Micah's new sayings and Dylan's new doings

Over the past two weeks or so, we've noticed that Micah is really stringing sentences together! He's been doing 4 word ones for a while, but this week we're up to 5 word ones, and every once in a while even more! It's so fun to listen to him talk and say new things. The biggest thing this week is, "This is the..." and he'll add one or two words to the end. The most popular ones are, "This is the FRONT door," "This is the BACK door," "This is the EFFICE (furnace) door," and "This is the BIG cup." (He emphasizes the words in caps.) He also likes to say things in the car when we're getting close to home - "almost" and "two more turns..." He says them in such a sweet, sing-song voice that I just love! He calls the shower "sha sha" and always wants to use the shower when he's in the bath tub. :) This week he's seemed to make up his own song too. He sings it whenever he's in the booster chair in the kitchen eating and goes something like, "Dee but, dee but, dee but choo ko but." We have absolutely NO idea what he's singing (not even the tune sounds like anything we know), but it's sure cute! He also sings other songs that he's familiar with, and over the past few weeks we can stop a song in the middle and he'll fill in the next word. This has been a really fun time for us with so much verbal development!

Dylan is back into a lots-of-sleep pattern. He seems to do this about once a month where he sleeps way more than usual. Must be a growth spurt. It would have been nice of him to do this last week when I was trying to unpack the house, but oh well! He's chowing down on 1/4 cup of cereal at breakfast and dinner now, and I think he'd happily eat more. I'm about to start him on veggies/fruits when we get home. He's definitely a big eater just like his brother was (is)! He's also able to sit up by himself for short periods of time now, but still hasn't rolled over either direction (Micah was a late roller too). He continues to be a really happy baby in general and definitely loves his mama most of all right now. :)

A Thankful Thanksgiving

It's been a while since I posted, but over the last month or however long it's been, we've been crazy busy! We successfully packed up our old house, moved out, closed on our old and new houses, moved into our new house, and did a LOT of unpacking! Wow. It's been really crazy. Add a bunch of sicknesses to that mix (all of us except Steve), and it was a really stressful few weeks.

Now that we're on the other side of all of that, though, we are feeling extra thankful this year! We've got wonderful families on both sides, two beautiful sons, a new home that meets our needs perfectly, a church family that we love, great friends, and a loving Savior. We're in Texas with my family this week, and it's wonderful to have all of us together. Micah is having a lot of fun playing with cousin Kate - it makes me excited for the future when Dylan is old enough to play with Micah!

I'm hoping to get back on track with posting again now that things will hopefully be settling down.

Updates

It has been a long time since I've had the chance to post anything, and a lot has been going on! We got all the details worked out with a house we love, and are so excited as we look forward to moving on November 13th! We're starting to pack now, and are getting estimates from moving companies. (We decided it's worth paying to have movers come with two young boys, a dog, two closings in one day, and a storage unit to empty in addition to our house...it will be nice to not do that all ourselves.) We can't believe that we'll be in our new house in three weeks! WOW!

Micah had a fun second birthday, and it was great having my parents here for the occasion. They got to see our new house while they were here too! He had his two year checkup a few days after they left. He weighed 34 lbs (95%), his height was 36 in (but we don't think this is accurate since he wasn't cooperating by standing still for them to measure, so we don't really have a good height measurement), and his head circumference was 20 in (90%). He's doing well with the developmental milestones and is talking up a storm! He's even added some three-word sentences lately. It's been so fun to watch him grow so quickly!

Dylan had croup last week, which was so sad! He would try to talk to us, but nothing would come out since he lost his voice, and he would look so confused...like, "Why is nothing coming out when I talk?" Poor boy. He's doing much better now. He was the happiest sick baby I've ever seen - SO different from Micah! What a blessing. :) He had his weight check this past Monday and was up to 17 lbs, 4 oz, so the Dr. said she's not worried about him, and won't make him come in for weight checks anymore! We heard his first laughs yesterday, and today we started him on rice cereal. He's growing up so quickly too!!

Dylan's 4 month check up, and house hunting!

Here's the latest update on Dylan. He had his 4 month well baby visit this past Thursday. He is now 27 inches tall (>95%), weighs 16 lbs, 3 oz (75%), and his head circumference is 17 inches (75%). The doctor was not to happy with him only gaining 1 oz in the last two weeks, so we go back for another weight check in two weeks. UGH! I don't know why we keep going through these weird cycles where he doesn't gain much, then gains a bunch. She's still not worried about him, but would like to see better weight gain. I'm supposed to give him a bottle with extra pumped milk later in the day (when my supply isn't as high), and to try to stay better hydrated. I'm the first to admit that I'm not drinking enough water - it's been a big struggle for me lately. I'm so busy during the day that I just don't think about it. And now with all of this house stuff going on, I've got even more on my mind, so it's been hard. I'm trying to focus on it now, but haven't done much better. I feel guilty that he's not getting enough from me!! If he doesn't gain well again, they might tell me to start him on some cereal. We started Micah at 5 mos, so hopefully we can start Dylan around then too. I should maybe call a lactation consultant to see if they have any suggestions...

Yesterday Steve and I got to go out house hunting together! (I'd previously gone with our realtor on Wednesday.) We had one favorite from the day that I went out looking, but as soon as we got in the car with her on Saturday she told us that it had sold in those past few days. I was so disappointed. We liked it, and there were two glaring issues with it, but I had thought it would be tough to find something better. Boy, was I wrong! The very first house we went to on Saturday was AWESOME! WAY better than that other one. We saw about 6-7 houses that day, and it was very clear as the day went on that this house was the one. It has everything we need, and everything on our wish list too! To make a long story short, we put in an offer on it yesterday and agreed on a price last night. The sellers asked for 24 hours to look at the 3 houses that they were interested in buying for themselves, so we still don't have a signed contract at the moment. They will get back to us for sure tonight, so in the mean time we're waiting on pins and needles. The house has only been on the market for 3 days, so we're afraid that someone else is going to come in with a better offer today and price us out of it. We know that the Lord is in control of which house He has planned for us, so we are trying to rest in that peace. But this house would be so great for us that it will be really hard if it falls through. So we'll just keep waiting and praying until later tonight...

We sold our house!

This has been a long time in coming, but this past Wednesday night we sold our house! It was on the market for almost 15 months, so we are totally thrilled. :) We have not been out looking at houses because we didn't want to find something we loved, then not be able to buy it because we couldn't sell our house. So, now that we are in the position to be looking, we can't wait to get out there with our realtor. :) We'll be looking in Lake Zurich and Palatine, and we'll see what we can find that best meets our needs.

After having such wonderful success with Dylan's sleep training at the end of last week, this week was horrible. It was as if I never even worked on it with him! As I write, he's been in his bed crying for 50 minutes. He's exhausted. He's just so stubborn and WILL NOT give in! So I'm back to feeling frustrated and exhausted from all of his crying. He gets very little sleep during the day since he refuses it, so that makes him extra crabby.

