12 week appointment

Yesterday, we had our first appointment with the MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) Doctor. For us, since we’ve had 2 pre-term deliveries and I have high blood pressure outside of pregnancy, we get some extra special care!

The appointment we had is called the First Trimester Screening. They do an ultrasound and check the Nuchal Fold (soft tissue at the nape of the neck) thickness. The thickness can indicate some chromosomal abnormalities (Down’s Syndrome, and Trisomies 13 and 18, for example), and can even indicate a congenital heart defect in the baby. A measurement less than 2.5 is ideal, and ours was 1.14…so, good! In the u/s, they also check for the presence of a nasal bone. Baby had its hand in front of its face the entire time, so we weren’t able to check that out. :-) When the u/s tech measured the top of baby’s head, he/she used its other hand to punch up at the probe like, “leave me alone!”. Do you want to see that cute little hand? Of course, you do!


Baby is measuring a little ahead, with its estimated due date at this appointment being 6/28. Since that’s within 2 weeks of the original due date (7/2) they won’t change it, which is fine! It’s just good to know that baby is thriving in there! :-)


I think this little babe is going to be a modest one. He/she had its legs crossed at the ankle.


After the ultrasound, I met with the Doctor and he said that we are going to follow the same exact routine as we did with Levi:

• Same medicine protocol: Atenolol, Folgard, LDA, Prenatal
  
• Charting BP at home 3 times a day and calling in if it hits 160/100
• Routine visits with my OB every 2-3 weeks
• Bi-weekly NST’s starting at 32 weeks
• Routine urine checks for protein, and a 24 hour urine later in 2nd trimester (already did my baseline)
• Etc, etc (<--- I know there's more, just can't think of it all right now!)
  

He seemed very optimistic, which was very reassuring! My BP was measuring at 125/64 (awesome!), and I’ve gained 3.5lbs thus far…a little less than my 10lbs with Luke and 5lbs with Levi, but I’m a little fluffier and a lot sicker! Haha!

Here are baby and I at 12 weeks:


I have a couple of food aversions: beef (especially ground beef) and recently, chocolate. Cuties (tangerines) and bananas are two of my favorite things to eat right now. Still trying to find a drink that I’m crazy about…most things carbonated make my stomach upset, and I’m trying to stay away from caffeine. I can’t drink fruit juice straight, either. Milk is hit or miss. Water…ugg, water :-P Any suggestions?!

A new little blessing...

So, as I alluded to in my previous post, we’re expecting again!


This was a very welcomed, unexpected surprise for us. I had some symptoms in October that were similar to those that I experienced with the boys’ pregnancies, and those pregnancy symptoms were confirmed in late October.


Our third little babe is due to arrive on July 2, 2012. July 2nd is a very special day…it is my late Grandpap’s birthday (my mother’s father). My closest friends/family know that my relationship with all of my grandparents is very strong. When my brother and I were small, we actually lived with my Mother’s parents, so I think that built an even stronger bond than what you would typically see between grandparents and grandchildren. I mean, we saw them a lot!! :-) My Grandpap was very special to me, for sure. He was a very huge motivator in my life. He always encouraged me to follow my dreams, and to never settle. With each life-changing goal or milestone I reach, I always know that he’s looking down on me, beaming with pride. How fitting that our last babe would be due on his Birthday! :-)

We had our first routine OB appointment yesterday, and all went well. Baby’s heartbeat was measuring in the high 160’s, and everything looked good! I do have an irregular heartbeat that I’ll follow up on with a Cardiologist next Wednesday, but it doesn't seem to be anything major. Our first appointment with the MFM (pregnant Momma specialist) will be on Monday, so we’re hoping that everything checks out there as well!

With my first pregnancy, I took a whopping total of 3 pictures before I delivered, so with Levi I was a lot more diligent! I’ll try to post a picture every two weeks with this pregnancy. Here’s the first few:

Of course, these first few pics are more for comparison in the later weeks than anything. All that is visible is a whole lotta bloat and some left over fluff from the boys! :-)

Can't wait until Monday!!

St. Nicolas Party

Yesterday, I was able to sneak out of work for a couple of hours and attend Luke's first ever St. Nicolas party. They had special snacks, and then played a special game. Mrs. Callaway told of the story of the star of Bethlehem, and then they sat in a circle and passed the star around until the music stopped. We clapped for whoever held the star when the music stopped, and they got to sit in the middle until there was only one person left :-)

{Snack time!}

{Luke and Mason}

{Waiting to play the game}

{Down to the Final 5!}

We had a great time! I was so glad that I was able to make it to Luke's party :-)

Woah, the SNOW!

