Wedding week!!

Brian and Hollie were married at the Bing Crosby Resort on April 15, 2016 and we had such a fun week of wedding festivities!!

We started the fun with a barbecue at the Ozecks on Wednesday evening.  Lindsay and Paul arrived late Tuesday night so had hung out in Coronado for the day and then my Uncle Bruce, Aunt Gloria, Bruce David and Autn Pam and Uncle Bob also came.  We had such a great time catching up with one another and of course the kids had a blast, too.  Towards the end of the night the girls decided to put on a "Let It Go" show where basically they sang the words, "Let it go" over and over and over again (and Ella more screamed the words than actual sang them!)

The rehearsal dinner was Thursday evening at my parent's home but before that Lindsay and I snuck in a walk at the community park together and then I went to the rehearsal that afternoon since I was doing a reading.  After the rehearsal, I swung back by our house to pick up Rich and the kids and we headed up to my parent's house.  They recently completed their beautiful outdoor kitchen so it was a great place to host the 70 or so people that were there to celebrate Brian and Hollie...and to enjoy the delicious grilled cheese from the food truck that came!  Such a fun idea! It was a busy night catching up with family and friends so I didn't take any pictures but thankfully Laura had someone grab this one of the four of us-love it!!!  

The originial delaMontaigne crew!  My how we have grown over the past ten years!!

Rich took Friday off (the day of the wedding) so that morning we hiked Torrey Pines with my Aunt Cindy and cousin Esther.  It was a gorgeous day and we always love coming here...although Ella did whine the entire hike up to the start of the trail (which I am seeing a pattern since she did the same thing last time) but once we got her on the actual trail she was back to her normal, happy self and had a blast hiking/running/skipping/dancing down to the beach!

Perfect day for a wedding!

Esther spotted a very large and very dead fish that was washed up on the shore and Joseph wanted his picture with it!  The hike was a great way to spend the morning and to tire the kids out so we could get them to all take naps before the wedding since we knew it was going to be a late night ahead for them!

The wedding ceremony was held at St. Bartholomew's in Rancho Bernardo and everything was perfect!

Hollie was gorgeous and Bubs cleaned up pretty well, himself!  We are all so excited to officially have Hollie as a part of the delaMontaigne family!

Following the ceremony, everyone made their way to the Bing Crosby resort which is beautiful!  We took some family pictures outside during the cocktail hour and then Rich took Julia home to stay with our sitter...figured it would be much easier without her at the reception and I am so glad we decided to do that!  Rich made it back in time for dinner and then everyone had a great night celebrating Brian and Hollie!  

Linz and Paul-Linz is due with their baby boy on May 27th!!!

Ella and Sydney had fun with my phone during the ceremony!

The kids relaxing before going to the cocktail hour!

Looking too cool and too grown up enjoying his lemonade during the cocktail hour!

Sweet girl!

Joseph spotted the photo booth almost immediately so we had to check that out before it got too crowded!

The kids got the party started early by dancing during dinner!  They were having so much fun!

Once the real dancing started, Joseph decided he was too cool to dance and he hung out with Hollie's older nephews at the table watching them play games on their phone but Ella had a blast!  She was a dancing machine and twice we had to sit down because her side hurt!!  

She was excited to dance with Uncle Bubba during their money dance!  Joseph did dance with Hollie, too, but my phone was at the table then so I didn't get a picture-I know the photographer got one though so will just have to wait for that!

The kids lasted until about 10:15 when they were really starting to look very tired so we headed home then...which worked out just fine since I was also ready for bed!  It was such a wonderful night though, catching up with lots of family and friends, celebrating Hollie and Brian and having so much fun on the dance floor!  Linz and I were still able to break it down with everyone even with our pregnant bellies! :)
The next day around noon we headed to Hollies' families rental home for a barbecue and hung there for a few hours and then headed back to my parents' house to hang out with some family for the rest of the night.
Loved hanging out with Ali and her boyfriend, Mike

along with most of the rest of the delaMontaigne crew from Arizona.

The kids all took naps there but once they woke up they were ready to go again so they jumped in the pool/spa with the dads.

Julia likes to be in the middle of it all!

They would get brave every now and then and jump in to the big pool which is way too cold for me but Dave was a great sport and Ella had a blast swimming to him!

Love hearing the conversations between these two as they get older!  Joseph said at one point to Sydney, "Last year when I was young I could only do this, but now look at what I can do."  They really get along so well which is so fun to watch!

Spa chaos!

After another late night on Saturday night and no baths (I don't think Joseph had taken a bath since Wednesday night due to us being out so late every night but at least he went in the pool!!) it was nice to be back in the routine Sunday night although the dirty kids were worth it since it was such an amazing week and wedding and we feel so blessed to be surrounded by such incredible family and are so excited for Hollie and Brian!!!  

It's a GIRL!!!!

Baby Ducote #4 is a GIRL!!  So exciting!!  I survived the waiting game of staring at the envelope for over 33 hours while Rich was in northern California and even after a flight delay!!  He was supposed to be home around 7:00 p.m. Friday night but his flight was delayed so didn't make it home until 9:00.  Joseph and Ella really wanted to stay up since we had been talking about opening the envelope ALL day long so we rented a movie and they managed to stay awake!  Basically once he walked through the door, Joseph asked to open it up and we did!  Lots of excitement from Ella once Rich read that it is a girl, but not quite as much enthusiasm from Joseph.  He actually ended up in tears and left the room (baby girl #4, I'm sure you'll read this one day and I promise that your older brother really does love you so much!!  We got a pretty classic video of the reveal that I'm hoping his youngest sister will share it at his wedding one day-ha ha!!!)  He was hoping for a brother to balance things out but we know that he will make an amazing big brother to three sisters and be such a great protector, supporter and friend for all three girls.  How fun to have three girls so close in age and our hope is that they grow up also supporting, encouraging and loving one another.  My mom brought over 1 blue balloon and 3 pink balloons, along with pink sherbet, on Saturday afternoon and by that time everyone had gotten over the initial shock of 3 girls and we are all super excited for what lies ahead for our family...but also will totally understand if Joseph and Rich escape the estrogen from time to time!!  SO fun!!!

