Chocolate truth....

Out of the mouth of babes....

My Noah is a very intuitive eater. Even if he doesn't touch the salad or green beans that we lovingly put on his plate for him. :) I seriously never need to worry about him over-eating. He will stop when he's full and save the rest for later. Even with desserts!!!!

Our good friends Jeff and Patricia went to Costco the other day and brought me back the most decadent, rich, layered, fudge-filled cake EVER.... E-V-E-R. They know me so well. So when Noah finished his spaghetti tonight, he wanted a slice of that goodness for dessert. When Gram set that big slice of cake in front of him with a glass of cold milk, I said to him, "Remember, Stud. That's too much cake for a big boy. So you can stop when your tummy is full and save the rest for later." He agreed and went to town.

Then Gram put a nice, thick slice in front of me. Noah looked up from his cake and said, "Wow.... that's a LOT of cake for a big fat lady!"

Thanks, Kid. :)

Of course everyone burst into laughter. Noah told me later as I was reading to him in bed that he just said that to be funny. No problem, Baby. Then he said that he knows I'm not fat. I just have babies. And he kissed my tummy. Chocolate brings out great truth. :)

I want another piece of cake.

6 Months...

I'm officially 23 weeks today. Only one more week until my next big milestone for the babies! Not that I feel like anything will happen, but I will definitely breathe a little bit easier once I'm past that mark. "Just in case..." That seems to be my specialist's favorite phrase these days. :)

One thing that I've learned about my Noah over the past year or so is that he is quite the photographer. He's pretty good! Even if he does walk around the house taking pictures of the toilets and garbage cans. His interpretation is still justified... ha. Anyway, I LOVE transferring the pictures from the camera to the computer and seeing what exactly intrigued him that day. So I thought I would put his talent to good use yesterday. I asked Noah to take some pictures of me with my pregnant belly now that I'm officially 6 months along. And we wanted to surprise Kevin. After breakfast, we went out to our new front porch and I planted myself down and little dude did his stuff with the camera. So cute!!!! And funny... he'd stop for a second and say, "K, I've got to get a different angle now...." And he'd drop to one knee to take the picture, all the while still looking through the little old school view finder even though I'd opened the awesome 2" LCD flip screen for him. What a guy. :)

So at long last, Poppets, here are some pictures of the belly. (Photos by Noah G. Smith)


Well, THEN Noah and Abbie Mae were in the moment and completely adorable. So we took some fun pictures of all of us. These are some of my favorites. If you can't tell, Abbie LOOOOOOOOOOVES Noah.... She sat right down next to him and he couldn't help but love on her.


Happy weekend to all!!!!

Keepin' Cool....

We are LOVING having a backyard... at long last!!!!! Abbie Mae is in puppy heaven. She can finally go outside... by HERSELF... and just lay in the sunshine and feel the breeze. And I love that I can just open the door and let her out. Especially when there are no mosquitoes or lake flies here to torment everyone. Just fireflies that glitter at sundown for a little while. I love this home. I love our yard. :)

And Noah Gregory has found yet another reason why his new backyard is so absolutely awesome. He has his own personal little wading pool, complete with sandbox toys that we rescued from all the spiders at our old home near the lake. Yay!!!!!

Here's a glimpse of the fun:


'Course, Abbie doesn't care for the cool pool. See for yourself....


Hope you're having a great week wherever you may be!

Love,
Someone who's DYING to go wading for a few minutes :)
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Insufficient

I'm BAAAAAAAAA-aaaaaaack.....

WARNING: This post might contain a little TMI for the average reader. It's about pregnancy, K?

It's amazing what can happen literally overnight. :) So.... I have an insufficient cervix. Now I know.

Today I am just overwhelmed that as I sit here I can still feel the babies moving quietly and that they are safe. Last week Kevin and I had quite the scare. I went in for my routine OB check and for my 20 week ultrasound appointment and they were shocked to discover that my cervix was thinning quickly and that my babies were in trouble. Not that THEY would have known it. They were just as feisty as ever on the ultrasound. :) But had we not been watched over (by Heavenly Father) and taken care of very quickly by my wonderful OB and some amazing Perinatology specialists in Omaha, my sweet babies would have certainly found themselves coming too soon (possibly over last weekend) and not because they were ready. We almost lost them. The thought still chills me and I know that I was guided to my appointment that day for a reason.

For some reason Noah spiked a fever of 104 degrees the night before. Kevin had taken the day off of work so that he could come with me to my appointment. He hadn't been able to "see" the little ones since our initial ultrasound at 6 weeks when they just looked like little kidney beans. So I talked about just rescheduling for another time so that he could still come with me, but he was very adamant about me going and he stayed home with our sick little boy. I still get chills when I think about if I'd rescheduled.... So I went to my appointment by myself, feeling pretty good. After the ultrasound, I waited in the exam room to see my doctor and when she walked in I knew how serious it was just by the look on her face. I ended up in Omaha pretty quickly and they admitted me to the hospital right away. Yeah... I was in preterm labor and I didn't even know it!!! I was very dehydrated (we'd just gone through that awful heat index warning for the last month here in Nebraska) and my uterus was very irritable. They put me on meds to calm everything down, tipped my hospital bed back so that my head was lower than my feet, and there I stayed for 2 days, all the while praying that the babies were okay.

On the second day the doctors did a cervical cerclage and we all crossed our fingers that Baby Boy's bag of waters didn't break over the next few days, which according to doctor would not have surprised him given the state of things. NOT what a 21 week pregnant lady wants to hear. They gently informed Kevin and me of the ramifications if that were to happen and if my body went into labor. Basically, the babies are too little and they would not be able to intervene to help them. But as I listened to them and took in everything they were saying, I just felt calm. Almost like I knew that wouldn't happen. It was surreal. Kevin had given me a priesthood blessing before we went to Omaha and it was AMAZING. I know that the babies are here for a reason. Two failed IVF attempts testify to me that these two little spirits are meant to be here at this time and for a purpose. They are strong and thriving, despite what my weak body tried to do. And I just have this feeling that they have a lot to accomplish in this life. I know that, for whatever reason, they are being watched over constantly. Needless to say, we were very shaken and very prayerful as we left the hospital the next day after my procedure. AND, my eyes were full of popped blood vessels because of the position of my hospital bed. Not fun, but very worth it. :)

So I'm officially on BED REST..... Whoo-Hoo!!!!!!! It's been quite an adjustment for me. I'm not one to sit and take everything in while others work around me. I've been yelled at by Kevin, my mother (who hopped on a plane and got in just before midnight after I was discharged from the hospital... LOVE you, Mom.), and by my Noah. "Mommy! Get on the couch! The babies need you to rest." The next 7 weeks are very critical and we're taking it "baby steps" at a time. My follow up appointment with my doctor in Omaha went well this week. He says that I'm "still a woman to be worried about..." but that he's encouraged by the way things look right now. I wish he would just tell me that everything will be okay and that I will carry the babies to 34 weeks, no problem. And I know that he wishes he could tell me that, too! But for now my next big milestone is 24 weeks. I'll get steroid shots "just in case..." But again, I'm feeling very calm and VERY watched over from above... as well as from all corners of this house. Depending on where everyone is at the moment. :)

I'll leave you with these little treasures. First, some pictures of my little pirate.

And second, my little boy LOVES Primary and he's been learning to sing the hymn "Praise to the Man." Enjoy!

Love,

Someone who is may actually catch up on her SCRAPBOOKING this year....
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