The verdict is in!!!!

First off, I am so sorry to have kept you all waiting all day! I know that several of you have been checking in today, in hopes of the news. I probably should have mentioned that my appointment wasn't until 4pm and that we had plans to have dinner with my family afterwards. Sorry! BUT.....the verdict is in....and it's a pretty sure bet! I'm gonna keep you waiting just a bit longer though. :) I wouldn't be a proper blog without telling about my day, now would it?!

And what a day it was! It dragged on and on! I really thought that 4 o'clock would NEVER arrive! Luke and I hung around the house, tidying up, doing chores and talking about how we were going to see pictures of the baby most of the morning. My sister and neices came around 2 and time started rolling a bit faster! Thank goodness!

As we drove to our appointment, my heart was racing!! I just could NOT wait to get there! Traffic seemed soooo slow, the lights all seemed to be red and grrrr.....everyone just needed to get out of our way!!! I downed a diet soda (for the caffiene) and some lemonade (for the sugar) on the way in hopes to increase the odds that Baby was awake and alert for his/her big debut. It worked! Baby was jumping around and kicking as I filled out my paper work and got ready for the big moment. We were all so excited, but I'm not sure that anyone felt it as much as I did! It was a feeling akin to my wedding day...full of anticipation, nervous gitters and joy abounding. I just couldn't WAIT to get into that room! They called us back (all 17 of us!) and I hopped on that bed, pulled my shirt away from my belly as was ready to go faster than you could say Baby! The tech got a good image right away, but Baby was not quite interested in revealing all his/her parts and decided to keep it's legs crossed awhile longer. :( We got a few images of it's profile:

And even a yawn was captured:

But still no money shot! :( They had me get up, and do what they termed the 'Baby Dance' to get the little Bambino a'moving, much to my family and friend's amusement, I might add. I had to stand on the floor, leaning over the bed on my elbows, shake my bum and wiggle my hips back and forth to get the little one to shift around. Just a bit embarrasing for me, but hey...I was willing to do just about anything to get the picture we desperately wanted! Once I hopped back onto the bed, the baby had moved just enough and we were graced with the images we wanted...a full 'money shot'...as if the little one was sitting on a glass table and we were underneath peeking. :) Ready to see?????

Sorry...gonna make you wait longer still. :) Aren't I mean!? First I want to show ya one of the 3D images. The baby is still quite little, so he/she looks a bit alien-like still, but as its Momma, I see nothing but a beautiful, precious, wonderful baby....MY baby!


I couldn't hold back the tears several times. Just watching my precious child there on the screen was simply amazing. A miracle.


I have to say that the whole 3D and 4D thing was really cool. The 4D component puts the baby's movements in real time for us to watch on the big screen they had hanging in the corner. Several times, we were privledged to watch as the baby took in amniotic fluid as he/she made practice breathing movements and we caught a few yawns too. Those are the ones I loved the best!

Luke was great the whole time! He fell utterly silent as we got to listen to the heartbeat (remember the whole string-in-my belly-button game he played the other day?) and grinned from ear to ear as it continued. He was full of spunk today and made everyone laugh with his sillyness. Here's a shot of him and Daddy, trying to evaluate what they were seeing.


Okay....so now to the moment you've all been waiting for! The big reveal! Here is a shot of our faces as we received the news...


And here is Luke's big announcement!


WE ARE HAVING A LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the proof lies in the pictures...remember that money shot I was telling you about?

The umbillical cord was between the legs for a good majority of the session, but the tech snagged SEVERAL clear images of her little anatomy. It was quiet obvious!!

We are overjoyed!! Truly, I would have been happy either way. I did want a little girl, but I would have been just as blessed to have two boys as well! In fact, most of the day, I was preparing myself for the idea of a boy. But, with the news that this little life growing inside me is in fact, a little girl, I am elated!! I couldn't hold back the tears as the news washed over me again and again in those few minutes after they told us. I felt JUST the same way I had when I was in the delivery room with Luke and I heard them tell me he was a little boy! The moments were nearly identical...disbelief mixed with unmeasureable joy welled in my heart nearly to overflowing! I was, and am deeply, deeply blessed!!!

So those of you who voted for a girl...Mom, Jennifer, Taylor, Jamie, Amy, Taryn, Kailyn, Sarah, Tami, Ty and myself.....you were all right! :) Four of you voted for a boy and just one was undecided. Thanks for playing along, guys! It was really a lot of fun for me! :) And thank you for sharing in the joy of this day! We are thrilled beyond words!!!



And now....onto all things PINK! :)

Just 3 more days....

