still in the oven

I just wanted to point out I am NOT in the hospital. And that is awesome. This time in my pregnancy last time around I may have been convinced I was dying in the hospital and had Elliot the next day. I have had some weird, uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms but we're pushing through. Probably about a month left, I keep having to remind myself that it's not that much longer and no matter how uncomfortable and gigantic I feel, we're glad the bun is still in the oven!

Talent show and film festival videos

our little Liberty was so brave and sang in the ward talent show! When daddy said he was doing it, she wanted to too, we didn't think she'd go through with it though. We both thought she'd chicken out when she got up there but she proved us wrong.




For the Bell Family reunion we had a little film festival, all the videos were awesome, hopefully the other videos are posted. Here is our submission featuring Libby and Elliot. I took some random footage of the kids and Penny and Richard did an amazing job of editing it all together. I was surprised at how they put it together so well.

28 week pregnancy update

We have hit the 3rd trimester of pregnancy now!  I am now 29 weeks but at 28 weeks we got a peek at Miss Eleanor. She looked quite comfy all stretched out in there. She is measuring at the right size and I am no longer partial previa so a c section isn't required! Yay. I had a bunch of tests done and I passed the diabetes, platelet count, and liver tests! Another yay! My blood pressure was also really good. The only not so great thing was my iron was low. They'll check it again next time and might put me on a supplement. I wish I liked leafy greens, like at all, so I could get my iron and increase veggies, but I find them generally repulsive, I can only stand small amounts of lettuce on sandwiches. Anyways, fingers crossed I keep passing my tests.

I am getting anxious to be done with this pregnancy though. I have had horrible heartburn lately and I am very uncomfortable all the time. I've made some cute things for the baby's room too which make me excited to decorate. Her room is being used as a temporary workspace though. I am a vendor at the Wonderland boutique June 6-7 so I have been working like crazy. Richard is gone a lot of nights and I don't like being down in the basement while the kids sleep. (not used to this big house I guess). I feel like I haven't done nearly enough for the boutique but I have worn myself out, plus trying to get ready for the Bell family reunion and generally have fun with my kids, iI think I may finish the last few I have cut out and call it good. One of my aprons will be on TV on Tuesday. I don't really know any details, but the boutique is getting a shout out and my Elsa dress up apron will be featured. Woohoo, almost famous!

Sorry no house pics yet! We're getting our couch delivered on Tuesday, so we have to wait for that and we just barely got the desktop to connect to the internet and that's where I like to do anything with pictures (i'm way too lazy to look for the USB camera cord, I'd rather just stick the card into the card reader). For now you can see random pics on Facebook/Instagram.

Also hopefully soon we'll have a video of Libby singing in the ward talent show. I'm so proud of her, she really did awesome! We didn't know she'd be so brave!

Random kid post I never finished...

Elliot has been holding out on us I think. Today Libby got hurt and after she was all better, Elliot wanders over to me and says "Libby got hurt. Libby got owie". Pretty good sentences considering I've only heard him say most of those words a couple times and never together. Little stinker. He is really in to hugging these days which is so stinking adorable. He'll walk up to one of us with his arms wide open and say "hug" and then "aww" while he's hugging you. I love it when he hugs Libby. They've gotten to be pretty good friends lately and play really well together (most of the time).

Libby has reached one of the girl stages I really was dreading. The "I'm not gonna be your friend if you...." stage. I hate it so much. I knew she'd pick it up sooner or later b/c I've been around enough kids to hear it and she's told me a few times girls at preschool said they didn't want to be her friend for the silliest most trivial things. She told me if I peeked at her picture than she wouldn't let me have it and would give it to daddy. I've heard her say it once or twice to one of her friends and I'm hoping we are going to stop it before it gets worse. She can also be one of the sweetest girls and often tells me that I am the best mommy in the world and that she loves me, which is nice to hear and makes me feel good. I was proud of her today, I let one of her friends come over to play and Libby let her wear the fancy Cinderella dress from Grandma Olive and volunteered to be the prince. She is older than most of her friends and always gets to be the queen or princess, so it was kind of a big deal that she was being so considerate. She danced with Cinderella too which was kind of amusing for me!

