My Jelly Bean, Gummy Bear, Healthy Baby Boy

Yesterday was my 8^th ultrasound.  All of these ultrasounds have been performed by techs that specialize in high-risk pregnancies, after each ultrasound I meet with a perinatalogist to go over the results and answer any questions or concerns I might have.  I’ve only seen my actual OB/GYN one time, but her office is located right next to the perinatal office so it’s all super convenient.  I feel blessed to have such excellent doctors to keep a watchful eye on this pregnancy.  Every time I go in I can’t relax until I see his little heart fluttering on the screen.  I’ve been tempted to tell the technician to not look at anything else until they show me that little beating heart.   The baby looks great.  He is measuring right on track (even slightly bigger, but that’s not much of a shocker).  Most people would have just found out the gender of their baby where we have known now for almost 2 months – and I’ve been told, “Unless something falls off before delivery, you are definitely having a boy.”  The plan going into this pregnancy was to have ultrasounds every two weeks until 20 weeks and then… not sure what comes next, but I know that I can go in as often as I’d like.

Yesterday I brought home a DVD of the ultrasound, which was fun to watch with the kids.  They saw him lounging around with his hands over his head and his legs crossed at the ankles.  We took out a ruler and showed them how long his body is.  Unfortunately, the only picture she sent home with me yesterday was his profile.  Very few kids have their fetal development as well documented as this little guy.

8 Weeks:

Jelly Bean

9 Weeks:

Gummy Bear

11 Weeks:

13 Weeks:

14 Weeks:

15 Weeks:

It's a Boy!

17 Weeks:

20 Weeks:

We’re all so excited to meet him!

Thoughts on a sunny day

Today is gorgeous!  Actually the past few days have been beautiful.  Walking Jason to the bus stop this afternoon felt wonderful and energizing – Wow, what a little sunshine can do!  Katie and I stopped by the park on our way home.  She ran around and enjoyed going through the tunnel and down the slides.

Across the street I noticed my neighbor in her garage polishing her beamer with a spray bottle and soft cloth.  This wasn’t just a quick shine.  She was rubbing out every little smudge from the hubcaps to the bumper to the BMW logo on the back.  My first thought as I looked at her immaculate garage and glimmering car was that I wished Justin had a desire to make our things look as nice and clean.  I can’t remember the last time our van was washed and don’t even get me started on our garage.

My next thought though was on perceptions. 

I haven’t met this particular neighbor.  We’ve tried to bring over a plate of goodies to each of our neighbors when they moved in, but we never made it to this couple next door.  And now that months have passed, without so much as an introduction, I have little desire.  You see my perception of them is that we have nothing in common. 

Katie was running around looking pretty ragged and unkept and I realized they probably have some pretty unfavorable perceptions of us as well.   I started to question whether I take care of the things I love with as much thought and attention as she was displaying with her car.  Is the outside image we portray to the world a window into our hearts and values?  

But then there was this little face giggling and smiling beside me and I knew.  While we may look pretty unkept and chaotic most of the time, what truly matters is what you find beyond the surface.  The heart and happiness of this little girl is straight from heaven and my other kiddos are equally amazing.  I’m so happy with my crazy life.

Christmas Break Wrap-Up

Well, the kids are back in school.  Winter break is over.  It went by way too fast – these breaks always do.  It’s been a killer to adjust to waking up early again when I got used to sleeping in hours later each and every morning of winter break.

I’ve never been more ready to put a year behind me than I was with 2012 so let’s wrap it up and move on to 2013…

Fletcher Christmas

On December 26th we had Justin’s family over.  The kids were excited to exchange gifts and play with their grandparents and cousins.

Katie woke up from her nap just as we were starting to open presents.  It took her a few minutes to warm up.

Jason and Hannah enjoying Jason’s new Car’s color by number marker set

A little Jenga action.  Notice Grandpa brought with him his money bag – which came in handy when he made a foolish wager while playing UNO Hearts with me, Justin, Tami, and Darin.  Our cut of the deal was a whopping $4.

Abigail trying on Hallie’s fashion glasses  (Thanks Tami for the pic)

Crazy Cousins

Day Date

Justin only had a few days off of work, but we made the most of them.  On Friday, the 28th Justin and I snuck in a date to see Les Miserable and eat lunch at one of our favorites – PF Changs. 

Cool Pool

On Saturday the 29th we took the kids to a pool up north in Lynnwood.  The northwest doesn’t have very many fun pools – indoor or outdoor, but I think we found one of the best indoor pools around.  There were two big waterslides – one with tubes, a lazy river, a play structure, a zero entry pool, a regular lap type pool, a family hot tub…  The facility was nice and clean and the price was awesome – they have a family rate of $15 – can’t beat that!

I snuck out a few minutes before the rest of the family to get showered, then took a few pictures on my phone right as everyone was being cleared out of the pools.

Katie did not let go of that ball the entire time we were there.  She used it to help her swim around.

Being so close to the one of the few Macaroni Grill’s in the state we had to stop there for lunch.  We ate through six loaves of their delicious bread while we waited for our food to arrive.  Everything was great, but Oh, my! it is expensive to feed a family of 6.5!  That’s even without drinks, appetizers, dessert and with Katie and Jason sharing a meal.

