What's New?

A whole lot of nothin'! We have just been busy with life lately ... Will got a double ear infection last week, but is on the mend. It as pretty funny, he told us it felt like he had ants in his ear. I thought that was an interesting description. But, it takes a lot to keep Will down for long! He felt bad Thursday evening, and part of Friday. By yesterday he was ready to go again! We spent part of our Saturday morning playing with Miler at YaYa's house, then went to church in the evening and did a little shopping afterwards.
Scott is definitely growing ... so, Mommy is too. I am feeling him regularly, and not just kicks and hits anymore. He moves and I can feel his entire body slide against my tummy. This morning he was curled up in a ball so you could feel (and see) this big knot in my stomach.
Life is good, Patrick and I are on the countdown for summer! Woohoo! Will is going to go to school on Tuesdays and Thursday so he can stay in a routine ... and I will be able to get things done!

Halfway there!

Thursday marked the halfway point for this pregnancy! Woohoo! It is really flying by, and while I LOVE being pregnant, I cannot wait to meet Scott. He is really an active baby in there...I am hoping this is not an indication that he will be any more active than Will (Lord help us!). Last night while laying in bed, Patrick was able to feel him kick for the first time! I have felt him now for at least 5 weeks. I did not feel Will until at least 20 weeks, but "they" say you normally do feel the baby sooner in consecutive pregnancies. Overall, we are all great. I am feeling well, growing by the day I feel like!! Will is excited, and talks to Baby Scott through Mommy's tummy. Daddy is ready for his other little boy to be here too!

18 1/2 Week Ultrasound

Well he is DEFINITELY a boy ... and a very active one! Scott moved the entire time the ultrasound tech was measuring and checking him out. I am pretty sure we are going to have our hands full!! We saw and heard his heartbeat, his spine, arms, legs, feet and hands. At one point he was playing with his feet. Here are a few pictures from today's ultrasound.

Easter

Yesterday Bentwater had their Eggstravaganza so we celebrated with family before and then went for the egg "hunt". This really can't be called a hunt, because the eggs are just laid out for the kids to run and grab. They had pony rides, which Will stood in line to do, and then freaked and would not get on the pony. So, we have a picture of Miler who LOVED the pony ride. Will jumped in the moonwalk, and that was about all he wanted to do. He did not have a nap which completely messed him up yesterday - he passed out in his playroom at 7:30 and slept until about 7:00 this morning. The Easter bunny came and left eggs for him to really hunt in the yard and he had a blast this morning!


The "hunt" in Bentwater





Our own Easter egg hunt this morning ... still in jammies



And with his loot!


Happy Easter everyone! I hope we all remember the real reason for this day of celebration...HE IS RISEN!

16 Weeks

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and everything is looking great...I am a nervous wreck at each appointment. I literally hold my breath while Dr. Winkelmann finds the heartbeat. Luckily yesterday she found Baby Scott's heartbeat right away! It sounds strong, and she was more than happy with the genetic testing results from a few weeks ago.
I am starting to grow, and my clothes are all getting tight but I am not ready for maternity clothes either...that is frustrating! As I was getting ready for my dr. appointment yesterday I pointed out to Patrick how my tummy is growing, and Will rides his firetruck around behind and says, "Mommy, your bottom is growing too!" I had to laugh because otherwise I would have cried. I feel like I am putting weight on so much differently than with I did with Will. I am ready to look pregnant, not like I am just putting on weight!
I am pretty sure I have felt Scott a few times, nothing consistent yet though. I am so ready to be able to feel him moving around and be able to share that with Patrick and Will.

Disney World!

We took Will for his first visit to Disney World for Spring Break ... we left Friday after work and stopped in Slidell, LA. After an awful night of sleep (all 3 of us in a double bed) we headed out for Orlando at 4:30 AM. We got there early enough to do a little relaxing, and realize Will was not feeling too hot. We gave him some mdeicine, went to dinner, came home and went to sleep early. The next morning we headed to our Disney Hotel - All Star Sports Resort - got checked in, and headed to Magic Kingdom. We were making sure Will was alternating his Motrin and Tylenol and he had a good day Sunday. Since we stayed in Disney we were able to go take naps in the middle of the day, which was good for Will (and Mommy!). Sunday afternoon was our character dinner with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Will loved meeting the characters! We rode some rides afterwards and then went back to the hotel to rest for the night. In the middle of the night, I woke up to a burning up little boy ... so we went straight to the CVS Minute Clinic Monday morning. The nurse practitioner said it looked viral, so keep him hydrated and continue alternating pain meds to keep the fever down. Lovely! We rested for a while in our room that morning and then went to Magic Kingdom for a while, came home and napped then went to Hollywood Studios. He was starting to feel better that evening...finally! The next morning we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's. This was the best part of the trip. Will was so excited to meet each of the characters! Breakfast was great, and then we went to Animal Kingdom. Here we went on a safari in Africa which was really neat. Then we played in DinoLand which Will loved. We went back to Magic Kingdom that evening for one last visit. I think 3 days in the parks was just enough for Will at his age.
Staying in the actual resort is so worth it, and getting the park hopper option is as well. You catch a bus and go to any park you want as many times a day as you want. Splitting the day up with a nap was great for Will as he was able to rest, especially since he was not feeling good. The trip turned out great even though Will got sick. We enjoyed our time there, and especially enjoyed meeting Mickey and all his friends! Patrick and I were so surprised at how well Will did on the drive there and back. He napped, watched DVDs, colored, and napped some more. He is such an easy going kid!
**Lots of pictures below ... our trip in pictures!

