Monday, April 30, 2012

2.5 years old (30 Months)

On Saturday Harrison officially became a two and half year old. For some reason turning two and half was harder for me than two was.  I honestly would correct Doug every time he said two and half for the past couple of months. For myself I would say, "He's nearly two and half." Crazy how saying nearly some how sounded better than is.

I have only 5 monthly updates until he turns 3 (yikes) in November. I wanted to do something spectacular for his this post (since I only have 5 more that I am going to do), but with being on best rest last week it will be postponed for a little while.

However you do get this amazing photo taken by Doug on Sunday---I got some pretty sweet kisses during Baby Bee's first bump session). He is excited about the baby and his baby :)





I like the monthly list of changes, I wish I would have started this format sooner for his posts. It's definitely a future reference for baby #2.

30 Things About 30 Months

  1. First sentence, "Sit with me."
  2. Doesn't put up a fight anymore to using his inhalers (holds it himself)
  3. Pees on the toilet, poops wherever
  4. Sleeps with a blanket and plug
  5. A fruit snack bribe will make him do about anything
  6. I find him counting on his own often while playing...something like this: 1,2,5,8,9
  7. Favorite stuffed animals: beagle puppy and knitted airplane
  8. Longer time outs: now 2:30 vs 2:00 (a minute times their age)
  9. Mickey Mouse 24/7
  10. Can say, "Love you."
  11. Started to apologize...he will say, "Sorry," unprompted and rub your arm when he has been naughty.
  12. Insists on have Whitney Dog in his bedroom for story time
  13. Loves stickers and temporary tattoos (a future biker maybe)?
  14. Giggles while watching tv
  15. Sleeping through the night again (well most nights anyways)
  16. First thing he does in the morning...knocks on the bathroom door, let's himself in and says, "Mickey On."
  17. Learning to share (take turns) is improving
  18. When leaving the park (and he doesn't want to), we have him wave to slide and swings etc and we tell him he will be back and immediately the temper tantrum ends.
  19. Doesn't like little things like: string hanging off of a shirt or blanket or something not the way he thinks it should be. He will tell you over and over to fix it.
  20. Starting to put more words together in sequence, "hit head," "owie," might be something he would say
  21. Likes to fix stuff, even if it's not broken
  22. Loves to play and run, but during walks he would rather be pushed or pulled. If asked to walk he will lay himself down and not get up right in the middle of the walk (reported frequently by daycare).
  23. He saw a biker dude with a long white beard the other day and shouted, "Santa!" across the restaurant.
  24. He has had 4 hair cuts: one professional, three by me. Don't know when he plans to get his hair cut publically again.
  25. Instead of crying in his bed when he wakes up in the middle of the night or is frightened and scared he says, "momma, dadda, momma, dadda." 
  26. Wears size 2T shirts and 12 month shorts
  27. Like to pretend he is a dinosaur and "scare" you
  28. Can successfully play hide and seek
  29. Is 27 lbs (this is 9 X his birth weight)
  30. If you take his hand, he will lead you everywhere

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Baby Bees Intelligender Test

We won't know for several more weeks if Baby Bee will be a boy or a girl...
But why not have fun predicting his/her gender? Both the chinease calander and Intelligender both pointed us to a boy with Harrison. Are you not familar with Intelligender? See this POST.


The big question is...what did chinease calander and Intelligender tell us this time?




Any guesses?







Boy?







Girl?







The results are in!

According to Intelligender reports this test is 82% effective.
The colors aren't the easiest to photograph the difference. But if the color of the test doesn't change from beginning color which is this organish/brownish to start with means it's a girl...if it were a boy it would look a little more like this...

This was Harrison's test from week 12 (I am currently 11 weeks 6 days).

Clearly a difference...


I think Baby Bee is a girl...just like from almost day one I thought Harrison was a boy. 

As for names? We haven't picked any middle names, but we decided on a boy name a couple of weeks ago (see this is the planner side of me). I threw a new girl name in the mix...so for baby girl we have it narrowed down to two names (and no, we aren't sharing the names yet).

I can't believe in just over 6 weeks we will be doing our pregnancy gender reveal photo session. I am hoping to schedule our big ultra sound on my birthday in June...Our doctor  sounded promising to make that happen that day. :)

Whether Baby Bee is a girl or boy doesn't matter in the least, but we are sure having fun predicting our way there.


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Life



I am doing everything I can possibly do to not worry. I finished up a client session, caught up on client session blogs, watched several episodes of Mickey Mouse with my little man, FB stalked, went on Pinterest...

Now...I am going through a bunch of photos I haven't edited of Harrison yet. This one makes me smile and for a minute it took me back to this session of our bubble popping craze. I love the happiness and excitement on his face.

Though there hasn't been any changes in the last couple of days, but I am yet to shake out the week's event and in reality probably won't. I had reason to worry before, and now I really have reason to worry. I just keep hoping and praying that things will return to where they were. I am doing my best to rest...but I am quickly finding out that rest is giving me time to worry and worry about the worry that I am worrying about.

