30th week and 3D Ultrasound

Still feeling great.. just getting rounder and bigger :-) (Thankfully just in my stomach and no where else). We decided this time around to do the 3D ultrasound (we didn't do it with Avree) but we thought we should do it for one of the kids.. just in case this is our last baby. Well, baby was not interested in getting its picture taken! We had the hardest time trying to get a picture of just the face. There was always a leg or hand/arm over the face. We think from the 2 ultrasounds (18 weeks and 30 weeks) we have had, that this one is going to be a noisy chatter bug. (NOTHING like Avree was/is) We saw the mouth "talking" and the tongue go crazy. At our 18 week ultrasound we got a little video clip of this baby "talking". So 12 weeks later, it still likes to "talk". :-) We also confirmed the gender again! So no surprises for us. ;)
Enjoy the belly photos and the ultrasound pictures from my 18th week (2D) and 30th week (2D & 3D)

18 week ultrasound- Foot Foot by head Again with the feet up by head


Belly Pictures
30 weeks

30 week ultrasound.. 2D & 3D/4D photos
2D Profile Picture

3D/4D Side of Foot (toes on the left, heel on the right)

3D/4D Face shot

3D/4D Face shot, with fingers in/by mouth

2D, Profile with mouth open (this was when the baby was "talking" to us and we saw the mouth and tongue move.)

3D/4D picture of hand/arm (again covering the face from us)

3D/4D- A little hard to see, but on the left is the leg, the hand is by the nose/mouth (in front of the face) and the knee is right under the face.


As you can see from both ultrasound visits, this baby loves having the legs/hands scrunched up by the face...Just like some of Avree's ultrasounds.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.. Almost August!! Wow!

My Pretty, Pink, Pigtail Princess and New Dora Couch

I usually don't spend a lot of time "doing" Avree's hair everyday. There really isn't any point unless we need to be somewhere or have to look somewhat decent. (Matt says she looks like a "Wal Mart Baby" when she has crazy hair and is dressed sloppy.) :-) We still have problems with her hair ratting up in the back after nap times and when she gets up in the morning. Some days aren't bad but water or tangle spray works great! Well last week I decided to take some time and "do" her hair. She sat pretty still and she let me put pigtails in this time. So adorable!!!

She LOVES the dogs and wanted her picture taken with "her boys".



Last week, a couple houses down from us, was having a garage sale. So we thought we would walk over there to see what they had.. Well the first thing we saw was a DORA couch and Dora chair! I knew we were in trouble the second we got there and saw DORA. For those of you who don't know, Avree is OBSESSED with Dora! Dora, Dora, Dora, is something we hear around here atleast 5 times a day! Anyways, I decided to get the couch (it was pink, and we all know I love pink) and it was in good condition and was only $5. It also folds out like a hidaeabed and can also fold back into a "couch". Avree has spent a lot of time laying on the couch. And the funny thing is, the dogs love it too. It is the perfect size for them. Everytime Avree isn't using it, the dogs are laying on it. It's pretty comical seeing the dogs lay on a pink kid couch. :-)


Avree "pretending" to sleep.


This weekend I will be 30 weeks!! WOW, 10 weeks (hopfully sooner) to go! I am to the point now, where I am ready! Bring on baby #2 :-) I just hope and pray for another healthy (not too big), beautiful baby.

29 Weeks



Avree's Pregnancy- 28 weeks

Avree's Pregnancy- 29 weeks


We have a busy couple weekends ahead of us... Next weekend a good high school friend of mine gets married back in Iowa and then the following weekend we are making the LONG trek to Illinois! My dad and Barb got rooms at a water park hotel (like a Great Wolf Lodge) so all of us "kids" are going to IL to spend the weekend together at the water park. Should be a fun weekend, but not looking forward to the 7+ hour drive, especially being 31 weeks pregnant!! So we shall see who will last the longest in the car.. Avree or ME! :-)
Once August gets here, we plan on trying to stay put. Maybe head back to Pella one last time before Sept. but no traveling for us starting at the end of August.
Hope everyone is staying cool today.. 110 heat index!!! Crazy! We stayed inside and enjoyed the AC and had a movie day :-)

4th of July, Pregnancy and Random Photos...

We had a great 4th of July weekend but just wish it didn't rain ALL DAY on the 4th. We went back to Iowa to my dad and Barb's lake house, in Panora. We had Matt parents, brothers and grandparents come stay with us. We had a nice, relaxing, fun-filled family weekend! The boys (and Avree a couple times) went out on the jet ski, the guys golfed and then the days that it was nice, we sat around the dock/sand area. We were stuck inside all day Sunday, so we watched movies and played games.. I am so sick of Connect Four, that I probably won't play it again..EVER! :P Ha-Ha. Great weekend with great family!

Avree being a "ham" and doing her cheesy smile, but not wanting to look at the camera



Trying the "help" dad start up the jet ski




Matt did a little photo shoot of "Uncle Boo" and Avree when we were at the lake house. They turned out GREAT!
Avree just adores her "Boo-Boo".



