Zander's First Concert!

Zander and I went went to a concert and skateboarding thing at Fiesta Mall, it was fun! When we got there we saw Mike Valleley and Nyjah Huston skate. Then we went back to the car to sit in air conditioning and wait for Alien Ant Farm to play.

When we got back out to the skate area we were standing in the shade and this girl said hi to me, it was this girl Shannon that I used to work with at personnel. She was there with her son and her friend and another little boy. So I talked to them for a little bit. The boys were climbing trees and Zander was laughing hystarically at them as they swung from branches like monkeys.

Then AAF came on and we went and watched. Zander didn't watch the band as much but he was so excited to hear it. He was in the sling and he started bouncing and kicking his legs and smiling. He watched some BMX guys during AAF. We sat down in the shade at one point and the coolest boxer puppy was sitting next to us and we got to pet him. Then we stood back up to watch AAF and Zander fell asleep in the sling. I was worried about it being too loud for him, but I think everything was fine. I used one hand to cover up his outside ear and he slept up next to me. There were other little kids and a few other babies there. (Zan was the only one in a sling though!)

After their set they came out and signed autographs and I got Zander's hat signed. We had to have a memento from his first concert! All the guys in the band were way cool and asking how old Zander was. This one girl was like "are you getting his head signed?" I'm like "no, his hat!" then she said, "Oh, cuz that would have been really cool" lol.








It was a good day!

Food!

Zander ate bites of the following tonight, we went to Sweet Tomatos for dinner: garbanzo beans, kidney beans, peas, carrots, sweet potato and CHICKEN! He really liked the chicken.

"caTT!"

Last friday Zan and I were reading one of his board books with animals and we get to the cat and the dog and we pet them and he leans over to kiss them (so cute!) and then he sits back up and pat's the cat and says "caTT!" he emphasizes the T. Sooooo cute! How smart is my kid? And he repeatedly said it and patted the cat.

Then Sunday we were over at Doug's parents house and Doug's dad was holding the cat and Zander was sitting in the high chair and he said "caTT" and everyone heard it! I told my mom afterwards and she said "oh yeah, he says cat" I guess he's been saying it for her. Anyways, that's my kids first word besides mama, hi, and hey.

Yesterday we went to Doug's parents for lunch and swimming. Doug took Zander swimming for the first time, he LOVED it! It was so cute he was kicking his legs and trying to get away, like he knew how to swim already! I took pictures and videotaped, they came out cute.








At lunch he was doing so good with eating! This is good because he has hardly ate any solids and I was starting to get a tad worried. I gave him some little bites of my veggie burger, and some watermellon and a few other things. Since he refuses mushy stuff we're going straight to bites of real food, within reason of course. He loved the veggie burger! He's had watermellon before with Colby, oh, and Colby gave him some peach last week and he loved it.

Zander 8 month update

Zander is 8 months old today so here's an update about him in the past month:
-He crawls all over the place!
-He can go from a crawl to a kneeling position and to a sitting position
-He pulls himself up to stand on EVERYTHING, last Monday was the first time he walked along the couch trying to get the remote.
-He crawls over to say hi to the cats and gets so excited when they let him pet him
-He crawls over to say hi to Vinnie and gets a little disapointed when Vinne gets up and walks away
-He has experienced food in the last 2 weeks but doesn't think much of it
-We tried: sweet potatos, avocado, a piece of mama's regular potato, and banana. He's gnawed on lime, celery and lemon. His favorite thing is rice crispy cereal, we hope to move on to cheerios soon so he can try picking them up himself.
-When I gave him banana(tonight) he promptly threw up.
-He's a total boobie-baby.
-He gives fives.
-He has the cutest giggle while we're tickling him, he cracks up!
-Not only does he have 3 teeth - tooth #4 and tooth #5 are coming in! I can't really let Zander chew on my fingers or hand anymore because he will bite and it hurts. But he thinks it's really funny to crawl up to my knee and bite it, it totally tickles.
-His hair is starting to come in more and he's getting some long locks of hair that curl at the back of his head like both my brothers had. I love it. I love the curls. It's still hard to tell if his hair is going to be brown, light brown or blond. It just depends how your looking at him. But I don't think he'll be a redhead as we previously thought he may be.

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The other day I was reading one of the baby magazines and a mom was talking about how she journaled her daughters life and just wrote little things. I wish I had done more of the little thing journaling. One of the things she wrote was "she folds her hands together when she nurses". Zander always did that and it was so precious. I think I took a picture of it.

So the other night we were laying in bed nursing and he was cuddled up next to me with his feet on my legs. Yes, his feet hit my legs, sometimes my knees! And I love the feeling of little feet up against me. When he was little his feet would be pressing my tummy when we layed down to nurse and it reminded me of how it felt when he was inside me. I love feeling his little feet up against me.

Pictures of the boy from this morning

At the play area at Metrocenter. I had to keep Zander from "kissing the baby", he wanted to kiss his reflection. :-)

And one from when we got home:

love

Zander and I were driving this evening and he was singing at the top of his longs. I mean signing! It was so dang cute. So we get home and I open the door and say to him "we're you singing for me?" and he grabs his little feet, which have is his little sandals on them, and pulls them up in out three times in a little V. So he not only sings for me, he dances for me! Love it.

Zander update

So Zander's been pulling himself up to stand on things for a few weeks. Monday was Doug's day with him and Zander pulled himself up on the couch and went for the remote, so Doug moved the remote and Zander walked along the couch to get to it. :-)

Zander is a speed crawler, he is on the move so fast.

He gives fives. You put out your hand and say "give five" and he does it -repeatedly. So I say "five, five, five, five". It's the cutest thing ever!

On Sunday one of Doug's grandma's was holding him and me and his other grandma were across the table and he demonstrated giving fives. So then me and and his other grandma clapped and said "yay". He looked at me and started clapping! I've never taught him clapping before, he just did it because we did it!

Poor kid really doesn't like food. I gave him some avocado for the first time on Sunday and he ate it, only making a little face. Then Monday I tried avocado again and he spit it out and whined about it. Tuesday we did a little bit more avocado with less of a fight. Tonight I boiled a sweet potato and mashed it and mixed in some breastmilk. I thought if I made it mushier he might like it better. Nope, he gagged 3 times and made plenty of faces. Vinnie liked the sweet potato though, I didn't want to waste any breastmilk nutrients - hahahha so I gave it to the dog.

Zander does love his little brown rice crispy cereals though.

