The baby is a....

BOY!

Today Ben & I got to see the baby for our anatomy scan. They looked at all of the organs and said everything looks good. They also measured my cervix since 19 weeks is when I started to have issues with the boys, but everything looks great so far. I will go back for a fetal echo cardiogram on January 5 which is a few days after we get home from FL. This scan is done to take a close look at the heart since my Diabetes puts the baby at a slightly higher risk for heart defects, but as of today it looks good. I look forward to getting to see the baby again!

Ben was definitely disappointed we are not having a little girl. We made the decision before getting pregnant that this will be our last baby so I plan to have my tubes tied during the c-section when I deliver this baby. He is very happy that this baby is healthy and things look great. I will admit some disappointment as well since Ben & my mom had done a good job of convincing me this was going to be a girl. But deep down I love the idea of having another boy! We had a girl name picked out very easily, but now have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a boy name. We have both thrown around a few names, but none that we could agree on.

School Pictures

The boys had their pre-k pictures done in November and we finally received them. I am so happy with how well they turned out! I know looking back at my school pictures I am not pleased with any of them, but I think these of the boys are really good.

I know I have been slacking on the blog. We have been really busy with the holidays coming up. We need to get all of the gifts bought and wrapped along with the house picked up and everything else ready for our trip. We are leaving December 22 on the auto train to go to FL and visit my mom for Christmas. I am so excited! We have told the boys they are going on vacation and getting to ride a train, but have not told them where we are going. It is going to be a big surprise for them. We will get back to MD on January 3 so it will be a nice vacation.

Zak has really been misbehaving recently. It seems to be a huge power struggle between him and myself. I know he is testing limits and this phase will end at some point, but it makes it so difficult some days. He is doing well in school and seems to really enjoy it. We were told he is definitely a social butterfly in the classroom.

Ryder has been struggling with behavior issues as well. He started on a medication for ADHD and irritability in September, but the positive effects we did see wore off. We have recently had to increase the dosage and hope to see the positive results once again. He also had a potty training regression, but that seems to be much better now.

I have been doing well. I am still having issues with morning sickness which is no fun and insomnia has been pretty bad as well. I did start weekly progesterone shots (17P shots) to try and help prevent pre-term labor this pregnancy. There is a nurse who comes to the house each Friday to do the shots which is nice. I have my anatomy scan on Monday and we are hoping the baby cooperates so we can find out the gender!

Ben has been working a lot recently. He has been in Kansas City all this week for training.

Surprise!

We are very excited to introduce the newest member of our family to everyone! We are expecting a baby May 8, 2012! I had my 12 week scan today and everything looks great. The heart rate was 155 and baby was very active the whole time.

This pregnancy has been very different from my pregnancy with the boys. I found out pretty early on and have been experiencing some pretty bad morning sickness. My doctor has given me medication to help with the morning sickness, but it is causing really bad headaches. I am having the normal back pain, cramps, and just overall feeling pregnant. I have to say I don't remember feeling most of this with the boys. I have told Ben several times that I am glad we had decided this would be our last baby because if not at this point I would definitely be saying that. I am not sure how people do this more than once if they feel like this every time. I now realize how lucky I was with my pregnancy with the boys. This is the main reason why I have fallen behind on posting to the blog. Things have been busy with the boys in school, Ryder's weekly therapy session, and recently both boys have been battling illnesses. I have been slacking with a lot due to not feeling great, but luckily Ben has been awesome and helped pick up the slack. I am really hoping the morning sickness passes soon so I can stop taking the medication which will hopefully decrease these horrible headaches. I will say that I already have a definite baby bump and have had a few people question my stomach. I had a very close friend (practically family), a family member and the nurse at the pediatrician all ask some sort of question about being pregnant or when I was due! So I am not able to hide it any longer plus with the good ultrasound today we decided it was time to share the good news.