Can you tell I'm just a LITTLE excited for Friday to arrive??? Just three more LONG days until we have our little gender discovery ultrasound!!! I can hardly wait! Not only do I get to learn of this baby's sex, but I am also thrilled to death to be able to see him/her so close up and in depth! The ultrasounds I have had to date have just been in my OB's office and haven't been the greatest of quality, so this 3D and 4D ultrasound on Friday will be pretty awesome!

I was thinking about dates and my pregnancy while I was in the shower this morning and it occurred to me that at this point in my pregnancy with Luke I was, unbeknowst to me, already over half way through. I was at my half-way point with Luke at exactly 15 weeksand 1.5 days! I am 17 weeks, 4 days today. Hopefully I won't hit my half-way point with this little one until 19 weeks....that is assuming we get to schedule my c-section for the date we are hoping for...August 17th. Strange to think of it like that.

More of the baby front...I had an OB appointment yesterday. All is well. My pressures were 'normal', although still a little high for me, (124/68) but the dingy nurse decided to take it right after I hopped up onto the exam table, then had to hop down to lift Luke onto his chair, and then I hopped back up onto the table. :( No time to rest. I'm sure had she taken it at the end of my appointment, it would have been a bit lower. Oh well. I think I'm the only one who's really concerned about the precise numbers. I had to see the Nurse Practionner yesterday, since Dr. Hage had a funeral to attend. I was bummed about that, but whatcha gonna do? My weight gain is good...I've packed on 8 lbs in 17 1/2 weeks. Pretty normal. And my uterus measured at 16 cm, which to me, seems small for my weeks, but the NP said it was normal. (You would think with this belly of mine I'd be measuring ahead! Geez!) I got side-tracked and didn't have a chance to ask her 'bout it though. We have our 20 week fetal anatomy ultrasound next Friday, so I'm comforted in knowing that any discrepancies in the baby's growth or my exact dates will be confirmed then. Hmm...what else??? No protein in my urine either. Yay! (Not that I would expect any, since Pre-E usually onsets after 20 weeks, but its still good to know). The only little concern I had to report to her was some visual 'flutteries' that I am getting occasionally. They don't seem to be associated with a change in position, which one would expect. And they are eerily familiar from my pregnancy with Luke. I began getting these little silvery flutteries around 18-20 weeks with him and although I reported them to my OB at the time, there were still no other pre-e symptoms to speak of (aside from my BP increasing 10 points every visit after 20 weeks). In retrospect, I've always thought of those flutteries as one of my early warning signs of my impending pre-eclampsia. But truth be told, they may or may not have been. We will never know. But the sheer fact that I have them again makes me just a teeny bit worried. Again, we just have to keep a keen eye out for other symptoms and hope (PRAY!) for the best. My pressures are staying normal AND I have gained less weight by this point, so those are good differences from my last pregnancy. So....I'm going to stay positive and look at the good. Oh yeah! And the baby's heart rate was in the 160's...same as last visit, which, if you are going by the old wives tales, that indicated a girl. :) (Luke's were always in the 148-150 range).

So what are YOUR guesses??? Girl or boy? I think we need to take an Internet poll here, people? You tell me what you think it is and we'll see who's right come Friday. Want a quick overview of the similarities and differences between these two pregnancies???

With Luke, I felt nauseous, carsick and had terrible headaches for the entire first trimester. This time, none of those! :) (How lucky am I!) With Luke, I had regularly bouts of insomnia from 6 weeks on....this time around...just one or two times. With Luke, his heartbeat was always in the 148-150 range. This time around, it's always been in the 160's. With Luke, I craved anything greasy and fattening, especially Mexican food. This time I around, I crave fresh fruit, salads, veggies and the occasional burger. With Luke, we had an easy time picking out a boy's name, but struggled with the girl's. This time around, we have the girl's name all set, but are debating the boys'. And lastly, with Luke, I could NEVER tell his gender when I had pregnancy dreams, although I always tried. This time, I've only had one dream and it was most definately a girl in that one! :) Sooo......that's my list. You all have fun guessing and we'll see who's right! :)

And before I go to go get started on dinner, I thought I'd finally leave you with picture of Luke's new 'do'

He absolutely refused to allow me to take a 'real' picture of him, so I had to catch him when he wasn't looking!

And here are just a few silly shots of him playing in our weeds...err... flowers on the hill in our backyard. We still haven't been able to landscape yet, so the hill is covered in wild-flower-weed-looking things. Luke picked a few for me! :)



You wouldn't know it from the flip-flops and sunny weather in the picture, but it actually snowed here again today for the third time this season. Weird weather! It didn't stick, but it was still cool to look out the window and see it fallin!

