Football Season {Colten - 2014}

Our oldest has decided to go out for football this year. Who is the most excited about this adventure?

Oh Kale of course!


REAL.

TACKLE.

FOOTBALL.


He's stoked. Colten is absolutely stoked as well. He keeps saying,

"I can't believe I play football for my school"

It's really exciting to see the drive he has for this sport.


Kale was able to adjust his work schedule to make every single one of Colten's games. I couldn't be more excited for Kale. He's been waiting for this for a while :)


Here's our football player!

 

Isn't he the cutest?! I'm thrilled to be a football mom. Although, I am going to also be a basketball mom, a soccer mom and many more. This next 2 years are "experimental". We shall see what sport Colten favors..I'm sort of crossing my fingers for football. I love football {although I must admit...I'm just now learning the sport}. 

 

Kale has been teaching me what all the calls mean. Fumble? Interception? Holding? What?!

 

Totally kidding! I know a few :) But there is a LOT to this sport I don't know. So this has been a lot of fun so far! I can't wait to post his game pics! 

 

 

~ The Shank Family

My Canteloupe {34 weeks}

34 Weeks with Baby Shank

Baby Update:

Baby Shank is well. He is running out of room to kick and squirm. I get the rib jabs and knees out the side of my belly now a days. Not sure what is more painful...jabs in the ribs or actual baby kicks. I'm goin with jabs in the ribs!

His heartbeat is 164 bpm. Strong and healthy. He is measuring on the spot. So, not smaller and not bigger than he is supposed to be. I haven't gotten up the courage to ask what my doctor is estimated his weight to be around...Both my boys were born on time and were 6 pounds. My little Morgan was a whopping 7.2! So, this obviously leaves me wondering what little baby shank will be when he is born!!

Yesterday was my last appointment before I go each week. Not too long from now and we will be meeting our little man :)

Weight Gain:

OH YEA. Thought I had it going on until I went to my last 2 appointments...I've gained 32 pounds so far. I had the feeling I would surpass my 30 pound goal. Baby #4...hey its o.k.! I'm seriously not going to flip out.I'm just hoping (just like with the other 3) the weight comes off period. Not worried about that "flinging back right away" anymore. Geeze. I'm 32 !

Maternity Clothes:

Actually - most of my clothes aren't maternity anymore. I'm starting to prepare my clothing line for post-partum/recover from surgery by purchasing yoga type pants extra stretchy in a large and shirts that are stretchy in a medium. The large is for my c-section and the medium tops are for the upper body inflation lol!! Ya know....the milk filled tatas! Anyways, I figured I wouldn't invest anymore than I needed to and with baby being so close, I wanted to go ahead and start on my post-partum wardrobe. 

My Favorite Moment:

Oh boy...coming up with baby boy names. We've gone back and forth on 4 names. One particular name is sticking with us. We are still deciding but I honestly know the final mommy approval will be last minute.

I really Miss:

Sleep. I only get a few hours of sleep at night. Our little man thinks its play time as soon as I lay down and get comfortable. I actually can't get comfortable. I use pillows, a wedge...nothing is helping me get comfortable. It takes me (most nights) around an hour to fall asleep. Then, I'm back up around midnight/1am, up again around 2-3 and up again around 5. Really? No wonder I'm so exhausted all the time!

Cravings:

No real cravings. There are days I eat just so I know I'm eating something good for baby. Other than these times, I inhale water on a constant basis. I'm always SO thirsty.

This baby business is making me feel old. My body hurts! I've just hit that point where I am telling Kale on a daily basis, "I can't wait to have this baby" I am definitely ready. No nerves. No fears. Just ready to have my body back without a baby inside. 

On the flip side: this is actual quite the opposite some days. This will be my last pregnancy. My last moments of feeling a baby kicking and moving. The miracle of life. 