Steve and I have essentially moved out of our bedroom for Dylan's benefit (and ours) at night. He wakes up with the littlest noise of us crawling into bed, so his sleep gets interrupted. I'm afraid to even roll over in bed because that wakes him up too, so I get a horrible night's sleep, and then I'm not able to stay patient and calm for the next day's battles. The past two nights that we've slept on the blow up mattress in our family room have been the best two nights of sleep I've had in a long time! Now I know that we'll only be in this house for about 6 more weeks, so the end is in sight. Dylan will have his own room and we'll get ours back too! Can't wait!

Update on Dylan

Dylan had his weight check on Wednesday this week, and he was up to 16 lbs, 2 oz! So he gained 12 oz in two weeks. :) The pediatrician was very pleased and said it's rare to see growth like that outside of the first month or two! I think he had a little growth spurt right after I was in for his three month appointment, because he was nursing very frequently for the next two or three days. I'm guessing that's what happened, and that made him gain so much weight.

Steve and I got to a point this past Sunday where we couldn't handle Dylan not sleeping in his bed anymore, so we decided to start his sleep training right then and there! On Tuesday I finally got one or two successes. Wednesday was the same, then yesterday he took three naps in his bed! Woo hoo! He will even go down fairly easily for at least one of those naps each day. Such a dramatic improvement in less than one week! I have felt the weight lifting from my shoulders (almost literally, as I don't have to hold Dylan while he sleeps anymore!), and it has really brightened my mood. :) We still have a little more work to do, but I'm very thankful for the progress he's making!

Last night I think I heard one little chuckle out of Dylan! He really needed a fourth nap yesterday, but wouldn't give in, so he had gotten a bit hysterical with his crying by bedtime. I was getting him ready for bed and making fun of the noises he had been making a few minutes before, and he thought it was funny! We grabbed the camera to get a video, and he didn't laugh, but we got plenty of cute baby happy noises. Enjoy!

Micah's such a big boy!

As we close in on Micah's second birthday, I'm amazed at what a big boy he's becoming! When my sister, her husband, and daughter came to visit a week ago we put Kate in Micah's high chair and set up his booster seat at the table for Micah. Since then he's continued to want to eat at the table (as we expected!). He's finally wanting to eat with a fork all the time now - for so long he just wanted to play with it, not use it to eat with. And he's eating off of a plate too! That's a very new development - even a month ago he just played with it and threw it around. It's made me all emotional this week when we sit down to dinner as a family, and there's Micah sitting across from me, eating with his fork and plate, looking all grown up! Here's a picture of my view at dinner time. :)
He's still talking a ton, and repeats many words that we say in conversation. Lately he's started saying "love you" when prompted, which is SO sweet! He loves blowing kisses to anyone and everyone too. :) We've started to sing the alphabet song to him, and we follow along with the letters in one of his picture books that shows each letter. Sometimes out of the blue he'll sing little bits of the song - he particularly likes "e, f, g!" Of course this makes me emotional too, since I just can't believe my little boy is starting to learn the alphabet already! We're starting to work on letter recognition too, and so far he knows A and B. :)

What a precious blessing he is to us!!

Dylan's 3 month checkup

I took Dylan to his 3 month checkup today. Here are his stats: he weighed 15 lbs, 6 oz (90%), was 25 3/4 in (95%) tall, and his head circumference was 16 1/2 in (50-75%). Everything looked great, but he only gained 6 oz since his last visit. I was surprised by this since he gained over 2 lbs between months 1 and 2! His Dr. didn't think it was a big deal, but wants to see him back in two weeks for a weight check just to make sure. She said that he'd had big growth spurts the first two months, and it's possible that he's just settling into his "real" growth curve now. She also noticed how active he was (kicking his legs and moving his arms vigorously), and when I told her that he is that active most of the day, she said he could just be burning off all his calories! So I'm going to focus on his feedings to make sure he's nursing long enough, and hopefully he'll still be on track in two weeks.

I was wondering if he might still be hungry tonight after his last feeding, so I thought I'd offer him some more milk in a bottle to see if he would take it. He hasn't had a bottle at all yet, so I didn't know if he would even drink from it. I defrosted 3 ounces of frozen milk, and WOW, he took right to that bottle! So either he was really hungry still, or he was excited about how easy it was to get milk from a bottle. :) I'm so glad to know that he'll take a bottle! But now I'm slightly worried that my supply isn't sufficient...I guess we'll see.

Sleep training...kind of

Dylan is now 12 weeks old, and his Dr. said I could start sleep training at 3 months. He'll be officially 3 months at the end of this coming week, so I'm thinking about exactly what I want to do and how. I thought I'd try just putting him down this week when he was tired to see what happened. (The past 6 weeks or so this has not been successful in the slightest.) The first few days of this week were like a dream! I basically just laid him down in his bed when he started yawning, and he drifted off to sleep on his own! I couldn't believe it! We've been bouncing him to sleep while holding him for the last 6 weeks, since every time you tried to put him down he'd wake up and start screaming. The end of the week did not go well, but it gave me hope that sleep training should go well when I get serious about it!

I started this process with Micah at 4 months, and basically he had to cry it out for a good week before we made any progress. But after that, we've had very few problems with him sleeping during the night or day - even up to now! I am hoping that this process is easier with Dylan. The boys already seem to have such different temperaments that I wouldn't be surprised if Dylan takes to it a little faster. Today he took two good naps in his own bed, one of which started with me putting him down completely awake! (The other started with Steve bouncing him to sleep, then putting him down.) Plus tonight I put him down for bedtime awake, and I haven't heard any peeps out of our room yet. :) There is hope!

I think I'll wait until after my sister and her family's visit until I get going with the hard core sleep training (first couple days of September). But until then, I'll give it a try when I can and see if we can get some good results. We definitely seem to be heading in the right direction!