Oh yeah....and THANK YOU to all of you who have graciously left comments for me, letting me know you're out there reading! It makes all the difference! Thank you!

Thats it for me today. Now let the voting begin! :)

A pretty successful night!

My big-boy proved true to his new name last night! He did GREAT sleeping in his new-big-boy-bed! After I wrapped up last night's post, we didn't hear from him again until 3am, when he must've scooted off the end of the bed and ended up sitting on the body pillow I'd place beside him, crying because the 'fall' had scared him. I was able to place him back on his pillow, tuck him in and leave. He slept soundly through until 7:15am, when I heard him rattling the gate in his doorway, trying to get out! Big boy!! I scrambled out of bed quickly, so that he wouldn't feel scared and gently reminded him how Mommy had told him the night before to stay IN his bed until Mommy came to get him. He hustled back to bed, but started to cry because he thought he was going to have to go back to sleep. Not the case. It WAS time to get up...I just wanted to start the pattern of staying in bed until I get him up and say it's okay. So I praised him up and down for doing such a good job sleeping in his new bed last night and he smiled endlessly...so proud of himself! Before I headed to bed last night, I checked on him one last time as I always do, and this is what I found:


:) Hehehe. Just a little akward. I repositioned and tucked him in and that was it...until 3am, like I said. In keeping with the whole "big-boy" theme, we took him to for a MUCH needed haircut this morning and gave him a new look. Spikes! :) I don't have a picture yet, but I swear he looks more like a 3 year old now. The new look will take some getting used to, but it will be a breeze for summer and if I end up hating it, it will always grow out. I was REALLY debating it while we were at the barbers. I've been thinking about spiking it for awhile, but wasn't sure if I was brave enough to give it a try. I bit the bullet, so to speak and now what's done is done. He definately looks different. I think I like it. :P It might just take a few days to get used to after seeing him with a toddler-style for so long. He does look pretty cute!

Anyway, I'm off to get some work done during naptime. We are heading to the Bicycle Classic after Luke wakes to watch the Men's Pro Criterium race. An annual tradition. And then it's off to dinner at our friend's house, where we'll get to spend some time with some of the Pro Women racers....some of whom Ty is friends with. Should be fun! Hope you all have a fun weekend!

Moving on...growing up

I am moving on from my apathetic blog week....onto new and exciting things...

My little boy isn't so little as of today. :( About 30 minutes ago, after offering my usual goodnight kisses, songs and cuddles, I closed the door on his infancy. (I nearly cried as I made my way down the stairs!) Our precious son will sleep his first night in his big-boy-toddler-bed tonight. At-least that is what we hope will happen. At this moment, 35 minutes later, I have returned to his room twice to comfort him. The first time, he was just a little weepy...the second because the heater went on and frightened him. Through the monitor, I can still hear him quietly whimpering, but I am trying to refrain from going up again. It is a lot for him to handle....a big-boy bed is a big change. But while he needs to know without a doubt that I will be there in an instant if something is wrong or he is scared, he also needs to understand that his bed is a safe place and there are boundaries. So...I wait...and listen....and hope for a peaceful night's sleep for my son.

So why did we suddenly swing into action with the whole toddler bed idea you ask??? Well...we've actually been talking about it for awhile...kicking around ideas as to when or how we should embark on this new chapter. I was concerned for awhile about the whole baby-proofing thing with having him "free" and with the stairs un-gated and all. He's navigates the stairs like a pro these days, but in darkness, who knows what could happen. I knew some serious baby-proofing was in order and I just wasn't prepared yet with all the door covers and all. Until a friend suggested this week that I just use our baby gate to block off his bedroom door so that he couldn't get out should he awake. Duh! Why didn't I think of that! So simple! So this afternoon, as Ty was busily working in Luke's room (and the baby's) to install their new ceiling fans, I went to work on the gate idea. (The gate had been buried in the garage since we moved here, since, like I said, Luke is so independent on the stairs.) Once the gate was up, it just seemed natural to attempt to convert his crib to the toddler-bed mode, so I asked Luke if he'd like to try his new-big-boy-bed out tonight. He excitedly agreed, so off we went to find the tools and instructions. 30 minutes later, Ty was done with the ceiling fan and I had successfully converted his crib. Whoohoo! Here is my big boy, all excited to try out his new digs (this was taken post-bed-jumping!):


As we moved ourselves into the baby's room to work on the ceiling fan in there, I left briefly only to return to find that Luke had made himself comfy in Baby's car seat! Giggling, I asked him "And what do you think you're doing, Mister?!" He answered with a sheepish smile, "Sittin' in baby's tair (chair)." Silly boy.


