Peek-A-Boo - Where'd Your Mommy Go?

You do love peek-a-boo nowadays - it really gets you chuckling!  And there is NOTHING better than that!  But, I've been hiding from writing on here too...playing a little blog peek-a-boo too.  I should've at least written you a couple weeks ago...when you turned seven months...and now we are a good 2-3 weeks past that!  And here's my excuse.  We've been sooo busy!

First, baby cakes...here's some things that are new for you in your 7th month:

• You can undo your own diaper!
• You have started feeling the hair on your head.
• While sitting on the Bumbo on the counter while we feed you, you found the sink faucet and can turn it on and off!
• You are a regular octo-baby!  Sometimes I feel like you have eight arms and legs reach out for any and everything in your grasping radius!  We have to clear the area before we sit you in your Bumbo on the counter!
• Knows how to fake cough.
• Did not like green beans at all - you basically made yourself gag and threw them up.  I put them in your avocados instead.  Sneaky Mommy!
• You are so easily distracted.  You have started not finishing bottles...I have to feed you as much as you will take and then let you play for a while and then feed you the rest.  And if someone is in the room or the TV is on, forget it, you are paying attention to them and not eating!
• You have started to breath in and out of just your nose real fast and scrunch it up with you are frustrated.  It's really pretty cute (at this point!).
• You can sit up pretty well on your own...but you are nowhere near crawling!
• Took your first plane ride to Illinois at the end of your 7th month.  You did pretty good babycakes!  Thank goodness for the little puff things.  If we fed you those, you were "entertained" for a long time!
• And right about at 7 months you have done much better with strangers holding you.  About a month ago, not so good at it.  At this point, you aren't as overwhelmed in a room with a bunch of strangers talking and in your face.

So, the big plane ride was to go see our family in Illinois for two weeks.  Let me first say, that even though Mama was a little worried how you'd sleep in a big, unfamiliar house, you rocked it baby girl!  We had a time change to deal with as well, and you really stuck to your schedule of sleeping and did just great.  You even went over to Aunt Nikki's for a whole day and took your naps in a pack and play while the rest of us when to the Abraham Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL.  

We did so much in Illinois and had such a great time with all the family and friends we saw.  So many people had never even met you, so you got to meet all kinds of new faces!  Lots of people came over to swim at Pa and MiMi's place, so you got to do some more swimming too.  You really like the water and are pretty comfortable in it.  You have started to realize that you can kick and hit the water with your hands and splash.

A lot of the days in Illinois were HOT and HUMID.  We had a 4th of July cousins reunion for MiMi's side of the family - it was so super hot.  You and I stayed inside this little cabin with some air conditioning and your Sisters got to go and swim in the lake to cool off.  Luckily, all the kids and some of the adults did too.  There were so many in our family there.  The girls really had a great time playing in the "rough" outdoors.  Your Daddy even got to shoot some clay pigeons and fish.  He was in heaven!

All in all, the trip was awesome.  You were a trooper (as usual) and made everyone smile and want to hold you.  I have been really trying to work with you sitting up fully on your own...but that definitely couldn't be practiced in Illinois...too many people to hold you!  =)

Mommy was a happy camper in Illinois - got to see so many family and friends, eat at all my old favorite restaurants, and do stuff with you and the girls around my old stomping grounds!  Your Sisters loved all the green that there is in Illinois too - cornfields, trees, grass - crazy how different things can be in another state!  The houses are just different too - and the girls always love looking at the houses when we are there.

Here's some pictures of our trip:

Kiara had a loose tooth!

You and Grandpa Bud!

You and Grandma Carmie!

You loved the little inner tube.  You just chilled and floated.  =) 

You liked Uncle Ryan a lot this trip - you would be content sitting on his lap!

Kiara could not get enough of you!

You started loving a sippy cup

Your day with the Wollands...we were off to see Lincoln!

Abe Lincoln's house

Lincoln impersonator - but he looked like the real thing!

Wax figures - except for Pa and Kyndall =)

Having fun with Pa

Sisters and Kiara - went to the Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College (where he went to college)

Being GOOFY!

Cousins!

Eating lunch on the last day - love this picture!

Kiara and your Daddy were tickling each other!

Sisters!