Little thumb sucker

Dylan has recently started sucking his thumb - especially at night. For a few nights I heard a lot of loud sucking noises off and on as he worked on his fist. But over the last 4-5 nights or so he's finally found his thumb, and the sucking noise has gone way down. :) It's been so adorable to look into his little bed and see him sucking away! It seems that in the same time frame he's been sleeping longer at night. I'd say the average is now 10 hours, and two nights ago he went 12.5 hours!! It's nice that he seems to be soothing himself with his thumb instead of waking up. :) Go, Dylan! Getting more sleep has helped me to feel like a real person again, and it helps me to not get as frustrated during the day since I'm not really sleep deprived anymore. What a difference! Here's a picture of our sweet boy sucking his thumb in bed this afternoon:
Over this past weekend we went out to Rockford to go to the Boone County Fair with Steve's parents. We thought Micah would enjoy it this year even more than last year. We walked through lots of the animal barns, and he seemed mildly interested. After a while he got sick of being in the stroller, so we took him out and let him walk around by the Home Ec building. There was one step up into the building, then a ramp to come out of it, and WOW, was that his favorite thing of the day! He must have spent at least a half hour going up the one stair, down the ramp, and repeating this over and over and over. The other highlight was drinking water out of the water bottle instead of out of his sippy cup. He ended up soaking himself, of course, by spilling the water all over, but it was a hot day and I bet it felt good! Dylan slept through the whole thing (in Grandma's arms), and Steve and I enjoyed some yummy, greasy fair food. :)

Dylan's 2 month appointment

Dylan had his 2 month checkup this past Thursday. He continues to be a huge baby! He weighed 15 pounds (95th percentile), was 24.5 inches long (greater than the 95th percentile), and his head circumference was 16.25 inches (75th percentile). Go Dylan!! We praise the Lord that he's very healthy and growing so well. He had four shots and an oral vaccine that day too, and he seemed to do fine with those - no reactions that we can tell. His doctor told me that I should wait to start sleep training until he's 3 months old due to a startle reflex that starts to go away around then. So, hopefully in a few weeks I can start working on that.

In the last week or so, Dylan has started cooing and "talking" to us a lot more. He's still full of smiles and loves watching our faces. If we lay him on his changing table to change his diaper, he gets a great view of the face of the person changing him. He gets so excited, swinging his arms and kicking his legs like crazy! He still loves to watch Micah too.

Our car ride situation has improved only slightly - at least Micah has stopped screaming now! Dylan still cries any time he's in his car seat. But it helps that Micah has gotten used to it. Dylan's doctor suggested that maybe around 3 months Dylan might be distracted by hanging toys in his car seat...we'll see.

We had a fun day today - we all went to Woodfield together. Micah got to play in the fun play area, we got him some new shoes for the fall (he's wearing a size 7.5 wide!), I got Dylan some cute 6 month size rompers on clearance (he's grown out of most of his 3 month stuff already!), and we had lunch at the mall. It was nice to get out as a family to do something fun!

One other note - today Micah is 22 months old! Where has the time gone?! Better start planning a birthday party...

Micah's ever-increasing vocabulary

Micah has been working on words since February, and he had a huge burst of new ones from then through early May. It seemed like he took a little break in May and June, but was back at it again in full force for July. I wanted to post some of the cute and funny things he's saying now. :) He's been wanting to repeat almost any word after we say it lately, so that's leading to the current vocab explosion. It's so much fun!

He was saying cup before, but now he's added an "f" to the end - as in "cupf." I think he realized that the "p" sound is a very hard sound, so he needed to add another sound to the end of the word to make himself sound like how we sounded. It always makes me smile when I hear him say this, because I can't help but think how smart he must be to hear the little nuances in how we say the word cup! (And it just sounds cute too.)

He talks about our cars by saying "Micah's car." It sounds like "ee-ka-cah."

-high chair (ha-chee)
-frisbee (bi-bby)
-cantaloupe (ka-co-copf)
-apricot (a-ki-cot) - he says this one very deliberately to get each syllable just so!
-get up - he also says this one very deliberately, pronouncing the "t" fully before saying "up"
-Tim (Steve's brother...uncle Tim. Micah says, "Timmmmmm!")
-home
-big step
-gate
-gentle
-happy
-ouch
-swing
-paddle boat
-shuffle board
-peek a boo
-I know

In the last two days he's been stringing three words together for these two phrases:
-there you go (something like "ay-go-go")
-Go, Cubs, go! (go cubuh go) - this one is SO cute - how he says "cubuh"! Love it!

Sleep Training

It's been a while since I've posted anything! I'm finding that there's really no time for ME until 8:00 or 9:00 at night, at which point I'm wiped out, so blogging has definitely taken a back seat.

Dylan is now 8 weeks old and is still growing like a weed! For the past 5 days or so he's been sleeping for an 8 hour stretch at night, starting around 8:00ish. Woo hoo! We have his two month checkup in a week and a half, so it will be fun to see what he's weighing and measuring. Things got more difficult with Dylan at about week 5, when he decided that he would not sleep in his bed for naps anymore - he HAD to be held. That's mostly the situation we're still dealing with. At the end of this past week I finally got fed up with it and decided I had to start sleep training. It's been crazy - if I hold Dylan for his naps, at least he gets the sleep he needs, but Micah doesn't get as much attention as he needs from me, so he gets crabby and gets himself into trouble. But if I don't hold Dylan (try to put him in his bed), he gets overtired and just SCREAMS like nobody's business! At least then Micah's pretty happy! Then, during Micah's nap I'm still stuck holding Dylan the whole time, so I never get any down time during the day. So like I said, I've finally had it with that. I need Dylan to sleep in his bed for all of our sanity! I'm starting slowly by putting him to sleep first, then laying him down. This works maybe 50% of the time or less. But I figure that each time it DOES work is one time closer to acceptance for him. :) With Micah I didn't start this process until he was around 4 months, and after it was done, I realized that was WAY too long to wait. But at that age, I was able to let him cry it out in his crib, and after one week it was over. I don't know that I can do that with Dylan at this age, but I'll be asking his Dr. at his 2 month visit! I'm SO looking forward to having at least a little time to myself in the afternoon when both boys are napping...all in good time, I suppose.

Our other problem at the moment is that riding in the car is complete misery. Just like Micah when he was young, Dylan absolutely HATES his carseat. He starts screaming the second we put him in there, and doesn't stop until we get where we're going and take him out. Poor Micah gets really fed up with the noise (so do we!), so he starts screaming and crying at the top of his lungs too. I can't blame him - I wish I could do the same sometimes! :) I don't know that there's anything I can do about this situation, other than to just pray that it passes quickly. In the mean time, I try not to go anywhere unless it's necessary. But that means we're stuck at home a lot, which is no fun either. So, I think we're back to just praying that this passes quickly. Anyone have any advice or tips??? (Yes, we've tried the paci, but Dylan isn't too interested in paci's. He couldn't hold it in his own mouth anyway. He doesn't end up falling asleep in the car, either, after crying a while. At least Micah did that!)

Other than all that, we're enjoying our boys and are getting used to the new normal. Dylan is a sweet, smiley boy when he's happy, and Micah is continuing to blow us away with the new words he's constantly learning and lately how he's kissing everything, including his brother. If Dylan is anywhere near as entertaining as Micah is, we'll always be laughing in our house! :)

Dylan is 5 weeks old!

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time. Probably because I don't usually have much computer time anymore! I wanted to post a quick update on Dylan, since he had his one month pediatrician visit today. He's now 12 pounds, 4 ounces (off the charts - greater than 95% - wow!) 23 1/4 inches long (95%). His head circumference is in the 50%. I can't believe how much he's grown in a month, and I'm just so glad that he's gaining weight well and that everything else checks out just as it should.

