washington without a stove so I am officially a skillet and microwave master! I can not even begin to tell you how much living in a hotel made me appreciate the simplist of things like stove top ramen and paces popsicles :-) Sienna is so happy that we are home she holds my hand everywhere we go and loves to just cuddle with me I feel so bad for having to leave her for as long as we did but I can assure you that will never happen again we are here for good and never plan on leaving her. She is getting so big and she looks so darn cute without her teeth!

She is my little princess and she is just so much fun at this age! She is doing really good in school but she likes to talk too much which reminds me alot of myself :-) Now that we are home again I get to go back to my doctor at Circle of Life in a way I feel like he is the reason we are having this baby since he prescribed the medicine that helped this pregnancy stick. I had my appointment with him on the 4th and I must say I love the Circle of Life because we get an ultrasound of our baby every appointment! The baby is healthy and all is well with him, I on the other hand have run into a problem with my right kidney, I have some blockage and I may have to get a stint to clear it, I will know tomorrow hopefully. I went to the imaging center to get an ultrasound on my kidney and the sonographer asked me if she could practice doing ultrasounds on the baby, I of course said yes, so we go a really cute 3D picture of Christian and a cute one of him sucking his thumb! I already think he looks so much like me and so does Chris but he still has 18 more weeks of growing so we'll just have to see. We go back for more 3D pictures on the 29th so there will be loads more of pictures to come! I can't wait for Christmas having Chris and Sienna in my life make this time of year so much more enjoyable, I can't wait for next year when Christian will be able to share in on all of the holiday fun. Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

My big fat 21 week belly :-)

Me and my handsome hubby

Our litte prince charming

Christian sucking his thumb

I love this one because his little mouth is open

It's A Boy!!!

Our precious baby boy!

We had my appointment yesterday and the doctor told us we are going to have a baby boy! It's funny because just about everyone has been telling me they think I am having a girl Chris's mom was positive I was having a girl and he says that she has not been wrong until now :-) The appointment was one of the best experiences of my life besides marrying Chris of course! We went in for the ultrasound and it was SOO long the doctor took just about a million pictures of the babys heart and bones and things like that to make sure everything is progressing well, which he is, and to be honest I was just there for her to tell me if we were having a boy or girl, I am a little impatient especially after drinking a gallon of water and having to hold it! So about an hour into taking all these pictures she looked at Chris and said it looks like you're having a boy. Chris was so shocked! He was kind of in a bad mood because I had scheduled the appointment so early, neither of us had gotten any sleep, and he was so sure like everyone else that we were going to have a girl. He would have been happy with a girl but we already have a daughter so he thinks it's only fair that we have a boy :-) After she told him we were having a boy he still didn't believe her so he made her check like 6 more times and get his boy parts from every angle just to be sure lol! He teared up and I think it was the sweetest moment I have ever had the pleasure of sharing with my husband. As everyone knows I really wanted a boy too so we could honor my dad by having the babys middle name the same as his so our son will be named Christian Douglas Volkert. It's funny because whenever I would think about Chris and I having our first baby I wanted a girl sooo bad because I am so close with Sienna, I love fixing her hair, dressing her in the cutest oufits, all of our snuggle time, and let's face it there are so many more cute things to buy for girls! But the moment I found out the baby was due in April having a boy just seemed right. I don't really know the first thing about baby boys except that hopefully they will be alot easier to get ready in the mornings ( I am not a morning person and it takes me awhile to make sure Si looks just perfect before going to school :-) ) but with Chris's help I'm sure it will be a piece of cake, he is such a wonderful daddy already. We could not be happier and we can't wait for Christian's arrival! On another note, we will finally be going home next week! We leave Tacoma on Sunday to start our long journey home. We will be spending Thanksgiving with my mom so that splits our trip in two which will be nice, we will also be stopping by my grandmas Friday after Thanksgiving to visit my family for the weekend and my older brother will be there. I am so excited to see Jeremy and his fiance Charlie, she is pregnant too just 5 weeks behind me so we'll get to compare bellies :-) Thanksgiving is definetly my most favorite holiday this year because I have SO much to be thankful for, we are finally having a baby, I am married to the most amazing man, and we finally get to go home and be with our daughter! Sienna has missed us so much, I talked to her yesterday to share the big news and she was very happy, she is going to make the best big sister! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Christian Douglas Volkert ( He looks so squished! )

