More Estes Park Pictures

I got some of the pictures Aunt Kay took in Estes Park. She has a great camera that takes lovely pictures. Enjoy! I love the last one of Taeya.

Estes Park, CO

This past weekend, our little family had the opportunity to drive to Estes Park, CO to visit with Phil's Aunt Kay & Uncle David. Although it was a short trip as we only stayed one night but we had a lovely time visiting with Aunt Kay & Uncle David. One of the reasons they go to Estes Park is to see all the elk that come down from the mountains during the rutting season. It was a little early in the season but we still saw quite a few elk in the 24 hours we were in Estes Park. Here are our pictures from Monday morning. I'll post more from our drive into Rocky Mountain National Park later.

Pregnancy Update-32 weeks 2 days

Well, I am now 32 weeks 2 days along in my pregnancy. It's been going great and overall, I'm enjoying it. I definitely am starting to slow down and have less energy overall. I'm loving the baby movements and seeing my belly contort up and down as he twists around in his comfy cave. Only 7 more weeks from today (or less) and I'll have a baby in my arms!

I was feeling Baby move the other night and just thinking how I didn't want to forget how amazing it feels to have a life growing inside of me. This is most likely my last pregnancy (unless God has other plans) so I'm just trying to enjoy it and not wish it away as I go through the 3rd trimester.

In the past 2 weeks, I celebrated my 29th birthday. It's a little weird to think this will be my last year of my 20's. I've been so blessed in my 29 years and am thankful for all the Lord has taught me over the years through the trials as well as the triumphs. As my back has been hurting a lot the past few weeks, my husband blessed me with a pre-natal massage at a beautiful spa for my birthday. It was AMAZING. It didn't really help my back pain as they didn't massage deep enough for that but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

* Pics taken at 31 weeks 3 days.

29 Weeks Along

Technically, I'm not 7 months yet. I should be holding up 6 fingers but I forgot that until I uploaded the pics. I feel nearly as big as I was when I had Taeya. Still have a little room to breathe but only before I eat. Once I eat, I feel like someone has a belt tied around my upper belly.

I haven't been taking nearly as many belly shots as I did with Taeya so I thought I'd grab a couple in the mirror while I was thinking about it. That belly looks huge!

I go in for my next OB appointment on Wednesday. I'll be having a growth scan (ultrasound) done on baby boy. They want to make sure I don't have the same issues I had with Taeya. She grew on the small side from 1/2 way through the pregnancy to the end. I have a feeling this little boy is going to be a lot bigger than Taeya was when she was born. When they measured my belly at my last appt. 3 weeks ago, it was measuring 3 weeks ahead which it NEVER did with Taeya.

Please pray about Phil's job situation. He's in a four hour long interview right now!! It started Monday at 12 and should finish around 4. He has a face-to-face interview, 2 tests and some sort of role-playing scenario. We are praying that God will open the doors so Phil can start working soon!!!

We've been doing some fun things like camping, visiting family and moving Taeya to her old room so look for some pictures soon!

Baby Due Date Poll

At the request of our friend Annie, I created a second baby guessing poll for baby Camp # 2. I currently have a scheduled c-section for November 3, 2010 so there's little chance he'll come after that date. However, he can come early if I go into labor earlier than 11/3. We're pretty much 100% sure this baby is a boy but you can guess girl if you'd like. :) It'll dock you 400 points if you're wrong though.

I'd love for all of my blog readers to participate in the poll even if you don't regularly comment. It's fun for me to see who is viewing my blog. Please don't be shy! I know I have some readers who never comment on my blog and I want you to participate as well. I will mail a $5 Starbucks gift card to the highest winner based on the points that are earned as long as I am able to contact them when the time comes. (In other words, don't be anonymous or you won't receive the prize if you win).

The points are awarded using the following scale:
Point Penalties:(The lowest score wins):

Incorrect gender: 400 points
Date & Time: 5 points per hour
Weight: 5 points per ounce
Length: 10 points per inch

***The poll is located on the top of the right sidebar of my blog.***
May the best guesser win!

Less than 100 days!

Wahoo! I just noticed my ticker says I'm down to 98 days. It's actually more like 93 (or less) because of the scheduled c-section. It's getting closer. 13 weeks 2 days left until the c-section.

