Nate's X-Ray

We are very relieved to report that the doctors just called regarding the x-ray that Nate had on his leg last week and everything is normal. The hospital just faxed them the full x-ray report and there are no signs of weakness or hip dysplasia at all... so I guess he just has thunder thighs with a large crease in one of them! :) He should start walking when he is ready, which hopefully will be pretty soon, but at least we know that there are no physical problems that are delaying this process. Praise God for such a good health report!

Ben's First Day of Summer Camp

This morning Ben started summer camp and was so excited about it! It is a week-long program at our church for three hours in the morning, so just the right amount of time for a group of preschoolers. They did lots of water activities, made gigantic bubbles, played games, sang Bible songs, and have many other fun activities planned for the week. Ben came home soaked from the water sports and couldn't stop talking about the fun he had in the water! We're so glad he had such a fun time. What a big boy he is...and this gives me a sneak peek at what the fall will be like when Ben is in school a few mornings per week.

Here are a few photos of Ben this morning before camp.

With Daddy:


His truck backpack is all packed with his towel and change of clothes...


Silly face!

And here he is in his camp shirt after we checked him in. He seemed a little nervous at first but just ran right into the class once we found out where he had to go, without a second glance at me or Nate! He did smile from ear to ear when he saw us waiting for him at noon, though, since I showed up a little early (what else is knew? :)) and caught a peek of the kids walking back to the classes from outside. ;)

We're looking forward to four more fun-filled days of camp this week for him!

Girls Weekend in Las Vegas

Last weekend my mother-in-law Cheri planned a girls getaway for all of the women in the family to Las Vegas. It was me, Cheri, and my three sisters-in-law Maggie, Michelle and Stacy. What a fun time!

We all flew in on Friday afternoon (give or take, I won't get into the major delays Maggie and I had at Philadelphia airport...typical!) and left on Monday. So we had three nights and about 3 full days. We stayed on the Las Vegas Strip at the Venetian hotel and did so many fun things - we ate at some nice places, got facials, saw a Cirque du Soleil show, shopped and hung out by the pool. It was such a nice break from reality and a great escape from the responsibilities of motherhood for a few days :)

Here we all are our first night at Olives restaurant at the Bellagio.
They knew it was my birthday so I got a special dessert but....they got my name wrong! We were HYSTERICAL even though the poor waiter looked so embarassed. You can now call me Patricia, Patty or Pat! :)

On our second night, we ate dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe at the Venetian and then headed over to the Mirage for the Cirque du Soleil show, Love, featuring Beatles music. It was awesome! The acrobatics were amazing and the music was great...

Here we are (minus Cheri, who is photographing) on our way out to the play with the huge billboard for Love behind us on top of the Mirage.

Drinks at dinner with the girls...well, tonic and lime for me!

And here we all are at dinner!

Maggie and Stacy, sisters-in-law!

This is one of our finest moments of the trip, posing like the Beatles before our show. It's my absolute favorite photo from the trip!!

You can't miss the magnificent Bellagio fountains at night that move in time to famous classic tunes. Stunning!

Finally, some photos from our last night in Vegas at the beautiful Le Cirque french restaurant in the Bellagio. They had special celebratory desserts for my birthday and Maggie's engagement...and what we didn't know about was that in addition to these, they surprised us by bringing out one of every dessert on their menu and a special centerpiece made out of sugar. It was a wonderful evening and the food and service were superb!

Cheri and Maggie...

The whole gang...

Maggie and I celebrating our two special occasions (me with a borrowed drink for the photo - lol!)


And here is my special birthday dessert: this raspberry and cheese concoction that was sprinkled with dark chocolate and oh so yummy...

Maggie with her special dessert, one of the special souffles that were also fantastic!

Here is a photo of the sugar centerpiece that they brought out to us for ambiance. Supposedly it took the chef 6 entire days to make!! I have never seen anything like it...

A final photo of the girls at the Venetian entrance after arriving back for the evening. This was our last night, boo hoo :(

20 Week Ultrasound

Well, it's official, we are having a GIRL this time! The doctor did another ultrasound for me at my appointment this morning and there are no male parts from a front, back, or underside view. The resolution is not as good on the machine in the office as it is in the diagnostic center, where we had the level II ultrasound two weeks ago, but my doctor was also fairly certain he was able to make out the three lines of the labia so it seems safe to start thinking pink and purple! The good news is that I get regular ultrasounds each month so I will have a few more chances to double check on things before birth day :)

We are excited for the change this will bring to our family - a different gender in a different season so things should really be new for us this time around again! And we have already had people pass on their condolences for this little sister who will probably never be able to go on a date when she's a teenager, given her two older brothers :)

We are still up in the air with the name and will likely keep it a surprise until the birth, as we have done before. Mainly because we are undecided and did change Nate's name a few hours before he was born! But maybe we will change our minds once we decide on something. We'll see...

Otherwise, the appointment this morning went well. The baby is growing as she should be and the heartbeat is strong. My weight gain is on the very low end again this pregnancy but they are not concerned since the baby is growing adequately and usually this happens to people with gestational diabetes who follow a strict diet. So that sounds like a good perk to me, as long as the baby is healthy and the diabetes is under control!

I have been sick with a respiratory thing for the past few days so I do not dare post an updated photo of myself, but I will do so soon since my tummy has now "popped" and I definitely look pregnant now...