Oh, and Zander got a hold of a quarter of a lime at my parents house yesterday afternoon and he shoved it right in his mouth and loved it. Wierd kid.

I feel like I'm not signing enough. We do MILK,DOG, waves hi & bye, and LOVE YOU. I try to do EAT when he eats and DRINK when he drinks. Since he loves the cats, and they actually let him pet them unlike Vinnie, I've been signing cat to him. He was so excited to pet Munky today he just kept looking back at me and I'd say "CAT" and do the sign. He was saying something like he was trying to say cat. He's so smart.

New food for Zan

I gave Zander a new food today - rice crispies made of brown rice! I wanted him to have a 'finger food' type food, but I don't think he's ready for cheerio's since he's only had sweet potatos once. So we were at sprouts and I found some brown rice crispie cereal with no junk added and the peices are so small I figured it would be safe.

It's cute when he eats them, he pulls my hand to his mouth for another one. We sat on the floor eating cereal for a while. He's such a little man eating his cereal then he'd grab his sippy cup and drink water.

nursing musing

Tonight after Zan's bath we were laying in bed nursing. It was wierd because after a while he had switched to that comfort suck but he was still awake with his eyes wide open staring at me. Then he proceeds to shove his hand in my mouth and feel my teeth. And I'd take his hand out, kiss it and try to redirect. Then we'd repeat this cycle. Eventually he went back to nursing suck and fell asleep. It was cute.

Pictures from Studio Mama!

update

Zander went to the doc on Monday, he weighs 22 pounds!!

Zander commando crawls now. That boy can move when he wants something. Things he is drawn to: tv remotes, cell phones, daddy's shoes, daddy's guitar, the cat, money.

Tonight Zander and Vinnie were laying on the bed and Zan scooted his way over to Vinnie and put his mouth on him. ummm, gross. Zan loves to put his mouth on anything. I had to go to work early because I had to go downtown for a class, so I left before Doug & Zan. Doug said he was sitting on the bed putting on his socks and shoes and Zander scooted over, pulled himself on his knees and started licking his back and putting his mouth all over Doug's back. Doug said he was soaked! haha, Zander also will put his mouth on my tummy and I say "That's where you used to live until you grew big enough to be born!" :-)

Zander sees his cousin Jacey all the time and he is FASCINATED. He really wants to touch her, so I'll take his hand and let him touch her leg gently because she is still tiny.

Bath Time!

trip to the Zoo!

Zan and I went to the Zoo with Becky & Sophie on Saturday. It was fun, but hot.

Zander updates

Zander's teeth have sprouted! You can see them now and you can definitely feel them - they are sharp! Zander is constantly sticking his tongue out to feel them. Even Uncle Marty and Auntie Colby noticed how much he's been sticking his tongue out lately.

Zander has such a love for music. He started hitting his toy drum last week so we started putting the bongos in front of him and he loves them! He get's excited when he sees them and just loves to jam out on his drums. He can hit with both hands but he usually hits with his right while scratching with his left.

Last night Doug brought home an acoustic bass from the studio. Zander was so excited when Doug showed it to him this morning. Doug put it in Zan's room so Vinnie wouldn't bother it and while I was changing Zander on the bed I let him check out the bass. He loved it! He kept hitting it and then he'd pull on a string and get so excited.

When Doug came home the two of them sat on the floor with their instruments and it was so cute. Doug played the bass and Zander would hit his drums. Then Zander would just sit and watch Doug all fascinated with the music. Then he'd hit the bass or try to pull the string. At one point Doug rolled back and laid on the floor playing the bass, then Zander decided to lay back just like Daddy right next to him.

He's such an amazing person these days. He is so insistent in pulling himself up to stand. And he loves to "walk" if you'll help him. He does a great job of stepping with each foot. Doug thinks he'll skip crawling and go right to walking.

in awesome news...

Zander signed MILK 3 times yesterday for Doug!!!! :-)

________________
We went to LLL last night and in an effort to crawl and chase after the toddlers Zander did 2 faceplants straight into the carpet, that = a screaming, hard to console child.

His teeth are just about popping through. I thought I saw something and felt something yesterday. Then at LLL one of the other moms was holding Zan while I went to the restroom and she's like "I see them!" she could see his teeth. Well, the are sharp and coming through now and he bit me with the first time with them, lovely.

Picture from Easter Sunday

He's a natural!

Zander was given the LeapFrog Learning Drum for Christmas from Uncle Mike & Auntie Nene. Since Doug is a drummer we are given drum related gifts, which is cool. We want Zan to know musical instruments and music in general.

Tonight he was on the floor and Doug turned on his drum. Zander started hitting the drum!! He was doing it soooo good. And he'd even repeat the patern of the drum! I took a little video of it, I'll try to put it up soon. Soooooo proud of our little music boy!

Since we don't have a guitar at home and Doug can't really play his drumset here Doug and I have been playing bongos for Zander, he likes it.

In other milestone news....
Zander has been saying "Mammmmmammmmaammmamm" and "Maaaumm" since yesterday morning. Now, he's been saying "Hi" for a while. It's not just me and Doug that have heard it: Colby, Marty, my mom, Melissa and Mickey have all heard him say it. He's just not real consistent, he says it when he feels like it. Mostly when he notices or sees the person and they say hi. But the "Mammmamaa" has been consistent since yesterday morning while I was getting ready for work. I'd set him down he'd say "Mammmmaaammmm" and put his hands up for me to pick him up. I was in the shower and he was in his chair and he said "Mamamamma" the whole time. I'd ask "Are you saying Mama?" and he'd smile. So yeah, I'm proud. :-)

Happy Easter

Easter eggs

My family colored easter eggs today. Zander would take an egg and suck on it so he got food coloring all over his mouth and hands. It was cute.

Happy 6 MONTHS to ZANDER!!!!

The love of my life is 6 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!! I can't believe it, he is truly the best kid. Doug and I are always so thankful we've got such a wonderful, healthy son.



