Happy 4th Birthday!!!

 

• You weigh about 34lbs.
•  You are tall for your age, so it makes you look like a skinny little thing. ( Don't worry mommy an Daddy were the same way)
•  You wear a size 10 shoe.
•  You wear size 3T-4T clothes. (3T fits better but you need the length of 4T clothes)
•  You rarely nap.
•  You rarely sleep through the night, but luckily most of the time you wake up it's because you have to potty, and then you go right back to sleep.
•  You have to use Monster Spray in your room every night to keep out the "scaries".
•  You have a thing with making sure that all doors in the house are closed, especially closet doors!
•  You like to eat the same things, it's pretty difficult to get you to try new things.
•  You are a perfectionist, everything has it's place. You even make your bed everyday and will refill the toilet paper rolls in the bathroom on your own!!
• You are a creature of habit. Love to have the same routine.
•  You still hate to be dirty, you will always ask for a napkin when you eat.
•  You hate to have "crazy" hair so you always let mommy fix it, you love to "spike it up"
•  You still love Mexican food, it's your favorite.
•  You are still  are not a fan of ice cream, but love cookies and cake.

• You love the color red.
• You love to draw and color. You have an easel that you love to color and write on EVERYDAY.
• You love to read books with your Daddy before bed.
• You still have a love for music, you even asked for CD's for your birthday.
•  You are amazing when it comes to electronics, you know how to turn on the computer and go to You Tube so you can watch cartoons. You know how to work your CD player without any help. You have also figured out how to work the DVR player and love to turn your movies on all by yourself. You have mastered the iPhone, it's amazing to see you use it.
• You have a great imagination.
• You have the best memory, you never forget a thing!!

•  You love your house, you are such a homebody always wanting to be at home with your  parents.
•  Your favorite cartoons to watch are: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Max and Ruby, and Peppa Pig.
• You love the movies Peter pan, Beauty and the Beast, UP, ET, Lady and the Tramp. You also still like to watch your old Signing Time videos.
• You are obsessed with Pirates. Captain Hook is your favorite.
•  You are so silly and have a great sense of humor. Two days after you turned 4 you made your first fart joke. Mommy couldn't help but laugh.
• You are the best behaved preschooler around, and you are so polite.
• You are definitely a rule follower.

• You love your dog Raider. You always want to know where he is at all times.
• You have a daily chore of feeding the dog and you do a great job at it and take so much pride in it.
• You are still not a fan of animals, but are getting better when it comes to dogs other than your own.
• You are a pretty shy boy. It takes you a bit to warm up, but after you do watch out!!
•  You go to a school for children with hearing loss 5 days a week and  you enjoy it.
•  You are said to be "the leader of the class" from your teachers.
•  You are going to be the best big brother, you love your sister so much already.

Celebrating his birthday at school.

Happy Birthday my "Sweet  Baby K"!!!!

Tummy Tracker 29-30

3/22/13

How far along?:  29 weeks   

Weight gain: 18.8 total

Cravings: ice cream ( bluebell vanilla is the only decent sugar free ice cream I have found.)

Maternity clothes:  I'm starting to get a draft on my lower belly while wearing some of my old maternity shirts. I blaming it on dryer shrinking them.

Stretch marks? : nope, crazy dilated veins-yes

Symptoms:  braxton hicks, horrible restless legs. Keeps me up at night, I just can't stay still. My husband says my translated Indian name would be "Moves a lot"

Movement: still feeling her quite a bit but not as many flip flops.

Miss anything? eating anything I want.

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: Had another sonogram with the specialist to measure my cervix. Everything looked great and my cervix is measuring 3.6 yay!  I'm 29wks 4 days but measuring 30 weeks 3 days. Estimated weight 3lbs 10oz.

How's daddy doing?: Couldn't paint her room this week because it was cold and rainy :(

How's K doing?:  Lately I've been having to tell K that I can't can't really pick him up anymore because my belly is getting too big. The other day I picked him up to help him down from a chair and he scolded me " momma you can't pick me up, remember the baby sister!!"

3/29/13

How far along?: 30 weeks   

Weight gain: 21.8 lbs

Cravings: peanut butter and jelly, deviled eggs

Maternity clothes:  I'm starting to get a draft on my lower belly while wearing some of my old maternity shirts. I blaming it on dryer shrinking them.

