This and That

I don't have a ton to post about but I am really trying to be better about keeping up on my blog. So...a few things...

Jack took his first big tumble as a "wobbler" the other day. He now proudly has scratches and bruises on his forehead to show for it. The funny part is that this fall apparently happened as he was trying to push the bigger kids out of the way so he could be the first one to get outside at daycare. My little bruiser. :-)

We have been pretty successful in giving up the bottles. I was lucky and daycare was willing to take on the brunt of the conversion to sippy cups. Started last week and at the beginning of the week, Jack would throw the sippy cup in anger and basically boycotted drinking from it. There was a lot of vocalization accompanying the throwing as well. When I would give him a bottle at bedtime (I was a little too intimidated by all of this to do it 100% cold turkey so we kept the nighttime bottle), he would act as though I had just done the nicest thing for him that I could possibly do. By the end of the week, he was pretty much okay with the cup. No meltdowns over the weekend about the bottle and we are now working on the nighttime bottle, which hasn't really been a problem. My sister always claims that any change with kids is a max one week of torture and then it's all over. This does, indeed, seem to be true.

After months and months of attempting to read books to Jack (I LOVE books) and he having ZERO interest in reading books and me being concerned I would have a child who never wanted to read, Jack has really gotten into books. These two books are our favorites. The first one, On the Night You Were Born, I bought for Jack when he was in the NICU. To be honest, I was very intimidated by all of the wires, cords, lack of privacy and this tiny little baby--I was having a hard time bonding. I didn't know how to talk to him without feeling silly (to be fair, it is REALLY, REALLY hard in such a public, open place to have any private bonding to your baby) and a little like I was talking to an inanimate object. My answer to this was to buy a few books and read to him. I figured it would help me overcome my discomfort. It did and I love that this book is now Jack's favorite. It is such a sweet book, with wonderful illustrations, with a sweet message, based on the verse "You are fearfully and wonderfully made". The second book is by the same author and Jack received it as a gift from his cousins for his first birthday. I highly recommend both of these books to any mommies out there.




Finally, I got an unexpected Mother's Day gift in the mail today from Pajamagram. If you've never heard of them before, check them out! They are my favorite pj's and they make great gifts. They come in a pretty hatbox with a door hanger and sachet. Thanks to my ever-generous and thoughtful in-laws. They are visiting this weekend and we are very excited. We are planning our first trip to the coast.

Mother's Day 2009

My second Mother's Day and the second time around is sweeter than the last. It's hard to believe that one year ago, Jack was still a newborn and this year, he is an active, walking toddler and we have #2 on the way!

My Mother's Day started yesterday with the arrival of these beautiful flowers from my parents. They are the perfect accoutrement to the table that sits between our two rockers on the porch. I love that my parents remember their children on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day every year. Even before I was a mommy, my mother once gave me a letter she sent my grandparents shortly after I was born. It's one of my favorite, most treasured "possessions."


Jack gave me this fun little frame he "made" at daycare with a sweet picture of him in it. Not sure how they got him to sit still so nicely for this picture. I love it--so does he (he keeps trying to kiss the picture).


Finally, Jack surprised me (with a little help from his daddy) with a beautiful new jewelry box. I love it!

We spent the weekend puttering around town. We have been having the downstairs painted and unfortunately, it has been somewhat of a nightmare. Long story short, they started on Monday, were supposed to be done mid-day Wednesday and were still here yesterday. Oh--and they are coming back tomorrow because they are STILL NOT DONE. Our entire downstairs is torn apart so we really can't have Jack down there at all. So, we spent the weekend shopping for some new decorative things since we went in a whole new direction with the colors. Jack was a good boy during all of the shopping and, as a result, he got a play kitchen today on one of our errands. :-)

Speaking of redecorating, if you are anything like me and love looking at model homes and peeking at how other people decorate their homes, check out

Kelly's Korner

. She is hosting a fun, weekly "home tour" and literally has hundreds of links to pictures of other people's homes. This week was living rooms and last week was kitchens. Definitely satisfies the "peeping tom" in me. ;-)

On a final note, as an added Mother's Day bonus, I got to peek at our baby this morning. Not for the reasons I would have liked, but got a look nonetheless. I had made it this far (12 weeks) none of the problems we had in the first trimester with Jack that probably resulted in his premature birth. Unfortunately, last night, I started having the same problems and so we took a trip to the doctor this morning. They did an ultrasound to check on the baby. First, I should mention that this began as the world's worst ultrasound. Seriously. The woman brought me in without saying a whole lot. For 20 minutes, she was scanning me without saying one word. NOT.ONE.WORD. Didn't show me the screen, didn't say a word. As you can imagine, I was convinced in my head that things must be terribly wrong for her to just be scanning away without saying anything to me. I could tell she was diligently taking measurements and she was very serious. Finally, she turns the screen toward me and turns into a totally different person. She very excitedly shows me fingers, toes, the head, the brain, the face, arms, legs...well, you get the picture. She tells me that the baby is VERY active, which was making it hard for her to take measurements, which is why it took so long. The baby is fine but, unfortunately, we are seeing the same issues in my uterus that we had the last time around. *Sigh* We were hoping this wouldn't be the case this time around but it is what it is. The baby is hanging in there and we will just hope and pray things continue to go as well as they have been. It's a good reminder of who is really in control and I'm trusting Him.

Ultrasound Pictures!

*Update* Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, I need to figure out how to edit the picture.

We had an ultrasound this morning for the nuchal screen (a screening for trisomy disorders). Based on the ultrasound results, everything looks great. We will find out on the blood work in about a week. At our nuchal screen with Jack (at 12 weeks), we were lucky enough to find out that he was a boy so we had our fingers crossed they would be able to tell us the gender of this baby too!