Being cute with Pa

And that's about it baby girl.  You are still such an easy going baby.  Your Sisters are still IN LOVE with you and yell "BABY!!!!!" whenever you come into a room.  No one can quite seem to get enough of you!  You love your jumperoo and bounce so high in that thing I wonder if you are going to fly out sometimes!  I just love you.  Period.  You are such a cutie...I can't kiss you enough!

26 Weeks Babycakes!

Okay, little girlie, you are getting bigger and stronger by the day....and I can feel it!  Now if your Cousin Kiara would feel it, that would be perfect!  Everyone here in Illinois has felt you kick now (Pa, Mimi, Aunt Nikki)....but not Kiara yet and she wants to feel you so bad!  You are kicking away right now, the problem is, you are a night owl when it comes to your kicking, and Kiara is already in bed!  We got a couple more days baby girl, so time is short!


I have lots to share this week about Illinois, but first, here's all about you....


You should be around 14 inches long and anywhere from 2 - 2.5 pounds.  We go in next week for an ultrasound, so I can't wait to get your true measurements!


After a month of having your eyelids sealed shut, you now begin to open your eyes again this week. Your eyes are almost completely developed. Your eyes are blue in there in the womb and may change colors later in life. This is true for all races because the pupils do not have their final color until a few months after birth. However, some babies are born with darker or lighter shades of blue. You will continue to put on layers of fat until you are born. You are still lean at this point of the pregnancy though. By the time you are born though, you will assume the typical newborn's plumpness. Your skin is still wrinkled and red, but the fat continues to fill your skin out. 

Finger and toe nails continue to grow and blood vessels start to develop in your lungs to prepare you for life outside the uterus.  By the end of this week, your air sacs will be developed enough to function out here in the real world

Your blood circulation is completely functional. Your umbilical cord system continues to grow and thicken as blood travels with considerable force through your body to nurture you. My placenta is now almost equal in size to you. 

Even though it is still way too soon for you to be born yet, the chance of survival is up to 85% and the chance of survival without severe abnormalities is now 70%.  Your odds are getting better and better!


My feet are swelling on a regular basis...and that trip from AZ to IL really did a number on my feet!  Whew!  You should've seen them after I got off the plane.  Luckily, sleeping at night kind of "resets" them for the next day and then towards the end of the day they are puffy again.


Your Daddy and I flew to IL this past Friday and got to first eat lunch with Pa, Aunt Nikki and your Cousin Vera (Kiara was in school)...then we got to go pick up Kiara at school and surprise her!  She didn't think we would be there yet, so she quickly realized it was your Daddy and I standing there after school let out and was shocked.  Of course, she came and gave us big hugs and we hung out with them for a while until your Uncle Ryan came home and we went to Pa and Mimi's for dinner.  The next day was full of swimming (and sleeping in, your Daddy and I were TIRED)...and getting ready for your shower the next day.  


Speaking of that...your shower was AMAZING!  Did you know that there were 62 people there?  Yikes!  There were so many family and friends and it was a little hectic to try to talk to everyone, but it was so worth it.  See baby girl, so many people love you already!  I wish I had pictures of all the cute clothes and gifts you got too, but I don't.  Just trust me though, you are going to be one well-dressed little girlie!  Your Mimi really outdid herself getting ready for everyone to be there, and then feeding everyone and making sure everyone had a seat even...your Pa was awesome helping with all of that too.  And then your Aunt Nikki planned the event so well too...overall, it was just a great day.  Exhausting, but great.  I'm sure you felt many hands on you throughout the day...lots of belly-touchers and I loved it!  =)


Your Daddy left yesterday and he's busy taking care of your Sisters all by himself back in AZ.  He's such a good Daddy.   I'm really missing him a bunch...but I love that I get to stay here and see even more family and friends.  Like today, I got to see an old friend from grade school, another old co-worker and then I am spending the night with your Aunt Nikki and Cousins tonight...so I got to spend a couple hours with Vera and Kiara before they went to bed.  Still to come this week will be seeing an old college friend and see your great grandmas and grandpa one more time....then Pa and Mimi fly back with me to AZ for a little vacation themselves.


Here are a few pictures I have of the trip....I think I need to get better at taking pictures...I should have a TON more than this!

Sweet girls at the pool

Kiara playing with bean bags after pool time

I think Vera was throwing a bean bag to Mimi in this picture

Your Daddy and Cousins posing while playing bags....and a set of bunny ears too!

