26 Weeks

Here's our picture for 26 weeks!


I love that Addy wants to get in on the pictures! Today, she said, "what are you doing, Mommy"? I told her it was time to take a picture of my belly, and she got excited and said, "and Addy's, too"!? So sweet!

I can't remember if I've mentioned it yet, but I'm feeling much better now. I think I'm finally over the morning sickness! I feel like I have some energy back, too!

Here's some more Addy cuteness:


My mom found this wig for Addy, and she LOVES it! She calls it her "curly hair". Addy wants longer hair so badly!

Thanksgiving 2011

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did at our house! Our friends, Jerik and Susan, drove down from MN with their girls, Nina (3) and Ema (5 mo.). My parents also flew down to spend the long weekend with us.

Addy was super excited about Baby Ema and wanted to hold her right away!


Grandpa and Grandma were pretty popular over the long weekend. Addy did pretty well sharing them, there were a few moments when sharing Grandma just wasn't an option!



We spent some time on Wednesday night preparing some of the food for Thursday...mostly desserts!


The big girls had a lot of fun playing together, most of the time! They're both first born and neither are accustomed to sharing, so we had to guide them a few times on how to play together and share toys. :) They did quite well, though!





Thanksgiving was a beautiful day! It was in the high 60s, low 70s. We had the doors open, and the girls were able to go outside and play. Grandma and Grandpa took them out to the swing set for a while, and they loved it!



Our meal turned out so well! Usually, Steven and I forget about the corn (even though it's like one of two veggies that we eat!), but this year we forgot to make the stuffing! We had all agreed to not stuff the bird with it, but then just forgot to make it! Oops.


Aren't these two just the cutest?


Friday was another warm, sunny day! The girls had "coffee" on the back porch with Grandma.


Then they played outside, again!


Friday night we went to Opryland Hotel to see their Christmas decorations, something we love to do each year.





We took the boat ride around the Delta this year, a first for Addy, and she loved it. Then we went behind one of the waterfalls, and the girls thought it was pretty neat that they could sit so close to it!



Saturday was a pretty quiet day, we ran a couple errands, but that's about it. Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the kiddos so Jerik, Susan, Steven and I could go out to dinner together. We had fun, as always!

While we were gone, the big girls were at home being silly!



Sunday, our beautiful weather left us. It turned cooler, like 50s, and rainy. We went to church in the morning, and then dropped Grandma and Grandpa off at the airport. Jerik and Susan left later in the afternoon. We hated to see everyone go, it was such a fun weekend!

Our Baby Boy

For the record, we didn't get a belly picture for 20 weeks. That was the day we left for Disney, and we just simply forgot about it! Here's our picture for 22 weeks, from Nov. 2:


We also had an ultrasound on Wednesday, Nov. 2 to basically redo the exam that was done on Oct. 12 since our little guy wasn't being very cooperative and was measuring just under 19 weeks. The exam is usually most accurate when you're at least 20 weeks along. So, we went to the appointment, and brought Addy this time, and didn't get very good news. He was measuring very small, weighing just 12.5 oz and only measuring 1-3% on the growth scale which, according to his measurements, said that he was the size of a baby at 20 weeks gestation and I was really 22 weeks along. Anything over 10% on the growth scale is considered normal.

One of the high risk OB physicians came in and practically scared us half to death. To be fair, what we heard him say was, "there's no way he's a healthy baby with these measurements, something has to be wrong, and the next step is to do an amniocentesis". I'm sure it didn't come out quite like that, but that's what it seemed like to us. One thing we know for sure, is he was ready for us to give him the go-ahead on doing an amnio. After a little more discussion about if I'd been sick with fever or been around anyone with infection, he said we could start with a blood test. We explained that Addy had salmonella, but other than that I hadn't been sick or been around anyone that was, knowingly. The salmonella was not really a concern, it's just not one that affects pregnancy. Steven and I were both not comfortable making any hasty decisions about an amnio and wanted to talk to my doctor about it first. So we agreed on the blood test and then high-tailed it out of there! We also agreed to never see that doctor again!

Poor Addy, we wished that she hadn't been with us for that. She was excited to see her baby brother, but the exam took so long and with the news we got, it just wasn't a good thing. We're so grateful that she's such an angel. She sat patiently through all of it, never complaining or getting antsy at all.

