Just a little belly update...

I'm 17 weeks already! I'm glad the first half of the pregnancy seems to be going by so fast, because I know the second half will seem like an eternity, just like last time! Things are going well, my pants don't fit anymore and regular shirts ride up my belly already. I started feeling the baby about 2 weeks ago, and lately s/he is doing acrobatics from around 8pm until I go to bed. It's kinda fun, I just wonder what has him/her so hopped up every evening! I've also started feeling lots of "fake" Braxton Hicks contractions every day, but those are really normal for me. We are excited more and more every day about the thought of another baby in the house! I am going to deliver naturally at the only local birth center, called the Birthing Inn. You can check it out at www.thebirthinginn.com. The only thing that would stop a birth there is if something "high risk" came up and I was forced to go to the hospital. Anyway, we should be posting the sex of the baby soon, hopefully s/he'll cooperate on March 20th and the ultrasound tech will be able to tell!

Best Friends

Well...kind of. It's a love/hate relationship between John and Mike. John does the loving, Mike does the hating, and it all comes out even in the end :)

My excuse? We've been busy...

Hi all, we're finally back to posting again. I've been really bad at taking pictures these days and just got the camera back out today after a month break. I didn't even take pictures at my parents house last week! Though here's one from my mom:

So here's the rundown...

• It snowed here...a lot...all in one day, and then it all went away. Here's the pictures to prove it!

1) Looking out our back window, 2) My poor van in the parking lot


• Johnny got a molar or 2...almost. They're being stubborn and are halfway through his gums, making him miserable and really gross, he drools all the time!


• Isaac stopped working for LA Fitness because the job really stunk and still wouldn't pay the bills. He's back with Cutco for now, and it's going much better than before. He passed his Seattle Fire Dept. test with flying colors (96%, on test material he'd never seen before the day of the test!) and has an Oral Board Interview on March 3rd (or maybe 4th, I forget). If that goes well he'll get a second interview...if that goes good he'll take the physical test...if that goes good he's in! (kind of...they'll put him on a list and he'll wait for an opening). It's a long process but we're excited to see where God will lead his career. He's going to continue to test with other departments until he gets hired on somewhere.


• Johnny and I went to my parents' house from the 12th through the 19th for a very relaxing time. My dad and John rode on the motorcycle almost every day, and my mom and I sewed and talked quite a bit. She helped me make some cloth diapers into froofy decorative burp cloths just for fun, and I made a couple dozen cloth wipes out of old flannel receiving blankets. Isaac and I recently made the switch to cloth diapering and LOVE it. It's definitely not like it used to be, and there are so many fun products out there to use now. It's not about white cotton prefolds and rubber covers anymore, that's for sure! Here's some pictures of the different diapers we use...I know, I'm a geek for being excited about diapers but I can't help it!

They're really neat, and you use them just like disposables. There's even fleece up against the baby's skin, and they're one size fits all! Trust me, you have to try them, you'll never go back to disposables once you do!

We've also been through the ringer with John lately. He went on some antibiotics for a bad ear infection and had an allergic reaction to the penicillin. He broke out in hives all over his body and we had to take him to urgent care. They put him on Benadryl but it didn't help and the next day we had to call back because his hands and feet were swelling and turning purple. He went on Prednisone and that helped, but then his doctor put him on a different antibiotic, which he also reacted to! My poor boy broke out in a bumpy rash all over, while we were flying to my parent's house, and we spent half the week with him hopped up on Benadryl and Prednisone, and hoping his ear infection wouldn't return, since it hadn't been treated. Then, after we thought he was fine, on the plane ride home he broke out in another full body rash so we rushed him to the pediatrician that afternoon. He said it was an extreme case of Eczema and to keep him lotioned up and use a lot of steroid cream, which has helped tremendously and he seems to be doing fine these days. He also LOVES his baths every other day, and here's a video to show how much fun he has!

I've been letting John play outside a lot on our deck lately too. Here's some shots of Johnny playing in the sun.

