It's A Boy!

Yesterday Jason took the day off and we headed out for a fun family day.  Ella did gymnastics (more on that later) then we went to the ultrasound.  (Which by the way I have HORRIBLE luck with sonogram techs.  I always get the worst, grumpiest, poopiest ones : / but life goes on).  It took FOREVER and she had to have be wait and then come back in for more because the doctor said she didn't get all the things she needed to. 




This is kind of a downward/onward look at his face with his arm and hand up by his head and the other large circle being part of his body.

 

I had these visions of Jason, Ella and I sitting in the sonogram room and the tech explaining things as she went and being good with Ella and letting her see some good pictures of the baby.  Ummm, nope.  Ella lasted a good while and then she and Daddy went out.  Thank goodness for playtables, books and the very cool playhouse at York Hospital and a very patient Daddy!   

I had this great idea to give the tech this card and have her mark what gender our baby was.  I'm glad because it wouldn't have been very emotional or momentous coming from her in that room and we probably wouldn't have all been there. 





This is whole body view and if you have any kind of experience with these things you can tell it's clearly a boy and he was not shy about letting us know!  Thanks for cooperating baby!

  

So she gave us the sealed card and afterward we headed to our fave spot, the Bagel Basket for lunch.  We got yummy eats and a few treats and let Ella open the card.  She LOVES cards.  And she got to tell us which box was checked...pink, or blue!  That whole part really was as sweet as I hoped. 

We were shocked! I was smiling from ear to ear and almost tearing up.  Jason was...well Jason was showing quite a bit of emotion for Jason :).  We weren't really hoping or thinking one way or another, but it's taking us a while to wrap our heads around raising (and buying new clothes and bedding and such) for a boy.  We are over the moon that we'll have one of each.  We feel so very blessed!

Daddy's Coming Home...Hoooray!!!

I'm not going to lie.  It's been a rough weekend.  Hubby's been away fishing Sat morning-Mon evening.  It's alway a little more challenging on my own, but this one's been a doosy!  And not real pretty.  Picture this:

To start with, I've been (rather unsuccessfully) fighting off some sickness for over a month now.  The immune system is weaker when preggo so I'm sure that's the deal.  And I'm just more tired this pregnancy, and have more aches and pains and issues than with Ella.  But to really top it off,  RIGHT before Jason left, Ella go sick.  She was more sick than I've seen her in over a year.  I could only control her temperature to 102-103 on CONSTANT medication.  Her eyes were bloodshot and droopy, she wasn't eating much, and she was crying a lot...just because her body hurt so much.  I was worried sick over it.  It was a virus that needed to run it's course...but that course was not pretty and it took a good 3 days...but now she's still kind of out of sorts.  Picture this and this: 

So my initial internal reaction is to scream, "DON'T GO!"... to beg and plead.  My head tells me...I can't do this alone...pregnant, tired, sick, with a sick child for three days. 

But on the other hand...this is a trip Jason has been planning for a long time...  to bond with other Godly men ...other Godly men that he rarely gets to see anymore because they all live so far apart.  This is a man that works so hard...SO HARD to support this family every day at work and at home...  this is a man that, because of our move south and our growing family, does not get to do the ice-fishing and outdoorsy things he loves as much as he used to...  if this trip got cancelled it would no doubt be postponed a whole nother year...  this is a man who deserves this time... this is a man who will be a better, more fulfilled, more satisfied man, recharged for his family when he comes home if he has this time.

So I decided to go against my initial reaction, what would be my typical reaction and suck it up.  And not JUST suck it up...but really send him off with my blessing.  (Because how much fun or freedom is your hubby going to experience on his time away if you send him off resentfully or begrudgingly?  really?) I recently read a post about 50 ways to love your husband and one of them was, "ENCOURAGE GUY TIME ENTHUSIASTICALLY".  It really struck me....do I do that?  Enthusiastically?  So I decided to do that.

Instead of asking him to stay...I asked him what groceries he needed and went and bought them.  Instead of sulking, I wrote him a little love note telling him how proud I am of him that he initiates and makes time to bond with other Godly men.  Instead of telling him how hard it was going to be without him, I etched out rough plans for the weekend so I would be less overwhelmed and let him know that.  It was against my nature.  It was hard.  But I have learned a lot! 

