Baby #2 Update

Today we had another OB appt, here are the updates:

Baby Stats:
*still a boy haha
*heard baby's heart beat: nice and strong
*size: baby is almost 1 lb and 1 foot long
*baby can hear sounds on the outside now and is busy kicking mommy all day long (daddy also loves to feel baby kick)

Mommy Stats:
*weight: great- I've only gained 7 lbs total
*my blood pressure: great- 100/60
*Timeline: halfway done- YAY!
*Activity: The dr says that I am doing a good job regulating my own activity (blood clot getting smaller, placenta previa is moving) and therefore is not restricting me to bedrest at this time. He says we will just take it one appt at a time and as long as I can continue to regulate my own activity level properly he will allow me to do so- YAY! So I guess I will just continue to take it easy, no lifting, pushing, pulling, and stay off my feet whenever possible.

My next appt is my birthday (Oct 28) and we will get another ultrasound at that time- can't wait to see my little guy again!

Window to Your . . . Soul?

Some say that the eyes are the window to the soul. If that is true then maybe, just maybe, the belly button is the window to an unborn baby :) . . . . at least it is according to Ben. This past week Ben has been really into lifting up my shirt and waving to the baby. I tried telling him that the baby couldn't see him but Ben insists that the baby can. So finally I asked him how the baby can see him and he lifted up my shirt and said "belly button". I started to crack up laughing but Ben seems pretty sure about it :)

Gotta love the mind of a 2 year old and how much Ben already loves this new little baby!

Potty Training Update

This morning Ben was so excited to tell daddy that he went potty in the big boy potty, that he took off running from the bathroom and ran straight into our room and directly into the doorjam! It was an intense owie and left a mighty big purple goose egg. I am sure that this is the first of many owies but nonetheless, it is hard to see your little one in pain.



The saddest "sad" face ever!




PS. On a good note, I think after 1 week- we are officially potty trained. Thank you Lord for getting us through that although I must admit it was a lot easier than I anticipated. I am sure that we will still have our occasional accident but overall I am really proud of my little guy for getting the hang of the potty so quick and at 26 months. Good job Ben!

Things to Make Mommy Laugh

Lately Ben is really into doing something he thinks will make people laugh and then watching their reaction. Quite often he gets the reaction he was looking for- here are 2 of those times :)

. . and yes, he did these on his own :)

Potty Training Update: Day 4

Words can not say how proud I am of Ben. We started the potty training on Sunday and here we are Wednesday night and we have only had 3 accidents total! I am so excited for him and so far things are going really well.

In fact this morning, Ben opened the gate to his room (that was a first, and a whole nother story) and came into our room at 5am to tell us he had to go potty. We were really just trying to day potty train him but apparently he had other things in mind. So Bryan got up and took him and sure enough he had to go. Then, (keep in mind its 5am) Ben really wanted his M&M treat for using the potty. Well, what's a mom to do- a deal is a deal and pee pee means 1 M&M, even at 5am :)

So far we have been setting a timer and taking him every 15 or 20 minutes but he is doing so well that starting tomorrow I think we will go every 30 minutes but really try and focus on him initiating the trip to the bathroom. Such as tonight- we were playing and Ben had a friend over and all of a sudden he took off yelling "potty potty" and sure enough he had to. That will be our goal the rest of the week- Ben initiated potty breaks.

Here's to lots of hard work and lots of and prayer in hopes that Ben masters the potty... soon! :)

My Little Guy

Sometimes my little guy is funny and crazy:

*he did this himself and then ran around the house playing his guitar with a box on his head for about 20 minutes.

Sometimes he astounds me with how sweet and helpful he is:

*he set the table all by himself, minus the butter and honey

Baby #2 Updates

Well here we are at just about 18 weeks. The baby has been kicking me since about 12 weeks but now Bryan can feel the baby too and I just love to watch the look on his face when the baby kicks and he can feel it- what an experience to share! This baby is becoming very active, which makes me wonder if it a sign of things to come- oh no :) It makes me laugh though because it always seems that when I am in the middle of teaching something serious that the baby starts kicking me and I have to keep myself from laughing- I love it! My next appt is Sept 30th.

I can not believe I am almost 1/2 way through this PG. This pregnancy has been a lot harder than when I was PG with Ben: way more sickness, unforeseen complications, medications not working as they should, trying to keep up with a VERY active 2 year old and Bryan traveling the past 6 months. All these things make me in some way, happy to say that I am half way through this PG but then. . . the baby kicks and I fall in love with being PG all over again!

Belly Pic at 18 weeks


Super cute shirts my friend bought for Ben and our new little guy. I can't wait for them to wear them :)

Crazy Driver

Ben just loves to go crazy in his car with daddy! It makes my head spin just watching but the boys just have the best time!

My LITTLE Boy is Gettiing so BIG

Changing diapers is probably my least favorite thing as a mom. Changing diapers while being pregnant is even worse! The plan back in May was to potty train over summer but being so sick in my first trimester and with all Bryan's travels that never happened. The past couple weeks however, Ben has been really consistent with telling me when he has to/is going potty and is really excited about using the potty so when I woke up this morning I just made the execuive decision that today was the first day of potty training.

So when we got back from church we pulled out the essential tools for potty training (a timer, a jar of M&Ms for #1, and a jar of Hershey kisses for #2).


