Christmas in Chicago

We had a wonderful Christmas in Chicago with Fred's parents and brother's family. Rory and Abby had a great time opening their presents from Grandma and Grandpa and playing with them on Christmas eve. And Rory was surprised to find more presents on Christmas morning from Santa. She certainly made out well this year. And she was still hoping Santa left things at our house too (which he did, of course). It was a great Christmas.

Preparing for Santa

Yes, this was Christmas eve in our front yard. I believe the temperature was around 60 with absolutely no snow. But, we still needed to prepare for the chance that Santa was going to leave presents at our house on Christmas even though we would be at Grandma and Grandpa's in Chicago. I found some reindeer food at the store and Fred and Rory spread it in the front yard. According to the tag on the container, reindeer can smell the reindeer food from 10 miles away. There was no way he was going to miss our house!

The Date is Set

We had another ultrasound and doctor's appointment today. All indicators show it's still a boy, which is good news since we've started to sell Rory's old clothes.

Everything looks good and the boy is growing. While at the doctor we made the decision to go ahead and plan another C-section instead of trying to go naturally. With that decision we were able to literally schedule the baby's due date. We will be having the baby on Monday, April 6th at 7:30 am. For those of you who know me, you'll know I love to plan and schedule so knowing the baby's due date, is a really great thing.

The next doctor's appointment is Monday, January 19th and I'll be having yet another ultrasound and a diabetes test. Two months ago the ultrasound technician found a spot on the baby's heart that they were concerned with so that's why we've been having ultrasounds every month. Last month the spot was less pronounced so they're expecting it to just go away. Hopefully this month it will be gone and we won't need to worry about it. But, at this point we're not worried anyway. We are optimistic that it will take care of itself.

Until next month...

Rory's school Christmas lunch

Fred and I made the trip over to Rory's preschool today for their Christmas lunch. Rory was very excited to have us there and Fred tends to do well with all of the kids there.

Decorating Cookies

Rory did a wonderful job helping Grandma and Great-Grandma decorate sugar cookies.

Disney on Ice

My mom and grandma came over from Ohio last weekend to bake cookies, while here we surprised Rory with tickets to see Disney on Ice. We had a wonderful time and Rory just loved watching all of her favorite Disney characters sing and skate.

Rory's Xmas Show at school

Rory's preschool put on a Xmas show. We couldn't see much because all of the others parents were standing up taking pictures (we're waiting for a copy of the show from the school). But we got some pictures of Rory after. Then we went home and finished decorating the tree by adding the topper.

Talking to Grandma Jo and Grandpa Dan

While talking to my mom on the phone Rory grabbed the phone and wanted to talk. She proceeded to get a book and lie down on the floor and talk. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

Paws and Clause

The city park in Danville has a fantastic holiday light display. On Monday Dec. 8th they also had Santa make a visit to take pictures with pets. We took Cody and Rory to get their picture together. It was a lot of fun.

It's still a boy

My wonderful friends at work decided to decorate my desk when we found out the news that I'm having a boy. I had to document it because it was so cute. I even got a "boy" crown, they decorated my glasses with blue and made a male symbol ring for me to wear.

The Flying Feather 4 miler

Thanksgiving morning started with a four mile walk in Ohio with my mom, Tiffany (my sister-in-law) and Fred. We made pretty good time and finished in just over an hour but the best part was finishing, getting our big, honkin' penguin medal (that's what they called it) and a bottle of wine. It was a great way to start the day and we had a great time.

Week 20 Update

We're in week 20 (although at the ultrasound on Friday I was 19 weeks, 5 days). The appointment was great! Rory was with us and was able to see the ultrasound. On our way to the doctor Fred asked Rory what he thought the baby was and she said, "I think it's a boy." We were shocked. For a couple months Rory has been telling us she wanted a baby sister and we weren't allowed to have a boy. This was the first time she's even mentioned the "b" word. I asked her if she was sure since she wanted a sister and she said, "Oh, I changed my mind, it's a girl." Well, we had the ultrasound and were shocked again when it was a boy. Below are some pictures from the ultrasound. From top to bottom, Face profile, foot and hand (and head).


Rory seems to be handling it very well. She's been talking about her baby brother all weekend and all the things she's going to help him learn. She's even offered to take him to swim lessons with her.

So it looks like we're going to have to start picking up some boy clothes but other than that, we have everything else for the new arrival (luckily we had all neutral stuff for Rory), now is just the waiting.

According to the ultrasound, the baby's weighing in at 9 oz. and everything is proportionate. I couldn't believe the clarity in the ultrasound, so different than when I was pregnant with Rory. And, he fully cooperated with the determination of gender, there's no question it's a boy! The next appointment is December 19th and I will be having another ultrasound.

Here I am on Friday the 21st. As you can see, I'm still not growing much. I've managed to gain 5 lbs. I'm still feeling sick at times and have not been able to keep everything down but I'm now on a steady diet of nausea medication and Pepcid AC. If I can start keeping things down, I'm going to have to start watching what I eat. That'll stink.

Las Vegas

Fred and I spent four days in Las Vegas last week. We were there for the Marine Dealers Top 100 dinner and awards. We had a good (but losing) week. The awards dinner was very nice and the Marine Center of Indiana placed 31 this year (up 2 from last year). Congrats to Fred!

Week 16 Update

I had an appointment with Dr. Fenoughty on Monday Oct. 20th. This was my 16 week appointment and other than getting another prescription for an anti-nausea med, it was uneventful. We listened to the heartbeat, strong at 165bpm. My next appointment is on Nov. 21st at 1:00 pm. At that appointment we will have an ultrasound and at that time we will hopefully find out the sex of the baby. We will also have the optional genetic testing done to make sure there aren't any problems (i.e. Down's syndrome).

Here is the first of the "belly" shots (not much there yet).

Update-15 weeks

Helping Santa

While at the Christmas in the Woods craft festival, Rory had the opportunity to help Santa in his workshop. Santa had Rory help put wheels on a toy car. When finished she received a necklace that said Santa's Helper '08. She wore it proudly!

Christmas in the Woods

This past weekend Rory and I drove to Ohio to meet up with my mom and attend the Christmas in the Woods craft festival. We met one of mom's friends and her little girl, Abby (2), there and the girls had a great time together. The shopping wasn't great but it was nice to be out in the fresh air all day.

Apple Orchard

Had to celebrate Fall at the apple orchard! Rory loved playing in the hay and looking at all of the pumpkins and gourds. She also had an apple and a cider slushy, it was a big time!