Water Days!

A few times this summer, all of us girls and kids have gotten together so all the cousins can play in the water. It's nice to let the kids roam and play together while us Moms can chat it up! This first one was in June when it was super hot.

 

 

 Baby Jaidin!

This was the fourth of July BBQ and water fun. It was at Joseph's which was nice to have his ginormous slip n' slide and plethora of sprinklers. Joseph was the only adult to play in the water with the kids, I guess we're all party poopers. Each family made their own tin foil dinners that we cooked on the fire and for the grand finale, Christine made a gender reveal cake which revealed a boy! I thought I had a picture of that but I guess not.

This particular day I had Kimball in a swim diaper. I will probably never do that again, it rubbed him raw! He was SUPER sore for a good week, poor boy.

 Christine and her baby bump!

This water day was just yesterday. Sally's family is in town for the week so we all got together again at Joseph's for some fun.

 I'm not sure why Tyson decided to hide under his towel on the slip n' slide, it totally soaked the towel.

 

 Sally's kids finally showed up and rough housed with the cousins. It was a blast!

Hours in the sun + hours playing with cousins + no nap = one very tired boy on the drive home at 5:30pm.

Back Track - Easter

When I was downloading pictures from my camera, I forgot these were even on there! Oops. This is Easter 2013, Kimball got a lot of outdoor toys and a few snacks. He was also teething hence the runny nose.

 

Popsicles In The Pool

Just Breathe

Sigh.......my brain is so fried I don't know how to be exact in describing the events of today. It's now all a blur...............

We got to the specialist's office at 9:45 this morning and had a very thorough ultrasound that last an hour and a half. The technician was sweet, she explained everything very clearly and answered all of our questions. We then briefly met with Dr. K. who advised we meet the pediatric cardiologist across the street at the hospital. They called the hospital and were ready for me right away. At this point I was beyond starving! And being pregnant and just getting over the sickness, I needed something to eat right now. I stopped at the coffee bar and bought a banana for $1. That's all I had time for.

Here is when Lance left to take the WA state boards but I was fine going to the cardiologist by myself. I wished him luck and he was off.

They escorted me upstairs to the Echo Lab and did a special ultrasound on the baby's heart. The two techs were so nice and apparently don't do fetal hearts very often, they kept saying how photogenic she is and "Oh wow, look at that!" That particular ultrasound took a while too but at least I didn't have to go back to Boise to see the pediatric cardiologist. He was out of the office for the day but we did receive a phone call from him a few hours later.

At this point everything was starting to hit me and I knew if I didn't eat soon I'd be in trouble. I had the echo lab call the Maternal Fetal office and tell them I needed 15 minutes to eat lunch. While I was walking to the cafeteria I met Lance in the hall, he was done with his test and came back to be with me. I was starving. I was overwhelmed. It was starting to sink in and I had to cry. So while we ate lunch I sat there and cried.

Great news, Lance passed the WA boards and is now licensed and ready for his new job!

We walked back across the street to the specialist's office and met with a genetic counselor who got our family medical history and talked about the results we had gotten so far which are:

The heart checked out perfectly and they aren't worried about it at all. The short femurs are measuring in proportion to the rest of her body so there are no abnormalities there, she's just petite. (Or as I kept saying all along, she doesn't have Down Syndrome, she has Becky Syndrome). One other thing we found out that the Twin Falls doctor didn't tell us, was that they found only two vessels leading from the cord. This was found to be false and the cord is perfect. The bowels do have a bright lining which could still be blood or mucus or stool or any number of things. There's less than 1% chance that she has any of the three - cystic fibrosis, down syndrome, or a viral infection. We did decide to proceed with one blood test which is the viral infection so that she can be treated prenatally and won't get worse if that is the case. Lance and I are hoping/thinking the bowel will just clear up on its own in due time.

Good news at last! Of the four concerns, all are ruled out and completely normal except the bright lining of the bowels. This will obviously be followed up with future ultrasounds and the CF is a routine test of all newborns with the heal prick.