13 Weeks

I had my 13 week prenatal appointment today and the midwife said everything looks great! The baby is extremely active and we could only get a good listen to the heartbeat for about 2.5 second before s/he bounced off to another corner of my insides. Kinda funny, this one's bound to be trouble! My bloodwork came back from a couple weeks ago though, and they did find me to be extremely anemic, which is most likely why I've been SO sick, above and beyond the normal "morning sickness" parameters. So once I'm done being nauseous all the time they're going to get me on iron supplements and that should help with all my dizziness and fatigue. Other than that, we're all seemingly healthy and looking forward to our trip to CA. My parents are flying me and John down to visit the second week of February and I can't wait! We wish Isaac could come, but, story of our lives: he has to work. There's not a whole lot going on here. John and I stay home most days and play. It snowed yesterday morning so we went outside to play in the snow, but my silly little boy wouldn't touch the stuff! Someday he'll be adventurous...maybe. Isaac took the Seattle Fire Dept. test on Sat. the 26th, and we should find out if he made the cut for an interview mid-Feb. If he makes this one all the way, we could have our very own firefighter in the house as early as July! What a blessing that would be, but we're keeping all our options open and he's going to continue testing for other fire departments until he has secured a position somewhere. Please pray for us as we're waiting on God to provide a steady job for Isaac! Okay see you all soon!

Fun at Odyssey 1!

I took John to a place called Odyssey 1 on Friday and he had a blast! Sorry the pictures are kinda blurry, he was having too much fun to slow down. There's a prego belly shot too, in case you were wondering why I was already complaining at 11 weeks! ;) (And I look so, um, natural because it was right after a shower, yuck!)

Our Little Gummy Bear

Isn't s/he cute!? I guess...kinda weird looking at 3D pictures of our little one so early but we think it's so cool! I had my first ultrasound today and they changed my due date to August 7th (from the 11th, no big deal) and said everything looks good so far. I did the typical giving of several vials of blood, filled out some paperwork (though there's a separate appointment to fill out most of it next Tuesday), made some more appointments, added our insurance, etc. etc. We were all there for over an hour and it was quite a disaster for John (he hates doctors) but we made it and it's so nice to have some wonderful pictures of the tiny guy.

If you don't know what you're looking at, I don't know how to help since there's no labels. It's pretty cut and dry that it's a baby, head looking down, arms up, and legs meeting at the feet. The bulge on baby's stomach is supposed to be some of the internal organs which are still forming outside the body, and you can see the umbilical cord coming away from the chest for now. Hope it makes sense to your eyes!

Finally...more stuff

Yes, he got a babydoll...he loves it! We thought he needed one to take care of since mommy's having one soon.

I know it's been a long time but I've had morning sickness (all day, of course) for about a month now. That's how long it lasted with John, but it started a lot earlier this time so there's still no end in sight. I'm almost 11 weeks pregnant and will have my first ultrasound on Tuesday the 15th; we can't wait to hear the heartbeat and see our new little peanut! S/he should be about the size of a grape this week and that little grape is making me pudgy! I already dug out all my maternity clothes and started wearing them since my other pants were just too tight!

Well John has been growing and learning so much lately, it's hard to keep up! He's quite a chatterbox these days and loves repeating words over and over again, just to make sure he has them right I guess. He still loves his crib and going to bed more than anything since he only gets his loveys and paci's in bed, but it's quite a blessing to have a child who begs for sleep sometimes! Our favorite thing to do during the day is sing and dance. John loves the ABCs, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and I'm a Little Teapot, and sings some of the words right along with me (but mostly A B B A B C B B B...he loves the first 3 letters of the alphabet and only sings those when we do that song!) He has learned where the baby is, though sometimes he points to his own tummy when we ask him "Where's the baby?" It's really cute, though I don't think he actually grasps the concept, nor will he anytime soon.

Isaac has been working A LOT! He got a great job at LA Fitness right next to our house doing what he loves best...sales! He sells gym memberships and has already been "pre-promoted" to the Weekend General Manager after only 9 days of being there! He will find out for sure after this weekend if he "proved" himself to be worthy of the position, but we know he can do it. He has been working about 58 hours per week, which has been hard on us all, but it was a blessing to get the job and the extra hours during our tough season so we're all working through this trying time.

Here's some pictures from Christmas...very late, but hey, don't complain, you're not sick all day right? Thanks for being patient w/ me.

"Thanks for my cool Cars stickers cousins Jake and Warren, they're great!"

Sorry we don't have any pictures from Christmas day at the Stegmans, I forgot my camera and don't have time right now to dig around Kathy's Picasa site for some good ones. Maybe eventually I'll put some up...don't hold your breath.