Things he does:
-Eats his toes and pulls his socks off.
-Puts his arms up to be picked up.
-Puts his arms out and lunges when he wants to go to someone (ususally me or Doug, but my mom and dad, too).
-Sitting better for longer periods of time.
-Scooting all over the floor, usually backwards.
-If he's on the bed and trying to crawl he pushes up on his arms, gets his legs up and moves his feet but they will slide back and forth on the bed.
-He's talking with his high-pitched voice alot
-Get's really excited when he sees boob when he's ready to nurse.
-Likes to hold the boobs and move them acordingly while nursing.
-Likes to pinch, sqeeze and pump the boobs while he's nursing. I don't make these things up, people.
-Helps hold his bottles of EBM.
-Loves remote controls, cell phones and phones. He likes to talk to mama on the phone while I'm at work.
-Loves his sippy cup, he'll reach for it when he wants it and he can hold it.
-Wants a drink of whatever your drinking and will reach for your glass and wants to hold it. I let him try to drink water but usually just putting his mouth on the glass pleases him.
-Sunday he started chewing. He's not chewing anything but he'll just make the chewing motion.

I can't believe 6 months have flew by since Zander was born.

2 best parts of my day

Today I had to pick Zander up from the grade school field because my dad coaches Mickey's little league. Melissa watched Zan until I got there. When I got there I was greeted by a big ol' grin. Zan and I walked around the playground and I put him on the slides to let him slide down. Then I sat on the swing and held him and started swinging. He LOVED it! He just laughed and laughed and coudn't stop looking around while swinging. Now I look forward to picking up Zander on little league afternoons because we can swing! :-)

We came home and I put him on the floor for tummy time and for playing with his cars. He was trying to get his cars which were just out of his reach but he kept scooting backwards. He scooted himself way back off the blanket and turned himself around facing the other way. Zan can scoot! I can't believe it, he's growing up so fast - it makes me sad because he's not a little baby - but it makes me proud his so strong and healthy. I love him so much.

_________________love

things...

I love Zander so much, he's so adorable and smart and sweet. Doug said today it seems like he's changed alot in the last 2 weeks, he's growing and learning and doing new things.

He "talks" constantly. It's all about ma-ma-ma-ma-ma and baaa-mmmmbah-baaa-gbaaaa and mppppppfffffff mpppfffffff.

He loves being tossed around in the air. Doug holds him up high and then 'drops' him down low and he cackles and shrieks and can't wait for more.

He is so tickle-ish! His underarms get him going and laughing so hard he can hardly catch his breath.

He's rolling all over the place when he's in the mood, although is still perfectly content to lay in bed and stare at the cieling fan.

He get's excited when Vinnie runs across the room or jumps up on the bed. Oh, when your holding him and he gets excited he kicks his little legs all over the place.

He get's really excited to see me when I show up to pick him up at my parents. He gets excited when Daddy get's home.

He smiles for the camera.

He grabs his feet. One time I saw him put his foot in his mouth but it was a socked foot, so I took the sock off and he lost interest. But he grabs his feet and puts them near his face, we say "eat your toes! eat your toes!" and he just looks at us.

Oh, he got sooooo excited today because Doug put new batteries in his Fisher Price Ocean Aquarium. It sits on the changing table and he's always hitting it and touching it wanting it on, but the batteries have been dying. When I turned it on for him after Doug put in batteries it was sheer joy! He was so happy he just kept laughing and touching it and turning it off and on. I put it on the couch and sat Zander up next to me and it provided an hour of entertainment, he loves those fishies!

I just had to write everything down so I can remember.

We went to BrU today to check out the carseats. I was wearing Zander in the sling and he was right up front all snug and sleeping (he fell asleep in the car on the way there). He was so sweet and comfortable there, and I had him positioned just right. I should have had Doug take a picture cuz it's hard for me to get him all snuggled right up front anymore, he's so big, normally he's off to the side.

It seems like forever since I updated his pictures (I'm a month behind) but here's 2 so I can show off like a proud mama:

5 Months!

Zander 5 month updates:

-He's "teething" allthough there are no teeth in site!

-He can sit unassisted for about a minute.

-He LOVES dogs! He loves his Vinnie and even spreads out his hand to pet him. He laughs at Vinnie and enjoys watching Daddy & Vinnie wrestle. He also loves Meme & Poppa's dogs: Red Dog and Baby, especially Baby.

-He started laughing like "eh huh eh huh eh huh" - which we later found out he learned from his Uncle Marty, whom Zander thinks is just hilarious.

-He scoots a little on the floor, both on his tummy and with his bottom on his back.

Adorable new thing Zander started yesterday: he takes his mouth and puts it on my hand or arm and rubs his gums back and forth real fast. It is hilarious!

Last week Zander started making this high pitched talk and we couldn't figure out where it was coming from. My mom tells me today "You know what Zander watched and liked, Doug's going to be mad" I said what. "Teletubbies! He LOVED it!" hahahaahha, that's totally where he got the high pitched talk from!

--==HAPPY VALENTINES DAY==--

Look at our cutie-patootie!

Perfection

You are more perfect than I could have hoped,
more beautiful than I could have dreamed,
more precious than I could have imagined...
I love you more than I could have known. - author unknown

4 Month checkup (a little late..)

Zander went to the doctor today for his "4 month checkup", well he's almost 5 months now, oh well.

He weighs: 18 pounds 10 ounces !!!BIG BOY!!!

Nursing an (almost) 5 month old...

Nursing a almost 5 month old has it's challenges. He get's so easily distracted a lot of times I have to go to the other room to get him to nurse. He will watch the dog or the tv or the fan or want to talk to whomever is in the room talking. He shoves his hand in his mouth instead of the boob. He pinches my nipple and skin. He doesn't want to lay down, he wants to sit up. He's much stronger so he arches his back and can pull away when he's mad. If he's overtired it's even more of a challenge to get him to nurse. It's like he wants to be in control.

BUT, the things I love about nursing a almost 5 month old:
- staring into those gorgeous blue eyes
- the noises he makes when he's nursing and content
- he grabs onto my finger so tight and doesn't want to let it go
- AND, this is the greatest, he pets me. he rubs his bottom hand on my side, just gentle little pets. he'll move his top hand around on my skin. he also grabs my shirt alot too. it's so very sweet.

good day!

Zander and I took our first trip to the park for playgroup. It was pretty fun!

Then we stopped by Doug's work to take Zan's picture on the hemi and in the Barrett-Jackson car.

Then we went to dinner with our friends Deitra and Laramie and their family and friends. It was Laramie's birthday. Dinner was a blast! We went to Ah-so, which is Teppanyaki Sushi and Steak. Zander did great during dinner, he just got a little upset when they lit up the big flames, but other than that he was in a great mood. It was very fun!

the labor & birth survey

I've been meaning to fill out, just for fun I guess. And I'm bored.

Was your baby planned or a surprise? Very much planned.