Dylan must be in the middle of a growth spurt, because for the last two days he's been nursing religiously every two hours (it had been 2.5 to 3), even through the night. He'd been sleeping well at night, giving us anywhere from a 4-6 hour stretch. But last night was really hard, getting up every two hours. I'm wiped today! He's also been refusing to be put in his bed to sleep except for at night. (He's definitely a snuggler and prefers to be held tucked into a ball on our chest.) It's made it a bit harder for me to give Micah the attention I'd like, and to make sure that Dylan is getting enough sleep (mainly so that he doesn't turn into a screaming, unhappy baby). It's definitely been the most challenging and tiring week so far.

Micah is still doing well with Dylan, who he calls Didin. It's adorable! :) He's started to get a little bit jealous when Steve or I are holding Dylan. He attaches himself to our legs for a while. But other than that, he seems to be somewhat interested in Dylan in general. The biggest issue is when both kids are in the car. Dylan hates his car seat, so he ends up screaming for most of the car ride. As soon as Dylan starts, Micah chimes in by screaming this horrible high-pitched scream at the top of his lungs. Ugh! We think that Dylan's crying annoys Micah (can't blame him!), so he screams in frustration and annoyance. We haven't found any way to get him to stop the screaming though, so we might be in for a long however many months until Dylan is a bit more content in the car.

We're excited to be a family of four now, and are looking forward to being a bit more adjusted to what the new "normal" is, but until then we're just trying to enjoy it!

My birth story

I've been wanting to post my birth story (for those who are interested), and finally have a few minutes to do it. :) Also, I added a link on the right side of the blog to my Facebook pictures of Dylan.

My labor started on Wednesday, May 27th. I'd been having bouts of contractions on and off for days, but they always petered out after a couple of hours. So that Wednesday morning when I woke up, I was having some contractions about every 10 minutes that were slightly more painful than before. Steve was trying to decide whether to go to work or stay home to see if anything happened, but I told him to go to work since I figured they'd just stop again in an hour or two. Good thing he went, since they did stop mid-morning. My mom was here helping out with Micah, so we went out and ran errands that AM. By the time we got home for lunch, I was completely exhausted, like I hadn't been in a long time. She took care of Micah's lunch, then put him down for his nap while I took a nap through it all. (I think my body knew what was to come later that night...)

My contractions started back up around 4:30 that PM. My mom and I took Micah on a walk to the local park to play. We decided to go out to dinner at Corner Bakery when Steve got home from work. I was timing contractions the whole afternoon/at dinner, and they were around 8 minutes apart - some getting a bit painful. They continued to get more intense into the night to the point where I was doing breathing techniques to get through some of them, but they were still too far apart to call the Dr.

Finally Steve and I went out for a walk at 11:30 PM (I was hoping it would get the labor going better). We walked for a half hour and they were 3-5 minutes apart, but very light contractions. When we got back home, they started to be more painful again and were about 6 minutes apart. I was also having some show. I finally called the Dr. at midnight and he said to come on in to the hospital. We called our babysitter to come (my mom was going to the hospital with us for the birth), and by the time she got here 25 minutes later, I was READY to go to the hospital. I just knew it was time to go. :)

I was 3-4 cm when we got to the hospital (12:45 AM on Thursday, May 28), and 50% effaced. The Dr. said my labor pattern looked great on its own and that I had a blank check to get the epidural whenever I was ready. I waited about an hour and a half (since I was handling the contractions okay with breathing techniques), then had a really bad contraction, and said, "that's it...call the anesthesiologist!!" He got there quickly and after the epi, I was good to go!

They eventually started up some Pitocin at about 4:00 since the contractions had backed off a bit after the epidural. Thankfully, I was blissfully pain free, so it didn't matter to me! Steve and I napped for 30-45 minutes around then (the only sleep we got that whole night), and otherwise visited with my mom, dad, and Steve's mom, who were all there.

I was finally fully dilated at about 8:00 AM and started pushing at 8:20. At one point, Baby's head was about an inch out, and my Dr. said something that made us all laugh. Then he goes, "Look at that! Every time you laugh, the baby's head inches out a little further!" That made us laugh even more, so out came his head as I laughed. :) I wasn't even having a contraction at that point, but the Dr. said, "He's coming out as you laugh anyway, so why don't you just push and we'll have this baby!" So, out came Dylan Blake at 8:40 AM, laughed into this world. :) I love having that as a part of my birth story! He weighed 9 lbs, 1 oz and measured 23 in.

I ended up being the "legend" in Mother/Baby unit - "She's the one who delivered the 9 pounder!" I praise the Lord that it was an easy delivery for me in spite of Dylan's size, and that it was truly a joyful time. In the week and a half since then, I've recovered very quickly (I really feel great!) and we've just been enjoying Dylan. Since he's been such a content baby, it's made this transition from one to two kids much easier. We are very thankful for another healthy, sweet little boy in our family. Praise the Lord!

Dylan Blake Hall has arrived!

It has taken me over a week to finally announce Dylan's arrival here, but computer time has been pretty limited since his birth. :) Dylan was born on May 28th at 8:40 AM. He weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 23 inches.
Dylan is a really sweet baby! We had a tough start with Micah since he was so fussy and demanding as an infant, but Dylan has been quite the opposite. He only cries if he's hungry or needs a diaper change, and is otherwise just calm and observant. He's even sleeping for a 4-5 hour stretch at night already! (That's one thing he has in common with his brother as an infant - both were great sleepers. They're both great eaters too.) We are enjoying getting to know Dylan better, and we praise the Lord for the special blessing he is to us!

40.5 week update

Here’s the update from today's appointment. I’m still preggo – 3 days overdue now. Everything looked good with Baby and me this afternoon, praise the Lord! I’m still 1 cm and 50% effaced, so no change there. That’s sad to me because I had contractions 10 minutes apart for hours on Saturday (then they stopped) and then last night they were around 9 minutes apart until I went to bed (they stopped again). I would think all those contractions would have done something! Today I’ve been losing some mucus (sorry if that’s TMI) and having contractions on an irregular basis. Since all my contractions with Micah were after they started Pitocin, I don’t know what “normal” ones feel like, so I asked the Dr. today. The ones I’ve been having make it hard to breathe during them, and when I told him that, he was like, “yeah, those are usually real labor contractions – I’m surprised they haven’t thrown you into labor yet!” He seemed very sure that my body would go into labor on its own and that they wouldn’t have to induce, especially after I told him what I’ve been experiencing lately.

