Profile of our Neno...

We have come to refer to our donor as Neno, because of the number he was given as the sperm donor. We have grown quite fond of this man we don't even know, because of the gift he has given us in helping us make our little family a little bigger with our new addition. We can't wait to meet Finnian and see what she looks like and see how much she looks like Shannon. The interesting part will be to see how much she doesn't. These will be the characteristics that she will have inherited from Neno. 

When we chose our donor, we were looking at the OHSU donor site. We were looking at the page in separate locations, and we both had decided to pick someone most similar to me, in all characteristics that we possibly could. We each picked three of them. All three that we picked were the same. My second choice was her third, and her second choice was my third. Our first choices were Neno, having been independent of each other when we were looking at it, but we were both happy that it worked out that way!

A few things that really stood out for us were his back ground, which is a mix of European and native ethnicities like mine. We are both a good Heinz 57 mix, so that was perfect. We also both have brown hair and eyes. He is a lot taller than I am, but that is ok. We are both athletic, nerdy, have strong visuo-spacial thinking, into music and art, love to read, are both right handed, have good eye sight, and many other things. He probably has a bit more arm and chest hair than I do, and his beard grows a bit more than mine. He is a non-smoker and has dimples and potters thumb. He finds himself thoughtful, caring, self-reliant, helpful, likable, and funny.

He describes himself a lot like I would describe me, in that he enjoys being with friends and family, but also enjoys his down time. He likes being in social situations with his friends where it is comfortable for him. He is very outgoing to people around him. He enjoys cooking and trying new things. People are easily drawn to him. He did very well on the Taylor Johnson Temperament Analysis which tests personality characteristics, as well. He does tend to be a little impulsive, but who isn't.

Another thing that I really liked about him was that he included a poem by Khilil Gibran in his profile.

And a woman held a babe against her bosom and said, "Speak to us of Children."

And He said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house for tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that

His arrow may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

The last thing that I really liked about Neno's profile was the "Kid Page" that he filled out. This guy was a lot like me when I was little. Playing outside, playing with Legos, running around until the street lights came on to signal it was time to home. His favorite vegetable was green beans! He played with Legos because of the infinite possibilities. I remember being a little one and playing with them all the time. Building everything I could imagine, tying yarn on them to make electric wires for my cities, or gondolas for the mountains. I would build bunkers for my G.I.Joes. It was awesome. Neno also played soccer, and chess. He read the book White Fang. He remembers his dad watching TV late at night, like mine did (does), and playing with grasshoppers in the yard, and tunneling in the blackberry bushes. He has a lot of good childhood memories, and reading his kid section made me remember a lot of similar experiences I had as a kid. I can't wait to share them with Finn

It's because of Neno we will get to share those experiences. I will be forever thankful to him for being a donor and giving us this opportunity to be parents to our little one. He said he only did it for financial reasons, and that is ok. He may never know the gift he has given us, and that is ok, too. But he really has made a remarkable difference in our lives, and I am sure the lives of some other people, as well. We have a family because of him.

Thank you, Neno, whoever you are.

Things that make you go...

WTF?? Tonight was our second Birthing Class and I have to say that during class, my attitude was all over the place. I was happy, I was sad, I was upset, I was frustrated, I was giddy and excited. It was a lot, but in reality, welcome to my world. The two hours we were there is nothing short of how my normal days are, but just in a condensed version of how I feel lately.

We got there and saw familiar faces and chatted it up with some folks. It was great. Then the group broke up into Dads and Moms. Me being the "odd 'whoever' out" was told to go ahead and stay with the women, even though I am NOT pregnant and my role in Finnian's life is more of the typical "father" role. We did an exercise on positives and negatives of the pregnancy. The women listed things such as finding names, wondering of the future, nesting, bring the family together, as well as morning sickness, stretchmarks, clothes not fitting anymore, mood swings, swelling, bathroom trips more often. The Dads listed things like becoming a dad, new adventures, having a legacy, passing on knowledge, feeling the baby move, being closer to the partner, seeing ultrasounds, dealing with emotions of your partner, trying to be your best for her, figuring out finances and expenses. Which one do you think I relate to most? Yeah, not the pregnant ladies, that's for sure. Everything on the Dad's list are things that I have thought about. Very few things on the Mom's list are things that have crossed my mind, but that is because I am not a birth mom. I am a dad in this.

I am having a hard time finding my place in this class. It's not a class specifically designed for Moms and Dads only. That is how it is being taught, though, which is very frustrating. I am Shannon's coach, just as the other women have their male partners as their coaches. So what? I am as worthy as they are, if not more. She keeps referring to the coaches as "dads and whoever" or "husbands or whatever". At least tonight she used "partner" and "coaches" a lot more. Maybe she is learning. She knows that Shannon and i are together in this, and that I am not just her coach or friend. It would just be nice to have the same respect that she gives the guys, or have a male/female only class if she can't handle "different" couples.

