Roses are red, violets are blue,
I’ve got something to share with you!
We’ve got two boys, they are our whole world,
which it’s about to expand by one little girl.
A party of 5 is what we’ll soon be,
and this little family is filled with glee!
Guys, there’s a very clear reason I haven’t written a poem since the 6th grade. Thank you Rhymer.com for help with…whatever that was…but yes, we are having another baby. I still almost can’t believe it!
As I mentioned in my post announcing our pregnancy with Cameron, I am very sensitive to the feelings of the women and men who are praying to God and pleading with the universe to bless them with a precious little one. Please know that I see your desires and struggles and wish nothing more then to be by your side with a supportive squeeze and listening ear. You got this.
But yes, a baby girl. Sugar, spice and everything nice! I am full of feels. ALL the feels, hahaha! Shock, excitment, nervousness – did I mention shock? I’ll admit I’ve raised a proverbial eyebrow in the past when people claim to know the gender of their baby before an anatomy scan, or having the baby of course, but the eyebrow is forever lowered because I knew from day one this child was a girl. My pregnancy with both boys was identical but since the day I got a positive test, everything’s been different. Crazy nausea, headaches 24/7, insanely vivid dreams. If that wasn’t enough, the moment she popped up on the screen during our first ultrasound at 11 weeks (I’m 17 weeks right now – due in late July) all I could see in my mind was a giant red heart. A girl…I just knew it.
Fast forward several weeks later and I got a call from our doctor’s office with the results of some blood tests that would also tell us gender. “Um, how accurate are these tests?” I asked the nurse on the phone. “Hmmm, let me check,” she said while rifling through some papers. “Oh, here it is. 99.9% accurate.”Â
Ok then!!
Hey listen, I have two brothers, two little boys, and am the least girly girl on the planet to boot, so to be honest with you I had a minor panic attack when the news I’d felt in my bones since the beginning was confirmed on paper. Barbies, bows and nail polish are foreign territory, but I can handle it. (**Edited to add: of course being a girl doesn’t automatically mean these things – I was a tomboy!) Where my thoughts immediately went was mean girls. Peer pressure. Body image. BOYS!!!! Which is weird since I had a mostly normal and happy teenage existence. I just very quickly realized how big of a part I’ll play in raising a strong and independent, kind and responsible woman. No pressure! Luckily my sister-in-law wisely advised me to focus on the here and now – aka picking out an adorable, ruffly onesie for her to come home in.
Everyone asks how Ben is feeling about having a third, and a girl. Umm, Ben is probably the most excited! We both grew up with two siblings and have always felt like a full house was a fun house. Lincoln is so so pumped, and Cameron has no idea, poor thing. We’ll get him a doll in the next month or two so he can start practicing. He and little sis will be 21 months apart.
Ok, parents of 3+ and/or 2 under 2, talk to me about:
- Double strollers. Lightweight, jogging – let me have it.
- SUV car seat configurations (what we currently have.) I’m all for becoming a mad mom in a minivan but Ben is insisting we hold onto what’s left of our cool card for as long as possible.
- Literally everything else. Give me all your good stories and advice. I feel WAY less nervous about having this baby then I did Cameron for about 100 different reasons, but being a mother to three precious children under five is still somewhat terrifying.
Thank you for allowing me share our wonderful news with you – oh my gosh, it feels so good to not hold it in anymore! I think this may help connect the dots as to why I’ve felt a bit preoccupied lately too. I’m finally past the “I’m so tired all I want to do is stare at the wall” phase, but being pregnant with two little boys and a business is no joke. So that said, thank you also for your understanding if things get a little willy nilly here for awhile. I am grateful to have the best, most loyal and supportive readers in the world. <3
Brooke 02.16.2018
Congratulations! May your pregnancy be smooth sailing.
Katie 02.16.2018
Congratulations to your family!! I’ve been following your blog for a long time now and can’t wait to follow along with this too!
Casey Barnhard 02.16.2018
WHAT!!!!! Congratulations!!!
MICHELLE 02.16.2018
Oh yay! Your kids are spaced exactly like mine! Boy (4), Boy (21 months), Girl. Which are now 8,6,4. I won’t lie, our middle child is our wild man so that first year was a doozie! I bought a double stroller, never used it. Wild man wouldn’t ride, he was so independent. Buy a wrap, even if you never wore your babies before, this is a new day where you’ll need 2 hands. LOL It’s been so much fun though and it only gets better. Little sister adds such a fun dynamic to the mix. Our boys love that little girl something fierce! We still have an SUV. We have a third row where the big guy ended up. I put the infant seat behind the drivers seat because while could sit her down on the ground, I knew I’d need to have my hands free for wild man. It worked well. I would get her out and then go around to the other side to get the others out. Congratulations!
Katie 02.16.2018
Congratulations on your baby girl! I was the only girl in our family, followed by three boys, and I remember feeling panicked and inadequate when we were blessed with one, then two girls. Fast forward 12 years, and those two girls have grown me day by day in wonderful ways! Blessings to you and your family!
Sarah 02.16.2018
Congratulations! How exciting! We have a 2.5y/o girl and 5m/o boy. I had the same fears when we found out we were having our daughter. I was such a tomboy, how would I deal with a daughter who was a girly girl? But then a friend reminded me that I would be able to raise a strong independent confident daughter and that is the coolest thing in the world! I absolutely love watching my husband and our daughter’s relationship. They went to their first daddy/daughter dance last week and talk about all the feels! She is still talking about it a week later! I will say that being pregnant with a 18 month to 2 year old is rough. I was pretty certain my 2y/o was trying to kill me every day of the 3rd trimester, if not physically by making me wrestle her in to her car seat then mentally by dragging me in to her confusing 2 year old logic. In the moment, I was certain we would never make it out alive (clearly pregnancy makes me super dramatic) but we are doing good now! I bought a Tula Free to Grow for our little guy and wear him a lot. He loves it and I love it for comfort! It’s a lifesaver.