Speaking of baby...one week from today will be our Gender Discovery Day! YIPPEE!!! This morning as I was sitting on the floor in front of the window to put my makeup on (as is my routine these days...standing in front of the mirror makes me feel weak and faint!), Luke came scooting up beside me with the end of a red string hooked around one ear and the other end in his hand. He gently lifted up my shirt, placed the hand-end of the string into my belly button and said, "baby heart, mama." He was pretending he had a stethoscope (remember the picture from the museum?) and was listening to the baby's heartbeat! :) Awwww! My friend Tami loaned me her ultra-sensitive Doppler thingy the other day, that allows us to listen to the baby's heartbeat, and I'm sure that's where Luke got the idea. How cute is that though!!! After he was through, I casually asked him "So Luke, do you think there is a boy baby or a girl baby inside Mommy's tummy?" His unprompted response was "Dirl (girl) baby." Good boy!!! :) Just to be fair, I asked the question the other way, saying 'girl baby' first and 'boy baby' second, thinking he might just be repeating the last thing he heard. Nope. Both times he said "dirl baby." Hmmm. Guess we'll know in less than a week now!!

Well...that is all I have time for tonight. As of the end of this post, I have only scrambled my out-of-breathe body up those stairs one more time (I heard a loud THUMP from his room and thought for SURE he'd fallen out of bed (I put a body pillow next to it, just in case) but he was still in bed...awake of-course, but IN bed. And now, all is quiet in his room. Sleep has come. Thankfully! We'll just see how the rest of the night goes! I'll leave you with this cute little shot of him climbing the ladder this afternoon to help his daddy with the handy work: (Don't worry, he was only on the second step....plenty safe!) Tootles!

Is it really Spring?

Supposedly, at 5:04 pm yesterday (or right around that time...) Spring was officially ushered in! But from the looks of the weather today, I would say Mother Nature fouled up! It's cold and drizzly today. Hmmm. I know April showers bring May flowers, but what's the saying for March??? :) We desperately need the rain though, so I'm really not complaining. Just being silly really.

My apologies that it has been nearly a week since my last entry. What's up with that, huh?! Well, for starters, I guess we've just been busy with life. But the bigger part of that is I think I'm having a little blogger apathy. Are ya'll even out there reading??? I'm starting to wonder if my blogging efforts just simply go unnoticed. :( Are you there?? (I am thankful for those of you who do comment....Kristin...Taylor and my mom, mostly. Thank you!) But I hate feeling like I'm talking to a wall, ya know? I'm unabashedly fishing for some comments....will you appease a pregnant woman's call for attention already?!! Sheesh! :)

Okay...enough of my little pity party and begging....

I'm not much in the mood to writing, so I think I'll just show you our week in pictures. The first ones being from my 16 week preggo shoot I did yesterday. Luke was ALL about being in the pictures, so we snapped this one with the self-timer:



Here is my next installment of the pregnancy progression (you'll find it at the bottom on the page too):


And today we went out to Palm Springs with my new friend Jennell and her little girl to the Children's Museum. It was a TON of fun...all hands-on and perfect for Luke. I think he'll love it a bit more when he's just a little older, but he still had a blast. Here he is in the Vet Clinic, using the stethoscope as a pirate's telescope: "I see you, Mama!"


And he couldn't seem to get enough of the real-life police motorcycle! Seemed every time I turned around, he was back on it, trying to climb his way up on the seat:


His arms could just barely reach the handlebars...



A budding artist???


Those are all my pics for now. And I think that's all my thoughts for now too. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel more like writing. We'll see.

Nudges and rolls

This Little One is active and well inside me! I felt him/her last night for absolute certainty! :) I have been feeling movement, or what felt like movement for a bit of time now, but it was so vague that it was hard to differentiate between baby and indigestion. Lol! But God delighted me last night when, as I lay very still on the couch...with the light shining just so on my bare belly, I could not only feel the baby rolling and nudging me from inside, but I could also see it happening! Oh what a glorious, miraculous feeling that is! I will NEVER tire of it....NEVER! I was just as in awe and in love with those kicks when I was pregnant with Luke and I never once had an ill feeling about them! I love, love, love them!! :) Instantly, I felt more bonded....more in love...more connected with this child. He/she is really in there and thriving! (Now I know that probably sounds silly, but until I felt him/her last night for sure, there was always a nagging little thought that maybe....just maybe things weren't all right. I know....silly me.)