Baby #4!!!!

We are so excited that our family is growing again!!!  We will be welcoming baby #4 sometime early September!!!  We found out that we were pregnant at the very end of December (on the 27th when we were in Atlanta actually!) and it is hard to believe that we are now in the middle of April and we are halfway there!!  The first trimester I was definitely tired and had major food aversions (basically nothing sounded good to me) and I definitely did not feel like cooking at all.  But, really, who ever really feels like cooking?!?  My energy has definitely come back since the second trimester where I don't require a daily nap (thank goodness that Joseph and Ella are really good about having quiet time in their room while Julia naps) but I do still find myself asleep on the couch often by 8:30 p.m.  I haven't really been craving anything real specific or constant, although since Lent has been over and I gave up desserts during it, I definitely have a hard time passing up any sweet that comes my way now!  

I found a doctor about 5 miles from our home and he has been great so far.  I found him on yelp and he received great reviews especially in the area of vbacs and although I have always preferred having female doctors, we have been very happy with him.  I'll deliver at Pomerado hospital which is also just 5 miles from us so that will be convenient!!  This time around I didn't see a specialist, but I did take progesterone for the first 14 weeks  and a baby aspirin for first 16 weeks and thankfully the baby has looked healthy from the first appointment.  

I started feeling fluttering a little before 17 weeks and now at over 20 weeks am feeling the baby move quite a bit. I definitely feel him/her move more at night when it is quiet since I am constantly moving all day.  Those movements seriously are the best feelings in the world!!

First appointment on January 28th at almost 8 weeks

Heartbeat was 160

Second appointment on February 25th at 11 weeks and 2 days-the physician's assistant didn't listen to the heartbeat count this time but saw it moving and said everything looked great.

I had a third appointment on March 25th and they didn't do an ultrasound but the heartbeat was in the 130s.  

 I had my 20 week ultrasound on Thursday, April 21st at Del Mar Obstetrics-my doctor sent me here so they could do the full, detailed anatomy scan since he doesn't have the equipment to do so.  Baby looks great and all is healthy but he or she is measuring big (21 weeks and 4 days!!) so 9 days ahead of due date.  My doctor isn't concerned since he/she is measuring big all around and doesn't feel the need to change the due date now but we'll just continue to watch how big he or she gets!

Heartbeat was 151 today.

We have decided to find out the gender this time around.  As much as I loved not finding out with Julia and keeping it a surprise, we figured that the more planned we are this time around, the better it will be for our family and I think we'll both need a little bit of time to process if we have three girls who will all be so close in age!!!!  Rich was unable to be at the appointment on the 21st since he had some unexpected travel come up, so I didn't look when the tech was looking at the gender and she then put a picture in an envelope which is currently on our bulletin board!!!!  We are going to open it tonight when he gets home!!  I have had to wait over 24 hours with the envelope just staring at me but I've stayed strong and just can't wait to find out tonight!!  I dreamt girl last night (obviously it is on my mind) but my gut still says boy, but really I think it is only saying that to make Joseph and Rich extra happy! Either way we are super excited and just so thankful that this sweet baby is healthy!! 

I definitely feel like my belly is big for 20 weeks!!  My weight gain is right on track with the other three pregnancies but I was actually a bit thinner prior to getting pregnant this time around than I had been before so I know I have put on more weight but I definitely feel like my belly is much bigger than it was with the others!! Especially after seeing Lindsay this past weekend when basically our bellies were the same size and she only has 6 weeks to go!!  

 This collage proves that I am big!!  Look at the difference between Joseph (in the reddish tank top taken at 21 weeks) and now (taken at 20 weeks, 2 days)!!  Oh my goodness!!  This collage also proves that I officially have become awful at taking pictures of my belly...this is the first picture during this pregnancy but it is obvious from the collage that I didn't do a very good job while pregnant with Julia either since the only one that I could find around the 20 week mark was this one with both kids, hardly able to see my belly!!  Joseph did take the picture of me this time so maybe the angle is making me look extra big, too...wishful thinking!!

Here is our sweet announcement that we shared on Facebook.  Joseph and Ella are super excited!!  After my appointment at 12 weeks, I put the ultrasound on the refrigerator and that night Joseph saw it and said, "What's that?"  We were all in the kitchen and Rich asked him what he thought it was and he said a baby and he and Ella both guessed Baby Joseph and then Baby Ella and Baby Julia and then we told them that it was a  new baby in my belly.  They were so cute and excited (and love that we captured it on video!!!)  Joseph immediately said that he hoped it is a boy!  He still constantly says that he hopes it is a boy but says that it is ok if it is a girl and that he'll love her anyways (so sweet!)  Ella keeps saying girl but then she'll say "but we don't know yet".  Ella loves rubbing my belly and is very careful around me not to bump the baby and if I tell Julia that I can't carry her because I don't want to hurt the baby, Ella is always the first to re-explain it to Julia and make sure that I'm ok.  She often talks about helping with the new baby and being a big sister.  Julia is definitely catching on especially with the ultrasound pictures up in the kitchen because she'll now point to them and then at me and I'll say "baby in my belly" and she nods.  They are going to be awesome older siblings and although I am sure most days will be chaotic with four kids under the age of 6, we are super excited as to what is ahead for our family!!