Lots of fun in May!

Nathan kicked off May by hanging out with one of his very favorite buddies..."Melmo!"  We saw this balloon at the Dollar Tree and Nathan's eyes got so big, I just couldn't resist.  He had a ball carrying his balloon around the house (Grandma and Pa Pa's house that is, since we were living with them for almost the entire month of May) and having it in his bedroom to wish him goodnight and welcome him in the morning.  I just love how enamored he is with it in this picture below...

Speaking of being enamored...well, while we were staying at Grandma and Pa Pa's, Nathan spotted this kitty up on one of the bookshelves in the office on day one and he carried this kitty around the entire month - it turned into his "woobie" and he liked to take it with us on errands, to the doctor's office, wherever - he really didn't like it being out of his sight for very long.  Thankfully, since moving back home at the end of the month, he hasn't asked what happened to kitty...

During our stay, Nathan made lots of friends in the neighborhood!  When many of the kids would get home from school, they would stop by and ask if Nathan could come out to play - he just ate it up and really had  fun running around with the big kids - especially "the girls."  Grandma and Pa Pa are known as the popsicle parents of the neighborhood and every Friday all the kids in the neighborhood stop by for their popsicle.  Here's Nathan enjoying his with Peyton on the left and Delani on the right...

Given that we need to use the diaper bag for Junebug Too once he or she arrives, we decided to get Nathan his very own backpack.  He hasn't quite warmed up to it yet and really doesn't like to wear it and isn't even a fan of carrying it, but here we got a rare glimpse of him wearing his monkey...

Here's me and my "Lovebug" aka "Honey Bear" on Mother's Day...

We spent some time later that day at Quail Ridge park and as always, Nathan had lots of fun playing on the jungle gym (still not a fan of the swings or slides, but he loves to run across the bridge and climb up and down the stairs)...

Nathan went through a brief stage where he liked to open the car door but what he liked even more was sitting in Grandma's lap when she would pull her car into the garage...

We had lots of birthday celebrations in May!  The first was for our friend Eli who turned 4...

Here's a shot of Nathan and Daddy enjoying some birthday cake...

Here's the cool door hanger that Nathan made at Eli's birthday party (Mommy put his letters on but he did everything else himself)...

The next celebration was for Aunt Carrie.  We'll just say that she turned a bit older than 4...

Here's Nathan, Daddy, Uncle Ross, Sarah and Madi enjoying some chips and salsa - YUMMY...

Not sure why we waited so long, but we finally moved Nathan out of his bath seat and let him really enjoy bath time.  He especially has fun laying on his stomach and splashing in the water...

Our friend Linda passed down this Cozy Coupe and it quickly became one of Nathan's favorite things to play with - it's just his size!

He especially had a blast lifting his feet up off the ground and speeding down the driveway into the court...

Another favorite past time is pushing his stroller all around - he would much rather push it than sit in it any day...

Vegging out watching Veggie Tales (he is still addicted to Bob but he finally gives some credit to Larry and Junior)...

Enjoying some custard at Fritz's...

Helping Grandma with some chores...

Our big boy on his 23rd month birthday...

Grandma taught him "Ring Around the Rosie" and this is not something he gets bored of...

And we all fall down...

Here we are at our friend Spencer's 3rd birthday party...

Nathan had fun decorating cookies at the party...

Shooting hoops with Daddy...

What a dunk shot...

That ball is bigger than he is...

Mommy and Nathan sporting their green...

And last, but certainly not least, we celebrated Daddy's birthday...

We wrapped up the month with a visit from Uncle Jason who was here on some business...

We celebrated Memorial Day back at our house with Grandma, Pa Pa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna.  Here are Nathan and Grandma wearing matching t-shirts...

We made a big step this month and got Nathan a potty chair because he's been very interested in sitting on the toilet.  He'll say "poopy" and if you ask if he has to go he says "yes" and runs to the bathroom and wants to sit on the toilet.  So, we'll take his diaper off and sit him up there, where he proceeds to point out "Melmo" and the fish on his seat, does a little grunting (Grandma taught him that helpful hint) and then says "all done" without having done a bit of business.  Afterwards he likes to flush the toilet and then goes poopy in his diaper right after we put it back on.  Hey, at least he's interested in getting to know the potty...



