Where is the year going?

It's absolutely insane to me that we are already halfway through July! Now that a lot of the nausea has passed, I swear it feels like he days are passing at triple speed. 3 weeks from tomorrow Kaitlyn will start the third grade. Including this year, she only has three more before she graduates to junior high! How???

Both Kaitlyn and Samantha will be celebrating their birthdays in 4 months. I'm worried time will keep flying by, and as my belly expands, I will get even more uncomfortable. So, I've been proactive. Both girls have their invitations ready for their parties and all the decorations are ordered and on the way to our house. We're really simplifying the parties this year. They will have them on their birthday days, Samantha is having a Very Hungry Caterpillar party on Friday night and 8 days later Kaitlyn will have her Monster High sleepover. Kaitlyn is very excited for both. I'm sure Samantha is just excited for cake.

Matthew's birthday is also right around the corner. His fifth birthday is Monday, August 6 and we will be celebrating with our yearly balloon release at the cemetery on Sunday, August 5 at 11:00 am. If you'd like to join us, let us know so we can be sure we have enough balloons and such. Matthew's birthday is something Kaitlyn looks forward to every year. She thinks it's a fun for him to look down on us and be a part of his birthday party when the balloons get to Heaven. Samantha doesn't understand and it might be another year or two before she gets it.

Samantha is growing like crazy. She knows how to break our hearts. When I put her down for a nap, she cries and throws in a "mommy, help, pease!" and at bed time she does the same to Dusty after he puts her down, "Dada, help pease.". She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to scream a defeating no if it's something she doesn't want or throw a hysterical fit to get her way. When she wants to poop, she demands a fresh diaper first. She knows where the cookies and pop tarts are and that just happens to be her favorite cupboard. She is quickly on her way to the fabulous, terrible twos.

Kaitlyn is very excited for school to start. She has made it clear that she really, really wants to see her friends. Her school is having an ice cream social a couple days before that she is looking forward to. Cheerleading practice starts in less than two weeks and it looks like she is going to be a busy bee.

We've hit 17 weeks in our pregnancy. The little one is growing wonderfully. Her heartbeat is really strong and once in a while I can feel the flutter of movement. It looks like the blood clot is possibly gone. Of course, it's hard to tell because my placenta is being stubborn and instead of hanging out at the top of my uterus, hanging out at the bottom, completely covering my cervix and the front of my uterus, making it difficult to get a good look with ultrasound. It also means I get to keep taking it easy, limit my walking and minimize any lifting over 10 pounds(Samantha does not like this!), as well as trying to physically keep my feet elevated. I received my first p17 shot last week and have my next tomorrow. We have our "big" ultrasound on our anniversary this year. 3 weeks from yesterday we will celebrate 8 years of marriage! It's feels like it was just yesterday and a lifetime ago all at the same time.

Life has been good. Peaceful. Things are so much easier without constant drama and gossip. I feel fortunate we took the steps to remove it from our lives. Without having to spend so much energy on things that really don't matter we have so much more energy and time to focus on the things that do.