2010 vs. 2011 Pumpkin Carving

2010- 4 months

2011- 16 months

Linvilla. Again.

For the 3rd time this year we made a trip to Linvilla Orchards. The 1st trip was for the usual feeding the animals, pumpkin pictures, and general fall fun. The 2nd time was to do a little shopping for some fresh fruits and veggies. The 3rd time was to pick up our pumpkins. Usually we pick up a few pumpkins at Produce Junction to carve. This year waiting until the last minute proved to be the wrong idea. Slacker! Produce Junction only had itty bitty pumpkins. Luckily for us Linvilla had "All the pumpkins you can carry for $19.99". So after watching a few guys attempt to do it and learning some of their tricks we loaded Burt's pockets up with little pumpkins. Stuffed a few small pumpkins down his shirt and carefully stacked the big ones in his arms. All he had to do was walk from one tent to another and wa-lah! 19 pumpkins for $19.99. Not a bad deal!

5th and final ultrasound?

So it seems that I'm blogging about things a couple days behind when they actually happen. That doesn't matter. As long as I can keep up with the big milestones and happenings of our crazy lives I'm satisfied. On October 25th I had another ultrasound. This one was to check my cervical length and the growth of the baby. Our ultrasound tech was super friendly and actually made sure I could see the screen (that never happens without me asking). I brought Amanda along to keep an eye on Lexa. Besides, this was her 1st time seeing an ultrasound of Baby Boy. The tech checked the baby's head, heart, kidneys, stomach, bladder, arms and legs. His heart rate was 167 bpm. It seems to steadily be in the 160's. She did check the gender of the baby again and sure enough he is still a HE! She printed me out the very best profile picture that I have gotten of this little one so far. You can clearly see his little nose, lips and chin. He's so very handsome! After the ultrasound I had a brief meeting with Dr. Baxter whom I haven't seen since my last visit at Jefferson with the twins. He was happy to see me pregnant again with a very healthy baby. He said Baby Boy is weighing in at 1lb 4oz which is right on track. He was also very happy with my cervical length. In fact, he was so happy that he said there was no reason I should have to be seen by perinatology again unless something comes up and the midwives feel it's necessary. What a relief!! It's nice to be a normal pregnant person again but I will surely miss all the sneak peeks I've been getting of this little one.

Lexa's owwie is all gone!

On October 18th Lexa had what was supposed to be her 15 month check up but what was actually her 16 month check up. She weighed in at 24lbs 12.5ozs (71%) and was 32" tall ( 83%). The doctor was thrilled with her growth chart and showed me that she was running right along her curve. We talked about all the usual baby things. Sleeping- 14 hours a day Eating- plenty of veggies, meats, fruits and dairy Gross Motor Skills- Running, walking backwards, throwing balls Language skills- saying 5 words and using them correctly. Babbling tons. Everything was well within normal. At the time she had a serious case of the sniffles and a cough but ears, nose, throat, and chest looked ok. She got three shots including the flu shot and only cried for about 10 seconds. The only concern I had was that I thought she may have still had a piece of glass stuck in the bottom of her foot from 2 weeks prior. I told her how we had tried to get it out and how at first we thought we had. Then it healed up with a bump and a red mark. She sent us downstairs for x-rays. After waiting forever in outpatient registration and forever for a 2nd x-ray tech to come back from lunch (I couldn't hold Alexa on the table because I'm preggo), we finally learned that there was indeed still a 2mm piece of glass in there. I immediately scheduled an appointment with the general surgeon that her doctor referred me to at CHOP. Luckily the night before the appointment "Hero Daddy" as we so lovingly called him that night got the glass out. A little bit of pushing and squeezing and it came right out. Did this Momma's heart good!!

More nummies!!

For awhile now I've had a crazy food adversion to sauce. Spaghetti Sauce. Pizza Sauce. Even the sauce in Chef Boy R Dee's beefaroni and ravioli's. This of course makes dinner very hard to plan. Spaghetti is afterall the simplest dinner to make.

On the other end of that spectrum are the crazy cravings I've been having. The "crazy must have it right now or I'm going to throw a fit kind of cravings". I love nachos and cheese from 7-Eleven. Can't get enough of that spicy cheese! And as I sit here typing this I'm dying for a piece of crumb cake. Hopefully Burt will be home with it soon and I can scarf one down. How is it that I haven't gained any weight this pregnancy?