Now... am I pefect?  Heck no.  Did I hold in all my feelings and emotions and not let him know how things were going?  No...and maybe I could have a little bit more for his sake.  I did let him know how sick I felt and what a hard afternoon I had Sat.  I did tell him about the numerous tantrums Ella had Sunday, kicking off with one right in the middle of our church foyer with my hands so full I could not just swoop her up and carry her out kicking and screaming.  Picture this:

I didn't do it so he'd feel guilty, but because I'm a verbal processor and I needed a little empathy and boost of support... a little, "you did well...you've got this".  And you know what?  He gave that to me.  The normally HoRrIFic, two-second phone talker was kind... sweet... supportive... and patient.  It was good.  (As CCC staff hear so often...)  HARD...but Good. 

And am I counting the moments until he gets home this evening?  You bet your butt I am.  Will I most likely collapse on the couch and hand over all responsibility to him for the rest of the night?  After I greet him at the door with a kiss and "how was the fishing"...you bet your bottom dollar I will.   :)

So that was my weekend.  How was yours? ;)   

Half Way There!

Actually I'm more than half way there.  I'm 21 weeks today!  Time has flown since I started feeling human again! This pregnancy has still been harder than the first thus far, which I chalk up to being 4 years older, not as great of shape and chasing a 3 year old around all day.  But I'm doing well none the less. 
Here's my 20 week picture!!

I've been feeling the baby move since week 17 and just a few nights ago Jason felt the baby kick once.  That's always a nice milestone.  Us women feel and experience pregnancy and this baby from the get go.  This life is inside of us.  We feel the baby move around.  We're connected so quickly.  I think sometimes it's harder for the daddy's to grasp and feel connected in such a concrete way, but this makes it much more tangible for them. 

The countdown begins.  Less than 48 hours until we find out what we're having.  Let's just all pray the munchkin cooperates, because Ella did not.  I had to live in agony and suspense until week 30 when my midwife graciously did another ultrasound!

Real Love, True Love

I've got a hot date tonight...Good Lord it's been WAY too long since we went out! I'm not sure what's hotter...the fact that he's had it planned for weeks, that he got a sitter, that he is taking me to the fancy new restaurant (just check out the menu! My mouth is watering already!) that opened in town that I've been dying to try, or the fact that this same hot date is going to be ripping out the sink and toilet in our upstairs bath and tiling it starting tomorrow! Good stuff.

That bragging aside, this same hot date went away for three days ice fishing (I wanted him to, time apart doing our own things is important to us, but it's still hard when I'm pregnant AND sick), never called me, and barely said two words to me on the phone when I called him. (Did I mention communication is important to me?) Pregnant, emotional, sick me brought this up (timely, lovingly and appropriately) after Ella had gone to bed Monday night but we still totally got in a fight. The following morning, Valentine's Day morning, he left an adorable candy trail outside Ella's bedroom door that led to a sweet little card and present for Ella and left DIDDLY SQUAT for me. No Bueno people. No Bueno.

That's REAL love. It has it's goods and bads. It's ups and downs. For us it seems to be a little cyclical, but the cycles are getting shorter. And it's constantly changing and shifting with new seasons of life. It keeps you on your toes...Adapt or die really. Sometimes we make good choices. Sometimes we make bad choices. And I'm not afraid to talk about it because that's life. That's marriage. It's not a fairy tale and anyone who thinks it is or should be needs to seriously reconsider getting married. It's work. Sometimes you fight. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes you get along amazingly. Sometimes it's bliss. Sometimes you like eachother. Sometimes you don't.

But bottom line is... We ALWAYS love eachother.

Our relationship is held together by The Rock. The One who created. Drawing closer to him, draws us closer to eachother and moment by moment, day by day, month by month, year by year...we get better. We get better at communicating. We get better at working through differences. We get better at putting each other first. We get better at doing the little things...and the big things. We get better listening. We get better at serving. We get better at loving. We get better at caring. We'll never reach perfection this side of Heaven...But it's all worth it. Through the good and the bad, I'd not trade it for the world. This is True Love.

This last little (if you ask him, he'll laugh heartily and say it was anything but little :) spat prompted me to put a little more effort in. I think we've both been getting lazy with the little things in everyday life. I found two AMAZING websites with AWESOME and often free or cheap ideas to MAKE YOUR MARRIAGE ROCK! I'll be visiting them daily and I hope you will too!

We are THAT family - 100 Ways to Make Your Marriage Rock (And about a gazillion other amazing resources and ideas!)

Love, Actually - Creative Ideas for Romance on a Budget

The Perfect Pair Of Jeans

I'm in that inbetween phase with maternity pants that makes me want to pull my hair out. With Ella, I was this pregnant in the summer. I paired my stretchy cotton, yoga topped palazzo pants with EVERYTHING and life was good. By the time my belly got big, the cold weather had set in and I boughta few maternity pants that fit.

