The effects of the fires

I took this pic yesterday at sunset. You can really see some of the effects of the fire.....makes a beautiful sunset, but you can see how much junk it has been putting into our air. We hear the smoke has blown up to the Salt Lake area and even as far as Denver. Luckily the fire should be contained soon and it is now on the back side of the mountain. Since we live southeast of the area, it hasn't blown the smoke our way (thank heavens), so we just watch it from afar! Crazy, though!

Another Ultrasound????

So, I'm having ANOTHER ultrasound in 4 weeks. After meeting with my doc today, he said baby looked good....organs healthy, etc, but he said the baby's body was measuring differently in different parts. The head/abdomen were measuring a few weeks ahead and the femur was measuring small.......so what does that mean??? Nothing right now except I may be loading up on drugs for this child's big head to come out in a few months!! :) Seriously though...the doc just wants to see if he "evens out" in the next few weeks and then we will go from there! I just think of it as another chance to get a look at my growing boy, so that will be fun.

What a difference 6 weeks makes!

Ok, here we go....this was around 4th of July right before my ultrasound when I was about 20 weeks.......

......and BAM!!! This is 6 weeks later at 26 weeks (or just over 6 months). Crazy how much growth I've had lately. My total weight gain is just about 20 lbs and I still have 14 weeks to go! Last time I grew the most between months 5-8 and didn't really grow much or gain weight in the last month. Let's hope that is the case again....we will see!

The doctor wanted another ultrasound because they couldn't see the kidneys and a few other things last time, so I went in for another one this past week. Thank goodness it was a MUCH BETTER experience than last time and it only lasted about 20 minutes. Since I was a month further along, the pictures of the baby were really clear and it was so fun to look at him. Here are a few of my favorites. This first one is his little (or not so little) foot!

His profile...check out how clearly you can see his brain.....crazy!


Here's his face and abdomen. His hands are crossed up above his head. It was so cute to watch him squirm around!

Just a few fun beach pics from this week!

I just love living near the beach again. Even though it is still a short drive, it is where I belong! There has been beauty in all the places we have lived, but there's just something about being near open water that makes you feel more free. I have loved this summer being able to get out of the heat of Riverside and head to the beach (or a very short drive to grandma's pool). It has made the summer so much fun and less stressfull with all the changes that have been happening and the preparations for the gym and Ike to start school again, etc. Dane and I have had a lot of time to hang out and I think we have become closer....he is such a sweet boy and I'm glad I will have even more time with him now that I'm not going back to work. I can't wait until the beginning of August for our two week beach vacation...it will be so much fun with all the family there. Dane can't wait to spend time with his cousins, too. It's also really nice to have people to go with whenever...Thanks Mandi and little Waimea for always being ready to go!

Dane and cousin, Waimea, having fun in the sand!


Jack is at the top of our name list for baby #2, so we have been trying it out lately.


My #1 boy!

It's Baby Blue again!

We found out yesterday we are having another boy! We both kinda had that instict it would be, but now we know for sure! It wasn't a great experience for me, though. The Ultrasound took forever because the baby was moving and not very cooperative... hopefully not an indication of the future :)! I don't know how experienced the tech was either??? The tech had me moving all around standing up, sitting down, lowering my head below my feet, and anthing to get the baby to move at the very end of our session. By this time (after about an hour), my back was starting to hurt. The tech went to get someone else to try to get the last two pictures they needed and the lady that came in was torture (nice lady, but all about business). She was pressing so hard to get the shots she needed (luckily the baby did turn), but by the end of it my insides felt like they were all twisted up and I had the worst pain in my side and back. I had to lay on the bed a little while longer when it was done until the pain went away, then I got up, got my pictures, and went home. The rest of the day I was all crampy and sore.....NOT FUN! Ultrasounds are supposed to be easy and short and sweet (my last one with Dane certainly was)! At least it is over now and we know it's a boy so we can plan for the next few months! I kept everything from when Dane was little, so luckily we have a lot of supplies and clothes already! Now it is just a waiting game for the next 4 months!

4th of July and 5 month pics

Here are a few pics from our 4th of July weekend...it has been a lot of fun! I wish I had a few more. We went to the Angels game Friday night and they had a big fireworks show afterward. They lost, but that's ok...it was still fun! Sat we went to a pool party for lunch at our step-sister's house, then went to Kathy and Dave's for dinner and a movie on the lawn. Ike rigged our projector outside in his mom's yard and we watched Independence Day. Since she lives high up on the hill, we could also see the firework shows from around the valley...it was pretty cool.
The last few pics are 5 month pregnancy update pics....the one of me in red is now and the one of me with the purple pants was when I was pregnant with Dane! It's fun to compare.....needless to say, I'm a little bigger with this one! I don't remember what my weight gain was last time when I was half way through, but so far I have gained about 8-10 pounds, depending on what time of day I weigh myself.

What we've been up to...

I know it has been about a month since I updated, but we have sure been busy. Here are a few pics of what we have been doing...

The first week we dedicated to moving into our new humble abode. The house is small, but the land is mighty! We updated the inside with new paint and carpet and it is pretty cozy now. It is a work in progress, and there is still some internal organizing to do, but the biggest thing we are working on now is the outside. We are watering to bring back all the foliage around. We seeded the little lawn area in front of the porch and in the picture you can see the grass buds forming on the left side. We have a lemon tree that has been bursting with lemons (almost ripe), a peach tree that still needs some tlc, and a pomegranite (sp???) tree that is showing a few fruit buds.



Here's a pic of our view from the front porch. It's so nice to have more outdoor space, and being where we are, we get a good amount of shade and cool nights.


This is the road that leads down the hill from the house where we go walking most nights after dinner. Many mornings Dane and I will take Bo out and walk the property for a little morning exercise. Yes, coming back up is a workout....don't know if I'll be able to do it in a few months! When I want to get a good workout, I just take Bo back into the hilly neighborhood behind us and walk around.....it is so tiring...guess I have to watch it now that I'm getting bigger.


This is down the hill. It is mostly dirt trails with trees and plants mixed in. The boys love it!! Dane loves riding Uncle Jim's 4-wheeler with dad around the property.

This is down the hill from Uncle Jim's house next door...it connects with the picture above. I wanted to get a better picture of the grassy area, but I saw a coyote race off to my right and decided I didn't want to stay very long. I'm sure he was way more afraid of me, but that was the first time I saw one, so I was anxious to get back to the house! At the back of the picture is the neighbor's pond that Bo love to jump in after he's been running around...this is a lab's paradise! There is also a chicken coup up and to the left of this picture. Dane love feeding the chickens!


Here's our living room and Ike and Dane doing what they do best in the summer (and I was sitting right beside them a few minutes ago). It's nice for Ike to have a break, because he really hasn't stopped working on either the house or getting things ready for the gym to open since we've been here.

Since we live in a more rural area of town, we have been advised that cats help out with all the little pesky critters that may be roaming around near the house, so we went to the shelter and adopted two kittens. We felt bad getting just one to fend for himself, so we got two. Dane named them Tom (grey) and Jerry (white). Since the are still young, we are keeping them in the laundry room which is just off the side porch. When they get a little older, they will get to roam the property and do their job, but they are fun to hold and play with while they are still so young!

And here's what we do in our spare time...play! I don't know how Ike powers that bike up and down the hill while pulling Dane...but he does it...he has been getting a lot of exercise since moving here....we all have!