First day of school excitement

I've been running a film of the past 5 years in my mind over and over this past week. We are in week 2 of school. These two boys are actually at school right now as I write this. 
Life has been a  really fun roller coaster for 5 years. We've lived in 3 different cities (Rotterdam, Netherlands, Northern Virginia, USA, and Antwerp, Belgium). Owned our first home, sold out first home. Had a baby in NL and VA. Now sometime in the next 3 weeks are expecting our 3rd baby in Belgium.  I feel very lucky and blessed to have stayed home with the boys for those toddler/preschool years. And that I can stay home with baby Aria for a few more years.   
Just 3 1/2 weeks left until Aria's due date. Personally Paul and I are hoping she arrives early (maybe Sept 10 Paul's grandmothers birthday or Sept 15, my Nana's birthday)

Happy 4th birthday Peter James

Last week this awesome boy turned 4 years old!! We celebrated with him staying home sick 😢. He threw up the night before his birthday and we had to delay his school birthday shared snack celebration. He bounced back quickly and was back at school the next day. He brought minion bananas.

Saturday before his birthday we had a few of his classmates over for a birthday party. Petey has been requesting a Paw Patrol look out cake for what seems like 9 months now. So I spent the week before the party planning and making this cake. The smile on his face made it worth every frustrating moment of making this cake. 

Happy 4th birthday Peter. You are one of the greatest blessings in our life.

34 weeks baby number 3

We are enjoying our LAST WEEK of summer before school begins for the boys. It'll be nice to get back into a routine, but I'm going to miss sleeping in. This was the very first summer in over 5 years the boys slept until 8:30-9AM OR would go down and watch Netflix and let me sleep for an extra hours.

We went to the doctor yesterday and baby Aria is currently estimating 5lbs and 18inches. We also had a hospital tour this week and the excitement is really starting to sink in that she could be born anytime after 37wks. So maybe only 3-6 weeks left. Paul and I are so excited to fall head over heels in love with this sweet baby girl and her two brothers are also ready to show her how much they love her 😍

Peters annual heart check

Monday we took Peter to Leuven Hospital (about 1 hour from Antwerp). It was a great appointment. His stent looks great and no caths or surgeries are needed. We'll go back next year for another yearly check!!!

Family photo session sneak peak

30 weeks

We are so close to meeting our sweet Aria!
I thought I'd share with you all how different this pregnancy has been compared to the boys.

The worst is over. I had terrible morning sickness the first 15 weeks. So bad I lost 12lbs (5 1/2 kilos). Don't worry I've gained that back plus an additional 15lbs. But not bad compared to the 50lb (22kilo) weight gain with each boy.

No new stretch marks. I joke with Paul that I haven't even hit the creases of Brandon and Peters tiger stripes yet (seriously). I'm just carrying a whole lot smaller than Brandon and Peter.

No ugly line nigra. Many pregnant women know of this line. It can start above or below your navel and go all the way down to your public bone. This time no line so far!

No cravings. This one is weird. I was very hungry between 15-27 weeks. But the past 2 weeks it's back to tiny meals and snacks.

Sleeping better. I can still sleep on my back for short periods (20minutes) and unlike the boys I don't get any leg cramps at night. It also helps that the boys are older and sort of sleep all night. We still have occasional night visitors. And we also have early risers who enjoy snuggles 😀

And last I have Brandon 5 and Peter almost 4 who have become so independent. B wakes up in the mornings and just goes downstairs or to the playroom to watch cartoons. Peter wakes up around 7am and just gets in bed with me to snuggle and sleep for an extra hour. I am taking complete advantage of sleeping in. It will be a couple years until we have a full nights sleep again 😉

Peter's train and pet shop field trip

Peter and the chinchilla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8RR3o8h0o

Pet shop and TRAIN field trip

PreK songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgTKWNDHw5A

Preschool songs AIS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj01moacISo

Paul's new ride

Rock climbing party

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated 2 sibling classmates birthdays 3 and 5 years old at an indoor rock climbing party!! The kids had a blast.

