In bullet points for the sake of brevity:
* The 12/14 doctor's visit and ultrasound (and follow up phone calls) indicate that we have very positive numbers, meaning low risks, of Downs or trisonmy 13 or 18 in the new baby. Praising God for that. Healthy! They could identify arms, legs, hands, briefly feet, bladder, stomach, brain, nose, and heart which was beating at a strong 167 bpm. We have a 15 minute DVD as a result.
* We made it to the Lights of Christmas at Stanwood/Warm Beach. It was so nice to see a concentrated dazzling of lights, even on a bit of drizzly night. The boys liked the pony rides, petting zoo, the Polar Express tractor towed "train", the fresh hot donuts, the lights and the toy making work shop. They weren't so sure about talking to the Bruce the Spruce. It was worth the trip, and the coupon deal was awesome.
* We made it to Leavenworth for their town lighting. The sledding is what drew the attention fo the boys the most. They just love zinging down that hill again and again and again. (Perhaps next year the tubing hill at Snoqualmie, just a thought.) The chestnuts were a special treat as we listened to the town crowd singing. One side note, Jockey had to go to the bathroom every 5 to 15 minutes and asked to go home before they even lit the lights... kind of a damper but it seems like a legitimate medical problem and just not feeling good.
*Jockey went to the doctor for the first time ever for an illness. Not bad in 5 years, however, he was completely shy and would not hold still for the doctor's exam. And for his specific complaint, using the restroom successfully would have been a help too. End game, no infection, still took the antibiotics, and we have to come back and see the doctor to find out WHY... unfortunately they said it isn't completely IMPOSSIBLE for him to have kidney stones. Sorry son, I'm at fault for this one if that's what you have.
* We made it to the zoo for a bit of a mid-week trip. Rather than get things done at the house, I elected not to let them get worse with crazy boys running around inside all day. We met Cousin Tessa and Auntie Kristina. And followed the zoo up with a visit at their house for a movie and fun.
* We met my nephew (the boys cousin) Kyler for the first time ever. He just turned one this month. He has been walking about 3 weeks at the time of our visit. He was sure active and expressive, and totally into balls. All boy. Caleb and Josh now have a face to go with the "you have a cousin" claim.
*Christmas Eve we attended church services where Caleb bravely sang on stage with the other kids. He was great, but highly motivated by the bribe of a present from the Children's Pastor. Afterwards, Grammy and Papa Dahl came back to our house for casual dinner of the traditional German wieners and herring salad. Some of us abstained and went with the alternatives.
* Christmas Morning was at our house. I actually had to wake the kids up to open their stockings. They are the only kids I know that have to be woken up on Christmas morning. It was a good morning of conversation and hot breakfast with Grammy, Papa Dahl, Grandma Judy, and Papa Bill. The big difference this year is that Caleb can read the names on the presents and Josh can at least identify the first letter of a name... which means he got confused only with Grandma Judy's gifts and his own. So because of the reading thing, they were sifting through the gifts under the tree on their own trying to read everything to dole out the gifts themselves. Their enthusiam to read almost outmatched the gifts themselves... except Mario for the Wii, and Mario Kart with steering wheels. The Hot Wheels were also a huge hit.
* Christmas Night was at Grammy and Papa Dahls house for dinner where we saw all the morning people but also the Surfaces and GG Dahl. The kids played outside for a bit, and the Wii alot. That was what made it quiet enough for a nap...for me at least.
* The kids are recovered from the excitement of Christmas and on to being wild and crazy again. We met some friends of theirs at a Burger King and let them play on the equipment for 3 hours... hey, at least it's not my house being messed up. And another day we had Emily and Brittany over to give them their presents. Emily was so interested in a new environment to explore.
We have no set plans for the rest of the week or New Years. Just birthday party for one of Jockey's buds on Sunday afternoon. But that is the catch up to start fresh for the new year.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 06, 2010
Ok... It's been a while, and I'm still exhausted so this will be brief.
Thanksgiving was great. Good food, kind of co-op prepared. The boys were well occupied with the Wii and didn't destroy Papa Bill's house.
Thanksgiving (take 2) was on Sunday at Papa and Grammy Dahls, add GG, and Surfaces. The boys like the wii there and Cousin Tessa... and re-arranging the Christmas tree ornaments. Jockey insists that the lamb is called Sheep. And later that our new toothpaste is green "like than green stuff on the sheep".
We had 2 snow days right before Thanksgiving. I thought it was great. The boys were playing the backyard or playing Wii... no middle ground. Although, Jockey at one point asked "do I have school?"... no. "Do I have Bible study (ie childcare)?"...no. To that he said "When is someone going to teach me something! I'm bored."
