Where in the world is Kristin Mclaughlin???

The Today Show is doing it's yearly feature of "Where in the World is Matt Lauer"....I just thought that I would play along. :) Have you missed me???? Where the heck have I been for so many days????? Geez! Go ahead, call me a slacker! :) Okay...not really! :) hehe

Anyway, I have been slacking on my posts. Sorry about that. I've just been lacking the motivation to carve out the time to sit here and type. It really does entail me carving out the time. Nap time is pretty much my only blog-worthy time, and at best, that only lasts about an hour and a half! There is just so much to get done in those short 90 minutes that blogging tends to fall by the wayside. ANY computer work has to be done while Luke is soundly asleep, as do bills, photoshopping, emails or the occasional nap. Lately, my Luke-free time has been spent cleaning out and organizing the office...digging through old files and cleaning out the junk! Sounds fun, eh?!

Anyway, I'm back, but not with much to report for a Monday night. What is with me??? I must be having a case of the pregnancy blahs! Strange. I don't even have pictures for you. I've been slacking in that department too! BUT, that is not to say that in my absence I have been lounging on the couch, eating bon-bons! Nope. Not me! I've actually been pretty busy. There are so many little projects to get done 'round here before our munchin #2 joins the roost! So much to do, so little time! :)

The only pictures I DO have for you today is a little collage of my belly. Surprise, surprise, huh! It's the hot topic around here lately! I seem to have popped out suddenly, or so it feels! Seemingly overnight, I can hardly bend over to tie my shoes, get dressed, bathe Luke or the like without my blossoming belly getting in the way. I have to say, it's a little odd! When I got dressed this morning, I glanced at myself in the mirror and was shocked to see a belly that looked strangely familiar to my 30 week-Luke-frame! Could it be?? I distinctly remembered a certain picture I had taken right before I went into the hospital with Luke and in my crazy little mind, I just HAD to do a comparison to see if I was really that big ALREADY. So tonight, I made Ty snap a quick shot of my belly so that I could compare. Sure enough, it's pretty close. I am certainly not as filled out and round now as I was at 30 weeks with Luke, but I'm not too far off! It's kinda crazy for me to think that there is a seven and a half week time span between the two pictures, but not that much difference in size. Wanna see?


Yes....I AM obsessed with this belly! It's a hobby of mine to compare and contrast where I am now with where I was then, with Luke's pregnancy. :)

Anyway, I guess I'm going to need to leave you with that tonight. 24 is on and I'm missing a good portion of it by sitting here typing. My hubby is waiting for me to join him. Night, my friends.

Updates and do-overs....

Before I begin my usual updates, let me first update you on precious little Brayden...my friend Kelli's son, for those of you who kept him in your prayers. He had his open-heart surgery this morning and as of 10:30am, was out of the OR and in recovery. The surgery was successful! They closed the several holes in his heart (one was found to actually be roughly the size of a DIME....he's only 5 months old, remember!! Yikes!!) and they successfully moved his aorta away from the trachea. They left one of the smaller holes open, believing I think, that it will close on it's own in time. So....although the next 48 hours are the most critical for him, there is victory in a successful surgical outcome. Thank you for your prayers! If you could, please continue to pray for healing and recovery.

Okay...moving on. My OB appointment today went well too! My weight and BP were good...and still no protein in my urine. All good signs. I made the nurse wait to take my blood pressure until after I had settled in a bit, so as to avoid a repeat of last months visit. She was happy to wait, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to have much affect on my pressures. It was still 124/72. Still totally in a normal range for most people, but on the higher end for me. I mentioned my lower reading earlier in the week to Dr. Hage (when Tami took it manually) and asked why there might be such a difference. (Remember, if was 100/50 then.) He said that two things could be at work there.....one being that it was taken earlier in the day then and at the end of the afternoon today. Pressures tend to be higher as the day progresses. Okay. Second, it was taken manually with Tami and in a different way at the office. Okay. I guess there is always the possibility too that one of the readings were inaccurate. So...I take it all with a grain of salt and rest in knowing that I'm feeling well, and not spilling protein. No need to stress over it.

The ultrasound results came back good as well. If I wasn't so sure about the date of my last period, Dr. Hage would have moved my due date up to Aug. 22nd, as she is measuring a week ahead, but since I am pretty certain of my dates, he is keeping me at Aug. 29th. I was happy to hear she is measuring larger rather than smaller. Nothing wrong with that! :) There were no apparent abnormalities on the ultrasound....she looks healthy and well! :) Yay! He will however, be scanning me again at 26 weeks to check on my placenta. Apparently, the placenta is currently lying over my c-section scar, which he wants to keep an eye on. He is hopeful that as my uterus grows, it will pull the placenta up along with it, but he will repeat the ultrasound in a few weeks to be sure. He didn't offer too much information at this time, as he didn't want me to worry about something that is not necessarily a problem. But from what I understand, if the placenta does not move, there is a risk that it could grow into the scar tissue from my c-section and cause complications for me during delivery. There really is nothing we can do about it at this point except just wait and see how or if the placenta moves. Prayer that it moves and waiting is all that is in order at this point. So that is what we will do. I'm truly not worried about it at this point. There is a good chance that it (the placenta) will move.

