Halfway there!!

I can't believe I'm to the halfway mark already. It sure does fly by a lot faster when you're busy chasing a toddler around! I had my ultrasound on Monday and only had to wait an hour in the waiting room! (sense the sarcasm?) It went great though and the little dude was very active. The baby weighs 12 ounces and is right on track. We got a 3D photo of the baby's face (see below) and I have to admit, it somewhat freaked Shanon and I out! We only had the regular 2D photos with Macy and I guess we weren't bothered by our little skeletal alien baby. But to see the baby's actual face, wow! Of course Shanon is worried that it's deformed or that something is seriously wrong with it since it doesn't look just perfect (he also worried that Macy was going to have a freakishly big head because it kept measuring a week ahead, but she was just perfect!).

Side profile, the baby is facing down.


A 3D pic of the baby's leg and foot.


A 3D pic of the baby's face and hand.


Maybe what actually freaked us out about this last pic is the fact that the tech had to erase part of the baby's arm so we could see its face. Notice the hand appears to be floating!

Oh, and nope, we opted not to find out the gender of the baby. We didn't find out with Macy either. Although part of me would like to know, I think it would be like opening your present before Christmas and I would wish I had waited. However based on my last pregnancy, I know all of you will have opinions on what we're having anyway so look for a poll coming soon!

Third time's the charm.... let's hope!

For those of you who don't know, Macy has had chronic ear infections since she was about 7 or 8 months old. She got her first set of tubes in July 2007, which promptly fell out about 3 months later. So we went in for set #2 this past February and the doctor also removed her adenoids, hoping this would help as well. Again, one of the tubes fell out about 3 months later. She made it just fine throughout the summer without any problems or anything, so I was hopeful that she wasn't going to have problems anymore. Wrong!

Macy had a regular follow up appointment with her ENT doctor last Wednesday. I was somewhat anxious for him to take a look because the previous couple of weeks she had been acting like they might be giving her trouble again. The right ear that still had a tube in it looked great. He had me look in her left ear, it was full of pus - lovely! So we scheduled another surgery to put a tube in that ear for two days later, we didn't waste any time! She did just fine, it was somewhat of a breeze actually with the exception of the ridiculous stickers they put on her chest to monitor her during surgery. I had forgotten all about those until we were putting her clothes back on and I saw them. She screamed and cried so hard when we took them off, she hadn't cried at all to that point. After it was done I saw why, one of them left a big purple bruise. Geesh, do they really have to be THAT sticky?!! Anyway, all was good when they gave her suckers on our way out.

Oh, and we also finally moved Macy into her new bedroom over the weekend. She was excited, but you could tell she wasn't too sure about it either. She did great though and now we can think about putting the crib back up in her old room which will be baby's room. I think getting that set up will start making it all seem more real!

Veggie Tales Live!

When I saw that Veggie Tales Live was going to be at the Rosebud Theater in Effingham, I knew I wanted to take Macy. I thought she was old enough to really have fun at something like that and possibly be captivated (aka not running around or whining)most of the time. So I got some pretty decent tickets, in the center section about 10 or so rows back. Now we do have a couple of Veggie Tales movies, but Macy wasn't really interested in them before. Me with my quick thinking decided to bust them out again the weekend before the show (which was last Monday, the 3rd) so that she would at least recognize the characters.... I mean vegetables. So off we went on Monday and we had been talking to her about it so she was really excited (although I'm not sure she really knew what exactly she was excited about at that point). So we get in our seats and it starts. She just sits there and stares, not sure what to think. This lasted most of the first half, but then by the second half it was a different story. To say she was having a great time is the understatement of the year! That girl was crazy - literally bouncing off her chair, clapping, jumping up and down, etc. Shanon and I were just cracking up laughing so hard because while all the other kids were sitting calmly in their seats, ours wouldn't stop jumping up and down because she was so excited. It was really sweet... especially condsidering the show wasn't over until 9pm and her normal bedtime is 8pm, plus since we had just changed the clocks back an hour it was really like 10pm to her. Needless to say, she totally crashed in the car on the drive home. All in all she had a great time and I think it was money well spent, thank you Veggie Tales!


Macy with her newly acquired Bob the Tomato.


Just before the show started.

Trick or Treat at the Trail

Lincoln Trail College (my employer) hosts an event each Halloween called Trick or Treat at the Trail. The whole place is decorated (even the stacks in the library) and you bring your kids all dressed up and and walk through the college and trick or treat the different tables set up along the way. It was a lot of fun and more importantly, it's free! Then you can eat in the cafeteria and get free balloons and popcorn. We didn't bring Macy last year because I didn't think she was quite old enough to really even care, but this year was a different story. For those of you that know Macy, you know she is rarely speechless, but as we walked along and there were people dressed up and so many different things to look at, she didn't utter a word the entire time and only stared in awe. She had practiced saying 'crick or creat' so well that morning darn it! Of course by the time we were done and sitting down to eat, she was so wound up that she wouldn't sit still for longer than 2 seconds. Here are a couple of pics from the evening... yes, I dressed up too, as an escapee from Robinson Correctional Center(just around the corner from LTC). Thanks for the photos Danelle!



We also Trick or Treated the grandparents the following night, which Macy enjoyed too of course. This involved her wearing the Cinderella dress most of the night, so it wasn't long before she had a big hole in the toe of her tights, grass stain on her knee, and a rip in the hem of her dress. Not exactly a dainty little princess, but a darn cute one!

On the new baby front... after we got home the evening of Trick or Treat at the Trail, I finally got Macy calmed down and to bed and plopped down in the recliner for a little while before I went to bed. I felt something in my tummy and wondered if it was the baby. I've had little twitches here and there, but haven't been sure if they were the baby or not. So I waited and sure enough, I felt it again in the same spot! The baby must have been wanting to take it's turn not being able to sit still because it kept kicking several times after that. I was really excited because this is probably the thing I missed the most about being pregnant, not to mention that it is really reassuring knowing that the little booger is doing okay!