Snow!

Yes, it has been over a week .... but I could not find my cord to download my pictures. Unfortunately Will was not feeling well at all the day it snowed and he told me, "Mommy, I no wike the snow." So my pictures of him attempting to smile are not so good. Poor baby missed the next 3 days of school. We got LOTS of snow, but none of it really stuck. It was really pretty watching it out the window, and then you looked down, and nothing was there. Now it is time for SPRING! We are ready for some play outside weather!!

Technology is AMAZING!

Update to the first trimester scan ...

We got the bloodwork results today. You are given a number to call, and have a patient code to enter ... so of course I have called obsessively this week. Patrick and I called at lunch together today with it on speaker and thought we would try one more time this evening, and surprise! The lady goes through our results for the risks of Down Syndrome and Trisomy 13 and 18 - we are in a very low risk category; 1 in greater than 10,000. So, we have a very healthy baby! Another part of the testing is gender - I have no idea how this works, but according to my OB this is one of the only places in the country with this technology. It is 99% accurate, and Dr. Winkelmann says they have never given one of her patients the incorrect result. So, at the end of the results the lady says,

"Congratulations, you are having a little BOY !"

Turns out Will was right ... and I had a pretty good feeling too. So, it will be me and house full of boys. We are all so excited!

First Trimester Scan

This morning we got to have an ultrasound that tested for various genetic disabilities .... to be quite honest this would not change anything about the pregnancy for Patrick or myself, but seeing the baby again (and finding out the gender in 7-10 days from the testing date is a nice bonus!). So I had to drink 20 oz of water 20 minutes before the appointment .... the appointment as scheduled at 10:00, and I was called back at about 10:30. Nice. They needed a full bladder. They got one. I was miserable by the time we got back there. The tech started by finding the heartbeat and letting us listen. This part makes me nervous at every appointment! Hopefully the fact that I am 3 days from being out of the first trimester will help me relax...no promises though. So, we heard the heartbeat which was beating at 155 bpm. Then she started the measurements. Head, neck, length of body from top of head to bottom, and a ton of other things. I felt bad for the poor baby - it had no room to move because my bladder was so full! But we got to see hands and fingers, fingers up by the mouth, it's little nose, and feet. The whole process just amazes me, and I have done this before!
Then we "met" with a genetic counselor via teleconference. It was weird, we basically skyped with her. But she said everything looks great. The amount of fluid behind the neck was within normal range, and the baby has a nasal bone (Down Syndrome babies commonly do not have this - I did not know that before today).
Then I had blood drawn so they could run more tests. It was a good experience overall, and I loved getting to see our baby again, and hearing the heartbeat!

*If I can figure out how to scan the pictures and upload them I will.

Will is going to be ...

A BIG BROTHER!

We have known for, well quite a while, but decided to just keep it to ourselves for a bit. Let me tell you, having a secret this big is hard! Baby brother or sister is due September 2, 2010 and we could not be more excited about adding to our family. Will is going to be a fabulous big brother. He loves babies, and is such a helpful kiddo.
We took Will to our 12 week appointment today and he got to hear the heartbeat of his baby "brother" and continues to tell us this evening that yes, this baby is a brother. Maybe he knows something we don't!
Please keep our growing baby, me, and of course the rest of our little family in your prayers as this pregnancy continues. I am one week from being out of the first trimester!! We have been lucky enough to see our little one twice on ultrasounds, and been able to hear that wonderful sound of a heartbeat in the womb (music to our ears!!!)

Bible Stories

Will gets to go to chapel a few times a week at school (another thing we LOVE about Grace!) and recently he has been wanting to share the bible stories with us. He finds a book, climbs up on the ottoman and shares a story with us. It is just adorable! Here are a few pictures from my phone:

3 Year Stats

We took Will to the doctor last week for his 3 year check up and he is doing great! He FINALLY broke 30 pounds!! He is 30.5 lbs actually .... and I attribute it to eating breakfast every morning. He has become much more interested in food again recently, and wants to pick things out at the grocery store for himself. It is great though because he eats what he picks out. He is 37.5 inches tall as well, in the 50th percentile for both weight and height. It seems he is really averaging out between BIG DADDY and small mommy.

Some of the milestones they asked about were funny ... for example can he stand on one foot? Well, I had never asked him to do that and he was too embarassed to try in front of the nurse. The minute she walked out he was happy to show us that, of course, he can! He is doing all of the things he "should" be doing at this age so Dr. Herrin was very happy (and so were Mommy and Daddy).

He is in a stage right now where he wants nothing to do with taking pictures. In fact, when he sees me holding my phone like I am going to take a picture he says, "No pictures, Mommy! No!" He was happy this day being able to play outside because it finally warmed up ... and it was his actual birthday!

Such a big boy!