Lastly, officially annoucing the life altering news.... we are PREGNANT and expecting a little bundle in June 2011. Due date is 6/24, but we will be c-sectioned about a week earlier. As of November 17 when we visited the doctor... it is just one baby with a very healthy heart rate of 182 bpm. And on that day we were 8weeks 5 days.... which puts us not on December 6th to be 11 weeks 3 days. This is a long story and huge blessing, not that we knew God wanted this definitively, but we had been praying "Is this what you want for us?" since April/May. So I guess we have our answer and God has been in control and blessing us from the beginning... Just some examples: I went to the doctor in July to get Clomid (fertility med used to conceive the first two boys) and was given birth CONTROL; turns out July and August I laid hardwood floor to include smelly glue, painted walls & cabinets after TSP-ing, cut/installed molding and chair rail, NONE of which I could do if I was pregnant and sick, sensitive to chemicals or exhausted already. I went off the birth control after being sick and prayed that it was all in the Lord's hands. We NATURALLY (no clomid) conceived what seems so far to be a sucessful pregnancy... any other naturals we've lost. Per the ultrasound, if we had been "trying" and aiming for ovulation specific days... we would have missed it by a week! All the more proof that it wasn't in our timing/control but God's because usually a late conception is a "weak" and therefore unsuccessful conception. THEN, during the snow days before Christmas, I got a call (by the way, one week after getting the cost estimates on what this whole ball of wax is going to cost us) and it is from DSHS, turns out the boys now qualify for free medical (less than before) and now I qualify for Pregnancy Medical (since on the off chance I wrote in the margin of the income review form that we were expecting!) I just had to put my application in, and I just got off the phone to find out it was officially approved last FRIDAY! So between the private insurance (which I can drop for the next 8 months and save even more) and the DSHS... I shouldn't have any out of pocket expenses! A gigantic huge blessing to pay for the other blessing that God sent! THEN, the timing of the delivery will be in the last days of the boys' school, which gives me the whole summer to recover from surgery, get off pain meds, and get use to a demanding schedule before I have to get up every morning and get 4 people ready for school/dressed/fed etc; if it had been in "MY" timing I would be hitting the ground drugged and running kids to school with a new baby in MARCH/APRIL. So too many good things to be a coincidence, and it's all God.
We are hoping for a boy. It hadn't occurred to us that it would be a girl until everyone else brought it up. The boys are very excited and are already anxious to see their new brother, and I'm sure the excitement will grow and *I* do. We have a boy name picked out. We didn't even talk about girl names... in fact, we didn't talk about any other boy names other than the ONE we picked out and decided on. It means "gift of God", which fits perfectly all of what God has had us traverse in the past months. But we find out 2/8/2011 what gender for sure, assuming that he holds still and lets them take pictures!
So that's the news. We'll keep you posted.
Thanksgiving was great. Good food, kind of co-op prepared. The boys were well occupied with the Wii and didn't destroy Papa Bill's house.
Thanksgiving (take 2) was on Sunday at Papa and Grammy Dahls, add GG, and Surfaces. The boys like the wii there and Cousin Tessa... and re-arranging the Christmas tree ornaments. Jockey insists that the lamb is called Sheep. And later that our new toothpaste is green "like than green stuff on the sheep".
We had 2 snow days right before Thanksgiving. I thought it was great. The boys were playing the backyard or playing Wii... no middle ground. Although, Jockey at one point asked "do I have school?"... no. "Do I have Bible study (ie childcare)?"...no. To that he said "When is someone going to teach me something! I'm bored."
Lastly, officially annoucing the life altering news.... we are PREGNANT and expecting a little bundle in June 2011. Due date is 6/24, but we will be c-sectioned about a week earlier. As of November 17 when we visited the doctor... it is just one baby with a very healthy heart rate of 182 bpm. And on that day we were 8weeks 5 days.... which puts us not on December 6th to be 11 weeks 3 days. This is a long story and huge blessing, not that we knew God wanted this definitively, but we had been praying "Is this what you want for us?" since April/May. So I guess we have our answer and God has been in control and blessing us from the beginning... Just some examples: I went to the doctor in July to get Clomid (fertility med used to conceive the first two boys) and was given birth CONTROL; turns out July and August I laid hardwood floor to include smelly glue, painted walls & cabinets after TSP-ing, cut/installed molding and chair rail, NONE of which I could do if I was pregnant and sick, sensitive to chemicals or exhausted already. I went off the birth control after being sick and prayed that it was all in the Lord's hands. We NATURALLY (no clomid) conceived what seems so far to be a sucessful pregnancy... any other naturals we've lost. Per the ultrasound, if we had been "trying" and aiming for ovulation specific days... we would have missed it by a week! All the more proof that it wasn't in our timing/control but God's because usually a late conception is a "weak" and therefore unsuccessful conception. THEN, during the snow days before Christmas, I got a call (by the way, one week after getting the cost estimates on what this whole ball of wax is going to cost us) and it is from DSHS, turns out the boys now qualify for free medical (less than before) and now I qualify for Pregnancy Medical (since on the off chance I wrote in the margin of the income review form that we were expecting!) I just had to put my application in, and I just got off the phone to find out it was officially approved last FRIDAY! So between the private insurance (which I can drop for the next 8 months and save even more) and the DSHS... I shouldn't have any out of pocket expenses! A gigantic huge blessing to pay for the other blessing that God sent! THEN, the timing of the delivery will be in the last days of the boys' school, which gives me the whole summer to recover from surgery, get off pain meds, and get use to a demanding schedule before I have to get up every morning and get 4 people ready for school/dressed/fed etc; if it had been in "MY" timing I would be hitting the ground drugged and running kids to school with a new baby in MARCH/APRIL. So too many good things to be a coincidence, and it's all God.
We are hoping for a boy. It hadn't occurred to us that it would be a girl until everyone else brought it up. The boys are very excited and are already anxious to see their new brother, and I'm sure the excitement will grow and *I* do. We have a boy name picked out. We didn't even talk about girl names... in fact, we didn't talk about any other boy names other than the ONE we picked out and decided on. It means "gift of God", which fits perfectly all of what God has had us traverse in the past months. But we find out 2/8/2011 what gender for sure, assuming that he holds still and lets them take pictures!
So that's the news. We'll keep you posted.
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