Update for Chelsea

Well blogging world, I seemed to have let another almost 3 months pass me by. It is nearly midnight now and I am so exhausted. It is amazing how much such a small child can wear you down. Baby Michael has been pretty sick (as the rest of the house has) and it has been a rough few days. It is probably the worst feeling being so helpless when your child is so upset over a stuffy nose.

So starting in December, Michael and I were called to serve as the eleven-year-old scout leaders. It has been pretty fun, but until last week we only had one scout. :( BUT, now we have FOUR!!! I was so excited to have more boys to teach and interact with. This month we are learning about Citizenship. It is actually great since I am taking a Government class this semester and am all freshened up on USA knowledge. Since today was the first of the month we just introduced the flag and talked picked a service project to do for later in the month. For all the boys this will be their FIRST service project. I am so excited to teach them the blessing serving is. They decided that they wanted to spend an hour picking up trash at the park. Although I think this is great, I am sure there attitudes are going to change 10 minutes in when they realize that is a long time just to pick up trash. Still, we told them they could decide and I will stand by that.

Anyways, as something to do while we were talking, I had the boys construct their own American Flags and I wish I had their pictures because they were trying so hard to make them perfect and then they just threw them out when we were picking up. I kept mine, because I worked hard on it! Here is a picture... not too bad I'd say...

So... in other news, we sold our little blue car. It was a great car, but I have been BEGGING Michael for a van or SUV...

After some looking, we finally found an SUV that we liked and BOUGHT IT!!! I was so excited, but apparently not excited enough to take a picture... so you'll have to wait for those in my next post (in four more months probably)

Baby Michael had his 6 month appointment where he got a cool book about Trucks that has turned into a chew toy. I wasn't sure if I should be happy he loved his book so much, or just a little worried that he likes to eat it. He is weighing in about 18lbs which is AWESOME! In other news, he is SO close to crawling and being able to pull himself up to a stand. I caught him twice today pulling himself up. I can hardly believe just how much he is growing. I am so excited for him to reach the milestone of being able to crawl and then walk, but I am DREADING baby-proofing our house.

Alright, I hear a pillow calling my name...

p.s. Chelsea, if you are reading this... I miss you so much and am sorry my life is boring and my crafts are not near as fun to look/read about as yours!!

My Sweet Boy

Who knew having a baby would put such a damper on my blogging? haha
I can hardly believe it has been over 4 months since my little guy made his appearance, but it truly has!
I don't even know where to start... I suppose the beginning is a good place.

Monday July 16th, 2012:
After visiting the hospital on Saturday and making some progress, labor stopped and I was sent home. I waited out the contractions all through Sunday and by now I was ready to go. I woke up and ate and walked around and then around 11:00 we made our way back to the hospital. I was so upset to learn that I had not made any progress when I got there because I was really just ready for the baby to come. Luckily, my water broke a little at the hospital and by 1:00 I was getting my IV set up. Little Baby Michael didn't come for another 12 hours.

I can hardly believe he was ever so small!

Monday July 17th, 2012:
Michael II was born at 12:53a.m. He weighed 7lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long. He had a full head of hair and was the most precious thing in the whole world. He slept with Daddy and Mommy in the hospital room that night and didn't make a peep. (What an angel!) The next night, not so much... he cried a lot!

okay.... FAST FORWARD...

Mommy and baby after a fun night out with Daddy!

Today December 2, 2012:
Michael had his 4 month check up and immunizations this passed week. He weighs 15lbs 7oz! That is over twice his birth weight!!! He is now just shy of 26 inches tall. He is in the 80th percentile in height, 55% on weight, but only like 30% in head size... yeah, he has a small head!