Week 16

16 weeks

We had our 16 week doctors appointment today and all is well with baby Volkert! My doctor was out with the flu so I just got to go in and listen to babys heartbeat it was 150 beats per minutes, I was a little dissapointed because I wanted to see if we had time to get an ultrasound and maybe find out our babys sex but my doctor was out so we set an ultrasound date for November the 18th and we will find out the sex then. I am so anxious to learn the sex of the baby! I keep hoping that this 3 weeks will go by fast and I'm sure it will because it seems like before we knew it I was 16 weeks. I am feeling pretty euphoric at this point I can't believe that we are really going to be having a baby, 3 years in waiting I just keep thinking FINALLY. This baby is definetly my blessing and I am so in love. This week I have started to feel the baby "flutter" I guess the technical term for this is quickening, it's pretty amazing to know that our baby is really in there, and Chris can't wait to be able to feel the baby move too! My belly is finally starting to "pop" and I love it I swear I just sit for hours rubbing my belly and imagining the day in April when we finally get to meet our baby. I will write more in 3 weeks to let you know if we are having a Christian Douglas or an Alexandria Marie :-)

Our mini vacation!

We had a somewhat nice trip to Utah, Chris' little brother and sister were sick so we didn't get to spend much time with them or his parents since we were trying very hard not to get me sicker than I already was... The Friday we left I started getting a really bad head cold which I am still not fully over. However I enjoyed my time with Sienna to no end and we got to go visit my nephew and neice in Idaho which I always enjoy! They are getting so big! Kaeden (my nephew) lost his first tooth! I can't wait until Sienna starts to lose her teeth, I always love the school pictures where the kids are missing their teeth.

Chris and I the day we left

Kaeden and I minus his front tooth :-)

My neice Amara is such a princess!

Sienna with the kitty my mommy made her

After our trip to Idaho and on our last night in Utah we finally got to spend time with our family! We all went on a ghost tour, which to my delight was very uneventful despite the fact that our large family was in it :-) The thought of seeing a ghost is exciting but if it actually ever happened I think I'd pee in my pants!

Ash and I (the flash was REALLY bright)

Kelly, Carolina, And Trevor

Frank, Gail, and Kelly :-)

My wonderful husband

Ash and I

The last part of our trip I briefly got to stop by and see my mommy in Ione Oregon. I love staying with her because she always cooks me whatever I want to eat and she is an amazing cook among other things!

My momma and me

Chris and I had such a busy 9 day trip that when we finally got home on Sunday I felt I would go to sleep and never wake up! I miss everyone so much already and I can't wait until we get to come home in November. Although we love Washington I miss Sienna like crazy and being with her for one week a month is just not enough time. Besides by the time we finally get back to Utah I will be halfway through my pregnancy and we will know the sex of the baby! My next appointment is next Wednesday, I can't wait! I live for my doctors appointments I swear :-)

Our little princess being a goof

The beach kitty my mom crocheted for Sienna

Me and my dad right before he passed away

Busy week and weeks to come

So, I am almost to the end of my first trimester! This is my last week, Chris and I could not be happier. We are leaving this Friday to go pick up Si we have been without her for a little over a month now and I must say that I am a little irritated that her mom is already trying to dictate and control our time with her but that has been such a constant in my life I should be used to it. I went and spent the weekend with my mom and I had such a nice relaxing time! She taught me how to crochet and I am making our baby its first blanket, we'll just have to wait and see if it looks like one?!?!?! My mom is so amazing with a crochet needle she makes Sienna all these adorable stuffed animals, and Si just loves them and her grandma Karen. The drive from Tacoma to Ione was an exhausting one though especially when I had to stop and pee every 10 minutes, it made for a VERY long 5 hour drive, atleast I was by myself though so there was no one to complain. I stopped in Plymouth to visit one of my best friends but I still can't bring myself to go out to where we scattered my dad's ashes 3 and a half years ago. I get so much anxiety and so sad just driving to Plymouth so I am scared to see what kind of emotions I will go through when I actually make it there. I think I will go with Chris that might make it a bit easier. I just miss my dad SO much! People always say that when you lose someone you love it takes time to get over it but I don't think that is true, the pain is still as fresh today as it was the day he died the only difference is that I have learned to live through the pain. I just wish he was around to see all of the amazing accomplishments I have made in the past three years. I'd like to think I'd have made him proud...

12 weeks!!

