Your Opinion is Needed

Ok, so your opinions are needed. Cole decided he wanted to shave his head last night. We need peoples' opinions on which hair is better. I think I actually do like it better shaved, but it's so weird to see him with a new hair-do after 7 years.
Here's the Before:
and the After:

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

I forgot how much I liked the message behind this song. Thought I would share it with you all. Here are the lyrics:

Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free to Wear Suncreen Lyrics

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

26 Weeks

Thought I'd switch it up and start with some pictures of Lily this week

This is Lily's upside down crazy face
Lily chillin' with her daddy
and Lily passed out on the couch

Twenty six weeks, we are finally down to double digits, Double Digits! I can't believe it, I remember when the ticker on the side of our blog said 200 and something days left and now it says 98, it's just so crazy. What's also crazy is that this is our last week in the 2nd trimester, I'll officially be in the last part of my pregnancy next week. We only have 14 more weeks until our due date and only 11 weeks until Grace is considered full term. Eleven weeks sounds like nothing now.

What's happening this week:
"By this week, your baby`s crown-to-rump length is approximately 9.2 inches. Remember, that is only from the top of his head to his bottom and does not include her leg measurements! Your baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is beginning to put on weight. Your uterus is about 2.5 inches above your bellybutton and you will continue to grow approximately 1 cm each week. If you have been eating a well-balanced diet, you probably have gained about 16-22 pounds so far. Because your baby has moved further up, you may get occasional pain underneath your ribs. After a month of having her eyelids sealed shut, your baby begins to open his eyes again this week. Your baby`s eyes are almost completely developed. Your baby`s eyes are blue in the womb and may change colors later in life. This is true for all races because the iris doesn't have its final color until a few months after birth. However, some babies are born with darker or lighter shades of blue. Your growing baby will continue to put on layers of fat until she is born. She is still lean at this point of the pregnancy though. By the time your baby is born, she will assume the typical newborn`s plumpness. Your baby`s skin will still be wrinkled and red, but the fat continues to fill the skin out. Finger and toe nails continue to grow. Blood vessels start to develop in the lungs to prepare the baby for life outside the uterus. Your baby`s blood circulation is completely functional. The umbilical cord system continues to grow and thicken as blood travels with considerable force through the body to nurture the baby. The placenta is now almost equal in size to the baby. Even though it is still way too soon for your baby to be born yet, the chance of survival without severe abnormalities is now 70% provided it is born in a hospital."

Well the usually goes :still vomiting, still having pelvic pain, still peeing all day and night, still not sleeping, still losing weight, but still loving it all. I'm also still waiting for my baby belly! I want my big ole' baby belly now (stamping feet like a 5 year old). Why can't I just go to sleep and wake up looking pregnant. I'm sick of no one being able to tell I'm pregnant. The other day a woman told me "don't worry the morning sickness goes away once you hit the 3 month mark." I was like "thanks, but I'm 6 months along now."

Please excuse me now, while I take a quick break to make my plea

Dear pregnancy belly gods,
I am now fully open and excepting to receiving my baby belly. I know with it will come more backaches and less sleep, but I've already got those, now I just need the reason. Plus I'm really sick of the "is she pregnant or fat" stares.
Sincerely,
Pleading mommy-to-be

Also on a positive, less whinny note, my sister found out that she is having another boy (just as we all suspected). We are so excited to have another nephew and we know that Jackson with be a great big brother to Jacob!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 53rd Birthday Mom!
Just a few pictures from her little party.







A video of Jackson and Koko spying on the neighbors' dog

25 Weeks

Okay, so 25 weeks and a day. I'm a little late, but it's because I was trying to upload the 3D ultrasound pictures. I scanned in my favorite picture from the ultrasound below. I also added a clip of the ultrasound it's self. I wasn't able to upload the whole thing for some reason, so it's only a portion of it, but you get the idea.


And I added a few pictures of me at 24 weeks.
Here's the side view
And here's the view I see looking down.

No real other updates this week. I have my glucose test Friday, so wish me luck!

Siobhan and Dan's Wedding Weekend Highlights!

Siobhan and Dan's wedding weekend was a blast and the wedding was BEAUTIFUL! Here's a few pictures and videos from this weekend. Enjoy!

Baby Pool

Okay, so I set-up an online baby pool to guess Grace's weight, length, birth date, etc. Feel free to play along!

Website: http://www.expectnet.com/games/GraceWeight

Viability!

WooHoo! We've officially reached viability, not that I want to see you any time Grace. You still need at least another 13 weeks before you are welcome here! Well, 24 weeks down, only 13 weeks left until full term and 16 weeks left until our due date.

Updates:

"At this point, your baby is growing steadily, with about a quarter of a pound of new weight and still approximately a foot long. Sure they're not so chubby yet, but just wait that'll come. Their lungs are also getting more prepared for the outside world." Well, Grace is still a little moving machine and I love it! I'm still getting sick, still losing weight, still have pelvic pain, etc. I still am waiting to pop, I don't think it has happened yet, just waiting for a big ole' baby bump, hopefully soon. I hate being in that awkward is she fat or pregnant stage.

We have our 3D ultrasound next Monday and I can't wait, just hoping Grace cooperates!

I guess that's it for now, nothing really to blog about!

23 Weeks

23 weeks already? Time truly is flying, only 17 weeks left until she's here, give or take a week or two. Well, that's the ultra sound picture from this morning. It's not a clear picture because I took a picture of the ultrasound, but it is her face if you look closely. I look forward to our 3D ultrasound in 2 weeks, hopefully she won't look so much like an alien in 3d. Everything looked great at our ultrasound, she weighs 1 lb 6 oz, and she is still a girl! Our down syndrome test results came back and look great, we have a 1 in 12,800 chance that she has down syndrome. Also all her organs and features look normal, which is great news as well. Grace is moving a lot these days and loves to play games with her daddy. She will move like crazy for me, but the minute Cole tries to feel she stops, and then once he moves his hand she moves again. She already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, constantly making him run to feel her and then nothing. I decided last night to play music for her and have Cole feel, boy did she move. I don't think I've ever felt her move so much at one time, it was amazing! Cole loved it as well!

As far as updates on me, I'm still getting sick. In fact, I lost another 2.6 pounds this week, but she looks good, so we are not concerned. I still have a lot of pelvic pain, but I have been trying to spend a lot of time in the pool and that seems to alleviate the pain for a little while.

Just some pictures of my view when standing and looking down over the past month, quite some changes going on.