Updates....
1. Baby Elise is due in a little over 6 weeks now.....everything seems to be going well at my doctor's visits. I am going to the doctor every 2 weeks and will soon move to going every week. The waits are always long (yesterday I waited over 2 hours to be seen!), so I always try to take something to do so my time waiting is productive. I used to take my computer and get work done, but as of 12/31/2010, all of my work obligations related to the sale of our business in December 2009 are completed. YEAH! Yesterday I took notecards and wrote long overdue Christmas thank-yous while I waited...I finished almost half of the notes I needed to write.
Heartburn has been attacking with a vengance the past few weeks (much better than last pregnancy, though, when I popped Tums like they were candy from 14 weeks on!), I frequently feel and see little feet move across my belly, and I am having quite a few Braxton-Hicks contractions. Overall, I am feeling good and can't believe how quickly the weeks until March 25th are passing by.
2. We are recovering from a nasty bug. David got sick Sunday a week ago and John Harrison and I both got sick last Tuesday. David and John Harrison both ran fevers close to 103 for several days, and we all felt pretty awful until just a few days ago. Our energy and appetites aren't completely back and we all still have bad coughs, but are on the mend. It wasn't easy being sick and caring for a sick toddler (who becomes much like a baby!) at the same time. John Harrison was really sweet the days he was the sickest and let us hold him a lot. Then, when he felt a tiny bit better, he wanted to play....while all we felt like doing was crashing (which is not possible with as much as we had going on at the time and a child to keep up with).
3. John Harrison's 2nd birthday is in less than a month now. Our little boy is growing up so quickly and it is so fun to see his development. He was almost 100% potty trained before he got sick, but then went back to mainly diapers and pull-ups while he was sick, so we have been working on re-training....today has given me hope that we will be back on track in just a few days. John Harrison loves animals (especially horses), trucks (the bigger the better), and is saying new words frequently (such as "morning"). I am thinking about a truck-themed 2nd birthday party.
Recent pictures of John Harrison to come soon!!
Here are the most recent pictures of our sweet little boy (thanks to my photographer-mother:).
One of my friends from church hosted a baby shower for me two weekends ago. I didn't take any pictures at the shower other than of the cake I made. Since I don't really eat sugar or starches, I volunteered to bring the cake (ok, I'll admit it's a bit strange to make your own cake, but I wanted to be able to eat the cake at my own shower :). I made the cake while David was at a guys' game night at our lead elder's house. Watching John Harrison (who likes lots and lots of attention) and baking a cake at the same time wasn't very easy, but I cleaned up my HUGE kitchen mess and piped the cake once John Harrison went to sleep.
34 1/2 weeks pregnant
Beautiful Cancun water
view from the resort
Cancun beach
Last week, David's parents watched John Harrison while David and I took a trip to Cancun. We had such a fun time and liked Cancun more than we had even imagined. The tourist area/hotel zone was really clean and safe and the locals seemed genuinely friendly. Several years ago, we had taken a cruise that stopped in Cozumel, but we had never vacationed in the Cancun/Cozumel area. Hopefully we will be back sometime in the next few years!! The water was absolutely beautiful, the sand powdery white (supposedly, the sand, which doesn't get hot, is made from crushed coral), and the weather was in the 70s and low 80s during the day. We stayed at the Marriott Casa Magna and loved the resort. David and I stayed for 4 nights/5 days and spent most of the time relaxing on the beach. We also got in the pool a few times, walked some along the beach, and of course, ate good food:). I always envisioned Cancun to be an endless party scene and I'm sure you'd have that type of atmosphere at some resorts, but the resort we stayed at was very family-friendly and classy (no night clubs, people weren't drinking excessively, etc.). I guess my traveling days are over for the next 4 weeks at least considering that I will be 36 weeks along on Friday. I went to the doctor today and all seems to be going well--I'm starting to dilate a little bit and Elise is head down :). I still have a long to-do list, but we will welcome our sweet little girl any time now. Even though I feel our baby move almost all the time now, it still seems surreal that we are about to have a second child. I am scared at the responsibility of caring for a newborn and a 2-year old, but also excited about having a little girl and about John Harrison becoming a big brother. John Harrison still frequently gives my belly hugs and kisses or lays his head on the "baby." We pray with him every night before he goes to sleep and always pray that the Lord prepares his heart to be a good big brother to Elise!
Chasing the geese at the petting zoo
Feeding the Emu
Hanging out in a fun swinging chair at an outdoors store
Enjoying the Penguin Playhouse at the Ripley's Aquarium
Taking a nap in the car (with favorite black bear stuffed animal)
Awesome jellyfish at the aquarium
Quite the change from last summer.....John Harrison used to quickly rip sunglasses off his face and now, he loves wearing them :)