Doctor visit

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 28 week visit.

This visit also included an ultrasound and a glucose test.

I am assuming my glucose test was okay because I haven’t heard back from the doctor.  That’s good!

The ultrasound was to re-check my placenta.  At the first ultrasound I had (at 20 weeks) my placenta was too low and they were rechecking to make sure it had migrated up to where it was supposed to be.

Good news, it had migrated!  Way to go placenta!

It was a great ultrasound because I really got to see Rives!  He was precious.  The first thing I saw when she put the wand on my stomach was him yawning.  I guess he is tired.  It’s hard work growing!  I know it tires me out-ha!

And, good news, it is still “Rives”!  I was a little worried that “he” might turn out to be a “she” because I really couldn’t see the boy parts last time.  No worries this time!  I was able to see the parts very clearly and I am now confident that we are having a baby boy!

It was a really good visit and I am thankful for such a great report and that I was able to see my healthy baby.

My doctor also discussed scheduling a c-section date!  He will definitely be joining our family by mid May!

And while I am so happy about the good doctor visit I had, my heart is heavy for another family.

Sean and Susan Wicks are friends of ours.  Sean was actually in our wedding (and was Matthew’s roommate for a year or so) and Susan and I were in the same social club (sorority for you state school people) in college.  We have not seen them in several years but still consider them friends.

Sean and Susan had a baby boy 9 months ago, Phineas.  He is absolutely precious!  See…

Phin was diagnosed, very recently, with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).  He began his first round of chemo yesterday.  I ask that you pray for this family!  They can use all the encouragement and prayers possible!  Please visit their website, http://www.carepages.com/carepages/Phinfamily, and offer them some encouragement!  Our God is powerful and can destroy this disease!

The big surprise…

Back in August, Matthew and I decided that we wanted to go to Disney World.  We had purchased a week from a timeshare company and it was set to expire this summer.  We had several options of where we could “cash” our week in- Branson, Dallas, Las Vegas, Orlando, and several other choices.

We thought, we could take a vacay all by ourselves or we could take a family vacation.  We opted for the family version.

(And in hindsight, I might should have chosen couple vacation since it doesn’t look like Matthew and I are going to be able to get away by ourselves before this baby is born-sigh.  But, we didn’t know I was pregnant when we planned our trip to Disney…)

Well, we booked the room (already paid for!) and started booking our character meals.  We wanted to pay for as much ahead of time as possible…and thanks goodness that was our strategy, we didn’t realize we would have a baby to pay for in our very near future.

BUT, we did not want to tell the girls!  I couldn’t handle the constant, “When are we going to go to Disney World?  When are we going to see the princesses?  When do we eat our lunch with Mickey and the gang?”  I needed to limit the questions to a few weeks instead of a few months.

So, we decided to tell the girls about the big trip on Nora’s birthday, making sure that they both knew that it was for BOTH of them.

Our big thing was “how are we going to tell the girls”?  The baby has pretty much sapped all creativity so coming up with a “plan” proved more difficult that originally thought.

I decided on a “clue box” theme…kind of lame and the girls didn’t really get it, but it’s how we did it and now they know.

Here are some pictures and a video of the reveal:

Opening the first clue box-it had Minnie Mouse socks and bows in it:

Opening clue box number two-Minnie Mouse outfits (that actually hurt me to buy…I’m not a huge buyer of themed outfits, but, hey, they were for a good cause.)

Running into the living room to discover the last clue…the countdown calendar!

Nora was pretty funny, every time we asked her a question, she would raise her hand to answer…they do a great job at her school-ha!

So excited!

A few funny things about the video:

-I am not really good at giving clues…I blame it on the baby

-Nora’s favorite fairy-hahahahahaha!

-When I tell them to look at their shirts, the look at the shirts on their body

-Nora constantly raising her hand

-Asking for more clues once they are told the surprise

We are so excited about our trip!  I am hoping that I don’t waddle all over the happiest place on Earth, because honestly, that is a very real possibility.  Mama is not getting any smaller!

I cannot wait to see their little faces when we dine with Cinderella and all the other royalty or when we see Mickey for the first time.  Oh, and you might be wondering why Special Agent Oso made the first clue box…Nora LOVES that show and found out that he is at Disney World and will often mention him first when talking about who is a DW.  Crazy!