I guess life isn't supposed to be easy and it's known to be complicated...right now I would say it's showing it's true colors.

But nothing makes you feel better than a giant toddler hug I just got :)


Friday, April 27, 2012

Baby Bee Update




Improvement.

I've probably never been so scared in my entire life than I was on Wednesday walking into the Emergency Room. My drive there was a complete blur. I did a really good job holding myself together, it wasn't until early Thursday morning I really started to lose it or more like really lost it. I think the reality of our situation finally hit me and hit me hard.

About 12pm yesterday my worrisome symptoms began to subside. I saw my primary doctor at 2:30. I had my 3rd exam for the week. The exam concluded my cervix is closed with the exception of a small sliver of an opening which is typically seen in most women who have previously had a child. The most recent ultra sound results show the cervix completely closed. All good news. We don't know exactly why I ended up in this situation, but it's not because of my cervix, which led to Harrison's premature delivery. The doctor said, "Often times during pregnancy things happen that we can not explain why they happened."

I think I started to breathe again. The doctor liked the improvement, he said that is promising. It's our hope that we are over this hump. For the next several weeks I need to take it slow. I have permission to walk on flat surfaces again, but not for long distances. This also gives me permission to have messy house and not to give to damn about it.

I have my first appointment with the high risk specialist on May 9.

The best  I can do right now is rest often laying on my left side and not to do too much, but this is much better being on complete bed rest...day time television is HORRIBLE.

Last night I slept...I slept like I have never slept before. I went to bed at 6 PM and am pretty sure I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I woke up feeling like a million bucks.

Before I dropped of Harrison at daycare this morning I showed him the most recent ultra sound photos. To my amazement, he loved them. He wanted the entire row of photos unfolded and pointed to each photo and exclaimed, "baby," and baby got louder and sounded more excited as he pointed to the next photo. Talk about pulling at your heart strings.

I felt up to going to my hair appointment this morning that I scheduled before our horrific Wednesday. I finally took the plunge and cut off 5 inches. I guess something about pregnancy makes me want to chop off my hair, I did the same with Harrison.

Before I headed home I enjoyed Starbucks Strawberry and Creme and several mini frosted chocolate donuts. I went for healthy today.

Linked 52: Trees

When I looked up this week's theme, I knew exactly where I would be headed. I am obsessed with this location, it's just beautiful! The only draw back right now is the Frisbee golf obsessed college students who have been getting in the way on my most recent sessions---soon they go back home and I can have this open field back to myself.



The trees? Some of the prettiest I've ever seen, and the smell? Delightful!





 
 The subject this week? Less cooperative, he thought he had me tricked from his superb performance last week...

 Not only are these trees enough to sell you on this location---check out this amazing light!



Just below the field and trees follow the walking path behind...
to this bridge hugged by trees.

Don't miss the other posts for this week: Stacey, Michelle, Heather, Tracey, Andrea, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, Carla, Lena, Heidi, Veronica, Amy, Liza, Heather & Jean

Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Smile

I entered a local photo contest a couple of months back. The contest called, "Healing Scape's," it was put on through our local hospital. The hospital was looking for art work for private patient rooms at the hospital.

29 winners were selected, one of them mine :) And oh how I needed that smile right now.

My photo will be up for auction on May 3rd along with being framed and hung in patient room.

The photos will also be judged on:
  •  1st, 2nd and 3rd place for Winona Health Staff Choice by popular vote
  • Overall winner for Community Choice by popular vote
  •    Grand-prize winner and two honorable mentions for professional Judges’ Choice

Here is the winning photo:

Harrison fishing with a pole constructed by Grandpa


Here are the other winners:


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

From Sunshine To Clouds


The ray of sunshine I talked about yesterday is covered by a black cloud.


We spent the afternoon in the emergency room... I am not going to go into a lot of details, but I am asking you to please pray for our Baby Bee and our family.

At this time Baby Bee is on a rough road... But I am here to say it was amazing to see baby moving all around, we even got video and stack of photos---(see the video link at the end of this post).

We are hoping today's event was just a bump in the road of our 9 month journey. Tomorrow I call my doctor for follow up visit and will call Gundersen to get connected with the specialist there.

Currently I am back at home on bed rest until further notice. I will do anything and everything it takes to meet this baby.

To get a glimpse of Baby Bee click HERE

When Doug got out his phone to record baby became a little shy, but watch through the end when he/she doesn't think we are watching anymore. The ultra sound technician said, "It's probably a boy, because he doesn't like to have his picture taken." I could agree---as I know certain other little boys (Harrison) who exactly don't like to perform in front of the camera.

Thank you to all of our friends and family for their support!



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Spreading a little sunshine



It was a beautiful evening, so I took full advantage of all of this light. I am in love with warmth, color and dreaminess of this photo.




This photo also happens to be a perfect start to a post sure to make you smile.





