Boy or Girl You Ask?

Today was our big mid-pregnancy ultrasound, although, we did not find out the gender! Gasp you say? No baby wasn't being modest, we just decided to keep the gender a surprise until his/her birthday! We did this with Evie and loved it. The surprise at the end was super fun for us and we are excited to do it again. We have a boys name completely nailed down, and still have no clue, on a girl's name. We are always open to suggestions, but nothing trendy, and meaning/significance is importance to us.

We brought the kids along to the ultrasound because they've been talking a lot about the baby in Mommy's belly and because Evie has been particularly obsessed with the whole idea. They didn't find it quite as exciting as I thought they would (surprise, surprise, they are 4 and 2). But probably mostly because they didn't understand that the weird looking black and white thing on the TV screen was their little brother or sister. Evie said she didn't like the noise because it was scary (the baby's heartbeat), and Mekonen said the baby looked like a dinosaur. They asked a million questions about the buttons on the computer the tech was using and were more fascinated with watching her move the wand across my stomach with the gooey blue gel, than the actual baby up on the screen. But oh well, it was fun, and I'm glad they were there.

Baby is happy and healthy, and this Mama can breathe a sigh of relief. There's always that mid-pregnancy mild freak out that "what if something is wrong?" "are they ok?" etc., that comes. At least for me, so it's great to hear a strong heartbeat and see all the parts working together and moving around like they're supposed to. Baby was pretty active, jumping around, kicking its feet, opened and closed its mouth, had the hiccups, and even waved. Evie thought the waving part was hilarious. Haha. It's about the only thing that she really seemed to understand. ;) Baby is weighing about 10 oz. and measuring exactly 19 weeks (and I'm not technically 19 weeks until Sunday- two more days). So growth is excellent.

So without further ado, here is Baby Oren the 3rd, in his/her cute and creepy alien stage. Awww, it's okay baby, you will get chunky and fat, and be the cutest little thing we've ever seen.

They are a little fuzzy because I took picture of them with my phone rather than scanning them.  Arm is bent up by head and mouth is opening.

This is when the baby was waving. It was the only thing Evie recognized and she thought it was funny to see the baby waving. She wanted to know why it was waving. The lady told her that the baby was friendly. ;)

And the Baby Keeps Growing

18 Weeks 

(well, almost 19 weeks).

Baby Facts:

• Baby is 5 1/2 inches long, and 7 oz, and the size of a green bell pepper. 
• Many moms can feel movement by now. 
• Baby can yawn and hiccup
• Baby has a full set of fingerprints and toe prints!

Fun Facts:

• October 29th, at exactly 17 1/2 weeks, I felt baby move for the first time! I thought I had been feeling it earlier that week, but wasn't sure, and thought a few times earlier on the 29th I felt it. But it wasn't until I was laying down, still, and quiet, in bed that night that I knew for sure that I felt it. And it moved A LOT. Rolling and turning, punching, and kicking. Coolest little feeling ever. Although truthfully, a tad creepy feeling too! I woke Jon up to tell him. I thought for sure with how strong the kicks felt that he could feel from the outside, but he couldn't. A few more weeks before that. :) 
• In the first several weeks of the 2nd trimester, I felt so nauseous and sick at night, even more than the 1st trimester. Weird. I'm thankful most of that has passed now!
• As was true with Evie, my gums/teeth hurt! I think I need more calcium! 
• I'm seeing a pregnancy chiropractor and it's been awesome. I have super tight round ligaments in the front, and it's been great getting put back in place every couple weeks. My bones already hurt when I walk around too much. That happened a lot later with Evie! Maybe Jon will end up pushing me in the stroller at Disney World in a couple weeks. 
• I've been having random calf cramps at night. 
• Still wearing regular clothes, but starting to get a little uncomfortable, especially when I sit down. So looks like I won't be able to button my pants before long! Then, on to the sexy maternity pants!
• Evie continues to be obsessed with the baby in my belly. She's always asking things like, "Where's the paci for that baby in your belly?" And, "Mom, do we have a highchair for the baby?" She now walks around with a baby doll under her shirt (taught to her by her big girl friend, Lila. haha). 

I'm excited for tomorrow. It's our "half-way" ultrasound! Love seeing that little baby on the screen. We are planning on taking the kids. Evie will probably go nuts. :)

Trick or Treat!