Ok, so some fun stories from May.  One day I was on the phone with a woman from Borders Books and as Nathan was screaming with excitement over who knows what (he sure does get high pitched) in the background, the lady asked if I had a cockatiel.  I told her no, it was just my son squawking, and she said she has a cockatiel that sounds just like him.

One of Nathan's latest and greatest past times is saying "boogies" and sticking his finger up his nose.  I'm looking very forward to the day he breaks this habit!

Nathan started saying "yeah" in the sweetest and cutest little voice when you would ask him a question and then the day after his 23rd month birthday he decided to get a bit more sophisticated and started answering "yes!"

Towards the end of the month, as Nathan and I were pulling into the driveway from a trip to the grocery store, we got a really heavy rain storm - I'm talking massive downpour.  I figured we would wait it out but it was just about lunchtime so we went ahead and had a picnic in the car since we had everything necessary from our recent shopping excursion, so it worked out well and was pretty fun! 

Week 36

Well, HELLO to the start of our 9TH MONTH!  Even as I type those words I can't believe it...my jaw is just sitting on the floor.  The last month of our pregnancy?!?  Wow, this has just flown by, but it sure has been wonderful and enjoyable!  Junebug Too is active as ever - I'll tell you, I think this little one is already training to win the gold medal in the 2028 Summer Olympic gymnastics competition!  And we're talking some intense practices every single day with hardly any breaks!  However, this is kind of funny, during our non-stress test this past Monday, baby decided to take an extended break and not give us many movements which meant that our usual 20 minute test took over an hour.  I couldn't believe this little bugger!  In the end we got some decent movements and the test results were great, once again - praise the Lord!  The test was followed up with an internal exam and I'm happy to report that I'm not at all dilated or effaced and baby is at a -3 station (as in, there's absolutely nothing going on and we're still chugging along with an expected due date of June 22nd)!

One exciting thing we did this week was to purchase Junebug Too's homecoming outfits!  Below is a picture of what baby will be wearing if we're blessed with a little boy... 

And of course this is what baby will be wearing if we're blessed with a little girl...

Kevan and I definitely think we'll be returning the blue outfit, but we'll see in just a few weeks what God has decided as far as what addition is needed to the Krestel family!

Week 35 Ultrasound Pictures

On May 18, 2011 we had another opportunity to see our sweet little blessing from the Lord.  Baby is getting bigger, so the ultrasound pictures weren't quite as clear.  With Junebug Too taking up much more than the tv screen allows us to see, I think that's why Nathan got a bit confused.  When baby first appeared on the screen he yelled, "Baby!" but then throughout the ultrasound he went on to call his little brother or sister "Titty" which is his word for kitty and "Aff Oof" which is his word for dog.  Honest mistake, right!?!

Ok, so below we have a shot of Junebug Too's face looking straight on at us.  Baby's left hand is in front of his or her mouth but you can make out the nose and eyes pretty clearly.  I think Junebug Too looks just like a little baby doll...

Here's another shot of Junebug Too's face without the hand in front of the mouth.  You can make out the mouth, nose and right eye pretty clearly...

Lastly, we have a profile shot of Junebug Too's face.  I think this is really hard to make out but you can kind of see the forehead, nose and mouth if you strain really hard...

To share the stats, the ultrasound tech estimated Junebug Too to weigh in at 4 lbs. 12 oz. which puts baby in the 10th percentile for growth...teetering on the brink of "the red zone" but good enough for our doc, especially given that my amniotic fluid levels are still looking good and since baby's heart rate and breathing looked very strong and baby's movements looked normal and healthy.  We're continuing to pray that Junebug Too's Creator will keep growing this little miracle at just the right pace so baby is born at a healthy weight (and believe me, Mommy is just fine having a small baby as long as all is healthy)!

