A face shot

Since I really didn't have a great picture of Isabella's face....

There you go! She has my olive skin! My little eskimo kids as my sister likes to call them. She so looks like Madison did....except Dan thinks Isabella looks even more so like me. They all look like my baby picture minus I had red hair.

And the two older ones couldn't be happier she is part of our family. They are the two BIGGEST helpers!

She's here!

Isabella Mercedes Brown was born August 28th at 10:24 am weighing in at 7 lbs 14 ounces. We are home now...YAY and she's doing great! She looks just like Madison and Hannah, especially Madison (YAY! another one that looks like me!) ....I'll post more pictures later.

OH MY GOSH!

ONLY ONE MORE DAY UNTIL WE MEET OUR ISABELLA!!!!

Yes, we are crazy!

So we are buying this:

Well not this exact one...same kind of bird, a Timneh African Grey parrot but we're getting a baby. Dan found a breeder down in the south part of England and he will be ready late October to be picked up. We sent in a deposit. Dan is a "wanter-er" and I'm a "give-in-er" what can I say. The man just bought me a car...how could I say no!

So this will be us:

Dan keeps trying to get us to change Toby's name to Bilbo....that way we can name our Timneh Gandolf. Toby is a Toby though....I just can't do it.

I just don't like it when....

You have this experience....and although now looking at the whole thing it's kind of funny and I still feel as though if the outcome hadn't been the way it had...it still wasn't entirely my fault...I wouldn't mind blogging about it so I can look back and think...wow....isn't that just crazy and remember how well Dan took it all. But I can't since who knows who reads my blog and I don't want hurt feelings. So I will just make a reminder of how awesome Dan is and how he just makes a joke about it even though I'm stressing out big time. At the end...it all turned out alright though. And the best part...I think he would have done the same thing I thought I did if he knew just as much as me....if that makes any sense.

Preop appointment....getting close!

I had my preop appointment yesterday...so crazy I'm having this girl Friday. It's been crazy....while having false labor and her dropping and feeling like she is just going to fall out, she hasn't and persists to stay in there dancing and kicking away (I don't think she's realized that she's bigger and it hurts a little bit when she's busting out her dance moves.) Am I packed yet....NO! Is my house in complete order....NO! I've been slacking on that part since we got rid of our gardeners and got HOUSE CLEANERS! Woo hoo! No more floor boards , windows and all the other things I don't like to do (minus laundry). What's even better is we're having them do a "spring clean" as they like to call it and coming Thursday. My house will be totally clean when I come back from the hospital. So exciting! I have been so spoiled living over here....I don't know what I'm going to do when we go back to the states...I haven't had to do the ironing for the past couple of months since I have a lady who picks it up every fortnight and then drops it off 3 days later. My husband never has to complain about khakis not being ironed....an argument saved.

As far as the appointment went...it eased a lot of my fears of giving birth at the British hospital. The midwives have all been so nice and helpful so I think this is going to be a good experience....minus the fact that they keep the catheter for 24 hours in you after the surgery....I was up and walking after Hannah and Madison within 12 hours...so that's going to drive me more than crazy just laying there....helpless. Oh well...they said they would let me go home in 48 hours if I'm doing well....I would like to get out of there ASAP! While I was waiting there in the room, there were like other pregnant women in there since there are like 5 beds in this room and you can hear everything. Kind of awkward with what was going on but at the same time made me realize how blessed and fortunate I have been not have had to deal with any of the things that were going on in there.

So we are down to 52 hours the earliest this little girl is coming....all depending if I am the first or second surgery and if there are any emergency c-sections that happen. I could be on that operating table at 9 am Friday. The four of us are beyond excited....Madison is even counting down Bella's birth first rather then Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gary's arrival, they are now second. That was the first thing she would say to me in the morning since like forever, when the Trapps were coming....my girls are more than excited for them to come....it's been 15 months. I'll never forget the last night in Medford at their house, Madison asked my dad if he could just sleep on the couch so that they could sleep in the bed with Grandma Nancy. They will be excited to be able to cuddle with Grandma again while she reads to them like how she use to....even though the phone has been a life saver and they still get their grandma Nancy story. And I almost forgot....Grandma Nancy's cooking....Madison has already made a request list of things she would like. Crazy kid.

