Christmas festivities

We had a wonderful Christmas this year with lots to celebrate!  Payton is convinced that Santa came to his house and had lots of questions about him and how he makes his deliveries.  He was very concerned that the presents might get wet when it rained or snowed.  He was also worried for houses without Christmas lights, because he thinks that the only way that Santa can find your house is if you have lights.  His little mind just never stops!   We started out the fun the weekend before Christmas by spending the entire day baking cookies and Christmas goodies.  Then, Justin was lucky enough to have that Sunday off of work, so we went to Union Station and saw the Holiday Express train and lots of model trains.  It was a big hit!  And Santa was even there!  We even drove around that weekend and looked at lots of Christmas lights.  On Christmas Eve it started snowing like crazy (and didn't stop for 3 days), so the boys and I hung out at home.  After dinner they got into their Christmas PJs and picked out cookies for Santa.  Payton went to bed better then he ever has!  He woke up at 2am, yes, 2am and asked if we could open presents!!  I said no, now go back to sleep!  Around 6:30 we woke up for good and saw all of the presents that Santa brought.  The boys had a faboulous time!  Easton even seemed to enjoy everything.  Payton was so appreciative, it was very sweet.  He helped Easton open all of his presents and showed him how everything worked!  Then Justin and Payton went out to shovel a  bunch of snow.  (One of the things that Santa brought was a sled and a little shovel!)  I think justin wanted to rest, but Payton really wanted to go and shovel snow!  So out they went.  We didn't plan on seeing my family for Christmas until next weekend because my sister had planned to go to Iowa.  But, with the near blizzard conditions, she made the wise decision to stay in KC.  So, we decided that why not, we could get together that night!  Moms house is about 6-10 blocks away and we almost didn't make it!  The snow removal around here is pretty pathetic!  After a wonderful evening there we went home and crashed!  I spent the next two days with the boys just playing and hanging out all weekend!  It continued to snow all day Saturday, so they went out Saturday night and shoveled some more snow.  When they were done, Payton wanted to keep shoveling, so they decided to head over to my moms and do her driveway as well, (and I think Justin wanted left overs!!)  I feel like I am in Iowa with all of the snow we are getting.  We have lived here 9 years, and don't ever remember seeing this much.  And it looks like it is going to stay for a while, so it is a good thing we have lots of new toys to play with, because I think we will be staying home a lot!!

We are now looking forward to a very low key New Years.  Payton is learning about it and resolutions at school and he just informed me today that he learned at midnight on the last day of December you have to celebrate the new year.  So now I have an odd feeling that he will want to stay up??! 

The week of extremes: Birthdays to heart surgery

The past seven days has had the ultimate in extremes.   I don't really even know where to start, so I am going to just go in order.  Last Thursday, my sweet adorable Payton turned 5 years old!  I can not believe it!  How can he already be 5!!  He wanted a spongebob theme, so we made cupcakes for him to take to school.  Then after school some family came over and we celebrated his birthday with an ice cream cake!  He is VERY excited to be 5!  He will tell you all of the things he can do (or thinks he can do) now that he is 5!  He seems so grownup now.   Five is one of those big birthdays! This was the first year he had a 'friend' party.  His party was scheduled for Sunday (it was scheduled before we knew when Eastons surgery was).  So we spent a lot of time on Saturday preparing fo the party and getting all of the favors and such together.  His party with his friends was at a rec center and it was a lot of fun.  I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.  They got to color spongebob pictures, have cake, ice cream and juice boxes then go in the gym and run obstacle courses and just have lots of fun!  He had a great time turning 5 and thank you to so many people who made it so special. 

On Monday was the dreaded surgery for Easton.  In case you don't know, I will give a quick run down of the back story.  A little over a month and a half ago, I took him in to the doctor over the weekend for a minor ear infection.  They detected a heart murmer.  Which usually doesn't mean much and they are actually pretty common and most of the time means nothing.  We followed up with our pediatrician and he confirmed the murmer and also said that usually they are 'innocent' murmers that lots of people have.  He said though that we woudn't know unless we followed up with a pediatric cardiologist.  So, we did that and right away he knew that this was not nothing.  After a few hours and lots of tests later, it was confirmed that Easton had a congential heart defect called patent ductus arterious or PDA.  Basically there is an opening that is supposed to be open in a babys heart while they are in utero, and it is supposed to close after birth.  For some reason his did not.  It causes too much blood to flow through certain parts of the heart and causes extra stress on the heart and lungs.  His left side of his heart was already slightly enlarged and would continue to get larger without getting fixed.  If left untreated, he could have heart and lung failure.  So it had to get fixed sooner rather then later.  They scheduled the appt and we had to wait a month for the surgery.  It was a very long month and I am glad that i had Paytons birthday to focus on.  We had to keep Easton isolated from everyone for 4-5 days before surgery to make sure that he didn't get exposed to any germs or illinesses before surgery.  So he didn't get to leave the house or even go to Paytons party.  :-(