Week 35

Whoa baby!  You may be thinking that my belly looks a bit lower than it did last week and you are right!  We started out week 35 with a visit to the doctor where Nathan and I got to hear Junebug Too's heartbeat for about 20 minutes during the non-stress test.  As always, it was pure music to my ears!  As far as Nathan, he was busy looking through books and playing with some toys, but every now and then he would lift his head, point to the machine and say "heartbeat!"  After the test we met with the doctor and she said that the test results were excellent, so praise God for that!  She then confirmed that baby has dropped - and not only that - Junebug Too is extremely low!  She couldn't believe that I haven't had any contractions yet, but thankfully, after the internal exam, she confirmed that my cervix is still completely closed.  I have had a lot of pressure though so she told me to really take it easy and try to keep my feet up as much as possible - obviously easier said than done with an almost 2-year old!  But, I'm trying to be a good patient since I know the best place for Junebug Too right now is in the womb! 

I don't think I've mentioned this in my past few posts, but I've been going to a chiropractor for three weeks now in hopes of getting my pelvis and everything else in-line so that Junebug Too's labor won't last anywhere near big brother Nathan's 30.5 hour labor!  I'm praying that this baby will just shoot right out of me - HA!  Speaking of the delivery, this week we booked Mamoo's ticket to come out for Junebug Too's birth.  If you recall, the due date is June 22nd (same as Nathan's and he was 2 days early) but I have a really strong feeling that this baby is determined to come much earlier.  It was a gamble, but we booked her flight to get her in on the 17th and she'll be staying with us until the 27th.  We're praying that she arrives before Junebug Too but not too far in advance because we want her to be able to get a good visit in with baby!

We ended week 35 with another ultrasound so as soon as we can get those pictures scanned I'll be sure to update the blog with pictures of our little darling and details from the appointment.  Stay tuned!

Week 34

How sweet is this!?!?!?  We decided to involve big brother Nathan in this week's belly picture and he had a ball kissing baby!  He would pucker up, make a big kissing sound, plant a smackeroo on my belly and then fall to his knees laughing.  He must have repeated this at least 20 times - it was hysterical!  Speaking of my belly, I was just comparing week 34 pictures from Nathan's pregnancy to Junebug Too's pregnancy and I can't get over how much lower I appear to be carrying this time around (that or my belly is just sagging - ha!).  As far as making strides in getting ready for Junebug Too, we're officially set on a boy's name and we think we've narrowed down a girl's name to two - which makes me think even more so that we're having a girl because last time around we were set on a girl's name and unsure of a boy's name.  Also this week, I picked up a bassinet for Junebug Too that we're borrowing from my friend Alicia.  It's really cute (and bigger than I expected) and she included mattress covers in green, yellow, blue and pink so we're all set on that end! We're really excited to see if we'll be pulling out the blue or pink cover NEXT MONTH!!!!!!

Week 33 Ultrasound Pictures

On May 4, 2011 we had a follow up ultrasound and Junebug Too passed with flying colors!  They tested my amniotic fluid level which was still good and high and they checked to make sure baby was breathing well, that the heartbeat was good and strong, that baby did at least two body rolls and that baby had some good gross movements (moving an arm or leg).  We are praising God for this wonderful news!  We took Nathan with us again and he seemed just as excited as we were to see Junebug Too...as soon as the tech pulled baby up on the tv screen he started screaming with excitement, "Baby!" 

Here's a sweet shot of Junebug Too's face looking straight on.  What a great shot of baby's eyes, nose and mouth.  Looks like Junebug Too may have some chubby cheeks like big brother Nathan...

While looking at baby it appeared that he or she was a baldy so I asked the tech if we would be able to see hair on this ultrasound or if we would need a 3-D shot.  She said we could make it out with this ultrasound so she got a good look at it and printed the below picture for us.  You can see the arrow below pointing to what looks like stubble.  The tech said that we can definitely see hair follicles but she can't verify if it's a luscious head of hair like Nathan had when he was born (and still does) or if it's just peach fuzz.  We'll just wait and be surprised...

Week 33

I'm assuming the background of this picture is throwing you a bit.  Well, as I shared in the April Antics blog posting, the sale of our house fell through at the last minute but we got the house right back up on the market.  Showings were getting a bit tough for me - with having to get all of Nathan's big toys, dining chair and gate down to the basement, carrying our 20+ pound cat down to his crate, helping our 100+ pound dog with a bum hip into the back of our Jeep and running around like a maniac cleaning up (especially for those beloved 15-minute warning calls or the even more beloved calls that a potential buyer was sitting out front of our house and would like to come in asap to see our house).  So, we decided to move in with Kevan's mom and dad for a few weeks so our house would be in spic and span, 24/7 show-ready condition.  So, here's our week 33 picture in front of their fireplace!

