Update

Well, today I am 8 weeks and 6 days pregnant. And boy, do I feel it!

I have had the same kinda morning sickness that I had with Henry- nausea throughout the day with fatigue woven in for good measure. When I was pregnant with Henry, I had a 30-minute lunch break at work and I would go upstairs to these study rooms and take naps on the examining tables.

Luckily, I'm at home now and so I take naps when Henry does. Our house may be a tad messy (a tad, ha!) but Mama needs the rest!

Friday, we all went to the grocery store. Beforehand, I felt a little less nauseous, a little hungry almost and so I thought that maybe we could grab a bite in the prepared food section. As soon as we walked into the door, though, the smells of thousands of foods from curry to eggplant assaulted my nose and I almost lost it right into my reusable shopping bags.

However, people have it much worse during their 1st trimester and beyond and I am thankful that I can function and get through everyday life and still enjoy Henry while incubating baby #2.

Aside from the physical, the worries & cares of baby #2 and all those timing issues were weighing heavily on our hearts and the Lord has reminded us that:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-Phil 4:6-7

So, we're just banking on that peace of God to guard our hearts and minds and thankful that He is faithful to keep his promises.

First Step, Baby!

Last night, our family was over at Brooke & Freeland's home watching Baylor play in the elite eight (heartbreaking game, by the way) and Henry took his first step! It was kind of a step then a hop then a fall on your bottom!

He has been standing up from a sitting position on the floor but he always just stands there, bouncing and grinning- when I would say, "Come here, Henry!" He would get down and crawl to me. But last night he took his first step (a few times) and it was exciting and totally overshadowed the Baylor game! Well done, son!

Second Honeymoon?

The Harry Potter theme park.

Seriously, I got married four years too early because if we'd waited until this summer, we could've gone HERE for our honeymoon!

Forget silly old Mexico.

Seriously, we would love to go.

What's A Dog Gotta Do?

Yesterday was Powers' annual vet checkup/vaccinations. If you'll recall, our first year here, we had quite a scare after he received his first Leptospirosis vaccine (he hadn't had that in Texas). Well, last year they gave him Benadryl beforehand and it worked to stop the unpleasant reaction. However, this year the Benadryl did not work and Adam ended up taking Powers back to the vet to get some more medicine after he puked four times and pitifully lay on the floor. He's fine now and I actually think he might've planned it in order to get some attention- life's sure been different for a dog here the past 11 months.

In other news, Henry has nursed his last boob. I have no idea how to phrase that. He has had his last nursing session? Regardless, he is done. I wasn't planning on him being done so early but last night when he bit me about 20 times within 30 seconds, I picked up on the message that he was sending. Besides being in physical pain, I was a little sad because I thought that I would know the last night that I would nurse him and I would make it special- you know, wear a prom dress and wrap my head in a turban with Enya playing in the background and candles lit. Well, maybe not exactly that scenario but I still thought that I could soak it in a little more. Oh well, it's all gravy.

He was 11 months old on Sunday and that was the last night of his cooperative nursing. So, I guess now he's ready for beer and chewing tobacco.

Crayons: Part of a Balanced Diet!

Adam bought Henry some crayons so that he can begin becoming the next great master...Leonardo Who? However, before Henry feels comfortable using the crayons to draw, he needs to deduct their chemical structure by taste, hence eating crayons. The kid had orange all over his chin yesterday- I may end up using these crayon bits to make candles or something.

However, it led me to wonder- will Henry be the kid eating paste in class? Is he a Billy Madison? OR is his genius so complex and intricate that this was merely a piece of performance art meant to subvert expectations and make us question everything? If so, kudos, Henry.

Molar Pregnancy

** I do not have a molar pregnancy, someone had asked since I mentioned it the previous post, though. Please do not worry:)

What is it? Well, to answer your question (from the Mayo Clinic website):

A molar pregnancy — also known as hydatidiform mole — is a noncancerous (benign) tumor that develops in the uterus. A molar pregnancy occurs when the placenta develops into an abnormal mass of cysts rather than becoming a viable pregnancy.

Molar pregnancy is a type of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). In a complete molar pregnancy, there's no embryo or normal placental tissue. In a partial molar pregnancy, there's an abnormal embryo and possibly some normal placental tissue. The embryo begins to develop but is malformed and can't survive.

A molar pregnancy can have serious complications — including a rare form of cancer — and requires early treatment. Careful monitoring after a molar pregnancy can help preserve the chance for future healthy pregnancies.

Weany

Well, once we found out about baby numero dos, the weaning came into play. Henry will be 11 months old this week so for the past few weeks, I've dropped a feeding every week and today will be his first day with just ONE feeding (nighttime).

So, two questions: Will this hurt? and Will my chest ever look the same?

Thanks.

God Speaks

So, the story of the beginning of this new baby is pretty lengthy but I love how God's word stood and he used people in the body to show that he still speaks!