15-Month Pediatrician Appointment

This morning we took Nate for his 15-month pediatrician check-up. Well, what an ordeal that was! Nate did not like even being there this time and literally shook his head "no" and screamed the entire time. I remember Ben going through a similar phase when he was around this age but it was not so pronounced. But then again, Nate is definitely the more sensitive of the two of them and gets upset a lot faster. But, all in all, we got through it unscathed. I just felt bad for the doctor since she is such a nice person and Nate made it quite clear how he felt about her poking and prodding him today. But I am sure she is used to it :)

Of course Ben thought that Nate's drama was hysterical! He was smirking and kept asking "Is Nate being naughty, Mommy?" (while he ate the lollipop they gave him for being the well-behaved big brother who sat still in his chair during his brother's exam...rub a little more salt in the wounds :)).

Anyway, Nate is doing well. He has 12 teeth and appears to be getting a few more soon. Good to know since we can never get in there ourselves to check this out at home! His one year molars are in, as I suspected a few weeks ago when he had obvious signs of major teething.

His basic stats are as follows:

Height: 31-1/2" (70th percentile)
Weight: 26lbs. (70th percentile)

So our "heavy weight," as Andrew likes to call him, gained 2 inches and 3 pounds this month but is still growing consistently with his growth chart so all is well. We could have sworn that with thighs like his and a beer belly so large he'd be off the charts (ha ha!). He still is well below the original "heavy weight champion" at this age - Mr. Benjamin - who was an inch taller and a pound heavier. So we have no doubt that Nate will slim down as well, especially once he starts to walk.

His verbal skills are on the advanced side at this point. He says between 20-30 words and will easily pick up new ones if you tell him a few times. He has even started to put two words together in some very simple phrases such as "Hi, Ben" or "Bye-bye, Dada."

The doctor did not seem concerned that Nate is not walking on his own yet since some kids (including his brother) are late walkers. He cruises, uses the push toys to walk, can stand on his own, and climbs stairs and other objects so he is obviously mobile. The only precautionary measure they are taking is to send us for an x-ray of Nate's left leg since he has a very pronounced crease in his upper thigh, and it is only on this one leg. Occasionally, this can indicate a hip dysplasia, especially if it is only seen on one leg. However, when I asked if she thought that this may be why he is not walking yet and also gauged my concern, she assured me that she doesn't foresee a problem since he is quite mobile and doesn't appear to have any symptoms of a dysplasia; it is merely done for precautionary purposes. I told them that I thought he just had chubby thunder thighs - lol!

So, we will most likely get this x-ray done at Abington Hospital when I am there next Wednesday for my own OB appointment and ultrasound. Please pray that this is nothing and I will keep everyone posted.

Strawberry Picking

This morning my playgroup donned our raincoats and old clothes for a morning of strawberry picking at Willow Creek Orchards, a local organic farm, which is actually owned by one of my girlfriends from MOPS. It's been off and on rainy here for the past two days but it is prime strawberry picking time so we opted to go despite the less than ideal weather. Well, we were lucky enough that the rain was only a light drizzle while we actually picked berries so it worked out fine. And silly me - why would I think getting to play in the rain and mud is anything less than fantastic to two little boys?!?! :) This playgroup is actually mainly boys so nobody seemed to be too bothered by the fact that it was not sunny and clear today.

We had a great time and the boys just adored berry picking. Both of them got their own basket and were so excited to spot red berries on the vines and to pick them off. They did taste a few of them but mainly were very good about just putting them in their baskets to bring home.

After the picking, we had a picnic lunch in Willow Creek's pavillion. What a fun outing!

Look at Nate's eyes in this one! He'll be a heartbreaker in a few years :)

18 Week Update

After much anticipation, we are very happy to announce that IT'S A GIRL!

Well, most likely, that is. We had our 18 week level II ultrasound this afternoon and this little active person would not give 100% cooperation but the perinatologists are about 80% sure that our next Martin is a girl. They said that they did not see "anything resembling Ben or Nate, as far as they could tell" and that they usually will not guess unless they feel pretty strongly about their findings. But, to confirm things, my doctor said that he will do a regular ultrasound in the office in about 2 weeks when I come in for my next routine check-up if we do not have 100% cooperation for the level II. So, we're waiting until then to get really excited but it sounds like the results should be the same. So, it looks like the 77% majority in my poll are the winners!

Here is one photo from today of the baby's body profile.

Other than that exciting news, all looked well with the ultrasound and the baby is measuring exactly on target for 18 weeks. I will be going for a fetal echocardiogram next month and will also be heavily monitored as I enter the end of the second trimester and third trimester, due to my early onset of the gestational diabetes. This is the time when the diabetes' effects could really be seen on the baby, if any will show up. Basically, since GD was diagnosed so early and it is so uncommon for it to appear at that stage, they will be treating me as a full-time diabetic. So I am officially a high risk pregnancy. But, as long as the monitoring gives good results, I can go about all normal activity and keep to a diet-only controlled GD instead of having to go on insulin. So please pray about that.

The baby's heartbeat was very strong and all of the bodily systems they monitored today are formed as they should be and functioning properly.

I will keep you updated in two weeks when I visit my OB for my routine exam....and we will now keep you in suspense for the second half of the pregnancy about the name we choose for the baby (hee hee hee). That is, once we decide on one :)