I waited until Thursday afternoon to call my doctor's office to speak with my doctor, and didn't actually get to talk to her nurse until Friday afternoon (my doctor wasn't in the office). I really felt a sense of relief after talking to the nurse. She made a strong point that 1) there was no diagnosis 2) he could just be a small baby 3) he had a very strong heartbeat and 4) there were no signs of birth defects at all. She told me to take a deep breath and try not to worry about it all weekend (I was scheduled to see my doctor the following Wed.).

I love my doctor. First, she spoke with me over the phone at length on Monday, the 7th and apologized for not talking to me sooner. She didn't know that the other physician had scared us so badly. She explained the role of an amnio and that there was absolutely NO pressure to do one, and that she was very comfortable waiting until the next ultrasound to even consider any further testing.

From that point on we heard from so many people who were told the same the thing...small or slow growing baby, and delivered healthy babies. As each day passed and the more we prayed about it, I just felt a peace about about it. A peace that can only come from our loving Savior who loves our little guy more than we can imagine. We had a follow-up ultrasound scheduled for Monday, Nov. 21 to see if he was making progress.

We took our 24 week picture, and Addy wanted in on it again! She's just so darn sweet about it, too! She wanted to show off her belly, just like Mommy!


Monday, Nov. 21 finally came and we were able to see our sweet little guy again, only this time he wasn't so little! Praise the Lord, our baby boy had done a lot of growing in 19 days! Everything measured at 18% on the growth scale and he now weighed 1 lb 7 oz., which means he nearly doubled his weight! A different high-risk OB physician came in (one that we really liked!) and said that she was very pleased with everything she was seeing and that there was no reason for concern. Babies can grow at different rates, and that she was very glad to see the progress that had been made since the last ultrasound. Steven and I were beaming. I'm pretty sure we had perma-smiles going on! Baby boy was also being super cooperative this time and let the ultrasound tech get her whole exam done in less than 45 minutes! We got some great pictures as a result.

We'll go back in 3 weeks to have another ultrasound to check his progress again, but as the doctor said, that's just to be conservative! We certainly don't mind going back to see him again!

We also spoke to my OB doctor after the ultrasound and she completely agreed with checking on him one more time, but had no reason for concern at all. She was just as happy for us!

So much to be thankful for and what a great opportunity this week to stop and celebrate all our blessings! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, just a little early!

Halloween 2011

As I mentioned during our Disney trip, Addy didn't want to wear the purple crayon costume I got her. I figured she could wear one of the princess dresses my mom had bought for her instead. Then, the night before Halloween we went to Babies R Us to by a gift and we saw their costumes were on clearance. I was mostly interested in finding things for Addy to play dress up with, but there wasn't much in her size. In fact, there was only a Tinkerbell dress and a pirate costume. I showed them to Addy and she lit up when she saw the pirate costume. I mean, she was so excited!

So Addy ended up being a pirate for Halloween, and she loved every minute of it! She really got into character, too! She would say, "Arrrgh, walk the plank matey". And if she thought she scared you, she'd say, "It's just me, Addy, that's all". So.Darn.Cute. She came up with that all on her own, it just made us laugh when she said it the first time. We still laugh when she says it!





Notice the pumpkins in the background? Addy put stickers on them all by herself! We didn't carve any pumpkins, we just used the pumpkins we got from the pumpkin patch and let Addy put stickers on them. :) She could've made a kitty face on them, but she didn't want to!

We went to our neighbor's house and then went to a trunk or treat with our friends. Addy liked getting the candy, but didn't like that she couldn't eat each piece of candy as she got it! I opened a pack of Skittles for her and gave her one each time she got a piece of candy and she was satisfied with that!


Addy and Rex:



Our only family picture from Halloween this year:


And just for fun, this is a common look these days...princess dress and a pirate hat!

SeaWorld & Disney World 2011

We went to SeaWorld and Disney World! Another reason we were so glad to get Addy out of the hospital and feeling well again! We planned to fly to Orlando, but the flights were so full it turned out to be easier to drive. My parents joined us on the trip, so we had 4 drivers which made the trip even easier!

We left after dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 19 and arrived in Orlando by 7 a.m. on Thursday. Addy did great on the drive! This was the first time we've driven with her that far. It worked well for us to drive over night. After we checked into our resort we decided to go to SeaWorld for the day!


