HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today Adam and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. And if you think we are going to celebrate together today, you are mistaken! I work from 9 - 3 and then Adam leaves for work from 3 - 9...haha. Yesterday he had 2 dozen roses delivered to the house when he was working. What a NICE suprise!

We are going to go to the hotel that we stayed at after our wedding this weekend (Millenium) and out to dinner as well. My parents have offered to keep Asa overnight Saturday night so we can celebrate. This will be my first full night away from Asa since he was born :( It will be nice to get away and spend some quality time with Adam, but we will both really miss him!

I have not posted prego pics in a while, and this one is a little dated, but thought i would post anyways. This is 3 weeks ago...

I will have to post an updated prego pic, as well as Asa's haircut picture! Yes, we got his 1st haircut on Friday. It looks SO cute! Here is a preview, but better pictures to come: (does he look tired or what!)

Day of Appointments!

Yesterday we had our day FILLED, and by filled i mean OVERLOADED with family appointments. The days schedule went as follows:

8:30 am Chloe Vet Appointment - Plymouth
9:40 am Adam Orthodontist Appointment - Maple Grove
Drop dogs back off at home
Adam change pants that Ana spilled coffee all over (oops)
11:00 am Adam Dentist Appointment - Maple Grove
Lunch at Dino's Gyro's
1:00 pm Ana Dr Appointment - Plymouth
2:00 pm Asa Dr Appointment - Maple Grove

WOW, could we pack any more appointments into one day?

So a recap of all of the appointments:

• Chloe has been getting some sores on her tummy which we found out were attributed to allergies (Dr thinks) so we got her some Prednisone which will hopefully do the trick.
• Adam's ortho and dentist appointment both were routine. No problems, no complications.
• My Dr appointment went well. Only gained 2 lbs this month which means total weight gain to date this pregnancy...17 lbs. Last time by this point it was 35 lbs...woah! My tummy is measuring at 33 centimeters. A little lesson i learned yesterday is that for every centimeter you measure from your pubic bone, to the top of your uterus is 1 week of pregnancy. I am supposed to be 32 weeks this Thursday. They allow 2 centimeters on either side of the actual amount of weeks based on your due date. So, as i said, i am supposed to be 32 weeks this Thursday, so i could measure anywhere from 30 cm to 34 cm and still be fairly accurate. They only use this as a guideline to make sure baby is growing at a steady pace. My Dr told me to be prepared to have the baby anywhere from October 4th to October 14th. They calculated my due date as October 4th based on the 1st day of my last period, and changed it to October 6th at my 8 week ultrasound. They changed it again to October 14th based on my 20 week ultrasound. Again, my Dr doesn't have a real exact date, so just told me to expect baby sometime the beginning of October. Nice...Adam and i talked last night and decided we are going to have everything ready and prepared by the 1st of October just in case. I have felt for about two months that this baby will be coming early...just like the feeling i got that Asa wasn't going to be delivered naturally, rather cesarean. Might be maternal instinct, but we will have to wait and see.
• Asa's Dr appointment. Went really well. All of his learning and development stats have him rated at a 15 month level. He weighs 22lbs 3 oz, (50%), length 33 1/2 inches (90%). I looked back at my baby book and when i was Asa's age i weighed 16 lbs. I was a little pip squeak! He had to get shots, which he was SUCH a trooper for! He cried for all of 10 seconds, i picked him up and he got hugs and kisses from mom and dad, and he completely stopped crying. WOW. Then we thought he would fall asleep in his car seat on the way home and we would put him down for a nap. As soon as we got home he was up and running all over the house. No nap for him last night. He just wanted to go nutz. This means he fell asleep at 6:45 for bedtime. We also started NO formula and just whole milk. We did it for his bedtime bottle last night and he took it like a champ. We are going to start weaning him off of the bottle slowly starting now as well. His morning bottle will be in a sippy cup, and will try to to the same for his bedtime bottle as well. The bedtime bottle will be a bit more tricky, but we don't have any worries that it will be done. We have been down to about 2 bottles a day for the past month, sometimes 3 if needed. We also gave Asa peanut butter last night, which we can now give, and no reaction! So far so good with no food allergies!!

I still have to post pictures from Asa's birthday party! We had such a good time. I will have to update on that soon. We have such a busy next month and a half, which is nice because time will go by so fast before baby. My new project has been transferring all of our video camera footage onto our hard drive and burning the footage onto DVDs i am about 1/2 way done burning. Adam and i watched part of one of the videos last night of when Asa was about 3 months old, and he looked at me and said, "aren't you so excited for the baby?" We ARE! I can't wait to find out if it is a little boy or girl. I have 12 friends who are pregnant, and of the 12, 6 have found out the gender, and all 6 are having girls. I figure the odds might be against us, and we might end up having another boy. Either way we are so blessed and can't wait to meet the little bean!

By the way grandma...Asa LOVES his poo :)

8/4/2010

8/4/2009 - One year ago....how time has gone by SO quickly!

8/4/2010 - Little monkey today.

