ha-ppy-burt-day-to-you

Luci is OBSESSED with birthdays...has been for months...so I may have felt a little bit of pressure to live up to her expectations for the big 2nd birthday. But I guess if I didn't, she's only 2 and hopefully won't have any long term scars!

On the actual day of her birthday we opened presents from family after nap time and then had planned to have lasagna & ice cream. Um, yeah. Nice plan. She was happy to see all of her gifts, but was soon wandering around the room, with a sad sort of face saying, "cake, cake, cake?"...and the ever observant Grandma Pierse realized she was looking for her cake. It broke my heart because I had no cake planned! Luckily after lasagna I talked the family into heading to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream cupcakes...which totally saved the day!

We held her party on Monday at 4p to take advantage of the 'recession buster pricing' offered at our local Pump It Up. She had all of her close friends there to help her celebrate, and we had the super big arena all to ourselves...it was great. Once we arrived she did spend some time looking for her cake...walking around all of the big jump thingies....but jumping is fun and she was soon distracted enough that she was able to jump for over an hour. At that point we were supposed to jump for about 15 more minutes but she started to meltdown asking for her pizza & cake...so the birthday girl got her wish & we headed into the party room. She got the first piece of pizza and contentedly chowed down for the next 15 minutes on two pieces. She got to sit in the big birthday chair and with the lights out we all sang to her...I thought she'd be all smiles, but she sat just sort of stunned...and then finally at the end of the song she started to smile. She enjoyed her homemade cupcakes (store bought cupcakes make her face turn all red & give her diaper rash) and as soon as she was done eating started asking for 'homa, homa' (home). After saying good-bye to all of our friends we headed home & she was asleep before even got there!




A special thank you to Miss Amanda who took all of these amazing photos for us!! And the strange looking lady in the glasses is me...I woke up with pink eye on Sunday. Nice.

I attempted a great deal of creative effort to make our Luci's day special. I made homemade sugar free chocolate cupcakes and sugar free carrot & pineapple cupcakes...and if I do say so myself, they were delicious! And...no red face or diaper rash :). I bought the cheapest hats (because birthday hats are part of the birthday obsession) I could find & then added purple curling ribbon out of the top...and I bought purple upholstery trim and hot glued it around the top & the bottom of her little hat so that it would be extra special. I bought random birthday plates, napkins, tablecloths & balloons...all just birthday/cake themed. For her little friends I made little cupcake goodie bags filled with cupcake bubbles, cupcake tattoos, cupcake kaleidoscopes & kazoos.

Thanks to everyone who came and braved the pink eye potential to make her birthday special. And an extra thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Pierse who made the trek down from Indiana and to Grandma Pierse who helped with many of the creative efforts!

healthy baby boy

Our sweet baby boy appears to be as healthy as we can confirm him to be at this point. I am SO grateful. His risk for chromosomal issues came back as low as possible (confirmed by both blood work & the ultrasound), he has all his parts, weighs 8oz (Luci weighed 7oz at this stage), and is measuring with a delivery date of Christmas Day! My official due date is December 27th based on when I think I ovulated, but if the old school rule was applied Christmas Day would be the actual due date.

My placenta is low at this point, but Dr. Johnson isn't worried at this stage of the game. We'll do another ultrasound at 26 weeks to hopefully find that it has moved up. If it doesn't move up we have an increased risk of early bleeding & pre-term birth combined with a necessary c-section. That being said, I'm just continuing my usual prayer for the courage & strength to accept His plan with grace.

It's a....

BOY!! This is looking up from the bottom...those are his little legs, and in the middle is his little boy part! I'm sure some day he'll be less than thrilled to find out that his mama displayed his stuff all over Internet :)

Sweet profile. His nose is up against the placenta...the tech said he might be a nuzzler/snuggler...

Waving to his big sister Luci :). He has a thumb...it is just hiding.
Sweet baby toes.

Our ultrasound was this morning and we found out we are having a boy! Both of us had kind of thought it was a girl for some unknown reason and were kind of shocked. The tech told us at the beginning that she was not allowed to tell us the measurements or if the baby was healthy...that we'd have to wait for the radiologist to read the report and then for Dr. Johnson to let us know the results. That being said, her demeanor gave us hope that all was well...she said he had all his parts & that he was measuring within days of the due date and told us congratulations...so I'm hopeful that all is well. I have an appointment with Dr. Johnson on Thursday at 4p so hopefully she'll have the report by then.

Luci seemed to have adjusted to the news by the time we arrived home (we went out for breakfast afterwards, just like after finding out she was a girl), despite insisting for the last few weeks that sweet babypea was a sister. She turned 2 over the weekend & her big party was yesterday...more to come on that of course!