When was the original due date for your baby: September 15, 2004

What is your baby's birthday? September 15, 2004

Was he early, late or on time? Right on his due date.

Did you know the sex of your baby before he was born? Yes, we finally got the right information at 28 weeks. (At 20 weeks we were told it was most likely a girl)

How did you know you were in labor: Contractions were 4 or so minutes apart, and about 45 seconds long. The midwife on call said "You could wait until they are lasting about 1 minute" but Doug and my mom thought it was time to get going.

Had you had any false alarms: nope

About how long was your actual labor: about 14 hours

When did you go to the hospital: Wednesday September 15 @ 5 AM

Did you have an OB or midwife? I saw a few different midwifes and had Marla for the delivery, we liked her.

Did your water break or did they break it for you: I really didn't want it broken, I wanted it to break on it's own. But, the nurse broke it on accident when she was checking me at about 9:30 AM

Did you get sick at all: I threw up once during labor.

Did you have pain meds: NONE!

Did you have any complications: I pushed for 3 hours! Zander was a big baby and his heartrate dropped a few times during pushing so I was given oxygen.

Who was in the delivery room with you? Doug, my mom, my midwife Marla and the hospital nurse.

What time was your baby born: 1:18 PM

How much did he weigh and how long was he: 9 pounds 8 ounces, 21.5 inches

If you could, is there anything you would change about your birth experience?
I wish we would have had the video camera on, not from the crotch view, but we had it set up to be on the side up near my head. No one knows how to do anything with the video camera but me so it didn't get turned on. I wish I would have had the moment Zander was born on video, I can only try to replay it in my head.

I would have also had my sister in the room taking pictures, again, not from the crotch view.

I would have waited to start pushing until Marla was in the room. The hospital nurse had me pushing all wrong, it wasn't the way we wanted it to go. I woud have utilized the squat bar and the all-fours positions like I wanted to. Birthing on your back is the worst way to go, especially with a huge baby. I knew this, it just didn't work out the way I wanted it, too. Otherwise everything was good, except I wish we would have birthed at the birth center instead of the hospital. Oh well.

What one thing about your baby's birth really sticks out in your mind? It was amazing. Pushing my baby out like that was the most amazing thing I've ever done. I believed in myself and my body and I knew I could do it without drugs. I was on a high, I felt so strong and empowered.

What one thing do you remember most about your baby when you saw him for the first time? His poor little cone-head from being in the birth canal for 3 hours. He was beautiful though, and HUGE!

Who came to visit: my Mom & Dad, Melissa & Mickey, Mike & Lindsey, Marty & Colby, Doug's Mom & Dad, Dani, Mikey and Madison. They were all in the little waiting room from about 9 am until the baby was born. Doug's grandparents also visited us, twice.

Who was the first to hold the baby: Me! I helped pull him up to my tummy. Then Doug, then my mom. When the kids came to visit I think Colby was first, then Lindsey.

What did you do the hours after the baby was born:I scarfed the food they brought to me but I couldn't eat the sandwich cuz it was turkey or something. Our families came in the delivery room. We got moved to recovery. Doug's family got me more food that I could eat. Tried breastfeeding a bunch of times but Zander wasn't hungry. Fought off the evil nurse witch that wanted to give him formula! Eventually he nursed. Then slept.

Did you know what name you wanted before he was born: Yes, I knew I wanted Zander Daniel since before I became pregnant. Convincing Doug was the hard part.

How long did you stay in the hospital: I spent 2 nights, so we got discharged on Friday. I needed the sleep and rest but it sucked fighting off formula-feeding evil nurses! And then the different lactation consultants we're annyoing. And having to keep track of how much he nursed and when and his poopies and pee's. Ugh. That sucked. But I'm glad we stayed 2 nights because coming home to Vinnie was a challenge.

Random hospital memories:
Scarfing the food everytime it came. I was so HUNGRY I couldn't wait for the food to get delivered and I would eat it all up so fast. And it wasn't that bad. I enjoyed the breakfast of: oatmeal, toast, eggs and a hash brown with milk and juice. And for lunch and dinner I'd have a gardenburger, fries and fruit.

The second night we stayed Doug brought movies from home, we watched Singles, then Vacation, then High Fidelity.

I remember thinking "Wow, I don't have to go to work for like 12 weeks!" haha. (Oh, I miss materity leave!)

We had an awesome recovery nurse the first day, it's just he one that was on that night sucked ass. Then our awesome nurse came back the second day and we told her about evil nurse. She made sure we had a good pro-breastfeeding nurse the second night, and she was good. The last day our nice recovery nurse stopped by to say hi, she wasn't even working!

quote from mothering magazine

The way you talk to your child becomes his or her inner voice.
The way you model acceptance of your own body becomes the way your daughter learnes to accept hers.
The way you model the distribution of chores in the household provides a blueprint for your children's marriages.
Bringing consciousness and awareness to the small acts of your life with your family can change the world.
Your mothering is enough.

We went to the movies!

Last night Doug, Zander and I went to see the 10:20 showing of Meet the Fockers. Zander was a perfect angel! He sat on my lap watching about 1/3 of the movie while I rocked him. He even laughed at some of the funny parts, he liked the baby. Then I nursed him and he slept. He didn't make a peep the entire movie! The movie was pretty funny....alot of parenting references to breastfeeding, baby sign, co-sleeping, Ferber-izing, Continuium Concept, etc. The movie wasn't as funny as the first though.

And now my favorite pictures of Zander, so far:


(this one has a border around it so you can't see the top part)

Good day!

+Zander is 4 months old today! He is so wonderful, I just love him so much. I tell him all the time he is the best kid and we're so lucky to have him.

+I took Zan to Kiddie Kandids to do his 4 month pictures. They turned out AWESOME!

+Doug, Zander and I went to Glendale Glitters - which wasn't that exciting but there were a few good things. We had to park a few miles away so they had big busses shuttling people down to Glendale. Zander was in the sling and he loved being able to see out the window. There were christmas lights everywhere and hot air balloons lighting up everywhere. There was also people everywhere. We looked at some antiques and just walked around.

+There was an awesome rock-a-billy swing band called Dynaglider. It was Zander's first time seeing a band! He was very interested in the band and I bounced him around a little bit to the music in the sling.

+We sat under a gigantic weaping willow tree and ate the goodies, then I nursed Zander right next to where the band was playing :-) He was getting distraced cuz the music though so we had to wait till they took a break. After the break the singer/guitar player from the band walked by and said "Now that is the coolest hat!" about Zander's winter hat - he gets so many compliments on the hat!