Tuesday we got our first real snowstorm of the Season. It poured rain all morning, and then around 1p it started snowing. I know that the deepest snow recorded was about 2.5 miles southwest of Peru (10 miles North of us), and it measured 10”! The snow is real lovely to look at and all, but we were without power from about 7p on Tuesday, through 9p on Wednesday. Not fun! Thankfully, the sitter had power, so the boys stayed nice and toasty and warm at her house all day Friday. Along with the power outage, the roads were AWFUL! I slid off the road 4 different times from work to the boys (about 15 miles), but I was able to get back on with my 4WD. B went to get gasoline for the generator Tuesday night, and from the S curves to Grissom on 218, there were 17 slide-offs…17!!! That’s like a maybe a 2-mile stretch. CRAZY!

Along with a snowstorm, the stork paid a little visit to our good friends. B and Brian grew up together, and have been practically best friends since they knew how to walk! Little Russell James was born weighing in at 8lb 2oz. We think he’s awful precious! Unfortunately, the only thing worse than not having power for 24+ hours is having to bring a newborn home to a house with no power, which is what they were up against. :-( Thankfully, they have power now.

Russell’s big sister, Madison, just happened to turn 7… 2 days after his birthday. I was more than happy to make some sweet Birthday goodies for her Birthday bash!

I always love making girly things, since I rarely have the opportunity to (ya know...with 2 sons and 6 nephews and all!). Madison loved her cake! :-) YAY!

Christmas Cards!

In October we had our Fall family pictures done at McClure's Orchard by Harmon Photography. She did such a great job, and she's always so patient...which is nice when you have two very busy little ones that you're trying to capture! :-) She designed our Christmas Cards with those same pictures. I love how they turned out, and I love even more that you can make our card into an ornament for your tree! :-) So neat!

We'd love to send a card to each and every person we know, but that's just not possible. So, for those of you whom we missed this year, this one's for you!



And while I'm at it, I'll go ahead and add a super-precious photo...


And a bit of a surprise, too...


Yes, that's right, you're not seeing triple. We're expecting a new little bundle around the beginning of next Summer. :-) More details soon!

Happy Holidays!! :-)

Thanksgiving

Okay, so I'll admit that I am seriously awful and did not take 1.single.picture this year at Thanksgiving! DEF am regretting that one. BUT, we did have a really great time visiting with family and friends over the long weekend.

My sister and her little crew came in to visit from California. It has been over a year since we were able to visit last, so it was nice to see her, and to see how BIG the boys have grown :-) She DID take pics, so I promptly stole some!

{Alex (Levi on his Shoulders), Shelb, Weston, Luke in front, Me, Jacob, Evan, B in the back}

{Alex and Levi}

{Sleepy Levi}
{Mom, Shelb, and I}

We had Thanksgiving breakfast with B's Dad, Sister, and Brother-in-Law. We've never done Thanksgiving breakfast before, and I must say that I (we) really enjoyed it. We will definitely consider it again for next year :-)

Thanksgiving with B's Mom and crew was on Sunday. I know that it was way out of the norm for them to host Thanksgiving on a day other than, but it was nice to not have to hurry from one place to another. This year we didn't feel rushed at all, and we were able to spend a good amount of time with each side of the family! LOVE that! :-)

Luke and Levi *really* loved holding their newest 2nd cousin (or so). Of course, I knew that Luke would because he simply adores all babies, but Levi's hit-or-miss (literally! HA!). Luke immediately started rocking baby Addy as soon as she was placed in his arms, and he even snuck her a sweet kiss on the head. Melt my heart! Levi enjoyed giving the baby some snuggles, too, but I tried to keep it short and sweet before he changed his mind. :-)



This Thanksgiving, we are so thankful for our friends and family, a healthy year for ourselves and our boys, and the love that keeps us bound together. We are so blessed!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now, get out those Christmas decorations!!

August Recap

Okay, so remember how I was playing catch-up with my lost months of July - September?! Well, here's August!!!

