Family dinner at Nanny and Papa's house!

On Sunday, we all headed over to Nanny and Papa's house for a family dinner. We hadn't all been together since Christmas - which may not seem like that long, but when we all live within a 15 mile radius, it's funny that we don't see eachother more. So, my mom and dad had us all over for some lasagna and fun times. Caden and Jude were really into eachother, as usual. It's fun watching the two of them interact more as they grow. Jude loves watching Caden and now it's fun because he stands up, so he can stand up next to Caden. Just thought I'd share some pictures from the fun evening that we had. Enjoy!

Caden and Papa, wrestling around :)


Nanny and Jude - he looks SO much like Erika when she was little.

The boys.

The boys, again!

P.S. In other news . . . Nigel's graduating from the 16-week basic academy this Friday, so Caden and I are heading down to cheer him on and hopefully my mom and his mom will be able to come, too. I am so excited for him. He has worked so hard the last 16 weeks. It has been so hard on him and on Caden and I. But, now, there's an end in sight. He'll head back on Sunday night for the last 4 weeks of advanced academy with the Oregon State Police and then, it's official and he'll be DONE!!!! I've been dreaming of that day! Also - more baby news here - I had another ultrasound last week and the baby looks great. The ultrasound tech got some really good measurements and thinks that the baby will come closer to April 11th than April 20th. It'll be up to my doctors to change the due date, so we'll see what they say. Really good news is that my placenta, which has been partially covering my cervix for this pregnancy, has moved up and out of the way, so I won't have to worry about a c-section. Yay! And, tomorrow is my next and final appointment with the midwives. I've made the decision to move on and find an OB. I just felt like it was too much pressure to have everything be going perfectly if I stayed with them. So, I start seeing my new OB on Monday, February 2nd. She's a woman and only 31 years old, so it will be a completely different experience for me than what I had with Caden - a 60+ year old man. I'm hopeful that this will be a good fit. I feel better about the decision. But, this appointment with the midwives is my glucose tolerance test, so please pray that it will be fine. More news to come later!

Baby #2 . . .

Well, I'm already 26 weeks along. Time, it seems, is flying by with this pregnancy. This pregnancy has been so wanted, and such a long, hard process for us. I'm so excited to be where I am, but at the same time, I will be glad when it's over and the baby is safely here with us. I'm not sure if you all know this, but I'm having to give myself a shot in the stomach everyday. Every single day. It is really horrible and it's getting worse as my belly grows and stretches. I'm giving myself a shot of Lovenox, which is an anticoagulant. I have to do this because about 1 1/2 years ago, I had a blood clot in my left calf. After they found the blood clot, they did some tests and found that I have a genetic mutation called Factor 5 Leiden, which just makes me more prone to getting blood clots. Well, pregnancy also makes a woman more prone to blood clots, so together, it's not a good combination. It's also been found that women who have the Factor 5 Leiden mutation have a higher miscarriage rate. The doctor who I talked to said that it's absolutely impossible to know if the reason for my miscarriages is related to the mutation, but it's a possibility. So, because of all of this, I've been giving myself this shot. It's painful, and worst of all, it BURNS!!! Every time I put it in, it just burns and burns under my skin for a few minutes. But, I'm doing it.

Anyway, I've been seeing a group of midwives because I wanted a completely different labor and delivery experience than what I had with the OB who delivered Caden. I'm just praying everyday that they'll keep seeing me, as they are having a little bit of hesitation because of my "condition". If you think about it, and you're praying, please just say a little prayer that they'll keep me as a patient, because it's getting a little too late in the pregnancy to be switching doctors now. Also, to keep on your prayer list, my glucose tolerance test is coming up at my next appointment the end of this month. With Caden, the results came back a little higher than normal, but not in the diabetes range. However, my OB had me see an endocrinologist and together, they were having me test my blood sugar 3 times a day and putting myself through unneccessary stress. As it turns out, they were being overly cautious and nothing was ever wrong with my blood sugar and it was just a big headache. So, I'm praying that the results come back normal. I just really don't want to be having to do anything else to myself this pregnancy. And one more thing to pray about - my blood pressure. It's not hight all the time, just when I'm at the doctor's office. But, they don't like that. It all started with the OB I saw for Caden. He made me so anxious that I got high blood pressure at every appointment. I'm tired of this being an issue, but it's all in my head and I can't make it go away! So, I would really like to have it just be normal for them, too.

The last few months, I have realized that I have a love/hate relationship with pregnancy. I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. I love feeling the baby, I love the idea of being completely responsible for this little one's life, I love that I get to be the one to experience everything with the baby. I don't even mind labor and delivery, I know what's coming at the end. But more and more, I can't help but think that this might be the last time I do this. There are a few reasons for this. #1 - I'm absolutely terrified that I'll have another miscarriage if I decide to get pregnant again. This is a very real possibility for me and it scares me so much. It's a devastating thing to go through. #2 - I now know that I will have to give myself shots in the stomach for any other pregnancies that I might have and doing that is not something that excites me :) #3 - I get so sick in the beginning, I'm not sure that I can do it with 2 kids. However, the last one, I would put up with if I weren't so worried about the first 2 reasons. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm not completely ruling out a 3rd baby, but that's a long way away from where we are right now. Anyway - for now, I'm enjoying being pregnant with this little one and I can't wait to find out in April what it is we're having. It seems like it will be here sooner than I can imagine! I'll keep you posted with updates of little Lily Faith or Brock Henry.

This picture, I wasn't going to post. However, I realized that I haven't put up pictures of the new closet doors that my dad put in for us! Thanks, Dad! We love how much cleaner it makes the living room look!


Big Belly!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a little late. It's just been a crazy time for us and I feel like we've been going non-stop! Now, we're getting back into the normal routine and I feel like I have a moment to breath . . . ahhh. We had a great Christmas and New Years and it was so wonderful because Nigel was home for 2 whole weeks!!!! Now, he's back at school and we won't see him until Friday, but he's ALMOST DONE!!!! He has until January 30th in the DPSST academy, which is the one that all police officers in Oregon go to. And then, he'll start right back up on February 2nd into the advanced academy that only the Oregon State Police attend. That's 5 weeks long and then he'll be officially finished with academy! We are so excited that the end is in sight, although, I'm having a hard time thinking that 9 weeks isn't very long. But, Caden and I really enjoyed him being home so much over the last 2 weeks and it will be nice when that's "normal" again. We haven't had Nigel home with us regulary for over 1 1/2 years, so this is getting old for Caden and I! At least the baby won't know that suffering :) I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year and that things are starting out well for everyone!

Caden and Nigel, playing computer games. Caden loves bowling :)


Caden opening up a gift at one of the first of about 4 Christmases for him :)

Caden wearing his new tool belt. He LOVES his new tools!

Hans and Sarah with their new baby kitty, who I believe is still nameless. This is how they spent the time after eating and presents. They're a real party, huh?