Week 8

(Excerpt from Babyfit.com)

Your baby is about the size of a lima bean, just 0.5 inches to 0.75 inches (2cm) in length but so darned cute already! The folds that will form your baby's eyelids are forming on the face, while nerve cells in the retina are developing, paving tghe way for sight. The very tip of your baby's nose is now present, and thier tiny ears are forming both on the outside and inside of the head, as nerve pathways related to hearing develop. The tubes connecting the lungs and throat are sprouting, and their arms are growing longer. In fact, your baby now has a pair of elbows!

This has been quite a week. James has been very ill and not sleeping well, which means I have not slept well. On top of the lack of sleep, the pregnancy hormones have my emotions on a crazy rollar coaster ride. I have been weepy, silly, and wearing my heart on my sleeve. I took James to the doctor and was less than thrilled with the way that went down. But in the end, he was put on antibiotic, so hopefully that knocks out whatever he has going on, be it ear infection and bronchitis like the doc thinks, or strep throat like I suspect. I will definately be seeking a new pediatrician for the baby. I had decided that even before this recent visit, but that day just cemented the choice.

James has been learning his left and right. We work on it a lot. When putting on clothes and shoes, going for a walk, all kinds of things. He got the concept right away, it's just a matter of memorization as to which is which. He is super smart.

Week 7

This excerpt came from Babyfit.com, one of my all time favorite websites!

Your baby's growth spurt is officially beginning, though it's not something you can see or feel. At the start of the week your baby measures between 0.16" to 0.2" (4 to 5 mm), but by the end of the week he or she can be half an inch (1.3 cm) long!
Your baby's heart is growing larger-from all of your love-creating a small bulge on his or her tiny body. The right and left chambers of the heart begin to form, along with air passages to the lungs. Although your baby's eyes and nose are still on this side of his or her head, they are beginning to develop. The brain is also starting to partition itself into chambers. While the appendix is already in place, the intestines remain partly in the umbilical cord and won't ascend into your baby's abdomen for a few more weeks. Tiny buds that will become legs begin to form, and the arm buds begin growing. These are already dividing into two sections--one that will form the hand and another that will form the arm and shoulder.

I am still having virtually no symptoms whatsoever. I have a few friends who are about as far along as I am now, and they are really battling the morning sickness, so I am very thankful that it seems as though I will be skipping that particular joy again with this pregnancy. My only real issue is that I am very tired all the time. This is magnified by the fact that James is not sleeping well lately. Last night I spent several fitful hours on his bedroom floor so that he would stay in his bed. This too shall pass!

We know it is early in the game, but we have begun to look at our birthing options for this new blessing of ours. We think we have narrowed it down to either having a homebirth with a midwife, or going to a freestanding birth center which is also attended by midwives. Of course, this is with the assumption that I continue to have a normal, healthy, risk free pregnancy. I cannot begin to describe how elated I feel at the prospect of giving birth naturally, freely, and at home, the way I have dreamed of ever since James was born! Please join me in praying for my health and that of the baby, that we can accomplish this goal! I am working hard at mitigating whatever risk factors I can to work toward that end. I have begun regular exercise and am being careful about my diet, as well as decreasing my daily soda intake significantly, and working hard towards cutting it out completely. Any and all encouragement and support you can offer is most welcome.

God's Blessings, Heather

Drumroll Please.........

We are thrilled to share our news. James will be a big brother! Expect our new blessing in early October.

My Sweet Boy

We have had a great day today. The morning was a little rough at times, as J has not been feeling well, and his patience level is low. But after his nap, he was a dream boy! R left for work in the early afternoon, so it was just me and J. We had a great time playing games and acting silly. Then we went outside to play.

