Ultrasound Pictures

Sorry these took so long.  Something about the idea of using the scanner wears me out.  Here are the pics of Baby Boy Johnston, along with proof that he is in fact a boy.  His heart rate was 150, which I think it has been pretty consistently so far.  He was measuring about 3 days ahead.  I LOVE when baby measures ahead.  I guess it makes me feel like baby is growing perfectly or something!  I praise God for these glimpses into my belly so I can check on this little boy every now and then:-)

I'm not really sure what we're looking at here but apparently that little point  (sorry baby) is proof that he is a he!

 

Baby Jam Costume Party

Ya'll know I love my Baby Jam friends! We still get together every week. I think it has been SO good for Case socially, because let's face it, his Daddy's a little challenged in the social arena. Case lights up when he sees the other babies and is the same way when he sees kids are the grocery store or when we are out and about. I think he might be more social than Wayne and I both. He hates to be at home all day so I usually have to find some excuse to get out of the house, which usually ends in spending money that we don't have at Meijer (my second home).

Yesterday Case had a blast with the other babies at our Baby Jam Costume Party. The kids were all SO cute!!! The weather was perfect and Sara has a great backyard so the kids got to play outside in the leaves for a while. It was great!!!

Case's buddy Liam checking Case's costume out

Yep, this is one VERY unhappy Elmo at the moment

I totally picture this conversation involving James explaining to Case that this wasn't a costume party.

Case's hood fell over his face and it was hysterical.  Good thing Sara was there to help him because his mommy couldn't stop laughing and taking pictures!

Case loved the slide and wouldn't move for Allison to go down!

19 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

Size of baby: Baby J is the size of a mango.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I'm holding steady at no weight gain since the beginning of the pregnancy.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans and T-shirt or "The Suit" pretty much take care of my wardrobe these days. I even wore my jeans to church on Sunday. I don't know if I've ever done that.

Gender: BOY!!! We're officially playing the name game so feel free to share your suggestions.

Movement: I'm feeling a little more movement this week, which I LOVE! It is funny to me though because this baby is already hitting me in some of the same spots Case did, mostly my bladder!

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty good but still having weird dreams.

Cravings: I think I'm over the shredded lettuce salad. At least that would explain the browning bag sitting in my fridge. I'm onto wanting sweet stuff... mostly chocolate. That weight gain is bound to grow VERY soon!

Symptoms: 2 weeks and no anti-nausea medicine!!! I still have my moments but it's not too bad.

Best Moment this week: Feeling the baby move in some of the same ways I can remember feeling Case move.

Shoes

So I'm a very "got it together mom"... stop laughing... Okay fine I WISH I was a "got it together mom"! My husband would probably like to refer to me as being a controlling mom but I think that sounds negative so I will always find another name for it. I really do try to think of everything but I fail at least a hundred times each day. I thought I would share my most recent failure as a mom because, although it might involve stunted foot growth, no one was seriously injured.

For the past several weeks since the weather has gotten colder I have had to do something that I dreaded... put shoes on Case. He just seemed so steady in those bare or socked feet that I hated to put shoes on him because I would afraid he would have to learn to walk all over again. Good thing he adapted pretty quick and they didn't slow him down one bit. So he's been wearing a pair of hand me down Nikes in a size 4.5m. They are cute but I hated them from the get go because they had to be tied. Who ties shoes on a baby... I can barely get him to sit still long enough to get his foot in them by the time it comes to tying them he's usually in some form of a headlock nearly upside down on my lap or sort of on my lap.

I decided it was time for some Velcro... love the man that invited that!!!!!!!! I took him to Stride Rite because clearly they know all there is to know about baby feet or at the very least they have a VERY good marketing department. I went in with every intention to get him measured but NO intention to buy because those shoes are INSANE! Seriously it is VERY VERY rare that I would pay $50 for my own shoes that I might actually wear for more than a hot minute. So I was going to take the shoe size they gave me, which was a 5.5 EXTRA wide (poor kid is already in husky shoes) and march to the nearest Payless to buy him some; however we stopped at Children's Place and after trying two pairs of pants on him and subsequently two meltdowns, plus a power outage we went home. On my way to Payless the next day mom called and lectured me on how important shoes are at this age and... blah blah blah:-). She said she'd be leaving work soon and meet us at Stride Rite. That's her prerogative right? You must respect your elders and let them buy your child shoes if they insist on it.