Stretch marks? : nope, crazy dilated veins-yes

Symptoms:  I am feeling very pregnant. Having a hard time walking around without hurting. My pubic bone, groin, and hips are killing me! According to my husband I'm already starting to waddle.  I've got the uglies. Not feeling so cute. Feel like I'm getting thicker everywhere, especially my legs. 

Movement:  She only allows me to sleep in certain positions,  she kicks and flips to let me know that I need to change positions.

Miss anything? eating cereal. ( I'm limited on my milk intake and most cereals contain lots of sugar)

Gender: sugar and spice

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  Had visit with regular OB, everything still checking out great. My gestational diabetes is under control thankfully. Checking my sugar levels four times a day is a pain, but I'll do what ever it takes. I've actually been able to get away with eating more carbs but still have to be careful with my sugars. 
 My doctor also informed me that she will be out of town the first week of June when she is due. Great.  Although she said she would rather induce me at the end of May instead because there is a higher risk of  stillborn with GD moms as they get closer to their due dates go over their due dates. I need to do some more research on all that because I'm not excited about the idea of being induced, especially if it's only because she will be out of town.

How's daddy doing?:  He got her room painted! on the last paint stroke he said he would never paint again ;)

How's K doing?:  Sometimes when I get up from a sitting position I tend make a little groan or noise and sweet little K is always so concerned " Mommy are you okay?"

Daddy at work. Her room is a very light lavender. This picture doesn't quite capture the true color. When my husband put on the very first coat of paint, it was such a faint shade of lavender so K asked him "Why are you painting the room white? baby sisters room is purple."
my husband : " but it is purple."
K in a matter-of-fact voice : "no, it's white."  and then he just walked off.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend. This post is a bit late, but so are 95% of my posts. Oh well, at least I have the memory documented!

K coloring his eggs. I always forget how messy they can be.I was kicking myself for not buying the individual color cups. I had a hard time finding enough bowls that were deep enough to cover the eggs.
 I found it funny that Kemper only likes to dye each of the eggs one solid color. I'm the same way, no mixing of the colors! We keep it simple but add our flare with stickers ;)

Every Easter we buy confetti eggs to crack on our heads. I think it has to be K's favorite tradition. He was so excited that morning he couldn't wait to go outside to crack them. He wanted to hold the carton while his dad and I got ready and I agreed but I told him that he couldn't open them yet. But as you can see the third egg from the left on the top row didn't make it. He ended up cracking it all over himself and the living room couch. The look on his face was priceless, he thought he was in so much trouble. I gave him a free pass and didn't scold him too much, but I did make him help clean it up!

He was all about cracking the eggs on our heads but not on his. How convenient.

Ester 2011, it never gets old!

He's a bossy little thing when it comes to cracking eggs!

Finally he let his dad crack one on his head. Too bad on the first try the egg didn't crack and his dad just ended up whacking him on the head with it! poor kid!

The aftermath.

One of the gifts in his Easter basket was a bubble blower. It's one of those toys that never fails. I think he ends up getting one each year. He would stay outside with it all day if we let him.  I forgot to take a pic.of his Easter basket this year. I kept it pretty simple, just a little candy and a few simple toys like the bubble blower. His grandmother and aunt usually stock him up with plenty of stuff every Easter.

Later that afternoon we went to my parents house for an egg hunt with his cousin Nolan...

...and some more egg cracking!

My husband and my younger sister attempting to ride a scooter, I was just glad/surprised they didn't crack their heads.

 K's loot at his Welas's house.
 A soccer shirt, candy, preschool workbooks, coloring stickers, flash cards, Scooby doo pirate DVD, pirate felt board, and another bubble machine ;)

Happy Easter!!

Tummy Tracker 27-28 weeks

How far along?:  27 weeks   ( Third Trimester!!)

Weight gain: 18.8 total

Cravings: ketchup, bean and cheese burritos

Maternity clothes:  I really need to get some new scrub tops for work. I can't believe I've grown out of them already considering how baggy they are in the first place!

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: Some braxton hicks. Damn heartburn. The back and hip pain while sleeping is back :(

Miss anything? being able to walk around without being sore later.