Asa John - Happy 1st birthday! We love you so much and are so proud of you. You make us laugh every day, and you always entertain us. We are SO thankful that God chose us to be your parents. We can't wait to watch you grow and see what you become. We know that there is such an amazing plan for you, and we will do the best we can to help you along the way. We can't imagine our lives without you!
Love always,
Mama and Dada

Worship in the ball field

Yesterday we had our annual worship in the ball field at church. This once a year event is usually held in at Elm Creek Park, but since our church has this huge lot in the back of the church with a ball field, they decided to hold it there instead. Great idea i think! We brought the dogs and met my parents there for the service and then lunch. They also had some games for the kids, which Asa is too little for yet, and Adam was able to throw some Frisbee with our friend Andy Gilbert. It was VERY hot out, and thankfully the golf umbrellas that we brought came in quite handy to block the sun. Our dogs were trying to find every bit of shade by sitting under our chairs. Thanks for taking the pictures mom...!

See how Caeda is perched on my tummy in the picture below. This has been her favorite spot to lay during both my pregnancies.

After the games, we made it home at about 2:30 and Asa went down for a nap around 3:30 and slept until 6:30! What a nap huh? I was even able to take a nap from 3:30 - 5. I needed it after all of that heat and a long weekend.

Friday, Adam and I golfed 18 holes with Adam's mom. I was SURE i wasn't going to make it all 18 holes from the get go, but the only thing i skipped was putting on hole 17. I told Adam i thought my hips were going to split apart :) Saturday we pulled everything out of the garage and at temped to organize it. We got about 1/2 way, which considering everything that was in our garage was PROGRESS!! We got done with the garage around 6, and made a stop at a friend from high school's house for a pool party. We didn't partake in the festivities, but were able to see some good friends from high school. We stayed until about 8, and then picked up Chipolte and headed home. (Thanks John for the phone call about the Par-Tay!) I hope you had a fun rest of the night...and i am sure you needed Sunday to recover :)

All in all it was a fun weekend...

Tomorrow night i am going to meet some old co workers (The Right Staff/Cargill) for happy hour. OJ for me please :)

Birthday Fun

Yesterday i celebrated my 29th birthday...yes, i cannot believe i am already almost 30! I had such an amazing day celebrating with family and surprises! First, Adam wasn't sure if he was going to have to work or not in the evening, so he had TWO birthday dinners planned for me. The first was on Sunday night. He went out grocery shopping and made a whole fondue dinner for me. Cheese course with bread and veggies, and then a meat/scallop course with more veggies and a beef/wine broth. It was so nice. He moved the kitchen table into the living room so that we could watch Bounty Hunter (movie with Jennifer Aniston) while we ate. Monday, he didn't have to work either, so he went grocery shopping again while i was at work and bought chicken and corn on the cob and grilled for me. I felt very pampered. Earlier in the week last week he also said that i could go and get a mani/pedi for part of my birthday gift as well. I can't even tell you how NICE it is to get a mani/pedi pregnant. Anyone who is willing to rub a pregnant ladies feet should get a nice hug!

When i left work on Monday, my boss called me about 10 minutes into my drive home, and asked if i wanted to come back to the office and pick up his car to borrow for my birthday. I quickly turned around!

It was SO fun to drive a convertible around for a few days! In case there are any car buffs reading, it is a 2004 Thunderbird.

Yesterday i slept in until about 9:00, and then got up and lounged with Asa and watched some "toons" with him. We left our house in separate cars because the Thunderbird is only a 2 seater, at about 11:00 where i picked up my mom so she could drive in the car. We drove to Joe Sensors and had lunch with my mom, Adams mom, and our family. I had a yummy buffalo chicken salad.

We left lunch and headed over to the Clinic for my 28 week appointment with Dr Locher. It was a full house with the mommies along, and the dr asked if we were having a party or something. He went out and got the ultrasound machine and continued to do about a 20 minute ultrasound pointing everything out to the mommies. Neither my mom or Adam's mom have been able to see an ultrasound so it was SO neat. We even video taped it! The baby was DEFINITELY active and we watched it's little legs kicking about in my tummy. He pointed out the stomach and bladder and showed how because of the dark color that the baby was digesting fluid and such wonderfully which is a great sign of a healthy baby. He also stopped on the stomach for quite a while and we were able to see the baby taking practice breaths. It was such a miracle and so beautiful to see! A few times he would get close to the butt area and would quickly pull away so we couldn't find out the sex. The babies head was also very low in my pelvis which is good news for not having another breech baby. This means there is about a 75% chance that the baby will stay this way and i will be able to have a vaginal birth. We will continue to evaluate as we get closer to the baby's birthday to see where the head is. If it isn't so low and progressing in dilation we may want to have a cesarean, or if the baby is like a 9 pounder also. Haha!
After the appointment we went home to rest for a few hours and Adam had to do a little bit of work. We thought that he was going to have to go to work but later found out that he didn't have any appointments. Adam gave me by birthday cards, one from him and one from Asa (so sweet) and then my gifts. He gave me a pregnancy yoga DVD, which i think i am going to try out tonight. He also gave my Asa ring.