We topped off the day “window shopping” at University Village.

Curls Catastrophe

One of Carly’s Christmas presents arrived a few days late – hair curlers.  These are the same type of curlers my Mom made us sleep in as kids and though I don’t have fond memories of them I knew Carly would be excited.  Saturday night we put them in her hair – Katie insisted on getting curlers too, but I thought for sure she’d wake up during the night and want them out.  I was wrong – Katie was far too excited to care about being a little uncomfortable.

I wish I could say they went to church with beautiful curly locks, but we learned a few things.  Carly does not need ANY smaller sized curlers.  Her hair was curled so tight she looked like a poodle.  On the other hand, Katie does not need any large curlers – she went to church with half her hair straight and the other curly.  Both looked like orphan children – though they both felt gorgeous (so bummed I didn’t take any pictures), but next time is bound to more successful.

Welcome 2013!

Hum, what else did we do over break?  Not a whole lot.  We probably stayed in our pj’s the majority of the time.  We played many, many games.  The kids played with neighborhood friends.  The girls stayed up late with Justin and I a few nights hanging out and playing games.  And how did we welcome the New Year?  In bed.  We thought about having friends over, but opted for a quiet night at home.  We watched a little of the earlier celebrations on TV while we played UNO Hearts with the girls, but neither Justin nor I felt the need to wait up.  Thrilling I know, but sometimes that’s just how we roll.  On New Years Day we talked about going somewhere and Abigail said she’d rather just “chill at home” – that’s my girl!  Now onto 2013!

Christmas Day

I felt pretty unprepared going into Christmas this year.  It’s my second Christmas in a row that I’ve been pregnant and I lacked much motivation and energy for going all out.  Though let’s be honest, I'm not really the type to “go all out” even if I’m not busy growing a person.  Our decorations were minimal this year, we left most everything pack up in boxes and only took out the basic necessities.  The kids spent one evening after Thanksgiving fluffing the tree while Justin and I were out on a date and then on a separate night alone at home the girls stayed up late working hard on putting together a “surprise” for us.  When we got home they had several 3D paper snowflakes made for us to hang in the windows.  They made them last year as well and I love them!

As far as gifts we kept it fairly simple – as usual.  My Mom sent us money for each of the kids (and adults) and to be honest that covered mostly everything Justin and I purchased for the kids.  Santa on the other hand splurged and got the kids a Nintendo 3DS for them to share.  It’s been a huge hit and it’s been great to have a second DS in the house for the kids to play together with.

So onto Christmas Day.  As I mentioned we told the girls they couldn’t make a sound til 7:30am.  Right at 7:30am they were in our room asking if they could wake up Jason and Katie.  We told them to wait just a little bit longer.  I headed downstairs around 8am to get breakfast started and thought they would be down any minute.  Then I heard Justin getting in the shower – oh, the torture, right?  By the time he was done sprucing up, all four kids were sitting on the top of the stairs anxious to come down and see what Santa had brought them.

I had a little help with my stocking

By the time we were done with the stockings breakfast was ready.  We took a little break to enjoy breakfast and then it was time for presents.  The kids drew names again this year and were able to pick out a gift for their “Secret Santa”.

Abigail bought Katie a package of tootsie rolls and a etch-a-sketch

Carly picked out a “Candy Shop” book that she knew Abigail wanted

Jason got Carly the Jenga game

And Katie got Jason a nerf football

Abigail wanted to give each member of the family something.  For Jason’s gift she spent hours making a car out of paper and cardboard.  She found the instructions in a craft book we checked out from the library.  She painted the car green, crafted the wheels out of modeling clay, it was impressive and the thought and love behind it made it even more special.

Throughout the year whenever the kids would say they wanted something I told them to write it down.  So by the time December rolled around they had quite the list.  Most of the things were small and inexpensive.  In fact Abigail showed her list to someone and their reply was, “most of this stuff are things my parents will buy me anyhow.”  It may sound strange, but that comment made me happy.  It is so important to me that my kids don’t feel entitled to things.  Another proud mom moment was right before Abigail handed me her wish list she said, “I'm going to look through this and make sure they are things I'm going to use for awhile.”  How stinkin’ responsible is that?  That’s not so say she didn’t want anything big, she asked Santa for a iTouch, but she knew it was unlikely and let him know she would be happy with whatever he decided to give her. 

Carly just got a peek at the package of easy bake oven refills from Grandma Kesler. 

Jason’s favorite gift was a nerf gun.  Our first gun in the house.  He’s already had countless hours of entertainment from it; in fact it’s been a fun toy for the whole family.  (Did you notice Carly’s reaction in the background?)

Katie was thrilled to get her very own coloring book

And even more excited to find stickers inside

Abigail was excited to finally get a new winter coat

The girls will forever remember Christmas of 2012 as the year they scored mounds of duck tape.  They’ve already spent many, many hours creating with their stash.

As we were opening presents it started snowing – the perfect Christmas touch.  We stayed in our pajamas all day.  Played games.  Ate yummy food (and lots of candy).  Skyped with Grandma Kesler in Hong Kong.  And enjoyed spending time together as a family.  The kids were so happy with everything they received.  A perfect Christmas Day.