Things are going great here and as long as I've got my trusty body pillow, baby and I are comfortable sleeping anywhere!  Now, one really convenient thing about living here is that our childbirth instructor is under the same roof!  So, this week she gave us our refresher course and now we're feeling a bit more prepared for Junebug Too's arrival.  I truly had forgotten some of the natural childbirth techniques but as Cathy said they would, they came back to me pretty quickly!  We've been practicing our breathing every night (when I'm giving myself my blood thinner shot is always a perfect opportunity) so now we just need to re-read our booklet from class.  I just have a feeling that this little one is going to come early so we really need to get going with our reading! 

Week 32 Ultrasound Pictures

You may recall from our week 28 ultrasound that there was some concern regarding Junebug Too's growth and so our doctor wanted to do a repeat ultrasound one month later. Well, on April 27, 2011 we had our follow up ultrasound.  Baby's growth has dropped from the 15th percentile to the 11th percentile so our doctor wants to monitor baby on a weekly basis.  We'll start with another ultrasound next week and then go to non-stress tests every other week with ultrasounds in-between.  Her gut feeling is that I'm just prone to having small babies, but she wants to be cautious in case she's wrong.  She said the 10th percentile is the "red zone" where things can get dicey (as in, there can be talk about taking the baby early) but she's not jumping the gun - just closely monitoring things.  Kevan and I think her gut is right on so we're really not concerned but we welcome the extra ultrasounds and any chance we get to see our little miracle!  We're just continuing to pray that God is knitting this little one together perfectly in my womb, that baby will grow sufficiently so there aren't any concerns, that all organs will develop and function perfectly and that this pregnancy will go full term!  Oh, and to share the stats, baby is weighing in at 3 lbs. 10 oz!

Now for the fun part - below are some pictures of our little Junebug Too.  Baby is head down and gearing up for landing!  Here is a side profile - hopefully you can make out the sweet little forehead, nose and hands...

Another similar shot of the side profile but you can see the kissable little lips a bit clearer here...

And one more.  I may be off, but it looks like you can see baby's left ear in this picture...

After the ultrasound we went up to see our doctor and it appeared that the ultrasound lab didn't run a particular test that my doctor requested so they hooked me up for a non-stress test.  I had Nathan with me and what a surreal feeling because I sat there staring at him in his stroller thinking to myself that the last time I was hooked up for one of these tests, it was his little heartbeat I sat listening to.  Now, here he was, sitting right before me, almost 2 years old and together we were listening to his baby brother or sister's heartbeat.  I just couldn't stop praising God for this sweet moment!  Plus, Nathan always makes it sweeter because when he hears baby's heartbeat he yells out "heartbeat!" with such joy and excitement!

Week 32

Whoa - here we are at week 32 which means we're entering the 8th month of our pregnancy!  I know I've said this so many times, but this pregnancy is really flying by!  You may notice that my belly button looks a bit odd - and you're right!  Not only is it not herniated this time around but it's kind of indented with a sunken in perimeter - it looks kind of strange and definitely different from last time!  I'm still feeling great and baby is active as ever - I cherish all the movements I feel even though some of them hurt - I think we may have a boxer or kickboxer on our hands!

Week 31

It may not look like it, but I've got some serious "abs of steel!"  Well, okay, more like a tummy of steel...it is so incredibly hard it's amazing! This week, on April 16th,  baby got to enjoy his or her 2nd concert as we joined a bunch of friends from church to see Mercy Me along with Natalie Grant and Brandon Heath.  It was a great show and Junebug Too was rockin' right along with us.

Above is the bear we made Junebug Too this week at Build A Bear.  Of course we took Nathan with us to the mall and he took part in making the bear for his little brother or sister...we had him kiss a little silk red heart and put it in the bear - it was so cute!  Just like with Nathan's bear, we put the recording of Junebug Too's heartbeat in one of the bear's paws.  It's music to my ears to play that sweet little sound!  You can bet we'll be doing weekly pictures with baby next to his or her bear to track growth just like we did with Nathan!