+Then we watched more of the band before we left.

Intact Baby Boys Are Love

Zander is on an anti-circumcision webgraphic!


Intact Baby Boys Are Love

Zander is on the right with a big 'ol grin! :-)

Milestone: Rolling Over Part II

Zander rolls over from back to tummy now!!

I was on the floor playing with him when he did it and I couldn't beleive it. Doug said "Oh yeah, he's been working on that now" because Doug was with him all day the day before(Monday).

Our boy is so strong!

Happy New Year!

I've gotten really behind on updating the website with pictures and stories since I've gone back to work. I hope to try to update at least once a week.

Zander's doing great, he continues to be healthy and grow. He loves to stand if you hold him up and he loves to giggle and "talk".

He got to stay with his Nani & Pappy and his great-grandparent's Maw & Paw over the Christmas break weeks while I was working. He also stays with his Mimi & Auntie Colby a few days a week while I'm working.

We're so very thankful to everyone that helps take care of Zander. Thank you for loving our little boy as much as we do.

Zander!!

Zander
Protector of mankind : Greek


You have great self-confidence and a charming personality which attracts many friends and admirers. Your innate sense of personal power and ability to lead are ideally suited to positions of authority. Being so versatile and seeing the big picture your ambitions are high and much is usually expected of you. With patience and tenacity you will certainly fulfill the great potential you have for success.

from here

2 Month Doctor Visit

Zan Man had a doctor appointment today. He weighs 15 pounds 8 ounces and is 24 inches long! He got 3 shots: DTap, Hib, and IPV. He was a champ though.

Another birthday celebration

We celebrated my 29th birthday with the Murphy's tonight. Zander got a little bit scared during the singing & blowing the candles out.

Here's some pictures:



Again, thanks to everyone that gave me money for my birthday. I got enough to buy my breast pump. It's going to an excellent cause!

For my 29th Birthday...

Zander and I celebrated with a movie! We went to see an 11:20 showing of Alfie at Harkins Metro. Zander was great! I wore him in the sling when we got there, we got popcorn and a soda (a nice lady helped me carry my soda!). As soon as the movie started I nursed Zander and he fell asleep on me. I was able to eat my popcorn and drink my soda during the movie. Zander woke up once and I nursed him again and he slept some more. He never made a sound during the movie. So happy birthday to me!

Then we walked around the mall. When I wear Zander in the sling people stop to talk to us way more than if he were in the stroller. He enjoys being up at my level and looking around, too.

We had birthday dinner at Doug's parents house so Zander got to visit with Noni & Pappy, Maw & Paw, and Auntie Dani and Cousin Madi. It was fun, Zander was totally hamming it up for everyone. Here's a picture:


Zander asked his daddy to get me a nice card and asked him to write about how much he loved me. It was sweet, I cried.

It was a great birthday! Everyone gave me money as a gift, which I really appreciate! I will be using the money so I can buy a breast pump for when I go back to work. This way I can pump mama's milk for Zander while I'm working. So, thanks to everyone!

Smiles & Giggles Every Day

Zander is just hamming it up! He smiles so much now. He smiles during diaper changes when I sing silly songs to him. He smiles when Doug and him have 'Daddy Time'.

He laughes a lot now. It is the cutest thing ever! And we 'talk' a lot too, it's mostly just "ah" and "eh" back and forth but he seems to be enjoying the conversation!

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday we went with Mimi & Papa to a arts & crafts festival in Litchfield Park. Zander slept in his stroller (with Mimi pushing) almost the entire time, he loves to be on the move! Then we went to the Roadhouse for dinner with Mimi & Papa to see Marty & Colby. Zander slept on Mimi pretty much the entire time. He loves his Mimi!

Today we had a nice breakfast, drove up to the Desert Hills area to pick something up and then went to the Anthem Outlet malls. Zander spent the beginning of shopping in the stroller. They have a nice "Mother's Lounge" at the outlet mall so we nursed in there on a comfy couch. And then I put Zander in the sling for a bit, then Daddy held him for a bit, then it was back to mama. He loves being held of course! By the end of shopping he was asleep in the stroller. It was a nice day!

Nursing Baby Fun!

Yesterday Zander and I went to nursing mama's group. I really like going and Zander enjoyed it this time as well. We were all sitting at a long table because the birth center was being used and Zander and most the other babies were sitting on the table. He really took notice to the other babies and was listening to their noises. There's another little boy born the same week as Zander and theres a 2.5 month old little boy. The other babies are a little bit older. It's nice to be around other nursing mama's and babies though, I'm going to miss it even though I've only gone twice. I'm going to try to make the December meeting though, if I do it will be my last one cause it's during work hours.

I plan on joining Le Leche League soon. I've been meaning to go but keep missing the meetings. It's great to be around other nursing moms and I'm hoping there will be some working moms at the evening meetings.

Milestone: last night he laughed!!

Zander had been a little fussy all day yesterday. So after Doug came home from work he was holding him and talking to him and Zander started smiling and then Doug tickled his thigh and Zander laughed! It was a real happy boy laugh!! He had a big smile and just stared at Doug and laughed! Neat huh?

Mama & baby milestone...

Zander has been nursing for 6 weeks! I'm so happy to be giving my baby boy the best!

Milestone: Rolling over already?

One day last weekend I had Zander on his blanket on the floor for tummy time and he used his back legs and kicked himself over to his side then his back. I thought it was just a fluke.

Well, yesterday I put him on the blanket on his tummy and walked to the kitchen to wash my hands when I came back he was off the blanket and on his back. Then today during tummy time he did the same thing, I put him on his tummy and he eventually got himself on his back.

Zander seems to enjoy tummy time. If I put my hand underneath his chest for support he will rock his bottom back and forth on his knees. He kicks himself all over the blanket, he just doesn't have as much arm and upper body strength/control as his lower body yet. I know they aren't supposed to crawl for months. I don't think Zander is even close to actually crawling. He's just not your avarage 6 week old.

Webiste updates...

I just uploaded Zander's 1 Month Portraits and Week 6 Pictures.

Enjoy!

Zander's first mini-vacation

We had Doug's 10-Year High School Reunion last night. The reunion was in Scottsdale and since Zander's too little to leave (he only nurses right now, we haven't introduced bottles of breastmilk yet) we got a room at the resort where the reunion was and my parents came to stay with us.