Aside from that little tidbit of information, the rest of the appointment was good. We will likely be able to schedule our c-section date at our next visit and I will have my glucose test and my second Rhogam injection then as well. As for the c-section date, we found out that our original hope to have section done on a Friday is not possible..he doesn't do surgeries on Friday. So we requested a Thursday as our second choice. He said he will do his best to accommodate that,as long as there are no conflicts with the hospital's schedule, but we won't know for sure until a few weeks from now. If we get the Thursday date, I think the date will be Aug. 16th, as long as he doesn't want to do it sooner. Again, we'll know more in a few weeks.

So...that's that in terms of baby. Oh....except that do-over part of my title. Did I have you baffled on that one???? Well...remember how we finished up the painting of her room on Sunday??? No sooner did we pull off the tape did I realized that the color was completely off! We did a light pink of the top and a pale green/sage color on the bottom, with a white chair rail planned in between. The pink is fine (thankfully, since it's the majority of the wall space) but the green turned out MUCH more minty than sage. :( Shoot! I actually can't stand it at all! And I'm not just being picky.....it really IS the wrong color...even Ty agrees it looks funny. :( Big bummer! The swatch looked like it was going to be a good choice, and the swatch matches the wall, so it wasn't like the paint guy screwed up the order. The color just wasn't the right choice from the get-go. Ooops! So this week I will make a second attempt to pick the right shade. Something more sage-y and less minty green. Wish me luck! At-least we only have to repaint the bottom half!

Well...that's it from me tonight. Sorry to not have any pictures from the last few days. The blog is kinda boring without shots of the little man. Oh well. Maybe I'll be better at picking up my camera in the next few days. He's still not feeling up to par, but thankfully it's not the worst cold he's ever had. Its actually pretty mild. Thank goodness! He just wants to do a lot of sleeping and is a bit crankier than normal. All tolerable.

Off to finish watching 24.....more to come.

Lazy Sunday

Its a lazy, stay at home kind of Sunday for us today. I worked last night in the ED, so this morning was a 'catch up on sleep' kind of morning. Or at-least it was supposed to be. Luke decided it would be fun to get out of bed at 5:48 this morning. :( I was NOT happy about that. I pulled him into bed with us, knowing that if my feet hit the floor to return him to his own bed, I would not be able to get back to sleep. So up he came with us, and I sternly told him that he could be in bed with us as long as he didn't talk, wiggle or move. :) He was to go back to sleep...it wasn't time to get up yet. Much to my surprise, it pretty much worked. He laid still in between Ty and I for quite a long time. I dozed lightly for awhile...shifting and adjusting often to get comfortable and telling little Luke to 'go night-night' a couple of times. It was 7:15 by the time he couldn't hold still any longer, and Ty every so graciously took Luke downstairs to allow me to sleep a bit longer. :) I love him for that!! :) And sleep I did! For the first time in I don't even know how long, I didn't drag my bootie out of bed until 9:15! WOOOHOO! That is simply unheard of for me. I loved every second of it!!!! :)

The rest of the morning, I helped Ty tape off and put the finishing touches on the paint in the baby's room. He painted the top half of the room yesterday, so we just had the bottom to finish up. It didn't take long, but my early riser fell fast asleep on the bed in the middle of the room while Ty and I were working. He slept on for another 2 and half hours, even after we moved him to his own bed. He needed some rest. He started in with a cold yesterday and has been obviously feeling a little punky since. His little cheeks are pink and his nose goopy. :( He's not interested in eating much, and he seems rather content to stay in his pj's today, lounging around the house. Hope he's better soon and that he doesn't decide to share his germs with me!!

