18wks and counting!

How OUR baby's growing:
Head to rump, our baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If we're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If we're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound. Sorry folks, we are not planning on finding out the sex of the baby. We enjoy the surprise when the baby is born. That and I don't entirely trust ultrasound results! ;-)

Info from BabyCenter.com

Giving Thanks

While our life has had some curve balls that we did not see coming we are also aware of many blessings in our life as well.
Both of our families are close by and actively involved in our lives. Their love and support is irreplaceable.
Isaac has been blessed with a job that fits his talents and personality and quirks in ways that no other job could.
It is because of that job that I am able to stay home and do the most important job I could ever have taking care of our sons.
I am thankful for Nate and all the curiosity and energy that he displays daily. And Joe's gentle and happy spirit that overwhelms me sometimes. And the new life growing inside of me, I love him/her already and I cannot wait to meet this new child of mine.
Our church family is unique in the way that they function and we are very thankful for the role that they play in our lives as well.
We have a home and plenty of food to eat. We don't want for anything.
I am thankful that through the hard times that we do go through that God draws us to Him and makes us stronger. It is because of the trials that we have faced that I love my husband more today than I did when we first were married. I cannot express how huge a blessing he is to me.

God Bless You ALL this Thanksgiving!!

Colossians 2:6-7

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Optomistic Ophthalmologist

Last Monday Joe had his first appointment with the ophthalmologist at Riley. He has had his vision tested before by an optometrist but this is the first time he's seen someone specifically looking for retino blastoma (eye tumors) which his chromosomal abnormality puts him at risk for. It was actually a reassuring visit. The doctor said that kids who have retino blastoma are born with it and by Joe's age it should be visable. His eyes look fine and she says that she is confident that he probably will not develop any tumors. We will continue to get regular eye checkups to make sure if anything would develop that we would catch it early. But as he gets older the risk for tumors goes down significantly.
Also Joe has been increasingly active lately. His mobility has grown so much in just the last few weeks. He still is not quite crawling, but he is rolling alot, rotating himself around and transitioning from belly to sitting and back again often. He has even been doing some scooting around on his bottom. His reach and interest in things around him has increased as well.
It was only a short time ago that I could set him on the floor to play and half an hour later he'd still be in the same spot. Now he roams all around the room in a short time, getting into this and that. We've had to pay far more attention to what is on the floor now that he is getting around so well. His therapists are very excited about the things they have been seeing as they work with him lately. We are all very thankful to see this kind of progress from our special little man.

Autumn

Our weather this fall has been pretty sketchy. It'll be rainy and in the 40s one day and sunny and 68 the next... sigh... hard to make plans with weather like this! But we did manage to do a few fun fall things.
We went to the pumpkin patch where my parents were working. Of course the day we went it was bitter cold and we didn't stay long because it was so miserable. But at least we were able to get a good pumpkin a few cute pix.
Our church has an annual Fall Fun Fest every year. This year's was postponed a few times due to the rain. But we were finally able to have it this past weekend. Yay! It was the perfect fall day for the event. Nate was dressed as Spiderman when we arrived but undressed within 15-20minutes. Glad it was borrowed! I'd have been annoyed if I'd paid for it! We have so much fun with our church family. I'm so thankful for them. What a blessing they are!
Now we're on to holiday plans and I'm sure the time will fly as usual! I'm almost 16wks along now and by the time the holidays are over I'll be well into the 20s. I am both anxious and excited about this baby on the way. Part of me can't wait, and the other part is wondering if I'll ever feel ready. So much to do and think about. I'm sure glad He is in control and not me! I couldn't do it without Him.

My "Make A Wish" Moment!

So, after reading my last post about my 30by30 list a friend called me up and asked if she could help me w/ one of my "goals" by taking me to my first Pacers game. Well, sure! Her husband said I was her "make-a-wish-kid". Works for me!
She has the hookup through her grandparents who have these awesome front row season tickets. So not only did I get to go to a Pacers game but I got to go in style! We had special parking and seriously... our seats were a mere few feet away from the players! I could not have asked for a better way to see the game or better company. We both have two little ones and it is difficult to find the time to get together sometimes so it was great to spend the evening with a good friend.
Third Eye Blind had performed before the game (though it was an outdoor thing and it was raining so we did not see the concert). The lead singer talked to the press during the game. He was right in front of us, I could have reached out and touched him - if there hadn't been security sitting right there. If you watch the game you can see me behind him scrambling to get my camera out to take this pix! I'm such a dork. ;-)
Isaac turned the game on to see if they could see me. The PaceMates came out to perform before the game and Nate says "Look its Mommy!". Aw... isn't that sweet. Way off, but sweet. Since I was wearing that bright orange shirt it was actually pretty easy to spot us in alot of the shots. So thanks to my good friend I can now say I've been to a Pacers game!