Another Busy One!

It’s Tuesday and I’ve finally recovered enough energy to blog about our busy weekend!  They might be crazy and exhausting, but our weekends are always packed with lots of fun!

Saturday we wanted to take Ryder to do something special since he only has FOUR MORE WEEKENDS as our only child.  We went shopping, had lunch, and all he wanted to do was go to the garage!  We were thinking more along the lines of Chuck E Cheese or Funland, but hey…the garage is free and probably holds just as much excitement for Ryder, if not more!  I mean, he even has his very own moon bounce that was passed down from his cousin!  This was his first time in it and he had a blast:

  

Of course when he got bored with that, he just moved right along to his sandbox, then his lawn mower, then his motorcycle…never a dull moment in this boys life.

Sunday we woke up and got ready to head to the Frazier-Mason Memorial Event, where we got to see hundreds of motorcycles, some helicopters, and most importantly, Smokey Bottom BBQ!  No pics of the action because once all the bikes showed up things got crazy, but here’s what I got:

 

Then it was off to CJ & Angela’s for Carter’s 3rd Birthday party!  I still can’t believe Carter is 3 years old already, it doesn’t even seem possible.  I had to steal these pictures from Angela’s blog because I didn’t take any.

Ryder hanging out with the birthday boy!  He loved this pool and was being silly for a little mini photo shoot with Angela!

 

 

As you can see, we’re definitely enjoying the warm weather and all the activities the weekends bring our way :)

Something Silly & Something Sad

Aunt Jig-Jig bought Ryder this plate that we think is so funny.  Remember those little magnetic boards we used to have as kids where you could give the bald man hair and a beard?  Well now we get to do that with Ryder’s food every night, it’s pretty entertaining!

I’m glad there are little things like this that can make me laugh because I have been so sad since we left therapy yesterday.  Ryder’s therapist, Miss Erin, told me yesterday that she was going to be moving at the end of June and would no longer be there to see Ryder anymore.  This instantly brought tears to my eyes and I haven’t been able to stop crying since.  She has seen Ryder every Thursday for this past year and they have become so close.  In the beginning, she had to take a complete hands-off approach with Ryder because he didn’t trust her and would not tolerate her picking him up or placing him somewhere.  That changed right before our eyes though to the point where now when she comes out to the waiting room he runs to her to give her the biggest hug and sometimes tell her “Ryder missed you”, he prays for her every night, and talks about her on a daily basis.  She has been the most influential person in Ryder’s recovery this far.  When we first started seeing her, he was pretty far behind in his motor skills…was barely crawling on his hands and knees, wasn’t walking, climbing, jumping, nothing that kids his age had been accomplishing for months.  She figured out the best ways to get him to work hard and has helped him achieve all of these goals and MORE!  She is so good for him so to think about him not seeing her anymore breaks my heart, on a personal level and a professional level.  I keep trying to think of how I will tell him when the time comes that he won’t see Miss Erin anymore, I know he’ll never forget her, this child doesn’t forget anything!  It’s coming right at the time the new baby will be born, I can’t stand the thought of him having to go through so many transitions at once, and that I might not be able to be with him when he meets a new therapist or has to say goodbye to Miss Erin.  It’s just so much to think about and it would probably be easier if I could get my emotions under control, but for now…I’m just sad.  Happy for Erin and her family!  But sad that we’re losing one of the best people we’ve met along this crazy journey!

34 Weeks!

Here is what Alpha Mom has to say about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs as much as your average cantaloupe (4.75 pounds-ish) and is almost 18 inches long.
• Reaching the 34-week mark is a big milestone for anyone concerned about pre-term labor, as babies born at this stage usually do just fine (provided they’re otherwise healthy). Other than a slightly longer stay at the hospital, they generally don’t experience any of the long-term health problems that prematurity can cause.
• That said, don’t let your baby go and get any big ideas about escaping just yet. More baby fat and a few more weeks of lung maturity will still make everybody’s lives easier.

You:

• Fatigue, heartburn, nausea, frequent trips to the bathroom. It’s like the Return of the First Trimester, only much bigger and rounder and gruntier.

This week is a major milestone for me because this is the week that I had Ryder!  So it now marks the time that from this point on I have no clue what to expect!  I never experienced those final weeks of pregnancy where your feet swell, you feel all the pressure from dilating, and you just want to be DONE.  I’m already feeling ready to be done though, so if that’s any clue to what the last weeks have to offer, I’m a little nervous!

At my sonogram wednesday everything looked good with Maisy still, they will do new measurements next week so I’m anxious to see how much bigger she has gotten.  She is head down and her head is so low that they weren’t even able to get the pictures of her brain that they take every week.