Vera was WOUND UP today when I got to their house...the only reason this is a good picture is because she didn't know I was snapping pictures!

Your Aunt and Vera - she's not so happy with me taking pictures anymore!

So, I came up with a game to get her to take a picture with me...I "push the button" first....and then....

...she gets to "push the button".  Whatever works to get her to pose for a picture!

Kiara and her American Girl Doll with the crazy hair!

Posing with their chairs...I painted Kiara's chair years ago, so this trip I got to finally paint a chair for Vera too!

Baby girl, you are kicking away right now in there!  Save some of those to share with your Cousin Kiara tomorrow and the next day, okay?  Love you girlie!

You're a Peach! No, really, you are - at least the size of a small one!

My baby!  You are another week older...and (depending on who you talk to) we are now in our 2nd trimester!  Woohoo!  Some say it doesn't start until next week...others say it started last week...so I'll just use this marker, since it seems most logical.  =)  A lot has happened in this last week!  The girls are out of school for the summer, I got my A1C (average blood sugar measurement for the last three months) back from the doc, and you and I went to Illinois and back!  First, here's what you did this week!

Your fingerprints have formed on your tiny fingertips, your veins and organs are clearly visible through your still-thin skin, and your body is starting to catch up with your head — which makes up just a third of your body size now. If you are a girl, you now have more than 2 million eggs in your ovaries. Wow!  You are almost 3 inches long (the size of a small peach - see, I told you!) and weighs nearly an ounce.

All twenty teeth have formed and are waiting under your gums, while you have begun to practice swallowing by taking in the surrounding amniotic fluid and passing it back in your urine. And you can smile too!!!!  Oh...and you may grow as much as an inch this week!

Your sisters are officially done with school and are starting summer mode!  Megan is taking a cooking class this week and she already made cream puffs...your Daddy and I got to taste them and they were good! We may be on to something here! Kyndall is thinking that she will be running cross country this fall, so she has a whole summer program to follow and has started running already too.  Your Daddy and I just booked a trip with some free Southwest miles to San Francisco in a couple weeks...which I think will be our last little mini-vacation together until you arrive!  Of course, we will have a family trip with the girls later in the summer and go to Colorado...but this one will be our little "babymoon".  =)

I got my blood drawn a week ago to get my hemoglobin A1C measured (just a fancy way of saying "average blood sugar over the last three months").  A non-diabetic person's A1C should be anywhere between 4.5 and 6.5.  My number was 6.5, which I should be happy with, I just am a little bummed because I thought it would be lower than that.  I just put so much work into testing my blood sugar, testing almost every hour, waking up in the middle of the night at least twice, etc. and paying such close attention to all of it that I really thought I'd be around 6.0.  But, what I have to remember is that I am in the "normal" person's range....which means that I have no more greater risks with you than a non-diabetic person and that is definitely something to celebrate.  I am sure I will get it a little lower the next time it's measured...so I'm not overly worried about it.  I have a doctor's appt. on Thursday, so we'll see what the doc says then.  And we get to see you!  Woot woot!  I'm going to call the doc's office tomorrow and see if it's okay to bring the girls with us to the ultrasound so that they can see you live on the big screen too!  Hopefully they let us!

And...as I'm sure you knew and felt...we went to Illinois last week.  Cousin Tom and Jene' got married and it was really a beautiful wedding and I/we got to see so many family members there!  I'm sure you felt all the hands on my barely-there belly!  Not only that, but I had several days with your cousins, Kiara and Vera...lots of good quality pool time with both of them!  Kiara and I listened to your heart beat a lot...she loved it.  Then, we would put the wand on her heart and listen to hers...we are unique and wonderful creations!  Hopefully I will get around to posting a couple pictures from the trip later this week.  The whole time was so much fun...got to spend time with Pa and Mimi, Aunt Nikki and Uncle Ryan...saw Grandma Betty, Grandma Carmie and Grandpa Bud...and then tons of other Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.  They are all very excited to meet you!  The only bad thing about the trip was not having your Daddy and sisters with me.  I missed them so much and it was so good to come home to them yesterday!

I still listen to you on the fetal doppler a couple times a day, which I'm sure you know since you feel me pressing on you!  Your heart rate has gone down to usually around 150-155 now...which it is supposed to do.  It'll probably level off now around 145-150.  You seem to prefer my left side, although you are still swimming around a lot sometimes.  Your heart is loud and strong...I love listening.  Your Daddy missed you while you were gone and listening to your heart beat!

