The results are in...

and the verdict is that our baby is most definatly a BOY. There was absolutly no mistaking that the little wiggle worm definatly has parts that are masculine, male, boyish. Why is it that my boys are so obviously boys? Maybe next time we just won't find out because it will more than likely be another boy. Guess I just better get used to stepping on random cars/trucks/napping animals and the color blue. At least with a boy, we're saving a ton of money! I'm a bit of a pack rat and have hung on to almost every peice of clothing that has been giving to us or bought from the time Jackson was an infant, so we're set in that area. We have blankets, but I'm still going to make this little guy his own to love and drag around and I may be crazy, but I'm going to be Cloth Diapering this baby so I've got a lot of diapers to make for him. I've got a lot to keep me busy for now and I'm excited to finally get started on my stuff making. Maybe this time I'll be able to figure my baby shoe pattern out :) If anyone has any ideas what else I could make or if you have a request for me to make something for you or the little person in your life, let me know and I'll get on it! I need to keep busy from here until the baby is born so I don't go crazy with the wait. Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Thanksgiving

View from my parent's living room window. Under the tree on the left is the milking cow, Molly.

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to spend the entire week in Montana with my entire family. When we left Wenatchee on the 18th, the weather was mild and around 35-40* F. and when we arrived at my parents farm on the 19th(we stopped in Missoula for the night) the temperature was around -15*F with winds about 20-30mph. Needless to say, the boys and I stayed inside for most of the time. Jeff braved the weather several times to help with the chores that needed done, including milking the cow by hand and corralling the calves. Jackson had been talking about helping Nanny and Papa with the cows the entire week before we left, so he got bundled up a couple times and was able to go and "help" with the milking. He loved it and kept asking to go out again, even if it was dark and the wind was blowing hard enough to blow him away. Thankfully, we were able to see the cow out one of the living room windows, so he was able to watch from there a few times when it was time for the others to go out. Owen stayed inside with me most of the time, but by the end of the week, it had warmed up just enough for him to go out without freezing for a few minutes at a time.

Owen and Uncle Aaron sledding

Snuggling in the warm house while watching a movie

Because of the terrible weather, many of the extended family members we usually see at Thanksgiving weren't able to make it, so the crowd was smaller, but just as much fun as always. Because all my siblings were home, we attempted to take some family pictures. We got a few good ones and we got some pretty funny ones, but we weren't able to get all the ones we hoped for. Jen and her fiancee had to go all the way back to Billings and it was already dark, so we did a whole family picture and sent them on their way.

Our drive home was the clearest and the prettiest we have ever seen and we made great time. The roads were clear and dry for most of the way and the only place it was even the least bit slick was going over Roger's Pass in Montana, and even that wasn't bad. There was some snow on the road, but within 5 miles of the summit it had melted and was dry all the way down. Thank goodness for a Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. I am so grateful He takes care of us and keeps us safe when things aren't looking very safe. I hope you had a safe Thankgiving as well and I will update you after my next Dr appointment and let you know when we get to find out if our little bundle of joy is a boy or girl :)

This was almost the best we could get of the 4 1/2 of us :)

My whole family, L-R clockwise

Morgan, Jennifer, Chris, Aaron, Jeff, Nathan, Me, Liz, Jackson, Owen, Dad, Rachel, Mom and Justin

Blood test results!

So it turns out that my funky white blood cell count was just due to the fact that I was indeed very sick when they drew my blood the first time and they came back completely normal this time. Thank goodness. As for my food allergy panel, it looks as if I'm going to have to avoid wheat (but not nessecarily gluten), peanuts, sesame seeds, walnuts(which I don't like anyways) and scallops and hopefully I will start feeling better. I'm not allergic to any of these things, but I am highly sensitive to them and avoiding them will hopefully help me to feel better. Yay for answers! Now to find some replacements for wheat flour...

Appointment #2

Ok, so this is try #3 with this post, so lets hope 3 times the charm. My internet keeps quitting on me for some reason, so I'll make it quick. I took both boys to my appointment with me this month even though I knew Jeff wouldn't be able to come with. I was a bit nervous because my boys get into everything when we go somewhere new for any period of time. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe from their little fingers. Anyways it went a lot better than I expected and I am happy to report they were both good the entire time. Jackson actually stayed in the waiting room and quietly played with a wooden train set the entire time I was in the exam room. Owen stayed in the stoller and with me, which was as it always is, he wanted to get out and explore. When he was released, exploring is what he did, for a little while at least. It wasn't long and he was back in his restraints.
As for me, so far everything but my white blood cells look good. We aren't sure what's up with them, so they are being retested and if they are still funky when the results come back I'll have to go to a hematologist, or blood specialist, to figure out what the deal is. I'm not sure if it's good or bad or what at this point, so I'm just waiting to see what comes back. Because I've still been feeling not well lately, and I know it's not related to pregnancy, I'm also having a full food allergy pannel done to see if we can pin-point exactly what is making me feel like crap. Baby was hiding so we didn't get to hear the heartbeat for long enough to measure it, but we heard it and that's all that really matters. Anyways, I think that is all I have to report for now. I'll try and let you know what my test results say when I get them but keep me in your prayers until then and just hope that they came back weird because I had a cold and felt terrible at my last appointment. Love you all and hope you are well.