Monday was the surgery and it lasted a few hours.  He did great and the doctor was able to fix the defect via a catheter put in through the vein in his groin.  It was a long and stressful day, but we are very glad it is over.  They wanted to monitor him overnight and do some tests in the morning to make sure that the device they put in his heart stayed in place.  We were able to come home early Tuesday afternoon.  So now Easton and I are just hanging out at home the rest of the week.  I am so grateful that we have such a wonderfull Childrens Hospital here in KC.  They were truly wonderful.  And thank you to everyone who has been thinking of us over the past month or so.  I am overwhelved by the amount of calls, emails, cards, text messages, etc.  We are so lucky to have so many caring people in our lives. 

 

We are now looking forward to Christmas.  I haven't had a chance to think much about it yet, so I better hurry up and get on that!  Payton is very excited for Santa to come and thanks to a website I found, he received a personalized letter in the mail from Santa Claus!  He loves christmas lights and gets very excited to drive around and see them.  This will be an extra special Christmas this year now that Easton is here as well! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Halloween 2009!

I do not have a lot of time for a big update, so I uploaded a bunch of pictures instead!  The boys had a good Halloween!  In the words of Payton, "Halloween is the BEST day ever!!"  We had a party at school on Friday morning and then in the afternoon we went trick or treating at my work.  They make a big production out of it and there are tons of kids and candy there!  Then on Saturday Payton patiently waited all day to go trick or treating that night! 

We have been keeping busy with lots of work (mostly me) and enjoying lots of family time.  Justin has actually had a few weekend days off, so we are soaking them up before he starts working like crazy for the holidays.  We have also been really busy watching Iowa football!  GO HAWKS!  We think Easton must be a good luck charm!  He has never seen Iowa lose!  What a perfect year to have a child with the middle name Kinnick! 

Payton has been busy learning how to read some more words and is really into drawing and coloring.  He also really like to cut things out and either glue or tape them to something else. :-)   He he anxiously waiting for his birthday and christmas.  Easton is really into his hands.  For some reason he LOVEs to have his hand in his mouth.  If he could fit them both in there at the same time I think he would!  He are going to start feeding him cereal followed by baby food this weekend, so I am sure that will be interesting!

Fall is here!

The last few days we have got to spend a lot of quality time indoors...beause it has been freezing outside!!   Who knew October could be so cold!

The boys are both doing great.  Payton is done with soccer now for the year and I think he really enjoyed it.  So I am pretty sure we will sign him up again in the spring.  He has been busy with school and is looking forward to Halloween.  They have learned quite a few songs about fall and Halloween, so he has been singing them a lot.  He has also learned the I-O-W-A cheer and does that when we are watching football games!

Easton had his 4 month check up last week and is now 15 lbs 6 ounces and 25 1/4 inches.  The doctor was impressed as to how 'social' he is.  He babbles a ton and does not stop smiling or laughing.   He had to get a few more shots though this visit which he was not thrilled about.  In December they both have doctors appointments and both will get shots, so I am not looking forward to that appt.  He is doing great at daycare and just loves his teachers.  He is already starting to become a flirt I think!

Payton and Easton still completely adore each other.  Payton is very protective of his little brother and is always telling us what Easton does and doesn't want!  On a few occasions after I have put them both to bed, I have found Payton in Eastons room.  He is usually  standing by the crib trying to cover him up and usually holding his hand.  It is very heartwarming.  I am anxious to see how he feels when Easton is crawling all over his Legos though!

Reality check...