So here’s the plan. I go back on Thursday for another checkup, a non-stress test, and an ultrasound to make sure my amniotic fluid level is still okay for the baby. If anything doesn’t check out on Thursday, they’ll just send me next door to the hospital right then. If everything still looks okay at that point, we’ll schedule an induction for early next week – probably Monday or Tuesday (that's the latest they'd want me to go). He asked if I was dead set on induction ASAP, and I told him no – I’d rather let my body do it on its own, unless something was worrisome with me or the baby. But he assured me that everything still looked great, so I’m fine with this plan. I’m hoping I don’t make it to early next week, but if I do, I’ll definitely be ready to call it quits then. :)

40 weeks - still going!

Here's my 40 week belly shot:
I honestly didn't think I'd make it to 40 weeks since I didn't with Micah (he was 3 days early.) But here I am, now one day overdue! Yesterday morning started out with light contractions 10 minutes apart for about 3-4 hours, and then on and off through the afternoon, finally stopping at night. I got a little excited in the morning, but we quickly realized that we weren't getting anywhere. Today I've had very few contractions. Throughout this week that's been the pattern - one day with some contractions, the next with hardly any. So tomorrow should be interesting! I have no other signs that labor is coming soon. I did notice at church this morning that I was able to sing more easily this week than last (I could hardly sing one line at a time last week), so I do think that Baby has dropped at least a little bit.

I know that things could change quickly, but now I'm expecting to make it to my appointment on Tuesday. I'll have a lot of questions for the Dr. that day, since I think they'll want to induce me. At this point, I'm just about ready to agree to that! I don't want to wait too long and have the baby be too big to deliver. The practice's policy is to not let you go more than one week past your due date, which will be next Saturday. So at least this baby WILL be coming this week!

39 weeks - almost there!

Here's my 39 week belly shot:
I had my 39 week OB checkup yesterday, and there's not much to report. I'm still 1 cm and 50% effaced. I guess it's better than nothing! The Dr. did say, though, that I should make my appointment for next week, but that he'd be surprised if I made it that long. (He seemed very confident in that statement.) Woo hoo!! Come on, Baby Hall!!

I'm having a lot of contractions, but they're not painful - just a lot of squeezing pressure. They're not to the point where I'm timing them, either. So we're just waiting it out here. The best news of all is that my mom is here now! She got here on Sunday, and it's an answer to prayer that she made it before the baby was born. She wanted to be here for it so badly, and I wanted her here for it just as badly! So praise the Lord for that. :) She's already been a big help with making meals and helping me take care of Micah. It's amazing how he tires us both out by the time he goes to bed! I'm already wondering how I did it by myself. Thanks, Mom, for being here!!!!

38 weeks

Here's my 38 week picture:
I had my 38 week OB visit this morning, and all is still right on target. I'm only 1 cm dilated, but she said that can always change rapidly. But when I left she said, "We'll likely see you next week!" I don't think Baby has dropped yet either, and though I still have Braxton Hicks contractions every now and then, I don't really feel like things are imminent. That's okay - my mom comes on Sunday, so anytime after that we'll all be ready for him to come!

I've had a new symptom these past few days that I never had with Micah. I've felt slightly nauseous, or just "not right" when we get around meal times. Even if I feel full when it's time to eat, I still feel that way. (I'd expect it more if I felt really hungry.) So sometimes I don't think any food sounds good, which makes it interesting to eat. But once I eat, I feel fine. It's just weird!

I know the end of pregnancy is in sight now, which is a relief! I'm so excited just to get my body back. :) My friends assured me this morning that I'll feel so much better as soon as this baby is delivered. Can't wait to meet him too!

37 week picture (a little late)

Here's my 37 week belly shot:
I've been too tired at night (the only chance I have to do a blog post) to upload this and write a new post! This week has been very tiring, and it seems that the exhaustion just hit suddenly once I turned 37 weeks. My OB appointment went well and everything is still right on target. I don't think the baby has dropped yet, so I'm not expecting labor to start any minute, but I know it could be just a matter of days away too! We got all of the baby things out of storage, I've washed all the clothes, and pretty much everything here is ready. I still haven't packed my hospital bag, but that's my goal for this weekend. :)

I'm very much looking forward to Mother's Day this weekend! Last year was my first Mother's Day and we were visiting my family in Texas, so we weren't able to go to our own church and celebrate at home. This year we're home (since I don't want to be too far from here at this stage!) and I'm really looking forward to my first Mother's Day at our own church. During the two and a half years we were trying to get pregnant, we skipped church on Mother's Day. That was such a hard day for me and even remembering that pain now brings it back in a fresh way. I'm praying this weekend for all the women out there who are struggling through the pain of not being able to get pregnant, or who have experienced a loss. I now have such joy as I celebrate having my precious son in my life, and as I anticipate the birth of my second son. But I think I'll always have a special place in my heart for those who are hurting on this weekend.

Here's a family picture my dad took (he was here for two days this week) at Lilacia Park in Lombard, IL yesterday. It's one of my favorite places to go in May! So gorgeous. If you want to see a ton more pictures, I have an album of them on my Facebook page. Ask me for a link if you aren't on Facebook. :)

36 weeks and a skinned knee

Here's my 36 week belly shot:
I had my 36 week OB visit yesterday and my Dr. said that everything is perfect and right on target! I'm thankful to have had such a healthy pregnancy and that I've made it to this point! Only a few more days until I'm considered full term. :) I'm definitely ready to have this baby - physically and emotionally anyway. We still haven't gotten our baby stuff out of storage, but it's on the to do list for this week. There's really not that much to get ready, so I'm not too worried about it. We bought our double stroller this past weekend, a second changing pad, and a diaper pail (both for our room, where Baby will be sleeping/nursing). I'll be glad when everything is set up, the newborn clothes are washed, and all the little details are in place. I suppose I should pack my hospital bag soon too!

I've noticed that I'm becoming more easily irritated lately, and I'm SO ready to have the baby and get rid of that. My patience is wearing thin, especially with Micah, and I'll be glad to be done with that too. It's strange to recognize issues like that during pregnancy, when I'm not usually that impatient or irritable otherwise. I know Steve will be glad to get his "normal" wife back too. :) My body is holding up pretty well, but I'm just really tired overall. Getting up 4 times a night to go to the bathroom doesn't help with that either. :) All this to say, I'm ready! Let's get this show on the road! I can't wait to meet this little guy!!

One note on Micah - he got his first skinned knee yesterday. I keep meaning to take a picture of it since his little knees will never be the same again. :) It's not a bad one at all, though. We were outside since the weather was really nice, and he was walking around our front walkway. He tripped and fell, scraping his knee a little bit (he had shorts on). He cried for a minute or so, but then went right on walking. He loves being outside! Here's a cute picture of him from last weekend (we were at Steve's parents') in one of his new summer outfits.

