Merry Christmas

I hope your Christmas was filled with love and laughter!! Our Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year. It was awesome to share this time of year with Garrett. It is amazing how you begin to look at the world a little differently. We started our holiday festivities with having our dear friends Greg & Laura and Brad & Missy over for appetizers and dessert. It certainly wasn't anything fancy, but it was a great time among friends.

Sunday before Christmas, Adam, Sarah and Luke came over for dinner. Last year we all decided that we wouldn't buy gifts for each other, just Luke. This year we agreed that we would only buy gifts for the kids and that is just what we did. Luke had a great time with the boxes and the wrapping paper!!!

Garrett and I have both been battling a cold, but that didn't keep us from doing all the holiday things that we usually do. I worked half a day Christmas Eve and then went home to my 2 guys!! Joel didn't have to work, so he had kept Garrett home with him. After Garrett and I both got up from a nap, we went to my folks for our annual Christmas Eve festivities. Dear friends of my family came over and we had dinner and exchanged gifts!!! Garrett got a great interactive dog that teaches body parts and colors. Joel and I got an awesome gift!!! Our double stroller!!!! (Now I just have to get a car that it will fit in!!!)

We then headed to Gram and Gramps house to finish out the night. We had a fun time with family and opened more Garrett gifts!!! Joel's mom bought a number of outfits for Garrett and the baby-to-be!!!! We normally would have gone to Christmas Eve services at church, but we just couldn't make it to the 11:00 service this year. 2 of us with colds and a tired baby, we didn't think we should be there. We headed home and got Garrett ready for bed by reading him The Night Before Christmas.

We woke up bright and early Christmas morning and got dressed and had breakfast. After breakfast we opened all of the gifts under the tree....which none of them were for myself or Joel!!!! The best thing about the gifts were the bows and the paper!!!

We went to my folks for gifts and Christmas dinner and then we went to Joel's folks for more gifts!!! Garrett got V-Smile Baby (among other things) from my parents and Leap Frog toys from Joel's parents!!! He is having fun with all the new toys and new sounds!!!

We have also made a few new leaps and bounds with Garrett. He started baby food this week. We started by feeding him Bananas and he then enjoyed a dinner of Carrots tonight!!! He seems to really enjoy the baby food. He wasn't a big fan of Rice Cereal, he is more of a real food kind of guy!!!

Enjoy the photos!!!

Love To All!!!

25 Weeks

I am just trucking right along with this pregnancy!!! We passed a milestone last week. 24 weeks is the point that you always want to get to becuase at that point the baby would be viable if she came early!!! We are hoping for early, but not that early!!! I haven't had may many complaints about being pregnant. The last few days, I have had a terribly sore back!! I keep telling Joel that my pregnancy with Garrett was much easier!!!

Speaking of Garrett...we went to the doctor Monday. He weighs an amazing 19.1 pounds and is 27 inches long!!! He is one big boy!! He has moved up to the 90th percentile for weight. We also had to get shots while we were there. This was Joel's first experience with shots. I always feel so bad when he gets his shots. He didn't let me put him down all night after I picked him up from Marilyn's. The little stinker is fighting a cold right now. Believe it or not, he is being very good. He doesn't really let it get him down, or bother him.

25 Weeks
~The structures of the spine begin to form -- joints, ligaments and rings. These will protect the all important spinal cord which serves as the information transmitter for your child's body.
~Blood vessels of the lungs develop.
~Your baby's nostrils begin to open. There is a study out of Belfast that suggests babies at this stage have the capability of scent preferences!
~The nerves around the mouth and lip area are showing more sensitivity now. When baby is rooting for food later on, these will be valuable!
~His swallowing reflexes are developing.
~Dexterity is improving. Your baby can make a fist and would clasp objects placed in palm.
~Your child has now obtained an approximate length of 13.6 inches (34.6cm) and weighs 1.46 pound (660gm).

More Facts

~Your little grower’s physical proportions are evening out at this point and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and lots and lots of nervous system development.

~This week they’ll be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating (already!) into a better position for exit during their birth. Their head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal.

~Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)—just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human.

How's Mom

~Speaking of larger, you’re obviously carrying more weight now and your back is going to let you know. Don’t let this get you down or make you feel like a weakling—it all comes with the territory of being preggers. Try to practice good posture—it will alleviate some of the back fatigue as slouching is actually harder on your back.

~It’s also common for women to experience leg cramps during this period. Go ahead, strong arm someone who loves you into giving you a massage. Or if you're lucky enough to have the extra bucks, head to a spa that specializes in pregnancy massages and get the full-treatment.

~You may have already noticed that your hair seems fuller, thicker, more plentiful and darker-- especially your body hair. There are two basic reasons for this: 1) you're shedding much less (head) hair than you usually do and 2) your body's hormones contribute to the way your body hair is growing right now. Not to worry, all the hairiness will return to normal after you've delivered your baby.

All I Really Want for Christmas

Please enjoy the video shown here. Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife have adopted 3 little girls from China!!! It is beautiful to see someone using their talents to share the awesome gift of adoption!!! I will share more of his videos with you later!!!

23 Weeks

So...did you think we had fallen off the face of the earth?? It seems like everything has been so crazy lately. I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet!!! Does that mean I am a bad mommy?? I haven't even begun to think about what I am going to buy Garrett. What do you buy a child that has everything he could possibly want?? The way the weather is turning out, I should probably buy him a snow suit!!!

We had Christmas pictures taken on Saturday. Joel and I are so disappointed in them. It could be that the problem was Joel and I though!!! The pictures of Garrett are adorable. I look like I have been on an eating binge for a few weeks and Joel looks like he hasn't slept in weeks!! We are going to have them re-taken next week. Hopefully they will turn out better than the last ones!!!

23 Weeks

~Proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since he hasn't begun to form body fat.
~Bones located in the middle ear harden.
~Your baby is able to hear. (Dads, did you know: low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice?) ~The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
~The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
~If born now, your baby has a 15% chance of survival, his odds going up with each passing day. . ~The average baby at this stage weighs 1.1 pound (501gm) and is 11.38 inches (28.9cm) long.

~Real hair and toenails are beginning to grow. Baby continues to urinate and drink amniotic fluid, which is exchanged every three hours.

More Facts

~At this point you’ve pretty much adjusted to the fact you’ve got a moving little gymnast inside of you, but now they’re going to kick up the party a notch because they can hear and react to sounds from the outside world. Sounds from your alarm clock, a thunder roll, or that darned car honking at you across the intersection can actually jar their little ears enough to elicit a kick or violent bout of squirming.

How's Mom Doing

~If no one warned you about the joys of the pregnancy-sleep-challenge, you’ve probably already started to discover just how difficult it can be to find adequately comfortable sleeping positions.

~Plenty of good ol’ fashioned H20 (water) can help reduce swelling in your poor ankles and feet-- resulting from the pressure your now over-sized uterus is putting on your pelvic veins, thereby slowing fluid circulation to the lower half of your body. Also, if you want to further reduce the dreaded appearance of pregnancy “cankles” (calf-ankles) try to avoid sitting for long periods of time—and for the hundredth time: don’t forget to stay active! Keeping your fluid intake up is also good for your little resident swimmer as dehydration is frequently connected with premature birthing. Yep, it’s a lot of responsibility, but you can do it! You’re almost two-thirds of the way there already! Keep up the good work mom!

Love To All!!!