Easter Sunday

Kade was so excited to go to church. After the chaos that has been Duane's surgery and on again/off again pain and well, my ginormous-ness, church has been put on the back-burner. It's one of the biggest breaks we've taken for my whole life, so Easter was really nice to be there again. We had 9:00 am church and Kade looked, well...freaking adorable but I guess I am biased:) He was so excited to wear a tie like Papa, Grandpa, and Uncle David. He frolicked in the flowers that just bloomed outside our house and even took some time to take a whiff:) As if anyone ever had any doubt, Duane is definately the father...my only question is, is this child even mine? haha

I'm really bad at self-portraits of our little family, but here is all I could do...with our red hair:)The most beautiful little boy

Easter Egg Hunt Number 1. We went to Duane's dad's for BBQ and eggs. Kade was so happy to get his basket and eggs with money in them! haha...He insisted on picking up all the eggs with the shovel that was attatched to the bucket...it was slightly adorable:)

We ended up going to Duane's grandparents afterwards where they did another egg hunt that I did not get any good pictures of sadly...I know. I would. Then we continued on to my mom's for a yummy roast dinner. It was a wonderful day with lots of family. Kade got to see all his grandparents(2 sets and a step-grandma) and his great-grandparents, so it was truly a blessing:)

2 more weeks

You know that point in your pregnancy where you are just done? Where it seeems like it will never come and it leaves you restless? Yeah, I'm SO there. I have become increasingly uncomfortable and spend most of my spare time in my bed where even there, I cannot quite get comfortable. My wonderful husband, though he's recovering from surgery still and had some intense dental work done last week, lets me rest and takes care of the big stuff. It has been a blessing in disguise to have him home with me.

I am 38 weeks on Monday. We had the ultrasound last Friday and after all the measurements, Kellan is somewhere between 7.5-8 lbs right now. If I go 2 more weeks, he could be anywhere from 8.5-9 lbs IF I don't go out of control with the Taco Bell cravings:) Kade was large, as most of you know, weighing at 9 lbs 4.5 oz the day before my due date. So, I am going to be really good and try my hardest eat normal. Also, Dr.'s measurements show that this little one has a large head just like Kade. Gee, I can't wait:)

Other than that, the only updates for Duane are that he is walking and still has pain in the knee but next weeks appointment will tell if physical therapy is preferred and what other options we have from here.

Tomorrow is Easter and I promise that this time I won't be lame and forget to bust out the camera. Cute pictures to follow, I'm sure!

St. Patty's Day and surgery update

The day before the surgery, Duane wantd to do as much with Kade running around and playing as possible before he would be on crutches for God knows how long. It was also St. Patrick's Day which was a super excuse to take pictures of my crazy face:) So, we went to an awesome park that Kade happens to love not too far away and got some cute shots:)

And now for thr surgery updates! Sure enough, they went in and found another tear in the meniscus that had been repaired with the first surgery but when he fell in mid-December, it just undid all the repair. The doctor went and looked all around to see if there was anything else that could be causing him such massive amounts of pain and that was it. So, that is good news. Second part of good news is that Duane has no weight bearing restrictions, so whenever he feels strong and confident enough to put weight on it, he will start to walk. Which basically means, there is no 8 weeks out like the last time...music to our ears. This is wonderful to hear also, because he will be back in commission in time for me to have the baby which was a huge concern for us going into this surgery. Now, the wonderful job hunt begins...joy:)

baby update

Over the weekend, I had been feeling a significant drop in where the baby was and it hurts to stand or walk or do anything really. So, I scheduled an appt. for yesterday and they did the fetal monitoring and checked me and sure enough, the baby's head is down, he's dropped and I am dialted just a fingertip. The doctor told me to take it easy for the next ten days so we would be in my 36th week. Take it easy?! My husband gets surgery tomorrow morning! Thank goodness for good friends that help me because I don't know how I would "take it easy" any other way.

