Tummy Troubles and Ticking Time

Poor Charlie has been having bowel issues lately. :-(

Last night we took him to the ER because he had been constipated all night, and finally I gave him some apple juice. The apple juice loosened him up, but there was a LOT of blood in the diaper! Sooo long story short (and hopefully less gruesome), we spent six hours in the ER to finally find out that the blood wasn't a concern and that he should have formula with no iron in it for a little while. Whew! I am tired and cranky today, but very grateful that my sweet boy is okay.


Last night in the ER, I thought back to the last time he was in the hospital... his birth! It made me think about how little he was only four months ago, and I cannot believe he has grown so much since then. His little face has filled out, and his bright blue eyes are always alert and looking around. He is four inches longer and six pounds heavier. People told me when I was pregnant that he would grow fast, but I thought they only meant the time would pass quickly (which it does)... I didn't think that he would literally grow fast! It is a joy to watch, though. He is always chewing on his hands or clumsily trying to grab something to put in his mouth. Many times when I change his diaper, he'll try to grab my whole arm and eat it!

Life goes by much more quickly for us as well. I can't help but think about eternity. We are on this earth for so little time, and each of us will die someday and face God. When I was a teenager, I felt like time passed by so slowly and it would be forever before I even got married and had children. And now, here I am! I used to dread getting wrinkles and gray hair, but now I am almost excited for these signs of aging that will come in the next few decades -- they mean one step closer to heaven! How awesome it will be to see Jesus face-to-face and spend eternity worshiping Him! My prayer is that I will keep this perspective as I go throughout life and learn to lay up my treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Long time, no blog!

Bath time! 3 1/2 months

So to anyone who actually reads this sorry little blog, you may have noticed that I have been quite the slacker lately! Charlie is FOUR MONTHS old today, and I have posted ZERO pictures of my sweet boy! It certainly has been crazy around here since he was born. We've traveled with him several times, and he has proven himself to be a good traveler. Some other things of interest...

...when he was three weeks old, I started him on an every three hour feeding schedule during the day. People literally screamed at me to "never wake a sleeping baby!" but I ignored them and persisted in waking him up during the day if he was sleeping during scheduled feeding time. Much to my delight, he stared sleeping six or seven hours a night a few nights after that! I'm glad I put little to no faith in old wives' tales...

...Charlie is quite the little talker! He loves to coo and giggle at people or even inanimate objects. Just this morning we had a good five-minute conversation consisting of the vowels "oooohh" and "aaaahh".

...I have unfortunately had to quit breastfeeding. I had a sinus infection, so my doctor prescribed some medication that dried me out quite a bit. Since I went off the antibiotic, I've been trying to build my supply back up, but I am afraid he isn't getting enough, so I decided to just go to formula so I can know exactly how much he is getting to eat.

...a few days ago, Charlie found his feet!

...when we took him to Chicago, we stayed in a hotel and he went swimming. He loved it! My dad held him belly-down, and he kicked his little legs and flailed his little arms like he knew exactly what he was doing. We will have to take him to the pool more often!

Well those seem to be the highlights so far. It certainly has been a blur! Hopefully I will be less of a slacker from now on...

Forty weeks, now where is the baby??

Well, I am officially due to give birth as of... yesterday. Charlie is late! (He gets that from his mother.) So to take my mind off all the back pain, mood swings, and other little "joys" that come with pregnancy, my husband took me to a park so he could take maternity pictures of me. So here I am, ready to pop!


He is an excellent camera man! Anyway, now we are just waiting. The docs told me they schedule an induction at the 41-week appointment, and I'm pretty sure they don't let you go beyond 42 weeks. So as far as I'm concerned, I only have 13 more days (or less!) to go! I will be happy to meet him and to not be pregnant!

3-D Ultrasounds!

A few weeks ago we got what will probably be our final ultrasound for this pregnancy. The technician took several 3-D pictures:


You can probably see that his arm is covering his face in these pictures. The last one is my favorite -- I think it is cute! If he's anything like his mama, he won't be camera shy for very long! I just love to marvel at the technology we have. How amazing that God made the human brain with such creativity and ingenuity! I praise Him that I was able to be pregnant in a day where I not only get to see my unborn baby through ultrasound (not to mention know the sex before birth) but also can see him with such clarity. What a blessing!

Week Twenty-Six Update

Today I am a little over halfway through my twenty-sixth week. This week I seem to have trouble sleeping past three or four in the morning; usually I will have a nightmare and wake up around that time. Right now it is 6:22 and I just finished sweeping and mopping the kitchen to the tune of whining dogs who want out of their kennels.

Other than that, things are good. We are thankful that Charlie is healthy and growing every day (I can feel his kicks getting stronger!) Mike felt him move for the first time on Father's Day; he was very excited.

Well, I can't think of anything else new going on... I suppose I will post my 20-week ultrasound
pictures!

It's a boy! (23 weeks as of yesterday!)

So as my father has graciously reminded me several times (love you Dad! :-), I am a little late updating this to post the sex of the baby. We found out almost a month ago that we are indeed having a boy! So John Charles, or Charlie, it is! We are grateful to be able to name our firstborn after both of our fathers as our prayer is that we will see the same dedication to God in our son as we have seen in both men.

Lately we have been registering at Babies R Us, Target, and Burlington Coat Factory. We're going with a blue, green, and brown theme with monkey accents for his room. Our neighbors blessed us with a crib and glider for the room, so it is already starting to look like a baby's room! I've begun working on a wall hanging -- definitely a work in progress, but looking good (I think) so far! So far, this is what I have, but I would like to add some colors/patterns to the green part so it doesn't look so plain. Another idea was just cutting out the letters so the piece of paper doesn't look so awkward over the blue fabric (which is actually silverware-drawer liner). Ideas are welcome!
Oh, and here is the picture of my parents' faces when we told them we're having a boy!

They are excited to have a grandson! :-)

Seventeen Weeks

Here I am at seventeen weeks as of today! We just took the picture a few hours ago. Apparently I am carrying low -- or that's what I'm told -- and that means it's a boy??? I guess we'll see! We're finding out the sex on the 28th of May; I'm excited to finally know!