This past week I had to get back to reality and go back to work.    It was very hard to leave as I hadn't been away from Easton hardly at all in 12 weeks.  But, it has been okay and I am reassured knowing that he is well taken care of and his teachers all adore him.  In fact, I think he is going to get pretty spoiled!  Payton was so excited for Easton to start day care, that he will leave his PreK class and go check on him a few times throughout the day!  Things have been very busy since going back to work though.  Evenings are kind of a blur as there is so much to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

Payton is really starting to connect with Easton much more and truly adores him.  I think because Easton will now respond to him and he loves to watch Payton and smile ang giggle at him.  Easton is so smiley!  He will pretty much smile at anything, but LOVES ceiling fans!  It is so funny.  He will actually laugh at loud at them! 

Payton started soccer last weekend and told me that "Soccer is awesome!"  He has a couple of friends from school on his team so I think that helps!  We have another game this weekend, so hopefully he still thinks its awesome!!  PreK has also started back up, so that means homework, projects and lots of learning!  I have looked at their daily lesson plans and they work on a ton of stuff everyday.  It is no wonder he is exhausted at night!  He will be more then ready for kindergarten nexxt year.

Today we went to a large park with my mom and Lindsey and Kellen and had a Labor Day picinic!  We had so much fun!  We ate a lot, and played frisbee, and catch and walked on some trails and even saw some deer close up!  Payton had a blast running around all afternoon and Easton loved to lay on a blanket under a tree.   All in all it was a great day!

Trip to Chicago with a stop in the QCs

Yesterday we just got back from a vacation to Chicago with a stop in the Quad Cities along the way!  It was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves.  I can not believe everything that we accomplished!!  I will give a rundown of the highlights!

Last Friday we left Kansas City and headed for Davenport.  We went to the Mississippi Valley Fair and Payton loved it!  On Saturday I got together with some friends for dinner and drinks.  Then on Sunday we headed to Chicago.  We went straight to Navy Pier and rode on the huge ferris wheel.  On Monday we woke up early and headed downtown for a tour of Wrigley Field (I had gotten Justin tickets for a tour for his birthday this past summer).  The tour was a lot of fun and it was really neat to listen to all of the history.  After our tour we went to the Field Museum and the Aquarium.  Payton really enjoyed the dinosaur bones!  Then, after they closed we went to Millennium Park, which is a nice park right downtown with lots of neat sculptures and such.   It was a very productive and exhausting day!  Tuesday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which was one of the big highlights!  There was so much to see and do there and tons of things for Payton to play with.  We stayed until the last possible minute and could have spent a few more hours there!  After the museum we drove around to check out Chinatown and Michigan Avenue and then went out to eat and had some authentic Chicago style pizza.  It was yummy!  Then on Wednesday we checked out and started the 10 hour drive home!  The drive actually wasn’t bad and we made a few stops along the way to play.

So overall we had a great trip, but it is always good to be home.  (Except for unpacking and the mounds of laundry that I am still doing)!  

 

Easton 2 months

Last week Easton had his 2 month checkup and shots and it doing great.  Here are his stats:

Height: 23 inches, 50% (19 inches at birth)

Weight: 12lbs, 3 oz, about 60% (8 pounds, 5 ounces at birth)

In comparison, Payton was 11 pounds, 6 ounces and 22 1/2 inches at two months.

He is getting to be so much fun!  He smiles alot and is really starting to get a personality.  And, he even started sleeping through the night this week! 

 

Easton at 2 months:

Not much new....

I don't have anything super exciting to report on, so i uploaded a bunch of pictures instead! (Easton Kinnick and Summer albums) One of the few highlights of the last couple weeks is that Payton got a trophy at his last TBall game!  It was an interesting season as he was really not interested in it all when he started, but by the end of the season he really seemed to enjoy it and understand the game a little more.  Another highlight is that my Grandma flew up from Florida just to meet her newest Great Grandson!  She sure doesn't act like she is 86 years old!!  Last week the four of us went to Crown Center and shopped at the Crayola store and ate at Fritzs.  It is an old fashioned burger place where they bring you your food on a train.  So Payton always enjoys that!  Then we went to a new place called the College Basketball Experience and Hall of Fame and Justin and Payton had a blast!

Easton is doing great and becoming quite smiley!  He has some reflux issues, but once we got the proper meds and all of that worked out, he has became so happy!  He is even starting to make a noise which sounds like a laugh.  So he has been really fun to interact with.  He has his two month appt next week, so we will then see how much he has grown!