Pregnancy:
Still doing/feeling pretty good. My leg/calf though has been bothering me. When I am on it for a while my veins pop out and it starts throbbing. I try and ice it, but sometimes I don't have time for that.. Other than my leg, nothing else to complain about. The heat isn't bothering me and no swelling! I just can't believe I am in the middle of the 28th week! Crazy!!
28 Weeks


27 Weeks



Random:
One thing you can usually catch Avree doing... Being naked! This girl always wants to be naked. Anytime she gets her clothes "wet" (more like damp) she says "shirt yuck... dry, dry" as she is trying to take it off. Most of the time when we are inside and we catch her in the process of taking off her clothes, we just let her but we do have 1 rule when it comes to clothes.. They MUST be worn at ALL times when she is outside! We have let her occasionally play in the nude on the deck, but we have a high privacy fence so no one can see her. This doesn't happen very often, but this one afternoon when she was done swimming in her pool and she wanted her suit off to "dry, dry", I decided it was ok..
I of course had to grab my camera and take some pictures of my naked baby, eating a freezer pop and hanging out with "the boys".



Even though she has the "cutest lil buns", I hope this is just a phase and grows out of it when she get a little older :-)

Pregnancy Update

Well it's hard to believe I am in the last trimester and down to 3 months!! Crazy!! I have been feeling great! Nothing to complain about. I just hope when we get closer to September, I can say the same thing :-)
It's funny how much time your other kid/s take up and not let you "day dream" about your pregnancy. (Even during down time/nap time). I don't find myself sitting back, thinking about this pregnancy a lot or reading my "pregnancy calendar" and stuff. My down time consist of me picking up toys/dishes/laundry. When I was pregnant with Avree and someone asked how far along I was, I would know it down to the week and day.. This one, I have to think about it for a second. ha. I just know when Sunday comes around, my weeks change :-) So right now I am in my 27th week. (27 weeks and 2 days to be exact) :-)
Last week I had to do my "glucose test", which wasn't as bad tasting as I remember, but still felt like there was one of those mexican jumping beans in my stomach :-) I just got the results back from that test and everything was in the normal range.. No gestational diabetes!! So happy and thankful!!

26th week picture



Week 26 (Avree's pregnancy)

I don't think there is a huge difference in my stomach size than the 1st pregnancy. So I hope I get lucky again and not get "too big" :-)

Looking forward to spending the holiday weekend with the Melhus family! We plan on going to my dad and Barb's lake house (in Panora, IA) to golf, hang out, eat, boat, swim, ect. Hoping for nice weather and for a great fireworks show.
Hope everyone has a great and safe holiday!

Updates on us..

I can't believe it's almost the end of JUNE!! I feel like summer JUST started (well I guess for some people it just did, since school just got out) and now all of a sudden it's almost July!

Avree has been keeping pretty busy with swimming, playing and loving on her mom and dad :-) She is just a little sponge and picking up on EVERYTHING we say and do. She is talking all the time (well, when she gets comfortable with you.. she's still pretty shy) and is still very stubborn! When she doesn't feel like doing something, she will let you know and WON'T do whatever you want her to do. She can count to 5 (and can count to 10, but skips numbers here and there), knows her colors and will say her name if you ask her, but again will only tell you when "she is in the mood". :) Oh man, I can just imagine what the teenage years will be like... aahhh!!
This past month she has been ALL about kissing and hugging Matt and I. She will randomly come up and give us a kiss or eskimo kiss and it just melts our heart! And she will tell us "Love you" for no reason!! :) She has great manors and uses them without us asking her to say please or thank you. She really is the sweetest little girl I know. She listens very well, (but does has her moments) and is growing up way too fast!
We think she is going to be a GREAT big sister. She is all about "taking care" of her baby.. wiping, changing the diaper, putting the baby to sleep (and making sure we are quiet while the baby is napping), reading to her baby and snuggling her baby. So I hope she can continue to act like this when the real baby comes :-)

Avree always watches me do my weekly stomach pictures, and this time she thought she needed a "belly" photo too :-)



Well I am 25 weeks already!! Sunday I will be in the final trimester! YAY!! I have been feeling GREAT! Not swollen (yet or maybe I will get lucky again and not have any problems with that), sleeping fine (for the most part). Matt and I just started "working out" last week.. my work out entails me riding the bike, doing a stepper thing (only for like 5 min) and lifting some arm weights. I have been feeling great afterwards and hoping I/we can stay motivated to keep it up :-)
Next week I have my glucose test (sugar test) which I am hoping and praying I don't have gestational diabetes (I didn't have it with Avree) but we will see what the results are next week. I am just not looking forward to drinking that "glucose liquid".. yuck! And since it is FULL of sugar, the baby goes crazy afterwards.. Which this baby is already pretty active so it's probably going to feel like this baby is going to punch/kick it's way out of my stomach :-)
I definitely think I look bigger in person than my pictures. Which was different from Avree's pregnancy; My pictures made me look much bigger than what I looked like in person.

24 weeks

Avree's Bedroom

We still need a couple things for her room, but the majority of the stuff is in and done!
We need to refinish the night stand (sand it and paint it white with dark green trim) and we have some hooks that we are going to put below each letter of her name (so she can hang things on them) and we have her hairbow holder and a growth chart we still need to hang.

Progress Pictures:





Finished Pictures:






I am SO happy with how the room turned out! I had a fun time putting this all together (with some help from Nana, of course). It's definitely a girl's room :-)