I found out today that I passed my glucose test last week. So glad I didn't have to do the 3 hr test. I have to do a 24 hour urine collection because I've been spilling protein in my urine for the past three visits. I think it's just because I need to drink more but we shall see. I feel great and my blood pressure has been great at each visit so I'm not too worried about pre-eclampsia.

At my visit on Wednesday, I was 25 weeks 2 days but was measuring 28 weeks so it seems that baby boy is growing well.

Still Pregnant

If I gained back a few readers when I started blogging about my pregnancy, I'm guessing they're all gone again. Sorry for the lapse of blog posts. I have time to blog but have been doing other things instead. I'm keeping busy with babysitting 2 days a week, teaching swim lessons, running my household and catching up on my digital scrap booking.

Scrapbooking
In the past couple of weeks, I finally uploaded all of my photos to Shutterfly from 2008 and 2009. I finished my 2008 scrap book online!! Yeah!!! It's about 85 pages long. If anyone is interested in seeing it, I can share it with you if you leave your email address or let me know that you want to see it. I feel a little funny just posting it to my blog since anyone can then see it. It was fun to work on as it was primarily about the first year of Taeya's life. So many sweet sweet memories. I've begun working on my 2009 scrapbook and am into April. I like to scrap book from January 1-December 31st. I try to create pages of all of the major events/activities throughout the year and include family favorites as well. It's very much a time-line of memories for me and it's so fun to go back through and remember all the fun we've had over the years.

Pregnancy
I'm currently 25 weeks 1 day pregnant and am feeling really good. I am able to take a nap most days which really helps. I haven't been puking at all lately which is WONDERFUL! Baby boy generally is pretty quiet but he'll wake up and start bopping around in there pretty good. I have my next OB appointment tomorrow morning. This past month I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my left arm. I had it in my right with Taeya. I wear a brace about 75% of the time and it definitely helps. Sometimes my hand is in a lot of pain and other times it doesn't bother me at all. Hopefully it won't last the rest of the pregnancy but if that's my only problem, I can't complain!

Family
Phil's mom, grandma, sister, brother and his parents dog came to visit us for a week in July. We had a great time just hanging out and relaxing. We played lots of games (I LOVE playing games with family!), went to the falls and fish hatchery near where we live and just had a great time.

US
We're still waiting to hear whether Phil has a job or not. He's applied for a local job which looks very promising and it's between him or one other individual. We were supposed to hear yesterday or today but they didn't call. We're praying that he's able to get this job so we can stay in our house and not have to move right now! Taeya is growing more and more each day. She is talking quite a bit. She loves to sing and can sing all the way through the ABC's (although I'm not really sure if she says them perfectly as she mumbles some of the letters). Her favorite song is "Itsy Bitsy" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider). She requests it every single time we get in the car and would listen to it on repeat if we let her! She is such a little helper and a joy to have around. She loves to help Mommy and Daddy and if we ask her to help with something, she is almost always readily willing to jump up and do whatever we ask of her. The most exciting thing to share is that she if FULLY potty-trained, even at night! She'll occasionally have an accident if we're out and about but even then she's consistently asking to go to the potty. She never has accidents at home anymore which is so wonderful.

I guess I haven't downloaded my camera recently (as in since July 4th or so). Here are some cute pictures I had of Taeya from June and early July.

Helping Mommy make cookies. She always loves to "nitch." She "nitches" flour by the handful while we bake!

The next few pics are from the day we found out we were having a boy. June 19th. We spent the day down in GJ hanging out and having fun! Here's Taeya at Red Robin.

At the pond, feeding the ducks.

Eating mommy's ice cream. I guess mine was better tasting than hers. She calls it icekeem which I love hearing her say.

Playing at the park! She and Daddy played chase all over the playground. Mommy joined in some fun but not the chase as it involved small tunnels that Mommy was NOT about to crawl through!

Our pastor's family just returned from a month long trip to China. Annie, one of Taeya's special girls purchased this beautiful Chinese dress for Taeya. I tried to get a good picture of her wearing it but Taeya wasn't very cooperative that Sunday. I'll have to try again soon.