On with spreading some sunshine...

good news.




very good news.




very, very good news.




The results from our first ultra sound are in and if you read my last three sentences, we got good news.


RESULTS:

  • One baby
  • Strong heart beat
  • Yolk Sac Present
  • Baby is right on size
  • Cervix is closed, length is good

Sure...not everyone talks about their cervix, but I am. The greatest concern of this pregnancy is whether or not my cervix will allow me to carry the baby to full term or not not. The second trimester will be the toughest, if there is incompetence of the cervix, the chance of dilation starting this trimester is the greatest.

Having a high risk pregnancy is scary. We live in fear every single day, so any positive news we get I just want to shout it off a mountain top.

HEART BEAT:

Yesterday we saw the doctor and heard a faint, "thump, thump, thump." The doctor assured us this was the baby's heart beat and it was good and strong. I also learned at yesterday's appointment I have a tipped uterus which is placing baby more toward my back rather than forward, so this why the heart beat was not as loud, but as baby grows the sound will become stronger. As far as the tipped uterus, this is no concern for the pregnancy. In a couple of weeks the uterus should return to normal position as the baby grows---again not a cause of concern.


LABS:

All my labs came back normal, another shout from the mountain.


WHAT'S NEXT?

  • First bump photo and 8-12 week update next week!
  • Waiting for a call from Gundersen to set-up visit with the High Risk Specialist
  • Next appointment May 17th
  • Will begin to meet twice monthly (or more) with my doctor in the second trimester.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Linked 52: Growth

This has to be one of the most fun linked 52 weeks I have had yet---it wasn't the theme or photo results, it was the fact the subject was cooperative---alleluia :)

FYI--I am not the only one having a baby in the Kelley household...

I do have to admit I am little sad this week's theme didn't come next week...

So we are stuck debuting a prune representing the growth of Baby Bee at 10 weeks. Next week he/she is a lime...much more appealing than this week's prune.

However, enjoy some of these shots, some without any editing thanks to some good natural light despite the rain pouring down. For anyone who loves photography...lighting is essential for everything! I love our big old 9 foot windows in our bedroom. I plan to take all my bump photos in this very spot as well as Baby Bee's newborn photos since I am losing my space for a inside studio, but for a very good cause that is :)

Here is the prune in all of it's glory! Crazy to think ten weeks ago this prune was only a poppy seed of a baby. In the next few weeks, the Baby Bee will triple in size, wow...now that is some serious growth!

I am loving this "wow" expression
Check out these other Linked 52 photographer posts!


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A Wednesday Night

Doug and I are lucky enough that we both get to spend part of the work week with Harrison. I have all day on Fridays and Doug goes in late on Wednesdays to work and spends the morning with Harrison. Wednesday nights it's just Harrison and Mommy...and being pregnant again, I am trying to suck up every moment of Harrison being and only child.

So tonight...I gave into him eating string cheese, cookies and cheesy poofs for dinner (this kid is a cheese-aholic). We spent the evening "grilling out," ant stomping, mowing and not to forget to mention air plane hunting.

Grilling got a little crazy--- I ate a dozen hamburgers, several ears of corn on the cob and at least 4 hot dogs.

And it was probably a good thing the food inspectors didn't stop by...


We had beautiful weather this evening---perfect airplane hunting weather.
Harrison is telling me, "shhhh" so he can listen for the planes...
It's amazing all this adorable stuff he just pulls out like it's underneath of a hat. I can't believe we discussed a transition to pre-school today at daycare. This kid is growing up WAY to fast for his mommy's liking.

Mini Golf

For those that know me well...Golf isn't my thing, unless I get to do it "Happy Gilmore" style.

However another exception to golf is mini golfing. After the March of Dimes festivities on Saturday, we decided to play a round at Lark toys in Kellogg.

Harrison started off like a champ...but lost interest after the 5th hole (guess he takes after his momma on this golf thing).

Enjoy some shots from the first few holes:




Team Baby Harrison 2012

Wow...where has this month gone? We are already half way through April! I feel like I need to dust off the keys of the lap top and type this entry! I am WAY behind...I don't know when or if I will get to posting Easter Egg dying and some of those every day shots I just love and could post every single one of them...Yep, your correct in thinking I am very photo obsessed. I deal with this addiction everyday. :)

Baby Bee has got me down a little bit, but not in spirits, but energy... Rather than being the rabbit at the race and I am more of a tortoise during this first trimester. (I slept for two days straight after this walk, apparently the preparation of bringing this walk and team together wore on me).

Check out Saturday's March for Babies event. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better turn out or better success!

Team Baby Harrison raised just over $1,500 dollars! This was spectacular being we had some set backs with fundraising early on. All together Winona raised $28,000 this year, that's almost $4,000 more than last year.

This is something to definitely smile about:








 This little girl was a preemie and so was her big brother who is an angel watching over her. And how sweet is her shirt? Her mom is AMAZING!


 Hugs with my two of my favorite ladies!