I have been seeing my regular OB every 2 weeks just to keep a close eye on everything due to my Diabetes. They have done lots of the normal pregnancy testing along with checking on my kidneys and a few other things which have all come back very good. I have also met with the high risk OB at Franklin Square Hospital (which is where I will deliver) and have a plan in place to e-mail my blood sugar numbers to them every week. We have been talking about a few things that might be options this time around to help prevent pre-term labor, but most of the doctors really believe I had the boys early because my torso is so short and there were two of them. At the moment the plan is just to keep a close eye on everything with frequent appointments and ultrasounds. So far my blood sugars are under good control and I feel very good about all of the doctors who are involved. I should have the big anatomy scan in December just before we leave for FL so I will definitely update after that.

This afternoon we showed the ultrasound picture to the boys and asked if they knew what it was. Ryder really had no clue, but Zak quickly said "It's a monkey!". Then we asked if they wanted a baby and Ryder said "yes" while Zak said "maybe". We told them the picture was a baby and that the baby was in my belly. They don't seem to really understand, but I am sure as time goes on they will figure it out.

Apple Picking

We had been talking about going to a pumpkin patch with the boys, but once I started looking online we decided going apple picking would be more fun. I found a place in Westminster, MD that looked like fun so off we went.

We walked around the market section first then went to the wagon ride to the apple orchard.

The boys had a blast picking apples and filling their own bags. We ended up with about 25 pounds of apples once we were all done.

After we finished picking apples the boys had fun playing in the bounce house for a bit. Then we left and stopped at IHOP for lunch before heading back home. It was a fun day!

First Day of Preschool

The boys' first day of school was pushed back because of the hurricane and flooding we had. They were both very excited about riding the bus and going to school!

The weather on their first day of school was not all that great. It was raining pretty hard, but I was still able to get a few pictures.

4 Years Old

Things have been crazy around here so I have not been able to get a minute to make any posts. I am going to try and make a few to catch up with what we have been doing.

The boys turned 4 on August 5 and I just can't believe it! They have grown up so fast. It seems like every time we look at them they just look so grown up all of a sudden. Today they had their 4 year pediatrician appointment. We talked about development, vaccines (Zak got 3), and current concerns.

Zak weighed 32 pounds (15%) and is 39 inches tall (20%). He did good with all of the development questions which I knew he would. We are increasing his Flovent inhaler to 2 puffs twice a day in hopes of preventing a lot of lung issues once school starts. He did great for his vaccines today, but tonight his arms are sore.

Ryder weighed 31 pounds (9%) and is 40 inches tall (41%). He did pretty good with the development stuff, but not as well as Zak which I figured would happen. We discussed some recent concerns about regression and behavior issues. Our pediatrician is also a developmental pediatrician so he knows most of Ryder's specialists and is very helpful since he understands everything that is going on (more so than the average pediatrician would). Ryder didn't get any vaccines since he is not supposed to because of his CVID. I will make another post discussing everything that is going on with Ryder recently.

Both boys will have to go back for a flu shot. We normally don't do them, but the Immunologist has asked us to get them for both boys so we will. The pediatrician only had the FluMist which neither of the boys can get so we need to wait for the shot to come in.

Family Reunion

Our road trip to KY for the family reunion went well overall. We left at 3:15am on Friday August 5 and got to KY around 1:15pm. I met with Colleen about an hour from the house so we could follow each other and stop together which was nice. On Friday we didn't do too much other than unpack, open gifts for the boys, and have dinner.

Colleen and her kids camped in a tent

My mom, Piper, myself and the boys stayed in a cabin

along with Shirley and Christine

Piper & the boys decided to have a sleepover in my bedroom

On Saturday we took all of the kids to the pool for a while. In the early afternoon Christine and Jamison went to the museum while everyone else napped. Then we took the kids all the play mini-golf which they all enjoyed. We did have an accident at the end where Piper hit Jamison with a golf club by accident (she swung way too hard and Jamison was way too close).

Ryder laying in the tent

Saturday evening we cooked dinner on the campfire. The kids had a blast just playing all evening. Some of the other family members had arrived so we had a big campfire and hung out for a while.

We also had a pinata for the boys' birthday which all of the kids enjoyed!

