{ summer 2012 bucket list }

Starting tomorrow, we have exactly 100 days until Evan begins his adventure into Kindergarten.  This summer is extra special for the fact that it will be his last summer as an "only'...so I want it go off with a bang.  So tonight I made our summer bucket list with 100 things for us to do over the next 100 days. 

* water park * ice cream for dinner * baseball game * mn zoo * county fair * picnic * mn state fair * farmers market * homemade ice cream * fireworks * parade * como zoo * lake nokomis * city fair * firehouse tour * movie in the park * tech free day * sidewalk chalk * bubbles * water fight * bike riding * rock candy * catch "lightening bugs" * butterflies * art museum * eat at Sonic's * children's musuem * visit the Wild Rumpis * make a fort * go to the pool * frisbee * bowling * play dress up * write a letter * bake rainbow cupcakes * scavenger hunt * paint rocks * learn a new recipe * make s'mores * paint with pudding * make popsicles * play memory * BBQ * mini golf * make a time capsule * free concert * date with dad * date with mom * visit a pet store * make a memory album * play in a bounce house * stay up late * homemade slip and slide * star gaze * can fruit * go to a new park * melt crayons * hopscotch * dance in the rain * read a book * ride a carouse * nature hike * go to storytime * fly a kite * eat watermelon * paint your own pottery * go to the library * make friendship bracelets * feed ducks * breakfast for dinner * banana splits * make a collage * make lemonade * backyard camping * giant squishy sensory bag * finger paint * treasure hunt * nature center * photo booth * drive-in movies * game night * tie-dye t-shirts * paper airplanes * model rockets * homemade play dough * flea market * ice cream from the ice cream truck * make apple sauce * make sand castles * beach * check out and make a flat stanley * go see the cherry on a spoon * write wishes on a paper latern and set it off * tea with teddies * chuck e. cheese * send a missionary a care package * make postcards *

I'm so pumped!  Have you made yours?

{ insta-friday }

I've been obsessed with trying to find the perfect cooler...I really want to pack my lunch for work but since it sits in the car (even with ice packs) by the time I actually go to eat it...it looks gross from sitting in the heat and I end up picking something up anyways...I think I'm going to go pick this one up and hope that it works out!

One of our favorite parks...Kelley Park in Apple Valley...finally turned on their splash pad.  I can't tell you how excited we are.  Evan gets to run around in the sprinklers and on the play set and I can sit in the shade slippin' lemonade and watching him play. 

After Kelley Park, we stopped at Culver's for their custard.  Holy Crap I forgot how good it was!  Only bad side is now that we've stopped there...Evan thinks we need to stop every time after we go to Kelley Park.

Evan and Mike are both obsessed with Mike's phone.  They spend hours passing it back and forth playing random games, videos, and whatever...I love that these two are so close!

Yesterday we took Evan to Build-A-Bear at the MOA (Mall of America) to build Baby a stuffed animal for when he is born.  Evan just loved it all.  I thought it was especially cute to see the dinosaur's tail poking out of the box.

We've been collecting some of the smaller things we will need for baby...we're going to start picking up some of the bigger things in the next few weeks...holy crap is having another small body in our home getting more real!

So we've finally narrowed down our choice of a name for Baby.  One we both agree on and yes..it's on the list above.  (well at least the first name is)  We're still up in the air about it so while we love the name we've picked out...it could definitely change by the time baby makes his appearance.

{ build a bear & update }

After we found out we were pregnant and Evan grew suspicious of my constant morning sickness, we told Evan that once we knew if he was having a brother or sister, we would take him to Build-A-Bear to make a stuffed animal for him or her.  Just like Mike had for Evan when I was still pregnant with him.

I did lay some ground rules about what he could or could not pick out (which was basically a Smurf doll I believe).  After looking for several minutes and made sure Evan picked out exactly what he wanted, we were golden.  Evan loved the whole process of helping stuff the animal and putting the heart inside with good wishes for his brother.  Evan was so excited to give the animal a bath and pick out a shirt.

So what did he pick out?

A dinosaur!  If you knew Evan, you wouldn't really be surprised...I wasn't.  Since Evan had such a blast we promised him that for his birthday (which is in a month...holy crap) we'll bring him back and he can pick one out for himself.  Mike also pointed out that he might pick up one of the "mini" dinosaurs that look like the one Evan made since the dinosaur will already be so much bigger than Baby.