Also stay tuned for the big name announcement! :)

17 weeks

I started posting photos of the belly at 17 weeks with Luci...my very first post ever! We didn't know she was a she, or a Luci...crazy how time flies. At that time we were about two weeks away from the big ultrasound...this time we're just a few days away! I think we've settled on the names...definitely the boy first name, and I'm still lobbying for my girls name..I think I've got Clay coming around since he doesn't seem to have a first choice of his own...that OR I've already vetoed his first choice and the poor man has just given up although I'd hate to think that is the case. Regardless, I have a feeling that shortly after sweet babypea shows his/her stuff I'll start calling him/her by the name we picked and hopefully it will fit; that is how it worked with Luci. I just knew she was Luci and I think Clay would say the same.

I've gained 3lbs so far...but look quite a bit different! I feel a lot bigger at this point than I did with Luci, and my maternity clothes would indicate that it isn't so much a feeling as a fact :). I'm totally okay with it though. My upper abs (too high for the uterus at this point) are rock hard and I keep telling Clay to feel my rock hard abs (and then laugh, of course ;). The nausea with this pea was less severe than with Luci, but lasted about 3x as long and still creeps up a couple of times a week. I'm also still exhausted, and by this time with Luci I had that second trimester energy burst...I haven't given up hope though. Food has been funny this time...I have way more aversions than cravings. Chicken sounds DISGUSTING. I think Chick-fil-a is going to have to file an 8-K to disclose the loss of revenue! Lots of ground beef, ground turkey, steak & fried fish sandwiches. Interestingly enough with Luci I couldn't stomach red meat and ate ONLY chicken although the fried fish craving is a carry over from the Luci pregnancy days :)

I feel babypea more & more...started about 13 weeks and gets stronger every week. I LOVE feeling him/her kick.

As for the hoped for results from the ultrasound I can honestly tell you all I want to hear this time is that we've got a healthy baby in there. With Luci I sort of took it for granted/really expected her to be fine. I just don't have that naive sense of security anymore. True, most babies are healthy. But lots are not. With Luci I felt like she was mine; now I feel like every life, baby or child or teen or adult or elderly, is God's to give & God's to take. And while I'm more okay with that than I've ever been, I still hope God gives us another earthly life to add to our family. And so I continue to pray over & over again for the courage & strength to deal with God's plan for us with grace...because I know if I can do that I'll be all right.

Iowa

We had a GREAT time at "Gwammy's house" last week, despite that it was for a funeral. Sure I was weepy & there were tears, but I wasn't sad. My grandpa lived a long, full, happy life and I believe he's in a better place now. We got to see tons of family that I haven't seen in a long time and who knows when I'll see them again (especially all at once) now that Grandma & Grandpa Halvorson are both in heaven.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good photos with said extended family! I STINK when it comes to getting photos of family. So boo for that.

But we did get lots of good time with Aunt Brookie, Aunt Baylee, Mr. Drew, Uncle Ben & Aunt Chelsi. And of course Gwamme & Gah-py. Luci was her sweet, warm, lovable, snuggable self & lots of deserving people got hugs & even kisses from her. It was SO nice to see.

The photos we did get were of Luci "riding the Poncho". Poncho has been Aunt Chelsi's horse for 14 years, and Uncle Ben saddled her up for Luci to ride. Luci waited more eagerly than patiently....

Originally we had planned for her to ride with Uncle Ben...which started well...but then....

that didn't go over so well. So she rode alone with Dad by her side...all smiles then!

Overall it was a GREAT trip, and Luci still asks about 20x a day "Gwammy's house?!?!" And now when she goes on her fake trips through the kitchen she's always headed to Gwammy's house. Fun times. Luckily we are headed back in a few weeks for Uncle Ben & Aunt Chelsi's baby shower, so when Luci says, "Gwammy's house?" I can say "in a couple of weeks!"

happy

I have lots of catch up posting to do, and lots of work to do. But I'm sitting at Starbucks working and sweet baby is kicking up the strongest storm yet. And it is making me about as happy as I could be right now. :)

Ride the Poncho

From 7.15

in case you wondered

why I hate to travel with Luci...