So, we packed up extra diapers and blankies for Zander and headed over to Scottsdale. Doug and I went to the reunion and after we finished dinner my mom called to say Zander was awake. I went and nursed him and then brought him back to the party to show him off. He was a hit, everyone thought he was the cutest baby! He was the only baby there, of course.

Zander is 1 month old today!

Wow, I can't believe Zander is 1 month old already! Time flies...

We're having so much fun with Zander. He's growing so well and each day he grows a little bit more. He's starting to smile a little bit. Zander is beginning to take notice of everything going on around him more. He has great control of his head, or as we call it 'his big noggin'. He loves to kick his legs and climb up us when we're holding him. He's not too fond of bath time but loves to kick around when I dry him off on a towel on the counter.

We're having a wonderful time with our little boy.

Tonight we had Zander's pictures taken at Sears, they are really cute. I'll get them scanned & posted soon (can't right now someone's sleeping on me).

Daddy's Birthday & other stuff...

Wednesday was Doug's birthday! Zander & I met him at the original Garcia's for lunch! Zander slept through most of lunch and woke up towards the end.

After lunch I headed down to The Training Academy for a quick visit. We got to visit with Anita, Grant, Nanette and a few other people, it was fun. It was also weird after not being there for 3 weeks! :-)

That night for Doug's birthday we went over to Noni & Pappy's for dinner. Mimi & Poppa, Maw and Dani & Madi were all there too.

Thursday I went to the Nursing Women's Support group at Bethany. It was very nice to meet other nursing moms and babies!

Zander's Third Week

Week 3
Zander and I had a busy day on Wednesday. We started off with a visit to the doctor at 8:40 a.m. We weren’t planning to go back so soon but I need a referral to get his second PKU test done at the lab. I was glad we went because I wanted her opinion on his jaundice (he was a little jaundiced, but that’s perfectly normal in newborns, especially breastfeed babies). She said he looked much better, his color was looking great! She weighed him and he was 10 pounds 12 ounces! He gained a pound & a half in a week! He’s a big, healthy, beautiful, boy!

Then Auntie Melissa came over and went to Sears with us to get Zander’s 2 week pictures done. He slept the entire way to the mall and while we were waiting. So, we had to wake him up and hope he wouldn’t be too fussy or want to eat right away. He was great, he didn’t get upset during the pictures. Thye turned out really cute!

Later that afternoon I had to take Zander to the lab for his PKU test and I was really dreading it! He was just sleeping in his baby seat and I took him back. The lab technician was really nice and she got him out of his seat and he woke up a little. He was laying on the table just looking at me when she poked his foot and he let out a scream I’ve never heard before! Poor baby! It was so hard to see him cry like that, he actually had tears in his eyes. She had to shake his foot to get the blood out for the test and when she was done she picked him up and he stopped crying.

That night we went to Noni & Pappy’s for dinner. Doug’s grandparents Maw & Paw came over as well as friends of the family: Pam, Maria and Micki. Dani & Madison also came over later. Everyone got to hold Zander and he slept most of the time we were there.

We went to the Murphy’s Sunday night for Auntie Melissa’s birthday.

Zander's Second Week

Daddy went back to work on Wednesday so it was just mama & baby all day. We did what we normally do, nurse & sleep. :-) Wednesday night we went over to Doug’s parent’s house for dinner and Dani, Mikey & Madison were there as well. We compared Zander’s feet & hands to Madi’s, they are pretty darn close! Zander has huge hands and feet!

Thursday Doug took the day off from work because I wanted to visit the Lactation Nurse. First we went and visited Mamaw (Doug’s grandmother, so Zander’s great-grandmother) at her work: Dunkin Donuts. Zander slept for a while in his car seat but then woke up. People were commenting what a cute kid! Then we went to the Lactation Nurse because I was paranoid about getting nursing right. After waiting for a few minutes and having a big ol’ messy diaper & clothing change we got to see her and Zander was pretty hungry! He latched right on and ate great, so she said we were doing good. It was a great relief to see her though and know we were doing all right. She also gave us tips for the future and we can call her any time we need to.

Doug and I decided to go mattress shopping because we suddenly realized our mattress was wrecking our backs. Instead of lugging around the baby seat or trying to get the stroller in and out for such quick trips we tried the baby sling for the first time. It worked great, we could get Zander in and out of his car seat and in and out of the sling and he would just sleep. I think he liked being so close to me. So we went to two mattress stores and then to Target, Zander slept the whole time!

Saturday night we went to my parents for dinner, so Zander got to see Mimi & Poppa again. He slept and ate most the time.

Sunday we gave Zander some tummy time since his cord stump had fell off on Friday. He is so strong! He can lift his head up and move from left to right. He also kicks his back legs around like he wants to crawl.

After Zander & Daddy took a long nap we headed to Baby’s R Us to get a few things, Zander slept in his sling while we were there. Doug and I were hungry and trying to figure out what to eat. We both thought Red Robin sounded good but we hadn’t dined out with Zander yet, plus he was so new! We decided to give it a shot and took him in his baby seat. We asked to sit on the patio because it was a nice night and there was only one party out there. I have just started getting used to nursing in front of people and hadn’t done it yet, so I figured that was a good place to start if I needed to. Zander slept in his seat the whole time and Doug & I got to eat dinner out for the first time since before he was born (Ok, it wasn’t even 2 weeks but it felt like a while!)

Then we stopped by Doug’s parents house and Noni & Pappy bought Zander some really cute outfits including a Diamondbacks outfit, an outfit with tools on it, and Halloween outfit with little Frankenstein slippers! Too cute!

On Monday Zander decided to nurse most of the day. I want my baby to be big and healthy so that’s just fine by me. They call them “growth spurts” when the baby decides to nurse all day long for a day or two. Generally, babies get them around 2-3 weeks. Zander has these little smiles while he’s dozing off nursing, it’s so cute!

Babymoon: Zander’s first week

Zander was born Wednesday on Wednesday 9/15. (See the Birthstory)

Zander was greeted by most of his extended family just a few hours after birth:
· His Mimi & Poppa (Grandma & Grandpa Murphy)
· Aunt Melissa & Cousin Mickenzie
· Uncle Mike & Aunt Lindsey
· Uncle Marty & Aunt Colby
· Noni & Pappy (Grandma & Grandpa Morrison)
· Aunt Dani, Uncle Mikey & Cousin Madison
· Maw & Paw (Morrison Great Grandparents)

We stayed in the hospital until Friday 9/17. Daddy was with us most of the stay except when he went home to rest, shower and play with the dog, Vinnie. Daddy spent the night with us though, sleeping on the uncomfortable bench in the hospital room. He brought movies from home for us to watch on the second night, which was nice. Auntie Melissa spent a lot of time with us in the hospital, too. She helped me get positioned for nursing, get in and out of bed because I was pretty sore, and got me ice and water. It was great having her there.

