Archive for June, 2013

Mikayla’s Fourth Year in Pictures

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

Recently Mikayla has really enjoyed looking at pictures and videos from when she was a baby.  Which I am not opposed to because it gives me a chance to go back and look at how much she has grown and changed!  Mikayla’s fourth year of life was an exciting one filled with travel, visitors and growth!  Here is a quick picture recap of her fourth year of life.

May 2012 – We took some three year old pictures and Mikayla went to Bushfire (a local music festival held yearly in Swaziland) for the first time.  She also discovered the fine culinary art of making mud pies and had a Mickey themed birthday party!3 year pictures 102

Bushfire 005-1

Mickey party, swim and swing 028

Mickey party, swim and swing 065

June 2012 – She took part in her first pig roast (she actually participated in two of these in her fourth year) complete with watching the slaughter all the way through cooking and eating!  Pig Roast 035

July 2012 – She took her first hike up Execution Rock (the first of many during the last year).  And became even more goofy!

Execution Rock 052

Letter X and Y, Miliwane, Katie's groups 139

spider, underwear and Olympics part 1 030

August 2012 – In honor of the Olympics she hosted her very own Olympic games with stuffed animals, babies and a few adults!  She also traveled to London for the first time and made her first trip back to the USA where she spent lots of time with family and friends!Pig Roast 006

MLK Olympics 015

NYC 043

NYC 095

BG, tree pictures 049

September 2012 – More time in the USA hanging with friends and family!  She also got to meet her cousin Reid!

BG, tree pictures 093

BG, tree pictures 074

BG, tree pictures 118

Reid, BG2 015

Reid, BG2 112

Reid, BG2 155

Reid, BG2 194

Somerset 081

Somerset 211

October 2012 – She started 3 year old preschool this month.Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 010

November 2012 – In addition to hosting another Thanksgiving this year (even bigger than last year) she participated in a global exchange of Traveling Charlie.  She had a blast carrying him around the mission (and Swaziland) snapping pictures of her favorite places.Charlie, LOW Cc 008

December 2012 – She announced she was going to be a big sister!Baby 2 015 (2)

January 2013 – She enjoyed spending the month playing with all her fantastic Christmas gifts, including her soccer ball.  Please note that she is in a princess skirt and rain boots while playing soccer.  This girl has some serious style!LOW 6 and 7 and spider 012

February 2013 – She hosted her first set of visitors since our move to Swaziland.  Jana (Ben’s cousin) and her friend Liv came for a a couple of weeks.Visitors - Jana, Liv, Rita Steve 001

March 2013 – Daddy went to Ethiopia and brought Mikayla back a beautiful dress which she refers to as her wedding dress!  She also spent almost three weeks visiting with her Grandma and Grandpa Kickert (although I am not sure what happened to all those pictures).  She also dyed and hunted Easter eggs.Visitors - Jana, Liv, Rita Steve 030

Easter, birthday, camp 019

Easter, birthday, camp 032

April 2013 – Her birthday month!  She was surprised to find a bike waiting for her on the morning of her fourth birthday!

Easter, birthday, camp 142

What a busy and exciting year this four year old has had!!

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Pregnancy Update Week #36

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

How far along? I am 36.5 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss? Still gaining weight, but it is slowing down!

Stretch marks? Still none, although I am not sure how much more my belly can stretch out!

Best Moment this week? We have started getting in some of the pennants we asked close friends and family to create for the kids room.  Once we get them all in I will make into a banner to hang up!  Here are a couple of them that we have received!

brakes, Letter Q, R, Feast of Sacred Heart, Wk 36 090

Movement?  The movement is starting to slow down some, although baby still moves like crazy at different times during the day.

Food Cravings:  No major cravings, just food in general!  I feel like I eat all day!  I have also been eating a bowl of cereal just before bed almost every night.

Gender? We had another ultrasound at our last appointment and we are happy to say that Baby Kickert was not shy this time around!  According to what we saw this time we are definitely having a boy!  Although if I am being honest, I am not holding my breath and waiting until delivery to have a definitive answer!

Labor Signs?  The Braxton Hicks contractions are apparent everyday, but nothing to be concerned about yet.

Belly Button in or Out?  I would say I am definitely an outie!  Mikayla actually looked at my belly button the other day and said there wasn’t a hole there anymore!

What I miss.   Wearing my wedding band.  I had to remove my rings this past week due to swelling.  The day starts off okay, but by afternoon my fingers are so swollen I can hardly remove them.  I figure better safe than sorry so I have removed them for the time being.

What I am looking forward to.  I think like most women at this point in pregnancy, I am most looking forward to holding our baby for the first time (and not being so huge anymore!).

Weekly wisdom:  Even though I am tired at the end of the day, I still have to reserve energy to be mommy to Mikayla.  This is tough, but she shouldn’t suffer just because I am pregnant with another child!

Milestones:  The only milestone I can think of is that my maternity clothes are starting to feel a little snug!  To me that is how I can tell the end is getting closer!

Here are two belly shots for comparison.  This is me at 36 weeks for both pregnancies.  Picture one is the current baby (I just got out of the shower, so please ignore the wet hair style) and picture two is with Mikayla.

brakes, Letter Q, R, Feast of Sacred Heart, Wk 36 094   Reading day, week 36 053

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