Oh yes....back to the baby's room......on Friday I officially purchased her crib! We had picked one out via the net about a week ago and I spent quite a lot of time seeking out the best price online and reading reviews. I was able to find a place that offered it for a really good price, shipping and tax-free! We planned on buying it, but I was hesitant until I was able to see it in person first...just to make sure that it was WHITE and not off-white and to check out how sturdy it was. So on Friday, Luke and I headed out to the store where we purchased his crib and they had it there! The owner of the store started talking to me a bit and I told her we were interested in buying it, but were most likely going to do it online, as the price was unbeatable. The store was selling it for $30 more than the Internet price, but that was not including tax, so it would have been considerably more. I asked her if she would be willing to match the online price I had found (I even gave her the web address if she wanted to verify the price I had found) and she willingly obliged! :) YAY! So we got the crib, at the price we wanted, AND we don't have to worry about the possibility of dings and dents that can occur when cribs are shipped directly to your home. How cool is that! :) I was proud of my deal-making abilities! :) I'm not usually comfortable doing that! So....we should have our crib in 2 to 4 weeks...giving us just enough time to get the chair rail up and the other furniture in there moved out. I'm so excited! We are well ahead of 'schedule' in getting her room ready....with Luke, I was just starting to paint the walls at 29 weeks! I'm 21 as of Friday!

Hmmmm...let's see...what else? I have another OB appointment tomorrow and we will finally get our ultrasounds results. Hope they are okay. I'm sure they are. I always look forward to these appointments.....mostly just to have an affirmation that all is well, I guess.

The last thing I wanted to share before I go help Ty put up the ceiling fan in our bedroom is an update on my friends Kelli & Rob, and their son Brayden. Please pray for them! They had a week of tests and procedures last week, cummulating in the news that Brayden will need open heart surgery sooner than later. At this point, I believe it is scheduled for tomorrow. The doctors found several other problems that will need surgical repair....one being that his aorta is laying across his trachea; hindering it's development and causing his airway to become compromised when he gets upset. His trachea has not developed properly because of this, and is immature and weak, causing it to close easily. So in addition to closing the holes in his heart, and repairing a leak in the two aortic vessels that are currently connected (they should not be), the surgeons will also be moving his aorta out of the way of the trachea in hopes that the trachea will be able to mature properly. Just SO much for them to handle! Please pray for strength for them and wisdom for those who are caring for Brayden. Not to mention that surgery would go smoothly and without complication. It will be a long road of recovery, and your prayers 9even though you may not know them) will provide sustenance and strength. Thank you for just taking a moment to pray for them.

Okay..I am off for now. I'm sure I will update with news from our appointment tomorrow. Until then......

Catching up...

We are catching up on lots of things around here....blogging...cleaning...sleep...pictures...and chores! I'm not sure how the days get away from me, but they do lately. How is it already THURSDAY?! Let's backtrack from our week....

Sunday:
The Wild Animal Park turned out to be great! The weather here at our house was treacherous...raining and really windy, but in San Diego, it was brisk and cool with big, puffy white clouds and a breeze every now and then. Not bad for a day outdoors. We just had to make sure we kept our sweaters on! Luke LOVED the park! We didn't arrive until close to 11am, and we made a b-line for the elephants, since that is what he told us he wanted to see the most! They didn't disappoint! We saw several of them, including two babies that had more energy than they knew what to do with! Luke just stared at the huge giants! He was in awe! It was really cool to see them so close and in a natural environment. They have so much space to roam at the park. Here are a couple of shots...you can see the elephant between Ty and Luke (barely, but it's there!)

Daddy and Luke. Check out how he likes to wear his hat now...just like his Dad does so often! He'll actually turn it around himself and put it on that way!



After the elephants, we headed for the new bus tour that they have. Into Africa or something like that. You ride on open bus for about 25 minutes through the park's safari area where we got to see giraffe's, rhinos, antelope, cheetahs, zeebras and many more in a natural habitat! SOOO cool! I had never seen those animals so close before. It was really neat. Here's Luke on my lap in the bus.


THEN we headed over to the lion exhibit, which turned out to be the best part of the day. The lions have a big area to roam too, but in one section as they have in many zoos, you can walk up to a glass enclosure area and peek at the animals more upclose. We were lucky that one of the cubs (who looked full grown to me!) was ready for lunchtime and was down close to us by the window. Luke climbed up on the ledge, planted his face and hands on the glass and gazed at the lions. I guess the cub was just as interested in Luke too and he came RIGHT up next to Luke and looked us square in the eyes! Yikes! I'm glad that there was a thick glass window between us for protection! But what a sight to see a lion so close up! He was literally two inches from us! SOOO cool! Luke giggled and got a HUGE kick out it! The lioness came over soon after to investigate too! Here's Luke and I at the window...the lions were up on a rock far away in front of us at the point. You can barely see them above my head here...


Here's just a cute shot of Luke with his hat and shades on....we call him the Terminator when he wears his sunglasses! :) LOL!


Luke was zonked after that (it was naptime, afterall!) and fell asleep in the stroller. Since we have our passes for the year, we just opted to head home after that, deciding to do the rest another day. We stopped for some Olive Garden on our way and were home in time to watch the Wiggles and get ready for bed. The boys decided it would be fun to take a bubble bath together in our big bathtub as a 'special ending' to a special day for Luke. That's when I caught Luke's bubble impersonation of Abraham Lincoln:


He cracked himself and us up! Funny kid! Overall, it was a really fun day! Several times, we were all laughing so hard that we were all in tears! Good memories!

