To my Honey Bunches of Oatmeal aka KK

As I walked into your room to check on you tonight, like I've done thousands of times for 6+ years I was overcome with the feeling of unconditional love for you.  You were sleeping under a pile of stuffed animals and your blankets bunched at the foot of your bed.  I tried covering you but you just kicked the covers off, like you always do, even though all you have on is your underwear.  You've always been a little heater when you sleep, maybe that's why I enjoy sleeping with you on cold nights.  Tonight is a cold night, however, mom and dad have been trying to encourage you to sleep in your bed the whole night so I will not sleep next to you, but I did lay down and just look at you.  I put my palm on top of your chest as it had risen and fallen, my fingertips could feel your heartbeat...thump-thump thump-thump.  I had to smile because that heart is so tender and loving, it's a good strong heart, don't let anything change that!  My hand moved from your chest to your face and I traced the outline of your cheek and jaw with my fingers.  I put my thumb on the very faint cleft on your chin and bent over to kiss those incredibly soft and warm cheeks, I think I have kissed those cheeks about a million times. I moved my hand again to your very soft straight brown hair and I brushed some off your forehead, you're in need of a haircut again!  I love your nose, it's so perfect and cute.  I noticed yesterday that you have a couple freckles making their appearance next to your scar on your nose from when the dog bit you.  It's been 6+ years and until yesterday, I didn't think you would have inherited my freckles.  This summer will help them become more noticeable.  But until then, I will just enjoy the 3 little freckles you have.  Did you know that you have very thick eyelashes?  I look at them and wish that my eyelashes were as thick!  As I am looking at your eyelashes I can see your eyes moving beneath your eyelids and I wonder what you could be thinking or dreaming about.  I wish at times that I could just jump into your dreams and see what it is your mind thinks up.  As I cuddled closer to you, I could tell that you used dad's body wash to clean your skin during your bath, you have a manly musky smell that isn't typical for a 6 year old!  I hope this isn't a precursor to you wanting to grow up faster than your earthly age.  But, honey, you are growing, you're growing so fast, and I love the time we have together...I NEVER want it to end, even when you're a teenager and it "isn't cool" to hang out with your mom anymore.  But I won't worry about that for a while now, in the mean time I will continue to check on you every single night and watch you sleep. 

This photo was taken last summer

And it's a....

....BABY!

Before we even thought about becoming pregnant Mr H. and I decided that we would wait to find out the gender until the baby was born.  When I tell people this, their reaction is "Why!?" or "I could never do that...I don't like surprises!"  Well, wouldn't it be an even BIGGER surprise to be told it's one gender after you've been planning for the opposite!?  Ultrasounds are not 100% people!  But anyway, I'll tell you why we've made the decision to wait...because we can!  Honestly though, when a woman becomes pregnant everyone wants to know everything...when's your due date, what are you having, what are you naming him/her?  Isn't a little surprise fun?  And whether it's a boy or girl we will love it just the same, so finding out the gender isn't really a priority for us.  We don't need to plan anything...the baby and KK will share a room and we'll need to buy clothes for either gender, so we're not worried about it.

We had our ultrasound yesterday and it was surreal.  I think it's finally sunk in that I am actually pregnant and there is a baby in my belly.  KK wanted to come to the appointment to see Nugget, he sat right next to me and wanted to hold my hand just in case I got scared.  He's so cute. 

Nugget was VERY wiggly.  The tech had a very hard time in the beginning getting the measurements for the physician.  So in the middle of the ultrasound, after she got most of the measurements, that she was going to plug the measurements in and maybe Nugget would settle down so that we could get some good photos.  That did the trick because once she came back Nugget was more cooperative and we got some really awesome shots.  She also told us that Nugget is in the 50th percentile and right on track, also that the baby weighs 11 ounces!  So cool.

Profile -- Look at that perfect nose!



Another Profile Shot

Nugget Facing us

Little Footsie

Left arm and hand



 It was so exciting to see the baby move and wave it's hands.  The tech we had was super good, we told her we didn't want to know the sex and she moved along the screen explaining everything to us and being very brief when she needed to look at the baby's femurs.  Mr H and I were trying very hard to find out the sex on our own, but with no avail.  We have no clue, at times we thought was saw a penis, but then another shot would make me think I didn't.  It was very exciting.  KK thinks it's a boy because there is no hair!  He makes me laugh.

Right after the ultrasound we had an appointment with the midwife and Dr. C was working that afternoon so Mr H. texted him.  Did I mention that my OB is a good friend of our family?  Mr H and him go flying every once in a while and we house sat his house last week while they were in Florida.  His wife and I were pregnant at the same time and she gave birth to twins and 2 days later I had KK.  We've known them for a long time.  Yes, it's a tiny bit awkward to think he could be delivering my child and being in my business like that, but in the same token, I trust him and he knows how traumatic KK's birth was for me and how I LONG for a VBAC and if he told me, "Listen, we need to have a C-section!"  I know it's not because he wants to leave to see his family or that he just wants to speed up the birth...it's because there is no other way and I will trust him.  The other day, when we were at his house he asked me who cut me open for the C-section and I told him, then he said, "I promise you that if we have to go that route, your recovery will be much better than the last!"  I thought that was nice of him to say...basically that he will take his time and not gut me like the last time.  But I digress, while we were waiting for the midwife Mr H. texted Dr. C and told him we were here and Dr. C came to our room and looked at the ultrasound pictures and told us how good they looked and from a medical stand point, the reason they do profile pictures is to look for signs of down syndrome, which Dr. C did not see any evidence in our pictures.  Which is great because Mr H. and I decided to forgo the AFP test, which would check for that.