This year, trick or treating in our county, and the nearby county, was changed from the 31st to the November 1st due to heavy wind and rain. I never heard of "postponing" Halloween, but that's what they did! My kids are 4 and 2 and they really did not understand this. They were looking forward to Thursday all week! I kept telling them that "the news switched trick or treating to Friday." Normally, this would've been no big deal, but it really made the whole trick or treating ordeal very difficult, seeing as though Mekonen had a birthday party to go to smack dab in the middle of trick or treat hours. Poor buddy was so disappointed to miss out on the full trick or treating experience, even though he did have fun at the party.

We dressed up and went out for a bit before the party but not many people were home yet and handing out candy. So he was sad to leave. After we dropped him off, Evie and I went back out until his party was over and collected him lots of candy. He was super excited about this.

Mekonen was Woody from Toy Story, and Evie was a chicken. Due to many hilarious adventures we've had with our chickens and rooster this summer, I tried convincing Mekonen to be an egg, and Evie be the chicken, because, well, it was only fitting given the last many months of chicken season. But, I couldn't convince him that an egg was cooler than Woody or a superhero.

And they're off on an adventure of candy hunting. 

"Hello? Is anybody in there?"

 "I think I see someone coming!"

After dropping Mekonen off at his friend's birthday party, Evie and I went back out together. She was hysterical. She'd walk boldly, and confidently, up to every door, and say "Trick or Treat, do you have a doggie?" After one dog came ferociously barking at the door, she got so scared she fell backwards off the steps, and from then on she wanted to know who had dogs and who didn't! That lady gave her extra treats for falling off the steps. Once the candy plopped into her bag at each house she said, "Thank you! Okay Mom, next one!" She had this system down-pat! 

Evie absolutely loved the one-on-one Mommy attention and the fact that it was mixed with endless candy was BONUS! Can we say sugar high? 

After picking up Mekonen from his party we did our annual stop at Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe's house. For the last two years, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Wolfe try to one up each other by who gives the best cash prize. My kids made out with buckets of candy that night and $10! They thought they were rich. :) 

And just for fun, here's some of our Halloween costume out-takes that didn't make trick or treating this year! 

We aren't sure what this is. A dog maybe? A penguin with ears? 

 Candy corn. This one makes me laugh the most. 

 A 4th of July firecracker. This one comes in a close second to the candy corn. Haha. 

 This was the sweetest little costume, but when she walked it fell down to mid-shin and the head piece refused to stay on. Maybe next year!

Every year around Halloween, Facebook and blogs are flooded with articles about whether or not Christians should or shouldn't celebrate Halloween and go trick or treating. I wouldn't say we "celebrate" Halloween, but we do allow our kids to dress up in costumes and go out and get some candy. They think it's a blast. We don't allow scary or gory costumes, but it's fun to see them enjoy the whole experience.

There are a lot of good articles out there talking about how to engage your neighbors as they come to your door trick or treating, etc. We don't really have those same kinds of opportunities as we live in the country and don't get trick or treaters, but we do try to make a point to connect with and visit our neighbors regardless of Halloween. So for now, we usually drive to a friends neighborhood and just let the kids enjoy the evening, and have a good time.

If you're interested, I wrote a blog post in the past called "What to Do About Halloween" discussing Christians and the holiday, and how we landed on the decision to let our kids dress-up and trick or treat.

School Days

Oh, I have so much to catch up on from the summer. But I'm going to go ahead and continue with "present" day (even though this post should've been in September sometime), and sprinkle my summer flashbacks in between the various upcoming posts.

We started preschool again this year. Mekonen will be 5 years old at the end of December, so he will start Kindergarten next year. I love having him at home and like that we are pretty laid back about these years. Next year, we will have to be much more on-target, which is why we are enjoying our 2-3 days of preschool a week, sprinkled between play dates, errands, and just kid fun. He enjoys "doing school" as he calls it, mostly because it's one-on-one time with Mommy that Evie gets somewhat excluded from. He's our quality and quantity time kid and wants to be right there with you, talking, chatting, and right up in whatever is happening.

First day learning our address and phone numbers. So cute.

He has a hard time with fine motor skills. He's come a long way with his writing in the last year. He is so cute when he concentrates, tongue out, and everything. Working with big letters has helped a lot. I also mostly have him write with markers or the fattest crayons I can find. The fat pencils with a grip still aren't thick enough. But he does a great job keeping the right pencil holding position even though it's hard for him. 