I'm pulled both ways. I don't want to have him some days: I just want to sit and stare at him moving around. Then some days I'm almost in tears with exhaustion. Oh my little one...how I LOVE being pregnant...but its about over and my body is saying get out lol

Daddy Update:

Kale is as ready as I am to meet our little guy. This pregnancy definitely went quickly for us but now that we are close to our date...it seems to be slowing down and more on a day to day feel.

He has been preparing at work for his leave. With Morgan, he just took paid vacation. With this one, he actually gets paternity leave. So that's exciting. We are coming up with our master plan for my surgery, recovery, baby + mom coming home, the relatives we have coming in and situating and planning for the 3 kiddos that we will have at home. WHAT a chore right?!

We are SO grateful family is coming on to meet our little one and help out with holding the fort down while we are gone for 3 days. We are so blessed.

Family Portraits {Wisconsin Dells Vacation}

While on vacation at the Dells, my sister in law Kristen set up a really special treat for everyone in the family. Being a photog, this gift melted my heart with joy! If there is one little special thing close to my heart...It's documenting through time with photographs.

We all color coordinated and it was really special. 

With 22 people, she couldn't have chosen any better of a photographer. The photo session went so smoothly and much quicker than I would have expected. 

I scored some "Behind the Scenes" pics on my cell. I really wanted to document the bloopers as it was super cute to see all 9 kiddos posed at the same time! Believe it or not, they did amazing given their ages!!

We have 7 kiddos 5 and under, 8 year old Tyler and 12 year old Colten. They really did good :)

It was also really special to see the great-grandparents and grandparents with the kids. 

This was an unbelievable gift that will be cherished for a lifetime!

Our Family Portraits:

 

We love them and can't wait to put them all over the house :)

~ The Shank Family

House Projects 2014 {in progress}

Wall Repairs

So our last post about the house projects found here - had a ton of holes in the walls and unfinished projects from a few years ago that were never completed. In between having a new baby (Morgan), a new business (photography) and our investment project (Ruston) things just never got completed. Well, here is what is going on downstairs!

It's a disaster. Just a warning. Stuff is everywhere. Its daunting to live day in and day out with so much going on but we are slowly wrapping things up.

 

 

 You can see in the photo above where that hole was patched. We also decided to go ahead and patch anything else that was even barely visible. I mean afterall, we are about to paint our entire downstairs. We might as well make it all right before moving forward to the painting phase.

 

We also found that we had more repairs in the kitchen too! I mean seriously, plaster walls ARE the worst! But, after ripping out a few sections and replacing them with drywall  - our kitchen will also be ready and good to go for paint. All the X's that you see are places where the wall is so uneven Kale will have to cut out and patch as well. I mean these projects are seriously taking its toll on us! You would DIE if you saw all the X's Kale has put all over the walls in our downstairs...Um..scary!

The repairs extend from Colten's room, the office/guest room, family room, kitchen and dining room! Oh boy do we have our hands full.

But we will be so happy once we paint and finish this HUGE project!

The "added" project:  The downstairs bathroom

We've already started on this project but I was able to get in and take before photos. As you can see, this bathroom is just looking rough! Fingerprints and smudges everywhere, old paint, nothing pretty, nothing organized. This is seriously one really boring bathroom! There is no color! It's been on my mind for a while. So we threw it in the mix!

 

My plans:

A good neutral color on walls, new towels, bath rug, shower curtain, and lots of organization for the closet! I plan on doing something like the following photos (from pinterest of course) to complete this bathroom.

I love the back of the bathroom door. As you can see above, our boys really just wad up the towels on the hook. This is terrible and one of my pet peeves! They need a place to hang each of their towels since we have two sharing this one bathroom.

I LOVE the idea of baskets for organizing. Each night before bed, it's a requirement to have their clothes put out for the following day. I'm thinking a basket for each of the boys to put their school clothes for the next day :) Currently, they put the clothes on top of the bathroom counter.

Just simple and beautiful

I've also yearned for a pretty item for this bathroom. I love bath and body works and was thinking about buying a small plant, a few aromatherapy lotions and having a cute display. Cute right!?

