Less than 3 weeks until the due date now. I'm hoping she will be a few days early. At this point I feel like I'm just trying to survive until "Labor Day." Getting rest is difficult in general due to discomfort and running to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I felt this way with Jonah as well, but it seems worse this time around. Maybe it's having a 2 yr old to deal with that makes it more intense or perhaps it just makes me more aware of my discomfort. You would think the fact that I have gained less than half the weight this time and that I'm not at all swollen like last time would mean I felt better this time. Maybe, I just have a bad memory and the hear and now is just much more tangible. God give me grace to endure for as long as I need to. Amen.

Jonah's good friend Olivia came over this afternoon and they both played in the splash pool for a bit. Here's a clip:



More pictures and video can be found by clicking the corresponding links.

This weekend we got Jonah a little splash pool for the yard. Can you believe Kmart didn't have the old fashioned rigid pools. Anyway, Jonah enjoys it immensely as you can see. Click on the Photo link for more pictures.

Baby, Baby, Baby

Today, I have felt pretty good. The thought of getting out of the house was too overwhelming but I managed to be fairly productive here at home. I have felt a foot or some other baby body part protruding from below my right rib most of the day. If you gently press on it, it will either move away for a moment and then come right back or press back at you. Certainly makes bending at the waist a major challenge. :-) (Oh, now she's kicking me - she must know I'm talking about her.) We still haven't picked a name yet. We've got a couple in mind but just not a definite "this is it!" yet. And even if we did have a name picked out, we wouldn't tell. Got to leave something a suprise. Oh well, we still have four weeks, give or take, to make up our minds or rather hear more clearly from God about it. We'll keep you posted.

This morning I get up and go to check on Jonah and the door to his room is locked. "Hmm, that's strange" I think and I begin to wonder how we could have accidentally locked it on our way out last night as I go find something to turn the lock from the outside. I unlock the door and when I open it I find Jonah in the rocker which is right next to the door. As I stared at my sweet angel, I realized he had at some point climbed out of his crib and had tried to open the door only to succeed in locking it. This could be the beginning of some interesting bedtimes. He had a very full day yesterday (see yesterday's post) and slept from 4:30 to 7:15 pm and then was not ready for bed at 10 pm last night. We got him back up and then put him back down at 11 pm cause it was mommy and daddy's bed time. He cried for about 20 minutes and then got quiet. I wonder if that's when the acrobatics began?

Father's Day 2008

Haircut for a 20 month old We started the day by going out for breakfast. Afterwards, Kelly decided he wanted to cut Jonah's hair which is always a major task. So we put his high chair in the living room, turned on Narnia and fed him Chocolate in an attempt to keep him still and content. Here's a clip from that event:

Here is a before and after picture. (In the first picture you can see we are trying to let him get used to the vibration of the clippers in hopes he won't be so freaked out):

Swimming at the Lake Then, Jonah, who has been "swimming" quite a lot recently started trying to take his cloths off and saying "wa-Dur" (translation = water = I want to go swimming). So we put our swimwear and sunscreen on and headed to Jordan Lake stopping at Wendy's on the way. Jonah wore his life jacket that Grammie and PawPaw got for him at Christmas. It really helped him get used to floating on his back where previously he wouldn't do that. (When he took it off I used it for a float having forgotten one). Jonah and Daddy stayed in the water a whole hour and 15 minutes - Mommy was in and out of the water twice during that time. Here's more pictures:
By the time we headed home, Jonah was so pooped he fell asleep in the car and is still asleep as I write this. Needless to say he had a fabulous Father's Day, as did Kelly.