Monday I had to work in the ED, so Luke and I hung out at home and layed low in the morning, so that I could conserve my energy for the night to come. Boy am I glad I did! The ED was CRAZY...especially for a Monday and I was running from the time I got there until the time I left at 11pm! I had an intern with me too, so that for a little extra mental effort on my part. It was great though, and she got to see quite a lot! Two dog maullings, a trauma and lots of other 'normal' emergency things.

I didn't get to bed until midnight and Luke has taken a likely to getting up precisely at 6:15 every morning now (not sure what that's about!) so between the short sleep and not sleeping the greatest, I was exhausted on Tuesday. We hung out at home all day again, aside from walking with Tami in the afternoon. I just couldn't drag my bootie out to do much of anything.

Yesterday was back to normal, and we got up and out of the house by 9:30. It was my turn for Mommy Free Time yesterday (rememember how Tami and I switch off every other week while the other watches our boys?) so I took my two hours to run to the mall to see if I could find some capris. No such luck, but it was nice to have a few hours to myself! :) We headed home after another stop at a friend's house for lunch and naps. Then it was off to Costco to stock up on some necessities and home for dinner. Boy! The days go by so fast!

Today's plans are still up in the air. Luke is watching the Wiggles and I have yet to shower. But I think we might head to Circle Time at the library since we haven't done that in awhile. Who knows what the rest of the day will hold.

Oh yeah....really quick....while I was at work on Monday and then twice today while I was shopping I had epsidodes of hot flashes, eerily similar to that hot, pulsating feeling I got when I was pre-eclamptic with Luke, so I had Tami manually take my blood pressure when I stopped by to pick up Luke...just to be sure. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was 100/50! YIPPEE! That's the lowest it has been since before I pregnant with Luke! I asked Tami why there was such a discrepancy between the readings I get at the doctors office and hers (remember the doctor' reading is usually somewhere around 112/68..last time it was 124/68), and she said that the manual reading (done with a stethoscope and cuff) tend to be more accurate than the electronic cuffs they use at the doctor's office. Good for me! I'm was SOOOO happy to see those low numbers again! It did wonders for my sense of concern! Your prayers are working! Thank you! I'll be interested to see what my bp is on Monday at my next OB appointment. I think I'll have to ask Dr. Hage about it too to see what he has to say.

Anyway...I'm off to shower so that I can be ready for Circle Time. But before I go, I would like to ask for prayers for my friend Kelli and her little boy Brayden. Brayden is 5 mos. now and was hospitalized over the weekend due to several episodes where he stopped breathing. 911 was called on Sunday night and Rob, Kelli's husband, had to perform rescue breathing before the parametics got there! (Incredibly scary!!) It was discovered a few weeks ago that Brayden has a congentital heart defect (VSD) and has a hole in his heart that needs to be repaired surgically. However, this week in the hospital, the doctors also discovered a few other abnormalities in his heart and he will likely be undergoing heart surgery within a few days. Please, if you can, pray for Brayden's health, for surgery to go smoothly and for strength for Kelli and Rob as they endure these scary times. Thanks!

Okay...I'm off for now. Enjoy your Thursday! :)

Halfway through...

According to the books, I am exactly half-way through my pregnancy. But, since I will have a scheduled c-section at 38 1/2-ish weeks (IF I go to term), I am actually more than halfway through. I really wish that I could just press pause on life right now. Can't I just linger here, in this phase...at this spot for awhile???? I love where I am right now. Not just in my pregnancy, but in life in general. As far as my pregnancy goes, I feel good. I feel this little girl kicking and moving all the time, I look pregnant (and not too fat yet!), and for the most part, I am just in that blissful 'honeymoon' stage of pregnancy. I don't want to be halfway through with my last pregnancy. I want it to linger on like this just awhile longer. If only.....

Luke is at an awesome stage too. I always say that I love each new stage even more than the last, and it proves to be true yet again. He is just SO much fun! We talk and play and are silly together. We have 'dates' and special moments together. It's just awesome. We do, of-course, also have frustrating, whiny, irritating times too, as all moms of toddlers do, but those are far out-weighed by the blissful moments. I just love, love, love him!

So back to the half-way through thing. Today I turned 20 weeks. Where is the time going?! In keeping with my photo log of my pregnancy, that meant that it was picture day in our house. So this morning, with not much else to do, Luke and I busted out the backdrops and camera for a little photo session. Me first, then the both of us, then Luke alone. It's been awhile since I snapped some decent, portrait-y shots of him, so we had fun. And I wasn't able to get any formal pictures at Easter, so I dressed him in his Easter outfit and snapped away. The only person missing from our session was Ty. SOMEDAY we'll get another family shot in there! :) But here are a few from our day. (You can check out the pregnancy progression at the bottom of the blog for the updated version, if you so desire.)