We got done at 3:30. That's right, we were in the specialist's office and the hospital for 5.5 hours!!! No wonder I was so overwhelmed and completely starved! When we got to the car we just sat there and took a deep breather. Then I told Lance that even though I'm totally exhausted, I still wanted to go shopping. So he took a cat nap in the car while I spent 30 minutes at Ross' buying a few outfits for Little Miss.

Tonight I am more thankful than ever for this precious baby girl!!! She's healthy, strong, cute as a button,  and all this makes me that much more anxious to meet her and hold her. I hope the rest of my 20 weeks goes smoother than this past week!

***Thank you so much to Tim and KoLei for watching Kimball for us. Thank you so much to family and friends who've called, texted, emailed, messaged, etc. and keeping us in their prayers. We're so grateful for loving and supportive family and friends, you all mean the world to us!***

Oh Nerves, Leave Me Be

Tomorrow is the big day (in more than one way) and I really hope we come home with some answers. Waiting the last few days has been torture. All the what ifs, suspecting, wondering if we understood things correctly, etc. keep playing in our minds over and over. Neither of us have slept at all, we can't quit thinking about it. So here's to hoping for good news and peace of mind.

KoLei is watching Kimball for us tomorrow and she graciously offered to watch him overnight. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that but given we have to leave early in the morning, it'll be nice to leave straight from the house without having to get Kimball ready and dropped off. It'll also be nice for tonight so Lance and I can talk without interruption and have a few hours to ourselves. We have a lot to discuss.

Right after the appointment, Lance has to go to the testing center and take the Washington state board exams so he can be licensed in WA. Good news is they accepted his academic credits nicely so he doesn't have to take any classes to be licensed in WA.

I wish we had a move date. Luckily we know we close on the house August 14th. I'm so tired of so many things being in the air! My nerves can't handle anymore of this! And to help my nerves, while Lance takes his test tomorrow he's dropping me off at the mall and I'll be shopping for little girl clothes!!!

Clear As Mud

Last night was pretty miserable. Lance and I were both quite confused and kept analyzing every word the doctor said, trying to make some sense of what we heard. We both went to bed very frustrated and feeling hopeless. I didn't sleep much, I couldn't turn my brain off.

We both decided we needed someone to explain things better, so we left a voicemail for Cari Brose, the most awesome PA ever. We loved her when she saw us with Kimball and we love her with this pregnancy as well. She explained the same thing about the heart and bowels and the need for better images of both organs. She said the dark spots on the bowels could end up being blood that the baby ingested and it may not be a big deal at all.  She did mention a few other key points that the doctor never mentioned to us. She said the femurs are measuring small which indicates down syndrome. The doctor didn't say anything about the small femurs or needing blood work done.

So Friday morning in Boise we'll have a high tech ultrasound, blood work to test for 3-5 different genetic disorders and birth defects, and we'll meet with a genetic counselor. We have no idea what it all means until we get up there and have the images and blood work done. The tests results will come back in seven days. I can't stand to wait another two days to get any news!

Little Miss

We found out this afternoon that it's a girl! I'm SO excited!!! The ultrasound tech was awesome and very thorough despite Little Miss being curled up in a ball. I like that she took her time. Then we waited for 30 minutes for the doctor to come in and I wasn't very impressed with him. He didn't explain things very well, was very rushed, didn't answer our questions, and made it sound like an emergency. Now I'm freaking out!

We have to go to Boise to see a perinatologist (I think that's what it's called, have no idea how to spell it) because #1 we couldn't get a good picture of the three vessels of the heart. She must have been doing gymnastics or something in there. #2 Because it appears the bowels were dark/had dark spots which could either be blood or mucus which could mean cystic fibrosis. So we're going to Boise to get a better ultrasound to determine what's going on with those two issues.

I really didn't like that whole experience from the time the ultrasound tech left the room. Not impressed.