 

  

 

 

Busy, Busy!

We have been busy, busy, busy lately!!  The boys are both doing great and we are adjusting to our new life with a newborn in the house!  Life sure is different with two kids around!

Easton:  It is hard to believe that he is almost a month old!  Four weeks ago today he was born!  He has already changed so much.  When he was born he looked so much like Payton, and now he is starting to look like his own little person.  He is awake so much more and getting more expressive with each day.  At his one-week checkup he was at 8lbs 3 ozs, just 2 ounces shy of his birth weight.  They usually like them to be back at their birth weight by two weeks, so they said he was doing great and doesn’t need to go back until his 2 month checkup.  So far he has been a really good baby, he only really fusses when he is hungry or has gas pains.  He loves to take a bath and to curl up on our chests to nap. 

Payton:  Payton just finished his first two weeks of swimming lessons this year and will do two more weeks later this month.  He just loves swimming.  Our pool in our subdivision is finally finished and he and Justin go there all of the time.  He has enjoyed being a big brother and likes to help me with Easton.  

What we have been up to:  Easton has had a pretty eventful first couple of weeks!  A couple of weekends ago, uncle Jeremy came down for a visit and we went to Paytons Tball game.  Then, last weekend we had a birthday party for one of Paytons friends at the Childrens Farmstead.  Last week we attended a Royals game.  The league that Payton plays ball for had a special night at the Royals where we could get discounted tickets, so we couldn’t pass up a chance to go!  This past weekend we went to Iowa for our annual 4^th of July trip.  We had a WONDERFUL time!  Payton had so much fun.  He actually sat in the driveway when we got home and told me he was going to sit there until we went back!  He loves to stay in hotels, so he thought that was a blast.  The first day we went and saw Grandpa Gene so he could meet Easton and see Payton again.  Later that day we went to my friend Erins house and some of my friends and their kiddos came over.  It was great to see them and watch the kids play together.  On the 4^th, it rained all day, so the fireworks in Dixon got postponed.  We were so bummed, but we went to Dixon anyways and met up with some family.  It was great to hang up with all of them and I don’t know if I have ever seen Payton have so much fun.  Luckily they had bought some fireworks, so we still got to see a little bit.  The boys both did great on the trip.  Payton watched movies or played his video games the entire trip and Easton pretty much slept the whole trip.  Preparing to go though was a huge task!  I forgot how much stuff you need to take with you when you have a new baby!!  I am thinking we will not be taking as many trips as we normally do for a while!

 

Now we are home and I am looking forward to some quite time and enjoying my time off of work with my family.  Next week my grandmother from Florida is coming up to meet her newest great grandson! 

 

(Updated albums: Easton Kinnick and Summer 2009)

 

Easton Kinnick Schulte

He is finally here!  We have waited a VERY long time for this day!  He was born on Tuesday, June 9 at 12:34pm.  He was 8 pounds and 5 ounces and 19 inches long.  Everything with delivery went pretty smooth.  We went in Monday night to be induced first thing Tuesday morning and ended up going into labor during the night.  So I never needed the pitocin the next day.  We had a few issues with the epidural (it stopped working completely for about 1 1/2 hours) and had to be redone, but other then that, it all went very well.  (Not fun at all during that 1 1/2 hours).

We are home now and doing great.  He sleeps alot and we have to wake him up to eat.  Which is the other thing he does a lot of! 

Payton is doing great.  The first day he came to see us at the hosptial he was pretty reserved and shy.  I think he was completely overwhelmed by the entire situation.  But by the next day he was totally different.  Payton has always been like that.  It takes him a little while to warm up to things and he has to do it on his own terms.  He was pretty funny the next day at the hospital.  I was up and walking around and he must have noticed that I still didn't look like my old self, because he said, "Why is the baby back in your belly."  LOL!  I had to tell him that he was out of my belly and it will take mommy a while to look normal again.

Now that we are home, Payton is very possessive of Easton.  If we are talking to loud, he tells us that we have to whisper as to not wake him up.  Or, if Easton is fussing, Payton will run up to him and tell him that it is okay, because his big brother is here.  He also like to sing him songs and read to him his books.  He has decided that he does not like the dirty diapers though!  If I am changing one, Payton will walk around holding his nose and start gagging!  He can be pretty dramatic when he wants too!