So we went to Stride Rite with Grandma and they measured him again apparently a lot of growing can take place in 24 hours because now his foot was a 6 wide (way to slim out those feet little man). Whatever... maybe they aren't so accurate in their sizing... kudos to their marketing department. When we left there Case had the cutest little tennis shoes and a pair of dressier shoes both with Velcro! A huge thanks to Grandma!!!!

Case's new shoes

18 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

*You're probably thinking, "wow! she must not feel good... she looks exhausted." The latter of the two is correct but I was feeling fine believe it or not. This was taken at the end of a long day and I was VERY tired. Someday maybe I'll get all dolled up, or as dolled up as I get, for one of these pictures. Yes, I'm also aware that this is what I was wearing in last week's picture. I've decided that I would wear the same thing so that if I ever really start to look pregnant it won't be just because of what I'm wearing. I also know that I probably could have picked a "nicer" outfit since I'm going to wear it every week. This is me. I don't really ever dress up except on Sunday and I'm pretty sure then my outfit might consist of the same pair of pants every week. My wardrobe is pretty limited, especially when I'm pregnant! So you get me in my "hope to be broken in soon" maternity jeans and long sleeve tee that I got on my honeymoon (It's my favorite long-sleeve tee!)*

Pregnancy Play-by-play
How Far Along: 18 Weeks


Size of baby: Baby J (I still need to think of a nickname for this baby!) is the size of an sweet potato (yummm...that sounds good right now)!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: They weighed me at the doctor's office on Monday (always my favorite part of any doctor visit). I've gained 3 pounds since my last appointment but I had lost 3 before that so I'm currently at 0 pound weight gain since the beginning of the pregnancy. Probably means I'll start packing it on now!

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing those jeans I told you about last week and hoping they'll feel more "broken in" any moment now. My mom also got me a jogging suit (I should probably rename this a "lounging around the house suit" or "my pants are too tight and I love the elastic waist suit" or maybe "I'm pregnant and not big enough for maternity pants but too big for regular pants so I will be wearing this everyday suit"). At any rate I'm loving the "suit" and it's really comfortable so each time you see me in it let's just pretend it's the first time.

Gender: If you saw Monday's post you know that my husband totally reneged on the envelope idea. He suggested during the ultrasound that she go ahead and tell him and give me an envelope. I know my husband and he wouldn't have last two seconds without telling me. He won... this time! So I'm happy to share that we are having another little boy:-) I think I'm destined for all boys! I hope they're all as much fun as Case has been!!!


Movement: Still think I'm feeling Baby J every now and then but certainly not that often yet. Those mom's on the "fat team" I think it is normal to feel them later since we have more padding between us and them. I think it also doesn't help that my placenta is in the front too.

Sleep: I'm pretty tired but sleep doesn't always come so easy or maybe doesn't always last is a better description. The sinus stuff is getting better so that helps! Seems like on the nights that I do sleep well I have really weird dreams. My dreams never make much sense when I start trying to relay them to Wayne... I usually even lose myself and the dream no longer makes any sense.

Cravings: Still loving the shredded lettuce salad with cottage cheese, green olives, a little ranch and a little French and regular Coke from a fountain (preferably McDonald's) but I'm also wanting french fries this week and I'm not talking about the kind baked in the oven! I've only given in a couple of times.

Symptoms: Still struggling with nausea off and on. I think I've managed an entire week with no Zofran though!

Best Moment this week: The ultrasound! There is nothing like seeing your baby moving around on the screen, especially when you can't feel it yet, oh and hearing the heartbeat and seeing it pump and hearing Brandi say "I see all the chambers of the heart," and "The cord looks great...all three vessels are there." It just brings me SO much comfort, I guess because I've been to one that didn't have this outcome. I'm so grateful for the technology that has given us the ability to have a glimpse of what's going on inside!

Hat!!!

I'm pretty sure this is blogworthy. Case hasn't worn a hat in months. He immediately removes them... until today! I'm hoping this is just in time for his pictures on Friday and it isn't a fluke!!!

IT'S A...

...BOY!