It is my right hand white gold ring with Asa's birthstone. He is planning on getting me each babies birthstone ring and stacking them as they come. If baby #2 comes in October as expected, the birthstone is opal, which they don't have in the stackables, however the alternate for October is Pink Tourmaline which would look really pretty with the Peridot.

After gifts we quick made plans for dinner and it ended up working out so great. My parents, Chuck, Adam, Asa and I all went out to Benihana's for dinner. I had a free birthday coupon for a free meal also. We weren't able to make reservations until about 8:00 so it was a really late night for Asa. I picked up Chuck from his house in "the car" and met everyone else there.

They even sang me happy birthday. Asa was very into the whole experience!!

After dinner i drove my dad quick around the parking lot in the car so he could experience it too.

It was such a GREAT day, and to top it all off, all week they were saying it was going to be rainy, and it was SUCH a sunny day!

Besides the ultrasound, the Dr's appointment went great! He had me do a urine test which came back normal because i have had a LOT of pulling in my pelvic area. We assume it is just pulling from the cesarean scar, being it hasn't been a year yet since it was formed. So far to this point i have gained 15 lbs. which by this point last pregnancy i had gained 30! I gained 8 this last month, which has been my highest gain month, but still have not broke double digits yet. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy 4th and 25 week picture.

As i mentioned in my last blog, last Thursday i was officially 25 weeks pregnant. I only posted a picture of me at 20 weeks. So...here is me at 25 weeks. (picture taken today).

I feel like with this pregnancy i am all baby bump. A friend from church this morning said that it looked like i just had a ball in my stomach. Definitely different than last time.

I have to admit this isn't the best picture of me. I was feeling tired and a bit under the weather today and i definitely think i look it. Asa has also come down with a cold as well. His nose was really runny today. 2 baths for him, just to make him feel good, as he LOVES his tub time :) Yesterday we went to Adam's boss' house on Medicine Lake. It was a really good time, except for how HOT it was. Adam was able to wake board and i sat in the A/C indoors with Asa and the rest of the mommies with their kids. There was LOTS of kids there which made it a lot of fun. There was even a little 2 1/2 week old baby....awe!

Also, our friends Brian and Cassie had their baby this morning at 2:00 am. Towards the middle of June, Brian was talking to Adam on the phone and i had Adam tell Brian that i think Cassie should hold off and have her baby on the 4th (her due date was June 30th). Sure enough her water broke on the 3rd around 10:00 am and the little baby girl was born on the 4th. Now she will be able to have a party and fireworks every year for her birthday. I think of all of the holidays that would be the best to be born on. Especially since it is a holiday with no presents involved except her birthday presents. We are hoping to be able to go to the hospital tomorrow to visit.

Adam is outside right now with the neighbors lighting off fireworks. I am sitting on the couch watching them from the window....i don't like mesquites, nor do i feel 100%. I think they look just as pretty from inside :)

Into the Groove

I feel like this week we are really getting back INTO THE GROOVE. I have attached some fun pics from the last few weeks. Asa is really ALMOST walking. We stand him up and rest his back against the couch, and sit a few feet away from him. This morning he took three steps, stopped and continued standing for a few seconds, and then took three more steps to us. It is amazing how quickly he understands the concept once he trusts himself. He is also not afraid of anything. He will climb onto the couch, and sit, and then look over the edge sometimes falling off onto the floor. He is going to be our little dare devil, out on the skateboard with dad before you know it. I suspect plenty of injuries in his future!

This picture is of Asa wearing a sweater that my mom knitted for him.

Here is me at 20 weeks with Asa, and the pic below it is me at 20 weeks today. And YES i am wearing the same nightgown :). As a reminder i am now 25 weeks, so this is a few weeks ago. I still can't believe at 27 weeks starts the 3rd trimester!!! I was actually in Walgreen's today and two woman asked me when i was having the baby, and i told them October, and both said that they assumed i was due much later then that. i must be hiding the baby pretty well i guess?

The next is a picture of Adam reading to Asa...sweet huh?

This picture is just a sweet one of Asa playing in our fountain in the back yard on the deck. On Adam's birthday he actually pulled the fountain over on top of him self...it scared me to death!

This picture is after Adam's dad's funeral of Adam's family.

Here is just our family.

This is one of the days we were at Adam's moms house last week. Almost every night we were there the whole family took a walk to the park right up the street from their house. It was Asa's first experience in rocks. He LOVED them. Although i think a lot of them ended up in his mouth.

We don't really have any extravagant 4th plans this weekend. Saturday, Adam's boss is having people over at his house on Lake Minnetonka for a BBQ and boating. I think Adam is going to bring his wake board and attempt to be 20 again. Sunday or Monday we are going to go to my mom and dads to swim in the pool. Besides that we don't have anything going on. Hopefully we will get some rest. I think i have had a touch of a cold the last week or so, so i need to get some sleep and relax.