So these nudges and rolls are coming about 10 days sooner than I felt them with Luke. (A lot sooner if I'm counting the nearly 2 weeks prior when I thought I was feeling movement) 15 weeks and 5 days, according to my OB's dates. (More like 16 and 1 if you ask me, but hey...we'll just stick with the doctor's numbers for now.) :P So....I am delighted today! Delighted and mystified and excited! :)

I had a hot date today! :)

Or I guess it was a cool date. :) Luke and I decided to succumb to my rare ice cream craving this afternoon and headed down to Redlands for a healthier frozen yogurt version...topped with my favorite, but hard to find carob chips. Mmmmm! It was a perfect day for a cool treat...sunny and warm with not much to do but enjoy each other's company. :) We've been having these little 'dates' more frequently lately and I'm finding that I just love sitting together with my son, sharing a few special moments, just the two of us. The time transforms us. We giggle and do silly things....we cling our glasses, straws or spoons together and say "Cheers" to one another and we just enjoy precious bonding time. I'm becoming more and more keenly aware how numbered our days of 'alone time' are. Just a handful of months until our family grows and my attention gets divided. I'm making every effort to enjoy him as much as I can now and savor the moments. I delight in him!

After our sweet treat, we dropped by Mamaw's house for a quick visit and to play awhile. We've been seeing less of her these days now that I'm not working out at the gym I used to go to in Redlands. She used to watch Luke every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for an hour or so while I hit the gym. So nice! But those days are over now that we've moved farther away and my gym is now right by the house. No sense in driving all the way to Redlands just to drop him off and drive all the way back to work out. The consequence is Luke sees Mamaw less and Mamaw misses Luke more. :( She was thrilled and surprised to see him today though. I think we made her day! :)

I'm making it quick tonight, since American Idol will be on shortly, but before I go, I wanted to say welcome to the world Brandon Samuel Crocker!!! My friend Heidi delivered a healthy boy (4 weeks early via c-section) on Monday night. (Remember, she is my friend from the pictures I posted recently?!) From what I know, he was 5 lbs 12 oz and Mommy and baby are doing quite well. Praise God for that!

Starting the week....

Monday. It's back to the grind today. At-least for Ty. Not so much for me. Most of our days are pretty much the same for Luke and I...days melt into one another and the only thing that separates the weekdays from the week-END is Ty's presence at home. We love weekends for that reason! I guess its back to the 'grind' for me too though. Back to the laundry, errand running, grocery shopping and keeping up on the household chores. Ya know....normal life stuff. I try to avoid as much of those things that I can on the weekends to free our time up for more fun things.

Speaking of fun things....our dinner for Ty's birthday on Saturday night was really yummy! We had a nice time and I gorged myself on yet another fantastic fillet! :) Mmmmmm! We had an early dinner and the weather in the desert was so warm that we (Ty's friends, brother, Ty and I) opted to head across to the Yard House afterwards for some drinks (for them, not me of-course!) and to meet my sister and her friends for a bit. It was fun! We got home just after 11pm....err 12 if you're including the time change in that, and I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. Boy! I'm just not used to staying up much after 10 these days! :) This baby has a pretty routine bedtime, that's for sure! :) Speaking of baby...here's her/his most recent picture:

15 weeks. Like I've said before, in this second pregnancy my body has 'surrendered' much easier and now I'm seeing my belly grow at a much faster rate! It's fun! I like watching it grow. Now we just have to make sure it's my belly that grows and not so much the rest of me! :) I really want to stay in better shape this time around, both for my health and the baby's! So far, so good. I've been able to continue walking and getting moderate exercise pretty regularly this time around, whereas I hardly had the energy to do so with Luke, and I was encouraged last night to realize that at this point in my pregnancy with Luke I was already 7 lbs heavier than I am now. To date, my net gain is 5 lbs even. That's not too bad. Pretty much right on track for the 30-35 lbs my OB recommends that I gain.

Moving on.....
Ty and I did end up taking that hike I had talked about yesterday morning. We popped Luke (who was decked out in his cute new sunglasses and baseball cap) into the backpack and hit the trail around 9:30. It's a local trail; one that we had never been on before, and we really didn't know what to expect. It was actually kind-of a butt-kicker, and halfway through we were both huffing and puffing our way through the switchbacks. Don't worry, we took it slow! I'm very careful to make sure my heart rate stays steady and within the Dr.'s limits and that I stay in tune with my body. Ty and I both laughed at how out of shape we felt though! But with a 27+ pound child strapped to his back and me being pregnant, we had good excuses! :) We ended up turning around before we made it to the end...wherever that was....and made it back to the car about 2 hours after we started. It was fantastic to be outside though, getting some exercise together! The weather was warm (kinda hot, really!) and afterwards we drove down to Redlands for smoothies. Mmmm! :) We drove by an old family friend's house for a visit after that and then headed home to spend the remainder of the afternoon organizing the garage. A full day! Lots of fresh air, sunshine (I actually got kinda burned...oops!) and hard work! Loved it!