 

I am really looking forward to being home for the next 12 weeks and bonding with Easton and geting to spend more time with Payton.  I know it is going to fly by and be over before I know it.  So I am trying to treasure every possible moment with my boys.  

 

I will try and add posts and pictures frequently, but it may not be as often as I would like because we are kind of walking around in a sleep deprived stuppor around here!

Waiting and waiting and waiting.....

The house is spotless, the bags are packed, nursery all ready, now we sit and wait.   I don't wait patiently very well.  So, I have scoured the house and painted lots of odds and ends things!  I did find out last week though that I will not go past my due date.  So if this little guy doesn't come on his own by then, I will be induced.  So now I at least have a final day!  I am more then ready! We are just ready to meet him and start our new family of 4. 

The nice warm weather though has kept us busy lately and kept our minds off of waiting.  The new pool in our subdivision opened last weekend, so we got a chance to go and Payton loved it!  He loves to play in the water.  Its a good thing too as he starts swimming lessons again this year in two weeks.  He also had his first TBall game this saturday.  They look so cute in their uniforms!  They are all so little! The games are interesting because there is no score, and no outs.  Each child bats each inning and even if they get out, they get to stay on the base.  So I don't know if you can really call it a game, but it is pretty amusing.  Payton did really good the last practice, but had problems paying attention at the game.  It was hard for the kids though because it was hot (94 degrees) and they had never played in a game setting before.  So we will see what happens next weekend.  I have a feeling he and daddy will be practing some more this week.  I have still been busy working and will continute to work through next week. 

 

I probably will not have another post until after this little guy arrives!  So then I should have lots of updates and pictures!

 

( I have updated lots of albums recently, I think the Summer 2009, Spring 2009, Pregnancy and Ultrasounds and Belly picts).

35 weeks and spring time fun!

We are now just past the 35 week point!  Which means that there is less than 5 weeks to go.  And if I happen to go into labor anytime after the next week and a half or so, they will not try and stop it!  I am now going to the doctor once a week.  We have completed some refresher childbirth and breastfeeding classes and Payton has taken his sibling class.  It was nice to go to these refresher courses.  Even though we have gone through it before, it was nice to hear some things again and from a  different perspective.  Payton did great at the sibling class.  I see a teachers pet in my future!  He was very into the class and answered all of the teachers questions, and even a bunch that she didn't ask! This week we had an appointment at the hospital to get preregistered and get a lot of paperwork filled out.  So it looks like we are almost ready!  The next thing on our list is to pack our bags!  Not only do I need to pack a bag for Justin and myself, but I also need to pack one for Payton!  He will be staying with Grandma Joy while we are in the hospital.  She will be taking him to/from school and to visit us at the hospital.   We really want to keep his life as normal as possible during this transtion period.  Luckily, my mom knows our routine and his schedule and the rules that we expect him to follow.  So, that takes a huge amount of stress off of our shoulders by knowing that he will be able to follow pretty much the same routine with her.  It is going to be crazy enough for him having a sibling after being an only child for 4 1/2 years, we don't want to also make things chaotic for him at home.  He is still very excited to have a baby brother and talks about him constantly!  The other day he told me that he was going to teach his brother to go potty in the potty, but since he would be small he would have to hold him over the potty so he didn't fall in!

 

Besides getting ready for baby, we have been enjoying the nicer weather.  We have been able to play outside a lot.  Payton starts TBall practice next week, so I am sure that will be interesting!  Justin is thrilled and went and bought him a bat and a fancy tee.  He can hit pretty well, but is not really into listening to the directions.  So lets hope he does better with the coach then with daddy!  He has also been really into playing school lately.  He will 'read' to us, the cats, or his animals and even call on us as if we are in class. 

 

This is Payton sort of playing basketball (the neighbors were mowing, so sorry for the load noise):

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

 

Disney on Ice and 31 week checkup

This past weekend my mom and I took Payton to Disney on Ice!  Payton really enjoyed seeing all of the characters and mom and I enjoyed the ice skating and seeing Payton having so much fun!  Payton even got to try cotton candy for the first time!  Then we spent the rest of the day with mom running lots of errands and doing some shopping.  We even met daddy for lunch and stopped for ice cream!  Then on Sunday I had some grocery shopping to do so Payton and Grandma colored easter eggs so I could get my errands done a little quicker!  It is getting more difficult to lift Payton up and in the shopping cart these days, so it is sometimes less exhausting to just go by myself!

