Sneak Peek (She's B-e-a-utiful)

George and I went to an ultrasound today for the little one. It was a perfect way to end our mini-vacation this past weekend (blog post to come). The doctor ordered one just because I hadn't done one at her practice yet and she wanted to check in on the baby, which by the way is still a girl (always helps to double check, right?). I managed to also get a couple of belly pics at 31 weeks. These aren't as great as before because we took them right before we were leaving, but here you go.

This one was taken at our hotel

And now for pictures of the baby! The sonographer estimated her weight to be at 3 lbs. 11 oz. (33rd percentile). We also got normal ultrasound pictures but they weren't very good & I thought you'd enjoy these better.

Happy Baby

Pursing those lips

I have my 32 week appointment tomorrow. I'll also do another post of some pics of the girls in the next couple of days!

Prayer Request for a Preemie

Hey! I know I said my next post would be a pregnancy update, but that will probably come tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a very special request to ask of you.

There is a family from our church that had a premature baby girl, Caroline, 10 days ago. She was 32 weeks, 3 lbs. 10 oz., and doing great until a couple of days ago. She has an infection in her large intestines and is currently on 2 different antibiotics to clear it up. She has been taken off of any liquids and is receiving fluids only through an IV. Please keep this precious little girl and her family in your prayers. We know all about intestinal issues and we also know how to pray them away, right?!

Thank you! I know this family greatly appreciates it during this time of uncertainty.

Health Update

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the prayers! We are pretty much running at normal pace again...well, the girls are and have been the whole time. George and I just find ourselves a little out of breath, but are slowly getting there. He was actually out doing yard work for a widow this morning. As if having the flu wasn't bad enough, he also had to fix our pool pump, which he knicked when he last mowed the lawn. That wasn't a huge deal until the girls' bathtub faucet started to leak and we ended up having to knock out the entire wall to replace the fixtures. Now he has one more thing (knock out all of the "pretty" purple tile in the bathtub and update it) to add to his list before the baby gets here. Oh well, we still have one working bathroom and the water is back on!

I plan on doing a pregnancy post soon. As soon as I get caught up on disinfecting and getting my house back in order, you'll see us back!

The Dreaded Day

The dreaded day finally arrived. I started feeling sick late yesterday afternoon and commence the throwing up & expulsion of all bodily fluids for the next 11 hours. George took the girls to church last night, but he began feeling sick about midnight and Kate was soon to follow about 3 a.m. How Hannah has escaped it thus far is beyond me, other than her Daddy praying that he could take the illness for them. I have been dreading the day we, or even just the girls, get a stomach bug. I have to tell you that while it has not been pleasant, we are surviving quite well. Kate and Hannah were bouncing off of us while we laid on the couch this morning. I guess it's hard to explain to a 2 year old what the word sick means.

My face is spotted red because of all of the broken blood vessels from heaving so hard, but the worst of it is that my hips are so cramped up from being dehydrated. My wonderful father-in-law (bless his heart...we called him because we knew he was an early riser & would jump at the opportunity-it's just who he is) brought us some ginger ale and Sprite this morning just before 6 a.m. I was ready to go to the ER and tell them to stick an IV in me. I didn't sleep one second last night and couldn't nap at all this afternoon because my hips hurt so bad. I'm trying to replenish my body's fluids, but it needs more than the average person so it's taking longer.

Thanks for letting me moan and groan. Please pray for us as we recuperate. Here's to hoping we didn't infect anyone else along the way!

Bina-Bina

Or for those of you who need translation...ballerina. Kate and Hannah have been wearing their tutus from Erin & Dru's wedding almost everyday for the last week. They also have a pink skirt tutu that they can actually pass for an outfit. We are obsessed with ballerinas and dancing right now! And when you are as cute as they are, how could anyone resist? Kate actually loves to put on her tutu, grab her little stool, stand on it, and yell "ta-da"!

Hannah

Kate

Kate

Kate

And here is a short video of my ballerinas twirling for you!

Every Toddlers Dream

We had a fun Friday at Busch Gardens today. We were there for about 3.5 hours, but managed to pack quite a bit in. We saw the animals, watched Elmo's Safari show, took pictures with Abby & Cookie, met Big Bird, and rode most of the kiddie rides. Whew...

Here are some pictures from today!

Hannah & Kate riding the cars
Rachel

H & K

This was the first time that we were able to succesfully get the girls to "play" on this huge inflatable thing. Usually they are too scared to move and it's kind of hard for kids their age to manuveur. I think they would've played longer, but there were some bigger kids in there that made them fall over. Although, Rachel had quite a fun time rolling around.

Rosita's swings-Rachel & Kate (with her hands on her face...she does this when she is scared, but she only did this for about the last 30 seconds of the ride)

Hannah sitting by a bunch of boys she didn't know

Rachel

Yay-Abby & Cookie Monster. Kate cried out, "Abby, Abby" with tears in her eyes when we had to leave.

Watching the show

Rachel & Cookie

Rachel & Zoey

The girls pointing to Zoey

These next pictures are of our first experience with Play-doh. They did well and threw a fit when we had to put it away. Only on the second time of playing with it did Kate decide she would try and eat it.

Hannah

Kate showing off her snakes

This video is actually from the show at Busch Gardens. I just wanted to catch their reaction to the characters!

As for the rest of us, we are doing good. I am finally in my third trimester and creeping past my longest point of pregnancy yet. I have decided to switch doctors so that I can attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). I love my current OB practice, but they will only do repeat C-sections. After talking with friends who had done a VBAC and talking to several OBs, I feel very comfortable with our decision and am really excited to have a normal birth (C-section or vaginal). George actually commented that I've gotten quite large in the last couple of weeks and that he could bowl with my stomach. Good thing I'm not sensitive to "fat pregnancy" comments. Most other woman I've talked to said that I'm actually small for being in my 7th month. Anyway, I'm down to two week appointments and will have my first real appointment with my new OB in about a week and a half!