Here we are at 34 weeks:

More Monster Talk

I get Ryder out of the bath, dry him off, and he takes off running to his room yelling “Ryder’s nakey boy Daddy!!!”  He takes a seat on the carpet, which I’m sure felt great on his bare behind, and Mommy waddles in the room slowly after him.  I start picking out his pajamas as he starts a conversation about what else but…his Monster! 

Ryder: Ryder’s Monster’s poking out Mommy!  You see it??

Me: Yes Ryder, I see it.

Ryder: It’s poking out like Mommy’s belly button!

Me: Thank you for that comparison buddy.

Ryder: Ryder’s Monster has a hole in it, you see it Mommy??

Me: Yes, it sure does.

Daddy hears our conversation in the kitchen over the monitor and busts out laughing.  In the meantime Ryder picks up his measuring tape.

Me: Ryder, WHAT are you doing??

Ryder: Measuring da Monster.  IT’S TEN INCHES!!!!

Oh.My.Goodness…Did he really just say that?!

Meet Jaxon

Our friends Nicki & Matteson had their baby early this morning.  Nicki & I have barely gone a day throughout these pregnancies without talking and sharing the experience…whether it be something exciting, scary, gross, or just us complaining and venting, we’ve heard it all from each other!  So I couldn’t wait to meet the little guy who has been the topic of 9 months worth of conversation! 

He was definitely worth the wait, so adorable and sweet, and just as quiet and content as he could be.  Here he is, Jaxon Anthony:

Momma looked beautiful (not like someone who just pushed a baby out this morning!) and I know they were so excited to meet their newest addition who just made them a happy family of four!

Congrats guys, we’re all so happy for you!

33 Weeks!

Has another week seriously gone by already??  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs over four pounds and is 17 inches long.
• The skeleton is hardening, except for the skull, which will remain soft and flexible to allow it to fit through the birth canal, and also to grow and allow adequate space for your baby’s enormously brilliant brain.
• Kicks and movements are practically visible from space now, and you may look down and realize that your belly is no longer round, but pointed, as a knee or elbow stretches out for a few seconds before disappearing beneath the surface again.

You:

• Are big. Yes. And the whole world may suddenly seem like it’s got an opinion about when you’ll go into labor, and it TOTALLY DOESN’T CARE that you aren’t even full-term yet, it thinks you’ve dropped and popped and are going to give birth in like, two weeks. Tell it to shut the hell up with my blessings.
• May be waddling more than walking, and misjudging your circumference as you bump into counters and knock things over on tables.

I can’t stop laughing about the last two things because they could not be more true!  I’m definitely in that stage of pregnancy where everyone who sees me makes a comment about how I’m about to have the baby RIGHT THEN.  Even after I tell them no, that in fact I still have until the end of June, they insist that I will never make it.  As if I’m not getting a sonogram every single week that confirms week after week that (God willing) I really do have 6 weeks left.  I can’t blame them though, I know that I carry way out in the front, it’s nothing new, and even I don’t realize how far this thing is really sticking out.  Until I get it too close to the stove, or bump into every corner I turn, or even worse, when I bump my belly into other people on accident!  Sometimes even I wonder how it will continue to grow for another 6 weeks, but God knew what he was doing when he decided that it took that long for a baby to be ready to come out into the world, and that a woman’s body is that amazing that even when she thinks she can’t get one inch bigger, she does! 

So here’s to the next 6 weeks!

Slight Change of Plans

Well it looks like Maisy is going to have a new birthday!  The Doctors office called me yesterday and said that my Doctor is going to be out of town for my original c-section date of June 24th.  Of course I panicked because I have made so many plans based around this date (which I realize is ridiculous because most people don’t get that luxury!), and also because my Doctor didn’t get to deliver Ryder since they had to send me to Richmond where his Doctor’s were.  I really didn’t want to have another delivery with a Doctor who I had never met.  Luckily at my appointment today I was able to talk to him and we decided to move the c-section up a few days so that he can do it before he leaves.  Her Birthday will now be June 22nd!  Unless of course anything changes before then!

Speaking of Doctors appointments, nothing too exciting today.  This weeks sonogram was so fast, they just checked her organs and her blood flow and sent me on my way.  No pictures, no sneak peeks at the baby girl, just the boring stuff.  But atleast she’s still doing good, I can’t ask for anything better than that.  Over at my doctor I got on the scale and didn’t gain any weight since my last appointment 2 weeks ago.  That leaves me at a total gain so far of 19 pounds.  But my stomach has definitely grown and is now measuring at 36 weeks which is just over 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Atleast I get to have her 2 days sooner now, every little bit helps :)  I’m just a little nervous about having a Wednesday child, Friday sounded like a way better deal!  Does this poem seem to ring true for anyone? 

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good in every way.

I’m not superstitious at all, but when you’re pregnant sometimes you wonder about those old wives tales when everything is such a mystery.  Now all I can think is, I don’t want her to be sad and “full of woe”!