Handsome boys

Brandon 5 and Peter 3 3/4! 😉

I just can't handle how handsome these boys are. They are going to be awesome BIG brothers to Aria. She going to have some great protectors. 😊

AIS track and field day

AIS track and field day preschool 2015

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo0j5XIKVzA

Peter running to the finish line at AIS track and field day! Can you tell how much he loved the crowd cheering for him. My apologies on my loud cheering. I got very excited, he was in the front of the preschool group!!!

Track and field AIS preschool PreK 2015

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC4VR1v2dbo

Brandon running to the finish line at the AIS track and field day at Hof de Bist! Such wonderful school spirit! We love this school!

little gym showcase

Sent from my iPhone

Little Gym pictures

Sent from my iPhone

Peter Little Gym 2015 showcase Antwerp

Below are three clips from Peters family show case at Little Gym. Peter was one of the youngest in the class. But he has proven early on to his instructors that he is one of the strongest. Which is why next year he gets to move up to the next level. We are so proud of this kid and his super strength!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_LXylbJdCg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gdy0RJdbXA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXVLoTwUO0

Sent from my iPhone

Brandon LITTLE GYM ANTWERP family showcase 2015

Below are clips from Brandon's family showcase at Antwerp Little Gym. The class his given in mostly Dutch but the instructors speak English to the boys if they don't understand! We are so proud of the boys. Next year they go up to the next level class!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9yDGH21FXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgLkJdqFec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfv9YiVSHwc

Aria Rose. 26 weeks pregnant

It's the last week of month 6! Aria is growing just perfectly! Just 11-13 weeks left until she'll be born! My prenatal care here in Belgium has been amazing! I get a detailed ultrasound at every appointment and she always prints 10 or so pictures. The picture to the right is her profile and the one to the left is a front view of her face. You can see her lips and nose. I was nearly in tears during this ultrasound because the images were just so clear. We can't wait to hold her and give her so much love.

Foaming Dino experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBmxxRBsbxY

ENTERING Month 5 of pregnancy week 17

Holy cow! Where did the time go? I keep asking myself how can I be 5 months pregnant already.

I just began wearing maternity pants this week I also had to buy some new tops since I'm starting so show, but I still don't have a huge appetite. My husband and I laugh because this has been the healthiest pregnancy yet. I'm craving vegetables and salads. At least one day a week I accidentally over eat and live to regret it for the following 2 days. So I constantly have to remind myself to take it easy and eat small portions. But this small portion of everything diet is great. I've gained back 2 of the 10 pounds I lost during the first 13 weeks.

Really exciting news is I felt our baby girl kick for the very first time on Monday. Everyday I can feel her more and more. Feeing her kicks puts my mind at ease that she is growing bigger and stronger everyday.

Baby girl has some great big brothers too. Brandon and Peter are so excited to meet her. We get a ton of hilarious questions from them. Brandon is very curious about how the baby will come out and many many questions about feeding the baby and why I can do it but he can't. Peter is convinced he has a baby in his belly and loves to tell everyone he can.

I'll have a doctors appointment this week to check on baby girls growth. Maybe because this is our 3rd child or because we had a baby in Rotterdam, Netherlands (just 1 hour from our house), but there is less fear of the unknown. The hospital, labor, and delivery procedures are nearly the same, this time I have a gynecologist instead of a midwife though.

I'm soaking up this new found feeling of being energetic and having an appetite. I know all to well that come month 7-8-9 the exhaustion will come back. I've gotta enjoy it while it lasts 😀

Big Kelly a Family News

Opera workshop performance

here is a video of my performance from this weekend

New school songs. One in Dutch

Videos from Opera Mommy's phone from 2014

I loaded all these short videos from 2014 on to my youtube page yesterday.  It's great to see some of the memories from our old house and how big the kids have gotten in just 1 year.  Now I can delete them from my phone and you all can enjoy them here on the blog and youtube.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!