Gender: GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: Got my lab results back, I failed my 1 hour glucose test and I have to go back Monday for the three hour test. boo. I was also told that I am anemic and have low vitamin  D, so I will now be taking extra supplements for those. Also my thyroid level is back to being very low again. The endocrinologist  said he would have do something when my levels reach 0.00 my last level was 0.0114. UGH. This week I also had anther sonogram with the specialist and everything still looks good. She is measuring  about a week ahead at 28weeks 4days, 2lbs 12oz (+- 7oz) In other good news we finally completely cleared out the baby's room. It was bad!

How's daddy doing?: Thinks he can get everything done without help, says he wants to paint the baby's room himself along with five billion other projects. (even though my parents have offered to help.) We'll see...

How's K doing?:  The blood vessels all over my body are huge and extremely visible. (your blood volume increases about 50% while you are pregnant) The other day K saw my bare belly and chest and asked me " momma why you got all those cracks?!"

Looking forward to: getting some new clothes/scrubs.

 a little bit of a draft these days.

I told you it was bad!!

How far along?:  28 weeks   

Weight gain: 18.8 total

Cravings: sweets, milk

Maternity clothes:  I've outgrown a pair of my maternity jeans. :( They were from the first pregnancy. I'm sad because #1 they don't fit #2 they were designer jeans. I splurged on them because I figured I would have other children and could use them then. I had no idea my butt would get so big second time around.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: Some braxton hicks. Had the worst case yet of heartburn, felt like I was being stabbed in the chest and back. It just laughed at my tums and Zantac.

Movement: She's my dancing queen.

Miss anything? being able to put my pants and shoes on without it being a process.

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: I failed my glucose tolerance test.  Just by a little, but enough for them to diagnose me with gestational diabetes  (So much for the thinking only the bigger girls got it.) My hormones have been so out of sorts this time around so I'm not too surprised. I now have to check my blood sugar levels four times a day and really limit my sugar and carbs intake. Our family could stand to eat a little healthier, so I guess we could use this as a starting point. Too bad my main pregnancy cravings are sweets!
 The other night we went out to eat and I had a coupon for the restaurant. The only this is that you didn't know what kind it was until the waiter opened the envelope.Wouldn't ya know it was for a free dessert, exactly what I can't have!!!!

How's daddy doing?: Got all the paint supplies, just needs to get started!!

How's K doing?:  He's excited about his baby sister. Each time he asks for something he reminds me that we will need two. one for him and one for the baby sister.

Looking forward to: another sono next week, never gets old seeing our baby girl!

 

Tummy Tracker weeks 25-26

2/22/13

How far along?:  25 weeks   

Weight gain: 15 total

Cravings: Anything, I have a huge appetite. I've never been one to clear my plate, especially the large portions given at restaurants. This week I have had no problem.

Maternity clothes: anything comfy. I've noticed that clothes have really bothered me this pregnancy. Everything is uncomfortable and the textures annoy me. As you can tell from most of my tummy tracker pics I rarely dress up. I have even cropped out the fact that I am wearing pajama bottoms in several of the pictures. Wish I could dress up more but I just can't it's like a sensory overload.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: braxton hicks contractions have slowed down quite a bit, such a relief. I've finally been able to do a few things without feeling like I'm about to go into labor. The heartburn hasn't slowed down any though. I live on tums and now Zantac.

Miss anything? bending over to pick something up. Luckily K is in the "I want to help" stage and I use this to my advantage ;)

Movement:  Still plenty of movement. I love it!

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  I got her bedding in and got some great deals on some smocked dresses.

How's daddy doing?: getting down to business and helping me clear out the baby's room. Listed a million things on Craigslist.

How's K doing?:As I was leaving to go to work K stopped me and shook his pointer finger at me and said " Mom, you be careful with baby sister!"

Looking forward to: Getting a dresser for her room this week.

peek of bedding.

3/1/13

How far along?:  26 weeks   

Weight gain: 18.8 total

Cravings: Ketchup and Capri Sun drinks. I bought some Capri Sun drinks for K's lunch and tried one and now I'm craving them all the time. So random I think.

Maternity clothes:  long sleeved maternity cotton T-shirts and sweat pants most of the time. Luckily I'm a SAHM most days so I can get away with it!

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: Some braxton hicks. Damn heartburn. The back ad hip pain while sleeping is back :(

Miss anything?being able to eat without getting heartburn. It's so bad even water gives it to me.

Movement:  Doing flip flops!!