We've got two boys who are constantly rummaging through the baskets in the closet. I need a way to keep them both organized and want to freshen up this bathroom for them but at the same time making it a cute place for our guests. I'm so excited about the bathroom remodel its killing me! I can't wait to get done so I can go shopping and decorate :)

~ The Shank Family

Fall Bucket List

How fun is this?!

I stayed on the conservative side (with baby shank coming soon) and decided to only add things to the list that I knew would be possible with a new baby in hand.

The kids are excited. I guess with this being our first bucket list, we shall see how our fam does!!

Mommy + Daughter Wednesday

So around 2 weeks ago, Morgan and I began a new "thing" called Mommy + Daughter Wednesday.

Being closer and closer to the delivery of baby 4, my body is tired! But...miss morgan is FULL of energy!! So what's a mom to do?

I decided to start getting her out of the house more often. Going to the park, going shopping (even if its's just window shopping) and anything I can do to get her out to exert all her energy.

I was told about "storytime" at the library from a good friend of mine. It's on Wednesday mornings at 10 but only lasts around 30-45 minutes. So, I decided to extend the time we could get out by going on a lunch date with my sweet girl every Wednesday. Then heading to a park or indoor play area at the restaurant we go to.

Today we got LUCKY! Chic-Fil-A in Evansville has just that!

So we got to have story-time, chic-fil-a for lunch AND an hour of play in the indoor play area! Needless to say, she passed out for a nap right when we got home. I would definitely say my plan is working! I also get to spend lots of one-to-one time with my girl :)

I know once baby arrives and I'm recovered and cleared to drive...this will continue with baby! So excited about this new "thing" we have going on. 

This was definitely a fun day with my Morgan.

~ The Shank Family

Doctor Morgan

I never knew my daughter was a Doctor!! Well...she totally is!

 She loves going with me to see my OB.

Each time we go, we both get weighed, she measures my belly with the doctor and uses the doppler to listen to baby shank's heartbeat. It's adorable. My doctor loves it! 

 While laying flat on my back I can't get photos of her doing all this, I was able capture photos of her right before the doctor came in the room.

Does anyone need a check-up?

~ The Shank Family

My Cabbage {30 weeks}

30 Weeks with Baby Shank

Baby Update:

Baby is doing well. Heartbeat staying steady at around 154 bpm. He is extremely active. He kicks and kicks and kicks. I remember Morgan being active, but I think this little brother of hers is even more active than she was. My last doctors appointment, my OB said baby is measuring spot on. ?? Does this mean he is big? OMG. I failed to ask her what this meant exactly. I took it as baby is healthy...and not small. I guess we will see :) 

Weight Gain:

+ 26 lbs. I'm not surprised that I am gaining more weight with this last pregnancy. Even though I'm still under my 30 pounds, my body aches and hurts more than any other pregnancy. I'm constantly waddling and hurting with pain in my legs and back. I know it's the weight and pressure on my legs and returning veins. I've had to rest a TON while cleaning and doing laundry. The worst part? I get almost to the top of the stairs and have to stop! It's nuts! I am taking a wild guess here but I don't think I will stay within my 30 pound mark with this baby. 

Maternity Clothes:

Yes. Everything is maternity except when I wear comfy lounge clothes around the house. I have surpassed the size small with all 3 of my other pregnancies a little earlier than expected. I started wearing size medium pants about a month ago. Everything else is size small still. I am carrying really low and needed the extra room with my waste. I noticed when I wore anything that was even remotely snug, I would have this feeling of pressure around my waste line even though the clothing wasn't too small. So I just decided to go medium and loose to prevent that feeling.

