We finally picked one....

Thanks for all your votes!

I think we finally picked a name we both agree on. Our little man is going to be Taevin Aleksander Deja.

34 weeks

Almost there! Which is great because i'm getting huge! About 6 more weeks to go. I'm not counting or anything. I went to the doctor yesterday and he was measuring at 5 lbs 5 oz. My cervix is still closed but has started to thin.

Because of his heart defect I now have weekly non stress tests. His heart rate dropped a little this time so they are having me go in on Friday for another one just to keep an eye on things. They didn't seemed to concerned so I guess there is nothing to worry about.

On Monday the 12th we have an appointment at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. We will be meeting with about 5 different doctors / specialists and getting a tour of the NICU. We are still trying to decide which hospital to have his heart surgery at. Both hospitals have a DiGeorge evaluation center so our deciding factor will be the heart surgeon.

Here are a few pictures of the girls giving their brother loves. They both love to give him kisses, talk and sing to him. I think Areya asks me everyday when he is coming and if she can be the first one to hold him.

It's a windy windy world out here

It has been really really windy the past few day, so windy that it picked up our gazebo and sent it flying over the side of the deck. Unfortunately it did not make it all the way over and caught on one of the posts ripping the railing off.

I guess we will be re-doing the deck this summer.

Eggs and cookies

On Thursday we went to the park with the play group from church. We had a pot luck lunch and then the kids dyed Easter eggs. It was a lot of fun!

Thursday was also my twenty something birthday. Carli was a sweet heart and made cup cakes for Aniela (who's birthday is next week) and I. They also gave me a really nice card and sang us Happy Birthday. Thank you to Carli and all the other moms for a nice birthday.

The girls have been begging since Valentine's day to make sugar cookies but since i've been on bed rest we weren't able to do it. I have been slowly going back to normal activities the past few weeks and was feel pretty good so I gave in.

The girls had a great time and the cookies turned out really yummy!

Spring = garden (or at least the start of one)

We are so excited to be able to start our own garden this year. Part of the reason we got this house it because of all the land (2 acres) which gives us plenty of room for a garden.

We started 5 trays of seeds. Veggies and herbs, the plan is to can some for the winter. I guess I better learn to can!

Here are the ones that have already came up and were to big to keep in the boxes.

We all love watching them grow and are amazed how fast they grow in just a day.

Can't wait until we get them in the ground and we are able to enjoy all the yummy food. Does anyone in Illinois know the best time to transfer them in the ground? With the weather here being a different from Utah I don't want to do it to early and then get a freeze.

Hair cuts

Areya and I got our hair cut this week.

Areya before (hair to shoulders)

Areya after

Me Before (one length to middle of back)

Me after (layered and a bit shorter)

Where did she go?

Last night when I was checking on the the girls, I couldn't find Aniela. After a bit of looking I found her half way under the her bed and the desk.

I end up putting her back in her bed about every other night. Good thing she stays in her room.

My Chunky Monkey!

I had an appointment with the peds heart doctor on Tuesday so she could double check his heart and get a report sent to the heart surgeons. They measured him and man is he chunky! They said most babies at 30 week are about 3 lbs, my little guy is 3 lbs 10 oz! If he keeps growing like that I will end up delivering a 10 lb baby. I read some where that by 30 weeks the growth slows down but that does not seem to be the case with him. Maybe it has some thing to do with all the sugar I have been eating?

Any way, this pregnancy has been so different from my other two it throws me for a loop. Not only the heart defect and the DiGeorge but the pre term labor, bed rest, less morning sickness (which was nice) and the weight gain. I only gained 15 with both my girls, well I guess it would be 30 but I lost 15 in the first trimester so after getting that back it was 15. With this little man I have already gained 25 and I still have just over 2 months to go! I guess part of that is because of the bed rest and not being able to walk around much, but still.

At this point i'm feeling huge! I think part of it is how i'm carrying this time, low and out, compared to in my back with the girls. Here's full term with Aniela.

I guess this is a bad picture because she has already dropped and I look like I carried low.

