1st appt

We had our first official ob appointment yesterday that lasted a mere 2 hours. Most of which I was just waiting. Aaron is like "that's it, we are switching doctors!", I'm like "not a chance...". I love my ob, I can handle a little waiting :) I am thankful though that I am no longer working and using precious personal/vacation time to be sitting in a waiting room! Originally, I had arranged for Aaron's mom to watch the boys during the appointment so that Aaron could join me, but she called us the day of to let us know she scheduled an appointment and would only be available until 11:45. I should have just told her to disregard because I'm familiar with the doctor and knew we wouldn't even be called back until about that time, but I wasn't thinking since I was trying to get ready and all. Then she came a little late, so Aaron sat with me in the waiting room for about 30 mins... nice! Oh well, it helped the time go by a little faster anyway. So everything looks good... blood pressure was 100/60. She had a little trouble finding the heart tones, but I wasn't too worried since I had listened to them the night before. (I wanted to be like "uh, to the left a bit", but didn't want to show her up or anything!). Once she found them though they were a strong 170 bpm. We did some blood work, urine and an internal exam (the last for several weeks). Oh and our official due date is Tuesday, January 5th. Our next ob appointment will be July 14th and hopefully we will schedule our big u/s then! We also have our sequential screen next Thursday in Grand Rapids which involves some blood work and an ultrasound measuring the fluid filled space at the back of the baby's neck to check for birth. My mom will be available to watch the boys during that time so that Aaron will be able to attend with me - yeah! So other baby related things...
I'm currently 11w1d.
Weight gain: I'm up 2lbs. This is troubling because in the past I've lost weight in the first trimester and then really put it on at about 20wks. Yikes! I think it's because I haven't been throwing up this time around...
How I'm feeling: Tired. Really tired. A little nauseated at times, but haven't thrown up yet. Very particular about food.
Cravings: All over the place. At 6wks it was Outback Quesadilla's. At 8wks it was taco salads. Now, I don't even want people around me to eat quesadilla's or taco salads. Yuck! This weekend it was panini's and giant chewy sweet tarts. The sweet tarts are making my tongue hurt.
What else? Clothing is a nightmare right now. None of my regular pants fit and maternity pants make me look really pg. Which is fine if you are 14wks, but I just feel silly looking so pg at 11wks. I'm completely prepared to lie if strangers ask me when I'm due. Thankfully it hasn't happened yet.

And in non-baby related news...
We finally are the proud owners of phones with a full qwerty keyboard!! I told Debby today (via text, of course) that talking to real people is soooo yesterday. I really wanted a kick ass blackberry with email and internet, but I'm just not that busy of a person to justify the expense (of the service, the phone itself is cheap right now). So we settled for our regular package and added texting, keeping our bill under $80 which I think is good. Jacob was hilarious in the store... he took me over to the window and said "look mom, a beautiful day!". He has been saying the funniest stuff lately, it's cracking me up. I need to keep paper handy everywhere I go because I often forget. One of them I can't forget because he tells me all the time is "Good job driving, mommy!" whenever we arrived to a destination. Not sure where he gets that from, it's not like Aaron and I compliment each other when we drive?!

So not much else is new... Aaron works this weekend. We will be watching the in-laws dog, which I'm not thrilled about. The dog slobbers a lot and is a major shadow, so I'm constantly tripping over her. Not to mention she ripped up our sheets last time she was here. And I'm bitter because of the fact that his parents wouldn't watch our dog two weeks ago for ONE night because they had company (Pete and his girlfriend). Aaron's brother (Pete) was going to watch her because he will be staying at their house while they are gone but decided against it "just because he didn't want to". He's 33, by the way, not 16, and he actually likes dogs. It's responsibility that he doesn't care for... LUCKY ME!!!!

Leland Wine and Food Festival Pics...

After wine fest we took a trip out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Here are Aaron and Peggy (foolishly) contemplating going down the dunes 450 feet to the water.

Aaron helping Peggy out with some yoga moves:

Peggy doing yoga:
Peggy
Kim and Peggy:
Me, Aaron and Christine:
Beautiful sun set over Lake Michigan:
Abbie (Kyra's cousin), Kyra and Dennis at Ricks after wine fest:
Aaron, Kim and Peg at Wine Fest:
Kim and I at Wine Fest:

Photos from Sherry & Martin's visit...

Dinner at the Cove:



Sherry's trying a chubby mary:

Bruce stretching out Mart's fire suit for him:

Lunch in Omena:

The boys LOVE Sherry:
Aaron trying to rest after a full day of fishing. It's blurry, but I love how excited Brody is in this pic:

Pics from Camping a few weeks ago

Jacob looking cute:

Brody climbs into EVERYTHING:

Lansing visit!