Me and my little GIRL at 20 weeks :) Can you tell I need to get that belly of mine some sunshine! :)


Mommy and Luke (and baby too, although you can't see much of her!)


And here is a whole BUNCH of my precious boy. I couldn't just pick ONE, so I had to share a mess of them with you! :)

A silly grin...

Cuddle-Bug...




Doesn't he make you just want to squeeze him!?! Love that boy!

Anyway, just wanted to share our pictures for the day. Ty is home now with a couple tacos for this very hungry mama, so I'm going to go! Hope you all have a great weekend! We're heading to the Wild Animal Park on Sunday, so I'm sure we'll have more pics to share! Happy Friday! :)

Do we need a little girl????

Well...OF-COURSE we need (and want!) a little girl, but this morning, Luke satisfied my immediate desire to have a little girl when he sat down behind me while I did my make-up and combed my hair, (ever so gently I might add) for nearly 20 minutes! :) It was so sweet and tender....he just sat there and played. He's never done such a thing before...being interested in my hair and all like that, so it was certainly out of character for him. I enjoyed it nonetheless! Like I've told you before, you can usually find him running around my bedroom in the morning, jumping off the stool and falling on the floor in hysterical laughter, or climbing up on my bed only to throw something off and jump down to retrieve it again. He is certainly my active boy. But this morning, he was cuddly, sweet and gentle. Mmmm...loved that! :) He even woke early (WAY too early for my taste....5:54am!) and asked to sleep in Mama's bed. I obliged, and he curled up next to me under the covers, wrapped his tiny hand around my index finger, threw his Snuggie up over his face and dozed alongside me for another 25 minutes or so. Oh how I relish moments like those! :)

After we got ourselves ready, we headed out for a few errands. Cost Plus for a dragonfly garland thingy I saw there the other day that will match the baby's bedding (more on that in a minute!), then to Target to check out a convertible crib I saw online, which turned out to be the wrong color, THEN we popped into Home Depot for a quick minute to pick up a few paint swatches for the baby's room. After that, we returned a book for Ty at the Christian bookstore, stuck over to the park for a little exercise on the play equipment, and finally we made our last stop at a favorite little mexican food joint for a couple burritos. I had a meat one, and Luke had a bean & cheese. Mmmmm! And all this was accomplished between 9:45 and 12:15! Not too shabby!! He's snoozing now and I am supposed to be tackling the bills and balancing the checkbook, but I'm here with you all instead. Bad mommy!!! :) hehehe. It weird weather again outside today....cold, windy and it is starting to rain as I type. I guess that's spring for you...you just never know what it will be like outside!

Oh yes...the baby's room! Yesterday, Krystal, the twins, Luke and I drove down to Orange County to visit the nearest Pottery Barn Kids store so that I could make a choice on baby bedding. Ty and I had narrowed it down to two options as we shopped online, but I'm not one who can just order something online very easily without seeing it first. So, with my printouts and catalog in hand, we ventured down to the store to check it out. Both our options were really cute, (as is everything in Pottery Barn!) and I couldn't decide between the two so I bought a small pillow sham of each to bring home and have Ty decide for me. Here were the two options:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/su441_1/index.cfm?pkey=cbdgnbd%7Cb
and
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/su440/index.cfm?pkey=cbdgnbd%7Cb (shown in lavender and sage, but we'd choose pink and sage)

When I brought it home, Ty immediately chose the DragonFly Lily one. My favorite too! It's really cute! Sage, pink and white. Subtle....not too busy or overdone. The colors are nice, but not overwhelming. Perfect. And the little quilt had a thick sage band around it, edged in a tiny detail of pink scallops. So cute! :) I'm growing more and more excited to start her room! Choosing a crib (convertible, like Luke's of-course!) and painting the walls are next on the To Do list. I'm not waiting until the end to get it all done this time around! When Luke was born, I had just finished painting the room a week prior, and although we had purchased the furniture and bedding, nothing was put together. The room was empty! He didn't have to use it right away, being in the NICU so long, but it was still a pain to have to worry about completing the room while he was hospitalized. Not this time. It will ALL be done well ahead of time!