Micah's 18 month checkup

Micah went to the pediatrician yesterday for his 18 month well visit. His Dr. said it's always one of the hardest visits because the kids realize where they are and don't want any part of being examined. That was definitely the case with Micah! :) He did pretty well in spite of it all, but his favorite part was when she wanted to see him walk, so she let him take off down the hallway. Of course after that taste of freedom, he had a complete meltdown the rest of the appointment! Oh well. :)

He's up to 32 in tall (50%), 29 lbs 4 oz (75-90%), and his head circumference is 19.5 in (90%). She was very pleased with his growth and said it's great that he's been on the same growth curves in all three areas since he was 9 months old. I was curious to see what types of questions she would ask about behavioral accomplishments, etc. He seems to be right on track with all the things he's doing. She asked if he had any words yet, and I said, "He says a bunch of words!" She asked if I had a rough number for how many, and since I've been writing them all down, I said, "40 to 50." She said that was exceptional for his age! I didn't know how many words an average 18 month old could say, so I had assumed that he was just doing what they all did at this age. But wow! He was behind the norm by a couple months in almost every physical milestone along the way, so it's kind of fun to be ahead with the words. :) The Dr. said we should get him some books with big letters of the alphabet, since she thinks he will learn the alphabet quickly.

It's been such a privilege to watch Micah grow and accomplish new things over the last year and a half. It makes me really look forward to watching his brother do the same! I'm amazed at how the Lord created children to enter the world as tiny, helpless babies and that within the first couple of years they grow, learn, and develop quickly into amazing little people!

34 week belly pic

As promised, here's my 34 week belly shot:
I also wanted to make note of my newest pregnancy necessity: Breathe Right Strips! I use them for sleeping every night since my nose gets congested every time I lie down for bed. It was driving me crazy to wake up every morning with a dried out mouth since I couldn't breathe through my nose during the night. These things have saved the day! I don't remember having this issue while prego with Micah. Maybe it's because it's winter this time around and the house is extra dry??

The last couple days I've had a new issue - nasty upper rib pain. I definitely didn't have this with Micah! I did a little looking online and found that it's pretty common at this point in pregnancy, and that unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it. It feels like my rib muscles are bruised, and there's really no comfortable position that helps. Last night even sleeping was painful! I read that some people found some relief with treatment from a chiropractor, so I'm thinking about looking into that.

Six weeks and counting... :)

Oh, and here's a picture of Micah and me on Easter to leave you with. I love my little boy!!

Today's appointment

I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow and had my OB visit today. Everything is right on track. I was glad to find out that Baby is already head down! I asked my Dr. if he was likely to stay that way, and he said they usually will at this point, but that they can still flip. But he said it's definitely a good sign to have this little guy head down already. My next appointment is in two weeks, then after that it will be every week until he is here!!

On my way out of the office I saw my favorite doctor across the room (she wasn't the one who did my visit today). She saw me (holding Micah) and said hi. She said, "How many weeks are you now?" and I said, "34." She said, "Wow, you look big! How much did he [Micah] weigh at birth?" I told her 8 lbs, 3 oz. She says, "Oh, I bet this one's going to be 9 lbs!" Wow, do I really look THAT big?! (Check back this weekend for my 34 week belly shot.) I guess I'd rather have a baby on the bigger side since they usually sleep and eat a bit better, but it still scares me about the delivery a bit. :) And I guess I do feel bigger than I did with Micah. I'll have to ask the Dr. at my next visit to see if they'll give me a guess at the baby's size.

We're getting excited to meet our little guy soon! :)

Micah is 18 months old!

Today Micah turned 18 months old - I can hardly believe it! We've been working with him off and on for a little while to try to get him to use a fork at meals. Well, today he decided to do it! He ate some french toast for breakfast using his fork, then some pasta at dinner. I captured the pasta on video:



Yesterday I took Micah to get another haircut. I think this was #4! His hair just seems to grow so fast. :) I expected him to scream through it like he has all the other times, but this time was great! The lady who cut his hair was very patient, took her time, and did her best to distract him with interesting things. She told me from the beginning that she wanted to give him a "good" haircut experience, and that's what it was! I was shocked that we got through the whole thing without any fussing, and we'll definitely be going back to see her again.

Poor Micah has been dealing with an intestinal bug for a week now. It's been constant diarrhea and a nasty diaper rash, but thankfully he hasn't been throwing up. He's doing well overall, still playing and acting normal most of the time, which I'm thankful for! The nurse I talked to about it said that this bug is going around, and that it's usually done in 5-7 days, but could stick around for up to 2 weeks. Yuck! I'm praying that it will be over soon so I can stop doing so much laundry, spraying the house with Lysol to help with the smell, changing nasty diapers, and feeding Micah the same bland foods at every meal. He seems to be just slightly better today, but we're not getting too excited yet...

The pregnancy is still progressing fine! I'm 33.5 weeks, and my next appointment is on Friday. I've been really exhausted the last two days. I think taking care of Micah and the messes the last week has finally caught up with me. I'm so thankful for Steve who has been great and is trying to help me out as much as he can! What a wonderful Hubby!

32 weeks and "beep, beep"

Here is my 32 week belly shot:
We had my checkup today at the OB, and everything is right on track! I had a bunch of questions for my doctor today about how I've been feeling the last few weeks, but apparently my swelling, braxton-hicks contractions, feeling huge, and various muscle pains are all normal for where I'm at. I did have all of these symptoms with Micah, but they started MUCH later on, so I just wanted to make sure it was okay that they were starting now this time around. It definitely makes me more ready to have this baby! I start going in every two weeks for visits now. I can hardly believe that we're already at this point in the pregnancy. It's exciting, and as each week passes we look forward even more to meeting this little boy. :)

Micah has continued to pick up new words each day. Steve and I took a great vacation to Phoenix for five days last week while Micah stayed with Steve's parents. It sounds like he (and they) had a great time together, and Steve and I really enjoyed getting away! Micah picked up some new words at Grandma and Grandpa's house since there were new things to see and learn. Today he learned how to say, "beep." We went to Wendy's for lunch, and we could hear the beeping noises when the fries were done cooking, or the microwave finished, etc. Each time this happened, Micah looked over there and imitated the noise, saying, "beep, beep, beep." It was adorable! When we got home he was still doing it to imitate the microwave and stove timer, so we got it on video.



He had his bath and stories tonight, and then Steve put him to bed in his crib. About five minutes later I heard him "beep"ing away to himself in there. :) He is constantly cracking us up lately with the cute things he does. Just this morning he grabbed Steve's cell phone and ended up holding down one of the numbers that was set up to speed-dial my cell phone. I heard my phone ringing, and when I grabbed it, saw that Steve was calling me, and saw Micah standing there holding Steve's phone, I put it all together. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time and called Steve over right away to join in the laughter. :) He checked his phone's call history to make sure Micah didn't call anyone else, and luckily it was just me. What a silly boy! We love him SO much. :)

30 weeks and a sweet little boy

Here's my 30 week belly shot:
I'm definitely feeling the discomforts of the third trimester now! My belly button has popped out (a few weeks ago!), the stretch marks are starting to show up, and even sleeping can be painful when my leg, hip, or arm falls asleep. I remember all of this from before, but it started much later. With Micah I remember feeling like I could be pregnant forever I loved it so much. This time around, well, I don't think I'd quite say that. :) It's still fun, and I do enjoy it overall, but I have no doubt that I'll sure be ready when labor day comes!