As Of Late

• Lance spent the whole week with Ryker Harris in Toronto, Canada at the international barbershop competition. He won the trip and it was all paid for although he mentioned several times how expensive everything is (food, transportation, souvenirs, merchandise, etc.) We do have some big expenses coming up such as moving and having a baby, but when is the next time he'll be in Toronto? So I told him to quit worrying about money and just have a good time. He deserves this trip, he deserves a vacation, and he deserves a treat every now and then. Of course within reason that he doesn't go totally overboard. He gets home sometime late tonight.
• The offer on the house fell through and we got a second offer which fell through yesterday. But today we got a third offer which appears to be a little more promising. We have been so blessed with how quickly this house selling stuff has been happening. We've had appointment after appointment to show it and one offer after the other with very little time in between. I thought it would be much harder to sell especially since the housing market isn't quite back up (although better) but we have the advantage of the guest house to rent out for potential income. That thing is golden! So we're hoping this one goes through and if it does they want to close August 14.
• Christine came down for a few days and made a gender reveal cake for the fourth of July. When Dad cut into it, it was blue and red! I thought maybe it was twins and I was really going to be shocked. But the red was raspberry filling, haha. We found out she's having a BOY!!!!!! I'm beyond excited, boys are so much fun! Having said that, I know I said I wanted a boy but now I'm thinking I want a girl just in case this is our last. Christine, Mom, and I went to a store to look at baby clothes and I bought the dang cutest little ladybug outfit that says "Daddy's Little Lady." How could I not buy that? So I might possibly cry on Tuesday if the ultrasound is a boy just because girl clothes are so much cuter. And I have a whole list of girl names to choose from but absolutely nothing for boy names.
• Christine and I aren't due until the end of November but I don't see myself coming back to visit before I have my baby. I really want to throw her a baby shower! She's my only sister and this is her first baby and she threw me one that was epic. I don't know how strange it is to throw a shower for a woman who's 25 weeks along, I know that isn't very far but it's the only time I'd be able to do it, right before we move. Hmmmmm.....decisions to make.
• While Lance has been gone, Kimball has been the most well behaved little boy! He's seriously been so good all week long and I'm so thankful for that. Today was the exception, he cried all morning and was quite whiny all night because of his separation anxiety. Or maybe he's just really missing his Daddy. I'm sure that's it. But I'm so grateful that he was good for me all week long while I was single.
• Now that the weather has dropped below triple digits, I guess it's time to finish packing. I've already packed up 2/3 of the house, the rest is home decor and kitchen. The two most dreaded things to pack, ugh.

I Don't Blame Him

Lately it has been scorching hot! I mean, the kind of hot where you think the soles of your shoes are melting off walking across a parking lot. It's pretty miserable. At night we've been foregoing Kimball's pajamas because it's just too unbearable even with a fan going. The last two mornings I've found Kimball like this - buck naked. Guess it's hotter than I realized.

Kimball-isms

• His favorite lunch is a hot dog
• Loves sleeping with his stuffed puppy
• Favorite book is "I'm Just A Baby Tyrannosaur." The best $1 spent at Joann's grab bins.
• Says Mommy, Daddy, weeee, doggie, chicken, shoe, uh oh, all gone, amen, and I swear he said Jerusha once.
• Loves roaring like animals or engines
• LOVES being outside, especially at Grandma Pettingill's where there's a trampoline and riding lawn mower
• Doesn't like to sit in the seat of shopping carts, always has to be in the cart
• Loves helping Mommy around the house. Has gotten quite good at unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming, washing the counters, and lately packing.
• Sneaks in the snack drawer all the time
• Will occasionally watch PBS kids in my feeble attempt to keep him occupied while I pack the house. I think I have every song memorized. It turns out Sesame Street is kind of boring.
• Loves his Daddy! Can't wait for him to get home everyday!
• Loves dancing and music and lately does the "nanner, nanner" tease

Lance's 31st Birthday

We had a pretty simple birthday celebration for Lance. Bbq dinner at Donna's with Steph's family and Ann. I got him a few pairs of shoes which he desperately needed. I know he hates getting clothes as gifts but when your other soles have holes in them, it's time for something new. He also got a gift card, some money, and yummy candy bars. Thanks everyone for the gifts, it's really not necessarily but he felt special!