30 Weeks Appointment and Update

My doctor's appointment went well yesterday.  I'm now going every two weeks until 36 weeks, and then I'll start going every week.  This past visit was our last scheduled ultrasound as well.  The doctor is estimating Luke to be about 3 lbs 14 oz right now.  That's just a little more than the boys were at this point.  We also moved the scheduled C-Section from the 20th to Friday the 17th of August; still 39 weeks along.  That's just 8 more weeks until we meet our sweet Luke!!

I'm still feeling well these days.  My sciatic nerve gives me fits off and on, but still nothing too bad.  My biggest sign that I'm in my third trimester these days is the decrease in energy and crazy hormones some days.  I want so badly to have non-stop energy for Gavin and Wyatt, and some days I just flat out have none.  I try to take full advantage of days, or moments, I have energy by concentrating it all on the boys.  I try to take naps at least 3 times a week or more to make sure I get the rest my body needs to take care of Luke and my heart wants to play with the boys and Jason.  The tears have been coming off and on these days as well.  I'm not a fan of crying for no reason, especially in public, but these days I find myself doing just that.  Hormones are crazy things.

Luke continues to get stronger and stays very active.  He's starting to respond to my rubs when he pokes through my skin, by pressing back into me.  I just love these extra special bonding times we share even before he is born!

I was looking at baby pictures of Gavin and Wyatt today and thinking about our little Luke going to be here in 2 months!  I can just see him home with us and feel the joy already!  My arms are aching to hold him.  I can't wait to shower him with love and watch the three brothers together!

Luke Alan 30 Weeks - 3D Ultrasound

This past Friday, we were able get a non-doctor 3D/4D ultrasound scheduled.  It was wonderful!  My mom was able to join Jason, the boys and me.  We were there for about an hour watching our little boy move around; head, arms, hands, legs, feet... flips, turns... sometimes olympic moves even!  We walked out with 50 pictures and a DVD of the entire session! Here are a 'few' of the shots taken.  He reminds me so much of both Gavin and Wyatt already.  We never got a full frontal shot of his face because he wouldn't look up, but we got great shots of his profile and precious body.  

He loves loves playing with the umbilical cord; snuggling it, grabbing it and putting it to his mouth.  It was awesome seeing it attach to his belly button (or future site of the belly button that is).

There were times we could see him touch his face and actually move the skin and lips as he pressed (below photo).

We kept trying to get him to look up (head off chest) so we could see a front shot of his face.  At the end, my mom said, 'Come on Luke, just look up once and give us a shot.'  This is the shot he gave us as soon as she finished saying that... Yup, looks like he gave us the bird and said he was ready for a nap.  Guess we'll have to work on appropriate manners when he's born ;)

We are so blessed to have our sweet Luke.  I thank God for our great health.  Just 9 more weeks until we meet him! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will write more after that.

Sharing Faith and Freedom in Christ

I watched my two boys practice sharing this morning.  While some days they just love the concept of giving brother a turn, this morning was not one of them as they played with their new laptop.  But still my heart couldn't help but smile; smile a huge smile actually!  All I could think about was how incredibly blessed we are to be able to practice and share our faith so openly.  No matter how much I feel our country has fallen from what our Founding Fathers intended and worked so hard to build, what an amazing country it is!  It's amazing for so many reasons, but this morning my heart is especially thankful for our freedom to live out our faith so openly.

Yesterday Gavin's favorite word was Bible (pronounced Bi-bal).  They loved touching my Bible and sitting on my lap as I read (and prayed they wouldn't accidentally tear the pages in one quick movement).  They loved 'reading' their children's Bibles all morning too.  I watch them dance as we sing songs about God and His Son Jesus.  How amazing is it to be able to teach our children about our God in our home and have no fear of them speaking of Him in public!  I love being able to teach them all about God's creation when we are out and about; showing them the beauty He lavishes us with.  There are so many places we would never be able to talk about our faith so openly without being arrested or killed.

