Naptime...

for me and for Luke! I just woke up from a little cat-nap on the couch! Guess I was more tired than I thought I was! Seems to be the case lately! I find that I am napping more frequently these days. Maybe it's just the lack of solid sleep at night or just the strain of this pregnancy on my body....or maybe it's just the sleep necessary for me to continue recovering from this illness.

Anyhoo....

Before I really begin for the day, let me say....
Welcome to the world, Sara Elizabeth Hershey! My good friend Amy delivered a precious little girl very quickly this morning! She was 36 weeks along and had been on modified bedrest for the last 7 + weeks, until last Friday when her doctor okay'd her to return to normal life again! Thank goodness for the bedrest, because Sara Elizabeth came into the world very rapidly this morning...so much so that the time between Amy's contractions starting and the time of delivery was only a little more than four hours! But Mommy and Baby are doing well so far! Sara was a tiny 4 lbs 15 oz (almost 5 pounds!) and 18 inches long! She will spend the next 48 hours in the NICU due to some breathing difficulties, but Lord willing, she will be well enough to make the journey home with her parents in several days! Please keep her in your prayers that her breathing improves and that no further NICU interventions or time there is needed!

Luke and I were on our way to the lab this morning when I got the call that Amy was in labor. Today was my day for the glucose tolerance test I needed to determine if I have gestational diabetes. (I highly doubt that I do!) So we packed Luke all sorts of toys and snacks to sustain him through the hour long wait for the test. Thankfully, Ty had an unexpected break from work this morning, and was able to come rescue Luke from the waiting. They went to the park for awhile together and returned to the lab to meet me just in time from what Luke called my "pokie" (my poke!)

He seems to have awakened this morning into a language explosion! He is a non-stop chatter box today...more than usual even! The cutest thing that came from his mouth was when I hung up the phone with Heidi, who had just told me Amy was in labor. From the back seat Luke asks "Aunt Trystal, Mommy???" "No honey...it wasn't Aunt Krystal. It was Heidi. She was telling Mommy that Amy is going to have her baby today! You know how Mommy has a baby in her belly? Well, Amy has a baby in her belly too, and today is the day that the baby gets to come out!" After hearing this and pausing for just the briefest of moments, he replied, " WOOOW!!!! Dat's tool, Mom!" (Wow, that's cool!) Where he learned that phrase, I don't know. I must say that a lot or something. But it made me smile and laugh out loud! He's be incorporating quite a few phrases like that lately, come to think of it. A few moments later in the car, he saw a big truck next to us on the freeway and said, " WOOOW! Oh my dosh! Der's a BIG tuck, Mom!" (Wow, oh my gosh! There's a big truck, Mom!) and then on the way home, he saw the mountains in the distance and said, "Hey....look-it.....snow on da mountains!" He's never noticed the mountains much before (even though I point them out often on particularly clear days), and I've not ever really talked about snow being on them, since there hasn't been in months, so his words surprised me! He seems to be noticing everything and amazingly has most of the words he needs to describe them to me! He's even starting to use pronouns like she, her, his, you and me! And for one last little example, yesterday Luke pulled out a quacking duck from his toy box that Ty's boss Sonia gave to him at Easter. It's an annoying little duck, with a very loud "QUACK!" and as Luke played with it, he turned to me and said "Dut from Sonia, Mommy." It has been 2+ months since he received that duck! How he remembered the small detail that it was from her is beyond me! Again, he surprises me!

I've been super laid back about checking all the milestone checklists in my development books. I figure I will just pretty much know when/if he is staying on track for his age or falling behind in areas. After so many months of being so anal about his developmental milestones due to his prematurity, I've kinda swung in the other direction and really haven't had the desire to 'keep track'. But I know he's doing very age-appropriate things, both in the physical realm and the verbal/language one. He's right where he should be!

Well, I think that I'll wrap it up for today! Luke should be waking soon and I need to go cut up some of the yummy fruit I just bought from Costco! Mmmmmm! How my preggo belly LOVES fresh fruit! :) But before I go....I've continually forgotten to give you all an update on Brayden, my friend Kelli's boy! Sorry! He has been home from the hospital for several weeks now (after his 2+ week stay for the open heart surgery), and he is doing very well! The surgery appears to have been successful and Brayden is starting to gain weight well, eat more (solids even!) and has not had any more apnic episodes! I know that Kelli was very grateful for your prayers! So thank you on her behalf!

And.........
I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to my commenters for the notes you left on the last few posts! I can feel your love and support through your words and they are of great comfort to me! And as always, it's soooooo nice to know that you are out there reading! Thanks!

Okay....time to go! Hope you are all having a great week!