Stage One: We Are Pregnant.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine in Erie said that she had a dream that I was pregnant. I assured her that I was not and I didn't think much of it. However, within the same day, another friend who lives in Colorado emailed me to tell me that she had a dream that I was pregnant with a baby girl. Now, they had no reason to think that I might be pregnant. Nor did I. We weren't trying and I was nursing Henry.

However, I walked upstairs and told Adam...I mean, two god-fearing people having the same dream on the same day? Adam said, Why don't you take a test? and I did. Bam. Positive. We wigged out for a couple of minutes and then Adam prayed and we felt at peace...even excited! I mean, I knew this would be crazy but kiddos are a blessing, period. We went to the doctor the following Monday and had blood work done and she confirmed it and had us go in for a sonogram the next Wednesday. She thought I'd be around 8 weeks at the time.

Stage Two: We Are Not Pregnant.

Well, when we went to the sonogram two days later, I knew something was wrong. The sonogram technician never said the word "fetus". She only said, ovaries and uterus as in, "Let me take another picture of your uterus and then I'll see what the doctor wants to do." We didn't ask her, I figured she wasn't allowed to say anything.

So, she left the room and came back to tell us that she had spoken with the doctor and I was to have blood work again and then not to eat or drink anything after midnight and then call the doctor in the morning. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sounds like a DNC, right? So, Adam is supposed to leave the next morning for Philadelphia for this big test for school. He finally tracks down someone to talk to and they tell us that the doctor thinks it may be a molar pregnancy (like an empty egg that meets with sperm) but that they need to confirm it with my blood work. So, we go home and wait.

Stage Three: We May Be Pregnant.

So, we're thinking that I will definitely have surgery the next day. Well, the nurse calls the next morning to say that my blood work numbers have doubled (typical of pregnancy) and so we're going to wait a week and see what happens and have another sonogram. During this week, we literally had no idea what the deal was but I was thinking that I was probably not pregnant. I mean, if I was supposed to be so many weeks along then how could there not be a baby on the sonogram? We waited.

Stage Four: We Are Pregnant.

Well, the rest is history. We went in on Wednesday and had another sonogram and BAM, there's the sac and BAM, there's the heartbeat. Wow. So, I was just not very far along on the initial visit. So, now I am 7 weeks and November 2nd is the due date. It's been an emotional roller coaster. We are still getting our minds around it but are confident that God's ways are better than ours, his thoughts higher than ours and it's all going to be fine. Nay, great.

Tiny Feathers & Surprise

Well, the weaning decision has been made for me.

We just found out that I am pregnant. SURPRISE! No, seriously...the teeniest feather could've blown me over. We were surprised.

November 2nd.

Henry will be 18 months old.

It'll be crazy but it'll be great. We saw the little heartbeat on Wednesday. We are blessed.

P.S. I'll tell the whole story soon...about how we found out & all.

I'm too tired right now- blame it on the hormones.

Marathon Mama

While some of you may be encouraging your moms to eat better or try and take a walk for exercise, my Mother just completed her 5th marathon this past weekend in Georgia. That's right...26.2 miles.

So annoying.

Just kidding (sorta). My mom really is such a good role model for working out well into your twilight years- you're never too old to run (kidding again). But seriously folks...is this thing on?

Truly, she is committed to working out and her group of running buddies are pretty special- they are a tight knit group of young broads and they have enjoyed many a mile gabbing away on the open road.

So, way to go Mom! Now, I'm going to go eat a twinkie.

Blogger Failure

Reading other people's blogs along with me actually blogging have not been happening lately. The only way that I'm writing this blog right now is that Henry is eating breadcrumbs out of my lap. Literally.

To update you on life...Adam is in his 2nd month of surgery. Henry is 10 months old and a crazy, wild fun little boy. He likes to put towels on top of his head, covering his eyes and crawl around and bump into things.

Boys, right?

The sunshine has been out for three days in a row, steadily melting away the white piles and there is no snow in the 7-day forecast.

Woohoo! Life is good!

P.S. Holy cow, Henry just stood for like 10 seconds without holding onto anything. That was crazy.

Soy What?

So, I mixed soy milk with Henry's cereal for the first time today instead of breast milk. And he was all over that. Then I tried some soy milk and I was all over that. I mean, it was the vanilla kind and dang, Gina! It's good.

It's just been more challenging to pump every morning to get milk for the day's cereal so, since he's over 10 months old, we decided to hop on the soy wagon. But, I'm still breastfeeding...still not quite sure how long the milk maiden voyage will last.

How Novel!

Amongst the completed bedtime books of 2010 are:

The Scarlett Pimpernel (A quick-read classic...my mother-in-law loaned it to me. I enjoyed it!)

and a trilogy:

Conspiracy in Kiev

Midnight in Madrid

Countdown in Cairo

Ignore the cheesy cover to these books...they really are pretty good! The main character, Alex LaDuca, is like a female James Bond but one who fears God. So, there are a couple of the books that I've read so far...hope you enjoy!