Cute Kids and Pneumonia

This is the picture that is on my desktop of my computer. It's one of my very favorite pics of my kiddos ever. Last night just before bed I was ready to close the computer and this picture happened to catch my eye. I just looked at it for a while and had to smile. First off, seriously, how cute are they?!?!? :) It makes me REALLY want to meet this little person growing

in my belly! I've been feeling really great and have gotten TONS accomplished lately, but I am to the point now where I am ready for him to be out of my womb and into my arms! Plus, when I see my other cuties, I just can't wait to see what he looks like! In my mind, he has dark hair like Claire did and beautiful blue eyes like his daddy, but guess we'll just have to wait and see! My dr says he's not real big (thank goodness!! :)) but that's ok with me. I would like to have at least one chubby little baby since my other 3 were rather scrawny, but tiny is so precious too, so whatever he looks like, I'm sure I will think he's beautiful (or awesome-Darren INSISTS that boys aren't beautiful, they're awesome! :)).

I think we are pretty much ready for Little Man's arrival. The cradle and crib are set up, one more small load of laundry to finish for him, clothes in the closet, and carseat washed and waiting to be installed! :) Daddy is shopping tonight for Little Man's coming home outfit-something that he has done for all the kids. As much as he despises shopping, he comes home with pretty cute outfits, so I can't wait to see what he gets for this little guy!

We had a little scare with these horrible coughs the other kids have had lately. The girls are both definitely on the mend, mostly coughing first thing in the morning if at all, but Darren's actually turned into pneumonia! When Claire was born, Darren had RSV, so he couldn't come to the hospital and he had to be away from home until she was a week old. He was pretty little yet, so he didn't really care. Now, it's a different story! He is a gigantic Momma's boy (which I love! :)) and is absolutely BESIDE himself with excitement for his baby brother to be born. If I had to tell him that he couldn't see his Mommy or his brother for a week, well...I just don't know what he would do! Thankfully though, I don't think that will be a problem! His dr switched antibiotics 2 days ago and he has done AWESOME since then! The dr could still hear a little rattle in his lungs today, but he is sleeping so much better and not coughing so much, so we are SO thankful! We also found out that since he responded so well to the antibiotics he more than likely has bacterial pneumonia. Pneumonia is not good, but if you have to have it when your mom is having a baby anytime, bacterial is the way to go! :) That means that since he is on antibiotics, he won't spread it to Little Man! We have to go back in a month for a follow-up chest x-ray just to be sure, but that's definitely do-able! :) I'm just SO thankful this has all worked itself out. One of my newest favorite quotes holds very true here-"Worry ends where faith in God begins". LOVE IT!!!!

So, now that I can breathe a sigh a relief that we aren't spreading pneumonia to helpless infants, I am moving on to hoping this baby comes out SOON! 13 days or less-COME ON BABY!!! We love you and are all anxious to meet you!

Cuteness from the Brandt Children

I decided that since my kids are so adorable you know :) that I needed to post a few of the cute things they've said lately. So here we go~
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The other day I, feeling particularly huge and preggo, commented to Darren that I sure was ready to get his brother out of my belly. He looked at me, looked at my belly, and said in a very mature, grown up voice "Mommy, you 'dis have to wait. He 'dis needs to grow a little bit more and then he can come out." LOL! Can you tell I've been responding to the question of when Little Man is going to be born A LOT!?!? I looked at him, laughed, gave him a squeeze, and thanked him for reminding me.
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My little Claire Bear is definitely my "challenge child". She's VERY determined and gets into everything! The last week or so we have been butting heads and by that I mean, she is even MORE determined to get her way than normal so that means that Mommy has to more determined also. These phases are exhausting! Anyhoo, it was after a particularly "challenging" day, we had taken a quick shower and I had passed her out to Sam to dress while I finished up my shower. He was drying her off, lotion, etc. She was not in trouble in the least. They were talking and out of the blue, I hear her little voice, sweet as can be, say "Daddy, don't give me a 'pankin"! I busted out laughing. I obviously couldn't see her, but I can just imagine her big 'ol eyes blinking innocently at her beloved Daddy. I don't know if she figured it had been a couple hours since she had one and she was about due or what, but she was just so funny that I couldn't help it. I tell her all the time it's a good thing she's so cute!
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I think we have finally decided on a name for Little Man. The other day, I asked Darren what he thought of it and he looked at me for a sec, cocked his head to one side and said "Mommy, that's so SILLY! We're going to name him RACECAR!!" Oh dear...I thought he knew we were kidding...
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This morning in meeting, my dad stood up to pray and Darren looks at him, puts his little hand on his hip, then looks at me and whispers "Wow! Grandpa sure has a fancy lookin' suit on today don'tcha think Mommy?!?!?" HAHAHA It's the same suit my dad has worn for a while, but apparently today, he looked extra snazzy or something! :)
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So Claire has started telling jokes. Except she either just makes something up or mixes several together. Her very favorite is "why chikin' cross road, Mommy??" "I don't know, why?" "To get to other SLIDE" and then she DIES laughing! She's so funny and so stinkin' cute when she says it that you just can help but laugh too and that's what she loves.
(For the record, the actual joke is "Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide" just in case you were wondering. Shout out to Uncle David Harbaugh for that one! It's one of my kids' favorites!)
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Ellie is having surgery on Tuesday to get tubes put in her ears. Not a big deal, but she is understandably nervous about it. We have talked about it a lot, she called Grandma Harbaugh to get details since Grandma used to do lots of them when she worked in surgery, etc. We were coming from her pre-op physical when she gave me the look that she gets when she's thinking. Usually there is a doozy of a question coming, but this was just cute. "Mom?" "What?" "You know when I have surgery..." (SIGH from me, thinking We've been over this 600 MILLION times! What more can you POSSIBLY want to know????) "Yep, no big deal, right?" "Right, I know that Mom, but....(I can tell she's trying to phrase it right in her head) do people get presents when they are done with surgery???" LOL!! I just busted out laughing. I tell her that nope, sorry-no presents after surgeries. "That's what I thought, but I was just checking" was her reply! :) She doesn't know it, but there may be a few things in it for her on Tuesday.... :) What a sweetie!
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As I think of write their funny little sayings out, I just have to thank God again for them. They make my life worth living and put a smile to my face. I am so blessed. :)