Here are some of Michael's tics and tricks:
-He has a plethora of nicknames. Most used are Buddy and Gooster. Gooster is the made up name Daddy gave him because he always honks like a goose, and has a mohawk like a rooster...thus Gooster was born!
-He loves tummy time and rolling.
-He sleeps the first half of the night in his crib, but after he eats at like 3:00, he makes his way into our bed. (Thank heavens for our King-size bed.)
-When he sleeps with us, he takes up the most bed he can or snuggles as close to you as possible.
-Sure fire way to put him to sleep? Back massage. He likes it when anyone does it, but he always seems to find his way into Daddy's lap for a back massage and falls asleep there.
-He is a ginger... if it stays that way he may just become my little gingersnap! ;)
-He loves to play and is so happy when you play with him.
-His favorite song is "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" but only when I sign it while singing.
-He is a little drool-box. Even the nurse at the doctor's office called him that.
-All around, he is the best, most happy, most wonderful baby around. (I may be biased though)

Did I mention he LOVES pulling all sorts of hair! :)

Our unexpected ultrasound!

Today I had a doctor's appointment... big surprise since I will be having one each week pretty much. Anyways, each visit they listen to the heartbeat and then measure my tummy to make sure the baby is growing right. Well, this time the doctor was just a little concerned since I was measuring as if I were only 31 weeks pregnant when according to the doctor I was 35 weeks. Just to make sure everything was fine they scheduled me for an ultrasound to check the baby's weight and growth. I had to wait an hour before they could squeeze me in so my mom took me out to eat and then we came back. I was starting to get a little nervous, but I wasn't too concerned because I thought a small baby might not be so bad (easy delivery?).

We went back for the ultrasound and the first thing she did was look for a good face shot since we couldn't get one the first ultrasound. As his little head came into focus we could see that he was awake and moving around, but not only that but he was licking his hand over and over again like a little ice cream cone! The screen was pretty big so you could see his tongue come out repeatedly. I could not stop giggling cause I just thought it was the cutest thing ever and I was happy that I was able to relax a little.

She continued to measure different parts of his body to find an approximate weight and check the due date. What we learned was that my little boy is just very good at hiding his big body. He measured in at 5 lbs 15oz. So almost 6 lbs. I could hardly believe it. According to the measurements my due date was only a few days off so they kept it the same which put our little man in the 73rd percentile in weight! HA... they thought he was too small, but he sure showed them.

As we were leaving my mom mentioned how each week during the last few weeks the baby grows half a pound to a pound... I calculated that up... 6lbs + .5lbs(5weeks) = 8.5 lbs OR 6lbs + 1lb(5weeks) = 11 lbs! At that point I had a tiny freak out moment! I do NOT want an 11 lbs baby!! lol Most likely the baby will be big, but not THAT big (I hope).

There was one other piece of info that my mom caught that I didn't. As the numbers for the due dates came up there were two due dates. One was the 25th (only 2 days from what they said), but the other was the 16th!!! The ultrasound tech told me that was probably inaccurate and not to bank on that, but I kept thinking I really hope this baby comes a week early!!

Date Night!

So after a rough few days of extreme allergies, I finally started feeling better (at least enough to get out of bed)! I was so happy when Michael came home from work because we were in need of some date time since all I have done is sleep for the past few days. When Michael came home we decided to go up to the gas station to rent a redbox and get slushies!

We ended up renting Dream House, which I personally LOVED. I kinda knew the plot, but Michael had no idea about what we were watching.

After we got back from getting our slushies we made dinner. What was for dinner?? Only the best thing EVER... Crepes!!!! It was a little bit of a risk since neither of us had made them before. I also am a terrible pancake flipper, so basically Michael made the crepes and I just admired his amazing cooking skills (and also set up the ingredients to go in the crepes). 

Doesn't he look so handsome?! I think so! :)

Look at that crepe! He is such a stud!

All of our yummy ingredients! 

I wish I would have taken a picture so that you could see them all stuffed and folded, because they were so pretty. But we both were so excited to eat them that I didn't even think about getting a picture.

I would be completely selfish if I didn't express just how grateful I am for all I have been given. I have a wonderful family, a husband who works so hard and is still so helpful around the house. I am so blessed to have a sweet baby boy coming soon! He is getting bigger and bigger each day and I am loving how active he is. He loves listening to music especially if Daddy is singing. I am so happy with life right now and am excited for what the future holds. 