Any and all advice about Disney World is welcomed!  We are not staying at a resort (remember , time share week) but are staying a mile away from the parks.  The place we are staying at has a shuttle.  We are not getting a meal plan because we are not staying at a Disney resort (it’s a racket) so we will be eating breakfast at our place (it has a full kitchen), taking another meal with us to the parks and eating one of our meals with the characters.

We will be there for four days and have a park hopper pass.

There you go, all the info…now your turn to help!

The “BIG” party

Nora has been begging to have her party at Jump Zone (a local bounce place) since she turned four last year. We decided, okay, sounds great AND easy!

My mom and sister came into town on the day before the big party. They got to go with me to pick up the girls from school…

It was a beautiful day outside, so when we got home my mom and and the girls went outside to play while dinner was being made

For Nora’s cake, for her party, she was very specific about what she wanted…cupcakes, blue icing for the boys and pink icing for the girls. Sounded like a baby shower to me, but I aim to please!

Her candle! Big FIVE!

Helping me with her cupcakes

Aunt Marty and Elyn join in on the fun!

After the cupcakes were made the guests (actually GUEST) that Nora and Elyn had been waiting to arrive finally got to our house…their new cousin, ESTHER!

They were so excited that they could not keep their hands off of her car seat!

Elyn and two-week old Esther…Elyn would have sat like that all night long if she could have!

Now, Nora’s turn

Then, Uncle Matthew…looks like he still has the touch!

Before bedtime, we played a rousing game of UNO.

Esther started getting hungry at one point and I held her up to my face. She latched onto my nose. I laughed so hard! And my nose was so wet-ha! My girls used to do the exact same thing!

The next day was party day! I tell you what, having someone else “throw” the party for you is AWESOME! I really had to do nothing, other than bring the baby shower cupcakes…it was great. Although, Matthew told me on the way home from the party that he likes “homemade” parties better-sigh.

I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking…unless of course I think it needs some explanation…

Most of the kids that were at her party…

After all the playing, we headed into one of the party rooms for pizza, something to drink, cupcakes and presents!

Present time!

I love how all the kids are jammed up around Nora. And yes, I am 15 months pregnant in case you were wondering.

The only family picture…too bad it’s not framable.

After the party, we all came home and the kids (and some adults) got a nap. When Nora woke up, she wanted to sit as close to Esther as possible. Snuggled up to Gram was a close as she was going to get.

I got to snuggle up with my little buddy.

Nora had another party to go to that afternoon, for her friend, Annabelle.

Marty came with us to the party as the official photographer.

After some cake and present opening, the party moved across the street to Build A Bear. I have never been to a party there before and thought it was pretty cute. The A/C was broken in the building so I had to go outside at one point because I thought I was going to pass out. Other than that, good times!

When we got home from the party, everyone was outside enjoying the gorgeous day…

Brian and Esther

Elyn showing the camera her gummy fish…her treat while we were at Build A Bear. (She insisted on wearing her “3” shirt since Nora was wearing her “5” shirt. So cute!)

Noah showing the camera his treat also.

Julia and Noah and the talking grannies in the background-ha!

Fun Noah! Wheeeeee! And he would not let go of his gummy bear in his hand (or was it gummy fish? Either way, by the time he ate it, it was filthy!)

Perfect baby Esther. Seriously, she is fantastic! Granted she is only two weeks old but I rarely heard a peep out of her. She slept well (or I was told she did) and the noise in our house did not ever seem to bother her. I hope Rives is as good as she is!

Fun with Aunt Marty…

Matthew lit a fire in the fire pit after dinner that night and we all went out to the deck to roast the largest marshmallows I have ever seen!

Yummy!

That’s my “sticky” face.

It was a pretty busy day and I had been on my feet A LOT, which caused for quite a bit of swelling to occur (awesome.). Marty gave me a pedicure! Thank you so much!

“You see, what I think is…” Do I always talk like that? Geez.

It was a great birthday party and a great day! We are so thankful that our family and friends were able to celebrate Nora with us….thank you, everyone!