It's a boy!
"Luke" at 21 weeks



Trip to Iowa and Indiana

Well Matthew and I had a great time on our trip to Iowa and Indiana!  We drove and it took 2 days there and back.  Overall, Matthew did well with the long car ride.  It was actually a nice drive.  It's nice seeing other parts of the country.  I do have to say I fell in love with the midwest.  It seems like a wonderful place to live.  Our 1st stop was Iowa to see my brother and his wife and their foster daughter who is 17 months.  She is a cutie pie.  I will be respecting her privacy so there won't be any pictures of her posted on the blog.  We stayed with them for a few days and had a nice time.  Our next stop was Indiana where my best friend since 9th grade and her husband and 2 kids now live.  They moved there a year and a half ago.  Stayed there for about a week and had a great time.  We went to the Ft. Wayne children's zoo.  Phenomenol zoo by the way.  Also went to a Fall festival and had a blast there.  They live next to an Amish town so that was quite a treat.  Saw horse and buggies in action.  Pretty neat stuff.  Anyway enjoy the pics!  Also all the fire hydrants in the midwest are yellow.  Matthew could spot them a mile away it seemed :)

By the way, we find out tomorrow what we are having.  So far the pregnancy is going well.  I will update after the appt :)

Betsey

1st week at Preschool Language Class (PLC)

Well the 1st week went well.  No problems.  He didn't mind being dropped off at all.  They have snack right when they get there so I just bring his breakfast with him and he can eat it at school.  It hasn't been too bad getting up early and getting him to school.  It is actually great for me because it forces me to get up and get ready and I do have to admit I am enjoying the free time in the morning. 

His teacher and teacher's aide seem great so far.  Once everyone gets settled in the speech therapist will start coming about 2/week to do speech therapy.  It will be a "group session" for now which is fine with me for now.  That's usually how it works in the school district unless you request otherwise.  I think for Matthew the best therapy is just being around other kids.  Every 6 weeks I will get a progress report on how he is doing, sort of like a report card but of course he won't be receiving actual grades.  I do kinda wish he could go 5 days a week but the reality is I have to work some so it just isn't an option.  Oh well.

Enjoy the pic!  Yes, we have already found the "da di di's" at his school :)  I haven't had a chance to take any other pictures yet.  When I do I will post them.

Until next time,

Betsey

Meet the teacher night!

Well I went to "meet the teacher night" at Matthew's school.  As most of you know he will be attending a preschool language class (PLC) 3 days a week from 7:45-11:00 a.m. starting next week.  It is with our local public school district.  When I first drove up I was a little overwhelmed because the parking lot was a zoo.  There were cars and people everywhere.  It was obvious that it was "meet the teacher night" for every grade.  Once I found his class all was well.  His teacher (Miss Smith) seems like she is going to be great.  She is very outgoing and enthusiastic.  She had a shirt on that said "PLC Rocks" and she said that "her PLC kids" are the best kids in the whole school.  I think it is safe to say at this point that she is passionate about her job and "her PLC kids."  It does feel a little strange that my 3-year-old is starting school.  It really doesn't feel like "real school" yet.  Its not like he will have homework (at least I hope not) :)  He will only be there for about 3 hours but looks like it will be full of activities and structure and of course fun.  It will be good for Matthew.  Yes, he is making a lot of progress in his language but he still has a ways to go and this class is here to help him do that.  I think there will be about 8 or so kids in his class and they range in age from 3 to 5. 

I will update after his 1st week. 

Blessings,
Betsey

Had a 2nd ultrasound!

I decided to go forth with the 1st trimester screening with this pregnancy.  What it entails is an ultrasound between 11 and 13 weeks and bloodwork. I did debate whether this extra testing was necessary because regardless we would be continuing the pregnancy and it wouldn't change anything but I decided I would rather be prepared just in case something was wrong.  Since I am "advanced maternal age" the risks are a little bit higher for chromosomal abnormalities.  If something did show up concerning then they would recommend further testing and do more frequent ultrasounds to monitor the baby closer.  The ultrasound is done with a high-risk doctor and we had that done yesterday and everything so far looked great.  The baby is measuring right on target for 13 weeks and he didn't see anything concerning at this point.  We still have to wait for the bloodwork and of course we will still be getting the 20-week ultrasound.  Some doctor's are making gender predictions at these early ultraounds so of course I had to ask what his "prediction/guess" was.  Of course he said it is too early to say with certainity but he thinks there is "something sticking out" so maybe a boy :)  Yep, possibly another boy.  I would be thrilled with that.  We will know for sure at the 20-week ultrasound. 

Feeling pretty good most days but I do have days where I just feel "blah."  It is soooooo hot right now too so it is pretty much impossible to get outside and do anything.  I really want to start walking again but it is just too hot.  I am so ready for Fall.  I hope it comes early this year.

Blessings,
Betsey

Blog makeover in progress!

Bear with me while I tweak the layout of my blog.  The template I had went away and I couldn't figure out how to restore it.  I am not a computer guru.  I am working on getting it how I like.  I will be updating soon!

Betsey

We're expecting baby #2

We are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2.  I am 8 weeks along and had my 1st OB visit today and everything looked great. There is really a little "baby bean" in there and only 1 (yeaaa!!!).  The heartbeat is strong at 164.  Due date for now is 2/18/11.  So far the pregnancy has been going well.  Some mild nausea, cravings, and tiredness but overall not much to speak of.  I do feel "bigger" this time and will probably show much earlier this time. 

Enjoy the pic!