Halloween and other news!

Wow, November already! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I started a post a week ago and I must have been in a bad mood or something because I was annoyed reading it back to myself. So here we go again.

Jacob was a Lion for Halloween and wore his costume for the most part. We didn't do anything last night, but on Friday we met Lisa and Noah downtown for the crazy-busy trick or treating they have down there. It worked out perfectly and the weather was actually pleasant! The boys were both pretty overwhelmed and just kind of stared at everything, but neither one of them were spooked by the scary costumes, so I would say it was a success. Afterwards we enjoyed some pizza together and watched Noah take his FIRST STEPS!!! There are few things more exciting than watching a baby learn to walk! And boy has he taken off, I saw him today and he is doing so great. You can tell that he is ready to run and catch up to Jacob, now if only those legs would cooperate...

Ever since I went part time I've been looking into things to do with Jacob that would provide him with more social interaction (and myself since we still don't know too many people up here). I've even resorted to letting him play at the kids area in the mall... something I said I would NEVER do before I had kids :) It's been a challenge finding programs that are available on the two days I am home and that aren't geared towards kids with special needs, but luckily, thanks to a lady I ran into at the mall who owns a restaurant that we frequent, I learned of kindergym. Kindergym is exactly what I was looking for... it's an hour each Thursday and for 45minutes the kids have free play and then the last 15minutes is kind of organized songs and such. We've gone twice so far and its been fun! I think I should have exposed Jacob to this type of environment MUCH sooner though, because he hates the organized 15minutes where you have to sit down. He is the ONLY kid that doesn't cooperate. Even the kids that aren't 'active' participants, will just sit quietly on their parents laps... NOT Jacob. He insists on running around, trying to escape and playing with the toys. I am sweating and can't catch my breath by the time I leave this place because I'm the only mom who is tackling their son and wrestling with him to stay put, GEESH! I keep hoping that he is just going to get used to it, but unfortunately there are only two classes left and we will miss next weeks because I have my BIG ULTRASOUND and then the classes don't start up again until spring :(. Oh well... maybe I'll find something closer.

Baby Update: We had a doctor appointment on Monday and all looks good. My fundal height (uterus) is measuring 19cm - it's supposed to correlate with the # of weeks pg you are, but as long as it's within 2cm you are good - I'm 18wks, so things are good :) Heartbeat was in the 145's, which I looked up Jacob's at this point and it was the same. Not sure if that means anything other than a healthy heartbeat! I haven't gained a pound, but I didn't gain any weight with Jacob at this point either... it was in about 2-4wks when all of a sudden... it caught up to me! Everything else looks good. She did say that she would prefer we not fly in February, so we are trying to figure out if we are going to visit Tom, Natalie and Owen in January or wait until a year from now... the only bad thing about that is we will have to pay for Jacobs seat since he will be over the age of 2, BOOO. We'll see.... In other baby news, the ultrasound is only ONE week away, so put your guess in now at the link to your left! Also, I have FINALLY began to feel undeniable movement and I love it. Crazy thing is, as sick as I have felt, feeling the baby makes me finally really feel pregnant! I'll start posting belly pics soon, but I don't have a cute belly yet. In certain clothes I look huge, but most of the time, I just feel fat :(

In other news... Mom just got back from visiting the new parents and the cutest baby ever, Owen. Poor Natalie has had a very difficult recovery and has been fighting a serious infection in her uterus which has landed them in the ER at least once :( Natalie has been receiving very strong antibiotic injections and mom thinks she is finally on the road to recovery, so send some prayers their way that this ordeal can be over.

Things have been a bit stressful here. Last Wednesday, Aaron was notified that this hatchery (and one other one) would be closing November 1st. There were so many possibilities of what this meant for us, it was too much to even try to figure out, so we did our best to ride it out and luckily, things have taken a bit of a turn. This Wednesday, it appears as though the leg*slatures have prohibited any hatcheries closing (ever), so that is one relief. There will be several cuts in the months to come however, especially if a license fee increase doesn't happen (which they have until Jan. 15th to pass). There hasn't been an increase in 11years, but unfortunately there is a strong opposition to it. We don't *think* it will effect Aaron, but it may for some of his coworkers, but we could still use some prayers! All of this information has been in the papers, if I did a bad job explaining this, feel free to check it out there! Anyways, bottom line is that we can breathe a sigh of relief for awhile.

Guess that is it! I'll be writing next Thursday for sure with some big news (hopefully), if not before then.

~Danielle