I just had to take a minute to document some things about Madison at this stage so I don't forget.  That little girl has determination and will power  and will not back down.  Some things about her that absolutely drive Joe and I crazy at this stage is: She finally recognizes when she needs to use the restroom, and she will tell me whenever she goes pee in her diaper, and she wants to be changed IMMEDIATELY.  I think it's the warmth that drives her crazy.  At night she will come downstairs 2 and 3 times after we tuck her in and she'll say she peed.  Sometimes it's just a tiny bit, and I know she totally just does it to get out of going to bed.  We change her before bed, and then we literally have to change her 2 more times before she goes to sleep.  I can't even tell you how many diapers we go through lately.  She will yell and cry and scream "I GO PEE" and will throw a fit.  Lately I have been telling her I will change her one time and that's it.  If she pees a tiny bit after that, I just tell her "too bad" and she needs to go to bed.- Update:   We have now potty trained her.  We waited until after our 4th of July trip to Utah, and then busted out the big girl undies again.  It's been no where near as easy as it was with Brooklynn, but it has also been A MILLION times better than it was the last time we attempted this with her, and she didn't grasp it at all.  So, with that being said.... Most days she has wet her bed either at night or during naps, but she's doing well when she's awake.  I'm too stubborn to put her in pull-ups because I don't want her getting used to wearing them.  I want her to figure this out and learn how to not wet the bed. There was a day where Joe was out of town and literally within about 20 minutes, she pulled her undies down and literally just stood there and peed all over the floor, right in front of her little potty.  I got it cleaned up, and she seriously did the EXACT SAME THING like 10 minutes later.  Thankfully it was on the hardwood floor and not carpet, but I was seriously so fed up that I slapped a diaper on her and told her when she was ready to stop acting like a baby and was ready to be a big girl that she could put her undies back on. This was just like an hour before bed! Not gonna lie, part of me was scared she would sleep in the diaper and wouldn't mind it!  I wasn't back tracking!  So before she got into bed I asked her if she was ready to be a big girl again, and she said she was.  She literally didn't have any accidents for like 2 days after that!  It's been over a month now since we started and she's still having accidents during nap time.  I don't know if she sleeps harder during naps and just doesn't realize she needs to pee or what.  She will also wake up at night and just start whining, and I will go up and we will go potty together.  Since I'm pregnant I always have to pee.  I'm trying to help her recognize that when he body wakes her up like that, it's trying to tell her to go potty.  Hopefully she figures it out before this baby comes.
     Every morning she comes down to our room between 5:45 and 6 and I will tell her she has to go potty before she can get in our bed with us.  She'll go potty and then climb in between Joe and I, and sometimes will fall back to sleep.   Other times Joe gets up soon after and she will just lay in bed until he showers and gets dressed and then he opens the bathroom door for her to go hang out with him while he finishes getting ready.  A lot of times he gets the kids some coloring pages, or gets them set with some breakfast and lets me sleep until about 7:30 or so.  With being pregnant, I am tired all the time now.  I swear I could sleep for a week straight.
     Brooklynn started pre-k at the first of August.  I totally dropped the ball on that one!  The night before, I checked my email around 7:30 and noticed there was one titled "First Day Jitters" from her school and talked all about the first day and how to help your child feel comfortable with school.  My heart dropped because I didn't think she started until all of the other kids around here went back to school around the end of August.  I emailed the director back asking if the first day of school was the next day, and she said that yes, she could start tomorrow!  Brooklynn had already taken a bath and had her jammies on, so when I told Joe, we both looked at her and Joe asked if she was ready to go to school the next day!  She excitedly replied "YES!!" So, off we went to Payless to get some closed toe shoes, and then ran to Target so she could pick out her backpack.  She chose a Princess Poppy backpack from the movie TROLLS, and then picked out a matching lunch box and thermos.  She was SO excited to show her dad and Madison when we got home, and she just kept saying over and over "thank you for letting me pick out my Princess Poppy Backpack Mom!"      