I think about this freedom and our freedom we have in Christ alone.  What amazing peace I am filled with as I think of my children free to be who God created them to be; free to live the lives they were designed for.  Free from the bondages of sin and the chains this world tries to put on us.  At the end of the day, my biggest prayer for our boys is that they know, love and serve their Savior and that they know who they are and follow Him on the journey He has planned for them.  I know it's a plan to give them hope and a future.  I know they will never be alone.  I know that through Christ they can experience the most amazing peace and joy.

Thank You Lord for our freedom in You and for the freedom to worship, learn about, and share You and your love.  Thank You for allowing us to pass on Your truth and being with all generations to continue strong in the faith.  Thank You for the other faithful families you bring into our lives.  I don't want to take for granted that our children will grow up with friends who know and love you.  I pray also that you use us to spread Your love as well.

29 Weeks

Time is really going by quickly; I'm already well into my third trimester.  I thank God continually for feeling great and good health.  My tummy is growing quickly and Luke is getting stronger and stronger by the week.  He is actually very active these days.  He loves to stretch and utilize his room wisely.  His movements feel different than with the boys, because of all the extra room and the extra flips he gets to make.  He plays throughout the day and lets me know that I've woken him up each time I roll over in bed at night (which is a lot...).  It's cute watching him kick the boys when I am snuggling them; they haven't seem to notice yet though, even though their heads are bopping up and down from the movement.  I've started to be able to feel Luke's little head, butt and/or feet/hands at times poking through.  I love to get him sweet rubs just like I did with the boys.  I can tell he responds to a lot of my voice, as well as the boys when we are rolling on the floor playing.  He's always kicking Daddy when we snuggle at night.

My doctor visits are going well.  I don't go in nearly as often as I did with the boys and a lot fewer ultrasounds (part of having a singleton vs twins).  The doctor says I'm measuring perfect and Luke's heartbeat is great.  We actually scheduled the likely C-Section for August 20th (3 days prior to my due date).  It's so exciting thinking that we'll get to see our sweet little boy within 11 weeks!

We have a 'fun' ultrasound scheduled for late next week at another facility not associated with the doctors office.  We'll get a 3D/4D ultrasound and lots of room for family.  Both our moms will get to be there with us which will be fun!

This pregnancy is really going smoothly.  There are lots of times I honestly don't feel pregnant (except for my continually growing belly that is!).  My sciatic nerve is rarely acting up the past month or so which I am so grateful for.  Just the past week, I've noticed it's getting a little more difficult to get up off the floor without having to roll to my side; just another reminder my tummy is growing quickly!  I'm still rolling on the floor with the boys and chasing them.  Just this past week though, I've noticed my circulation isn't as good, but still not bad.  My feet and arms will fall asleep much easier and my shoulder bothers me a lot when trying to sleep on my side.  I'm always sitting on the floor snuggling the boys, and these days, my feet often fall asleep on me.  I've also seen a very slight increase in swelling, but still not even close to what it was at this time already with the boys.  I can still wear my rings easily.

The summer is getting warmer and warmer though and the humidity is high; the fun of pregnancy in Houston during the summer!  I try to have our outdoor play in the mornings before it's too hot, but late enough for some of the humidity to burn off.  We spend a lot of time at the pool (community and our water fun at the house) or air-condition these days.

Unlike the pregnancy with the boys in which I craved everything healthy... I could eat doughnuts and Pepsi (cherry Pepsi is the best) all day, every day this time around!  Ugh.  I of course eat healthy, but my cravings tell me to have a doughnut!  And by the late afternoon, my body NEEDS caffeine, ha.  Which reminds me, I've been trying to take as many naps as I can these days when the boys nap.  I want to make sure that my body at leasts gets the rest it needs since I'm so active during the day with Gavin and Wyatt.  I want to give all 4 of my boys everything I can, and these naps/rests sure help.  I'm still sleeping at night okay, but it's getting a little worse.  I toss and turn all night trying to get comfortable, which wakes Luke up and thus I lay there enjoying him play.  I fall asleep as he does and then have to wake up and pee (seriously averaging every 1-2 hours; but that's my fault because I have to drink a little each time I get up because I'm so thirsty...).  The heartburn has started each evening, but so far the Tums have helped.