Oh! All this baby talk, and I've been forgetting to post my ultrasounds pictures! It's been nearly a week! I still don't have the final report from my OB as to whether or not they will adjust my dates or if there were any abnormalities....I'm still waiting for him to call me back....but all LOOKED well to my untrained eyes that day. I for sure saw NO cleft palate and her abdomen looked as though her intestines had safely migrated inside. We saw all 10 fingers and toes....eyes, nose and lips. And there was certainly NO DOUBT that she was a girl! She was very cooperative for the tech and we saw ALL of her little parts...even ones I didn't even know you could see on an ultrasound! (I'll spare the details for her sake later on!) :) We watched as she sucked her thumb, wiggled her toes, and even wagged her index finger at us, as if she was showing us "Here is the finger I will have Daddy wrapped around!" :) Wanna see????


Her sweet profile while sucking her thumb:


And her entire body, minus her head. Since I'm her momma, I said say that I think she looks a bit like a roasted chicken in this one! :) Hehehe! :) She's still a cutie to me though!


I am anxious to here the final report as to any abnormalities (hopefully NOT!), to know if the umbilical cord contains three vessels, that her heart looks normal and that there are no other markers for defects. And I'm dying to know if she is measuring appropriate to her gestational age! If she is on the small side or developing IUGR like Luke, it could be an indicator of pre-e, although not always. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Well.....that's all to report today. I really have to go now and tackle the checkbook and hopefully clear some of this clutter that has accumulated on top of our desk. Until next time....

Sugar High....

Hehe...yes...we ALL ate too much candy yesterday! :) We are still recovering! :)

Our Easter was wonderful! A busy, full day...but wonderful! And since there is so much to report, I'm just going to do most of it in pictures today. I'm seriously wiped out tonight. Haven't been sleeping very well the last few nights (I think I spoke too soon about not having insomia!) and I've got a dosey of a headache, so I'll let our pictures do most of the 'talking'. There are quite a few to share!

Easter for Luke started on Saturday night when Ty returned from Mamaw's house with the first of his TWO Easter baskets...here he is with his 'loot'...

The basket included a new play stethoscope, so he decided that the new bunny he also received needed a check-up:

Then he jumped around with Daddy and popped the bubble wrap that came in the basket and ended up on the floor for this cute pic:

Isn't he just so stinkin' cute!?! We hurried him off to bed after that to read an Easter-ish story and prime him for all the excitement that was to come the next morning. He fell to sleep to visions of the Easter Bunny and a basket full of goodies awaiting him in the morning. At promptly 6:30am, he awoke and called for me. Blurry-eyed, I literally rolled out of bed (I had been up for nearly 2 hours during the night and had just fallen back to sleep an hour prior! Blegh!) but when I walked into his room, his little "Morning, Mama!" cheered me right up! I responded with "Happy Easter, Buddy" to which he shouted "YAAAAY!!!". We woke Ty and hurried downstairs to search for his Easter basket that the Easter Bunny had carefully hidden. (It's a family tradition to hide the basket too...not just the eggs.) He found it in his playroom, inside his little kitchen. Can you see the glee on his face! :) So cute!

He sat down to dig through the goodies...

and immediately pulled out a sucker first. It went straight into his mouth!

Yes...it WAS 6:30 in the morning, but hey...it was a special day! :)
His basket also contained some bunny ears, bubbles, an Elmo toy and some other goodies. Here he is modeling:

After showering and dressing, we headed over to my parents house for breakfast, an egg hunt and a day with the whole family. Luke was SO into the egg hunt...he was a boy on a mission the entire time; filling his little basket to overflowing with dozens of eggs.

And as soon as he relized that there was CANDY in the eggs, there was no stopping him! Each egg had to be opened and inspected. And often eaten!

Daddy helped with the 'hunt' and I stayed behind the camera. Here are my two favorite boys with their loot :)

Luke spent the rest of the day playing with his cousins and asking for "tandy". :) Seriously. They all ventured outside once the fog and drizzle cleared a bit for some bubble blowing.



And as the day drew to a close, I snapped these cute pictures of him. Man! I love that kid! He's just so adorable, don't you think?! :)



We returned back home close to bedtime and we all pretty much collapsed into bed. What a fun, blessed, but exhausting day! :)

Today we just hung around home in our pj's until 2pm. :) Nice! :) Gotta love those days! We cleaned, re-organized from the Easter Tornado that went through out house over the weekend and sorted through all of Luke's infant clothes in order that they may be given to friends soon. We ventered out of the house for about an hour for a nice long walk, once the sun finally decided to peek through the clouds, and Luke spent the remainder of the afternoon running and playing in the backyard with Tess. A nice, rejuvinating day at home.

I DO have ultrasound pictures from Friday, but since I'm so wiped out tonight, I'll have to share all that tomorrow. Sorry. Hope you all had as nice of an Easter as we had! :) Goodnight for now!

Negative results!