Still nameless

The hunt is still on for the perfect name for Baby Boy McCabe. Everything I like Burt dislikes. Everything Burt likes (although he hasn't given many suggestions) I dislike. So far on my list has been Ryan, Jackson, and Jacob Joseph or JJ. The only one I'm really stuck on is Ryan but he's nowhere near agreeing to it. His suggestions so far have been Ben and Luke. No thank you! He's moving around almost all day. Quite the active little guy. His kicks and punches are getting stronger so I know he's getting bigger by the day. I'm now 22 weeks and 2 days. I'm starting to get the nesting bug, or at least the must organize this house bug. We've decided we're going to have both babies share a room once baby boy is old enough to be in the crib and out of the co sleeper. My favorite thing to daydream about these days has been the babies' room. I've decided to go with a Dr. Seuss theme. Blue, red, yellow and blue. I've found an amazing Dr. Seuss crib and toddler bedding set on Etsy. Only problem is that the two combined will run us around $450. It's just too adorable to pass up! There are fantastic Dr. Seuss quotes for the walls. I've got it mostly planned out already. So exciting!!!

Happy 16 Month Birthday Alexa!

Alexa Lynn my how you've grown! You're learning new things everyday and however exhausting keeping up with you can be your smiles me it all worth it.

~~weight 24lbs 12 oz

~~height 32 inches

~~wearing sizes 12, 18, and 24 months

~~shoe size 5

~~diaper size 4

~~says 5 words regularly "Mama", "Dada", "Gawgay" (doggie), "Nana" (banana), and "Bye Bye"

~~loves looking at and reading books

~~is totally obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba and her "bee-bo" (belly button)

~~can walk, run, walk backwards, push herself on her bus, walk up the steps holding our hands, climb up on the couch and coffee table, climb off the couch and coffee table

~~loves to color and always tilts her head to the side as she concentrates on coloring

~~will pick up anything that looks like a cell phone and put it to her ear to pretend talk (always starts by saying "Da"

~~when she's tired I ask "You wanna go nigh nights and you pick up your bink and walk to the bottom of the steps.

~~if she wants a sippy she walks to the kitchen and points to the drying rack where the sippies are

~~she will eat just about anything you put on her plate besides carrots

~~makes a really great stink face

~~when I ask her to smile for a picture she sticks out her tongue

Fun times

Since it's been a little while for an update (I'd really like to update every other day) I'm going to throw out a modge podge of things that we've been up to. Fall has brought with it perfect temperatures and a nice crisp air. Definitely my favorite time of the year!

Putt Putt

We've been trying to devote more of our weekends to family time. The weather was gorgeous and we knew we couldn't spend another minute indoors. After a bit of a rough start (Abby's terrible attitude about not getting her ball in the hole) we ended with everyone talking about how much fun they had. I think the final score was 1st place- Daddy 2nd place- Mommy 3rd place- Nathan and 4h place- Abby. I of course didn't tell them who made 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. I knew I'd rather avoid the argument and crankiness that would ensue. We wrapped the day up with a trip to the pet store for more crickets for the frogs and a steal of a deal on new cages for them.

Happy 8th Birthday Nathan & Linvilla Orchard

At 6:26pm on October 16th I gave birth to my first son. He's an amazing little boy who never ceases to amaze me with his kindness, thoughtfulness, creativity, intelligence, and humor. Although I can sometimes do without his sassiness! He of course awoke to the dining room decorated and presents to open. He's been really into sketching lately so we bought him a nice sketch book and a pack of 50 colored pencils. He enjoyed those most of all the things we bought him. It's nice to know we haven't spoiled him entirely with pricey gifts. After opening his presents we headed out the door for Linvilla Orchards. Again the weather was perfect. Alexa wore her "Candy Corn Cutie" long sleeve onesie and an orange, yellow and white tutu. Oh and of course a candy corn hairbow. She was the cutest baby cruising the pumpkin patch. We must've been stopped a million times asking where we got her outfit. Nothing like an adorable model to get new customers. We watched the magic show for a little while, fed the animals, got their faces painted, and browsed the pumpkins. Of course thrown in there were a few of our traditional linvilla picture ops. We wrapped the day up at home with a birthday cake for the birthday boy. Aunt Amanda, Juan, and Uncle Frankie of course made an appearance. A wonderful ending to a fantastic day!

