Please Vote

I know I have been a terrible blogger lately, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Malia needs our votes to win an awesome prize that she tells about in her post here. She is a wonderful photographer. You can see her work here.

All you need to do is go to Mike Colon's blog and scroll down until you see Malia Johnson's name to vote. It ends soon, so please vote now. I am including this picture to make it even easier for you to find her there.

My husband's handsome brother, Stu and his beautiful wife, Malia.

I also wanted to share with you a post that my cousin, Stephanie wrote today. I'm sure that we have all had days like this. I know I have them more than I'd like to, and will have even more soon with a new baby to add to the mix. Go read it to have a good cry, or laugh, or both.

Thank you, Ned! (a story that I just don't want to forget)

While putting up Christmas decorations this year my three amigos helped out a lot. Ned was extra helpful. He put most of the decorations on the tree, cleared off the mantel (including carefully carrying everything into my bedroom), and put up our A Christmas Story village. I was so grateful because, as usual, I was not having a great day (is it just me, or does it not seem fair to still have morning [all day] sickness at 7 months pregnant?)

Of course the house was a total mess from the boxes that were brought down from the attic and I was not looking forward to that clean up, and I also had some rearranging I wanted to do in the living room. We have had toys stored in our living room for a couple of years now, but I just could not take it anymore so I had decided to move everything into the boys' already crowded bedroom and was not looking forward to the process. Ned decided to take on the project himself. I thought for sure that he would lose steam after a little while and leave an even bigger mess for me to deal with later. To my surprise he worked for 6 hours moving book selves out of his closet, vacuuming the closet, carrying all the toys into the bedroom, and organizing all of the toys. About 4 or 5 hours into the process Ned came to me and said, "It feels so good to help. I am SO tired and I just want to lay down, but it feels really good to help."

What a good boy! I feel so lucky to be his mom.

***************************************************

I want to add something in response to Jess's comment. A few days after the above story happened it was my birthday. When I woke up in the morning I had not though about it being my birthday until Ned came in and said, "Happy birthday, Mommy! What do you think you want for breakfast?" I told him that I was not feeling well enough to eat but that I would love it if he fed his brothers so I did not have to. He actually does this most mornings for me, after getting himself dressed almost two hours before he has to be at school. I'm loving it!

Buttercup's Ultrasound Results

We had our 3rd ultrasound this afternoon and I am happy to say that the cyst is gone, just as I suspected.

It was so fun to see our little baby girl (yes, I finally believe it is a girl now, there is no doubt). She is such a mover. Again, for some reason my computer will not let me load the photos from the ultrasound. They were not all that great anyway. Part of it was 3D and she would not get her arms and legs out of the way of her face. When we were looking at her feet they were high above her head and she was wiggling her little toes. That was really cute to see. I just think it is so amazing that we can see our babies before they are born. Now I am getting really excited to be able to hold and cuddle her in just over 3 months!

We have decided on a middle name for her (but to all of you in the blog world her name will always be Buttercup), it is a combination of Nana's middle name and Grandma D's first name. Still working on the first name, but at least a middle name is a step in the right direction, right?

Thank you all for your prayers. Your love and support means so much to us.

Ultrasound

I have neglected to tell you all that I am having my level 2 ultrasound on Thursday. I will be sure to let you know what the results are as soon as I have them. I am not worrying about it, I am just so excited to see her again and to reconfirm that she is really a girl. I really still can't believe it. Maybe that is why I am having such a hard time choosing a name. I hope that a third person telling me that I am really, truly having a girl will help jump start my brain. I have never really loved the naming process, but I think girl names are harder. I like names that are not at all common, but not strange. I think that is hard with girls. Anyone out there have any ideas?

I'm a sucker for happy endings...

If you remember reading about 31 dates in 31 days on my blog earlier this year, you HAVE to check out this recent post on Tamara's blog.

And watch this...
Real-Life Romantic Comedy

Just so you know...

I am still waiting for a call from my doctor's office to get an appointment for my ultrasound. I really appreciate all your sweet (reassuring) comments you left on my last post. Thank you!

22 weeks

I do not love to post pictures of myself pregnant (or have then taken for that matter) so this may be it for this pregnancy, just so you know. :)

This is me today. 22 weeks pregnant.

Why is it that we have to get bigger in the front AND the back?

I had my 22 week appointment today. My doctor told me I need to have another ultrasound. A level 2 ultrasound at a different office because they found a cyst in the baby's brain. I don't remember what she called it so I can't Google it (thank goodness, I think I might freak myself out by doing so) to see how common it is. My doctor told me not to worry at this point, so I am not. She said that if we find on the ultrasound that it has started to fill with fluid then we will talk at that point about what is going on. Really, I am not too worried, but prayers would be appreciated. I will let you know what happens at the ultrasound. I do not have an appointment yet but it should be in the next couple of weeks.

Now, so you can leave my blog with a better image than me and my large belly...

I love this boy! He makes me smile. :)