{Started this before we moved... can't remember what else I was going to write about. Kids are doing great with the move. Libby of course has already made friends at church/neighborhood and Elliot is doing fine in nursery. Elliot is continuing to talk better and better. I wish he was eating better. He basically lives off apples, granola bars, animal crackers and dry cereal (and milk and apple juice too). He'll occasionally eat what I make (mac n cheese, ramen, rice & beans, and pancakes). He won't even eat any desserts--even m&ms. He is crazy. }

new doctor

So, I should probably write about our new place, but I don't have any pictures yet and want to wait till it's a little more decorated. Anyways, last week I met my new obgyn for this pregnancy and I am so happy! ISo much better than my rexburg drs! He actually takes my previous history of HELLP syndrome seriously! He seemed a bit surprised when he asked what tests they have been doing and I told him none because my Dr said I wasn't high risk. I am definitely high risk and he will be monitoring my pregnancy more closely. Next visit I get to have an ultrasound, glucose test (which i normally would do), extra blood tests and a 24hr urine test (not so excited about that last one, but if it helps...). He talked with me for a long time and made sure I knew how to get ahold of him/nurses at any time and when to go to the hospital. It was just nice to get some validation on my fears of complications and possible death(the mortality rate is up to 25% for HELLP! Yikes).
I am getting excited for another girl and have been planning the nursery decor already. I am planning on pink and "Tiffany" blue with maybe some other colors. I really should decorate the living room, but baby stuff is just so cute. I cut out a diaper bag last night and hopefully I'll get that finished soon and get use out of it before baby even gets here

If anyone is interested in learning about HELLP, here are some of the links I've gone to

http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/hellp-syndrome?gclid=CIONmoGcmr4CFQJqMgodBXsAgA

http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/hellp-syndrome-and-preeclampsia-topic-overview

Baby #3

We are excited to announce that Baby #3 is another Girl! (we would've been excited about a boy too). This morning we got final votes from the kids. Elliot has never said "boy" or "girl" ever that we can think of and immediately said "girl" when Richard asked him. We even asked a 2nd time worded differently and he said the same thing and he was right. Libby has been saying girl from the beginning mostly because she loves pink and girly things. I kept changing my mind, but figured someone should guess boy. I thought it was boy for the first trimester and then kept picturing a girl.

Baby was perfect size and looked healthy. We get another ultrasound at 28 weeks to make sure things are still going well. The placenta is a little close to the bottom and they are hoping it moves out of the way so I don't have to have a C-section. We will probably name her Eleanor, Richard and I both really like it and hardly agree on any other names. Haven't quite got to thinking of middle names yet. Possible nicknames though are: Ellie, Ella, or Nora.

Here's a few pics

Her first hair bow ;)

She was super wiggly, so getting a good 3d pic was hard

She was snuggling the side

Cute little feet

Heart beat was nice and strong. High because she was getting her exercise

Cute profile with her hand by her face

Gender predictions

I just read a funny post about all the different methods of predicting a baby's gender. We find out via ultrasound Mar 20, so only 1.5 weeks!! We are very excited. I don't understand how people do the whole surprise thing. I did not do all the tests, but here are a few results for your entertainment and to help you make your prediction. Please comment with your prediction!

Heartbeat= girl (it has been around 155, at my last few visits and above 140, is supposed to mean girl)

Carrying high/low: Boy (I'm not too big yet, so I don't know if this is accurate, but I feel like the baby is low like Elliot was, Libby was high so this one has a high accuracy for me)

Cravings: Boy (anyone want to bring me a juicy hamburger?)

Chinese predictor: Girl

Mayan predictor: Boy

Acne: Girl

Ring trick: Girl

Richard's guess: Girl

Becky's guess: Boy