Let the countdown begin...

When our house looks like this....

And the table is never cleared off...

And the mountains of laundry are taking over the house...

When Dad can usually be found doing dishes at 10pm...

And Mom can always be found at her post on the couch (with a bowl nearby!)...

It's our way of saying there's another baby on the way.

Baby #4 is due to arrive mid-March.

We hope to be able to tell you if it's a boy or a girl by halloween time.

(right now Hayley is voting for a boy,

Maya only wants a girl,

and Alice just wants the baby to wake up!

Dad & Mom are pretty resigned....we just do girls, right?!?!)

I get really horribly awful morning sickness until about 16-20 weeks so we're in the middle of the long-haul, wondering if we'll ever make it! We know from experience that without some awesome medication it would take daily IVs to keep me alive....so we're grateful for those little pills that at least keep me ticking--and the fact that they have finally got a generic version! I try to tell friends how bad it is (in a desperate plea for help!) but it's hard to get the reality across because I usually get dressed and put on make-up when I leave the house!

It's been a sad last half of the summer for the kids. They pretty much take care of themselves--eat lots of junk--and cereal--and pb&js. Some days there's lots of fighting since mom's too out of it to intervene. Other days we have some great sister moments as they all realize they only have each other! More movies than I'd like to admit especially when the fighting is too much because it's too dang hot to go outside. Ryan's doing amazing holding down his job and then arriving home to pick up the pieces of what's left of his not-so-adorable family and home!

But history shows that we pull through somehow with very cute results on the other end...so maybe we'll just try to focus on that and ignore the temporary chaos!

I'm counting down to the end of September when I hope to at least take control of parts of my life again! Fingers crossed we don't all go insane before then!