Update on Pregnancy and Life

Well this pregnancy is going by much faster than the first one. I am already 31 weeks, in my 3rd trimester, and only 9 weeks or less to go! I am still feeling great! My belly is definitely growing these days but I am still not very limited to what I can do yet. I feel him move a lot now and so has Daniel so that is always fun. We have another ultrasound at the UNC office on May 4th. We had a regular appointment last week. His heartbeat was still in the 150's and I was measuring right on target. The doctor did say he felt like he was breached right now but he still had room to turn around. So we will just hope and pray he does. Other than that nothing else is new with the pregnancy. We continue to pray that his bones are growing just like they should be and that we don't find anything to worry about during or after this pregnancy. But we know we are not in control of the situation so all we can do is enjoy every minute of life right now and take each day as it comes.

25 weeks and 3 days ....... 29 weeks and 1 day



Over track out Brayden and I just flew up to Michigan to visit with my family and friends for a week. It was a wonderful visit but being back in our house is always nice. And of course we missed "daddy". :) I tracked back in on April 20th and so this is my last quarter teaching 2nd grade. I have already started moving some of my files and things home to a file cabinet I got free from Amanda. YAY! It is bittersweet but I am excited to take a break and try something different for awhile. I think this decision will hopefully help strength my faith in many areas of my life.

Brayden is doing well. He is now 18 months and is learning new words and things everyday. This age is so much fun and I am loving every minute of it. He is still a finky eater but even that seems to be improving day by day. He loves to play outside, pick up sticks, his wagon, and all animals. He is learning more and more animals and their sounds and enjoys pointing them out in books, on TV, or where ever else he sees them. He also loves to point out your eyes, nose, ears, hair, teeth, and mouth. He is laughing and smiling still most of the time and is just overall a very happy kid. He is starting to throw temper tantrums when he doesn't always get what he wants but I guess that is normal toddler behavior. We just ignore him and he seems to get over it.



We have painted Brayden's new "big boy room" and have his bedding so it is slowly coming together. I would say in about a week we will to start having him sleep in his bed. We will see how that goes. :)

I have included a few pictures of course but I continue to upload lots of pictures to flickr so if you want...go check them out!

Information on SUV vs. Mini Van

Thanks for all the comments on my previous post on the pro's and con's of a SUV vs. a mini van.

I also posted my questions on a parent list serve at Daniel's work. I got a lot of responses so I compiled them into a Google document that can be viewed here if you are interested.

There is a lot of feedback and opinions of course, but most of them tend to favor the same answer.

We went and looked at suv's and mini vans on Saturday and even test drove a few. It was very helpful. I don't think we will make a decision this week but we need to make one soon.

I just turned 30 in December and who knows I may be getting a min-van as well...WOW! crazy

Normal ?

Well as I think everyone knows we are expecting Baby #2. He is due June 27th. Along with all the joys of being pregnant and the fun things that surround the idea of having another baby for Daniel and I come the emotions of the fact this baby may have OI. Do we try to dwell on the fact that something may be wrong with our baby - no. Do we think about it daily and let it take away from the happy times of having a baby - no. But it is something I probably cry about or think about at least once a week while being pregnant. I try to ask myself why does it matter if we have a baby with OI? It will not change the love we have for this kid or the responsibility we have of raising this child to know and love God. We will not have any less love for him and we won't even know how severe the OI will present itself until he grows and develops over the years. I have been thinking a lot about this and wondering if it is because of what I consider "normal" may be interrupted by this genetic disorder OI. I think I am scared of not being able to handle the responsibilities. I am scared of failing. I am scared of what it may due to our marriage and/or finances. I am scared of having to change our lives or our way of living. I am scared I will have let my son down in some way. I am scared of feeling guilty that it is my fault. I am scared of the unknown.

I subscribe to this blog. This lady has a terminally ill daughter...and she posted this awhile back about being "normal".

Our lives are not “normal.” Letting go of that normal has been very, very hard. I often wish that life was easier. I wish that my two little girls were running around, laughing and playing together. I wish that Lauren and Carmen would grow up together.

For some reason, God chose us for a not-so-normal life. We took the first step by adopting internationally but we had no idea that road would lead us to a terminally ill child. Letting go of my own desire for a normal life has been a painful process and one I continue to struggle with.

I keep going back to Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. Normal is not spending a year in an Ark. Talk about life on hold! Normal is not waiting until you are 90 and 100 years old for a child. Most of us don’t like waiting one day for what we want. Normal is not hiding your child for 3 months from a king intent on killing all baby boys. Normal is not giving that baby boy to the very people enslaving and mistreating your people. I doubt Moses’ mom envisioned this life for her son.

I can’t think of anyone in the Bible who lived a normal life. And yet their lives are awe-inspiring. So perhaps normal is over-rated. I do know that this past year with Carmen has changed us forever. I don’t think we will ever be normal again and I am not sure we would want to be. I hope and pray that for the rest of our lives, we let go of normal. And that we are willing to take the big “risks” that are both painful and rewarding.

I have gone back and reread this post several times over the last several months. Even though if my son is born with OI he will not be terminally ill we may have to give up what some call "normal" depending on the severity of the genetic disorder. I know all of this is the "what if's" of my life right now and I have no clue what the future holds for us. But if they become a reality at some point whether with this baby or if we choose to have more children later on, I hope and pray to our Heavenly Father that I am able to give up what some call "normal" and embrace and enjoy everything God will have to offer us through that journey.

First Hair Cut

So as many of you know we finally gave Brayden his 1st haircut last Friday night. Lori was coming over to our house to do hair and so we asked her if she could also cut Brayden's. For Daniel's birthday he asked if one of his presents could be getting his son's haircut. So I decided to finally give in. I know his hair was long and it looked like a mess most days, but there was something about his curls and long hair that kept him looking like a "little" boy to me and I wasn't ready to give that up.

Before shot...

During shots...

After shots...

We now have a "big" boy! Lori did a good job and I am glad we did it.
I am finally getting use to it after a week!

New Vehicle - SUV or Mini Van

Yes I know I don't post that often but I wanted to ask a question to anyone who does have any insight on this topic.

Daniel and I knew we would probably be buying a new (used) vehicle sometime this year. With another little one on the way and our cars that we have now just being old and having issues we figured the time would probably come sometime in 2009. But we may end up buying one sooner than we thought.

So my questions to are...

SUV vs. Mini Van? pros and/or cons of both?

And if you have one or the other do you like? good gas mileage?

We are looking if we get an SUV for it to have a 3rd row anticipating wanting more kids in the future (well at least I do) :) but we are open to whatever.

This will be a hard decision for us because neither of us like spending lots of money at one time. We struggle making big decisions like this, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions - leave us a comment! We would appreciate it!