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  Visit t my regular OB. Heartbeat was 138. Had the dreaded glucose tolerance test.I hope that I pass because I just bought several boxes of girl scout cookies and that would just be cruel.

How's daddy doing?: Truly excited about having a little girl. I love to hear him talk about her.

How's K doing?: This week K is off for Spring break and loving all the mommy and daddy time.

Looking forward to: Seeing little miss again next week at the specialist. OB would like to check cervical length every two weeks since I am one centimeter dilated and still having contractions.

                    26 weeks with Kemper                                           26 weeks with Baby K2

dreaded glucose test.

This is what happens each time I try and get a picture with him. Such a stinker!

A little more cooperative for daddy.

Happy 3rd hearing birthday!!

February 11, 2013 

Three years ago today my baby boy heard his  first sounds  ever through the use of cochlear implants. We always take this day to say thanks to our family, friends, doctors, therapists, and teachers that have helped us along the way. K is doing awesome, far better than we could have ever imagined. If you didn't see his C.I.'s behind his ears you would never think this child was born profoundly deaf. While our journey is still not over, we are forever grateful for the love and support we continue to receive.

To continue his traditional hearing birthday we did our usual big family dinner followed by cake and ice cream.

Kemper insisted on going to the store and picking out his own cupcakes for his "ears"
He also insisted on having his own grocery cart. Thank you Kroger for supplying mini carts, they make shopping so much easier :) When we got to the cashier to checkout I asked him how he was going to pay for them and he replied "With the money in your purse!"

Time to blow out the candles with a little help from his cousin Nolan.

Enjoying his cupcakes and being silly with his cousin Nolan.

My husband and I try and keep it simple just dinner and dessert, but his grandparents can never resist getting him a present.They got him a garbage truck with all the lights and sounds of a real one. It even picks up trash and dumps it! It's such a boy toy & he loved it.

Cheers to many more hearing birthdays!!

Tummy Tracker weeks 23-24

2/8/13

How far along?:  23 weeks   

Weight gain: 13 total

Cravings:  lemonade

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans and a few maternity tops.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: braxton hicks contractions :(    heartburn

Miss anything?  non maternity pants

Movement:  lots!  The hubby can feel them all the time now. Can't wait for K to feel her move around.

Gender: ruffles and bows

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: Had a stressful week with little sleep. K was up several nights with the "scaries" and I was up with our dog Raider, who needed constant care after his emergency surgery for bladder stones :( It was all made better though by getting to celebrate Valentines Day with my two loves.

How's daddy doing?:  seriously getting ready for this baby. He even made calendars with deadlines as to what we need to get done before she gets here!

 How's K doing?: Talking about his baby sister all the time. "when the baby sister comes..."

Looking forward to: getting around to painting her room!

K's card for me on Valentines Day.

Tulips from the hubby. K's valentines for his classmates.

My poor fur baby!

2/15/13

How far along?:  24 weeks   

Weight gain: 15 total

Cravings: waffles and french toast

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans/ pants and a few maternity tops.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: braxton hicks contractions! braxton hicks contractions! braxton hicks contractions! heartburn. heartburn. heartburn.

Miss anything? not waking up 2-3 times at night to use the restroom, so much for that getting better in the second trimester!

Movement:  lots and lots! I don't remember feeling this much movement with K. Part of me prays that it's because she can hear and she's responding to all the noise.

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  Little girl gave us some drama. I began having to many contractions despite resting and drinking plenty of water. Had to see the OB and get a Fetal Fibronectin test and a sonogram to measure the length of my cervix. Luckily my FTT came back negative and my cervix was at the proper length. OB thinks I may just have an irritable uterus,but  will continue to keep an eye on things because of my previous history of preterm labor. 

How's daddy doing?:  relieved that all is well with Little Miss

How's K doing?:  K keeps lifting my shirt to look at my belly button and asking " how are we gonna get her out?"

Looking forward to: The glider for her nursery comes in this week!

  Baby girl 24weeks 4 days, but measuring 25weeks 6 days (90% on growth chart).

I know for sure my dates are correct, so she's just a little big for her age. Her father was 10lb 2oz at birth and I was a little over 6lbs. So average we're looking at about 8lbs. K was 7 lbs 3oz but was 2 weeks early. I can't imagine how big he would have been if he had cooked for two more weeks!