{{Quick Holiday Catch-Up}}

I'm always in shock at how fast this time of year seems to fly by & this year is no exception! We've celebrated Thanksgiving, eagerly decorated & are getting ready for Christmas AND are preparing for this little boy to join our family a few weeks after Christmas. Amidst everything, I CAN'T believe Christmas is only a couple of weeks away! Here's a little peak at what we've been up to!

This is Jackobi's friend "Gobble" ... we had fun preparing and talking about Thanksgiving and all we are thankful for!! We were stranded inside for a few days (a little by choice ... it was COLD outside!!) so had our hand at a few little crafty things to occupy Jackobi's attention and energy. Gobble was by far her favorite friend we created during the cold snow storm.

When it wasn't subzero temperatures we DID manage to enjoy some of the fluffy white stuff!! Jackobi absolutly loves eating snow!

Officially worn out! We played HARD in the snow!!
Snow angels & tackling dad in the snow were her favorite.

We had a great Thanksgiving & were really excited to trek down to the square to watch Santa turn on the lights & sit on his lap. It was REALLY COLD this year, so we made it a quick trip knowing that after the anticipation that had built up in Jackobi's little mind, there was no way we could skip it due to the weather!

And boy was she excited!!

Braving the cold weather! We quickly retreated inside & opted to "meet" Santa the next morning!

Nate and I took Jackobi to the Teddy Bear breakfast the next morning to meet Santa. She was SO EXCITED and was literally jumping up and down as we waited in line to sit on his lap. Once it was her turn, it was a different story. I don't think she could have pried his hands off and jumped down much quicker! No tears this year, so we're making progress!



She did stick around long enough to get a treat out of his basket. Santa is still pretty great in Jackobi's book, just as long as he keeps his distance!!


She was pretty thrilled for her candy cane. They've been a HUGE hit in our house this year! Especially the pink & purple ones!

Camille & I took Jackobi to see Tangled. It was her FIRST movie theatre experience & 3D at that! She decided she LOVED the little glasses they give you! We've been anxiously preparing for this little guy to get here! Jackobi is thrilled to be a big sister and talks about her baby brother all the time. She's decided we should name him Dash, which is a cute name other than it's the neighbor's dog. :) I'm 33 weeks and feeling probably the best I have yet which is a good thing. I can't decide if I really feel better or if I'm just in panic mode since I still have plenty to get done before he gets here! Either way, I'll take the extra energy however I can get it! Just a few weeks after Christmas & he should make his arrival. I'm excited and anxious to see what a family of four will feel like & the changes that are soon to come!

In the meantime ... I'm going to soak up as much of these two as I can!!
Christmas music, lights & happy new traditions. I sure do love this time of year!

I was wrong ....

I envisioned my Dr. appointment last week to go perfectly. I would go in, get checked out, schedule an ultrasound and find that my previously torn placenta was healed perfectly and life could return to normal (as normal as it can when you're 25 weeks pregnant I guess!) My 'To Do' list has grown and I was ready (really ready) to get started on it. Especially the nursery! Which I'm quite certain was done at this point of my pregnancy with Jackobi. But that wasn't the case.

Things with the baby did check out perfectly, his heartrate is strong, although it was a little challanging to get a good reading because we have a fiesty little boy in there who really likes to kick (and I mean a HARD kick) the heartrate doppler. The nurse even had to laugh because it took us so many tries. He'd kick, roll to the other side and kick again. But it was strong, (his kick's AND the heartbeat.) and he's growing, my giant tummy can attest to that!

However, no ultrasound was scheduled and my "modified" bedrest ... well, it wasn't modified much. I thought that 5 weeks of "taking it easy" would be plenty, but it's not. My Dr. told me that even if my placenta had started to heal, it would still be weak and there's no sense in risking it. (which I totoally agree with) So ... I was told, that I better get used to "not doing much" until this baby is born. NOT, what I expected! But I AM thankful for good Dr's and a very healthy baby. I just have to be really selective on what I spend my energy on & limit what I do. So I guess we'll see how the next 15 weeks of this pregnancy go!

One more week until I hit my 3rd trimester, and I'm happy that my Dr. at least allowed me to travel to see my sister. (I had to promise not to break any of the rules though ...) So it was low key, but much needed weekend away! {More to come later ....}

Making life a little more interesting, last week Nate got his foot smashed by a forklift at work. THANKFULLY it's not broken, but his foot is pretty swollen & he's in a walking boot for a few weeks at least. (Jackobi thinks it's pretty fantastic that her Daddy's foot is purple :) ) So we're two peas in a pod hobbling along and not doing much ... I guess we'll be netflixing a lot in weeks to come!!

An Update ...

I can't believe I'm 1/2 way done with this pregnancy!! It has gone SO FAST and has been SO DIFFERENT than when I was pregnant with Jackobi. I haven't journaled much, so thought I'd write a quick blog entry before I forget some things that have happened!

8/18 heartrate was 155

9/7 heartrate bounced between 130-136, but was VERY STRONG. The Dr. felt my tummy to see where I was measuring and Baby Boy wasn't appreciative of it & KICKED him :)

I've had 2 ultrasounds & little boy is healthy as can be! My "official" due date is January 29th, but the ultrasound tech said he thought & things were measuring a week sooner ... so January 22nd-ish. My doctor hasn't changed my due date ... so I'm just saying it's somewhere around the 25th of January ... I'll shoot for right in the middle!! Guess end of January sometime will have to do!