I had my 31 week checkup yesterday and everything was great.  My blood pressure was back to normal, so it must have just been a fluke last time.  It was a very uneventful appointment and my doctor said that boring is good!!  We are taking Payton to a sibling preparation class next week which should be interesting!  We get to go on a kid oriented tour of the birthing center as well so that way when he comes to see mom at the hospital he is a little more prepared and hopefully he won't be scared.

I do think that baby boy #2 is going to be a wonderful soccer player though!  I have been getting some huge kicks!  Some are quite painful!  He must sleep most of the day and then by midafternoon he is very active and usually is well into the night!  When Payton sees my belly move, which it does often, he says it is his brother trying to get out!  He is getting very concerned that he wants to come out now.  I told him soon, very soon!

29 weeks and scarlet fever!

Now that I am well into my third trimester I am seeing the doctor every 2 weeks.  (It is quickly approaching!)  Todays visit was overall good, but my blood pressure was a little higher then normal.  So, I am suppossed to take it easy the next two weeks and see if by my next appt it is back to normal.  Basically I am suppossed to rest a lot and make sure when I sit I have my feet elevated and try and stay stress free, etc...  So, hopefully two weeks of slowing it down a little bit will help!  Other than that everything is going good.  I am starting to get to that pretty uncomfortalbe stage where sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time doesn't really happen anymore and sitting for too long gets difficult.  I remember this stage with Payton as well, but I think it was a little bit later.  Or maybe it is pregnancy brain that makes me forget all of that stuff!    The nursery is coming along and close to finished.  I hope to (or I hope Justin to) get the curtains hung in the next day or so and then I will post some pictures.  I still need to get some accessories, but then it is pretty much done!  All of his clothes are hung and folded and ready to wear!   We just preregistered at the hospital and in April we are taking a refresher childbirth class and we are taking Payton to a sibling class, so then we are really on the home stretch!!

 

Payton has been doing great, except for two weekends ago he came down with scarlet fever!  I was in panic when they told me that, I didn't think people got that anymore, but they resassured me that scarlet fever is just strep throat that has a rash with it.  They said it is very common among young children and it goes away with antibiotics.  Two Saturdays ago he took a  really long nap and woke up with 102.4 fever, so we did the motrin and he seemed to perk up a bit.  Later that night he complained of a sore throat and a head ache and the next day was obviously sick.  So I took him in to the doctor on Sunday and they said he had strep with a rash (scarlet fever) and an ear infection!  No wonder he didn't feel good.  I found out that two other kids in his class had the same thing the week before, so he must have got it from them.  It is highly contagious.  It made for a very long couple of days at home. (He stayed home from school on Monday).  We basically didn't leave the house for 3 days except for short little trips.  He only wanted to cuddle with mom and watch movies.  So he has been a big time mommys boy since then.  He is now finishing up the antibiotics and is much better then he was and we are finally starting to get caught up on everything that didn't get accomplished that weekend. 

This is Payton all curled up with his stuffed animals watching TV when he was sick:

 

Other than being sick, he has been doing great and sometimes just melts my heart by the things he says.  The other day we had gotten home and it was dark so the stars were out.  He insisted on standing in the driveway and told me whenever he saw the stars he had to make a wish.  So he said he wished for all the flowers to grow and a heart so he could give them to mommy!  I was almost in tears!    Also, Grandma Joy had been in Florida for two weeks so we were looking after her kittys and her house.  Payton was very concerned about them and when we went over there he had to go and tell each kitty not to be scared that Grandma was gone, because we were here to make sure they weren't scared!   He  also made sure we drove by her house at least once a day to make sure that it was okay!   I don't know where he comes up with some of this stuff, but it is so sweet!!

27 week update

Yesterday was my 27 week appointment and things are still going smoothly.  Baby boy is still measuring right on target.  We got to have another quick peek at him via ultrasound to reconfirm that he is for sure a boy and he was not shy!  It is very hard to believe that I am already in my 3rd trimester!  I will now be going to the doctor every 2 weeks!   I have made up for the weight that I lost at the beginning and am right on target for weight gain.  Even though it has all came in the last two months!!  I am starting to get more uncomfortable, especially by the end of the day.  And simple tasks like giving Payton a  bath are becoming a little more difficult.  But overall, I still feel pretty good.  We did a little traveling lately to visit a few family and friends because I knew that sitting in a car was going to get more uncomfortable the closer I got to my due date, so we wanted to get all of the trips out of the way earlier rather than later!  We finally have decided on a bedding set which is a huge relief for me!  I can now start accessorizing his room! 

