All Dressed-Up!

What a busy day! October 31 was a full day especially at Chloe's school. She had a harvest party in her Kindergarten class. They had a HUGE breakfast feast. Leave it to Chloe to pick out an original costume. All the girls in her class were princesses and she was the only Super Girl. She was quite proud of her choice but was way to cute to put fear in the hearts of any evil doers. :) Aidan hung out at the school in is adorable monkey costume. He loves his Halloween costume and couldn't get enough of it. Each time I would take it off so he could eat he would scream at me to put it back on. It was so cute.

That night we went to a local church for "Trunk or Treat". The church fills the parking lot with decorated cars and trucks and the kids go to each trunk for their treat. It is a lot of fun and much better than wandering around the neighborhood in the dark hoping someone is actually home. We were there for about an hour and had hot dogs. Both kids got plenty of candy and were done when it was time to leave (the rain didn't hurt their decision either). After that we ran to Nana and Poppa's house so the kids could show off their costumes.

It was a fun day. Chloe is already thinking about what kind of costume she wants to wear next year. Aidan is still dragging his monkey costume around the house trying to put it on. :)

Only One Baby

Today we had our first sonogram of the baby. We are only having one baby (much to everyone's relief). The due date they originally gave us was wrong. So the new due date is May 16th. I am 3 months pregnant. I am hoping that the nausea will finally start to abate. So here is the first photo of our baby so I guess the question now is....

BOY or GIRL?

Pumpkins!!

The weather has been so unpredictable lately that going to the pumpkin patch has been almost impossible. Either it is too wet and muddy or just too downright cold. So we went to the pumpkin patch at Safeway. It was cheating I know. But the kids had a blast.

Chloe wanted to make a princess pumpkin (of course) she (with Mom's help) did most of the carving on her pumpkin. I think she had the most fun putting all the sparkles on the tiara. The best part was when we had to scoop the guts out of the pumpkins and Chloe squealed when I made her pull out the guts. Aidan had a blast pulling out the guts and than eating them. He had so much fun making a mess in all the pumpkin guts. He has now learned how to climb up into the dining room chairs (and the table) by himself. He is quite proud of his new skill but Mom and Dad are not too sure.

We ended up with two fun pumpkins and they look wonderful on the front porch.

Test Results

I spent the morning being used as a pin cushion by our local hospital during my 3-hour blood glucose test. The test was to see if I have gestational diabetes or not. Having to fast for 15+ hours is not fun especially when I get extreme nausea when I don't eat when I need to. Anyway, I just heard from the nurse and I do not have gestational diabetes. Hallelujah! I do have to stick to a diet of sorts--no simple carbs (which I try to avoid anyway), lots of fiber and fruits and veggies. Matt is convinced eating like this will help him lose weight. So we will eat healthier and see what happens. I have to go through the glucose testing again at 28 weeks.

Thank you all for all your continued prayers and support. We appreciate it so much!

A Mommy Thought

Why is it when I am doing the dishes (which I was up 'til about two minutes ago) both of my children wanted nothing to do with me? But as soon as I walk into the office to blog real quick while a pan soaks they are both in the office driving me crazy? They were both playing contentedly in the Family room just a few minutes ago, what's the deal? Chloe is on the other computer chattering about this and that (nonstop) and Aidan is using the dryer like a drum. Is it just me or are children born with a sixth sense that tells them, "if I bug Mom now she will put me to work, so I better make myself invisible but wait she is doing something other than work so now is a good time to see how much I can test her sanity." Or is it just my children? :) Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but sometimes I wonder if it isn't a conspiracy to see how senile we can make Mom. :)

15-Month Check-Up

Aidan recently had his 15 month check-up. He is perfectly healthy despite a slight cold. He weighs 23lbs. and is 30in. tall.

Pregnancy Ups and Downs

Another week of nausea and sickness has past. Sorry the opening line isn't more exciting but that has been the week. Matt and I are getting excited about the pregnancy and Chloe (and her Aunt Lisa) insist it is twins. I am having double the sickness of the other pregnancies and I am already showing (but that could just because my body hasn't gotten totally back into shape from Aidan). We find out on October 31st, if it is one or two babies causing all the mischief to my body.

We did get a confirmed due date, May 22, 2008. I was excited that the due date was not in the summer. I feel so bad for women who are due in August and September, July was miserable enough. This date means a lot of work on my part for school over the next year. My annual play is June 7th. YIKES!!! So I had the fun of announcing to the class that we have to get busy. Next week, we start on props for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". At least this play is simpler to produce than last years and I can buy almost every costume. Yippee!!