I'm feeling more and more movement each day which is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. It's a nice reassurance that he's doing okay in there. :) I've been amazed at how tired I have been this pregnancy. Even in the 2nd trimester (which I'm told is the "easy" trimester, ha!) Jackobi has noticed my tummy getting bigger and likes to talk to the baby and sing him "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" ... it's pretty sweet to watch/listen to her. I can already tell she'll be a great big sister!

I've had a lot of different symptoms with this pregnancy that I didn't with Jackobi & after a day filled with doctor appointments and an ultrasound, found out that I have a small tear in my placenta. Apparently it happens and I'm told that it will "take care of itself" {isn't the human body amazing that it can just 'heal' itself??!!} ... but for now I'm pretty limited on what I'm allowed to do, at least for a few weeks. Then I can gradually add more activity to my day(s) and hopefully be back to normal by October! {{that's my hope at least!!}} We are blessed to have a HEALTHY boy growing and couldn't be happier that everything else checks out perfectly. He's very active (even the U/S tech couldn't believe how much he wiggles around!) and likes potatoes & salty treats, not sweet. Which for me, is really weird since I have a GIANT sweet tooth that has pretty much gone dormant!

"Taking it easy" is going well, although I feel lazy more than anything! I really feel pretty good so it's hard to convince myself not to be more productive, but I'm doing pretty good! Jackobi has been a trooper and entertains herself pretty well. The first night it was apparent she knew something was different. I could tell she wondered why she went to the grocery store with Daddy, watched Daddy mow the lawn and helped Daddy cook dinner. (pretty great guy, right??) She threw a couple of fits which included her dinner making it clear across the room, but luckily it only lasted a day!!!!!! She's such a good helper now and I'm lucky she likes to just sit with me and do puzzles, build blocks, read & color!! I don't think I ever realized how I took for granted being able to run, jump, dance, play and PICK UP my little girl!!

I realize how extremely blessed we are!!! Not only for Jackobi, but to have another healthy boy on the way. It's all worth it!! We are blessed to live so close to family & have so many wonderful friends who have all been great. What a support system we have!

On the plus side ... in this "don't do anything" time, I can get caught up on some things I haven't seemed to have time for, LIKE, my blogging (since I've totally been slacking!) we've been having so much fun, oh what a glorious summer it has been!!

Survey Says ....

Thanks everyone for voting in our poll! I added in the 8 votes who told me that they couldn't vote and here's the results:

65% [20 votes] Boy
35% [11 votes] Girl

Looks like most of you were right!!! It's A BOY ... and I know there were no doubts out there, but yes, Nate has already picked out and is ready to order his little boy's first pair of Jordan's ... I have a feeling I'm not going to have much say in dressing this kiddo!! We're so excited and Jackobi has decided that a baby brother will be fun [we had to convince her a little, but once we told her she'd get to watch lots of baseball games she was all for a boy!] Our ultrasound went perfectly & the tech was great. He even showed us things in 3D and 4D which was pretty neat. It's so amazing to me how much detail you can see!!! We feel so blessed to have a healthy little one on the way!

:: baseballs or ballerinas ::

Next Friday is the big day!! We're really excited to see if a baby boy or girl will be joining our family!! Guesses are mixed & in the air right now ... what do you think we'll have???

The big U/S date is set! Will we be seeing baseballs or ballerinas?

• Baseballs [baby boy]


• Ballerinas [baby girl]

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Plum :: Peach :: Lemon

Well, our Vegetable garden may not be thriving quite as we had hoped, but I'm happy to announce that we're growing something else! Jackobi has had fun telling her Grandpa's & Grandma's that there's a baby in Mommy's tummy. It's been pretty cute!! We're so excited for our new little addition coming in January!

I haven't journaled as much this go around, so am going to lay it all out there now. SO feel free to skip the details! [Yes, this is my disclaimer}

I've been pretty sick, so am surprised we managed to keep this under wraps for so long! Let's just say if you've stopped by my house before noon the past few months - you found me makeup-less, in sweats & looking like I just ran a marathon (or got hit by a 2x4) ... but I didn't :) So I apologize to the few of you who got to witness that (thanks Laura for not dis-owning me yet!!! :) You've definitely seen me on many of my bad days!) Since I've been so sick & wasn't with Jackobi -- Nate and I are both convinced that it is a boy -- well that and the fact that the heartrate was 162, which, Nate informed me is the exact number of baseball games in a regular season. Must be a sign. :) Jackobi was able to come with me to hear the hearbeat & I know she didn't really understand what was going on, but was rather excited to hear the little 'thump, thump, thump' sound. The sweetest sound in the world when you're pregnant!!

We're so happy to finally be welcoming another precious baby soon! Jackobi has been so sweet and very concerned every time I get sick. She's such a sweetheart & I know will be a great big sister. ♥ We've asked her a few times what she thinks we should call the baby, and she very consistently says "Peaches" ... so here's to baby Peaches! We're excited to meet you in a few months!

So bring on the stretchy pants and cheeseburgers! We're growing a baby!