3D ultrasound

On Friday we had another ultrasound at a college in Michigan. This time they gave us a 3D ultrasound as incentive for coming in. The 3D didn't go as well as we would've wished since little Brother was facing my spine so we only got his ear but the images are cute still.

We also got a perfect profile picture. It is so perfect. 

little man's profile. How cute is that nose and those lips?

Here is a 3D ultrasound picture. You can see his had up by his face and his toes down by his elbow. 

there is his little ear and the placenta

this one is interesting but hard to see. Its a picture of his spine and ribs. It amazes me the science they have these days.

Another one of little man's ear and the back of his head.

I'm kind of thinking that when we're in Utah I might go pay for a 3D ultrasound so I can go with my family. I feel like living so far from family is hard for me to feel like they will have a connection with baby brother. Since he will be born and then we'll only visit once a year. I don't know. 

Anyway I wish we could've stayed longer and seen if baby brother would move so we could see his face but that profile picture makes it all worth it. 

Baby 2 update

Baby 2 is doing great. We had our 23week appointment yesterday. I feel him moving a ton now. Ryan has felt his kicks as well. Every night I lay in my bed and just feel him dancing. Its crazy how strong he's getting.

We had the anatomy ultrasound at 19 weeks and our baby BOY is perfect. They checked my cervix closely looking for anything that might be in the way. (Linc's umbilical chord grew across my cervix and caused us major issues) They also checked his heart and it has 4 perfect chambers. We'll be doing another heart scan Dec. 18th to double check that everything is looking good.

We are still planning on following Doctor's orders and having a C-section at 37 weeks. At yesterday's appointment Dr. said he would go ahead and schedule a day and let us know. So we might know baby's birthday later this week. I'm still nervous about a C-section but after talking with my dr. I'm also a little excited. He is a big supporter of skin to skin so after they weigh and measure baby they will place him on my chest for skin to skin while they finish sewing me up. The reason we've decided to do another C-section this time is to get a closer look at my previous scar. Dr. said he would take his time and look at it closely so he could advise us on future VBAC possibilities. He knows I want to avoid C-sections in the future so I think he'll let me know his honest opinion on the chances I have.

I think we have a name picked out but we don't want to share it at the moment. It seems a little premature. Lincoln loves to give my tummy kisses. If I'm ever laying on the couch Linc will stop what he's doing (usually playing with his cars or reading his books), run over to me, lift my shirt and give my belly big fat drool-ly kisses.

Tomorrow we get to go to a nearby college in Michigan and get a 3D ultrasound. I did a free ultrasound there last week. Its free because they are done by students who are in need of practice. The school was so excited because my baby was only 20 weeks most babies they get are around 30 so they wanted me to come back again and threw in a 3D ultrasound as incentive. Ryan got time off work to come with me. I am so excited to see my baby again. It gives me such reassurance to see his heart over and over again. I'm pretty sure the students got the strangest request from me. They were trying to get me a picture of his profile as a souvenir and I told them I'd rather have a picture of a 4chamber heart. They got me both.

We'll see how he looks in 3D tomorrow.

His 4 chamber heart.

No doubt about this little boy. 

I was so shocked it was another boy. I didn't have a preference of boy or girl but I knew it was a girl. With Linc I knew it was a boy so I thought I'd be right. Nope. Ryan won this one.

He's little face. Oh so cute

look at that hand, so perfect.

It's a....

Linc @ 15 months

Says:(in his own way)
-Ball
-Dog
-Bottle
-Mommy
-Daddy

Can find:
-belly button
-ear
-hair
-tongue
-baby in Mommy's tummy
-nose (50% of the time)

Can:
-do 'touchdown'
-put a phone and remote to his ear
-ride a push cart
-put on sunglasses
-color with crayons and pencils
-beep Daddy's nose
-play sleeping baby
-play peek-a-boo
-play cars on the floor
-say prayers
-clap hands
-dance
-eat a full sandwich by himself
-reads books (in fact he will bring us books he wants us to read him as well)
-ride 6 hours in a car without complaining
-walk across a room

Lincoln loves Clayson (our neighbor) he will do whatever Clayson does, much to the annoyance of Clayson. 

I let the boys color on this box. Clayson lasted about 10 seconds, Linc colored for days. He even colored the walls once or twice. Oops.

My Notre Dame boys

he loves to beep Ryan's nose

He is blonde, blonde, blonde. I don't know where he gets it and I truly expect it to darker up as he gets older. 

He is a tough sleeper. He only sleeps in his bed or the carseat. He fell asleep on me a couple nights ago. I truly held him for a good hour or so since it NEVER happens. 

Linc now weighs a full 20 lbs. and that puts him in the 15th percentile. He's never been over 5% since we brought him home. He's a growing boy. We finally moved him into 12 month clothing. Even though a lot of his 9 month tops still fit him perfectly.