I was that big with him at 24 weeks! If you want to see how big I am now see post 27 weeks.

Happy Birthday Damian!

March 3rd was Damian's birthday. We were only able to go out for a quick dinner because of my bed rest restrictions.

Happy 31st Birthday Sweetheart! I love you so much and hope you had a wonderful birthday! Thank you for all you do!!!

I Found it!!

It has been a while since my last post and I decided it was time to catch up, even though not much has been going on. I went to get my memory card out of my camera and in the bottom of the case was none other then my WEDDING RING! No way right! It's crazy I should find it less then a month after Damian got me a new one. Oh well, I'll just save the new one for one of the girls when they get older. Funny how that worked out.

Random pictures

Here are a few random pictures that were on my camera.

I started getting out the baby stuff and put it all in the nursery. A few hours later the girls got really quiet so I went to see what they were up to. This is how I found them, playing baby.

Here is Areya before school in her Christmas outfit that Damian's parents got her. She looks so grown up in this picture!

Areya found this old box and decided to get creative. She made a car for Aniela to sit in at the movies. (Aka the family room)

I think Aniela was mad about having to take a nap so she covered her head. This is how I found her when I checked on them.

The sister missionaries came over for a visit and the girls talked them into playing dress up. Don't they look so cute!

27 weeks

Here I am in all my preggo glory. 27 weeks and counting! Man i'm huge with this one. I will try to find the picture of my last two pregnancies and post them so we can compare.

Hanging with dad

Here are a few pictures I found on my camera. I guess they had a little photo shoot while I was in the hospital.

Aniela and Daddy

Aniela taking the picture of sister and daddy.

Areya's turn to be the photographer.

Valentine's Day

What a sweet husband I have!!

Back in December I lost my wedding ring and still have not been able to find it, so knowing how upset I was about it, Damian decided to surprise me with a new one on Valentines. He had wanted to take me to a nice restaurant for dinner and give it to me there but because I was still on bed rest we were unable to go. Instead he slipped it on my finger while I was sleeping. It was such a great surprise!!!

Damian,

Thank you for all your love and support over the past 8 years! You have been such a huge blessing in my life and I don't know where I would be with out you. Thank you for your help with the girls and through is crazy pregnancy. I am grateful for your willingness to go to work and make a living in order for me to be home with the kids. You are wonderful and I love you so much!

Pre term labor

I guess we failed to inform our little guy that he needs to stay in there a little while longer. On Friday night I started having some contractions. We decided that I should just go to bed and hoped they would stop. Well morning came and I was feeling fine until I got out of bed, yep still contracting. I called the doctor's office and because they were so close together, 10 mins apart, she had me come in. Damian had already left for work so he had to turn around and come back. We dropped the girls off at a friends house and headed to the hospital. Sure enough i'm in pre term labor at 26 weeks. They checked my cervix which was still closed, thank goodness!!!! Then got me started on an IV thinking it might be due to dehydration. It wasn't so next they did an ultrasound. The baby looked good but I was told that there is to much amniotic fluid which can make your body believe you are further along. ( They are still not sure if that is the reason for the contractions but that is there best guess at this time.)

They decided that they would admit me and give me drugs to stop the labor and develop the baby's lungs. I had to be on the drugs for 72 hours and part of the next day with out contractions before they would let me leave. The steroid shots hurt like crazy, good thing I only had to get 2. I got another ultra sound on Monday to see how things looked. There is still extra fluid but my chunky little guy looks good. I was allowed to go home Tuesday afternoon on moderate bed rest. Which means I have to

stay off my feet as much as possible. ( This

should be interesting with 2 crazy girls running around the house.) I have a follow up appointment on Monday and hopefully I will no longer have to be on bed rest.

I just want to take a second and thank all the wonderful people in my ward who have been so willing to help us out. We really appreciate a

ll that you do for us, from watching the girls, bringing us dinner, calls of love and support and all the prayers. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

I also want to thank my cousin Lacy for coming out to visit! It was so great having you here and having someone to talk to. Thank you, we love you!!!