Monday January 23rd

Is: National Handwriting Day, National Pie Day, and Measure Your Feet Day

AND

it is the day Lydia Grace will join us at approximately 12:15 P.M.



Other facts:
1997 Madeline Albright, the first female US Secretary of State was sworn in.
1986 The first 10 musicians were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
1973 President Nixon announces the end of US involvement in Vietnam
1972 The entire population of Istanbul was placed under House arrest.
1932 NY Governor Franklin D Roosevelt announces his bid for US Presidency
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman in the US to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree, granted to her by the Medical Institution of Geneva, NY.

We were planing on the 20th but my Doctor is out of town. The 23rd is kind of fun because my birthday is November 23rd. It's only 47 days away! Whoa!
Sorry Lydia, so close!

Baby its cold outside

This past weekend was really cold and we even got some light snow which  was great.  I dont' have a real desire to have any blizzards but I love watching snow fall, especially in December.  Yesterday we ran a few errands and then spent the afternoon inside.  We were planning on going to the downtown Christmas Parade but 19 degrees was a little too chilly so instead we watched The Polar Express with Hot Chocolate of course. 

We also switched out the dresser/changing table combo that has been in Jared's room for the 20 dollar Craigslist dresser we found.  The dresser had these white flowery handles which didn't quite go with a little boy so we switched them out for some very sleek silver ones.  It looks great.  I took the clothes that we have been given for Lydia out of storage and put them in the dresser which is now in what will be her room. I can't believe all the cute little dresses she has, it will be so fun to see her in them.  I love getting things organized.

Friday I went to the doctor for my 32 week appointment and everything is going really well. My Doctor and I discussed having a C Section or trying a VBAC and he said it was completely my choice and he would let me do whatever I wanted which is very nice because some Doctor's really aren't like that.  I am planning on having a C Section (unless Lydia has some other plans I am unaware of). My doctor said that chances are good that I may recover even quicker then last time which surprised me. (Sidenote: I have been reading lots of articles on VBAC vs. Cesarean which I have not enjoyed at all, medical articles freak me out! They are like the commercials for new medicines that list all the side effects which sound awful.  But I know I need to be informed about things.  Giving birth is really a risky thing no matter how its done. End sidenote)  I was fortunate to have a really good recovery with Jared so even if it is the same as with him I will be happy. My mom will be here the day before I go in (that's kind of a perk, picking the day to deliver which helps people get flights) and stay for a week or so and Mark's mom will come right after mine and said she would stay as long as I wanted which is probably longer then she might want to stay. I know they will be a BIG help with the recovery and Jared.  The consensus from my Doctor and all the articles/blogs I read was that it is way better (emotionally/physically) to have a planned C Section then try a VBAC and have an emergency/unplanned C Section.  My doctor asked me if I felt really strongly about laboring and going through that experience with having my children and I really don't.  Weird right?  This may surprise a lot of people but either way I end up with a baby which is what I want so it works out. So at the end of the appointment my doctor said he would have the scheduling people call me so we can pick a date for after I reach 39 weeks which is January 20th.  It's so soon! 

Happy

Birthday April!

 AND

Happy Thanksgiving!



We have so much to be thankful for.

We were at church this week and a speaker said "We need to pause and be thankful" (they were referring to how people seem to pass over Thanksgiving and rush to Christmas) but seriously how important is it to pause every now and then and give thanks. Very I think.  I don't really care when people start listening to Christmas music or decorating but I do hope that people take time to recognize their blessings big and small.

  We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

You wouldn't know

how awful Jared has been feeling/sounding this week by looking at these pictures.  Poor Jared has had a mild fever and terrible cough all week. It is so sad to hear him cough.  At night he wakes up so many times with this terrible barking cough. It just breaks your heart to hear him.  His naps have been way shorter too because he can't stay asleep so he is extra tired.  I finally took him to an Urgent Care yesterday and they said he has an ear infection and croup.  This is the first ear infection that Jared has had. We picked up some prescriptions after the doctor and hopefully he will feel better soon.  I also got a really bad cold this week so we have been pretty miserable over here. But we tried to go outside a little each day and get Jared some fresh air and he was pretty excited about it.

I tried to get this same picture on Halloween in his costume with no luck so now it can be a Thanksgiving picture. I love it!

 In more exciting news I reached 30 weeks on Friday! 30!  This pregnancy has gone so fast, it's great! I made a comment about this on Facebook the other day and was surprised at the number of people who didn't know we were expecting.  At least they know now instead of seeing pictures of us with a newborn. Last Saturday I got into a major organizing mood. I am sure more will come as well.  We got some more clothes for Jared from Mark's sister Cathryn (thanks again!) so I went through all of Jared's summer clothes and stuff he had outgrown and got it all boxed up.  His closet looks amazing now, 4 boxes worth of stuff packed up. We have been given some clothes for Lydia so I went through them and sorted them out by size too.  The other day I was looking at a friend's pictures of her new baby girl and it got me pretty excited about having a girl.  I was always excited about Lydia but part of me did hope for a boy since we already have great stuff for one but as I looked at the pictures and the cute dresses people had given us it got me more excited. It hasn't helped that the majority of the time when we have told people we were having a girl they got this look in their eye that seemed to say "oh... good luck with that." Or told us "oh girls are so much harder..." But we can't wait for Lydia to join our family and will love getting to know her. It's great we will have at least one of each.

2 years

He was not interested in wearing this hat on Halloween even just for one picture but now he likes to play with it.

Jared had his two year check up today. We were out of town on his birthday and then got really busy but I am happy to say that he is a happy healthy kid.  He wasn't thrilled to be at the doctor's office but did pretty well.  I can't figure out why the scale would be so traumatizing for him he just has to sit there.  But maybe it looks different to him (like this blog post illustrates) He now weighs 27 almost 28 pounds (43%)  and is 36 1/4 (89%) He has pretty much been in these percentailes his whole life. It was so nice to finally be able to say YES, he is saying MORE then ____amount of words and stringing words together.  At every other appointment he was always saying less words then the number they gave.  Its fun to hear all the words he can say now it felt like it took him so long to talk.  I think he was relieved he didn't have to get any shots. He is all done till like kindergarten or until we move overseas and they think he needs some.
So far he has been an all star at staying in his bed for his nap and at night.  He hasn't gotten out of bed to my knowledge since the first night he was in the bed. People always say that once they write or acknowledge an accomplishment the opposite happens but I don't think that will be the case here.  We tell Jared that he needs to stay in bed and if he does then he will get to use a cup instead of a cup with a lid and it has been great motivation because he loves drinking from cups. I was thinking I should have saved that for potty training but too late now. 
He is doing great with colors but doesn't seem too interested in counting/numbers. I try to do a little art project  or learning time each day and he does pretty well. He still loves playing with his cars and "Cars" but has branched out to Finding Nemo and Toy Story.  Over the summer he was really not into reading books but he seems to have remembered how cool they are and will read by himself or ask us to read with him all the time. He loves to be outside so I am thinking winter will be a little rough for him.  He often goes over to the sliding glass door or climbs on the couch and says "side? side?"  We will defintely take advantaged of any warm days.
He is still taking a great 2 + hour nap each day and falling asleep quickly at night.  Mark and I were just speculating about how weird/hard it will be if Lydia turns out to be so different then Jared.  He has just been so easy going!  It would be super fantastic if she could be nice and mellow like him. We decided that even though the spare room is a little larger then Jared's we are going to keep him in the room he has been in and put Lydia in there eventually. One less change for him. 
We sure love our sweet little boy!