Another Day Out

This morning we headed on base since I had to check the mail to see if the swing and the girls' school uniforms had come in...they did! I was excited. Dan then mentioned how he wanted to go on a little road trip and check out a bird pet store...I was like okay not really wanting to go but we did. So off we headed to Leicestershire to check out this bird pet store. It was about an hour away but what else were we going to do? Sit around the house?

We got there and it was quite a small store but the people were oh so nice and talked our ears off. We almost bought an African Gray, which is the other kind of bird we want, and the store had a 12 week old one that was oh so cute with such a cute personality. It's so BIG compared to our little Senegal though...kind of intimidating but the bird was like a puppy. We got to talking to them and they told us about this tropical bird garden just down the road so we could look at the different kinds of birds and get an idea of other options. So we headed to this place that was 10 minutes away, ate at their tasty cafe and then walked around looking at the birds. It was so unlike any other bird place I've been to....they let a lot of the birds out of their aviaries and they just fly around....they stay since they are trained.....and you feed them nuts. They would say hello which the girls loved and some landed on people's heads which luckily didn't happen to us. They had a whole bunch of African Grays and the girls were able to feed them and enjoy themselves. We also saw some baby birds in their hatchery....so ugly and yet so cute. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera since I thought we were just going on base....but it was a fun day doing something different. And...we finally found a bird stand for Toby to put in Dan's office.

A Family Outing

Dan and I have been telling the kids that we would all go to the Raptor Foundation for awhile now. So, it was a beautiful day and Dan is off work and really our days are limited now with Isabella coming this week and then school starting the following week, so we went today. The girls had fun, we watched the bird flight show and ate some ice cream.

Now Dan is napping, the girls are playing outside and I'm trying to tackle the never ending laundry pile (it really isn't that big but I still like to complain about it.)

A gee...thanks mom and dad

For letting me pop the bubble wrap whenever you would bring some home. We had bubble wrap the other day in the car and even though I wanted to take it away (small cab space and tired, pregnant woman in front seat), Dan held my hand and they popped it pretty much the whole drive. Why oh why did my parents have to let me do fun, annoying things???

Guess what my husband bought me....

Today we went in and ordered my 2010 XC90 in Savile Grey...we thought we were getting the oyster or titanium but saw this one and really liked it with the black leather. I'm SO EXCITED! We won't get the car until mid November or so since they have to build it and then ship it from Sweden but YAY! I seriously have the bestest of the best husbands. He gave up getting his little sports car or old bug for now so I could get the family car with the third row I HAD to have. How lucky am I?

Done and ready!

So I finally tackled the rest of Isabella's laundry. I must say, the little girl isn't even here and she's piling up my laundry like crazy! I also found a swing/seat that I like for her. It's so cute and so matches her room....green, brown and cream.

I also won the breast pump (personal I know) I wanted for $100 less than what I was going to buy it on Amazon...I was super excited about that one.

Now just waiting....13 days until the day but now I can really hope for her to come sooner...I'm ready for real now.

Wake up!

Last night, I woke up to some terribly painful contractions. Like they were so strong and were going on for an hour I thought, "Oh no! I can't have this baby now! I have like a billion things to do before!" That and it was the middle of the night and Dan was working and so I was like, well if something happens....I'm taking the girls. Freaked me out a little. But, I went down, did some laundry which needs to be done and came back up, called my sister and then went to bed. They are still happening and I'm still doing laundry. Bella and I have had a talk though, I've told her she just can't some yet....I'm waiting for a package from GAP that should be here in 5 days with nursing tops and some yoga pants and another from Mothercare for some hospital supplies I need to bring which should be here any day. I also realized....hey....maybe I should be starting washing all her things in the baby detergent....otherwise I'm going to have a naked kid with nothing to wrap her in. The reality of 16 days or sooner is starting to sink in...OH MY GOSH I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY! LIKE A REAL BABY!