     She woke up super excited and nervous for school.  It's the only day in her life where she has said "My tummy hurts, so maybe I shouldn't eat breakfast."  After asking her some questions I figured out that it was just nerves and finally got her to eat some scrambled eggs.  She was so excited to pack her lunch and fill her water thermos, and was ready to go early!  When we got to her school she was excited to get out with her teacher, and didn't bat an eye as her teacher took her out of the car and held her hand and directed her over to the playground.  As soon as the van door closed Madison started crying and said "But I'm really going to miss her!" and was so upset.  A piece of my heart was ripped out too, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, all I could mutter to Madison was "me too!"  It's hard letting go and letting your kids grow up sometimes.  Thankfully Madison and I went to the gym and she got to play with her friends in the kids care, and I got to get a spin class in, and it helped pass the time without Brooklynn.  Joe came home early to watch the girls while I went to a Dr Appointment with Dr Cook, and an Ultrasound with Dr Gei.  He was excited to go pick up Brooklynn from school, and I wanted to go too so I could see how her first day went!  So we all piled into Joe's truck, and went to get her!  The director said she did great!  The only time she started to feel sad was when kids started going home.  Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for us to pick her up too!  She loved school then, and she has loved it every day since!  Madison would love to go to school in a heartbeat too, but Joe and I decided we weren't going to pay for it this year, because technically she missed the preschool cutoff for this year.  Plus, I'm going to need a helper once this baby comes.
     I'm 27 weeks pregnant, and this Thursday will be the 10 week mark until this sweet baby makes his debut in the world.  It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time.  Hopefully I can handle 3 kids!  I know Brooklyn and Madison will be such big helpers, so I'm hoping that helps alleviate some of the stress that I felt when I had Madison.  I look back at pictures of Brooklynn then, and she was still just a baby herself!
     We found out at my 20 week ultrasound that this baby has a heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot, and will require open heart surgery after he's born and then he'll need to be monitored for the rest of his life.  There was a lot of stressing and worrying up until we saw the fetal cardiologist who was able to tell us more and help answer a lot of questions we had!  We didn't meet with her until after our trip to Utah.  While in Utah I had this day of just imagining over and over again, having to hand over my little baby for heart surgery, and I just could not stop crying.  Bob and Sharon even took the girls for a few hours that day, and I drove over to The Shane Company by myself to get my ring checked and cleaned, and I literally sat in the car for about 30 minutes because I was just crying and couldn't stop. Joe was coming to Utah from California that evening and I sent him and my dad a text telling them I was having a really hard time and wondered if they would give me a blessing.  They both responded that they would be happy to, and Joe thought it would be a good idea to also invite Joseph and Dallin.  Joseph was out of town but Dallin and Brittany came over that night.  I don't get to have many blessings from my dad anymore, so Joe and I thought it would be a good idea to have him give me the blessing, because Joe would be able to give me blessings I may need in the future.  I cried pretty much before and during most of the blessing.  Joe broke down and was crying too.  Sadly, I don't remember a lot of what was said, but I will never forget the peace that came over my body.  It's a calm that has stayed with me ever since that night.  I have not felt that uneasiness, fear, or sadness again since that day.  I am so thankful for the Priesthood, and that I have so many wonderful men in my life that I could go to to ask for a priesthood blessing.
     When we got back from Utah and met with the Fetal Cardiologist- Dr. Gardiner, she was able to answer a lot of questions and concerns we had.  They did an EKG and she said that on a scale of 1-10(10 being the worst) that our baby had about a 3.  So, it was on the better end of the scale.  She said he does have a hole in his heart that will require open heart surgery (usually between 3 and 9 months) where they will go in and put a patch on his heart to cover that hole.  Right now one of his valves in developing normally, but if it doesn't continue to grow that way as he develops more, they may need to go in a open that up later, but that wouldn't require open heart surgery.  She said I should still be able to do skin to skin after he's born, and try to feed him, and all of that, and he should even be able to go home with us.  Ideally they want the baby to be a bit bigger so they would opt for surgery between 3-9 months.  She will have me come back when I'm about 30 weeks and then she'll check everything again.  
     It's not the ideal situation, but things could have been a lot worse.  With the surgery, he's projected to live a somewhat normal life, and lots of babies with this condition are saved now, where back several years ago they weren't.  Last Christmas Joe asked me if I was ready to put our house up on the market and move to Utah in the spring!  As much as I would love to be near my family, I just had this sort of a panic feeling when he mentioned that!  It felt too soon and like it would be rushed, and for some reason I had this feeling that we were supposed to have another baby while we lived her in Houston.  After we found out about this baby's condition, it all made a little bit more sense.  Texas Children's Hospital was just actually rated number 1 in the country for pediatric cardiology, so I know that we were meant to be here so that he could have his surgery here.
     There is so much unknown but I feel at peace, and I know that everything will be ok!  I love feeling this sweet baby boy kick and move all the time!  It's so comforting this time around!  With Brooklynn it kinda freaked me out at first, just to feel that there was someone moving inside me!  We are really looking forward to meeting this little guy in just about 10 weeks though!  So grateful for the gospel in my life and for the power of the Priesthood!