Hair Cut and Pictures

My sweet little baby's curls have all gone bye-bye :( I don't know if I have any good pictures of them on here, but it was definatly time for a hair cut. He would wake up with a literal poof of fuzz on the back of his head that was usually calmed down by his milky covered fingers during breakfast. He definatly liked to play with his hair because it was long enough to play with. All sorts of food stuff went into it and I was nearly tempted to bathe him every single night just because of it, but every other day does just fine :) Now his hair is short and it isn't as soft and he doesn't have ringlets sticking out the sides of his head, but he is still darn stinking cute.

Before haircut. Look at those curls! And the poofiness!

After his hair cut.

The beautiful curls are all gone :(

We can tell his hair is still going to be really curly, which is something I was a little worried about. I've seen little boys and girls with beautiful curls until they get their first haircut, and then the curls just go away. I just love curly hair on babies, don't you? Anyways, here's a few overdue pictures. Enjoy!!

Apparently Bananas with ketchup is pretty good. At least these two think so. Eeeeww!

Cheese!

Dipping it

Ew.

This boy loves his ties.

 

Where's Owen? He's figured out how to put on his own shirt and can occasionally take it off too. Sometimes he even manages to get his pants off.

Boo!

Announcement!!

Hello my loved ones. Now, this is one post I have been purposely putting off and therefore I do not consider it procrastinating. There is an actual reason why I haven't posted sooner, so I know you'll all forgive me, as you have done in the past :) This last week has been a bit of a rough one for me physically. Between being fairly nausiated to having a terrible cold, I've been verging on miserable, but I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel. At least for the cold. The nausia, on the other hand, may be here to stay for a while longer. Yes, it is morning sickness. I had my first doctors appointment yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat, but because I'm seeing a midwife this time, I don't think I'll be getting ultrasounds unless I or the baby need one to make sure everything is alright. The heartbeat is about 164 bpm and I'm around 8 or 9 weeks, which puts me due in early May. Knowing me and how my other babies have been, I have no illusions that this one will be on time or early, so I'll probably end up with either an anniversary baby (our anniversary is the 12th) or a birthday that he/she gets to share with an uncle and a cousin on the 10th. Obviously I'm hoping for a girl, but I think I might come to terms eventually if it turns out to be a boy. At least we have all the stuff already, but I'm a bit girl crazy right now. I need a bit more pink and purple and a few more ruffles in my life. I'm craving red meat all day and Jeff thinks I may be slightly anemic. My bp was lower than it normally is, 90/60 rather than 120/70, but that could be because I've been so sick with this darn cold. So far my nausia hasn't been too bad, but this cold has been overpowering any affects it has had, but now that the cold is starting to subside some, my stomach is churning. Whether it is still the grossness from the cold or something else, only time will tell. I'll try and keep you updated with all that is going on. Good luck and keep safe. I love you all.

Home again...

Once again we've just returned from a wonderful trip to Montana, although it seems we took the bad weather with us only to bring it back to Washington again. The weekend was supposed to be the perfect temp, highs in the 80's, lows in the 70's, but instead I don't think it got above 65 the entire time we were there. Thank goodness we didn't actually go camping, even though we slept in my parent's 5th wheel. Despite the chill, I think we all enjoyed ourselves.

Jackson was outside as much as I allowed him to be, which was pretty much all day every day except Sunday. I got a call from my brother one of those days asking if I knew where Jackson's shoes were. Apparently he'd wandered down to the shop in his socks even though I'd just told him to put his shoes on before he went back out. Silly boy. Even though it was pretty muddy, his socks weren't in too bad of shape. A little dirty, but not completely ruined as I expected.

Jeff was out with the guys doing target practice or trying to help where he could. I rarely saw him any time other than first thing in the morning, when it was time to eat and when the rest of the guys came in for the night. I'm so glad I packed some grungy-er clothes for him because he got filthy doing all his manly-man things.

Owen entertained himself chasing my mom's chi-weiner(dachound/chihuahua, but mostly a wuss) around the house and giggling. Oh and he got into EVERYTHING! I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I found him behind my dad's recliner with a pile of movies and a portable dvd player he'd found, trying to watch a movie, yet when we'd put one in for him, he'd be off to do something new in 10 seconds. What a silly little boy. And so busy!

I mostly just hung out with the girls, attempting to help with whatever needed done around the house, or with the many quilt projects that were going on or sneaking in a few minutes of uninterrupted reading. I finished to book I started the last time we were there and figured out what I'm going to do for Owen's quilt. I was even able to raid my mom's fabric stash for some fabric that will hopefully work with what I already have.

We had the camera with us, but my mind has been a jumble of too many things that I need to get done, and because I somehow become the offical photagrapher when we go anywhere, it was only taken out once or twice. I hoped we would be able to get some family pictures done, but because Jeff was gross the whole time and it was either windy, rainy or just plain cold until the last day we were there, we never got the chance to. It didn't help that I planned for warm weather and we ran out of long pants for the boys to wear and all the had left were shorts. At least we had some long pants so Jackson could play to his hearts content. We are all happy to be home now, but we seem to have brought a bug home with us. Poor Owen has a runny nose and sore throat and is just feeling yucky and I'm heading in the same direction. Yuck. Anyways, I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend too! Till next time :)