Addy loved it! She got to go on a lot of rides.







She got to meet Shamu and give him hugs:



We saw some dolphins do some tricks, too!



The Shamu show was one of our favorite parts of the day!





Addy liked the pumpkins dressed like fish!



We left SeaWorld to go back to the resort for naps because Thursday night we had tickets to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! Unfortunately, we had to wake Addy up to leave. She wasn't in the greatest mood as a result, and we had to do some convincing this would be fun! She refused to wear her Halloween costume, a purple crayon, that I got her at a consignment sale. In her defense, she didn't get to pick it out. :)



The first thing we did was save our spots for the parade and eat a Mickey waffle! Addy hadn't been in the mood to eat when the rest of us did. We were so excited for Addy to see all the characters for the first time!


Then the parade started and she was so excited!










After the parade, we went on the ride "It's a Small World", one of Grandpa's favorites! Addy really liked it, too.



Then, Grandma and Grandpa took Addy on the Dumbo ride. Addy also loved that! While they were on that ride, the fireworks started over Cinderella's Castle. They said it was pretty neat to see them from the ride. We stayed until the fireworks were over, then decided we were all tired enough it was time to leave. A great first day at SeaWorld and Disney for sure!

Friday morning, we took our time getting up. We figured Addy wouldn't get a nap, so we waned to give her a chance to sleep in a bit. We went to Perkins for breakfast (a treat for Steven and me because there aren't any where we live, and we only have IHOP and Cracker Barrel to choose from for breakfast!). Then we decided to go to Hollywood Studios for the day.


We learned about Disney animation, but Addy wasn't too interested in that! It was about developing a character from the movie "Mulan", which she's never seen, so I don't blame her!


But, after the animation presentation, Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse were in the lobby and we got some pictures with them! Addy was super excited about that!





The Disney photographer said that Addy had set the record for that day so far for number of hugs and kisses for Winnie the Pooh! She just couldn't get enough of him!

She liked Mickey Mouse equally as well...




Then we saw more characters! Addy doesn't really even know these ones as well, but she didn't care! She wanted to meet them and give them hugs and kisses! The first one is from the show "Little Einsteins", and the second one is Handy Manny. She has seen those shows, she just doesn't watch them regularly like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.



I think Addy's favorite part of the day was seeing the Disney Junior stage show. It included the characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Her eyes were glued to the stage the entire time!






We also saw The Little Mermaid stage show (but couldn't take pictures) and the Beauty and the Beast stage show. Addy has really been into the movie Beauty and the Beast lately, so she loved that show as well.





The last show we watched was the laser and lights show they do at night. It was pretty neat, but a little scary for Addy. The part that scared her was the Disney Villains part of the show, and to her credit, it lasted a long time! We were tired of it, too. The part she liked the best was seeing the Disney Princesses!

As we were walking out, she fell asleep in her stroller...while eating a snack! Such a trooper for the day without a nap!


Saturday was our last day at Disney and we spent the entire day at Magic Kingdom. We took the ferry boat instead of the monorail to the park and it was cold!





The first thing we did was go to The Crystal Palace for a character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. Addy, again, loved this! She was ready for all of them and gave them all hugs and kisses. The breakfast was pretty good, too!






Characters made out of flowers:





After breakfast we spent the rest of the day going on rides. Addy loved every one of them!








The only ride Addy didn't go on was the race cars...she fell asleep while waiting in line! Poor thing, another day without a nap, but she did so well! She realized she missed out on the race cars when she woke up, but we just went on another ride and she was fine with it. Sweet girl.

We finished our day at Magic Kingdom with another parade. It was kind of cool that the marching band from Wayzata High School (from MN) started the parade! We'd been seeing a lot of people throughout the day with MN Vikings and MN Gopher shirts on, and once we saw the marching band it made sense. Once again, we weren't disappointed with the parade. Addy loved every bit of it. She danced and waved nearly the whole time!









You can tell how tired Addy was at the end of the night in that last picture. She did so great the whole time!

We drove home on Sunday, Oct. 23. It was another good car trip. We're so glad we took this trip, Addy loved every bit of it. We really enjoyed watching her see her favorite characters for the first time. We all had a great time, too! We can't wait to go back some day.