With all the cool weather and sunshine we've had, we are getting some great fall colors in the trees around here, and more and more leaves falling all the time. J has really begun to notice the leaves lately and often brings me one to show me what color it is. He is quite proud of his discoveries, even taking them with him in the car when we go someplace, and taking them to Mammo's house to show her. Today we found some really dark purple ones, almost black. He was quite intrigued. I decided it would be fun to start keeping some of his little specimins for him, so today we started a leaf collection. I taped up a big piece of paper in his bedroom and taped today's leaves to the paper. He was quite impressed with the whole idea and immediately wanted to go back outside for more leaves.

While we were out, he discovered a rogue tree growing in the fence and began pulling leaves off of it. Suddenly, something occured to him and he came running over to me, leaf in hand and announced, "here, Mommy. It's a heart!" I looked at it, and sure enough, the leaf was the shape of a perfect heart. This was the first natural treasure my son has ever presented me with. Yes, I am going to dry it and keep it forever. Call me sentimental.

Our old dog Spike was sitting between my feet observing all this. He is over 13 years old and has developed some aches and pains. His feet bother him. He has a large benign tumor on one of his front paws. In the course of all the fun with leaves, J accidentally stepped on Spike's foot when he walked up to me. Spike of course took to yelping and I told James that he needed to be careful of Spike because he had stepped on his foot and that hurts Spike. James looked down at the dog contemplating this, and suddenly got down on his knees, wrapped his arms around him, and began telling him in the most soothing voice, "It's ok Spike. It's ok. It's ok Spike..." On and on he went, comforting his little furry friend. My heart just melted to see the tenderness he is learning and the compassion in his little heart. I love my little boy so much!

Random Photos

Every once in a while, his hair actually stays nice and combed and laying down....for a minute!












Here's hoping he never gets this close to another one!















According to J, these are not cattle. Apparently, anything with horns qualifies as "mooses." LOL

Happy Update!

Well, after almost four months of not being able to blog, I'm back on the web! Super excited! There is really no way to catch up on the last four months of life so the best thing to do is just start at today and go forward. I will sprinkle in some pictures here and there from these last few months, as I've had some really good ones.

Today is kind of a lounging day. R is home for a few more days, and it sure is nice having him around. Since I've been laid off, he has gone to OTR (over the road) work to make extra money and pick up the slack. I sure do appreciate this, but it does get lonely! We have no plans today at all. T said he might come over, but I'm not holding my breath. It would be nice though. Haven't seen him in quite a while.

J and I are still in our PJ's. He's watching PBS Kids and, well, you know what I'm doing. R has been cleaning the kitchen and washing dishes! Now he is lounging and reading his book. Just the kind of Saturday I love! It's been a long week and some relaxing is certainly in order. I will have to get dressed soon to go out for some milk and caffeine. I know, I know....but I still haven't kicked it yet. Perhaps is I ever have another baby it will be inspiration enough.....I don't know.

Well, here comes my Boo with some building blocks. I better give him some face time. I'll be seeing you here regularly! Have a great weekend and get lots of hugs!

Sad Update

Well, I don't know who all follows this blog, but I assume that most if not all of you already know that I've been laid off from my job. Effective one week ago today. This sucks so huge! But, we will stay optimistic and make the best of it. However, since I have no internet at home, I wanted to let everyone know that posts here will be sparse for a while. Right now I am using my mom's computer and little man is enjoying some time with Mammo and Papa. You should have seen the child light up like a Christmas tree when we came here! He misses his Mammo and Papa!

We've had one full week together now. It's been heaven, and tiring, and a big learning curve for the both of us. Let me tell you, this stay at home mom stuff is NOT for the weak! I've been taking some of the best videos and photos on my phone, though. One of these days when I have more time, I'll try to see if I can get them to upload onto the blog.

There is so much more to say, but honestly, I'm just to emotionally wasted to say it. I will try to keep a bit of a journal on the computer at home and just bring it over here to copy paste and post once or twice a week or so, that way you can all keep up with our adventures. In the mean time, know that we are ok, we are safe in the arms of a loving and powerful God and He will not let us fall!

See you soon.