One thing that my midwife did check on me was my pubic bone, which I explained to her felt like it was being split open.  She felt around, which hurt like heck, and she said, "I don't feel any separation...oh wait, yup, yes I do."  I have diastasis symphasis pubis, which means that my pubic bone is separating WAY earlier than it's supposed to.  This is why I have so much pelvic pain and why I can't sleep.  I was given a prescription for a sleep sedative, well it's an anti anxiety that will knock me out.  Also I was told to see a chiropractor, physical therapy, and possibly massage therapy.  So I have to call around and see who takes my insurance and start that process.  It will be something that I need to manage during my whole pregnancy, it'll only get better once I deliver and get rid of the relaxin, making everything loose. 

But we're very excited to meet Nugget and find out if it's blue or pink.  Here's Nugget's ultrasound.  It's about 11 mins and I know most of you won't watch all of it, it's mostly intended for the family that live out of state.  So enjoy!

Busy Day

Thursday was a busy day for us.  Mr H. had to go back to work after taking a couple days off to supervise the contractors working on our house because of the water damage.  I had to go to class, but since KK is on Spring Break, we needed to wake up early to drive him to my sisters house.  After class I went to pick up my baby.  My sister and I started talking about random things and KK's tooth came up in our conversation, it's been so wiggly.  He just wiggles it with his tongue, but wont let me near it.  So my sister suggested we tie floss around it and pull it out.  I was game...but KK was scared and nervous.  He was crying on the couch with the floss dangling out of his mouth.  He settled down, watching Sponge Bob and the opportunity presented itself and I yanked the floss and out came the tooth.  KK started crying and smiling at the same time.  There was a lot more blood with this tooth than the bottom two.  We gave him a popsicle to suck on.  That helped...but made JEM mad.  She threw herself on the floor and cried that she couldn't have one too.  So KK shared.

 

 

It's so funny to hear him talk and say some words...it sounds different.  He is getting to be such a BIG boy!  I love him so much!  After that ordeal with his tooth we left my sisters place and as we walked down the stairs KK saw one of the neighbors and went running to him to show him his missing tooth.  This neighbor is really awesome, we call him Big Mike.  Last October KK invited him to church and he actually came.  Big Mike was so excited to see KK's missing tooth that he ran inside and gave him $5 from the tooth fairy.  It was very nice and thoughtful.  I had to run some errands and we made another stop to Nannies house and KK was given another $5.  My mom also gave KK $5 from the tooth fairy.  We are surrounded by wonderful people in our life.  The tooth fairy, that night only gave him $3, lol

 

KK was so funny about the money, he turned to me and said, "I have a great idea mom!  I can just keep losing my teeth and I will get a lot of money, than I can help pay for things and we won't be poor anymore!"  It melted my heart...but made me sad at the same time.  Our family has been struggling horribly financially.  Work has not been good to Mr H., but to hear KK want to help melted my heart.  He is such a wonderful and thoughtful person.

 

As mentioned above, we were having work done on our house from water damage and we couldn't live there while they did it.  Thankfully, our friends needed someone to housesit their house while they were in Florida for Spring Break.  So it worked out for us.  They have a beautiful house that was built around 1820, they have lots of property, a barn, hen house, garden, tree house, etc.  It's been fun to explore.  They even have chickens!  The chickens were KK's favorite part.  We have an animal lover on our hands, he loves to help water, feed, and chase them around!

 

KK also liked climbing up the ladder to the tree house!  A couple of the times, though, he would get scared because he was up so high...he might have his mothers fear of heights, lol. 

Once Mr H. came home from work KK was begging him to go outside and shoot the BB gun some more.  Mr H. has been teaching KK the proper techniques and safety measures associated with guns.  We do have unloaded guns in our house and we thought it was a good time to talk to KK about the use of guns and how they can protect our home.  We have been stressing the importance of only being able to touch the guns when he has permission from us.  We've taught him about what to do if he comes across a gun or if his friend wants to show him their parents gun.  He as been very attentive and excited to learn.

 

 

He even got a "bullseye"  It was a very proud moment for us.  For 6 years old, he has been doing great, with a pretty good grouping.  He is excited to go to the range with us.  Mr H. is planning on becoming certified as an NRA instructor over this summer, so we will have plenty of times to go to the range. 

 

We had an exciting and busy day on Thursday, but I wouldn't have wanted to do it any differently.  I love spending time with my family and I love building memories.