Our week ahead is kinda empty at this point. Not much on our calendar as I sit to type. Maybe a few trips to the park or maybe we'll just stay home and finally take a stab at this whole potty training thing that I've been putting off. We'll see. I'm a little nervous to begin that whole process, not for fear that Luke isn't ready, I think he is, but for fear of change mostly. I'm not sure I'M ready for it yet! Ha! But I know I need to allow plenty of time for training before the baby comes. I really want it to be well-established before the end of summer. Again....we'll see.

With that, I am off to get a start on my day. Happy Monday!

Help! I have a SERIOUS case of pregnancy brain!!!

So you want to know what I did yesterday???? Remember how I told you I took Luke to circle time at the library and then hung out for a visit with Sarah and Hudson??? Remember how I said it was a fun morning? Well, it was a fun morning...too much excitement for me, I guess 'cause when I went to leave, I carried Luke over to his car seat, with the intentions of buckling him in and putting my bag down before putting the stroller into the back of the car. And I did just that, with the exception of the stroller part. Yup....stupid 'ol pregnant me hopped right into the car and drove away, instantly drawn into the book on tape I'm listening to right now, and COMPLETELY FORGOT TO GET MY STROLLER! ARGH! The kinda funny thing is (it's funny now, it wasn't then!) that I didn't even realize I had forgotten it until I was back in Redlands for Market Night at 5:30pm (I left the library at noon!) and opened my back hatch for my stroller, only to realize it wasn't there. :( I immediately got back in the car; feeling a bit panicked, and scoured the library area for my wheels. They were nowhere to be found. :( I rushed into the library in hopes that some kind person had turned it into the lost and found, but I was sadly disappointed. My stroller is now gone. :( I was seriously sad about this last night. I nearly cried as I carried Luke back to the car. I LOVED that stinkin' stroller and I use it just about daily, with our walks and all. And it wasn't that old either...we'd only had it since our Virginia trip. Man! I wondered how I could have been so negligent and forgetful! I've NEVER done anything like that before. Grrrr! But leave it to pregnancy to strip me of my braincells. I mean seriously people.....I think I would forget my head on a daily basis if it weren't permanently attached to my head!

So now I am on the hunt for a replacement. I thought about waiting to buy a new one, so that I could get one for both Baby and Luke to use, but I just can't go another 5+ months without a lightweight, easy to use stroller. We, of-course, still have our honker Graco travel system one, but it is SO heavy and I just can' t be lifting that thing into the car over and over. So...a new stroller is in the cards for us. Bummer.

On a lighter note, before we headed out for our attempt to get to the farmer's market, Luke and I hung around upstairs, jumping on the bed and rough-housing for a good chunk of the afternoon. I, of-course, don't go far without having my camera in reach, so here are a few pics of our afternoon.

Luke got an 'owie' the other day on his big toe when he tripped on the driveway while we were washing my car. He suddenly 're-discovered' it yesterday while he jumped around in all the fluffy covers. :)

His 'shocked' face...


Can you say T-W-O-year-old....(he was being a bit stinky just then!)


Then he decided to be cute....


And finally, we journeyed into the soon-to-be baby's room to read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" on the guest bed...


Fun! I love those special, silly times with him...just the two of us! I know those days are numbered, so I'm relishing in them as much as I can now!

Well...that was our day yesterday. Today, we cleaned like crazy people all morning. Luke 'helped' me dust and vacuum the house, and then alternated between getting under my feet and playing while I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms and scrubbed the floors. Phew! Lots of work, but it's sure a nice feeling to go into a weekend with ALL the household chores accomplished! :) Tomorrow night will be our belated birthday dinner for Ty and his mom at Ruth's Chris in Palm Desert, and I am SOOOO looking forward to getting a little dressed up and having an evening among adults! (Not that I don't absolutely love my days with Luke...I do, but its nice to be a grown-up once in awhile too!) And its been awhile since Ty and I have had a good date, so I'm looking forward to it in that respect too. Probably more for that reason than anything, I think. :) My mom and Dad will come to watch Luke while we go out and then on Sunday, we plan to take a short, not-to-tough hike and spent some time working on our to-do list around the house. I guess it's s'posed to be 95 on Sunday, so it'll be good getting-outside weather! :)

Well....that's 'bout it for us tonight. Hope you all enjoy a nice weekend!