Jonah's doctor called today with the results of the tests on that stool sample. It turns out he does have Dientamoeba fragilis which the doctor called a "germ" when he talked to me (I guess he was trying to make it seem as benign as possible as it isn't that big of a deal). It is actually a parasite. Many people have it but only if there are significant effects do they bother treating it. Jonah probably picked it up while we were abroad but it is common everywhere even in the US. Here's a link to the CDC info. This is totally unrelated to the fever he had over the weekend. But it does explain his change of appetite over the last month or so and those very juicy poopies. :) I hope I'm not freaking all the grandmother's out with this - this is all pretty normal kid's stuff. Anyway, the doctor is prescribing a medicine he has to take for 10 days. Unfortunately, it us usually in tablet form and tastes awful so we have to get the medicine from this special place in town that makes it in liquid form on demand that tastes better, but they don't take insurance so we have to pay a large sum up front and then submit to our insurance ourselves. That part is a bit unfortunate, but nothing else to do about it.

Childhood Virus

Well I think we finally figured out what has been going on with Jonah. Today we noticed he has a rash all over - tiny little read dots especially noticeable on his torso. This is typical of Roseola. He had this same thing at Christmas and we didn't realize it until after the rash showed up. So anyway, now we know why he had such a high fever and was acting so weird on Saturday, in particular. He was much more lively today and in very good humor.

Another High Temperature

Jonah had another high temperature yesterday of 102 so this morning I called the pediatrician and they thought I should bring him in. He's had some very loose stools since coming back from a trip abroad but no noticeable weight loss. So they checked him out and luckily I took in his diaper from this morning so they could collect the stool sample from it instead of me having to do it at home. We may not get results until next week. His temperature has been normal today. They said just to give him tylenol as needed.

Later in the day, I had to go to Durham for a followup eye appointment and dropped Jonah off at Kelly's office which is nearby. As usual, Jonah got oodles of attention and was pretty content in the new environment playing with his dad's model cars from his desk.

8 Months Pregnant with a Toddler

I am feeling a lot better. I went to the Chiropractor on Friday and had a full hour massage on Saturday and felt almost normal since then. We had a busy weekend though, I probably should have rested more but all is well. I had another episode of that rib pain this morning when I woke up at 5:30. I tried a different treatment this morning - I was so sleepy I really didn't want to get up. So I positioned all of my pillows so I was nearly sitting up in bed and iced the area that was hurting for 15 minutes. Then fell back to sleep. My back was much less sore when I woke up at 8:30.

Jonah had a little episode of possible heat stroke this weekend. It has been near 100 here the last few days. He woke up from his nap and we transferred him to his carseat to make a visit to a friends house. Despite the air conditioning blowing full blast, I don't think it cooled the back seat down much and then those car seats can be very hot too. Anyway, when we got to our destination, Jonah was flushed and lethargic and just not his normal social, active self. He just wanted to sit on my lap and his body felt very hot. Then the place where we were there were lots of people and so the house wasn't very cool. We finally stripped him down to his diaper and then a few minutes later decided to get in their pool. (Jonah loves the pool!) On the way home that evening we just kept him in his diaper and it was much cooler on the ride home, but when we got home his core still felt very warm. We took his temperature and it was 102. By the time we put him to bed though he had cooled down and has been fine ever since. It has made us more diligent about not letting him get so hot especially in the car. Well again, no pictures this weekend. Sorry! I'll try to take some this week.

Pregnancy Pains

Well I have been too self absorbed to take any pictures or anything of Jonah the last few days. Everyday little tasks are such a challenge right now. This last week has been particularly difficult. I have been having fairly consistent hip and low back pain. Pretty sure it's got something to do with my body preparing for the big day. On top of that, the last two mornings I have woke up with my ribs hurting all around (this baby needs to move down and out of my chest.) Then the baby starts kicking and my muscles tighten up which makes me clinch with stabbing pain. If my dad's arthritis is like that I understand a little bit better his suffering. Needless to say I just have to get up and take a hot shower and let the stinging water override my pain sensors. So, I've gotten up about 6:30 or 7 the last couple of mornings. If you are reading this, I'm sure all this is not uncommon to many women in their 8th month of pregnancy; nevertheless, pray that I keep a good attitude and find comfort over the next 6 weeks. And God, just so you know, I am totally fine with a few days early arrival, Oh let's say the 14th instead of the 18th of July. Amen! :)