 

Payton is becoming so funny and has apparently forgotten that he is only 4!  He now prefers to watch Hannah Montana and iCarly and likes to listen to songs from HSM (High School Musical for all of you non parents) and the Jonas Brothers!  I have no idea what happened to my little cartoon watching boy, but now he is a big boy (or so he thinks).  He even asked Justin if we had ice cream the other night and Justin told him that we were out and Paytons response was, "That is so not cool."   I about died!  He must come up with this stuff from other kids at school.  A lot of his classmates will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and I know he is sad that he can't go yet.  They just had kindergarten roundup, so that has been the topic alot and he wants to go with them.  I have just signed him up for TBall for this summer and I plan on signing him up for soccer in the fall.  He will also have swimming lessons this summer as well!  Luckily I will be home on maternity leave so I can keep up with his busy schedule!!

 

BTW--I added pictures to the Winter Fun, Pregnancy and Ultrasounds and Belly pictures albums.

23 week update

 

I had my 23 week appointment yesterday and everything is going great.  It was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing!  The baby is measuring right where he should be.  I can tell he must have grown a lot lately because I have been starting to feel him move around like crazy!  My next appt is in 4 weeks and that will be the start of the third trimester!  I can not believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by!  I have so much to do and get in the next couple of months!   We have got the furniture back in the room and I am hoping to decide on bedding soon.  This pregnancy brain thing is making any decision making very difficult for some reason!  I can not believe how much baby stuff has changed in 4 1/2 years and how much stuff I need to get yet!

Payton is doing great and getting such a funny personality.  He has grown up so much lately.  He seems so self sufficient!  He is getting very excited about his new baby brother.  He tells me everyday all of the things he is going to teach him.  He has told me that he is going to teach the baby how to run, ride a bike, blow his nose, kick a ball and how to turn on light switches!  (I have no idea where the last one came from!)  Last week at school they had to draw a picture of what Love looks like for Valentines day.  I think the object was to draw a picture of your family.  He had 4 people in the picture!  So I asked him about it and he said that one was his baby!

 

This is Payton showing me how big he thinks the baby is going to be when he comes:

 

Payton is showing me how he is going to wrap up the baby and how is going to carry him around!  He told me we don't need a stroller, he can just carry him around!!

 

(BTW - I updated both the pregnany and belly pictures albums.)

 

Mommys boys!!

We found out yesterday that we are having a baby boy!!   We are very excited and so is Payton!!  He has been telling us the entire time that it was a boy and he was right!  We can now start focusing on picking out names and getting the nursery together.  My doctors appointment went well and I have started gaining weight which is a good thing.  I am always hungry now, so I wasn't surprised.  I scanned in some ultrasound pictures but I don't have any really good ones because the baby was on a complete sugar high!  I had my first of at least two glucose tests yesterday as well.  (I have tried to rearrange the photo albums to put any that I updated on top, but for some reason it won't let me, so you have to scroll down to get to the pregnancy and belly pictures albums).  The sugar drink stuff made him act crazy!  He was literally doing somersaults!  It was crazy to watch him kick and feel it at the same time.  So the technichan had a difficult time getting any good pictures to print out.  She was able to do all of the measurements that she needed though and was able to tell that it is a boy.  He is measuring right on target at about 9 ounces.    I hadn't really felt much movement yet except for a few little twinges here or there, but the last two days I have been able to feel a lot more.  Payton even got to feel a kick today.  Daddy wasn't quick enough, so he hasn't got to feel it yet. 

Overall we have been keeping busy with work and PreK and just trying to stay warm!  It was 65 degrees a couple of weeks ago and now it is freezing!  Strange midwest weather!!  So at least we got to get outside for a little bit.  It has been nice to get back to our normal routine after the holidays.  The holidays are great, but our family does much better with some routine, so it has been nice to get back to that.

 

I forgot to upload these videos of Payton singing Christmas songs before and just came across them.  They were too cute to not share. 

 

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

 

Goofy Payton!!!

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf