24 Week Appointment

Earlier this week, we had my 24 week OB appointment.  The whole family went.  All is well.  My measurements are right on, all other parameters look good, and the little man’s heart rate is  in the low 130’s.  Josiah is quiet about the events during the actual appointment, but he’s all about it when we are home.  He’s been measuring me with his measuring tape ever since and keeps saying I’m “too big”.  I agree!  My OB did mention a nice leap in my weight, which always happens to me at this point.

Next up…glucose tolerance test…yuck!  I’ve been trying to explain to Josiah why he can’t have my “juice”.

Mommy Has Super Powers!

This is for our memories…it will likely bore other readers :)

Josiah has been pretty funny lately with things he says, but one thing that keeps making me laugh is him expressing surprise when I confront him on what he has up his sleeve.

I try to let Josiah wear his favorite boots whenever possible, but sometimes they just aren’t appropriate.  Last Sunday we were about to leave for church and Jacob told him it was time to put on his shoes and, instead of coming to put on the ones Jacob already had, he ran towards his room saying he’d get them.  I called out that he couldn’t wear his boots.  He stopped in his tracks and with the disbelief and frustration of a teenager, he expressively said, “Ugh!  But how did you know I was getting my boots?!”, then walked slowly back towards Jacob.  Jacob and I just looked at each other and laughed.  It was totally predictable, really, but funny that he thought he was sly.

We currently have quite a stash of diapers in Elijah’s closet which, today, Josiah and Elijah used to build a tower taller than me.  I gently reprimanded them for dragging out everything in the closet that I had semi-organized, put it away, then told them not to do it again.  After naps, Josiah quietly and slyly approached Elijah and I could hear him asking Elijah if he wanted to build a tower again.  I knew he was just using his power of manipulation to get Elijah to bite so that it could look like it was Elijah’s idea.  I interrupted and said they could not build another tower and he just turned around with the widest eyes and said in disbelief, “but how did you know I was talking about building a tower?”  I stared back at him with a totally straight face and said, “because, Josiah, I have ears!” as I touched my ears.  He burst out laughing and so did I. 

An hour later I caught Elijah building a tower.  Since he can’t open the closet doors, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t all his doing, as Josiah tried to get me to believe.  Apparently my super powers of omniscience do not extend to my powers of commanding complete obedience!

Ha Ha!

Today I was laying in bed with Josiah before naps, as I always do, and as usual he was wanting to feel for the baby’s movements.  Then he said that after naps he wanted to watch the baby on the computer again (we have a DVD of the ultrasound), but this time he wanted me to drink water so that he could watch it go down in my tummy on the computer.  :)  It cracked me up!

Both of these big brothers are really looking forward to their little brother’s arrival!  Now if we could only come up with a middle name…we think we have the first picked out…for now.

Cuteness!

It’s past time for another 3 month update for Elijah, who is now 27 months old.  He is at an all-time level of cuteness!  I’ve been blogging things all along, so there isn’t much new information to add.  He talks really well in the sweetest little baby voice, he acts like a big boy, and he is learning things so quickly.  There are so many wonderful things that Jacob and I love about our little man.

Elijah can pretty much say anything he wants to and get his point across easily.  Sometimes we can’t believe the things that come out of his mouth because they seem so mature.  He loves to tell us stories about things that have happened.  At night when I sing to him, he requests the songs he wants by name and often sings along.  In a way, it’s a bit annoying because I can no longer sing what I want, as he is very insistent, and I often find myself repeating songs over and over.  Favorites are “The Wheels On The Bus” of course, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “Zaccheus”, “Knock Knock”, and while he never requests it, I often hear him sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” on his own.  Another thing he’s done consistently in this time period is to say “thanks” for everything, even when he gives kisses.  His voice is so cute and his spirit so sweet when he does this.

Fun in the tupperware cabinet!

Both boys love to play on these turtles at our church outside the nursery.  It’s been fun to watch Elijah grow on these from only crawling all over them, to standing, to jumping.

Splash park fun:

Elijah lazy-ing around when he had the stomach bug that went through our house.  He was pitiful!

He also plays and acts in such big boy ways.  I think this is thanks to Josiah.  He does whatever Josiah does when playing outside, always tries to get in on Josiah’s learning time, and just generally thinks he should be doing things he just can’t quite handle yet.  It is very cute, though, to see him trying to keep up with Josiah.

Playing trains with “Siah”.  Josiah loves to have other kids, even if it’s just his own brother, play with him in his room.  It’s pretty cute to see his enthusiasm over playing with Elijah.

      Josiah can usually talk Elijah into playing however he wants.

Elijah sleeps with 3 “cute” (he calls everything cute, which is very cute!) bears and every morning before he gets out of his crib he gathers them up to carry around for awhile and bring to the breakfast table.  He often likes to add Baby and Dog to his stash.  Here he is with them all on his high chair tray.