Paige, Kyra, Leah & Jacob eating dinner:
Jacob, Kyra and Paige looking cute:
Jeni, Charissa & I:
The dads blowing bubbles with the kiddos:
Brody sat at the adult table:
Zoo pictures - Brody riding a pony:
Kyra:
Jacob (and Kyra in the back):
Leah looking cute:
Jacob the lion:











Last weekend we went down to Lansing to visit Charissa, Chris & family! Saturday the Shadducks grilled for us and Jeni, Jake and their two adorable girls came over. It was SO NICE to see everyone again, it has been forever since we have all hung out (maybe Jeni's wedding?). The kids played great together although Jacob is getting all these little girls confused. He kept calling them by Noelle's girls names (Anni & Libby) and then got Kyra and Leah confused - poor guy! That evening we stayed at the comfort inn in okemos that we reserved through priceline and I was a little concerned about how nice it was going to be, but we were pleasantly surprised! The next day we headed to the Potter Park Zoo with Charissa and family and wore the kids out before we headed home. On our way out of town we stopped for a Jersey Giant Sub - YUM! And the kids were fast asleep by the time we got back on the highway. We then drove up to my parents house to pick up Roxy.

After we got Roxy and visited with my parents and Aunt Sharon (who was visiting for a couple days) we picked up a few essentials from the grocery store and got dinner in town. After dinner, we did Jacob's FAVORITE activity: watched planes at the airport, looking for one plane in particular, Sherry & Martin's. Once they landed we were able to drive right out on the tarmack to see them and let Jacob check out the plane. Jacob was hilarious and not comfortable on the plane at all - he couldn't wait to get off, such a surprise! On our way home though he talked about the plane the whole time saying that it was "super fast!" and "super big!", so cute!

The next two nights we stayed overnight at my parents so that we could visit with Sherry & Mart easier. The boys went fishing for small mouth bass every day and the girls (and little boys) went shopping and to lunch every day! Worked out perfectly ;) Monday night my parents watched the boys for us so that we could go out on a little date with Mart & Sherry and we went to Apache Trout Grill. It was delicious and really nice to be away from the kids for awhile - I can't remember the last time we went on a date! Tuesday night mom made a delicious dinner and we all watched the Wings game. Then on Wednesday Aaron's parents watched the boys so that we could have another adults-only meal (*gasp*) with mom, Bruce, Sherry, Mart and Tuna (their friend/employee). This time we went out to the Cove in Leland and it was pretty good, but I liked Apache Trout better (Aaron liked the Cove better). We said our goodbye's to Sherry, Martin and Tuna and made our way back to the in laws to pick up the kids who punished us dearly for our absence. Brody threw up about 3 times on the way home and Jacob once. Lovely. Especially when you are pregnant and feel sick all the time anyway. We arrived home about 11:30 p.m. and I bathed the boys and put them to bed while Aaron cleaned up the car seats, car and the poor dog. We didn't end up getting to bed until about 1am and Aaron had to work today, so I'm sure he'll be tired tonight. Thankfully, the boys have not gotten sick since then and seem to be acting normal now. I have NO IDEA what happened, poor kids :(

Tonight we have dinner with the in laws for my MIL's birthday and then on Saturday Kim, Peggy and Christine will be coming up and staying the night for the Leland Wine Fest! That will be the first night that Brody stays overnight with Grandma and Grandpa alone, let's hope he does well!

Interesting day...

Today I met Danielle, Cameron and Maddy at the Children's Museum and afterwards we went for lunch at the mall. After lunch, Danielle and crew took off and the boys and I walked around a bit and headed to the mall playground where I became "that mom". First off, a little girl was really drawn to Brody - which is totally normal. Seems like little girls ages 3-5 LOVE babies, even if they are nearly their size. So Brody is playing about, minding his own business, when this particular little girl comes over and takes over the toy that Brody was trying to climb on. Not because she wanted to play with the toy, just because she wanted to be right in FRONT of Brody. So Brody did exactly what comes natural to him when someone steals his toy - went all vampire style at her closest appendage. This is a fairly common occurrence at home. Jacob always teases Brody or takes his toys and Brody fights back the best way he knows how. Unfortunately, this little girl must not be used to little kids biting her because she didn't even attempt to move or pull her arm away. I saw the whole thing happen and reacted as fast as I could, which was not fast enough. Brody left a nice circle of teeth marks on the girls arm. Thankfully, he did not break the skin and she did not cry. So I know the RIGHT thing to do would be to inform the child's mother (she did not witness the event). But, having overheard this child's mother who was talking on the phone with someone about how "he won't go to counseling" and "he spit on the baby last night", I chickened out and decided I did not want her to take out her aggression from her phone call out on me. Instead I prayed that the teeth marks would vanish quickly! The little girl eventually told her mother who completely shrugged it off and just told her to put the antibacterial soap on it - whew!! So then a few minutes later, I begin talking with another mother and I look over to find Brody grabbing some kid in the face! I ran over and removed the toddlers nose and cheek from Brody's hands and apologized to the father (who was also trying to break his kids face free from Brody) and when I look down at Brody I noticed a lovely snotty nose. It was at that moment I realized I was "that mom" with "that kid" at the playground today - Oy!

