Party of 4!!!

Kevin and I have been talking for a few months now about baby #2. We decided we want our kids about 2 years apart, give or take a few months, and that come October we were going to just going to see what happened. I thought it would take a few months. A few weeks ago I started having the same symptoms I experience with Elias. I craved cheese. Yes, gooey-melted cheese. Ever have those soft pretzels with cheese from Buffalo Wild Wings? Well they're delicious. I craved those every single day for 2 weeks. And mind you, I'm still on my diet/workout plan, so this was NOT good. I decided to take a test a few days before my missed period, and figured even if I was positive, it wouldn't show up yet. Silly me, I grabbed the digital test that just says straight up pregnant/not pregnant, so when it said PREGNANT there was no guessing game like there would be with those two pink lines. 

We had our first appointment on Friday and the doctor gave us a quick ultrasound just to get due date and to see a heartbeat. There's only one baby (phew!), there was a heartbeat that beating perfectly, and it looks like our new addition will be arriving July 4th 2012! 

Since Elias was a high risk pregnancy, this pregnancy is considered high risk until its determined this baby is deemed "okay". The good news is that the doctor that diagnosed Elias with arthrogryposis says that he's never come across more than one child in a family with the disorder. So please join us in praying for the health of this baby, and for it to be a smooth pregnancy for me. I've felt pretty great so far. I'm just a lot more sensitive to food smells than I was with Elias. Basically, if I'm not craving it, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. But other than that, just the typical first trimester sleepiness. 

I am still working out with my trainer 3 times a week. I've lost 10lbs and I'm holding steady. Hopefully I'll be able to loose a few more before I start packing them on again. My goal for this pregnancy is only 15-20 lbs, so we'll see how I can do! 

So as of today we are 6 weeks 4 days. We'll have another ultrasound December 5th to get a better view of the baby. 

Medical Update and Photo Shoot

Earlier today we took Elias to our local Picture People in the mall and had his 1yr photos taken. I really wish we could do some outdoor photos, the more photojournalistic style, but our photographer we love is in Philly. So until we move back to Pennsylvania, Picture People has been doing a fantastic job of capturing some special moments. Along with some 1yr photo's, we took a few Halloween pictures of him in his cowboy outfit. Here's a few of our favorites.

I also thought I'd update on Elias' medical "stuff". We went to his hand doctor last week to talk about where things stand with his thumb. If you didn't know, Elias' left thumb has some problems with his tendons and the bottom joint if not constructed correctly. To give you a visual, if he was to hold his hand up to high five you, it looks as if he's counting and has put his thumb down first, but if looks like this all the time. They've given us brace after brace for him to wear to try and pull his thumb out more from his hand, but he takes them off within 10 minutes, so they've been pretty useless. However, this thumb problem has never stopped him from doing what he wants to do. He's learned how to use it, and surprisingly, his left had has been his dominate hand so far. I know they say you can't tell which hand will be their writing hand, but I wouldn't be surprised if its his left. And when he wants to, he can bring his thumb out much further than you think it can go. He picks up his food with it, he can fully grip a ball with it...my point is he uses it. So Kevin and I were concerned that if  they operated he wouldn't be able to do as much as he can now with it.  The doctor assured us that it will be better than it is now, and those were the words we wanted to hear.  Our window is right now to do this surgery.  After this window, the only option we have would be to fuse the joint, and in that case he would be able to bend his thumb, so we want to avoid that as much as we can. So with all that said, Elias will have surgery once we return from Christmas vacation. Recovery will consist of a pin with a cast for 6 weeks.

In the mean time, Elias is loving his physical therapy and is really doing to well! Now that we were finally able to find shoes wide enough to fit his braces, we're focusing of getting him interested in taking some steps. He loves to cruise on furniture (and is so fast!) but we had absolutely no interest in holding you hands and taking steps. And any parent knows that if your kid isn't interested in it, its not gonna happen. It's all on his terms...for now at least :)

Mickey Mouse Party

We had such a great time visiting all our family in Pennsylvania last week. Elias was a spoiled little boy and had 2 birthday parties! It turned out to be a beautiful day, and it couldn't have happened without the help of my fabulous mother-in-law and wonderful grandmother-in-law. I'm just so blessed to be a part of their family! And I can't forget my amazing sister in law, Abby, who helped me make the Mickey cupcakes. Here's some pictures from his Mickey Mouse themed birthday party.

Elias Turns One!!!

Labor Day and ER

Its been quite a few weeks since our last update, and quite a few things have gone down here at the homestead. We had the opportunity to go home to Pennsylvania over Labor Day and had a short but very sweet. We got together with a few of my friends to celebrate my good friend Sean's return from his tour in Iraq. So glad to have him back on US soil. I can't count the number of times I was watching those surprise homecoming shows, bawling my eyes out saying to Kevin "I cant believe Michelle and Sean are going through this". I've got another dear friend, Alex, heading over there in a couple months. But I am SO thankful for these men and the sacrifices they make.