Yoooooooooooo Gabba Gabba!

About 3 weeks ago I entered a giveaway for 4 tickets to go see Yo Gabba Gabba. All I had to do was leave my name and e-mail address. Imagine my surprise when I opened an e-mail that congratulated me on winning the tickets. Score! The show was at 3pm on Friday October 6th. I had Amanda pick the big kids up from school and Alexa and I went to the show with my friend Syreeta and her 3 year old son AJ. Almost immediately Alexa got into it. She started clapping her hands and waving her hands and arms around. She especially loved the "Hold Still" song. She whined and wimpered a bit about wanting a soft pretzel so we got her one and again she was happy. First concert= success!

Happy 9th Birthday Abby!!

So our Abby cakes had a fantastic birthday this year. I did what I do every year and decorated the dining room the night before Abby's birthday. She woke up to lots of streamers and pink and lime prettiness. I even spelled her name on the wall with streamers. That morning we picked up 50 munchkins for her to bring in to her class. Her school day was great. As tradition calls for I let her pick what we had for dinner that night. She chose sloppy joes and smiley face fries. Mmmmm! When Daddy, Juan and Uncle Frankie finally came home from work we gave her her present from us, had some cake and celebrated. She went to bed one happy little girl.

The second half of her birthday didn't come until October 1st. She had been dying for a sleepover party at the Aloft hotel. She had been to a friend's birthday party there in December and hadn't forgot about how much fun she had. We had a combined party with her best friend Mya. Total there were 7 girls there and boy did it get loud! We tried to tire them out with lots of swimming but ate some pizza, made an owl craft and watched a movie before the night was over too. She loved every minute of it. I'm sure this will go down in history as one of her favorite parties EVER.

Scaredy cat Alexa!

Our family is a bit odd....maybe we're mean. I don't know! But all of us enjoy finding things that make Alexa jump, flinch, or whine. One day while at the pool we discovered that Alexa doesn't like the sound of people popping gum. She flinches every time a bubble pops. Daddy thought this was hysterical and tortured her for a good 2 minutes. It was hysterical to watch her blink her eyes 1,000 time in anticipation of the bubble popping. Bad Daddy!

Another thing that she dislikes is the sound of a balloon being blown up. She will run from someone blowing one up and whine until they stop. The fear/dislike doesn't stop there. She also dislikes the sound a balloon makes if you let the air out while pulling the top of the balloon apart. We really do love you Alexa!

September 27, 2011- Gender Reveal

Leaving the ultrasound I felt amazing! Burt was super excited to be having another son and I knew the kids would be thrilled. After I dropped Burt off I started on my mission. I stopped by Party City to order the blue balloons for the balloon release and the yellow and black balloons needed to decorate for our bee themed mini party. I also made a quick stop at the storage store to buy a huge U-haul box. Alexa and I finally ended our shopping at Carters. She was a bit cranky by then as she hadn't had a nap yet so I didn't get to go baby boy crazy like I really wanted. I bought 3 or 4 sleepers, 1 or 2 outfits, and a super soft blue star blanket. The princess took a short cat nap in the car and we headed home. I had about a half hour to hide the balloons in the box and wrap it. I taped the yellow and black balloons around and hung the "Baby McCabe" bee themed banner. As soon as I picked up the kids the questions started. They were interrogating me and I wouldn't budge. They analyzed every answer for clues. When we got home we made a short list of boys and girls names that they'd like to name the baby. The list included but was not limited to Gabe (from Good Luck Charlie) and Phineas (from Phineas and Ferb). Silly kids! Too much TV! When I finally let them open the box the smiles were priceless! Unfortunately Abby grabbed one of the balloons as they were floating out of the box so I didn't get any pictures of her smiles but I guarantee there were smiles. They were both giddy excited for at least an hour afterwards.

September 27, 2011- He or She? What will it bee?

It's taken me awhile but I finally have all of my blog posts transferred over from the other blog. I feel quite accomplished and yet so far behind. I still need to post some Alexa updates and the gender reveal pictures. I'm really going to try to keep up this go round. I feel like I'm already forgetting so much about this pregnancy and so many of the cute things Alexa is doing nowadays. My baby is getting big.