Well as we are busy planning where the baby(ies) will stay, what we need to get, the car situation and everything else involved with a new addition. This week we got some upsetting news. I had seven vials of blood drawn and a blood glucose test on Monday (the joys of pregnancy :) ). My test results for the blood glucose test were a little high which has the doctor concerned this early in my pregnancy. The high test results could just be that my metabolism has slowed a bit during the pregnancy which is not a big deal (that is what we are praying for). But it could also mean gestational diabetes which can cause problems for all of us. Having a baby over 9lbs automatically puts you at risk for getting gestational diabetes with the next pregnancy. Next Friday I go in for a 3 hour blood glucose test to determine if I have gestational diabetes. If you could please pray we would greatly appreciate it.

Portland Conference

We made it safely back from our trip to Portland this past weekend. I went to a Stampin' Up! Regional Conference on Saturday so Nana, Chloe and Aidan came along. We had a great drive down there Friday, we sailed through Seattle (if you can believe it). Once we reached Portland things quickly changed. Traffic down there is a nightmare. Plus there were 4 or five major conferences and events going on in the city that weekend so that did not help. We hit 4 or 5 hotels looking for a room before we finally found on in Tigard. It was a fabulous hotel and we will definitely use it again.

Saturday I went to my conference and was on sensory overload I learned so much about stamping and different techniques. I also came home with a stack of projects I made and a new stamp set. (Check out my other blog for more specifics http://michellesstampinpad.blogspot.com). Nana and the kids hung out and played at the hotel and had a blast roaming around. That night we met my Aunt Kim and Great Grandmother Helen for dinner at a fabulous Chinese restaurant nearby. No kidding, it was the best Chinese I think I have ever eaten.

Sunday we took our time heading home after hitting Babies R' Us (I had to see what was new of course) and Costco. It was a fun weekend despite the nausea and sinus headaches. I keep praying the morning sickness will go away once I hit three months! :)

Big News!

I am reminded again of how powerful the connection is between our kids and God. I might just rethink the next time I tell Chloe to pray about something. This has been a week full of shock, excitement, shuffling around and big changes! Next week I will be eight weeks pregnant. Big surprise for us (not that we weren't expecting a positive result from the hospital). This was not what we had planned (God had another plan for our family) but we are beside ourselves with excitement. Two Kids IN DIAPERS!! Not ideal when Matt is getting ready to retire, but at least the Navy will pay for the birth of this one. :) We don't have a confirmed due date yet, I should have that in a few weeks after my first appointment with the nurse. I will keep you updated. We are also hoping and praying that Matt will actually be here for the birth (he may have to leave not long after that).

Chloe of course is beside herself and is insisting that she is getting a little sister this time. Aidan will have a huge adjustment coming up in the next few months, I pray that it goes well and he isn't lost in all the chaos a new baby brings. Chloe has been begging for a little sister since we had Aidan, not that she doesn't love him, but he's not a girl. So Matt and I told her to ask God (not really sure how to answer her pleadings any other way). Apparently God listened. She has also insisted that we are having a girl (for her) and a boy (for Aidan). So the polls and bets are on (check the sidebar on the right for the latest poll). I don't know if I'd put anything past her at this point. I will let you know all as we learn more!

Women's Retreat

I went to a Women's Retreat Friday night and Saturday with church. Mom and I went together. It was such a refreshing time full of fun and growth. I see most of these ladies each week on Sundays but I don't have the opportunity to get to really know them at an hour and a half long service. So it was so nice getting to know these ladies in a new and different way. We stayed at Camp Casey in one of the old barracks (it was pretty dusty and musty) but other than that it was nice. The views of the beach and water were astounding. The weather quickly turned nasty Saturday morning making a walk along the beach a miserable experience in the wind and rain but watching the storm blow in was beautiful.

We had an incredible speaker who was very down-to-earth and transparent. I don't like listening to speakers who seem to be talking at me not to me. This speaker was very poignant and funny using her own life experiences as examples to prove her points. I learned a lot about myself (which can be a scary thing, I'll admit). The worship was awesome as well.

Whenever we have retreats or events at church (especially for Women's Ministries) we always have the best food. This weekend was no exception. Baked Ziti (I think) and tira misu for dinner, pull-apart sticky buns and an egg/sausage casserole for breakfast and a salad bar for lunch. Yum! Plus all the chocolate and snacks we could eat. Which we did. We also made some cards, gift boxes and bookmarks for crafts. Which I helped with, it was so much fun to use my Stampin' Up! skills for the Lord. We stayed up until 2am playing jump rope, talking and toilet papering people into their rooms. We had so much fun.

I came home physically exhausted but emotionally and spiritually recharged. I don't get to go to many retreats but I am already looking forward to the next one!