In this case, negative results are good! I spoke with Dr. Hage yesterday and he happily informed me that our AFP (alpha fetal protein) test came back negative. That is wonderful news! The AFP test screens for risk factors associated with certain birth defects. A positive or high result could indicate that the baby may have Down Syndrome, trisomy 31 or another birth defect, (I say could because there is always a possibility of a false positive result), whereas a negative result means that the my risk for those birth defects is low enough not to warrant follow-up testing. Yippee!! :) Good news!

To have the AFP test done is a personal choice of each couple usually. Some opt not to do it, because they may feel that even a positive result would not change the outcome of their pregnancy (meaning they would not terminate if the baby had Down's, for instance), (which we would not do either, of-course!), where others want to have it done for just that precise reason. Stilll others, like ourselves, chose to do the test for the purpose of just being prepared in the event that something was wrong with our baby. It wouldn't change whether or not we would continue with the pregnancy...that is NEVER an option for us, but it would allow us a few months to prepare emotionally and practically for a child with special needs. Thankfully for us, the test was negative. So far so good! We are, at this point, on the way to meeting a healthy ,birth-defect free child! :)

Speaking of healthy....as I am now approaching my 20th week of pregnancy (I will hit that mile-marker next Friday) is it rude for me to ask you again to continue pray that pre-eclampsia stays at bay and allows me to remain healthy??? I know many of you have told me you already are, but I just needed to ask again. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, pre-e does not typically onset until after week 20 and now that I'm approaching that time, I must admit my heart is starting to feel a bit more on edge. Don't get me wrong...I'm still staying positive and I'm certainly NOT freaking out, but now that I'm near that 20 week mark, the thoughts of pre-e are never far from my mind. I guess I'm being vigilant. If you all could just begin praying regularly for health, no pre-e and a TERM pregnancy (and did I mention peace of mind??) we would be extremely grateful! Knowing that you are praying allows us to rest peacefully on your prayers. If you would do that for us, it would be the greatest of gifts.

Okay....onto the day to day.....

Yesterday, Luke and I drove down to Ontario to meet Ty for lunch and make a quick stop at the New Balance Outlet store down there for some new shoes for the whole fam. Luke fell asleep in the car on the way there (at 11am!), which is quite unusual for him and BOY! was he a grump when we were shoe shopping. Ty hadn't arrived yet, and I was trying to fit him with a couple of different styles, and he just threw a FIT! Of-course, it was silent in the store...a quiet Wednesday for them, and Luke's screams echoed through the building. Nice. I was just a little embarrassed! He 'got into trouble' two other times while we were there...and I even had to give his little hand a smack. :( We usually do time-outs, but that was just not feasible at the particular moment. His behavior was really not like him! The rest of the day proved to not be much different. We didn't get home until 2:45 and since it was so late, I was SURE he'd nap well. (He normally naps at 1pm.) But I was wrong there too. He was perfectly willing to get into bed and lay down...no fighting with him there....but he just would NOT go to sleep. He played, sang, jumped on his pillow, and banged his legs against the bed rails for over an hour...despite me going up there a handful of times to talk to him. After the hour mark, I finally gave in and got him out of bed, but not before he lost the privilege to watch his favorite DVD and earned himself an early bedtime. Grrr. I was frustrated! It is a VERY rare occurrence for him to miss a nap. And when he does, the rest of the day is not so much fun. Especially when it's a Wednesday and I know that Ty won't be home until after 9pm....no backup! :( We survived though and he was soundly in bed by 7:15. When I checked on him before I went to bed, he hadn't even moved a muscle since I put him down! Tired boy!

This morning, Mamaw is off work for spring break, so I get to drop Lukey off at her house for a few hours of Mommy-free-time! :) Yippee! I'm actually not sure what I'm going to do with myself. I thought that I would maybe do a little maternity shopping, but there isn't really a need right now. Then I thought that I would come home and clean a bit in a QUIET house, but we cleaned all the bathrooms and the kitchen yesterday. Hmmm. So I think I'll shop for a birthday present for Ty's boss, then hit the grocery store for a few items I need for Easter dinner and then come home to bake the bread I'm supposed to bring on Sunday. I don't know. Doesn't sound all that exciting, does it? At-least it's some time to myself. Ty won't be home until after Luke's in bed again tonight, since it's his bible study night, so the little break this morning will sustain me for another solo dinner and bedtime routine.

Well....it's time to 'shake a tower' (remember, that's my term for take a shower) :) so I should get going. No pictures again today...sorry! It's too early for those yet and I wasn't able to take any yesterday. Maybe I'll post some tomorrow, after our ultrasound. Two in one week! How lucky are we! This one is our 20 week fetal anatomy ultrasound to check all her parts! :) I'm looking forward to seeing her again! :) But....if I don't get to post again before Easter, Happy Easter to you all! Hope you each are privileged to spend time with the ones you love the most! We are! :)

It's all sinking in...

As I said...onto all things pink....like my new color scheme????