Lukey started school!! Although he was in a sort of pre, pre, pre-K last year, this is his first year at an official "school". Luke attends All Saints, which is a Catholic school. He is currently in the Little Saints class. Next year he will start Preschool, and then the following year he'll be in Kindergarten. We really, really love the structure that Luke gets, and his teacher, Mrs. Callaway, is awesome! He's learning a ton and making lots of new friends :-)

What a little cutie, on his first day:

In Levi news, well...Levi's doing a great job at being a little brother:

This picture was taken after Luke decided that finger painting little brother with grease from Daddy's tow ball seemed like a great idea! (see hand prints?!) We always know that something is up when Luke is laughing hysterically, and Levi is whimpering. That hardly every happens at our house, but when it does, some sort of initiation into little brotherhood is certainly taking place!

At the end of August, I threw Brad a surprise 30th Birthday bash, but I'll post separately about that :-)

So, that was our August in a nutshell!!

Etsy and Pinterest

I have two new-found loves, my friends. They go by the names of “Etsy” and “Pinterest”. Haha! Okay, so Etsy’s not so new, as I’ve done a post about the site and my purchases before, but Pinterest is very new to me (I’m actually still learning how to maneuver around it). Anyway, I have gotten several, several questions about where I find things…random things, mostly gifted to others.

{Wait for it…}

All of these “things” that I have purchased, I have purchased from Etsy, which is a site where you can basically purchase all things handmade. Etsy has several individual shops that make and sell various handmade items ranging from clothing for children, to printables (I use these a lot with my cookies and cupcakes), to wooden crafts, jewelry, etc, etc.

All of these “things” that I have made, I have gotten the ideas from Pinterest. Pinterest is a site chalked FULL of ideas of handmade crafts, art, food, clothing, etc. If you know me, you know that I am not very creative in the least. I am however very good at copying things if I have a picture in front of me, and a step-by-step tutorial. :-D This is where Pinterest comes into my life, and makes me look like a really, creative chica!

If you click the names above, it'll take you straight to these sites. :-)

So, there you have it! I'm not so crafty afterall!! Maybe I shouldn't have disclosed this info...I'd look way more cool!!!

The Letter "I"

So, Lukey's in preschool. He goes to All Saints and absolutely LOVES it! Anyway, each week he has show-and-tell on Thursday. They designate a letter of the alphabet each week, and the item you bring in for show-and-tell has to start with that letter...right?! Okay. So this week's letter was "I". Yes, "I". What in the heck starts with an "I" that I have just lying around my house?

• Ice
• Insect
• Igloo
• Indian
• Iguana
• Instrument
• Island

Yeah, of all of the items listed above that I could rattle off quickly, we have ZERO of in our house. (Oh, except for the ice. We have that. Of course, it would melt, so I didn't think that would be a good option.) I also thought of icing. I do have a can of icing, but I didn't think that would be a great idea to send as a show-and-tell for a group of preschoolers :-) So what did we show-and-tell?!

A map of Indiana. Yep. That was the best I had :-D

Happy Halloween!

{Fred & Scooby}

Luke and Levi got all dressed up for a Halloween party on Saturday...they LOVED their costumes! We'll be going Trick-or-Treating tonight...more pictures to come :-) I just love Halloween!!

July...Take One!

Okay, let's start these recaps, shall we?!

Since we have quite a bit going on this month, I'm not sure if I'll get all of my recaps in from July-Sept before posting what we're up to now, so my recaps will more than likely be sprinkled in! :-)

I'll start where I ended last, with our 4th of July weekend. We enjoyed the weekend with great friends and family, and kept very busy! I must say, I really enjoyed having a long 4 day weekend off from work, too. :-)

Friday evening, I enjoyed a weekend kick-off dinner with some good friends. We tried out Half Moon Brewery, and it was pretty tasty.

Saturday evening, we went to the Lucas’ annual Fourth of July shindig. It was complete with TONS of yummy food, a moonwalk for the kiddos, and some pretty amazing fireworks (not to mention, wonderful company!). I didn't get many pictures, but here are a couple:



Sunday evening, we spent some time with Brad's family -- his mother's side. They had the game "corn hole", which I'm certain B mastered while we were there :-) Have you ever played it? You basically try to toss a bean bag, from far away, into a hole that is positioned on a sloped ramp made out of particle board (sound about right?). It's fun, but we all know I pretty much have zero coordination, so ha...it may have been interesting watching me try!

{Corn Hole Master, B}

So, I took some cupcakes to the Mother-in-Law's festivities...bomb pop cupcakes to be exact. They are lemon cupcakes with...raspberry (blue), cherry (red), and lemon (white) flavored icing. Quite yummy, I thought! B wasn't a fan, but then again, he doesn't like lemon.