Micah has been such a delight lately. :) I feel like he's coming into his own and is just bursting with learning every day. His vocabulary increases all the time, and he seems to be a bit more content in general. I'm really enjoying how sweet he is. He has a great sense of humor and laughs whenever the people around him are laughing. His "real" laugh (when he finds something REALLY funny) has evolved now into a hilarious, infectious laugh that we can't get enough of. Here's a video of that laugh:



Here are some of the new words he's saying: garage door (believe it or not! this is his favorite right now), button, bottle, baby, book, diaper, car, hello (when he holds a phone to his ear), lunch (just "ch" - this is for all meals), and Goldfish (the snack - just "sh"). There are probably more that I can't remember at the moment, but we're just so impressed at what he's saying right now! It's so much fun to communicate with him when we actually know what he's saying. :)

As the weather has been nicer, I've been taking Micah outside to play in the afternoons as well. He absolutely loves it! Today we went to a local playground (normally we just walk around the neighborhood) and he had a lot of fun. He went down the slide on his own and walked all around the equipment, climbing up and down the stairs, going across bridges, etc. I enjoyed being able to do this with him, after so many months of being cooped up inside! Praise the Lord for nice weather. :)

28 weeks

Here's my new 28 week belly shot!
I had my 28 week OB visit, and everything is right on target. The glucose test came back normal too, which is always great to hear. :) I enjoy my sweets so much that it would be awfully hard to have to change my diet for the rest of the pregnancy! There's not much else to report - I'm feeling good and think I'm finally just about over my cold! Woo hoo!

27 weeks

Wow, how time flies! After reading my 27 week update in my pregnancy book, I see that I'm now in my third trimester. Where did the weeks go?! With Micah it seemed to go so slowly. With this one it's absolutely flying by. It's kind of exciting, though, to think about how soon we'll be able to meet our second son. Not that I've done anything to get ready for him yet...too hard with the house on the market.

Anyway, here's my 26 week belly pic that I still haven't posted (I take updated pics on the even weeks):
Not much else is new - I'm just trying to recover from a nasty cold I've had for around 10 plus days now. (Micah and Steve haven't caught it, though, so I'm very thankful for that!) It seems like I've picked up every bug that's come along this winter! Normally I don't get sick very often, but I guess pregnancy compromises the immune system slightly. Looking forward to the end of cold and flu season...

New words

It seems like Micah has been exploding with new words lately. It's such a fun stage when he'll suddenly repeat a word after you, and you just look at him like, "What did you just say?!" I don't remember if I've mentioned the words he's saying yet, but here's a list (newest at the bottom).
-Mama, Dada, Didi (for Haley)
-Uh oh
-Door
-Ball
-Apple (bap-pull)
-Up up up (we say this when we're climbing up the stairs for bathtime)
-Bowl
-Banana (nan-nan)

Every once in a while he also seems to combine two words into a phrase! I'm not completely sure he's really saying these two words, but I wouldn't be surprised.
-Garage door (believe it or not! It just barely sounds like "garage" but Steve taught that to him the other day when he was walking around outside, and he really seems to know what it is!)
-Bowl Didi (or Didi Bowl)

Bathtime swimming

Micah has a new favorite thing to do during bathtime! I suppose it's a form of swimming, but it mostly just involves putting his face in the water. Almost every night he does this, and it just cracks us up! Tonight he started by leaning down to the water and putting his ear in the water. He got a little braver each time he lowered his head toward the water, eventually putting the whole front of his face in! He knows enough (somehow) to not try to breathe in the water while his face is in the tub. He only leaves it there for a split second before he pulls it back out too. But he's just so silly how he loves to do this! Toward the end of tonight's bath he pushed his toys out of the way, then lowered his whole body into the water (tummy down) and floated there for a bit while holding his head out of the water. It was so cute! We'll have to get him into swimming lessons before too long!

Micah's third haircut

Micah's hair was definitely getting shaggy lately, so I decided it was time for another haircut. Number three already! Here are the before and after pictures:
I love how cute he looks after a haircut! Such a handsome little man. :) Too bad he's still totally traumatized by the whole haircut experience. I wonder when he'll grow out of that...

24 weeks

Here's my 24 week belly shot:
I'm starting to feel really big, but at my last OB visit this past Saturday, my Dr. assured me that I'm measuring right where I should, and that it's very common to feel bigger faster with your second pregnancy. It was another good visit, with everything looking great! I'm so thankful for a healthy pregnancy and feel so blessed. :) I'm feeling Baby kicking a lot now, and they're definitely getting stronger. It's such a fun time of pregnancy right now, though I definitely feel more tired out in general this time around. I'm sure chasing Micah around all day has much to do with that!

Speaking of Micah, here's a little update on him too. He's doing a lot of babbling lately, which is super cute! It makes me wish I could understand his sentences. Sometimes it sounds like he's speaking Chinese, and others German! (Maybe that's why I can't understand him!) He's learning more words too, and likes to try to imitate when we tell him a word. His most recent word is "ball," and he's working on "apple." (He says, "Bap-bull" - so cute!) He enjoys reading books that have mostly pictures, since he points to every picture on the page and waits for us to identify the name of the object. He actually doesn't like to stay on a page long enough to hear the story - he's just interested in the pictures/objects. It's so fun to watch him learning right before our eyes!

Here's a picture from a couple days ago when I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast (what was I thinking?!):

Storytime at the library

Micah and I went to Baby Time at the Arlington Heights Library today for the first time with some friends! I figured he probably wouldn't really sit still, but it sounded like fun, and we needed to get out of the house this morning. The first thing we did was a song that involved bouncing, clapping, etc. which Micah loved. We also did some rhymes with actions, and he liked those too. Once they started reading the story, though, he was out of my lap and on the move! Almost all of the other kids were interested in the story, sitting on their mommies' laps. :) Not so much my active son! First he walked around where we were sitting and "greeted" some other moms (by pulling their hair...). Then he took off through the middle of the circle and went straight for the audio equipment! He had his hands in a plastic bin full of tapes by the time I got to him. :) He pretty much did his own thing until they handed out the book we were all reading together, and at least he sat in my lap and flipped pages with me during that time. The last thing was play time. They had bins of fun toys and some soft things to climb on. He loved playing with the toys (and stealing them from other kids) and being free to walk around to play. After Baby Time was done, we hung out in the kids' area of the library for a while. They have great stuff for kids his age! He enjoyed watching the fish in the fish tank, looking at himself in the fun-house type mirror on the wall, playing with a puzzle that was out on the table, and pulling board books off the shelves. :) We had a fun time, and I hope we didn't disrupt too many others during story time! But it's nice to know that the library is a fun place even to just go play for a bit.