And this just makes me smile. 

The knight lapbook I made. He loved it. Check out a whole bunch here. This is a preschool pack, but they have also have tons of toddler packs that we used last year. 

Evie sometimes does her own "school papers" as she calls them. She has great fine motor skills, it's crazy. 

Not bad for 2 years old. 

Working on alphabet matching together. Letter for letter and upper case to lower case. 

We try to sprinkle in some nature journals here and there as well. This one is about a pinecone. Too cute. Love his drawing. I have to resist everything in me to not "help" him draw a more "real" looking pinecone. Haha. This OCD mom has come a long way! ;) 

I'm beginning to check out area co-ops next year, although I don't really want a true to form co-op. I'm looking more for a 1-2 day school/co-op that he can attend, without me, and without me having to teach or "co-op." Mekonen is so excited about "going to school when he's 5" so this is a good compromise for us. Thankfully, we have some good ones in the area. We will be homeschooling mostly classical ed., so I'm very interested in Classical Conversations, however they require you to attend school as well. So, we will see. We are going to an open house next week. 

So that's where our school days are at! Laid back, fun, but still learning some things, and mostly enjoying time with my guy who is growing up way too fast! 

Baby Oren the 3rd!

Well, it's been soooooooo long since I posted and we have some exciting news!!! 

Baby Oren the 3rd 

is well on its way and big bro and first time big sis, are pretty stoked!

I am 15 weeks and Baby Oren is due to arrive on or around April 6, 2014! This new life is profoundly meaningful for our family and represents God's grace, mercy, and unfailing faithfulness. Its a picture of redemption, and we are incredibly humbled and thankful. 

Here's the start of Baby Oren the 3rd's journey!

9 week ultrasound

Baby is laying on back, head on right, feet on left. You can see a little arm bud sticking up in the middle. Cute. 

10 1/2 weeks!

10 1/2 weeks, 4-D ultrasound

Poor Baby O. the 3rd looking a little bit alien-like.

Back to us on left, arms and legs on right. 

14 weeks

The Pregnancy Facts

• Cravings- I've been all over the board this pregnancy. I'd crave something, eat it for a few days, and then on to the next thing. 
• First it was frozen pizza, frozen hot pretzels, and hot pockets. Eww gross! I'm not even supposed to eat those in general due to my dairy allergy, but baby must've really needed them because I surprisingly didn't get any migraines from them. 
• I think my Ph-balance must be off or something because I've been craving all things acidic. Orange juice has stayed as a constant staple (was like that with Evie too with O.J.), but a few things to add to the list are green olives by the jar (complete with drinking all the juice), and banana peppers with vinegar.
• Sickness- I was definitely more nauseous with Evie than this pregnancy, and threw up more. Thankfully, this time around that stuff was bearable and at a minimum compared to what it could be. More than anything, I've been so hungry. I was never this hungry with Evie. Luckily, with the arrival of the 2nd trimester that has wained a little bit, but overall, I just cannot get enough to eat. When my stomach does feel queasy/nauseous, nothing fixes it like a freezing cold Coke. It's the most glorious thing ever! ;) Other than that, I've just been extremely tired. I hit the afternoon or evening and it's like I can't function anymore. My to-do list takes longer and longer to get done because I am unproductive after a certain hour of the day. Plus, chasing around two munchkins adds its toll. 

So all in all, we are chugging right along, and baby is growing well and healthy. Evie says "there's a baby growing up in Mommy's belly," and when she looked at the ultrasound picture said, "Well, where are its clothes?" She was very concerned about this and talked about how we could see its bottom. When we told them there was a baby in Mommy's belly, they were mesmerized. Mekonen put his hand on my belly and said, "I want to feel it." And Evie wanted to know when it would come out. I told her around her birthday and Mekonen said, "Well, what is going to happen at my birthday?" And I said, "Christmas and Jesus' birthday." He wasn't impressed with the answer. :) 

One of the best part of being pregnant is sharing the news with others and seeing them share our joy and excitement. When we told my parents we sent them this picture of Evie (since they live 12 hours away), and did the classic "Big Sister" shirt for Jon's Mom (Jon already leaked the news to his Dad earlier in the week on a work trip). :) 

Baby Oren is grandbaby number 5 for the Orens, and grandbaby number 10 for my parents! Woo-hoo!