I want you to know what a blessing you are to us.  I pray that God has already tucked His love for Him in your heart so you will grow up with a strong love for the Lord.  I pray that your sisters love you entirely and don't have any jealousy - knowing that we love them just the same and find them so super special too.  I love you baby...can't wait to see you Thursday!

Baby...Let's Start Talking Months Now - Like, THREE Months!!!!

Hi baby!  I am so excited to say that I am 12 week - or three months - along with you!  For some reason three months seems like a huge milestone!  Although I am still in my first trimester...next week is the official move into the 2nd trimester.  You have a lot going on down there in my belly!  Here's just a few things:

You are the size of a plum this week!  Your vocal cords begin to form, while perhaps not quite ready to be introduced to the nearest opera stage, you will use these immediately following the moment of birth. And we can't wait to hear that first cry!  Your precious eyes begin to move closer together - and we wonder if you will have Daddy's green eyes or my blue eyes.  Your eye lids cover your eyes now until around the 7th month.  Your ears also have now shifted to their normal place on the side of the head (yay!).  The most dramatic development this week are your reflexes. Your fingers will soon begin to open and close, your toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and your mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if I prod my abdomen, you will squirm in response, although I won't be able to feel it yet (darn it!). Your intestines have moved farther in to your body (they used to be in the umbilical cord).  Also, your liver begins to function, which is responsible for cleansing the blood, storing nutrients, and providing needed chemicals, this is an important event!  And guess what? You are now at a whopping length: about 2.5 inches and weigh anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce.

We had a busy week with your sisters.  They are almost done with school...and most of their finals are done and over at this point.  They just have a couple more days.  I am off to Illinois tomorrow morning (with you too!), so your Daddy has to hold down the fort.  Luckily, the girls are with him this weekend, so he won't get too bored without you and me.  =)  I am so looking forward to seeing all my family and friends in Illinois!  But, it will be tough to leave your Daddy and sisters.  We will tell you much more about this as you grow up, but we used to live 1600 miles away from each other while we were dating and didn't see each other for weeks at a time...so I guess we can handle 5 days. =)  Then, after I get back next week, we get to finally see you again at the doctor's,  It's been a while...we can't wait to see you again!  Wondering if we will catch an early shot of whether you are a boy or girl.  It defnitely wouldn't be a 100% thing...your "stuff" is still developing until the 14-15th week...but who knows...maybe you'll cooperate!  What we have been able to do is hear your gorgeous little heart beat on the fetal doppler we bought.  Yes, I am addicted.  Usually two times a day I listen to you (well, yesterday was three, but Kyndall wanted to hear you!).  And you are still a mover!  But, you come in nice and clear...which defnitely means you are getting bigger and bigger!  Your heart rate last week was always around 170...and this week it's more like 165..which is normal...you should level off here soon in a couple weeks.

My belly is probably about the same during the day...but watch out...at night, my muscles around you just give up and say "I don't want to hold it all in anymore!".  So, night times are a little more "out there", if you will, than day times.  Here's a 12-week pic...during the day.

12 weeks

Oh...and here's some cutie patootie pics of your sisters goofing around this week with the camera.  Thought you'd like to see their cute faces!  Believe it or not, we were headed out the door to a school event and they were already in the car ready to go...waiting for your Daddy and me!

These are their "we are up to something" faces

Trying to be serious

Not so serious!  =)

Well, baby, it's just you and me taking the flight to Illinois!  Our first trip together...can't wait to show you off to everyone there!

11 Weeks!!!! (and one day, technically)

My sweet baby...we are now at 11 weeks! So much has been going on around here - with you, with your sisters, with me....we've been busy! Here's what's going on with you!

Your crown-to-rump length should be anywhere from 1.25 to 2 inches. Your weight anywhere from 5 - 8 grams at this point. Your growth is phenomenal now and your length will double in the next three weeks. Sorry to say this, but your head is grossly out of proportion to your body and is almost half of the your length. Don't worry, everything will even out soon!