Naptime

We just got home from a morning of Circle Time at the library and a nice visit with Sarah and Hudson. Luke fell asleep in the car on the way home, so he's sleeping like a log upstairs. I hopped onto the computer to fiddle around a bit on photoshop and as I was searching through old pictures, I came across the year in review I put together for Luke's second year. I intended to post it around his birthday, but it must've gotten lost in the shuffle and forgotten. It's not the best I've ever done for sure....I literally threw it together in a few minutes one afternoon, but at-least it shows his progression through the months. Wanna see?


It always mesmerizes me to see all these photos lined up like this. How cool is it to be able to 'watch' him grow through pictures! Anyway, just wanted to share that today. There's not much else to report, really. We plan to just hang out at home this afternoon, read some of the new books we check out from the 'brary and clean up the house a bit. Pretty mellow. We might head out to Farmer's Market closer to dinnertime to pick up some yummy fresh fruit and veggies that this little Bambino craves so much and to enjoy the great weather. We'll see. Just a quick post for today....I'm off for now!

It's a girl!

Or at-least that's what my dreams said last night! :) I had a dream (the first one I've had about this pregnancy) that we headed to our ultrasound and had a great 'shot' of the little one in all it's glory. At first, it looked distinctly like a boy, but on closer examination, the technician confirmed it was a girl! Ahhhh....dreams. I hope it was more of a premonition than a dream. We'll see.....only 23 more days!!!! (No...I'm not counting or anything!) :) When Ty left for work this morning, he leaned down to kiss me goodbye and my first words to him were "I had a dream it was a girl!!!" I'm just a little excited about this people! :P

Speaking of Ty...he seems to be doing better as of yesterday! Finally!!!!! He came home from work saying that it had been the first day where his stomach did not ache at all! Hooray! We are all on the mend for sure now!

And just because I forgot to mention them last post, here are a few cute Luke stories of late....he's has such a sweet and curious disposition lately. I had to giggle at these few moments...

Remember how I told you that I got my toes done with Laura over the weekend? Well...I told Luke where I was heading as I was leaving. "Mama's going with LaLa (that's how he says Laura, although yesterday he said 'Loo-ra' when talking about her) to get her toes done. I'll be back soon!" Well...the next morning as I was readying myself in the bathroom after my shower, he walked into the room, took a double-take at my bare toes and crouched down near them to get a closer look. He gasped. "Mama!!" he squealed with excitement. "Pitty (pretty) toes, Mama! Doe (go) with LaLa, Mama? Pitty!" Then he furrowed his brow, moved his head even closer to my toes to inspect them further and said, "Fower!! (flower) Mama, pitty fower. Lutey (Lukey) pitty toes too?" I kindly explained that only girls get to have pretty toes, but that I really liked how he noticed them and told me they were pretty. And now, each time he seems my piggies, he exclaims how 'pitty' they are! :) Gotta love that! A boy who notices the details! :)

The last one is baby-related. I think it might have been the same morning as the toes inspection that I was sitting on the bedroom floor in front on the window, putting my makeup on. I like to spread out on the floor, with the light flooding in and listen to music with Luke playing close by. As I was sitting there in my pj's, Luke scoots up close in front of me, kindly moved my makeup things out of the way, and kind-of just stares at me for a moment. "What is it, Bubba?" I asked. He didn't say anything, but instead slowly lifted my shirt up from my belly, leaned over and placed the most gentle of kisses on my belly button. "Mo-ning, Baby! Vuv you!" Then, just as gently, he replaced my shirt and smirked at me. Doesn't that just make you go to mush?! It was totally unprompted and completely amazing! Now, every morning and every evening before bed, we make it part of our 'routine' to greet the Baby and tell him/her how much Brother loves it. In turn, I tell Luke how much the Baby loves his/her big brother. A special bond has already begun. :) I just love, love, love that he's more aware now. And I just love, love, LOVE that boy!!!! What a sweetheart he is!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Today is Ty's birthday! When he left for work this morning, I had completely forgotten to wish him a happy birthday (bad, bad wife! But hey...it WAS 5:10am!) so when I crawled out of bed a few minutes later (couldn't sleep) I called him to tell him. He said it doesn't feel much like his birthday. :( Poor guy. How could it??? We spent ALL of the weekend home bound again because he is still sick. :( He felt A LOT better on Friday when he got home, saying he was hungry and craving burgers, so we got a bite to eat and headed to the park with Luke for an impromptu picnic and some play time. It was a lot of fun! Luke got to run around on the playground for awhile and get some energy out while we enjoyed some fresh air for awhile.

