Week 9

Again, an excerpt from babyfit.com, my favorite website!

Your baby continues to grow to about the size of a ripe, juicy, and adorable grape-1 to 1.25 inches long. Baby's arms and legs are growing longer, and the shapes of the wrist and fingers are forming while the hands fold gently over his or her heart. Toes are starting to appear too!

Your baby's neck is also forming, so that the head is not slightly lifted from the chest. Eyes and ears are fully formed, but without eyelids. And, your baby is a small ball of energy as his or her limbs and body are starting to move (although you won't feel it just yet.)

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Hard to believe all that is going on in there silently and unnoticed. Isn't it wonderful how God made us with the power to create life in this amazing way? We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made! I am still blessed to not be having morning sickness per se, but I do have waves of nausea. Nothing I can't breathe through, but it's annoying. Especially yesterday, when we discovered that the bean is not a fan of the hickory burger! The mood swings are still happening, but have calmed down tremendously, which is a very good thing, as I was thinking I was going off the deep end there for a bit.

J is feeling quite a bit better, sleeping better, and his behavior has improved also. This is a relief to EVERYONE, as he had really been quite a capital butt head recently. I'm sure it was just a combination of cabin fever, being sick, and having a lot of changes going on in his life. He was a little unsure what to think of my mom moving to her new house. Yesterday we spent the morning over there and let him box up some of his toys and help carry the boxes to the car and into the new house and unpack them in his new bedroom. I hope this will help him understand the concept of what is happening and not be so flipped out by it. Pretty soon they will have moved enough to be staying at the new house full time while they continue to sort and pack and move the rest of thier things.

Work is going well, but is quite slow now. This is normal for it to slow down at this time, but it is aggrivating to leave my son, drive to town, sit around and do nothing for three hours. I am thinking of taking at least one day a week off for the rest of the season, if I can clear it with my boss.

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!