When we brought Zander home on Friday he was greeted by the family dog, Vinnie. First, Doug came in to say hi to Vinnie, then Doug came out and I went in. Vinnie must have missed me a lot, he was going nuts. Then Doug brought in Zander. Vinnie was fired up most of that day, crying and barking a lot. He didn’t seem to be jealous of the baby but he’s never seen a person that small before.

My parents and Melissa and Mickenzie came over and my mom & dad made dinner for us. Vinnie would get very anxious when others would hold Zander. My mom held him for a while on the couch and Vinnie stayed right by her side. He’s protective of Zander. He’d much rather Zander be held by Mama or Daddy.

Saturday night Doug’s parents came over to visit with Zander, Vinnie got a little bit better. Sunday night we went to my parents for dinner and Zander got to visit with the Murphy family again.

Doug was off work Monday & Tuesday so we just spent our days getting to know our little boy, babymoon is what they call it. He is just so beautiful and precious. Zander seems to be wired just like his parents and would rather sleep during the day and stay up at night. Zander just does what he needs to do: eats, sleeps, poops & pees. This makes me very happy because I know he’s eating well. I also discovered we can nurse laying down in bed, and that’s a very nice thing because I was exhausted those first few days!

Tuesday Doug & I took Zander to see the doctor for his 1 week check up. She said he was a perfect 10! He got weighed and had put on 2 ounces since checking out of the hospital, so he was up to 9 pounds 6 ounces! He’s been eating great!

Birth Story

I typed up the Birth Story of Zander. You can read it HERE

Welcome to the world Zander!

I've been meaning to give an update here but ya know how it is when you have a new baby. Time just flies...

As you probably know, Zander arived Wednesday 9/15 (right on his due date!) at 1:18 pm. He weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21.5 inches long! There's a bunch of pictures on the website already, go check them out. We think he's pretty darn cute.

Zander is doing WONDERFUL. He's a beautiful, perfect, healthy little boy! We're enjoying every moment with him.

I've wrote up the birth story and I have a ton of pictures to post to the website. I'm working on getting the website reorganized so it will be easier to navigate. I'm also trying to organize all the pictures I've been taking.

So, hopefully more on the website soon!
~Michelle, Doug, and Zander

Still hangin in there! But I think we might be getting close...

Here is a picture Doug took of me Friday night:

39 weeks & 2 days pregnant!

Almost there!

Wow, just 5 days until my due date, I can't believe it! I thought maybe baby boy would arrive a little early but I guess not. Doug says he likes where he's at, who can blame him?

I'm doing pretty good - just feeling uncomfortable and huge. And I've developed a lovely little rash on my tummy that is supposed to go away after having the baby. I'm still working, but just half days since my feet swell up pretty nicely if I sit in my chair at work too long.

Doug did a great job painting the baby's room and getting everything ready. There's pictures of the room on the baby website: Click here to see. When we get the bedding and the rest of the things in the room we'll update the photos.

So I just wanted to update this journal since it's been about a month since the last update. Hopefully my next update will be all about baby boy's arrival! I can't wait to meet him! :-)

Lot's of Baby Happenings!

The Baby Shower was last Saturday at my friend Becky's house. It was really great, my mom cooked awesome food. Becky got a yummy cake, too.

It was so nice to see everyone that came. We recieved some really wonderful gifts that will help when the baby comes. Thanks so much to everyone that came!

Also last weekend we got the baby's room set up! Doug painted the room blue. We picked up the crib that Doug's parents bought us on Friday. Doug picked up the dresser they bought us on Saturday. Doug & his dad put the crib and dresser together on Saturday. It was so sweet, I came home Saturday after the shower and everything was set up!

My sister Melissa came over and painted a mural from the book Go, Dog. Go! on the wall over the baby's crib. It looks amazing! She's a great artist.

We worked really hard last week so we'd have some things ready before the baby shower. This week we've been taking it easy but I'm sure my nesting bug will kick back in. I want to get everything ready for our baby boy's arival!

33 Week Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound at the perinatalogists office, just to check baby's sizing. He looks healthy & beautiful, just a little big. ;-)

We got some pics. We got a profile, which is cool. The face one isn't as clear as last week though.

It's interesting how baby's situate themselves. He's still head down, so that's good. He's got one foot up high by my right rib and one down low in front of his head. Then he's got one arm right by his face, he likes to cover up with it during the ultrasounds. The other arm is down(or up) by his bottom. We got confirmation that he is a boy!

We got to videotape again, so this is the 3rd ultrasound we've videotaped. It's really cute to see his little face and little feet.

Doug started painting the baby's room last night! I'm so excited!

A pregnant me picture!

33weeks. Barefoot & pregnant. I feel huge.

32 Week Ultrasound

It was hard to get a good view of him cause he's down low, but Doug says he has my nose, lol.

31 weeks & counting

Doug went to San Deigo over the weekend and he bought this for the baby:

I love it. It's the first thing he's bought for the baby. :-)


 
 
I'm missing some things, let me know if you find them. I can't seem to find my hip bones, or feel my ribs, and just today I lost my ankles.  Oh what fun!  haha

30 weeks today!

10 (or so) more weeks left! I can't believe it. Time is flying by. Baby Boy has been very active.

Busy Baby

Baby boy has been really active today! All day at work he was kicking and moving. I spent the majority of my night at home feeling him kick, watching my belly 'jump' and feeling him move across my tummy. It's amazing.

OH BOY!!

We had an ultrasound today and found out that baby is a BOY! Boy were we surprised!

This ultrasound was amazing! We got to video tape it and we got lots of pictures! The best part was seeing baby open his mouth and yawn four times. He's got chubby cheeks and hair on his little head already. Everything looked good and baby's pretty big for his gestational age already.

Here's some pictures:

We saw the midwife today and all is well. When we were getting ready to leave she said "See you in two weeks" and I was like "Omigosh! Already?" I can't believe how quick it's going by.