When Micah wakes up from his nap, we're off to the indoor zero-depth pool in Arlington Heights. He loved it so much last time that I've been meaning to go back, and one of my friends and her son were going to go today, so that will be fun!

22 week belly pic and a sinus infection

Here's my most recent belly pic, at 22 weeks:
It's nice to finally really look pregnant, and to have the cute round belly! Now that I know how I'll be feeling in another two months or so, I'm determined to enjoy the "cute" stage of pregnancy! I'm feeling my little man moving around in there lots - that is definitely my favorite part of being pregnant. :)

For the past week I've been battling my first sinus infection. At first it was horrible headaches (I don't usually have problems with headaches), so I thought maybe it was just a pregnancy thing. Then I noticed that I was also a little congested, but didn't think anything of it. By Wednesday I was feeling pain in my sinuses, and Thursday it was pain from my nose all the way across my cheek to my ear, and down into the back teeth on top too. Wow, it was awful! I called my Dr. and they told me to come right in (I didn't know if these were signs of a sinus infection or not since I'd never had one!). He gave me some antibiotics. I was expecting to feel better right away, but didn't really. Yesterday I finally noticed some improvement, and today is the first day that I haven't had to take any Tylenol for the pain (though it's still there a bit). I think it's almost gone now, and I sure hope I don't get another sinus infection anytime soon! It's miserable! I feel for those of you that get them all the time...ugh!

Ultrasound pics

Here they are! We only got three pictures of this baby. With Micah we had a ton! Oh well. I guess Micah was much better at posing perfectly, because we had lots of clear pictures of him. This time there just weren't too many opportunities for great pictures. At least we got these three!

The first one is Baby's side profile (head on the right). What a cute nose! I want to compare this one to Micah's ultrasound at this age to look at their profiles. The second one is a 3D shot of Baby's face with his hands over his eyes. His face is on the right side - not sure what that big thing on the left is. He sure didn't want to move his hands during our ultrasound! (Neither did Micah.)

The third picture is another 3D picture of his face. We finally got him to put his hands down, though he still kept that one up by his mouth. The tech said that his umbilical cord was also floating above his face, so that obscured the clarity of the picture a bit. (You can't see it on this pic.)We also took some video, but it's too long to post here. I'm planning to put it up on Facebook, so let me know if you want the link. It's mainly just for the family, since I know they'd want to see it. :)

Micah's latest experiment

Over the last couple weeks Micah has started a new experiment, and it seems to be something he does no matter where he is. It all started when he took some of the lightweight balls from one of his toys and started throwing them on our tile floor. He realized that they bounced and made a funny noise when he did this, so he would do it over and over again! Last week he started taking two balls and making them bounce together to hear the cool sound that two balls together makes. He would giggle and giggle at this! Well, now it's progressed to systematically bringing all of his toys one by one to the edge of the tile and throwing them to see if they bounce! Of course, very few of them do. But it doesn't dissuade him from trying. It's kind of cute to see him trying out the laws of gravity and figuring out what "works" and what doesn't. :) It's not so cute when we're at Grandma and Grandpa's and they have wood flooring in the kitchen, though! I enjoy watching Micah learn. :)

Feeling our boy

This morning's excitement was that Steve finally felt the baby kicking! We were just waking up to Micah's sweet talking noises over the monitor, and the baby started kicking away. Luckily Steve was able to get his hand on there and got to feel multiple kicks! I'm excited that he's finally able to share in that special feeling with me. :)

Another funny note - whenever I'm using our laptop (with it sitting on my lap), the baby starts kicking! It makes me wonder if it's some electromagnetic field or something that he can sense. Then the paranoid part of me takes over and thinks that maybe I shouldn't use the laptop so close to him since he can clearly sense it...

It's a...

BOY!!!! We are so excited to share that Micah is going to have a little brother! We enjoyed watching him move around during the ultrasound. Just like his older brother, this one did not want to take his hands away from his face to let us get a good look. He was being a little stubborn with his legs crossed at the beginning, but when the tech came back to it a few minutes later, it was definitely there in all its glory! We could clearly tell it was a boy (even more so than with Micah). :) It was so amazing to watch his heart beating and to just see all of his little features. The Lord does such awe-inspiring work on these precious babies! In the coming days I'll try to scan our ultrasound pictures and post them. We're so excited to be able to share our news! :)

Micah's 15 month appointment

I can't believe my baby boy is already 15 months old! He had his well visit today and here are his stats: he's 31 inches tall (50%), weighs 26 lbs, 7 oz (75-90%), and his head is 19 inches around (75-90%). He's holding steady on the same growth curve that he's been on since the beginning. Everything else looked great, and he's a healthy boy!

Tomorrow's the big day for our other little baby...we can't wait to get to watch him or her move around, get measured, and most of all, find out his or her gender! We'll post as soon as we can once we get home from our appointment... :)

20 weeks!

I can't believe that I've already hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy! I'm half way done and feel like we've only just started. Here's my 20 week belly shot:
I really feel like I expanded significantly over our Christmas break in Texas. I'm sure much of that has to do with Mom's great home cooking!! I'm a little afraid to weigh in at my appointment on Saturday. :) Speaking of my appointment, that's when we have the big ultrasound and we will hopefully find out the baby's gender! I'm so excited I can hardly wait, and I'm just praying that the baby isn't being overly modest on the big day. :) I'm definitely feeling the baby move every day multiple times now. Steve still hasn't been able to feel it yet, but we keep trying. One of these days! I'll post on Saturday with the big news!

A quick note on Micah - he's doing much better. Each day at home he seems happier and less sick. He has his 15 month well visit to the Dr. on Friday, so it will be fun to see how much he weighs, how tall he is, etc. I'm just glad to have my happy baby back!

I also added a link to our Christmas pictures on the right side of the blog. :)

On the upswing

After having quite a few difficult days, today we really feel like Micah's making a turn for the better. Especially by the afternoon he was acting much happier and was even getting into trouble! We knew right away that that was a good sign. :) His appetite is starting to come back too, and he gobbled down the Macaroni and Cheese that we made him for dinner. It's such a relief to have a happier baby who hopefully will get better and better each day now. We fly home on Sunday, so we're really just praying that he's much better by then!

Steve and I have also gotten sick with colds in the last few days, but thankfully we're not as bad as Micah was. I think we're both also feeling slightly better today, so hopefully the whole family will be back to normal very soon! We've both been reminded how miserable it is to be sick and have to still take care of a toddler, especially one who is sick and waking up in the night. But how wonderful it's going to feel when we're healthy again!