I had my level 2 anatomy scan on the 27th. The big kids were at school so Burt and I took Alexa with us. I know my tummy was full of butterflies but I don't remember all of the thoughts that were racing through my head. The ultrasound technician looked familiar and I think I saw her at my 1st perinatology appointment this pregnancy. She definitely remembered me. We were lead to a new ultrasound room. I can't remember exactly how long we were back there but it felt like awhile. I felt like she took her time and was very thorough. She started off measuring the baby's head. It felt like she stayed focused on the baby's head/brain for awhile. I started to get nervous. Is this it? Would this be when we got the bad news? Were there cysts in the brain? A million questions raced through my head. She finally moved on and Burt asked if everything checked out with the baby's head. She said "Yup!" and moved on. As the ultrasound progressed she loosened up a bit. Maybe we loosened up a bit. Who knows! I just know that we all started getting a little more chatty. She checked a few times trying to see if the baby would move into a better position for her to check his/her heart but the baby had it's back turned to us. She suggested I get up and empty my bladder and hopefully make him/her a bit uncomfortable. I went into the bathroom, peed, and jumped around. No lie! I did a few squats and a few jumping jacks. Anyone that reads this will probably think I'm crazy. I was determined to finish this ultrasound knowing that everything was okay with this little one and was even more determined to find out the gender. Sure enough when I laid back on the table we saw that he/she had turned. She started checking the baby's heart. 1,2,3,4 chambers. Good. She did all sorts of measuring and checking of different valves. At this point I felt confident in the baby's health and was getting antsy about the gender. She did a quick sweep by the goods and sure enough there was a WEINER!! Baby McCabe is a boy! A very well endowed boy. Burt was so excited about the size of his son's peanut that I thought for sure he was going to ask the tech to measure it. I must admit now looking at the ultrasound pictures that she printed out our little man seems to have a lot going on down there. I've studied the picture over and over. I've even put a little bit of doubt into my own head. Is his "pecker" really the umbilical cord? Did the tech make a mistake? I'm holding on to all of my baby boy purchase receipts just in case. The ultrasound ended pretty quickly after that. She did a quick cervical length check and it measured 3.7cm. We were overflowing with good news. A quick chat with Dr. W and he again reassured us that baby looked amazing. I scheduled my next cervical length check/growth scan for October 25th at 10:45. I definitely plan on asking the tech to double check the gender again. Something is not letting me accept that this munchkin is a boy. Lets hope that the sea of blue entering Alexa's closet is there for good.

September 19, 2011- 18 weeks

So I've been waiting and waiting to feel some baby karate in there. There have been a few times when I thought I may have felt it but nothing for sure until today. I sat on the couch curled up to the coffee table playing around on my laptop and there it was...some baby break dancing! Apparently this little one doesn't want to be squished. I'm 18 weeks today. This is all starting to feel a bit real. In 8 days we will (fingers crossed) know whether we have a baby boy McCabe or a baby girl McCabe. I really want to surprise the kids with the gender. They'll be in school when we find out so I'm considering throwing a mini gender reveal party for them when they get home. I've seen some really cute themes and ideas on the internet. My favorite so far is a "HE or SHE, what's it gonna BEE?" theme. Mainly yellow and black decorations and possibly a pink and blue balloon release. The other theme in second place is a monkey theme with the words "Boy or Girl? We're gonna go bananas if we don't find out soon!" I don't have quite as many ideas for the monkey theme though. I have a week to get it all done. Oh yea and to finish up the odds and ends for Abby's slumber party. Oy vey!

September 12, 2012- Hello in there little one!

This morning at 10:10am I had my monthly appointment with the midwives. My usual midwife, Becca, is out this month and next month because she had her hand operated on. Instead I saw Amy. She's very nice but very quick and to the point. Becca is much more chatty. I gained a 1/2lb. My blood pressure by the nurses definition was a bit high (140/82), but Amy said that was fine and wasn't worried about it a bit. With that she had me hop up onto the table to take a listen with the doppler. I held Alexa in between my legs and within a couple of seconds we heard this little peanut's heart beating nice and loud. I've had ultrasounds where we heard the baby's heartbeat but it always makes the pregnancy feel more real to start being able to check on him/her with the doppler at every appointment. When we couldn't catch it at my 12 week appointment I was very disappointed. Since then I've been waiting to feel any sort of movement in there but sadly have yet to feel that either. This was just another pregnancy milestone under my belt.