Friday was certainly a whirlwind for us! Ty and I both awoke on Saturday morning and 'debriefed' a bit about the news of our baby girl. Lots of different emotions washed over us as the news sunk in. Ty, on one hand, was feeling just a tad bit overwhelmed with the news...maybe even a bit disappointed that she was not a boy. He said that he really had no preference prior to the scan, but afterwards, he did, in fact, feel a little sad. Which is totally understandable! Aside from my nieces, who he sees only on occasion, he's never been around girls. Boys are all he's known and he ADORES Luke. Of-course he would be a bit partial to another son! (Especially if he's as cute as Luke! :) ) He is still very excited about this child...please don't get the wrong impression. Similarly, and much to my own surprise, felt some of those same trepidations on Friday night as I lay in bed looking over the pictures from the day. A bit of fear, nervousness and worry came over me. Will I be a good mom to a little girl??? Will I be able to nurture and love her as only a little girl needs???? Little girls need so much more in the way of sensitivity, empathy and tenderness than little boys. (They both need it, but girls are much more sensitive in the emotional realms.) And I already know how to parent a little boy! We will be treading into uncharted waters here. But, just as soon as the worries and fears came, so too did the realization that I will learn to be the kind of mommy she needs. It won't happen overnight. It will come as time unfolds for us. We will grow together. So...with that piece of comfort tucked into my heart, I slept soundly.

Luke was cute on Saturday morning too. We popped the CD of all the ultrasound pics into the DVD player as breakfast was cooking and looked at them again together. When I asked him who was in those pictures, he non-chalantly said: "Baby sister." "That's right, honey! And where is baby sister right now? We're looking at her in the pictures, but where is she really?" "In mommy's belly." Way to go, Big Guy! He's starting to make more sense of it now. LOVE that! And last night, as he climbed up into the rocker and into my arm before bed, he lifted my shirt as he always does, planted a kiss on my belly and said, " Goodnight, Baby Sister. Yuv you!" Awww! Sweet, sweet child of mine!

I worked in the ED on Saturday night, and had my first experience of what I think were Braxton-Hicks contractions. The feeling didn't come and go as many say they do, but instead was just an obvious tightening on the lower sides of my belly. I never experienced those in my pregnancy with Luke, so I'm not sure if that is what they were or not, but my friend Tami (an OB nurse) said it was quite possible. It seems to be too early for those, but she said they are possible anytime after 16weeks, but more likely after 20. I am 18 and 1/2. So maybe. I've had the sensation a few more times over the last few days, but nothing to cause worry. Its just strange.

Luke and I have spent the last few days playing and doing whatever fun things we can. We FINALLY busted out the finger paints one afternoon that I bought him for his birthday. I was so nervous bringing them out! I envisioned paint all over the floor, him and anything else in the way (thus the reason it took me FOUR months to do it!) but I took all the necessary precautions (a plastic sheet on the floor, a smock on Luke, and a plastic sheet on the lap tray he was using!) He did AWESOME and just loved it! We proudly hung his artwork on the fridge and he smiles when he walks by and see it. Here are a few pics from that afternoon.
Just getting started...


Being silly...


And my favorite....


The weather has warmed considerably 'round here too, so over the weekend, we finally broke out the cool sand and water table that he received from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday. We set it up in the backyard (despite having NO landscaping yet!) and he has played for hours on end there each afternoon. He loves to dig and pour, dig and pour! I'm trying to teach him to keep the sand in the sand side and the water in the water side, but still to no avail. But what the heck! He's having a blast and that's all that really matters. Here are some shots of that as well.




Yesterday we headed to Target and Costco for some much needed grocies and just HAD to browse the baby girl clothes. :) I purchased our first items for our little sweetie....just some cute pink and white polka-dotted onsies and capries, a little onsie that reads "Worth the Wait" and another little pink outfit that says "Daddy's Little Lovebug". Sooooo cute! I'd show you a picture, but Ty took my camera to work today so I'm camera-less. :( I think I can get used to all this pink stuff! :) It's really fun!

Many of you have asked about her name....and most of you know that all along, our favorite little girls name has been Ellie Paige. Well...let me correct myself...MY favorite little girls name has been Ellie Paige. And while Ty likes that one too, he would also like to look as some other options and see if there is something we like better. Okay by me. I've never even opened a baby names book or searched online for names...the ones we've always picked out have just 'come' to us, so it is only logical that we take others into consideration. I'm kinda looking forward to it, actually. So....that just means that you all may or may not be privledged to know her name ahead of time. We'll see. :) We might just want to keep something a secret! :)

Well....I guess that's about it for today! It's onto some photoshopping before my little man awakes! Thanks for all your well-wishes and congratulations! :) We love hearing from you and are just as excited! :) Adios, friends!