Laurie 02.16.2018
Congratulations!! We are in the same boat with welcoming our third this June. We’ll have 3 kids ages 3 and under! I am the one resisting the minivan but I know it is the best for a family with small kiddos. We got a double stroller for flying this Christmas and it’s the delta side by side. It’s light weight and easy to fold up. I use it to walk the kids around the neighborhood too.
Becky 02.16.2018
Congratulations Kristin! My 3 girls are spaced like yours are…particularly my youngest 2 are 21 months apart! My oldest started preschool 2 full days a week like a week after the baby was born! My oldest was suuuuper helpful but my middle was still pretty young to do much more than cuddle or just act like a one year old! She was SO sweet but just not as helpful which was totally fine! I will say that with my oldest I was a little crazy about monitoring screen time, but you better believe that went out the window for our middle when the baby came home! Elmo and Dora saved a lot of our days ? I would encourage you to be flexible with how you get through the early days when all the baby does is eat! But, I bet it’s super helpful having your parents in town! I think you’ll be a natural mom to a daughter! The mean girl thing and body image stuff can feel overwhelming for sure, but you’re who she sees first and always! You lay the foundation for kindness and valuing the intangibles of life and character and not an obsessive focus on appearances! She’s going to be so well loved by you and Ben and the boys that I think a lot of the scary stuff takes care of itself because of the great examples and influences she has right around her ?
Amy Yordt 02.16.2018
Congratulations on your 3rd human! And a baby girl human at that!:)
Kate 02.16.2018
Congrats! I had three under 5–we had a side by side double stroller—which was great for avoiding back seat hair pulling, but stunk to maneuver through doors ?. We also didn’t turn in our cool card and shoved all three car seats into the back of our Ford Focus. We took the car seats with us car shopping and put them in the back seats if the cars we were looking at and made our kids sit in them so we knew exactly what we were getting into! If you go with an SUV get ready for lots of kicking on the back of your seat while driving—maybe some new kind of seat massage?!?
Rachel Schlosser 02.16.2018
Congrats! So excited for you. I would say go with a Mini Van, we love ours, and if you can get one with captains chairs it makes it a little harder for them to fight in the back.
Stephanie 02.16.2018
Congrats! I’m oh so done at 2 kids (3 1/2 and 18 months) My advice is go for a double bob or baby jogger summit x3. You will probably end up carrying one kid half the time and being able to steer the stroller easily with one hand is a must. I have the double bob and the single summit x3. I might love the baby jogger a little more but they are both great
Catherine 02.16.2018
We have two boys and were shocked when #3 was a girl. I was not a girly girl at all – hated wearing dresses. I can’t get my little girl to wear anything other than a dress or skirt!! But it’s so much fun! It’s so refreshing to have a girl at times. ? my husband resisted the mini van as well, but he loves it now. Don’t know how we’d live without it. Enjoy your time with the boys before your girl arrives.
Cassidy 02.16.2018
Congratulations!! I don’t have any car recs because we’re in the same boat there, but I would 100% get a minivan if I could (we live in a rural area with questionable roads so need something beefier) but I LOVE my double BOB jogging stroller. Like, love it. It fits through regular doorways and is easy to maneuver with one hand! Baby Jogger doubles are also ah-amazing and if I didn’t need something heftier (the darn roads) I would have gone with a city select double.
Elly 02.18.2018
Agreed – I love my double Bob! It’s sooooooo easy to push – it basically glides on its own.
Ginny 02.16.2018
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Wishing you all the best and lots of rest until July! ?
Stefanie Croley 02.16.2018
Huge congrats to you all! I am a mom of three – an almost 3.5 year old boy, and boy/girl twins who just turned one last week. For a while I had three under three, and when anyone asked me what it’s like having three kids, I couldn’t really share any advice because most people have two older kids and one newborn – not the opposite! But regardless of the ages and configuration (for lack of a better word), you said it best when you said a full house is a fun house! Stock up on coffee and wine and enjoy!!
Gear wise: We traded our smaller SUV in for a van (two infant seats = not enough room) but you may be able to make it work. Test out some double strollers if you can. I much prefer a side-by-side – we love our Mountain Buggy Duet!
Congratulations again to you and your lovely family, Kristin!!
Melissa 02.16.2018
Congrats!! I am a mom to 3 (boy 7yrs, girl 5yrs, & boy 2.5yrs) and I can say it is a wild ride! I’m sure you will figure out what works for your family in terms of strollers and gear, but we got a minivan to deal with all.the.stuff.all.the.kids and let me say – I’ll never go back! Automatic sliding side doors are clutch! It really enables the older two (or maybe just your oldest) to be more independent in all the in-and-out transitions that get so cumbersome with babies and toddlers. That’s always my biggest piece (and usually only piece) of advice to moms of 2+ – make the older ones as independent as possible. Haha! Good luck!
Celia (Chicago Jogger) 02.16.2018
Congratulations!!! Such an exciting time ?
EM 02.16.2018
Congratulations Kristin!
Erin B. 02.16.2018
Congratulations, so happy for you and your growing family!!