It's hard to believe that by my next appointment we'll know if Scooby Snack is a boy or a girl. My next appointment is October 10th. Boy! Boy! Boy! We need some more blue around here.

September 7, 2011- I can breathe again!

At 6:24pm I got the call that took a giant weight off my chest. I've been super stressed thinking about the health of this little Scooby Snack. I couldn't imagine getting through the emotional wreck I would've been had I received bad news. Monday's blood draw went great. Patty the nurse who does the blood draws is exceptionally understanding. She knows why I'm a super neurotic patient and she's ok with that. We talked about how my risk ratio was very similar to the risk ratio I received with Alexa. She calmed me down a bit and promised to call with the results as soon as she got them. She said the earliest they would be in would be Thursday but that the office had off on Friday so I may not hear from her until Monday. She did however instruct me that if I didn't hear from her on Thursday that I should call early on Monday morning. She wouldn't be able to call me until the end of the day but if I called her she said she'd have to take the call and could then give me my results. I couldn't have been more surprised when I received the call from her tonight, 1 day after the blood was drawn. She started by saying "I have good news for you!". I said "Really good news? Like I can breathe again good news?". She said "Yes!". My new down syndrome ratio went from 1:140 to 1:1,200. Woo! Woo! My T-18 ratio stayed the same at the lowest possible risk of 1:10,000. My spina bifida ratio (which I never received last time) is 1:1,400. All of my ratios came back better then my age related risks. I couldn't be happier right now. I feel amazing!!!

September 6, 2011- Getting close

Today I go in for my second blood draw. I'm praying on a daily basis that in a couple days I hear back from the nurse with fantastic down syndrome numbers. I pray that this worry and nervousness will soon pass and I can once again enjoy this pregnancy. I feel as if I've been in a bit of a standstill. I'm still too worried to really feel like I'm pregnant even though every Monday this little munchkin is growing bigger. I'm trying to let myself get excited about being able to feel him or her kicking soon. I think I was 17 weeks pregnant when I felt it with Alexa. I know this baby is super active so I look forward to lots of movement. There's been a couple times when I thought I might have felt it, but still nothing confirmed.

August 29, 2011- 15 weeks and counting

I've been slightly hesitant about posting here since I got a not so good down syndrome ratio back from the triple screen. Some inner instinct is telling me to keep my distance from this baby. How could I beat the healthy baby lottery a fourth time? I guess I'll know more when the results come in from the second set of bloodwork. I go on September 6th and will hopefully have the results within a couple of days. For now I'll keep this short and sweet.

August 18th, 2011- Great Nuchal Measurement

My appointment for the NT scan was scheduled for 10:45am. We, as usual, arrived 10 minutes late but were taken back rather quickly. This u/s we were taken to the back room which has a TV there positioned for the mama-to-be to see very easily. Immediately I could see that the baby had grown much bigger since the last scan. I could clearly see it's arms & legs. A couple seconds later I saw the heart beating away. Phew! At one point the tech held the transducer still and we watched the baby jumping around. It was so cute. It kept arching it's back to bounce up off my uterus. I think this was the first time I really bonded with this baby. I must've been smiling from ear to ear. Before we were done I caught a glimpse of the NT measurement. It was 1.57 (mm I assume). Great! Anything below 3 is considered normal. Dr. Weiners assured us that everything looked good and that the baby was growing right on target for my February 19th due date. Again with that stinkin' due date! I asked him if he recommended cervical length checks. He said yes and said that we would start them at the 18 week anatomy scan. A little blood draw and then I scheduled my next two appointments. One for September 6th (blood draw) and the anatomy scan was scheduled for September 27th. So close yet so far away. Yesterday (Wednesday) I got a call from Patty the nurse with my results. My risk for Trisomy 18 was 1/10,000. Great! My risk for down syndrome was 1/140. No so great! This isn't a positive result but it is a much greater risk then most women my age get. Again it just gives me something to worry about. I'm hoping at the blood draw on the 6th I'll get more info and it will ease my mind a bit. For now I just pray for a healthy little Scooby Snack!