February 13, 2012

Nana's Visit

Elizabeth was able to stay with us a few more days after the ultrasound and everyone enjoyed the extra time with her.Highlights of the week:
We had a dusting of snow,
Nana tried Chick-fil-A for the first time,
We spent a morning Antique shopping and brunch at the Bakery,
and we began our long quest for a name for Surprise Baby.
But best of all, Nana got to see a little glimpse of what our "normal" life looks like.

February 11, 2012

It's a Baby Brother



On the way home from the ultrasound, we stopped by Target to pick up a few gifts and some ice cream, so we could have a little party to share the baby news with the kids. Honestly, I shed some tears in the car on the way home...I dreaded disappointing Alison, but was so thankful Ben had thought of buying her a new doll. And that doll was worth every single penny (thank you knock off American Girl dolls!). I was also thankful for the cookies Ashley had made with the kids, because that's all Eli cared about. We tried to emphasize that the party was to celebrate our family and all that God has given us. We talked with Alison about all the blessings that will come from being the only girl. She's named her "new sister" Micole, and yes, that's supposed to be a 'M'...but you can call her 'Molly' for short. Elizabeth and Kent bought her a PJ outfit for the doll and everyday she's gotten her ready for bed and dressed again in the morning. I feel like this is the first toy she's really taken ownership of and been really excited about, and it's been a great distraction. Last night, she was helping me cook dinner and she told me that she's really excited about the baby. I sighed some relief, but then she said she was still disappointed that it's not a sister. I've tried to assure her that it's okay to be disappointed (I always thought she would have a sister someday too) and that the whole boy thing is new to me too. I grew up with just a sister and always wondered what it would be like to have another sibling. I never had brothers, I have no idea what it's like to have brothers, nor do I know much about boys, period. So I told her we would have to learn together and someday, Daddy and the boys can go play football and we'll go shopping.

February 8, 2012

Surprise Baby #3 is a...


BOY!!!


My first thought when I saw our little boy was "oh, he looks different than Eli". Of course he does, but it makes me excited to see him in person in a few short months.

So on to the story of our ultrasound.
Alison was up bright and early, ready for the day. Nana and Granddaddy are visiting and were waiting for her with a heart shaped donut. Eli on the other hand slept until it was time to leave for the appointment. I got him up, dressed and was getting him some milk when he threw up. We all stood there in shock, not sure what to do. I started crying because my poor boy was sick (he's never thrown up) and I didn't want to leave him. I was also stressed because we needed to leave, but didn't know what to do and I was covered in throw up. After a quick clean up, we jumped in the car to take Alison to a friend's and thought we would just attempt to take Eli with us. I knew there were a lot of people praying for us that morning, and I'm so thankful they were...because God provided a wonderful friend to take care of my kids at a time I needed it most. My sweet friend graciously loved on my potentially flu infected son and it was such a wonderful feeling knowing he was being taken care. I was able to relax and enjoy seeing son #2. Eli must have just choked on some congestion, because he never showed another sign of any illness-Praise the Lord! She even made Valentine's Day cards and cookies with them! What a precious gift friends are.
Even after the chaos of the morning, we made it to the appointment on time. I cheated this time around and didn't follow the "drink lots of water and don't go to the bathroom" instructions. I still had to go to the bathroom and was STARVING by the time we got into the ultrasound. The technician put the wand to my belly and before I could even see the baby, Ben announced that he knew what it was. SERIOUSLY?! I said, "Well, it must be a boy if you can already tell". The technician laughed and said he was right. And then she asked if he was a doctor. This has happened every.single.time. we've had an ultrasound. I don't understand how he does it! I could barely make out that it was a baby and he already knows the sex. The technician looked over a couple of things, but she quickly got stuck at looking at the heart and spent, what seemed like forever, analyzing the heart. She found 3 calcification points on the heart. Everything seems to be functioning fine and the size of the heart is normal, but she said 3 points is unusual. Usually she'll see 1 or 2 in conjunction with other "markers" for Down's, but our baby doesn't have any other "markers", just 3 spots. She also said that in her experience it really doesn't mean anything and that it could just be how the baby is positioned and the ultrasound machine is seeing the heart. She had a doctor come in and look at it...both seemed not overly concerned, but thought we should see a specialists just to make sure. As strange as it sounds, I knew this was coming. We went through a similar situation with Eli and it seems like nothing in a child's life can go without extreme scrutiny. I feel good about the health of our baby; I know that he is fearfully and wonderfully made and God is sovereign over all things, even 3 dots on his heart. I am, however, upset that we have to go through the stress of tests and expensive appointments.

Speaking of stress, now he have to name another son.
Rule #1: he will only have ONE name...there will be no nicknames or shortenings! And as I thought about this, I realized that I am the only one that calls Eli, Eli. So I guess this rule is really for myself.
We had a great girl name and I'm slightly, okay really, disappointed we won't be able to use it. Why, oh why, can't boy names be easy for us?!
Alison is calling the baby Charlie. Do you know why? Guess what she watched at Miss Ashley's house while we were at the doctor? That's right. Charlie Brown. Sorry, Alison. 'Charlie' breaks Rule #1.

February 5, 2012

Tid Bits


  • We find out if the baby is a boy or girl in the morning. I feel oddly content not knowing. I'm excited to see the baby and make sure everything is healthy, but I think I could wait until he/she is born to find out the gender. I don't have any strong feelings what it is, but I'm leaning towards boy.
  • Alison told Ben the other day that she needed to get her "cutie" sleep and that nobody believes she's a real princess.
  • Eli's new nickname is 'Rocket'...thanks to his big sis. Ben has started calling Alison 'Ship'.

February 4, 2012

20 Weeks



I'm exhausted and starving all. the. time.
So much so that I'm often irrational when it comes to food. I almost left church on Sunday because I was THAT hungry. Ben has cooked from scratch, every single one of my cravings. One night he made white chocolate/peanut butter granola bars...I almost had a tantrum when he said I had to wait 2 hours to let them set. I would say it's safe to say that I'm in the "I'm hungry and I need it NOW!" stage of pregnancy.
Some nights I've fallen asleep before Alison...and she goes to bed at 7:30. I keep wondering how this exhaustion is different than sleep deprivation. It doesn't really seem fair that women have to be tired for so many years of their life.

The baby is moving a lot and Ben felt his first kick a few nights ago.

I'm carrying very low, just like I have with my other 2 pregnancies.

I've heard about a million times this week, "You barely look pregnant!". I assured them all to just wait a couple of weeks and they'll be saying, "Wow! You're huge!".

Alison asks every day when the baby is coming and she's very excited about finding out whether it's a brother or sister. Ben has settled with her that if she doesn't get a real baby sister, that she can have an American Girl sister. She seems to be satisfied with that compromise.

Alison thought she needed a belly picture too.

February 1, 2012

Happy 1/2 Birthday Alison!


My princess is 4 1/2!


The weather was beautiful and we headed to the park for a picnic.

I really should end the half birthday celebration, because it just gets confusing for them as they get older. And I confess that the mini cupcakes were a last minute result of a smidge of cake batter I had left over and some icing left from Christmas. Add some princess sprinkles, make a pink smoothie and Viola! you have the perfect 1/2 birthday party celebration.


We sang and ate and Alison kept saying, "This is the BEST 1/2 birthday ever!!!".
The smile on her face made it all worth it.
We'll end 1/2 birthday's some day...but for now I think it's a pretty good excuse to have some cupcakes.