But once we got home, both of us felt yucky again and Ty ended up relapsing into the whole vomiting and stomach cramping thing! :( Saturday was supposed to be our fun birthday day and we had made plans with all this friends, his mom and brother to go to Ruth's Chris steakhouse for a nice birthday dinner to celebrate. Had to cancel. :( I was SO disappointed! I actually cried about it. (Pregnancy hormones!) I was really looking forward to an adult-only affair and actually having to get dressed up for something. Big bummer! But there was no point in spending a ton of money on a dinner that he either couldn't eat or would throw up later. So we rescheduled for this coming Saturday instead.

Saturday night, things for Ty seemed to get worse! He didn't sleep at all for all the stomach cramping and pain, and he even told me when I got up in the morning that it had been so bad in the middle of the night that he thought he might need to go to the ER. Whoa! For Ty to say something like that, it must've been BAD!!! He hasn't been sick or needed to see a doctor in over 7 years! So, long story short....we spent our morning and part of the afternoon waiting in the Urgent Care clinic, hoping for some relief of his pain. They did some blood work and gave him a G.I. cocktail (a yummy (I say that sarcastically) concoction of mylanta, lidocaine, and some other tummy soothing med). The blood work came back negative for gallbladder or pancreas problems, so we have to assume it's just a persistent virus that will run it's course. The doctor gave him a 'script for an antibiotic, just in case there were some buggies from say something bad he ate, along with some antacid meds for a likely overproduction on stomach acid. We are hoping, hoping, hoping that he is better soon. I feel horrible for him! And I hate to see him feeling so awful!

Luke and I, on the other hand, are doing MUCH better! No more sickies for us! Yay! I was able to go out with my friend Laura on Saturday morning for breakfast and a pedicure (sooooooo nice!). When I returned, it was almost Luke's naptime and this is where I found him....sound asleep on the couch next to Daddy, still pj-clad!

He was so asleep that I was able to scoop him up and carry him to bed with no problem. After nap, we drove down to Ty's mom's house to give her some birthday flowers (it was her birthday this weekend too!) . We only stayed a short time, since Ty wasn't feeling great, but she appreciated the visit, especially from Luke! :)

Sunday brought Luke's first fall down the stairs! :( As we were scrambling to get out the door to drop him off at my mom's before I took Ty to urgent care, Luke was standing at the top of the stairs waiting for me. When Tess realizes that we are leaving the house, she gets all excited, thinking, of-course, that she is going too. So....she rushed to get down the stairs first, and in the process knocked poor Luke over, causing him to tumble (roll really) down the stairs to the landing. :( I think my heart skipped ten beats! Thankfully, he didn't hit his head on the railings or the way and was just more scared than anything. He cried for maybe 10 seconds and then was fine. Boy! That kiddo it tough! I noticed a little bruise on his hip though, as I bathed him last night. I always try to make sure that Luke stands away from the stairwell until Tess makes her way down for the exact reason, but it all just happened to fast yesterday morning.

Well....we're hoping for a much less dramatic week ahead around here. Please pray for Ty to feel better! This bug just keeps dragging on and on. Hopefully by my next posting, I'll have some more positive news to report! :) Until then......

Sick spell.....

Blegh! We are STILL sick! (Although I have to say, we are doing better than yesterday and the day before!). I had to miss work again today though. :( Seriously, this was the only week in months that I have been scheduled to work twice (and I WANTED to work too!) but this stinkin' bug just won't let up!! Basically, I feel pretty good, tummy-wise, until I put a single morsel of food or drop of liquid in my system! Ha! All is well until I have to eat. :( ANY amount of food makes me feel like I've just even a half-ton of boulders! And that fun sensation lasts until the feeling of starvation takes over. Grrr! But a pregnant woman can't go too long without food or fluids. So I must eat, and I'm trying. I had some cereal for breakfast at 7 and a grilled cheese around 3pm. At-least I'm eating something.

Luke is feeling a bit punky again today too...diarrhea this morning and a low grade fever. :( He isn't eating great either. Hasn't for days. How long will this last???? We finally made a concerted effort to get some fresh air this afternoon. (We hadn't been outside the house since Monday!) So I gathered up enough energy to park my booty in a lawn chair on the driveway (yes....seriously...I had to WORK up the energy to do even that!) and let Luke play in the sunshine for about an hour. We needed the fresh air.

Ty had to go to work today, despite feeling just as poorly as I am. :( He's able to kinda lay low though, if he needs too. He should be home soon...hope it wasn't too miserable of a day!

Well...sorry to be such a downer the last couple of entries. Jeesh! We just feel rotten though. Thought I would boost my mood a bit though, and change up the blog colors for St. Patty's Day. Whatta ya think??? I also changed Luke's "Same Time Last Year" photo....hasn't he changes SO much!?

Okay, off to the couch for some Sesame Street with my Luke. More to come....