We were up late Saturday night because we didn't even go back to the cabin until after 10pm, but it was lots of fun. I enjoyed meeting people in person that I have been talking to online, people I never knew existed, and people I have not seen for a very long time! Sunday was the actual reunion so a few errands had to be run that morning. I stayed at the cabin with some of the kids while Colleen took Zak & Jamison.

Boys' birthday cake

We took lots of pictures at the reunion. I did miss the first generation picture because I didn't realize they had started. There were 5 generations at the reunion which was really neat.

Generation 2

Generation 3 (my mom)

Generation 4 (me)

Generation 5 (the boys)

After the reunion the kids went for a short hike looking for fire wood. Then we did another dinner on the campfire. Most people had left after the reunion and the campground was pretty deserted.
We left KY around 9am on Monday August 8 and got home just after 8pm. It was a very long drive home with more stops than on the way there because Colleen & I were having trouble staying awake. I definitely learned if I am making a long drive that I need to leave in the middle of the night!

Tons of Videos

The last 2 days the boys have both made huge improvements with their swimming skills so of course we took a bunch of videos. Zak went from swimming with his swim vest to swimming with nothing! Ryder went from not willing to jump into the pool or go underwater to jumping in without even arm floaties!

Zak swimming on his own for the first time (yesterday)

Ryder jumping in with floaties yesterday

Zak showing off his new swimming skills to Nanny & Poppy today

Zak got very brave and pretty much stayed without his vest the whole time so we had to be better about really watching him because he would just jump and start swimming then sometimes need help.

Zak put on his vest for a little after he got tired. Here he is practicing his diving.

Ryder decided to join in

Ryder also decided he wanted to jump in with no floaties

Right before we left the boys drove around on their "monster truck" which they always love to do!

This week is going to be busy. I need to get laundry done, clothes packed for our trip, run some errands for a few last minute things, and get everything else packed. Ryder has therapy on Wednesday and I will take them to the $1 movie on Tuesday. We pick Christine up on Thursday and then head out on the road around 3am Friday morning!

Bike Riding Videos

I wanted to first explain the new blog background I chose. The boys & I are taking a road trip the first weekend of August to Kentucky for a family reunion. I am excited to go and see my mom along with other family members. The boys have been talking about our "trip to tuckey" ever since they talked about it with Jamison on Friday. So I felt this background fit pretty well for now.

Today Zak asked to have his training wheels taken off his bike! I think it had a lot to do with the little boy who lives across the street from us. He is about 3 months older than the boys and has been riding his 2-wheeler bike for a while now and is always telling the boys he can ride. Honestly, today we got very upset with the kid because he was pretty much making fun of Ryder for not being able to even pedal a bike! So Ben took the training wheels off, I grabbed the camera and this is what we got....

(the sound is pretty loud so you might want to turn the volume down or off)

This video I did freak out at the end because I thought he was doing a little too well and was heading straight for the road. I think if I had kept my mouth shut he may not have fallen over.

He did better than I thought he would and every time he fell he got right back up and wanted to try again. He would laugh many times when he fell. We are very proud of him!

Of course we couldn't leave Ryder out of the fun! He practiced on his bike for a little while, but once he gets too frustrated we suggest it is time for the scooter. I didn't get the camera out quick enough because by this time he had pretty much had enough. Poor guy is trying so hard though!

Soccer & Playground

This morning we took the boys to the playground for a little bit. They started by playing some soccer and football then moved to the playground. Zak really is an athletic kid and picks up pretty much any sport fairly easily. The boys miss the cut off for soccer this year by only 5 days so they will have to wait until next year.

Of course I stood on the wrong side of the sun was shining right into the camera. The quality is horrible, but you get the point. He did it a few times before I got the camera out which always happens so I didn't get his best ones on video. When Ben is holding his butt he is only helping him swing a bit and not holding any of his weight.

Zak thought this thing was pretty fun however Ryder didn't like it. We have made huge progress in Ryder's vestibular issues, but he still has things to work on. He dislikes swings for the same reason he dislikes this spinning.