Baby Boyer

Well the last post I wrote as I was waiting for the ultrasound tech to come back in the room so I could leave. I ended up waiting for quite awhile. Turns out I had to wait to speak to a doctor because the ultrasound showed a problem with the baby's heart. Our little tiny baby has what's called a ventricular septal defect(VSD), which is a big long term for a hole in the baby's heart in between the 2 main chambers.

It's the most common of all birth defects, and there's a chance that it could close up on its own. The doctor is playing it extra safe though since our baby is also measuring about 10 days behind. The plan at this point is to have an echo and a growth check ultrasound on Feb 11th.

Sorry it took me so long to update with this, but I needed time to process and talk to all our family so that they weren't blindsided by the blog. We appreciate all your prayers and I'll update again after the 11th.
 
On a funny note, 3 of the middle kids (Elizabeth, Ryan, and Anna) wanted to know the sex of the baby. Since I felt like they should have a little fun too I let the ultrasound tech tell them, fully knowing that they would eventually spill the beans to me. They actually didn't tell me, but someone they did tell accidentally told me the same day.

If you know us, you know that we don't ever find out the sex of the baby so this is a whole new thing for me! I'm actually having a lot of fun knowing, and it makes me feel closer to our little baby. Terence doesn't want to know, so until someone accidentally tells him, you'll all have to be in the dark! :)

Ultrasound

We had our 20 week ultrasound today! Baby is beautiful. I let the ultrasound tech tell the kids the sex of the baby. I almost wanted to know myself this time, but resisted! Anyone want to take bets on how long the kids can hold it in? :) I'm guessing I'll know by the time the baby comes! Here's a profile pic!

20 weeks

We made it half way! So much more news to share but we're busy busy busy! I promise to update soon! :)

Baby bump

Ok, so I had so many people mad about me leaving FB because they were worried that they wouldn't get to see baby bump pics, so here is the first, in a long line of way too many baby bump pics. I'll be uploading one once a week for sure after Terence deploys so you'll be sick of seeing my belly soon enough. I am 13 weeks now, almost at the end of my 1st trimester, and I'm so glad to be leaving morning sickness and exhaustion behind me! :)

We did it...

We did it. It was probably stupid, and irresponsible, but we did it. Our Suburban was sitting at 190k+ miles, and we didn't want to put any more money into a sinking ship. It for sure immediately needed a water pump, and alignment work. Terence is deploying and the car ALWAYS breaks down if he leaves. I'm pregnant with baby #7, and our Suburban only has 9 seats, which means Gavin would soon be riding in the front. We are about to take a 3000 mile cross country trip. So, we did it. We bought a brand spankin' new car.

I hate car payments, but I love my new van! As a friend of mine pointed out, we'll hate the van once a month when we make the payment, but the other 29 or 30 days every month, we'll love it! It's hard to go back there after working so hard to get out of debt, and having no car payment for 2+ years. Our buying experience sucked, and I was so mad by the time the salesman showed up at our house with the van that I wouldn't even go outside to see it until after he left. I have this terrible knack for embarrassing my husband with my loud mouth, so sometimes it's best to just not speak... But, it's in my driveway now, and I love it!

So, here it is... It is a Nissan NVP 12 passenger van.

Graduation

Today my little dude graduates from speech. I can't believe that he's all caught up! He has come such a long way, especially in the last 9 months. It's hard to believe that when we moved here he couldn't (or wouldn't?) say his own name!
He has turned into a little chatterbox when he's comfortable. Just in the last 5 months he's figured out how to carry on a conversation instead of just answering questions. He also figured out how to answer a question with his own thoughts instead of waiting for something to be suggested to him.
I'm so proud of my little dude and how far his speech has come. His lisp is still pretty bad, buts he's come as far as he can until his teeth get fixed(he gave himself a terrible bite by sucking his finger). His tantrums are at an all time low(although still there) and he is almost done being potty trained! Pretty good for the kid who didn't want to/couldn't talk, pitched epic fits all the time, and wasn't supposed to potty train until much later! :)
We still have some concerns that will need to be addressed by a pediatrician and possibly OT when we get all settled in WA. Right now I am just so happy about how far he has come that I can't stop smiling! We're celebrating by bringing cupcakes to AWANA!

E-readers

Ok, so getting rid of my FB has one downside. I have no big group of people to ask for opinions from! So here it goes, and let's hope I have enough readers to get some kind of response!

I've been really thinking about getting a e-reader. I don't really know where to even start! I know I either want a nook or a kindle but there are so many different ones that I get overwhelmed when shopping and just give up! I don't really need it for anything besides reading. I mean it would be cool if I could have a game on there for the kids or something, but I've heard that the ones with a color screen aren't as easy on your eyes as the original readers. Help! Comments are so very appreciate right now!!!! :)