The importance of brushing

So we've reached a milestone with Sean... when you get out the toothbrush and tell him it's time to brush his teeth, he'll actually brush his teeth (and not his hair)! Here are a couple of cute pictures of him brushing (I'm going to be sure to send them to our dentist!!!):


Here is the look he gets when you tell him (excitedly of course) "Good job!":


And finally, proof of his "excellent" brushing skills! :-)

My kidney bean!

Hard to believe but I'm already in my second month of pregnancy! Our little "blob" has graduated from a blueberry to a kidney bean (if only they would stay that little for the birthing process)!!! So what is my little kidney bean up to? I realize not everyone may care, but since you're reading my blog... :-)

"Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways."

And some people don't think it's a miracle?!?

Prayers for a friend

I write this post with a very heavy heart... today I learned that my friend from high school has a son who passed away. The son had been very ill, but it still breaks my heart into a million pieces. Camden was only one year and four months older than Sean - a precious three year old.

I am reminded of God's power as I read their family's webite update... Camden's mother writes, "Camden has gone to be with our Heavenly Father around 10:15 a.m. today. Thank you for your loving support and prayers..." It amazes me that in the midst of what I can only imagine to be inconsolable grief, she knows he is a peace with our Lord. What an inspiration.

Please pray for Craig and his family as they try to adjust to life without their precious son.

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewJournal.do?method=executeInit

First appointment

Today I met with the Nurse Practitioner and had my “check up” since I haven’t had one since March. Apparently two in one year is just not enough! Oh well, it won’t be the last time I’ll be “exposed” during the next seven months!  My blood work results were in, and everything looks good so far with the exception of my blood sugar. Apparently, I am borderline for having gestational diabetes – the level they consider to have GD is 140 and I am at 134. So, in order to be proactive, I am officially on a restricted diet. The good news is I get to eat six meals a day (okay, she actually said six small meals…). This means avoiding white, starchy foods (rice, bread, potatoes… you know, they stuff a Midwestern girl loves). Oh yippee!!!

Also, since I had pre-eclampsia with Sean, and I’m “older” (really, two years???), and 18 pounds more than I was pre-pregnancy with Sean, I’m considered high-risk to get it again. So, that means limiting my sodium (no cheese, chips, etc.). I’m sure by now you can see where I’m having problems with this diet restriction stuff!!! BUT, it is good for me AND more importantly the blueberry. Oh yeah, according to Babycenter, Baby Lance is the size of a blueberry this week!

I have been having some sharp pain in my left side (where my ovary is), so they wanted to do an ultrasound, just to make sure that it wasn’t an ectopic pregnancy (which they were almost positive it was not at this point). Turns out I have some kind of cyst on my left ovary that is pregnancy related. It causes NO harm to the baby which was my number one concern, and it won’t harm me either other than the annoying pain. Now we have to watch it to make sure the pain doesn’t intensify and that I don’t start bleeding – hopefully it will go away after the baby is born.

Thanks to the ultra-sound, however, we were able to get our first picture of our "blob", aka baby. Isn’t he/she adorable?!? He/she’s heartbeat was 146 – that is exactly what Sean was at 7 weeks! Since I’ve had SO many pregnancy symptoms with this baby that I didn’t have with Sean, I was thinking maybe girl… but now after seeing the heartbeat, I’m not sure! Anyway, sorry for the long post. Lots of exciting news to share!!!

BIG news!

As some of you may have heard, our family has some VERY exciting news to share… Sean is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!! Yep, it’s true, in May 2009, we will have another beautiful baby to add to our family! We are so excited and are really thankful that all is going well thus far. Sean doesn’t really understand what is going on at this point, but he gets really excited when we get really excited – so that’s pretty funny.

You know how they say every pregnancy is different? Well that is SO true! Looking back, my pregnancy with Sean was cake! This little booger is giving me a run for my money! The nausea and extreme fatigue are really kicking my you-know-what, but I keep telling myself, "this too shall pass". :-)

We’ll keep you posted with more updates as we have more to share. Thanks to everyone for their warm wishes and prayers for a healthy pregnancy. We appreciate it!

Colorado Vacation

Over Labor Day, we went to Colorado to visit Jamie's family. We had a wonderful visit, but way too short! We spent the first couple of days in Colorado Springs where Jamie's Mom, sister and nieces live, and then the last day in Denver where Jamie's Aunt, Uncle and cousin live.

That Saturday we went to this place called "The North Pole". It was a neat place for younger kids with rides, animals and all kinds of Christmas stuff! Sean was a little to young for it, but I think he still had a great time! Here are a few pictures from "The North Pole":





Here is a picture of Jamie's nieces Rebecca and Reagan:



Here is Sean on some of the rides... he looks so little! :-)






His FAVORITE part of the day was getting to feed the goats. Once we feed them all the feed we purchased, he started picking up what other people had dropped off of the ground. I'm telling you, he LOVES his animals! I really think that he liked this so much since we call Scooby our goat! :-)





Before heading to Denver on Sunday, we stopped at Garden of the Gods to do a little sightseeing. It was SO beautiful... I don't think I've EVER seen such a blue sky!









This is a picture of the "Kissing Camels"... can you see them???



Sunday night, Jamie's Aunt Wendy and Uncle Wade took us to this incredible place for dinner. It was a former aquarium that didn't make it, so it was turned into a restaurant. Wendy reserved us a table right by the 180,000 gallon tank, so we literally had fish swimming up to our table. It was SO cool... I honestly don't know who enjoyed it more, me or Sean! :-) There were even a couple of scuba divers that got in a swam with the fish. They would come up to the side of the tank and wave... one of them was even playing rock/paper/scissors with this kid by our table. They were great!






Here is a few pictures outside of the aquarium. The first one is of Jamie's Aunt Wendy, Uncle Wade, cousin Mindy, and of course Sean and the giant shark Sean conned Jamie into buying!!! The second one is of Sean with Grandma Becky, and the last picture is Jamie, Sean and Uncle Wade. Sean LOVED his Uncle Wade!!!

Sean's newest face

I have NO idea what this face means, but I think it is just hysterical!!! Don't you love the food all over his face?

The Water Park

A couple of weeks ago, Sean and I went to Sholem for the day with Elaine and the boys. I haven't been since I was a kid, but I knew Sean would love it - I was right! He had a GREAT time!