23 weeks!

We are now over halfway there... I am so excited! A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to find out the gender, and as most of my family guessed... we are going to have a beautiful baby boy. It has been so amazing to think of all of the wonderful things that Michael and I will be able to teach our little boy. We have decided on the name of Michael Aaron Jr.Here's the little guy: (I think he is so handsome!)

These past weeks have been such an amazing experience for me. Our little guy moves all the time and loves when Michael talks to him. The other morning Michael woke up before me and started rubbing my tummy. Our little guy was so excited he started kicking a lot and woke me up. It was so adorable. I just find so many reasons to love my baby each day. Here are a few pictures my sister took that I just thought were so adorable. 

This is probably my favorite.

I loved that green ribbon!

I had painted my nails earlier that day and Jess thought this would be cute... I agreed!

Without the black over-shirt you can actually see my baby bump!

On a completely separate note, the Jayhawks are in the Championship tonight and I wouldn't be a good Lawrence Residence if I didn't say, GO KU!! :)

18 weeks!

We hit 18 weeks today... I can hardly believe it! On one hand this pregnancy seems to be lasting forever, but when I look at it, it seems to fly by. In two weeks (March 5) we are having our first ultrasound to find out the gender. I am so excited to see my little baby I can hardly control myself.

This was earlier last week, you can see I'm starting to show!!!!

Recently I have been feeling much better in the morning sickness area. About once a week I have a day where things are pretty bad, but for the rest of the week I just have to deal with the regular aches and pains of pregnancy.

BIG NEWS!!!!! Sometime last week, I think Thursday or Friday, I started to feel the baby move and kick. At first I wasn't sure, but now I feel it more often especially when I am laying in bed at night. Tuesday I went the whole day without feeling him/her kick and was actually pretty sad, because I LOVE feeling those little kicks, but as soon as I settled in to sleep after a LONNNNGG day the kicking began. I was so happy to finally feel something I didn't even care that it kept me up for a while.

Also, Michael and I finally got to use our "in-home" heart monitor thing. It took us about 10 minutes before we found anything, and I almost gave up, but then we heard the heartbeat beating so quick and so faint that I couldn't help smile. It truly was amazing.

It wouldn't be right of me to end without expressing how amazing my husband has been through all of this including sleeping on the floor when I want to sleep on the couch, mid-night trips to the ER cause I can't keep anything down, but mostly just being there to help me when I am struggling. He really is amazing and I feel so blessed to have married such a sweet man!! (Yeah, I know so sappy!)

Isn't he just too darn handsome?! I think so! 

:)

Week 10 Update!!

This week Michael and I, along with my mom and sister, got to hear our precious baby's heartbeat. It was such an amazing experience. The night before I was so nervous that they might not be able to hear it and that I would have to wait another month for my next appointment. When we got there my nurse was so nice and so comforting. She explained that sometimes it takes a while to find the baby, because it's heart is so tiny. I kept sitting up from anxiety as she searched and searched. Finally she found the heartbeat, but it was so faint I almost couldn't make it out. Then she moved around and we could hear it loud and clear. I have never been so happy to hear little beats in my whole life. It was amazing to have that confirmation that my little baby was growing.

Most days I am so sick that I can hardly make it from the bed to the bathroom. I've been to the hospital twice now for dehydration due to not being able to keep any fluids down. They started me on Zofram the first time which works great, but now my insurance is saying they won't pay for anymore. Luckily, my doctor got something worked out. The insurance is willing to pay some of the cost, but that still leaves the total cost for six pills at thirty dollars. I am now trying a different medication, but it causes me be so drowsy that I sleep for two hours after taking it. Since I take it every six hours, that's not a lot of awake time. On the bright side, it does help me keep small portions of food and water down.

This last week has been pretty rough, but I wouldn't wish it any other way. I have grown to love this little baby more than I could ever imagine. I find myself constantly thinking about all the wonderful things he or she will be able to do. That love keeps me going on hard days. I can't imagine anything being more worth it than this little baby.