So where's the envelope you ask? Well let me start with this... walking into the ultrasound room I thought Wayne and I were on the same page... clearly from the lack of an envelope to share we were NOT! When the best ultrasound tech in the world, aka Brandi, asked if we wanted to do the envelope I said yes while Wayne said, "she does but I'm not!" So Wayne won this one because he wouldn't have even made it out of the office without telling me! So we're excited to share our news sooner than I thought!

Praise God for a healthy report too!!! I'm overwhelmed by God's goodness!!!!

More appointment details and ultrasound pics to follow!

What do you think???

Tomorrow is a big day for us. Lord willing we will find out whether it is Case's little brother or sister that's growing inside of me. There's been some discussion about whether or not we'll carry out the envelope idea or not (Wayne's vote is not). We'll wait and see tomorrow! In the meantime feel free to give us your guess with the poll in the upper right!

I always get a little nervous before ultrasounds because I know it can be a time for bad news. I am continually praying that God will take away my fears but sometimes I let it get the better of me. I'll be 18 weeks on Tuesday so we are quickly approaching the point where we lost the boys. Many people are excited after the 12 week mark, I think my relief starts more at the 20 week 5 day mark. We're getting there though!!! God has given me an awesome distraction in the meantime. My little man keeps me so busy I don't always even remember that I'm pregnant let alone have time to worry about it! I love that little boy!!!!!!!!!!!

Shermanators

My dad was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia in 2002. He went through his first round of chemo at that time. Then he relapsed in 2004 and underwent another round of chemo. His relapse is when we almost lost him. It wasn't the cancer or the chemo that almost took him but a reaction to one of the drugs that was used to treat the side effects of the chemo. He was in the ICU for a week and it was touch and go for most of it. He was in total psychosis, which was completely scary but very entertaining at the same time. He provided us some much needed comic relief during that week; however "Earl", which the sane refer to as the IV pole, did not make it through Dad's psychosis! Let me just add that my dad reads WAY too many spy type novels. I'll let your imagination fill in the psychosis details from there!

Every year since then we have been participating in Light the Night, a walk that raises funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, with the exception of one when I was afraid I might give birth to Case mid-walk. The first year we joined one of the local radio station's teams. The second year we started our own team. Since then we've had our own team for all but two years. It always amazes me to see how much support we get. So many people love my dad and are there every year to show their support. Others always help us by donating to our team. Either way they do it because my dad is such a great guy! He'd do anything for anyone and I love him so much! He's always been there for me through good times and bad. I don't think I ever played in any type of ball game that he wasn't in attendance for or coaching (my mom was always there too but right now I'm just keeping my bragging to my dad). If I was in a play he was either in the audience or running the sound board. He was always there! It is no wonder to me why so many people show us so much support when we Light the Night each year in his honor.

This year was particularly important to us because his doctor thinks he might be heading for another relapse. We don't really have details on how they would treat him this time because of all the complications last time. In April his numbers looked like he was heading for a relapse but when the doctor checked them a few months later they had bounced back some. The doctor said not to get our hopes up because it still is most likely where he is headed but it did buy us more time before we have to start talking about treatment. I praise God for this time! The end of this month he goes for more blood work and that's when we'll know where he is for sure. Please keep him in your prayers!

2010 Team Shermanators


Case and Grandpa (Yeah... they sort of look alike)


Dad, Case and me


Case and I with my friend Kelly... She's always there for us!


Case and his crazy hair waiting to walk (ride) for Grandpa


Case and his cousin Nolan riding for the Shermanator


Wayne's dad and step-mom with the Case Man


It's rare that I have any excuse for these shoes but since red is the color of support at Light the Night I feel as though they are totally appropriate. Don't worry, I quickly put them back in my closet for next year:-)


Case in his Cousin Eddy hat:-)


The after-party!

Zoo Trip

James is one of the boys in Baby Jam. He turned one on Thursday and we got to spend the afternoon with him and his mom, Sarah (yes, another Sarah) at the zoo. It was probably the most perfect weather we could have had. We had SO much fun!!!

James waiting for his carousel ride... seemed like a good idea... and then he got on!


Turns out James is no longer a fan of carousels but his momma is a trooper so she hopped right up on that horse and held him


Case on the other hand liked the carousel once it started moving... as with everything else he's not a fan of being stationary!


I've never noticed the crazy teeth that llamas have but this was seriously so funny to me!