So, this was a very randomly ordered post, but I did want to capture some tidbits of this pregnancy.  I am so excited to hold our sweet little boy soon, give him kisses and discover who God made him to be.  I am really getting excited!  I pray he knows how much he is loved.  I thank God for blessings us with his son, and pray for His guidance as we shepherd him in His ways and truths.  I'll post pictures of the ultrasound in a couple of weeks!

Phases

Everything in life has phases and cycles; that's the 'essence' of life so to speak, how God designed it.  Thinking about it actually spurs a million thoughts in my head at one time about all the amazing rhythms God created.  But that's not what I set out to write about tonight.  What's been on my mind (well, part of the million things on my mind that is) is the fact that children go through a gigantic amount of phases.  Like life itself, I think it's part of the essence of being a child; trying a little of this, a little of that.  Seeing what works, what doesn't.  Seeing what works for now, and what works for later.  Trying and retrying things.  Isn't that one of our main purposes as children; to learn who God made us to be and how to go about living that out?  Of course this 'purpose of childhood' includes playing, laughing, loving, learning and did I mention playing?...  

Anyways, over the past 15 months I've been amazed at just how many phases our boys, and all children for that matter, go through.  Daily requirements such as naps and eating patterns for example are in a never ending flux.  Just as soon as we get a routine down, change occurs and we are trying something new.  Yes, while the solid foundation and rhythm is set, I'd say the naps and lunch schedules are always in the biggest state of flux around here; giving us probably 2-3 week cycles at most (sometimes minor changes, sometimes bigger).  

But still, there are a huge number of other phases the boys go through each new month God blesses us with.  Some phases are longer such as favorite toys or activities.  Other phases are very short; life cycles of days or weeks only.  I've seen the boys pick up 'tempers' to realize they only experiment with this for a couple of days.  They've gone through 'yelling' phases or times of increased whining, but they only last a week or so.  A lot of their phases I see them 'pick up' from other children while out and about.  They try it out, see if it fits them and our family and then move on.  There are a lot of other phases though, that we honestly don't know where they picked it up.  I think the biggest one each parent faces at least once during childhood is the inevitable 'throw yourself on the ground' and/or 'stomping' in a temper/frustration.  It's not like parents occasionally or routinely throw themselves to the ground or stomp when they don't get their way!  So where do they get it?  

Other phases are what the ones that make me smile and I try to capture a lot in the blog to remember as they grow.  The sweet and silly phases of their childhood.  Certain laughs or 'cheese grins'  they develop that make me giggle on the spot.  Snuggle phases, hugs, kisses or other heart warming actions.  Certain ways they say things and little mannerisms such as their fun 'penguin walk' and shoulder shake when they get excited and dance.  

I guess I write this to share that there are just so many phases children go through.  It's so important to remember this as a parent.  It helps me embrace and hold on to the tiny details of each child; soaking them in and thanking God that I get to spend this precious time with them.  It also helps me remember during trying days/weeks that 'this too will pass'.  I remember one of the longest frustrating phases the boys went through centered around the highchair.  (This was the time they wanted to feed themselves but I didn't know they were ready for 'finger foods' yet...)  During this 'phase', I put a picture on the windowsill that lists the fruits of the Spirit.  It reminded me of things to focus on instead of the frustrating screaming at hand.  This phase is long since passed, but I leave it up there to remind me of the many phases children go through.  

Hold in your heart the precious moments and let God walk you through the stressful ones.

 

The 'Dingle Hopper' and Its Mate

As I mentioned in my last post, the boys have been doing great learning how to use a spoon correctly.  Just this weekend they have taken off in this area.  They are now eating all their meals with a fork, spoon, plate and bowl.  There are still messes of course and times they miss, but they have it down very well that we don't have to worry about plates being thrown off the trays or wonder if they ate more than they are wearing.  They absolutely love eating like big boys.  Here are a few pictures to show them at work.

This was just a cute picture of the boys as they watched a movie the other day.  (This is the only time I can get them to sit still together for photos, ha!)