This last week was the last of the embryonic period. From now on, you will be called a fetus (I'll just call you baby though, fetus sounds a too...well...scientific-ish)! Your fingernails appear this week! External genitalia are beginning to show distinguishing features on you and the development of male or female will be complete in three weeks. My placenta's blood vessels increase to provide you with the nutrients and oxygen you need for continued growth. Your ears are gradually moving from the neck towards the sides of your head. Inside of your abdomen, intestines are developing. Because the intestines are so large, some of them project into the umbilical cord and they will return to the abdomen within the next week or two.

At the size of a small lime (Woohoo!  Another graduation on the fruit hierarchy!), you are now able to swallow. The urinary system functions.  And get this...you swallow and urinate the amniotic fluid and the fluid is continually replaced (I guess I could've lived my whole life without thinking about you swallowing your own pee!). You are kicking (and we saw you last week kicking away!) but I cannot feel it yet (darn it!). All vital organs are formed and, for the most part, function normally (How cool is that?  All the hard work is over! Yeah, right.). From now on, they will grow in size and efficiency.

As a preparation for breastfeeding, you have now learned how to swallow. You swallow amniotic fluid in the uterus. Which includes, as we learned above, pee.  Super.

I can defnitely feel you growing!  My tummy's muscles are still sore at night and I think I am getting hungrier too.  Oh, and, your Mommy is growing out of her clothes.  Just in the last week I have really noticed that clothes are becoming an issue.  Thank goodness for babydoll type of shirts and dresses.  But, luckily your Daddy knew of a consignment store that sells used maternity clothes.  And we all cleaned out our closets last weekend and took in our unwanted clothes, so we got a pretty good credit there to use.  I now have some maternity clothes, and am very thankful, but at the same time feel like I shouldn't be in maternity clothes already.  But after sliding on pants with an elastic waistband instead of trying to button those old capris of mine...that feeling quickly goes away in the sheer comfort of the moment!  And I really got some cute maternity clothes too...so that definitely helps!  I rearranged my closet and pulled out clothes that I would still be able to wear through some of you being in my belly...not a lot...but I do have some.  I am so thankful that a lot of the styles right now are A-line, babydoll, blousy shirts and dresses!

Your sisters are busy, busy with their last week or so of school...which means, lots of band concerts and choir concerts for us!  Megan had her band concert last night and your Daddy and I are continually amazed at how incredible a 7th grade band sounds.  They were really good!  I thought I was going to die by the end though because my butt and those bleachers don't mesh too well anymore!  Kyndall has her choir concert tonight and I love those concerts - they have various levels of choirs in the high school that we will hear.  They are always really good too.  And...thank goodness for small blessings...we get to sit on padded seats tonight!  =)  Your Daddy recorded Megan's band and will record Kyndall too...so one day, you'll get to see all of this!

So, of course you know that we listen to your heart beat now with our new toy.  I love it!  We listen at least once a day (okay, maybe I am a little addicted and it's a lot more than once a day!).  You know what I found out about you in the last couple of days?  You are a swimmer!  You swim from one side to another, and flip around.  We will get your heart beat, loud and strong, and then just like that...you are off swimming or turning around and it's gone.  You are already a busy body!  Your Daddy and I are looking into an external 3D/4D ultrasound place (not connected with my doctor's office) that will be able to give us these great pictures and video of you.  They recommend waiting until 26 weeks, which is mid-August.  What's even cooler is that if we set it up ahead of time, we can stream the ultrasound live over the internet, so your grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, etc. can watch no matter where they are!  More to come on that...but these ultrasounds will show you in non-skeletor form, meaning, you will look like the little baby you really are instead!

Oh...and we get to fly to Illinois in a week to see family and go to cousin Jene' and Tom's wedding.  Super excited for this, although Daddy doesn't get to come (or your sisters) so I'll miss them a bunch.  But, I get to spend a ton of time with Mimi and Pa...your cousin's Kiara and Vera and Aunt Nikki and Uncle Ryan - plus see tons of other family members of yours - great grandmas and grandpas too! 

I am just amazed each day with you being in my belly and how relatively easy it's been (granted no morning sickness...that helps!).  But even with the diabetes, so far has been great...lots more to do and think about, but super manageable.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  And I give that glory all to God.  It is truly a miracle that I get to be so lucky to have you with me like this and feel you grow and hear your heart ticking.  I can only imagine how amazing it will be to feel you move.  I love you baby...only two more weeks until your 2nd trimester begins!