Halloween:
Ira was "Tigger" for Halloween. He trick-or-treated his little heart out and got enough candy to feed the children of several small countries. Needless to say, we are still eating Halloween candy a piece at a time (and probably will be until March when the baby comes)
Baby:
We had a great OB appointment last Monday. Everything appears to be going well. This baby is certainly a mover, which is oh so reassuring to me! I go in on Monday for bloodwork, glucose screening, and a full sonogram. We are excited to peek in at baby again. In 2 weeks, we'll begin having sonos (Biophysical Profiles) every week to make sure that everything with the placenta/baby is as it should be. With being on heparin (a blood thinner I'm on b/c of a clotting disorder in case you forgot) there is always the concern of blood clots especially in the placenta, which would deprive the baby of the nutrients he/she needs to keep growing. So, each week starting at 28 weeks, we'll have a sonogram to check that baby is still thriving. If at any point one of the sonos shows that the baby is not thriving, then we will have to deliver him/her then. I am staying positive though, and plan on carrying this baby a full 40 weeks, God-willing! I have definitely been feeling Braxton Hicks contractions lately, but apparently that's very common with your second to feel them earlier and more frequently. Here's a recent pic of me (taken around 24 weeks.)
Photoshop:I got Photoshop Elements for Christmas last year and had never been able to figure out how to use it really. I thought it was something that if I just got on there and dinked around with it enough, I would start figuring out how to do things. I was wrong - Photoshop is not an incredibly intuitive program (if you ask me) but recently, I found a really helpful website with great tutorials for photoshop and photoshop elements. So, I've been polishing up some of the amateur photos that I've taken. It has become very fun (and kind of addicting... maybe that's why I haven't had time to blog...) and I am certainly grateful for such a great Christmas present!
New Niece:
The day after Thankgiving, my baby sister gave birth to her first baby (I feel OLD!), a beautiful little girl, named Anna Marie. Andy and I got to go to the hospital to see her the day she was born and Ira got to go meet her once they got home from the hospital on Sunday. He really loves his new cousin. He also loves to hold her! It makes me SO excited for him to be a big brother here in a few months!
Other Random things that didn't fit in the above categories:
-I ordered a "Hotsling" to use with our new baby. I got to try it out last night with Anna Marie and WOW does it work nicely! It will be so nice to have for shopping trips, church, and just around the house so that I can have my hands free to play with Ira, etc.
-Ira is finally done with his round of shots (all four of them) to be vaccinated against the seasonal flu and H1N1. It was a decision we didn't take lightly, but in the end, felt it was the best for him and for our new baby to have him vaccinated. I only thought it was difficult to see your baby get shots (as in when they are tiny.) It is much more difficult to see your 3.5 year old who knows what is going on and can anticipate/worry about how much it is going to hurt. GLAD to be done with THAT!!
-I guess I didn't talk about Ira much in this post. He is doing well. He definitely has his days (as we all do) where he is kind of difficult to deal with (we had one such day on Tuesday - UGH!) but I think part of it is my patience is not near what it was before I got pregnant, and partly because he is 3, and that's just what you can expect when you have a 3 year old. So this Advent season, I am praying to be a better and more patient momma - what a perfect season to practice patience!
That's about it I guess! A blessed Advent to you and yours!