Happy Halloween

This year I really went all out for Halloween. I decorated my door to look like a mummy. A couple of the neighbor kids were nervous to trick or treat at my door. Oops, next year I'll make it more even more adorable. 

I had so much fun coming up with our costumes this year. I made mine and Linc's, we bought Ryan's because you can always reuse a pirate costume right? I love the fact that Ryan gets into dressing up just as much as I do. 

At the ward party.

Ryan is so proud of his pumpkin. He wanted a design where he'd have to pull out his drill.

The neighborhood party was FREEZING! It snowed during trick-or-treating (thank goodness Linc is still too small to go) and then it just got windy and cold. They set up a heated tent in the courtyard and everyone just hung out there with the live music, hot pizza and about 100 kids running around. Linc loved this scarecrow and dancing to the bluegrass music.

The day after Halloween was the ward party. It was also held indoors since it was cold. Linc was a hit with the slightly older kids. This is Naomi, our neighbor. She has really taken to Linc. I loved the fact that they both put their heads together when I was taking their pictures.

This is Hank and Bo. Hank loves Lincoln. He always goes out of  his way to bring him toys and make him smile when we're on the playground. Bo loves Hank, and just does whatever Hank does.

I remember at Primary Children's the nurse commenting on how Linc was a social baby. His heart rate would increase whenever he had a face to look at. In fact one time when his chest was still open from surgery I was asked to leave the room since his heart rate increased so dramatically when I was near. As he is getting older I'm realizing more and more what a social kid he is. We go to playgrounds and play places and he doesn't want anything to do with the toys unless the other kids are playing on them as well. One time I lost sight of him and discovered he had crawled up the tunnel slide since all the big kids were doing it as well.  

I can't wait to see how his social skills develop as he gets older. 

Nauvoo Trip

Before I get into our Nauvoo trip I need to just post these two pictures of game day. 

Ryan and I got to go to the Standford game since our friends decided to have a baby. It was a very VERY wet game. I only lasted til halftime and then I decided being home with a baby and a nice warm blanket sounded better.

We don't get to go to a lot of games but we love going to campus for game day. They go all out. Lincoln loves all the sounds and sights.

OK now on to Nauvoo. For fall break this year Ryan worked most of the week on his fellowship proposal. After working hard Monday-Thursday we took off for Nauvoo. Its about 6 hours away from us and this time of year the drive is gorgeous. All the leaves are bright and colorful. The drive didn't seem that long at all. Linc did great. He slept for a couple hours, read his books and then looked out the window. We are blessed to have a good traveler.

As soon as we got to Nauvoo all he wanted to do was move, EVERYWHERE. He's been taking steps lately. The record is across a good sized room. Crawling gets him places faster so he sticks to that.

We were lucky enough to go with our neighbors for the first couple days. These pictures are from our last day. We started off at Carthage Jail.

We put the boys in jail. The sister missionary was more then helpful with that ;) 

I'm impressed with this picture Ryan took. He took it looking through the bullet hole in the door. Linc and I are looking out the window that Joseph Smith fell out of.

It was a Spirit filled building. I wasn't expecting to feel the Spirit so strongly since I knew I'd spend most of the tour chasing Linc around the room. I did still chase him but I think Heavenly Father knew I needed to feel the Spirit still. It was amazing. 

After Carthage we went back to Nauvoo for a picnic lunch and to see some more houses before the Halloween Parade in town.

Linc loves blowing kisses now. 

I love my two boys. 

I had to document the beard. Both boys are looking at a truck passing by. Ryan is quite proud of his beard. 

The leaves!!!! 

Oh they were beautiful. 

During the blacksmith tour Linc finally passed out. He was so tired. 

Nauvoo town itself is quite small and quaint. They had their Halloween parade Saturday night. It was full of delightful small town flavor.

Lincoln has a surprise for you

Thats right folks. 

Linc is going to be a big brother this spring! 

We are excited.

So I've had 2 doctor appointments so far and sadly I didn't get the news I wanted.

 I really wanted to try for a VBAC but after talking with my doctor and a few other people looks like I'm in for another C-section. My doctor was very gracious about it and said he would do whatever we wanted but he would not be held responsible for anything going wrong if we chose to not follow his advice. Apparently when they did my Csection with Linc it was such an emergency that they cut me vertically, the easiest way, to get baby out right away. Well that means they cut against the muscles so my uterus is more likely to rupture due to it having a larger weak spot. My doctor wants to do a planned Csection at 37 weeks so there is no strain on my uterus. I'm still terrified to have a Csection but I guess thats whats in the works for me. Hopefully when they cut me open again they can get a better look at my previous cut and let me know if I have any chance of having a VBAC.