So, that's the news. Tomorrow morning at 10:00 is the surgery and hopefully I can last at least another month!!! Here's hopin:)

surgery!

After talking to the workmans' comp worker and explaining to her that I am due April 26th, so a speedy surgery approval would be wonderful, she rushed the request and approved it in 4 dyas(as opposed to 4 months last time)! So, the surgery is scheduled for this coming Wednesday the 18th. I am a little anxious about it considering that I am into my eighth month and going to be doing a lot of things that Duane really helps me with but I have a lot of wonderful friends and family here to help me with the house, Dad, and Kade so I can focus on Duane a little bit.

I'll update again on Wednesday or Thrusday to let you know how it went.

so close...yet so far

I haven't updated yet this month and I have a couple of cute pictures of Kade but I can't find the cord to transfer them:(

So, here's what's been going on...

I am currently 32 weeks 3 days pregnant. I know, it's gone by oh so fast! Starting March 11th, I go in twice a week for fetal monitoring just as a safety precaution because of my pregnancy history and protein s deficiency. We are kind of in a tizzy to get everything done and taken care of before this baby comes. Our car that we had was old and needed replacing BADLY as soon as the tax returns came, we paid off all of our bills and put a down payment on a 2004 Saturn Vue which we love. It's a huge weight off of our shoulders to have a safe car for the babes to ride in, its something I was stressing out over a lot. We recently got the big stuff out of the way like the car seat and double stroller. I am just picking out the crib and I will have everything I need.

Kade is doing so good, being a big boy. That is the focus of our days, trying to give him confidence that he is mommy and papa's big boy and what all "big boy" things that entails. He speech is coming along ridiculously well. The other day, we were eating at Togo's and he wanted a drink of his lemonade so he kinda grunts at me and I said, "Use your nice words" and he, clear as day says,"May I please...have some soda?" I couldn't believe it! I had been working on breaking the words up with him and had only done it in 3 word breaks but he just went and did it without any help. I was sooo proud. Things like that are every day happenings here with him, he is just getting so big. He knows that he is big brother and the baby is little brother. It melts my heart when he gives "little budder tellan" kisses:)

Duane is set for his second surgery on his meniscus. He had a fall while he was on crutches after the first surgery and the doctor fears that, due to the pain level he is experiencing, he tore again. The MRI showed nothing, so the doctor did a cortisone shot and still no improvement. Our last resort is to go in with the camera and check for additional damage done during the fall. So, the request has been sent off to workman's comp and we are hoping and praying he gets in sometime before the next 4 weeks considering how far along I am.

For those of you reading for an update on dad as well, he is doing FABULOUS. He recently had some lab tests done and his kidney function bumped up from 30% to 40% which puts him up out of stage 4 kidney disease into stage 3! We are so excited that things are going well, its a huge triumph, for me, to know that he will be here a little bit longer to watch his grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow. When 6 months ago we were looking at dialysis in the near future, now we are no where near it! I am just so ecstatic:)

So that's what is going on here. We are patiently awaiting Kellan Seymour, hoping for surgery soon and a speedy recovery for Duane. Pictures to follow, I promise:)

Kade's "Happy -Day!"

That's what Kade's calls it, he drops the "birth" in "birthday.":)

I, like a ditz AGAIN, forgot to take my camera out during the party because well, this child inside me is basically sucking out all common sense and logic as well as energy:) I could kick myself considering that both sets of grandparents, step-grandma and great-grandpa were there. That and the lighting was perfect on this sunny day so the pictures would'v been great:(

So, I remembered right around cake time that pictures needed to be taken, so my sister happily obliged and took some for me. I then took pictures of the center pieces afterwards:)

The homemade invitations

the centerpieces that we painted to match the theme(i hate character parties, can you tell?)

the tables

I realized the day before the party that I had a cake to make so I enlisted the help of my best friend, Catherine aka Batman, whose mom made Kade's pirate cake last year, to "help" me aka do it for me:)

Kade blowing out the candles...he really did it by himself!