As mentioned, Elijah seems to be learning things so quickly.  He’s already well on his way to counting to 10.  Sometimes he’s right on and sometimes he gets mixed up, but either way I’ve been impressed and I don’t know where it came from.  He also has his animal sounds down, which has been true for quite some time.  Now we are working on colors, but for some reason he’s just not enthused about them.  He calls everything green.

I few other fun facts about him.  He almost always wakes up with a start with a huge smile on his face.  Usually there are words coming out of his mouth right away too.  He’s a talker!  Then he’ll gather his three bears and stand to be lifted out of his crib, talking all along.  He still has interest in the potty, but I’ve down played it for so long that it’s not as big of an attraction to him.  I hope I haven't missed my window, but I was kind of hoping to wait until Josiah starts VPK so I could focus on him better.  He’s just always so busy playing with Josiah that I can’t see him stopping to go reliably.  And lastly, while it’s not a fun fact exactly, he still is such a picky eater!  He always eats a great breakfast and can usually be counted on to eat his fruit and veggies (which I still have to puree), but his intake of any other foods is questionable.

He went through a phase of really loving to sit on the potty for really long periods of time.

Pizza is a favorite!  Despite the fact that he’s picky, he’s always the one begging us to pray so that he can get started, then he “helps” Jacob pray.  So sweet!

Don’t you think these boys will make wonderful big brothers?  Josiah reading to Elijah and Elijah holding his baby…makes my heart melt!

Elijah has brought so much joy to me and Jacob, more so everyday.  Sometimes we just look at each other and understand that the other is overwhelmed with joy over his antics.  He has a contagious laugh, a big smile, lots of personality, and a little fire, too!  We love him dearly and can’t wait to see what life brings his way and what he does with it.

It’s A Boy!

Well, it looks like what we thought we saw on the 12 week ultrasound was indeed there because today we got confirmation that Baby#3 is a boy!

I love this view because you can see the chambers of his heart.  I don’t think I’ve had a profile view with such a good heart view in the past.

A boy, see?

Going back to the fact that I like the top view, Jacob and I particularly enjoyed seeing the focused heart views with all 4 chambers visible at once.  Maybe I just have a mental block, but I don’t remember seeing that previously and I think it is just such a testament to how awesome our God is.  It was so clear, functional, and perfect, yet tiny compared to any of my patients.  He measured out to be right on track at 20 weeks, making him about 13 oz, so to see the heart so clearly on ultrasound is impressive to me.  Maybe it’s just the Mom in me.

Now, what to name him…I guess Josiah’s vote of Valerie is off the table!

Good Times With Daddy

Each year we intend to go to the local Touch A Truck event and each year we miss it for some reason or another.  Touch A Truck is where there are all sorts of large vehicles – rescue vehicles, monster trucks, utility vehicles, and the like – for kids to explore.  This year I had to work, but Jacob took the boys without me.  They had lots of stories to share with me when I got home…mostly that they got to eat candy!

One side of this monster truck was jacked up on a trailer so amazed little boys could walk under it.

I’m pretty sure the military has rules about not wearing your hat crooked, but this kid always wears his hat wrong.

Just like his mommy…doing a good lameness exam on the fake horse.

Heave!  Ho!  Up we go!  UF vet med’s emergency preparedness group brought it’s true to scale and weight model horse so kids could practice lifting horses who are in trouble.

 

Another day, Jacob was fixing his truck but was having some trouble, so he got some help from his junior mechanics.

Bee boxes have more than one use!

Our babysitter is out of town some this summer, so Jacob took the boys on a big adventure with him one day while I worked.  He took them with him to sell his honey.  They love it anytime they get to ride in his truck and this was extra special because they were hauling a load on his flatbed.  The place that buys his honey is located in Lake City where my brother, Jesse, just started his job at the newly opened Volvo heavy equipment dealership.  They had just gotten their first shipment of equipment in, so the boys stopped in for some lunch and exploring.

Posing with some of Daddy’s honey crop.

And he got to sit in a semi!

Then off to have lunch with Uncle Jesse…I have no idea what Josiah is getting to look at, but I love that my brother loves him.  I talked to Jesse the next day and he told me how much he enjoyed their visit and wondered when he’d get to take them on adventures.

Poor Elijah was fighting fevers that day and not feeling so hot.  His bear was his constant companion.

The story I heard over and over from all involved was about the puddle of water the boys were throwing rocks into.  Apparently it was the most exciting part!  Jesse had dumped the water out of the bed to take it for a drive, but once they came back, the puddle held more appeal than the $300,000 piece of heavy equipment!  Jacob wants me to note that it burns 11 gallons of fuel per hour just idling.  I think that is supposed to be impressive :)