James and Sarah checking out a goat


Case telling the goats "No, No!" He doesn't actually say it but every time he sees an animal he starts waving his finger. This started because Grandma taught him "No, no doggy!" So I'm pretty sure Case thinks everything on four legs is a dog! If you look closely you'll see his little finger just a waving in each of these shots!





After he felt as though he had sufficiently told each of the goats "No, no!" he just enjoyed walking around. If only we had a cage like this at home!


Happy Birthday James!!!!

17 Weeks

Today I am 17 weeks pregnant with our next little bundle of joy! I've been following a couple of other pregnancy blogs and apparently the thing to do weekly is to answer the same questions and post a belly profile picture. I'm thinking I'll start doing this as well. The only problem is that I'm definitely NOT one of those cute pregnant girls like the ones on the blogs I follow.

Turns out I'm fat. I've always been some form of fat and although, I'd like to blame it on some thyroid issue or my genes, I think it is safe to say I've earned it. It's that one thing I've never liked about myself but also never been very good at changing. Sure I've done the yo-yo thing where I lose a little and then gain it back but I've NEVER been one of those cute little girls that you see shopping in Forever 21. It just isn't me. It never has been me and I'm convinced it never will be me, especially now... turns out three pregnancies will, shall we say, change things. These are changes I would NEVER trade though!

So what does being fat have to do with being pregnant you ask? Well I don't get to flaunt my cute little prego belly around. The problem with being fat and pregnant is that the round little belly is there... somewhere but I can't see it and neither can the world around me. It's hidden, very well! Instead of looking pregnant I just look fatter than usual. When I was pregnant with Case I don't think I got my first pregnancy question from a stranger until I was about 3 weeks from my due date. I was at Subway and I could have kissed that lady; however I restrained myself because although I could have blamed my outburst on pregnancy hormones I thought it might still be inappropriate.

One thing you can find lots of on the internet are cute prego bellies. One thing you can't find much on the internet are fat prego bellies. So I'm taking one for the "fat team" and putting it out there. Here is the first of my fat prego belly pics.

Pregnancy Play-by-play

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby Johnston (I've got to think of a nickname for this baby!) is the size of an onion!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Am I really going there? About 4 lbs but somehow this varies by time of day... tomorrow morning it could 6 lbs or I could have lost weight... who knows!

Maternity Clothes: I finally marched into Motherhood Maternity with my FAVORITE maternity jeans, which are worn out in the legs...my chunky friends will understand this, and said, "I want these!" She found the darker less flattering version that doesn't have cool pockets but I'm sure they'll be more comfortable once I get them broken in. I can still fit in my regular pants but man oh man maternity pants are a pregnancy perk!!! I don't like stuff tight on my belly anymore. I'm pretty sure I can hear the baby saying, "momma, unbotton those pants, I can't breathe!" It's ok little one... neither can momma!

Gender: We will have our ultrasound on the 18th. Less than a week away. We're planning to have this top secret info put into an envelope to open when the time is right. It's a fun way to do it and it drives my husband TOTALLY crazy!

Movement: I thought I felt baby move a few days ago but I'm pretty sure tonight there was movement. I guess I should remember what that feels like since it wasn't even a year ago that I was feeling it!

Sleep: I'm pretty tired but sleep doesn't always come so easy or maybe doesn't always last is a better description. I've have lots of sinus stuff to help too:-(

Cravings: Right now my craving is shredded lettuce with cottage cheese, green olives, a little ranch and a little French. I don't know if that is weird because it's something I'd eat even when I'm not pregnant. My other craving is regular Coke. I buy it without the caffeine and I like it but nothing compares to a McDonald's Coke with lots of ice!!! I do limit this so the Caffeine Police can relax!

Symptoms: Still struggling with nausea off and on. I am occasionally taking Zofran to combat it but not needing to rely on that nearly as much at this point.

Best Moment this week: Feeling baby kick! There is nothing cooler than feeling your baby moving inside of you. I know men always say that they're glad women have the babies but I can't honestly say that I am too! The pain is nothing compared to this incredible feeling! I LOVE being pregnant!!

Picture-aholic

Liam's mom is kind of a picture-aholic like I am. Being the crafty person that she is, she made Case a birthday shirt like Liam's. SO CUTE!!! We decided this had to be documented in pictures so we took the boys to the park and got some pictures of them by the old barn. Here's a glimpse of our photo shoot:-)