Things I like to hear

"The baby looks like she's dropped." I was told this by several people this morning when taking the girls to school....I just am like YAY! Perhaps Dan and my believing she's coming before the 28th is going to happen.

6 year old melt down...

As we were getting ready for school we were just about done but running a little late. I told the girls to get their shoes on. Hannah put on her sandals just fine and was waiting with her lunch on the bottom stair ready to go. I call out for Madison and she's upstairs having a fit. I tell her just to get some shoes and let's go. She's still not coming down. All this has woken up Dan and so he goes and tries to help her find her shoes. She then starts crying and says, "I just don't have any shoes to match this outfit!" Seriously!!! So on the agenda with Dan after he went and picked up the girls from school....try and find shoes to match the outfit. They were unsuccessful yesterday, perhaps today.

And I have to mention....my husband is so good to me. He has been such a help getting the kids out of the house so I can just rest and going out and doing things. More than half the time I want to go but he doesn't let me....I have to stay home and lay down and do nothing....his "rules." It's been so nice these last weeks to be able to do that. He's the bestest of the best! (inside thing for us but I had to put it in)

Happy Birthday Madison!

Madison is 6! Where did the time fly by??? It seems not that long ago we brought her home and she had a blow out on Dan's first night of baby duty. The girls started their day off at summer school, which they are loving, and I brought Mrs. Commissary's cupcakes that they all loved. Dan woke up and picked the girls up while I frantically tried to finish up decorating and wrapping up her presents. I had it finished minus the cake which Dan said he forgot but he didn't. We started the evening with presents...thanks everyone who sent her things.....she loved them! Of course, we had to do the traditional Trapp thing "heavy heavy hangover" while giving her presents.

The present that has my parents on the bad list: She LOVES it...but it has a pager to go with it that is possessed...it beeps non stop and we don't know how to stop it. Too bad they aren't closer...I would be sending them to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gary's house along with the pager to stay....Madison could come back just not the pager.All the kids loved her purse....as well as Madison...she tried stuffing everything in it!GOGGLES!!!! The other request she made to my parent's. They both got them for their birthday and were so excited.I had to put this picture in....I can see why some people think they are twins.... And what did the birthday girl want for dinner??? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!! What a crazy kid.Dan helping Madison put together the High School Musical puzzle globe she got for her birthday....she was so excited she got so many High School Musical things. It's still really big over here in England.And we finished with cake...she picked it out and was super excited the guitar was lip gloss. We had some of her neighborhood friends come over to share cake but kept it low key. She had a great day and was happy with everything....minus the fact, "people just kept calling her!" So her Dad's girl....doesn't like talking on the phone.

A splurge for my girls

Usually I take the girls to the base to get their hair cut...it's cheap. While I was getting mine done on Monday I asked if she did kids cuts there. Madison and Hannah's hair was in desperate need of a cut and I wasn't too pleased with the last one they got. So I decided to splurge and on Wednesday, they got their salon haircuts. It was so cute! They got their hair washed and everything and everyone was just looking at how cute they were. They so loved it! They even got their hair styled and they both came to less than just one of my hair cuts...even better! Yes, I spent double what I would pay on base, but their hair looks so much better! At the end before we left, they let Chelsie, the girl who does my hair and now theirs, they so like her instead of the other hair cut place. I think I've started something. Oh, and Madison was just too funny. She told Chelsie exactly what she wanted done....she even said she wanted fringe which I said no to....I don't want her to have bangs....and so we settled with shaping around the face. It was just too funny how she so knows what she wants. Hannah on the other hand was falling asleep....she always gets so relaxed while getting a hair cut.