{Bomb Pop Cupcakes}

On Monday, we spent the 4th of July between my parents' house for a midday cookout, and Father-in-law's Tractor Show/Fireworks display.


I'll leave you with my favorite Recipe of the month: Paula Dean's Crock Pot Mac 'N Cheese. I made this for the Lucas' party, and it didn't disappoint! As a matter of fact, I've made it several times since then, and it's been a huge hit! I highly recommend it for any sort of pitch-in. :-) Very easy and super tasty!! (oh, by the way, I did not use the eggs that the linked recipe called for)

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July weekends!

Plow Days :-)

So, Father-in-Law is quite the tractor guy. He buys and refurbishes tractors and tractor parts (namely, John Deere), and is a member of a tractor club. At the beginning of harvest season, the club members get together and plow a field with their antique tractors. They also have other Plow Days throughout the Season. This year, the boys got to be a part of the fun!








And in other related news, B taught Levi how to shave. :-) Ya know, he had to do something about that five o'clock shadow!!


Hope you all have a great weekend!

I'm baaaack...with a new look!

Well hello there! It's been a while, yes?! :-) Only 4-ish months or so!

So, I'm back! And my bloggy has a new look...dontcha love it?! I sure do! Jessica from Diamond Doll Design revamped my blog, and I even changed my name. I think it's more fitting! Jessica does an amazing job (as you can tell)...she's super creative, and if you recall, she also did our March of Dimes shirt design this year. If you don't recall, you can see it here. Anyway, my point...she's awesome, my blog's awesome, and I'm back in business!! :-D

I'll be back soon to post an update (...or two...or three) on what we've been up to the past few months.

See you soon!

A little late, but just my style! Father's Day...

This year for Father’s Day, I let Brad schedule our day. I figured, since it was his day, we would do what he wanted to do! He chose to go to Indiana Beach, a nearby small-scale amusement/water park. Little did I know that dads got in for free that day (and so did Levi due to his age), so it was a great deal!

We made a pit-stop on our way out of town and visited with my Dad (and Mom) for a bit. The boys got Dad the neatest mug. It looks a little something like this, only with "Grandpa" and each of Dad's grandsons' names (yes, all *7* are boys!) on the hooks, and Brad and I got him a gift card. (The boys also got Brad's Dad the same mug, obviously with a lot less names!!)

So, on to Indiana Beach...we had a blast! I was surprised at the amount of rides they had for little guys. I’ve been there plenty of times before (although it’s been a while), but I never went in that area so I wasn’t too sure what types of rides they had. The boys had an awesome time! Brad and I were even able to go on a few bigger rides with the boys (the old-time cars, the spooky house ride, etc). Those rides obviously weren’t designed for speed! :-)


After Indiana Beach, we headed to Texas Roadhouse to meet Brad’s Dad, Sister, and our new Brother-in-law for dinner. The boys were verrrry tired, but I don’t think they did too horrible all-considering. They had a great time opening/eating peanuts...and putting them on their fingers (thanks, Uncle Jason, for the new trick!).


For Brad’s gift, the boys made Brad change buckets. He collects change, and his large change jar busted. Each of the boys put their handprint on the bucket lid, and I painted some designs on the sides with acrylic paint. I used a paint pen to write the words “I wouldn’t change my Dad for anything!” on the lid, and then I sprayed clear spray paint over the entire bucket to seal it. I filled the buckets with ziploc baggies full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. From me, Brad got a personalized picture frame with a current picture of he and the boys in it. Pictures are so important to me. They have a way of preserving some very special memories. I try to take them as much as I can. Yes, I’m probably a bit out of control at times! :-)


So, in honor of Father’s Day, I’m going to get a little mushy for a minute (WARNING: It’s about to get a little deep!)…

Sometimes I think that Fathers neglect to realize how important their roles are in their children’s lives. For their sons, Fathers model the man that their child will become. And for their daughters, Fathers model the type of man that their daughter will seek one day as a husband/partner. That’s a huge responsibility to fill. I realized this point a long, long time ago. I will be immensely grateful if my boys turn out to be ½ the man their father is (with some minor tweaking that I will be sure to help out with along the way!! ;-) ). Seriously, though, I am very proud of the Father that Brad is becoming (let’s face it, it’s a process). So on this day, I especially want to thank him for being such a good Daddy to our boys!

{First time in Daddy's arms. Luke (L), Levi (R)}

Happy Father’s Day!