Step 1: 2 days of list making & packing & laundry; packing cups, forks, spoons, bibs, noise makers, monitors, blankets, books, baas, etc...
Step 2: 45 minutes to the Houston airport, with 1.5 hours to spare
Step 3: Clay drops Luci, me & giant luggage to be checked off at the terminal. He parks the car & carries the car seat & his luggage on the employee shuttle to terminal e (the only destination of the shuttle). He meets us in terminal b.
Step 4: Luci & I check luggage (harder than you'd think, pushing a stroller & dragging huge luggage and carrying two carry-ons)
Step 5: Luci & I make it through security with a stroller and two carry-ons
Step 6: 45 minutes of waiting including filling water bottles with water from a fountain (cuz as my husband says, "water is FREE") and a diaper change timed as close to boarding as possible
Step 7: pray that we get seats on the airplane, and that at least 2 of them are together (love going stand-by...although it does only cost $12.50 each way per person so I can't complain too much)
Step 8: Get settled on the airplane for 2 hours rotating activities (snacks, crayons, markers, coloring books, dvds, etc)
Step 9: Make it to 10,000 feet so you can turn on the DVD player
Step 10: Get off airplane & retrieve stroller & car seat from the jet bridge along with the 50 other people waiting to retrieve items
Step 11: change diaper
Step 12: Clay gets the rental car, I get giant luggage
Step 13: Get to car, install car seat...explain to the 2 year old why she has to sit still for another 3 hours
Step 14: Drive another 3 hours with stops for "eat time" and potty breaks for mama. Typically entails a series of DVD changes, Raffi, Choo Choo Soul and meltdowns in between...
Step 15: Arrive & attempt to get settled & have Luci get familiar with her bed so she'll actually sleep at "sleep time"
Step 16: Spend 3 lovely days with family
Step 17: Do steps 1-15 all over again in reverse

Whew!

We made it through another trip to Iowa! Seriously...the requirements of travel with a 2 year old are a bit ridiculous. We looked at each other yesterday as Luci melted on the airplane with 45 minutes left in the air and wondered out loud how in the world we are going to do this with two...

That being said we had a WONDERFUL trip...more to come on the next post...

busy, but excited peas

singing & dancing...

the way she pronounces microphone is so profane I can't even blog it...

Somehow the last few weeks have just been incredibly busy! A few weeks ago I spent one particularly energy filled day making appointments for the family...we are very behind on things like the dentist, eye doctors, etc. As a result July is pretty booked up each day that Clay is home. This week he saw the dermatologist for a mole check just to pacify his crazy wife...and they all looked great with the exception of one that was removed & biopsied...we'll find out in a few weeks if it was just funky looking or if it really was up to no good. We also had our family photo taken this week for our church directory and got pulled into buying $200 worth of photos...UGH. Always something. The good news is that the photographer got a great shot of just Clay & me...the best since our wedding photos, so that was nice. Luce was her typical fiery self and there were some good and some not so good of her. Regardless it is nice to have an official family photo from around her 2nd b-day.

Sweet babypea still looks great & waves or kicks hello each time I see him/her. I now poll Luci a few times a day to ask if she WANTS a brother or sister....only once has she said brother. But I also ask her which she WILL have and it is about a 50%/50% split. We have our big ultrasound scheduled to check on measurements/health on Tuesday, July 28th at 7:45a. Love my Rakeesha, hooking me up with the earliest appointment possible. Luci's birthday party is on the 27th at 4p, so I wanted to do the ultrasound as soon as I could after that. The ever-anxious mama that I have become was worried that if we found out something was not well with babypea that I wouldn't be able to give Luci the birthday she deserves...so 7:45a the next day it is. And yes, as long as babypea isn't modest we'll find out if Luci will indeed be getting a sister or brother. :) I'm not much for surprises...I actually read the end of a book first so that I can enjoy the book without worrying about the outcome.

Between work, crafts for a few upcoming parties and getting ready for our big trip to Iowa this week I'M BEAT. But I can honestly that I've never been this excited for a trip to Iowa! BOTH of my sisters AND my brother AND his new bride will be there, as well as lots of cousins & aunts & uncles I haven't seen in a long time. The only people missing will be my brother-in-law Sunidh & Luci's cousin Asher...which is a big bummer. But I'm focusing on all of the people we will get to see! Luci is SUPER excited to go to Grammy's house and asks about 10x a day if we can go get in the car & go to Grammy's. If I had more energy we'd head up this weekend, but alas I don't, so we wait for Clay to get home late Sunday & then head out Monday around noon returning late on Thursday. And yes, it is a trip for a funeral, but I can't think of a better way to honor my grandpa's memory than to have a ton of fun catching up with our family.

So on that note...I should probably get back to my mile long list of things to do so I'm ready to head out stress free on Monday!

gwammee here!

Unfortunately Luci was not in the mood for photos this weekend...we'll try again when we are in Iowa the week of the 13th.

sharing her cup...NOTE: child was actually much happier than she appears in photo

Luci's grammy was here for a long weekend (or as Luce calls her, gwaaameeeee) and they had a blast making up for lost time. After a brief look of "who the heck are you" when my Mom first arrived, they quickly bonded as Luci realized there was yet another person who wanted to play with her, hug her, kiss her, and love on her! For the first few days every hour or two Luci would look at my mom, smile, and randomly proclaim, "GWAMMY HERE!!" There was lots of sit.chair. (Luci's way of requesting you join her in the playroom), fake food prepared, pictures drawn and soccer ball kicks (really a volleyball). Gwammy even taught her how to lay back in the bathtub and 'swim'!

We did make it to the great 4th of July parade...and it was, well...hot. Nice, but hot.