Thankfully, or sadly, I was not the worst mom of the day there though. The same little girl who Brody bit came up to me and told me she had to go potty. I told her to go tell her mommy and she did, holding herself and doing the potty dance the whole time. Her moms reply? "hold on". Keep in mind this little girl is like 4 and the bathrooms are pretty far away from the playground (no idea whose genius idea that was...). So the little girl waited about 10 minutes before her mom got up to take her (and her 2 other kids) to the bathroom and sadly it was not quick enough, she wet her pants. The mom realizes she had went potty and says (loud enough for all to hear) "Are you f-ing kidding me? Get your f-ing shoes on now!" Nice, eh? The poor little girl looked so embarrassed and sad - it broke my heart. Oh and of course, the mom was STILL on the phone the entire time.

So then the boys and I head back to the cafe to go back to our car and what do we see? Two ladies who had just finished lunch and one of them was clipping her fingernails over the floor. Is it just me or is that disgusting? People were EATING around her!!! What is WRONG with people?!?!

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ANYWAYS... about our weekend... it was pretty good for the most part. Friday night we decided to go camping nearby at the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Camping was A LOT easier last year when Brody was little. This year it is a pain! Brody got injuries galore from trying to climb on things and falling, or just falling in general since he isn't very good at walking yet. It was exhausting keeping after him and making sure he didn't ingest rocks, climb in the camp fire, etc. Bed time was terrible too as the temp outside was 38 degrees and while our pop-up has a heater, it goes on and off so throughout the night I was either roasting hot or freezing. Then to top it off, Aaron got sick in the night and through the morning and the whole pop-up moves when someone rushes out the front door so that was a lot of fun too. Aaron is convinced it was something he ate, but I think he had a case of wine flu or should I say beer flu.

Saturday was better. We packed up and headed home where Aaron slept off his 'illness' the rest of the day and I took the boys out to lunch with Grandma for her birthday and then to do a little birthday and grocery shopping. Then it was back home to make a couple salads to take to the Rogers' for our family dinner. Aaron recovered enough to join us at the Rogers' and we all had a great time. It was fun to relax with friends for the night.

Sunday was my 31st birthday and we become members of our Church, along with about 8 other couples. It was a nice service and I was glad so many other people were joining at the same time - it sure took the pressure off us! Jacob and Brody BOTH did great at nursery school! It was cute, Brody was flirting with the teachers big time as we were walking in :) After Church we went to my parents for dinner and Mark and Aaron worked on a little landscaping project for mom. It was a good day and I gotta say I got some NICE presents this year including a diamond bracelet, a Zappos gift certificate and cash!!! Woohoo!

This coming weekend we are going down to Chris and Charissa's on Saturday where we will have a little BBQ and spend the night - can't wait!

So THAT'S why I've been so tired...

We're expecting a baby! And despite the title, we have known for awhile... we are currently 9w2d along making this baby due sometime around January 4-6th (not sure what day my ob will pick, it will be based on her 'very scientific' wheel). This u/s was taken about two weeks ago when we got to see the tiny flicker of the baby's heart. Baby was measuring great, just about 2 days behind (but nothing of concern). I've been feeling exhausted and nauseous, which they say is a good sign. My nausea tends to be worse in the evenings (so much for 'morning' sickness) and when I don't eat - which is rough because nothing usually sounds good to eat. Thankfully though, I haven't actually gotten sick yet.

I purchased a doppler off ebay, since I'm neurotic like that, and while I was slightly skeptical (we normally rent them for a lot more money), we found the heartbeat right away today - so reassuring.

So the question we often get, "Was it planned?" Not exactly, but we had decided we wanted another baby so it's just a little sooner than we thought.