Getting ready

I have been shopping like a crazy person trying to get things ready for Isabella's birth and Madison's 6th birthday. Madison is all done and so today is just cake, balloon and cupcakes for school pick up. As for the baby coming, I am just about done. While I was at my check up the other day, I was told how the hospital doesn't provide ANYTHING....nothing! So weird! I'm so use to just going in and just having to bring my toothbrush, clothes, slippers and the baby a coming home outfit....so it's been kind of weird trying to figure out what and how much I will need for possibly 3 days. I'm so hoping I get out at 2 like Hannah. And...I found out that they don't bathe the baby right away...they wait like hours later until you give the baby a bath. So your baby will have gunk on her....I'm thinking I'm requesting they give her a bath during my recovery period after the surgery....I don't want a gunky baby! So different....kind of makes me think, perhaps I should have just had the baby at the military hospital about an hour away but I'm in it for the experience. This should be interesting!

Trip to Paris

Dan and I dropped off our girls the night before at Ryann's (Thanks so much again!) and headed out early the next morning on the train at 5 am. We were pretty excited minus the fact we had 3 hours of sleep that night. We decided to go watch a movie and didn't get home until after 12 am. We arrived in London with plenty of time to spare to catch the Eurostar to Paris. Only a 2 hour 15 minute ride....we slept the pretty much the whole way. We then had to figure out how to get to our hotel using the metro....luckily I had some idea how it worked since that's what we had used in Berlin. We got the two day pass which was cheaper than probably getting a taxi to the hotel. We found the right area but when we looked around, we had no idea where the hotel was. We went to a tourist place and asked and turned out, our hotel was right next to the metro exit we had been standing at trying to figure out which way to go. We checked in and took a three hour nap before heading out and seeing Paris.

Dan and I wanted to see Notre Dame so we ate at a little cafe right next to it and I ate my tasty mozzarella and tomato sandwich and Dan had his chocolate crepes along with our 5 Euro water. Crazy...the water was almost as much as the sandwich! We decided not to go to the top....8 month pregnant lady climbing up all those stairs...I thought I would pass on that one but we did go inside and there was a service going on along with singing. It was lovely just sitting there listening. Dan and I are always amazed at these massive structures. It has been by far our favorite cathedral.

The resurrection story...
I took more pictures but it takes forever to upload them...but we spent quite some time inside. We then headed back out and walked around since the RER train station we were suppose to take was closed. We then ran into the bus that was the detour route. We were on our way but first we took a few pictures of the surrounding area around the cathedral.
Next stop....the Eiffel Tower of course. We were both surprised by the color...it was brown...I was thinking it was going to be more black with green. We took the elevator to the 2nd part...unfortunately the elevator was shut down to go all the way to the top which relieved Dan. He's afraid of heights....and he married a woman who loves them...

It was still a great view of the city. I loved the architecture. So much more "romantic" then England.

We headed back to to the hotel but first stopped by a market to get some fruit and water for dinner. We really weren't all that hungry. Had a great night sleep....it was so nice to have air conditioning in our room!!! Although...we did have a shower that didn't drain very well....kind of gross.

The next day we checked out, ate at a little cafe for breakfast and headed to the Louvre. We had to see Mona Lisa...which I must say....she's quite small. It was nice weather again....75 - 80, sunny and no humidity. Perfect, although it was warm to us since we're so use to not so good weather. We were overwhelmed by the museum. It took us forever to figure out the map and how to read it....but then I got it and we saw what we wanted to see.
I think our favorite part besides sitting, was the Italian and French art area. It was pretty cool to see the originals of all these famous paintings. We just sat and looked and it was very relaxing. We even saw the famous no arm lady statue. There was much more to see but after more than two hours we had our fill of the museum. We headed back out and walked and walked and walked all over. We didn't realize how far we had walked and were pretty much to the station. We were done earlier than we expected so we tried to get earlier tickets for the train but that was unsuccessful. We just hung out at the train station which in all honesty....was so nice, we had a seat.

I must say, before we headed off I was a little sketchy about going. I had heard that the people were rude and unfriendly but I must say, we had the opposite experience. We had people helping us as soon as we pulled out a map, men and women giving up their seats and no rudeness whatsoever. Perhaps it helped being a woman who is 26 days away from giving birth, but my experience of Paris was really nice. I don't really need to go there again....there are other places I would like to see but if perhaps some day, a long time from now I would like to see it again....when I'm not so pregnant.