Today, I also had my regular prenatal check up with my doctor.  We've had some bumps with the clinic and when I pointed them out, she was pissed about how we have been treated, which made me like her even more.  In any case, Baby's heartbeat was very strong and he's looking good.  Well as good as he can with his damn kidney, which I found out had apparently grown in size from his 19 week ultrasound to his 21 week ultrasound.  However, I was warned by the MFM that it was possible that the measurements from his 19 week ultrasound may not be taken the same way they took measurements...but I'm guessing since I was told the way they are taken are pretty standard, that it's accurate.  In any case, we'll still have to wait until June 28th to get another look and see how it's looking.  Here's hoping it's looking a lot better than it has!

{ baby update }

After dealing with construction and finally figuring out that we were given the wrong address, we made it to our appointment.  Baby was his same squirrelly self and after watching him dance around and not really playing along for some pictures, Mike and I know that once he is born we're in trouble.


Baby's measuring 3 days ahead and is a whopping 1lb 3oz at 21weeks and 3days.  (average is 12.70 oz - 15.17 oz)  However, his left kidney is still enlarged.  He was diagnosed with Pyelectasis, which is according to OB Focus is defined as:


"Enlargement of the part of the kidney that collects urine (the renal pelvis) from 4 to 10 millimeters in diameter is called fetal pyelectasis or “renal pelvic dilatation”. Dilation of the renal pelvis to greater than 10 mm is called severe pyelectasis or hydronephrosis" 


At this time Baby's kidney is measuring at 8mm and we were told it will probably not fix itself in-utero.  We're going back in 6 weeks and if the kidney is measuring the same or higher, we will be sent to see pediatric urologist to have a game plan put in place for when he is born.  If it has gone down to 7mm or under, we'll still be monitored but their hope at that time is once he's born, it will fix itself.


Regardless what the kidney measures in 6 weeks, Baby will continue to grow and develop right on schedule.  I'm crossing my fingers that the fluid in his kidney will go down or at least stay where it is now.  They weren't able to tell us if the fluid in his kidney has increased from the previous ultrasound because they didn't have the measurement in front of them.  (but you darn well know that when I go and see my regular OB that I'll ask)


While I'm still a bit nervous about all this, at least we know where we stand.  Nothing will be done until Baby is born.  All we can do is pray, hope for the best, and get a game plan in place for if Baby's condition worsens.  It is concerning only for the fact that if it's not addresses early enough, Baby could have some kidney damage.  In the mean time, I'm trying to focus keeping him growing and looking forward to the extra peeks we'll get at him.

Here are some more pictures we got today:

{ the tech tried for a good 5 minutes to get a good 3D picture of his face...baby had other ideas }

{ profile }

{ another profile :: his hands are by his lips }

{ tomorrow }

Tomorrow we get another peek at little boy.  Last week, I received a phone call from my OB with the results of my ultrasound.  Everything looked good except baby had one enlarged kidney.  I barely remember what else she said except it was common in boys, it's nothing to worry about, and MFM will call to set up the appointment.

This past week I've gone through the gambit of emotions.  First anger that it took them a week to let us know something was wrong.  I know realistically the tech is unable to say if something is wrong and my OB is only in the office 2 days a week, but if it was something that was so concerning where I needed to go have someone else look at it, why the heck didn't the tech call someone in?  Why I was allowed to walk away thinking that everything was just fine?

And then of course I cried.  Because I was so blown away by the unexpected news, I didn't really ask the questions I should have asked.  Like how enlarged is the kidney and what are the possible causes.  She mentioned something about reflux.  Which apparently means that the urinary system is immature and urine backs up into the kidneys.  About 80% of all cases fix themselves by birth or shortly after.  Another 20% require some sort of surgery a couple months after the baby is born.

There could be other reasons for the enlarged kidney but I won't have the answer until tomorrow.  I won't let myself even go there to be honest with you.  Yes, I'm scared.  But for all I know, we could go in tomorrow morning and find out that everything has already taken care of itself.  And if not, I'm holding out that it's just the reflux because it's not life threatening, it's most likely going to fix itself and if not, he'll need a surgery - I can handle that.  maybe.

But every kick has been reassurance that he's still growing and doing well.  It wasn't the news that I wanted to hear or even needed to hear with a pregnancy that I have been on edge about since the miscarriage.  But in the end we're praying that it all work out in the end.  And I'm sure it will.  kinda of.


p.s. all I can say is good thing our appointment is first thing in the morning

{ profound words :: on my heart }

{ profile of our newest little man }

Mike and I were sitting in our van.  We had just called both of our moms to let them know the good news about baby.  We're were having another boy and he's as healthy as can be expected and big.  Then Mike turned to me and said,

"God knew we needed another boy, that's why he's given us one"

Those words have been swirling around in my head ever since.  God knew we needed this baby.  This particular baby boy.  I know that if we hadn't had a miscarriage in August, this baby, this beautiful baby that is growing beneath my heart, would not be apart of our family. 