Well, right now, my regular pants still button, but let me tell you, not so comfy. I use the elastic band trick, but then my fly is hanging open and I'm forever pulling my shirts down to make sure it covers it. I've got a belly band, but I cannot tell you how much I DETEST tight things around my belly/waist, so I kind of hate wearing it. Any my maternity pants? Forget about it. WAY TOO big around the waist...they fall to my ankles.

Well, I got fed up with it yesterday and hauled out some money my momma gave me for Christmas, which I was saving to buy maternity things for the spring/summer when my belly really needs them...and bought two pairs of pants.

Let me tell you...best money I ever spent! I could find pictures for you...but I bought them at Target and they are Liz Lange brand. One pair is black, stretchy around the house and the other pair is jeans. The gloriousness? They are UNDER THE BELLY pants!

The black stretchy is self explanatory but let me tell you about the genius that is the jeans! They are high enough in the back, but cut low under the belly. They have elastic on both sides inside the waistline of the jeans so that I can sinch them up right now, but let them out as my belly and waistline grow. GENIUS! And...AND they're really cute! They're dark wash with a thick Hem, fit great and just the right length. I wish I had a non-maternity pair that fit so well! $25 bucks well spent, and I can assure you I'll wear them almost daily so I'll get my money's worth!

Ella's First Ski!

Winter has not exactly cooperated with us on our plans to teach Ella to ski this year at our local bump with a rope tow. You see, they don't have any snow making equipment. Imagine that!

We finally decided to head over to Gunstock which is an hour and change, but has a fabulous little conveyor belt the kids can ride up the bunny slope. Under 5 is free, adults are $10. Check out the world's cutest skier here! (And Ella's pretty adorable too, hehe ;) Ella has been stoked to ski ever since Grandma, Auntie Jen&Uncle Greg and Mommy&Daddy combined provided her with a whole used ski outfit for Christmas (We're talking skis, bindings, boots, helmet and goggles.) Every time it snowed she would ask, "Is this enough snow to ski on mom!?" But don't let that picture up there fool you. If only we had video you would hear the crying and screaming all the way UP & DOWN the hill. Did she dislike this fabulous little conveyor belt they call the "Wonder Carpet"? No. Did she dislike skiing? No. What was her problem then? "I'M AFRAID I'M GOING TO WIND AWAY!!!" "MOMMY, ARE WE GOING TO WIND AWAY!?" "MOMMY ARE MY SUNGLASSES GOING TO WIND AWAY!?" "I'M ALL DONE!!! I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE CAR. I'M AFRAID I'M GOING TO WIND AWAY!!!" The wind. That was her problem.Ever since opening day of ice fishing, when she saw the wind blow a folding camp chair across a very slick surfaced lake, she has been afraid of the wind. It doesn't matter if we are traveling 10 feet from the house to the car. If it's a slight breeze or a 25mph gust, the child starts asking if she's going to "wind away"...if mommy, daddy, bear, shovel, Hunter...whatever...is going to "wind away". It does not matter how many times we explain to her that she's to heavy to blow away. And it didn't matter how many other pint sized skiiers I pointed out that were NOT blowing away...it still terrifies her. It's just something she'll have to work through and outgrow, like her original distain for swimming.
Please notice she never takes her hands off her hat (which is velcroed beneath her chin) or her sunglasses. Why? You guessed it. Because she's afraid they're going to "wind away". I took those bad boys right off of her after a bit. T'was not the fairytale first mother daughter ski session I had in mind, but so goes life. We made the best of it and though it was hard at times, I kept my cool and kept a very upbeat, positive attitude the whole time. Whilst others on the mountain may have thought we were torturing the young lass, we know our daughter and had a good laugh. With heavy comforting, loads of positive words and high fives, and large doses of promising hot chocolate with marshmallows we got her to go down the bunny slope three times. Two were working on learning skiing and the last was a "fun run". And above, you'll see a clearly exhaustest Ella being skated into the lodge by mom. Wowzers! I forgot how tiring teaching toddlers to ski is. I remember being wiped out after a day of it when I taught skiing as a teenager. But three runs (with a screaming bundle of joy) for this 30 year old, preggo mama sick with a headcold was quite enough thankyouverymuch!

From the short experience I had with her, she's actually a good little skier for just turning 3 years old. We learned how to put our skis on and take them off. How to walk around in them a bit. We started learning our "duck walk" for getting up slopes. And we practiced making our piece of pizza.

We were headed home around 12:30pm and not two minutes after the van took off, the little one was OUT COLD. She done wore herself out!