Well...we saw a growing little baby, little hands and feet and lots of movement. According to the ultrasound tech, who claims she is pretty good at telling gender at this point, the baby looks "more female than male." It's still pretty early though and I feel like it's a boy (but, seriously, my feelings on pregnancy have never panned out to anything real), so we'll see...

Well, without further ado...introducing our newest member of the family...

Of Serendipity and Stethescopes

Jack and I just got back from our week in San Diego. The first half of the week was HOT! I was completely unprepared for 90 degree plus weather--I had to use it as an opportunity to buy Jack some warm weather clothes. :-)

It was a week full of doctor's appointments, beginning with an ultrasound where I got to see our growing little baby waving it's bitty little arms around. That was reassuring and heart-warming. I am, however, ready to start feeling better. But, I am not complaining (well, too much!) as I am keenly aware how lucky I am to be carrying this baby!

Jack had his 1-year adjusted development assessment. He is 14 months actual now and we were eager for the appointment in hopes that he would be discharged from the high-risk infant clinic and further evaluations. The good news is that he tested at 12 mos for gross and fine motor skills and cognitive development. This is in line with his adjusted age. The disappointing news is that he tested at 9 mos for expressive language (talking) and 6 mos (!) for receptive language (understanding words). The delay was not altogether surprising to us as we knew he wasn't demonstrating an understanding of almost any words or simple commands (e.g., "where's the ball?"). But...I wasn't altogether prepared to hear 6 mos. The long and short of it is that this qualifies Jack for Early Intervention services, including speech therapy. Since we did the assessment in California, they are coordinating services for us in Oregon.

On our flight back from San Diego, we were in an aisle seat and sitting across from a woman who was entertaining Jack by playing nursery games with him. He was quite taken with her, flirting and smiling and giggling. She helped keep his attention and spirits up--and fussing to a minimum. Towards the end of the flight, I asked her what she did for a living and it turns out that she is the director of the early intervention program in our town that Jack has been referred to! It was quite serendipitous and, after we got off the plane, she introduced me to the woman who will be his teacher (they were traveling to a conference together).

On a funny note, yesterday, I went to pick Jack up from daycare. He is now walking nearly 100% of the time. Well, he came to the door with a stethescope around his neck, the same way a doctor wears it (slung around the back of his neck). I laughed and the teacher told me that he had been wearing it all day and knows how to use it appropriately. She said that after he "checks" out his "patients" (stuffed animals), he slings it back over his neck and has worn it like that all day. She was puzzled as to how he would know how to wear it like that since none of the older kids do. In my estimation, he has either spent too much time at doctors' offices or he is striving to follow in his Bampa's footsteps (given his affinity for my father, I am putting my money on the latter...). :-)

We're Growing!

I've been waiting to post our family news for a couple of weeks now but since we've had recent encouraging appointments, we're going public.

We're pregnant with baby #2! Jack will soon be a big brother! Given the amount of complications we had with Jack, we're cautiously optimistic for the outcome of this pregnancy. So far, we've had a pretty good start to things...and one of the biggest differences is the peace I have about the current situation. I have a peace that whatever is coming our way is meant to be and we will weather any storms that may come. (I am a little overwhelmed by the thought of TWO babies under the age of two!) Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we make it through the rest of the first trimester and beyond.

In other news, I am distributing Stellan's bracelets again. Visit MckMama's blog to buy yours in support of Stellan! He is having his ablation surgery tomorrow.

Today I...

I am taking the invitation to be tagged from this blog I read.

Today I...


Ate: 1 plain bagel and cream cheese, 2 peanut butter cups, and a bowl of noodles.


Felt: Content


Listened: to Nicol Sponberg's Resurrection. I love this song--and very fitting for Good Friday.


Watched: Nothing yet!


Loved: My sister's recent blog post. My niece cracks me up--I love her spelling and pictures. I equally loved the video my childhood friend Brigid posted on Facebook. Her husband is a Navy SEAL in Iraq right now, she works for the Padres and her little 3 yo son got to yell "Play Ball" to start a recent Pad's game after a video message from his daddy in Iraq.


Hoped: that my husband would come home early tonight and handle dinner and bathtime. He did!


Wished: that I could see the house my best friend just bought in Texas. To anyone from Texas reading this...I've VERY RELUCTANTLY handed my best friend over to your state. But, I'm glad she got her first house. :-)


Enjoyed: Listening to my son try to say "tickle, tickle, tickle" in his carseat today.


Wondered: When my son will start talking!!!


Drank: Orange Juice


Wanted: to have the time to get to Children's Place to get Jack's Easter outfit. Tomorrow, I guess...


Looked: Stellan's bracelets...still looking...


Tag! You're it.
Leave me a message if you take the tag.

On a closing note--after almost 4 weeks in the PICU, baby Stellan's heart has finally responded to a medicine regimen. He's moving on down to the step-down unit. Did I not say that Easter is a time for miracles????

Slow Living

My whole life (or at least since I read Little House on the Prairie), I've had dreams of a front porch with rockers. Well, this weekend, my dream came true! Our new house has a front porch and one of the things I love the most about the neighborhood we bought in is that everyone is always in their front yards. Kids run around together through the cul-de-sac and the parents hang out in the front yards. This weekend, we went to the new Lowe's in our area and used the coupons they sent us to buy two porch rockers and a little table. The weather this weekend (71 degrees!!!) further added to my visions of enjoying coffee on my front porch while rocking. We also FINALLY have a spot to hang up the beautiful windchime we received from Jared's sister and husband as a wedding present. It plays Amazing Grace (I had no idea windchimes could actually play a song!). It will hang on the porch, as well. They had a little child's rocker but it only came in white and we bought black rockers. Maybe when Jack gets a bit older, we;ll try to find a matching one for him (he did have a great time rocking on it in the store!).