My heart hasn't fully healed from the loss of Charlie.  At times I feel like I shouldn't be sad or upset about it.  Like my pain isn't valid because it was such an early loss.  I never held my baby.  Never knew if Charlie was a boy or girl.  I never even felt Charlie move or heard Charlie's heartbeat.  Our loss isn't talked about much, if at all.  Mike and I talk about it from time to time, normally in passing.  I do wonder if the loss of sibling was why Evan happened to name a new stuffed eagle Charlie.

I tried not to rush into get pregnant again.  The urge to having another baby in our family was always there in the couple of months that we waited.  But I knew that we needed time to heal.  I needed the time.  I needed to prepare myself if and when we got pregnant again, that we could be looking at another loss.

We're lucky that's not the case.  Every time I've heard this baby's heartbeat or seen him on the ultrasound monitor I have felt relief.  Every time I've been too sick to drag myself out of bed or felt this baby squirreling around I have said a prayer of thanks.  God knew we needed him in our lives.  In this moment.  I have waited for this baby for almost 5 years and will only have to wait another 19 weeks and 2 days before being able to hold this beautiful blessing we have been given.

I'm not sure what prompted my husband to say those precious words to me, but I am thankful for them.  They are what I needed to hear in that exact moment to know that I wasn't alone in my thoughts about this pregnancy.  I love that my husband talks to my belly constantly and waits patiently to feel him move (he hasn't yet...but I'm sure as baby starts to grow, he'll be able to).

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that he's blessed us with another son.  Because He knew this is what we needed.

{ insta-friday }

Little boy...oh how I loved getting to see you squirm around.  It was obvious that I'm going to be in big trouble because you are already dancing in my belly constantly...I can only imagine how wild you are going to be once you get out.

My belly sure has grown this week.  We found out that baby was 12 oz at 19w 4d.  I'm starting to get a bit worried that this might mean that baby will be big.  If we could keep it about 8 pounds 7 oz I'll be good, since that's how much Evan weighed when he was born.

Naming this baby is a little harder.  We have no idea.  We've talked about names.  Thrown out ideas but we haven't really fell in love with any names.  It looks like we might just pick out a couple and wait to meet our newest little man before settling on a name.

We bought this onesie after we found out we were having a boy as a way of telling Evan he was having a brother or sister.  He's gone back and forth about what he wanted but now that he knows...he's pretty pumped.

Evan wears out the knees of his pants like no tomorrow....I found a tutorial for "monster" patches on pinterst (here).  I couldn't follow the entire tutorial because of my machine, so I've been hand-stitching them.  Evan thinks they are the cutest things in the world and they are a big hit at school.

This is a car from where my husband works.  I thought it was funny to see one while on my way from Edina to Woodbury.  I took this picture and sent to my husband...apparently I found it way more amusing then my husband did.  Oh well.

{ it's a.... }

Today, we got another look at Baby.  I was so excited especially to find out what what Baby was.  Simply because it makes everything much easier, well, at least I think it does...

So...

We were quite surprised...but so very happy to announce that we're having a...

 

We've done boys before...I know what I'm getting into.  I was told by my father in law that this means that I now have the minority vote...if only he knew.  I may be the only girl...but I'm more stubborn than all of them.

It's also awesome because I'm hoping I will no longer get flack about the boys sharing a room.  I had said before we knew what Baby was that the baby and Evan would most likely be sharing a room.  Now, they definitely are.  But at lunch today, Evan and I agreed on a Retro Marvel Comic Super Hero room.  Think Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider Man and the Hulk.  I've tracked down the posters and fabric and will start on bedding for the both of them and a couple of things for baby.

No.  We don't have a name yet.  We've thrown around a couple and to be honest, I'm thinking we might keep the name to ourselves anyways.  Our moms believe that we should name little boy after Mike.  I've already put a stop to that...although I'm sure I'll still hear more about it as we get closer to September...

But here are some more pictures of our newest little man...

{ profile }

{ face }

{ foot }

p.s.  Funny story about the foot picture...when the tech first started the ultrasound, little boy had his feet over his head.  Pretty much folded in half.  A couple minutes he eventually tucked his feet under his bottom...but he sure was squirrely.