Here she is!

We just wanted to share a few quick snapshots of our little Pater-Tot"ette". Enjoy!!

Looking up at you, right arm at top of screen, belly to left.

Looking up at you.

Profile shot, right arm at top of screen.

It's a Girl!!

Let me start by saying, I really didn't know what this baby was going to be. I knew I wanted to find out, but I kept finding both similarities and differences between this pregnancy and Aidan's pregnancy. In my mind, I wasn't sure which had more weight, the similarities, or the differences? I craved nearly the same things, I felt sick with both, and my skin didn't do too many funky things with either. The differences were: this baby kicks mainly on the left and my hair is still shedding a little bit. Aidan was always jabbing me on the right side and I didn't lose a single hair on my head while I was pregnant with him. I had the fluffiest mop you ever saw. Andy, on the other hand, was convinced that I simply was more nauseous in the beginning and it HAD to be a girl! I chalked the sickness up to chasing a toddler around and not being able to eat exactly when I needed to to keep my blood sugar stable! Alas, I was still torn.

Well, lo and behold, Andy was right! We found out Wednesday afternoon. Andy is gone again at training this week, but with my parents here visiting, they were able to accompany me and Aidan to the hospital for my ultrasound! The first half hour of the scan, the tech did all the clinical measurements, working diligently and pressing so gently on my tummy. He kept the screen toward himself, but I wouldn't have looked anyway. Why look? I didn't want to know before my parents came in! He asked if I wanted to know what it was, and I said "yes, but when my parents are here, please." I think he was more excited to tell me. As soon as they came in with Aidan he said "Your son is going to have a little sister!" It was pretty cute. :)

My initial reaction was "Prove it! I want to see the pictures!" So he probed around again and found her sitting perfectly, as if to say "Here mom, see???" :) She weighs about a pound now and is nearly a foot long. I'm still in shock that I am having a girl; I don't know what to do with girls! :) Aidan will make a great big brother and I can't wait to venture into the world of "girly" things now. Daddy is also extremely thrilled! We may do a poll on here for names. We'll see. ;)





On a side note, we got to sit at the hospital for an extra few hours due to a Security Lock down. Who knows what happened, but being inside for an extra hour and a half and then sitting completely still in a parking garage for another additional hour was not my idea of a fun afternoon! At least we had some fun news keeping us going, my parents there to entertain Aidan, and Satellite TV when even that wasn't enough! Yes, I'm still loving my new Valentine's day present! :)

Time is Flying...

I've been meaning to post everyday this week, but alas, time keeps slipping away from me! Here are our quick "catch up" points from the past week:

• Last Week - I took Aidan to the doctor because Tuesday night he spontaneously threw up after dinner. Turns out he was probably recovering from the final leg of a mild stomach virus and overate. He slept great that night and is back to being the healthy eater he is. Luckily I got him bathed, into bed, laundry started and the puke-covered floor cleaned up all before 10pm! I'm bummed I had to throw out my fun jogging suit I got from Karen for Christmas. It was pretty covered and I figured it probably wouldn't be salvageable!
• Valentines Day Weekend - We had a WONDERFUL weekend with Daddy, who came home Saturday afternoon. Aidan and I went to the grocery store that morning and got lots of flowers and items for our "Lobster Feast" and cupcakes! We had lobster tails, lobster ravioli, Caesar salad, garlic bread and then fun Strawberry cupcakes decorated with cream cheese icing and sprinkles, red drawn on hearts, M&M's, etc. It was a lot of fun! My folks came into town via the Amtrak Auto Train on Sunday and we met up with them and joined Andy's Grandparents, the Hendricks, for a fabulous Sunday brunch. The rest of the day we lounged around and then got Andy ready to go again, booo.
• This Week - We have had a full week of Doctor Visits (see post above!) and outings. The week has thankfully flown by and Daddy is set to arrive home again very shortly YAY!

Catching up on the weekend...

We had a great time this past weekend, thanks in most part to Daddy being able to come home! It was so great to have him here and spend time together as a family. Aidan was still a little under the weather and continues to be so today, not eating as much and having a seemingly strange digestive system. His spirits are still great though and he doesn't have a temperature though, so we'll see how it goes!

Daddy brought home a very special present for Aidan (and himself ;)) this weekend and I've included some photos of it and of Aidan playing in the box that it came in. It'll be a great way for us to "keep in touch" with Daddy while he's away.