My favorite Moment:

Baby Shopping. Kale and I did some serious baby shopping this past weekend. With just weeks on the countdown...now was the perfect time to get started with all of our baby purchases. I got to watch daddy put together all kinds of baby gear this weekend. It was very comical :)

I really miss:

Sleep. I. Can't. Sleep. I get just a few hours of sleep each night. With 3 other children and stay at home mommy duties, I can't wait to get a good nights rest after baby is here :)

Cravings:

Nothing particular. Just food in general. COLD foods are my favorite again just like with Morgan. I have had a "thing" with ordering frozen virgin drinks like frozen pina coladas. YUMO!

Sleep:

Baby is backwards. He is up all night long. I fall asleep with his feet in my ribs and wake up with more jabs here and there. I finally exhaust myself and pass out. I've also been having severe leg cramps when I do wake up. My legs hurt so much everyday. I feel like I've put on 50 pounds.

On a note for memories sake: I am having some small fears about life with 4 kiddos. Is this me being pregnant? Not sure. Life with 3 is tough. Some days, extremely tough. I keep imagining life with 4 and see the bliss of having 4 beautiful children. But the other side of my brain kicks in and I see a chaotic household of 4!! A little terrifying but a little funny at the same time. Needless to say, it will take some getting used to I'm sure :)

I am also allowing myself to entertain the fears about surgery again. Not sure what it is about a c-section but the fear is slowly creeping in. Ugh. Dislike surgery.

Daddy Update:

We have put everything together for baby. Kale is a trooper in this department. When he gets started, there is no stopping him. He put together a swing, rocker and play yard for baby. The only thing we don't have that he will need to get is our car seat/stroller combo which they didn't have in stock. There's always something last minute ;)

Kale is working quickly in the house to finish up the projects I listed in a previous post. We are excited for so many different projects falling together smoothly in preparation for baby shank.


He continues his love with my belly. Always touching, hugging and kissing it. He is always feeling baby kicks and smiling and laughing with me when baby shank goes ninja. Its seriously adorable.


He's tired. We are constantly trading places on mommy duties and kiddo duties. Thankfully, this past week...he was so lucky and got switched to first shift (day shift) at work. This has been a blessing beyond. He leaves the house around 5:15 and returns a little after 4pm. Morgan stays with me daily. Tyler gets home around 3:45 and the days Colten has football practice after school (which is about everyday of the week) he gets home around 6:30. So, I LOVE having Kale arriving when he does to help me out with the kiddos, supper and bedtime routines.

We are looking forward to these next few weeks as we finish up small projects and buy last minute baby items we may have forgotten. We also can't wait to see Family for baby Shank's arrival. We are just so blessed to have the family, support and help with the 3 kiddos at home. We are in the homestretch and getting so excited!

~ The Shank Family

Holiday World {Aug 2014}

To end all of our summer adventures with a splash...we decided a last minute trip to Holiday World would be wonderful. This is actually Morgan's first time to Holiday World. Can you tell she had a blast?? The boys and Kale ran off to all the big kid attractions while Morgan and I took advantage of the kiddie ride area (Holiday World) and the kiddie pools and slides (Splashin Safari). 

I didn't grab up many photos as I was pregnant with my hands full but I caught a few fun times here and there during our mini day trip.

This was an incredible trip for me. I was in SO much pain but.. in Kale's words...I was a trooper for the family. I took one for the team. Seriously :) Walking probably more miles in one day than I have for this entire pregnancy! It was so much fun and so worth it!

The photos speak for themselves. Our little Morgan DID NOT want to leave :)

Tyler's face after he got off the Legend! This happens to be the fastest largest wooden roller coaster! For memories sake..Kale said he would start to cry then scream with joy. WHAT A TROOPER!

It took Morgan about 20 minutes of circling these slides to get brave enough to go down. It was cute :)

The boys decided it was time to go on a monster ride. THE MAMMOTH. I seriously almost missed this shot they were moving so fast!

You can see Kale got slammed with water :) LOVE this shot for so many reasons. He said he was just glad he didn't lose his new sunglasses.

Such a fun last minute trip. I want to add...we all slept until around 10am the next day. Sore muscles. Tired eyes.



~ The Shank Family