Doug and I will register soon and we have to start work on the baby's room.

Baby Website & More!

I made a baby website tonight:

www.stem31.com/baby

I also set up a fun pregnancy pool where people can guess all sorts of stuff, so go play!

Click the link and enter Baby_Morrison in the game name field.
Baby_Morrison
(that's the word Baby then the underscore button(shift & the -key)then the word Morrison)
I couldn't have made it any more confusing, lol.

Doug got to feel the baby kick for the first time!

I should mention I've been feeling the baby move ALOT now. Sometimes baby kicks my bladder which is not so fun, hehe. I do love to feel the baby move!

So I'm sitting here at the computer now and the baby always kicks while I'm sitting. So I ran into the bedroom cause Doug's watching a movie in there. I layed flat on the bed and pushed my hand down on the belly, I felt the baby kick from the outside for the first time. So I put Doug's hand there and the baby kicked! Doug freaked out!!! It was the funniest thing.

Hypnobirthing classes completed!

We have completed our five weeks of Hypnobirthing classes to prepare us for childbirth! The classes were so informative and inspiring. Going into the classes I really didn't know much about childbirth and now I've learned so much. I'm know Doug has too. To be organized and ready to go I put all of our important handouts in a binder so Doug has everything he needs to read and remember right at hand! :-)

My mom attended all of the classes so she and Doug can be my labor companions. I've learned good forms of breathing, not that wierd panting breathing you see people on TV & movies do. We've learned what relaxes me which is nice.

I've been using a cd we got with the class called "Rainbow Relaxation" I love that thing! It really does the trick! There's also a track on the cd called "Birthing Affirmations" which is nice. Now I have about 16 or so weeks to practice.

We were sad last night when we left the class, me & my mom will miss seing Debbie (our Hypnobirthing educator). It was extra nice because we were the only people in the class so we really got one on one attention. I'll also miss seeing my mom every week for dinner & class.

Thanks so much to my mom for helping us with these classes, we really appreciate it!

Well, It's a BABY!!

We don't know 100% what the sex of the baby is.

The tech did all the measurements first: the baby has an estimated weight of 1 pound already! Baby's measuring a little bit a head of schedule by about a week and half.

So the tech was doing a scan from the top of the head and we all three thought we saw something between the legs. So the tech said "Well, it may be a boy." Then he did more measurements and tried to get a good view of the crotch. When he changed and had a view from the bottom, we could see the buttcheeks & the legs sticking out there was nothing there. He said what we saw earlier was probably the cord - since it comes from the middle also. He said he's 75-80% positive it's a girl. His reasons being, and I could see this well, in between the legs it was dark. When it's dark on a ultrasound that means theres fluid. When it's light on an ultrasound that means it's tissue or bone. In between the legs I could see what looked like a triangle with rounded corners that was dark in color. So it looked like it could be a girl. But he couldnt get the baby to switch positions for a better view. I moved on each side even.

Baby was active, I could see her/him sitting with legs crossed from the side, too cute! Doug said it looked like frog legs. And from the top I could see the little arms moving all over, I swear the kid was throwing punches! The tech was like "Quit moving kid!" I did have a Jamba Juice before I went so I think that had something to do with the baby's activity. He asked if I could feel the baby but I really can't feel it when I'm laying down, especially flat. I really feel the baby best when I'm sitting after I've ate. Just like now, I can totally feel it.

So here's a picture of our 311 alien head baby (the head reminds me of the alien heads on the Blue album). This is the only pic we got, so that kinda sucks. I would have liked a profile or a pic of arms or legs.

Other than not being able to get a good view of the privates everything else looked good: saw 4 limbs, brain, heart, spine, neck, stomach, etc. While we would have liked to know in advance what we're having we're now prepared to be surprised. We will be happy with whatever the lil'bean is! We can't wait to meet her or him.

Doug's mom did take us to put a crib on lay-away. We love the crib! It's a beautiful pine color. It converts to toddler bed and then headboard and footboard on a full bed.

Then we went to Baby Depot and put the dresser we wanted on lay-away, the pine one. I love it. We're very happy with the furniture. THANK YOU DAN & PAM!!

Last week....

Monday 4/5 was our 7 year anniversary! To celebrate Doug and I went to Tucson to see a band I love, Thrice. So baby got to attend another concert in utero. This one was louder than the last one and since the baby is a few weeks farther along I'm sure he or she was rocking out. So if the baby comes out liking punk & metal we'll know why :-)

While in Tucson we were shopping and I finally got to pick up a book I've been wanting to get! It's called "Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go!" It's an adaptation of Dr. Suess's "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" and it's meant to be read to your unborn child. I've started reading it at night to my belly.

Speaking of my belly I'm feeling movement a little more, but it's still sporadic. It's such a wonderful feeling!

On Tuesday my mom and I attended a Hypnobirthing seminar and we will be using Hypnobirthing as our childbirth preparation class. It's basically a self-hypnosis and relaxation technique to deal with the pain. At least, that's what I've gotten so far from what I've learned. Doug and I will start classes next week! My mom will also be learning so she can be a back-up coach for Doug.

My mom can't walk into Baby's R Us (which was where the hypnobirthing seminar was) without buying presents. She bought the baby 2 sets of cds which include nursery rhymes, lullabies and classical music. She also bought baby the Goodnight, Moon book that comes with a night light that matches the book. Goodnight, Moon was one of my nephew Mickenzie's favorite books when he was little. And I've been playing the classical music cd for my belly to counteract the punk rock! There is no doubt our child will love all sorts of music since Doug & I love it so much.

Speaking of nightlights, you can't have too many and baby already has two! My friend/co-worker Anita bought me the cutest nightlight! It's got The Pokey Little Puppy on it! The Pokey Little Puppy was my favorite children's book. It's so cute, I just love it.

On Friday we had a 17-week check up at Dr. Brekke's. Doug went along this time, I really wanted him to hear the heartbeat. Baby was squirming a little bit at first but Dr. Brekke found it and it was 140bpm.

We're changing our OB care to a midwife at Bethany Women's Center. I really want to use the new birth center that is scheduled to be open at Phoenix Baptist Hospital in the next few months (we hope it's open by September!). I asked for the midwife that Dani used with her pregnancy and delivery, I hope we get her. We have our first appointment there on May 3rd.

Oh, and most importantly: Our 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for Friday April 30th at 2:15 pm!! We can't wait to find out if our baby will be a girl or a boy! Stay tuned right here for an update...