We also were able to get outside both days since it'd warmed up, walking to lunch and the grocery store and playing with bubbles outside on Saturday and enjoying a nice stroll again on Sunday.

I realized one big thing this weekend, I know that each time Andy comes home and has to leave again it's going to get increasingly difficult for me. With God's strength, I will be ok. I pray everyday for the courage and power to keep my chin up, and I greatly appreciate all of you that have kept us in your thoughts and call to check on us and include us in your daily lives. I thank you, and Andy thanks you. You'll be what helps get us through the next year.

Aidan wanting to come down the stairs after climbing them.

Learning to go down the steps.

This is a great present, Dad! Thanks!

I love my new toy!

Hi Mom!

The 110' Cutter with it's Crew on board.

Andy's... I mean Aidan's personalized Cutter - BARANOF. :)

Strange Morning...

So this morning, I walked in to get Aidan up to find that he'd thrown up all over his bed. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay Aidan??" was my first reaction. But to see him sitting there smiling, ready to start the day, my immediate thought was "What the heck happened?" I never heard him make any strange noises during the night, he never cried, complained, or even whimpered. The overwhelming smell and vomit covered pj's shocked me, "how could he have just gone back to sleep in this?? YUCK!"

I was all dressed to go to our MOPS meeting and I thought this was going to have to put a halt to that outing. I stripped the sheets, blanket, bunny, PJ's, etc. and scooped him up to get him dressed. He was in great spirits and I was baffled by the whole scenario. Last night, he'd refused to eat much at dinner but ate some yogurt and drank water right before bed. He did get a strange case of the hiccups, and he's had a runny nose with the new tooth coming in and possible cold lingering, so maybe something just caused him to gag the wrong way and, OOPS, there's dinner?? I didn't know. I couldn't figure it out.

Poor kid tolerated having his temperature taken but again, 98.6 degrees told me he was OK. I got him dressed, brought him down to breakfast and he readily ate his banana, pancakes and yogurt. I talked to Andy and a friend about it and we all agreed it seemed to have been a strange fluke. I brought him with me to MOPS and he was fine; ate his snack, drank his water and played with the other kids. I never, EVER would have brought him anywhere if I thought he was sick. It's one of my biggest pet peeves, when parents knowingly bring a sick child (or themselves) around other children. But after my consultation with Andy and the fact that he seemed completely fine now, I felt it was safe.

He's napping peacefully in his newly changed sheets and blanket. So strange... I have mixed feelings about the whole morning... How could I not have heard him throw up in the middle of the night? Should I have brought him out? Am I a bad mom? Ugh, I hate feeling guilty.

New Tooth!

Finally, Aidan's molar has broken through! He's been gnawing, drooling, and has had a runny nose for the last two weeks or so. Well this morning, he was chewing away on my finger and oh yeah, I felt it! That pesky bottom left molar. Phew! Now let's just hope all the gnawing on his right side will force that second one through any day now! :)

On another note, we've decided to stay in today and skip music class. It was 15 degrees this morning, and with Aidan's runny nose (not sure if it's a cold or not??) and the fact that the wind chill made it 2 BELOW zero, it just wasn't worth it! Seems like a good day to stay in! Have a great one!

Handy-woman for hire and Mickey D's

Yesterday was our first official day "on our own." We survived just fine, minus a few traumatic diaper changes due to the citrus Aidan had had the day before. This morning, however, I learned to appreciate having "the man of the house around." Aidan stirred at about 5:30a.m. which caused me to wake up. I decided, "well, I might as well go to the bathroom, since I'm up!" Sure enough, the flapper valve on the toilet broke. Oh joy. Well, I went to the kitchen to get another paper clip (since that's what we'd used to rig it up before.) I went to turn on the light and POP! The light bulb blew. Yes, this is all happening at 5:30 this morning. :) I turned on another light, found a paper clip and went on to fix the toilet (success!!). I then, of course, went straight back to bed! I figured, there was plenty more time in the day for me to get my handy-man's license!

This afternoon, after Gymboree class, I took Aidan to the McDonald's drive-thru and we got ourselves some cheeseburgers. Below are some pictures of him enjoying his cheeseburger and fries. Go ahead, give me the guilt trip, "Fast food?!?! For a ONE year old??" Hey, I needed a cheeseburger, and I was recently told, that it's much better to get a burger than nuggets at the drive-thru, since it has more iron! He didn't eat a ton of it anyway. :) Hope you are having a great week!

MMMM Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!

Mickey D's fries are the best!

Oh yeah, this is yummy!