Guess that's all for now. I'll try to take another belly shot soon. I'm DEFINITELY pregnant and showing at this point. Hopefully, it won't take over a month for me to post again.

It's a BOY!!!!

On July 16, 2010, Phil, Taeya and I headed down to a town about an hour from us for my level 2 ultrasound. My doctor was just being cautious when she ordered a level 2 ultrasound. I have a liver disease and am on medicine that very rarely can affect the baby. My previous ultrasounds looked good but she wanted the level 2 just to rule out any abnormalities. The ultrasound was done when our baby was 19 weeks 2 days along.

We had a GREAT ultrasound. The technician and doctor were both extremely kind. I had a big TV screen that I was able to watch the entire ultrasound on. The tech asked us if we wanted to find out the gender. We told her that we thought it was a boy based on our last ultrasound. However, the tech at our last ultrasound had first said that she thought we were having a girl and then changed her mind a few minutes later and said she was pretty sure it was a boy. The tech from yesterday looked and very quickly confirmed that we indeed are having a son. He was very cooperative during the entire ultrasound, and not just when she was looking at whether he was a boy or a girl.

He was laying on his back for the ultrasound and she was able to get all of the measurements she needed and took a ton of pictures of baby's heart. The technology we have today is amazing!! It is amazing to see the miracle of life that is growing within me every day. I loved watching his little four-chamber heart pumping the blood through his body.

When the doctor came in, he was very personable and friendly. He asked me some questions about myself and told me that he had another Master's College student in within the past few weeks. Interesting considering how small our school is. I wonder who it was. He did some of the ultrasound as well. He took a sideways view of the baby swallowing. He showed the fluid in the baby's mouth and then showed how it moved past his esophagus into his stomach. Baby did a number of really quick swallows that the doctor pointed out as well. He pointed out how amazing and advanced this is for such a tiny baby to be doing. He talked about how if the baby is swallowing how so many processes have to work together and be coordinated and it shows the brain development of the baby is where it needs to be. He didn't use the word miracle but that's basically what he was saying it was.

Before we left, the technician did more scanning and kept saying what a beautiful baby we had. She certainly seemed to be enjoying looking at our baby as much as we did. It made for a very lovely experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. (Much better than my first ultrasound I had this pregnancy!!) She said the baby was so cooperative which made her ultrasound look good. She also said she can't always tell 100% the gender of a baby but she was 100% certain we are having a boy. He definitely wasn't shy!! She also showed us some 4D ultrasounds where the baby was captured and she could move the image around. She printed off some 3D pictures of Baby's face from those views. We have a little cutie hiding in my belly!!! I can't wait to meet him.

Taeya is understanding more and more each day that there's a baby in mommy's belly. Even when they did the ultrasound, she recognized that the pictures on the screen were of the baby. She likes to kiss and pat my tummy and every now and then, she turns to me and says, "Baby in Mommy." It's precious. I need to take another belly picture. This past week I went from not looking pregnant to definitely looking (and feeling) pregnant!

It's a BOY!!! Can you find the evidence?

18 Weeks Pregnant

On Monday I was 18 weeks along in my pregnancy. I finally got around to taking some more pictures. Nearly 4 1/2 months along now.

Summer Projects

While Phil is still unemployed, we decided that this was a great time to get some of the house projects done that we've wanted to do since moving in last August.

*Re-do the flagstone patio. Take out the little rocks that get kicked up everywhere and lower the flagstone so the wooden beams show so we can build a railing eventually for safety.

*Plant a veggie and flower garden on the side of the house in the flower beds.

*Plant flowers and plants out front to make the front of the house look nice. As you can see, it's still a work in progress.

*Build a storage loft in the garage so we can park one of the cars in the garage and clean/organize the garage.

I am so proud of my husband and what a great job he did on the loft. I helped a little here and there when needed but he was the mastermind behind the job. Great job for your FIRST EVER construction job!!

Over the past 3 weeks or so, we were able to accomplish all of those projects. We still have a little more to plant in the front of the house but the other projects are done! Now for leveling, tilling, topsoiling and seeding the side-yard. I can't WAIT until we have a nice side-yard of grass for Taeya to play in. I'm also looking forward to not tracking in TONS of dirt every time we go out to water our garden.