Then we went and got all Ben's big boy underwear (which I was calling panties, but Bryan quickly corrected me that boys do not wear panties, they wear underwear. Thanks for the clarification honey- LOL). Ben was really excited and totally into it. We started at 10:30 and when we put him down for a nap at 1pm he hadn't had one accident! What a great start and it was really sweet to see how proud he was of himself! For naptime, he wore a diaper but he woke up dry- good job buddy! Then from 3-7:15 he put back on his "underwear" and did great with only one accident. I am so proud of him and can not believe what a great job he did! Guess we will keep going with this and see how things turn out :)

It would be great if we could get Ben (day) potty trained before the new little one gets here or I might need a 3rd job just to afford diapers (just kidding) :)



"Outside is a great place to be when potty training- what better to do outside then to mow the lawn" :)

Foot Dr.

At Ben's 2 year appt the pedic. told us that Ben has flat feel and needs to see a podiatrist so this morning we headed to our appt. The dr was great and we got some little insoles for Ben's shoes. Ben had a great time sitting in the big chair and making it go up and down.

Bike Riding

Ben just loves riding his bike. I can not believe how great he is getting- he is really getting the hang of picking his feet up and coasting.

How Can You Not Smile?

Today was a really rough day filled with frustration and tears but how can you not smile when you hear somebody calling for you and walk in to see this????


Despite the hard day and tears today- I am thankful that the Lord gave me Ben because he always puts a smile on my face!


This morning I headed to off to my doctor appt thinking it was just going to be a routine appt filled with the excitement of finding out if we were having a boy or a girl- but boy was I wrong! I got to the appt and mentioned being excited for today's ultrasound (US) and the nurse said sorry but my next US was not until my next appt. Needless to say I was disappointed but I was still excited to hear the heartbeat. So the appt began and things were going good until the Dr. heard that I was still spotting occasionally. After hearing that, he wanted an US right away. He started the US and said the baby was measuring a whole week ahead and so far looking good. The baby was asleep at first but the US must have woke it up because soon it started kicking like a kung foo fighter!

My joy was short lived though because soon I saw some black dots on the screen, which I soon learned were blood clots. (Blood clots are the reason that I lost my 3 other babies and the reason that I get a shot every night. The shots led to us having a successful PG with Ben and so far seemed to be doing the same with this PG. Apparently it is not working as well this time though.) The clots are not dangerous to the baby by themselves. The problem occurs when/if the clot were to go in the umbilical cord or form around the umbilical cord- this would lead to the baby dying (and we would not know until our next appt).

So the Dr immediately sent me over to labor and delivery at the hospital and I was there for nearly 3 hours while they gave me a rhogram shot, gave me some major blood thinners, took measurements of the clots, mapped out the location of the clots and monitored me.

For now, there is nothing more they can do, so in the meantime (next 3 weeks, while we wait to see what the clots do) my Dr wants me on "light bed rest" (which just means sit when I can sit, no lifting, no pushing, no pulling, no housework, no yard work, no exercise, etc) I can still go to work I just need to really take it easy and sit when I can.

As I am sure you can imagine this news leaves Bryan and I very nervous and shocked. We trusted that these shots were doing their job and that things were going to be ok. We also went in to today's appt thinking it would be all fun and exciting and we were not ready for news like this. Nonetheless, we still trust that the Lord in in control and things will work out for His will. We will just find peace in that and fill our next 3 weeks lots of resting and enjoying Ben and all the laughter and smiles and he brings us!

PS the good news out of today is that we found out we are having . . . a BOY!!!!!

Current Info:
* Due the middle of Feb
* Currently 16 weeks (4 months)
* Baby is measuring 17 weeks
* Blood pressure was great
* I have only gained 5lbs (stoked about that!)
* Gender: boy (no name yet)

A Day With Daddy

After almost 3 weeks- Daddy came home yesterday! I don't know who was happier to see him: mommy or Ben but it was a great welcome home. We have both missed him so much and are glad that he is back safe!

So we decided that today we were going to spend the whole day together so this morning we packed up and headed to Arroyo Verde Park. Ben rode his bike on trails and down huge hills while Mommy held my breath and prayed he didn't crash ;) We played on the play structure, had snacks and walked some trails. Ben also got a great a great unplanned surprise- a county fire truck was parked right by us in an empty parking lot. The firemen were on a run and were getting back when we were heading out. They were SOOO sweet and saw Ben pointing and looking at their trucks and so they invited Ben to sit up in their truck and look at all the different things on their truck. There were about 15 guys and they were all super nice, gave Ben a sticker and high fives. He thought he was pretty special and it was just cute to see him so excited (he has really been into emergency vehicles lately). A special thank you to those nice county firemen!!!

Museum Adventure

Today we went on an adventure to the Gull Wing Museum with our friends: Amy, Ada, Kelly, Cadence and Lyric. It was just a small little museum but Ben had fun and I had a great time just getting to spend time with him and watch him learn and explore. I think one of the best things about being a mom is watching child get excited about learning/exploring something and just knowing they are having a great time!

Ben the marine biologist














Ben the zoologist




Ben the conductor




Ben the shipyard controller




Ben the row boat man


Ben the boat captain: "All aboard! Tickets please!"




Ben the barista


Ben the crazy driver




Ben the cowboy


Ben the outdoor camper




Ben the archeologist


Ben the geologist


Ben the paramedic




Ben the fireman