After the BBQ we spent the night at my Mom-Mom's house. It's so nice spending time with her and seeing her interact with Elias. Growing up we spent a lot of time with my grandparents, and I spent a lot of nights sleeping on the pull out couch. In the morning I woke up early, and looked over toward the door. I remembered all the times my grandfather would leave at 6am to go to McDonald's and bring us back breakfast. I still remember the sound the door made as it creaked open, and his heavy steps through the mudroom. I wish he was here to meet his great-grandson. He would be so proud. When people ask where I got the name Elias from, I can't help swell with pride when I tell them who he's named after. 

Then we headed back to Harrisburg to spend some time with Kevin's dad and family. We wish we could have more Sunday dinners with them! Labor day was a glorious day for me in particularly, as my husband gave me to go-ahead for a pedicure. Its a god $10-15 more up here in Boston for a pedi, so I try and hold out till we go back to PA to maximize my investment :) Then we had a great little indoor picnic at Grandma and Pap-Pap Harners with Kevin's parents and Josh, Abby, and Zion. I love that Elias is finally getting to the point where he can interact with Zion. At the moment they're more worried about what the other is playing with and how they can steal it from each other, but its still so sweet when they sit next to each other. I had a cousin I loved spending time with when we were younger. Even though we only saw them on holidays, I loved her and looked up to her as if she was my big sister. Unfortunately we've lost touch, but I will cherish those moments forever, and my hope and desire is for these two little boys to be best of buds. 

I joined a gym right down the road where I have personal trainers that work with me 3 times a week to reach my fitness goal. I lost 5 lbs in the first week, and am really encouraged and motivated to keep it going. More on that another time :)

But today was quite a day for us here. During church a friend came over and whispered that Elias got hurt in the nursery. I rushed in and my poor little muffin had a gash on his forehead from a toy that he pulled off and table and onto himself. It was deeper than I was comfortable with, so he headed straight to the ER to see if he needed stitches. Thank the Lord for that portable DVD players, its been worth its weight in gold thus far. We brought it into the ER to keep him entertained, and its a good thing we did cause we were waiting for quite a bit. We opted for the surgical glue instead of the stitches because of its location. Of course he screamed when we had to hold him down, but it was relatively painless compared to stitches or even worse, staples. 

His boo-boo

Sesame Street makes everything better.

Snuggling after it all with his sheep 

Here's to a long nights rest for Lance, Party of 3!

Hurricane who?

Apparently our little alarm clock isn't reliable anymore. For the past 5-6 months, Elias has been waking up at 7:45-8 EVERY single morning. Yesterday he didn't wake up till 11:00, and today he woke up at 10:00 to the power going out. It might have something to do with the blackout curtains we put up in his room...but not that I'm complaining :)

Besides loosing power for a few hours, the hurricane wasn't as bad here as it seems to have been everywhere else. The rain seemed to have fizzled out by the time it reached us, and there were a few big gusts of wind here and there, but it wasn't too bad thankfully. The only scary moment was last night when we got a text from campus safety saying there was a tornado warning and to move to the first floor, which is where our apartment is anyway. Having been obsessed with the weather channel when I was little, I know the difference between a warning and a watch. So when they saying warning thats supposed to mean that ones coming, move your tail and get in the basement. I flipped on the tv, searched on the internet, and couldn't find a thing about a tornado. Not even a warning or watch. So for a moment I panicked. I'm still here, so it ended up being okay. But jeez Gordon Conwell, get your weather terms straight!!

Regardless, Elias was ready to battle the elements in his super cute rain coat.

10 Month Stats

Thought I'd give a little update on what Elias has been up to lately. I don't think I shared his 10 month stats, so here they are.

• 21 lbs
• 28 inches long
• Crawling
• Pulling up on anything and everything!
• Starting to take one or two steps forward when holding his hands. He doesn't quite get it yet, but that's okay.
• Eating more and more "big people" food. I can now hand him a chicken nugget and he'll take bites all by himself without stuffing it down his throat and chocking. 
• He's mimicking motions and gestures more and more, and he's SO verbal, babbling non stop.
• Starting the transfer from formula to milk as he's liking the sippy cup more and more, and he got his first taste of milk this weekend and drank my whole glass in 5 minutes. Like mother like son :)
• He loves his blanket more than anything. Get that thing in his field of vision and he lights up like a Christmas tree. 
• Saying Mama, Dada, and Baba.

Check out what he did last week. 

And here's some photos from the past week or so.

Buh-Bye!

Check out how far he's come. Look at what his ear used to look like and look at it now!

And look at his foot. Now we can wear a real shoe when he gets a break from his braces!