So I had my 3rd appointment with the doctor and I was extremely anxious when I got up this morning before my appointment. It seems I always have all of these ridiculous thoughts going through my head. I find myself worrying for no reason the day before and of a doctors appointment about the stupidest things like if my baby is still alive, or if the horrible gas pains I got from eating the giant burrito last night could have in fact been something much more serious :-) Now I am not sure if all this worrying before my appointments is normal or if I just have anxiety because of the 2 babies I have lost. I am hoping since I am nearly over the first trimester hurdle these worries will subside. This as you can guess drives my wonderful husband up the wall he was begging the doctor today to tell me that I am no longer allowed to read into all the pregnancy websites I belong to, Chris believes these websites add fuel to the fire, she laughed at him but he was serious. Anyhow let me get back to the appointment, it started out well the doctor found my uterus right above my pelvic bone it is beginning to protrude. After examining me she began to look for the baby's heartbeat using the fetal doppler after what seemed like a thousand tries but was probably only 8 she decided I should have an ultrasound done because she couldn't find it (which as you might imagine scared the living crap out of me). As soon as the ultrasound tech put the magic wand to my belly you could see baby moving around like crazy it looked like it had hiccups, probably from last nights burrito, and it's heart was beating 165 bpm. Now I'd like to think my baby knows how much I love seeing it and is a clever genius like me :-) so every time I go in it is going to be tricky like that so I will have to get an ultrasound! Next appointment is 4 weeks from today, I will be 16 weeks and maybe they can guess the sex, we are hoping for a boy so we can give him my daddy's name sake! This will be the last picture where the whole baby can fit into the ultrasound! I just think it is so amazing that I can love this baby more than anything else in the world and I can't even feel it yet. I guess not much can compare to a mother's love for her child :-)

9 weeks and counting

We had our first appointment with the doctor on Wednesday and it was SO amazing! First we got to have our very first ultrasound to see the baby and it was so cute it was wiggling around. We got to see and hear the heartbeat so far everyhting is looking good! I cried the whole time I was getting the ultrasound! I was a little embarrassed because I was being such a sap but this is the first time I got to see our babys heartbeat and since I have already lost two babies it was just so reassuring. Now I know I haven't quite reached the end of my first trimester, I believe through my faith in God that we are going to have this baby!

We're Pregnant!

Today I am officially 2 months pregnant and it's Chris's birthday so it's going to be quite an amazing day! We have known that I am pregnant for a little over a month but I am quite hesitant to share the news. This is not my first pregnancy but hopefully it will be the first one to stick. Chris and I have been trying to have a baby every since we got married but I have had a few complications. Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm! We will be going to see the baby on the 9th and I am so excited to see my babys heart beat. Chris and I both have a really good feeling this time and my doctors have put me on medication so wish us luck and I will be sure to keep everyone updated!

My Life in a nutshell

Well, I'm fairly new to blogging but I love the concept and I feel it's an easy way to share with my entire family what is new in my life since it is changing so often. My name is Blythe, I'm 23 years old, I am a stay at home mom and wife which is a full time job, (call me old fashioned my idea of a good wife is one that stays at home and takes care of her husband and children, and yes this includes cooking and cleaning.. Keep in mind this is just my opinion if you're a woman who supports your family by working kudos to you) and I have the most amazing family. I will start with Chris. Chris is the best husband anyone could ask for he has the biggest heart and there is nothing in the world he wouldn't do for me and I for him. I met him in Alaska on February 14th 2006 through a mutual friend. Chris and I got married that August 7 days before he left to Korea for a year and we've had the busiest 3 year marriage imaginable (my family can vouch for that). Chris was in the Air Force for 6 years active duty and is now in the reserves part time and goes to college full time trying to wrap up his bachelors so he can apply for medical school, but that's a whole other blog :-) We have one child her name is Sienna she is 6 and aside from being the most adorable little girl on the planet she has quite the amazing personality. Sienna is hilarious with a giant imagination and I love her with all my heart and more. Chris and I are hoping to have more children because we know that Sienna will make the best big sister. Her and I talk about it all the time, she wants me to have 6 girls and she's picked out all the names from Tinkerbell to Branchy :-) My life has changed so drastically for the better in the past 3 years, having a wonderfully supportive husband and daughter have helped mold me into the amazing woman I am today. Sienna and Chris continue to teach me more about who I am and what I value with every day. I must say I am so in love with my life because of them