Official Decision

So Pat and I have finally officially decided on the baby's name. The only way I could get Pat to discuss a baby name is that I had to promise not to tell anyone the name we choose until he is born. Pat wants some suprise to this little man's birth and I can understand and respect that.

So I will tell you we have decided on a name, I just can't tell you yet. The kids don't know either so you can't try to bribe it out of them. It does make me feel better because now Pat and I have something to call him when we talk to him.

I did put up a fun poll that you can vote and tell us what name you think we chose. Have fun!!

Wrestling Season

The boys had a great wrestling season. They placed 1st - 4th every week. Some weeks were harder than others but all in all they did great. Unfortunately last week at Regionals they did not feel very well so they did not wrestle their best and they did not place. So we are not going to State finals this year. It is the first year since Patrick was 5 that both of them have not qualified. They were pretty bummed along with Pat and I cause we love hanging out with friends and watching all the kids wrestle.

That's ok though we are also very glad to be done and have our weekends back. We have a lot to do to get ready for the baby still and the boys start baseball in about 3 weeks. Then Mara will be starting gymnastics to help her with her competitive cheer next year. All of this along with a newborn at some point. I am suprised I haven't had to check myself into a hospital with padded rooms yet.

The house has been getting a lot of work done to it. We remodled Mara's room (Paint, flooring, bedding, window treatments) and we are remodleing the family room downstairs (paint and carpet). Then we will be repainting the entire upstairs kitchen and living room as well as bathroom. This is what Pat has to get done before the baby comes. I know he loves this nesting phase. Hopefully he can get it done. We have a list of projects for this summer. A new deck, landscaping, and moving the hair salon to the basement along with a bathroom downstairs. We would like to get these done so when this wonderful economy gets better (someday) we will be ready to sell the house. Let's see if it happens. We are growing out of this house way too fast, but it is just not the time for us to sell, buy yes, but not sell.

Well, housework is calling and I need to get to all of that. Hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weather and we can't wait until summer and the cottage at our house.

Baby Belly

Here is my belly at 6 1/2 months!!!

Everything has been going very well. This little guy is growing and very active. We are all looking very forward to meeting him. Right now my house is in chaos because we are trying to rearrange and make room for this little surprise.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I will post all the changes we have done to the house. In the meantime I just need to try to relax and not go too crazy and hope Pat gets everything done in time for the babies arrival.

Where have we been??

I know, I am horrible at updating this. I have been so busy with the kids, Holidays and I just have not felt like myself with this whole pregnancy.



Well first things first. Dec. 30 Pat and I took the kids to our ultrasound and we found out we are having another little boy. Yeah!! Connor's exact reaction was "Yes, we won!" The boys could not have been happier, but Mara is still adjusting to the idea of another little brother. I am sure she will be fine and will become a second mother to this little guy someday. We have no ideas for names, Pat and I are horrible at agreeing on names, so my guess is he will not have a name until he is born. I have received some little "blue clothes" and even bought a few things myself. I have forgotten how small they are. I have had three ultrasounds so far and everything looks very good. This little guy is growing and starting to really kick. It is so fun to feel a baby inside of me again, especially since I didn't think this would ever happen.



I have started to have Braxton Hicks contractions which I had with the other three starting about 5 months, so I guess I am right on schedule. My doctor just wants to keep a close watch on them and make sure they are not causing pre term labor. We are not too concerned but it's one of those better safe then sorry things.



The other kids had a great Christmas and Santa was very good to them. I guess they must have been pretty good this year. It was a very busy holiday season with lots of family in town and parties to attend. We are still trying to recover.



The boys have started wrestling and have their first tournament this weekend. Mara does not have any extra curricular activities going on currently besides socializing with friends.



Pat and i are just trying to stay sane with all of the chaos around us but we have been doing this for awhile I am sure we will be fine.



We have a wonderful 2009 to look forward to and can't wait to keep everyone posted on the wonderful Ellison news to come this year.

What has been going on?

Well, not a lot of changes in the Ellison household lately. I am just starting my second trimester and I have heard the heartbeat, which was very surreal since I didn't think that would ever happen again. I have an very extensive genetic test set up for Nov. 18 which I will be having a 2 hour ultrasound, blood work, and some other tests done. Due to Mara's medical history and my family history Pat and I chose to make sure we are prepared for anything. I will update when that is all done.

Patrick has finished his first season of football, which he absolutley loved. He played quarterback, offensive end and safety. Which meant we saw him play quite a bit which was fun. Mara also finished cheerleading which she loved. Mara was born to be a cheerleader I think. She will be taking gymnastics through the winter since , I can't believe I am going to say this, she will be on the middle school team next year.

The boys start wrestling next week, which means our life will be over until about April. That is ok though, we have great friends and the boys love it. It should be a fun year, since Connor will be wrestling with the older boys group now and Patrick will be at the top of his weight and age group. I will try to keep these weekly stats updated.

Halloween 2008

What a great Halloween!! We had Darth Vader, a Jailbird, and The Joker. These are pictures from after trick or treating so as you can see the kids were wiped out. We went to the Taylor's house had pizza and Pat and Bryan took the kids out while Trisha and I stayed back and passed out candy. This was the first year Mara got to go around the neighborhood with her friends. She thought she was very cool, little did she know dad was trailing behind keeping an eye on things :).

OMG!!!!!!

Well that was our reaction. Pat and I found out this week that we are expecting baby number 4!!
The kids are so excited and Pat and I are excited but a bit in shock still. I am due in May and we have a lot of work, we have no baby supplies anymore, or even a house ready for a baby.

What a wonderful blessing and we know that this baby will have three older siblings ready to spoil it to death.

I will keep everyone posted on the progress and as soon as we find out what we are having. I know that Mara wants a girl and the boys want a bouy (big suprise). We will have to find out because there is no way they will all be able to wait until MAy to find out.

Stayed tune for monthly updates!!!