One other thing that I didn't really appreciate about tonight was her lecture on breast feeding. Yes it is a healthy way to feed a child, and it is good and there are tons of benefits. We all know this. But there are some women who just can't do it. I wasn't breast fed. I couldn't due to allergies or something. I know many other people who weren't and I know many people who haven't been able to breast feed their kids. She rambled on for a good twenty minutes on how much better breast feeding is than anything else and made it seem like if you can't breast feed, your kid is going to die. She rambled off stats from decades ago that aren't even relevant anymore and scared the crap out of people. I didn't feel like it was appropriate.

The other thing I didn't like about tonight was that my promised "massage" from Shannon lasted like 3 minutes if that. Lame! The rest of the hour, she got one from me! That is so lame, I am declaring Shenanigans on that one. At the same time of Shannon's massage, we learned different birthing positions which was pretty great. Hopefully Shannon will find a cozy one and Finny will come out pretty quickly and easily. She better be in the correct position to come out quick and easy like if she knows what is good for her.

Hopefully next week will be better. We are supposed to go on a tour of the hospital and see the birth center and rooms. That should be fun. We will learn some more positions and what to do and some more breathing exercises to do. This is all things that I have done before with relaxation techniques I have learned in other things that I have done, so I think Shannon and I have this covered. Plus the drugs she will get will be good.

On a more positive note, we had an appointment for little Finny today. She is growing like a weed and super healthy. We can't wait to meet her. Our next appointment is in two weeks. That will be our 35th week. Our doctor said that if Shannon goes into labor after that, they won't stop the labor from happening! Holy crap, that's two weeks away!! But, in the likelihood that won't happen, we will start our weekly appointments after that! It is getting close, and she is getting big. Shannon is healthy and doing great. I am proud of little momma and my little baby. I love my family.

Reflections and Tiny Hands...

It is funny looking back at previous entries I have written about our attempts to get pregnant. There is one that stands out huge for me, and that is one that I haven't shared on this, but on Facebook. I will share it below. It was written on July 12, 2010. It talks about our struggles with getting pregnant, how it felt to be disappointed, all of the hoops we need and have to jump through, and the emptiness we feel, not only in our hearts, but in our lives.

Now, we have been given the most wonderful gift, besides our own lives, and we are so thankful, everyday, to have what we have, and to have the people we do in our lives, to help us, to love us, to be there for us, to help us learn, to help us grow, but most of all, to share in our little Finnian's adventure with us.

Now, I will know what it feels like to hold a tiny hand that has never been held. And I will continue to hold her hand until my last day...

 

Tiny Hands...

 

About a week ago, Shannon and I were getting ready to go to sleep. She was reading a magazine she got from my mom, and I was doing a Sudoku puzzle, as usual. The dogs were tucked in; Lilly at our feet, and Brody under the bed. I had just figured out where to put the 5 when Shannon asked if she could read me a paragraph from the magazine. I said sure. It turns out this paragraph was actually an excerpt from Spoken from the Heart, by Laura Bush. It reads:

The English language lacks the words to mourn an absence. For the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend, we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful, some not. Still, we are conditioned to say something, even if it is only “I am sorry for your loss.” But for an absence, for someone who was never there at all, we are wordless to capture that particular emptiness. For those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like silent, ephemeral shadows over their lives. Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held?

This excerpt struck a chord with both Shannon and I. It did and has tugged at both of us pretty hard. Since she read it to me, I have been thinking about it a lot. Our good friends and family know that we want to start a family and have little ones. Both of us feel like something is missing from our life, and that something is a baby.

For me, this is a strange reality, because I never thought I wanted kids. I told myself years ago that it wasn’t going to happen, so I resigned myself to the fact that I would be kid-less. After all, I had a hysterectomy at 27, I wasn’t the mothering type, I didn’t want kids anyway, and I was perfectly content with having my dogs. It is funny how our thoughts and feelings change over time.

This past week, my sister and her family were here. I got to hang out with my nephew, Caden, who is about 17 months old now. He is such a great little guy. He reassured me that I really do want kids of my own, and that I can and will be a good parent. Feeling his little hand in mine, feeling his little heart beat against my chest when I picked him up and held him, feeling his little breath on my neck when he cuddled into me, his slimy, drooly face when he gave me kisses on my cheek, sensing the vulnerability he has, and the feeling of wanting to protect him at all costs, feeling sad when he was crying, watching his pure amazement in new things discovered and hearing his little voice say “WOAH!” because it was so exciting for him, feeling so thrilled because he can say so many things and do sign language already, and figure things out on his own. I am a very proud aunt. But I am only his aunt, and though I spoil him rotten, and love him to bits, being an aunt is not the same as being a parent.

Becoming parents has been hard for us, because the process for two women to have a baby isn’t exactly easy. We have to sign papers, get them notarized, visit doctors to have them sign papers, and our insurance won’t cover a lot of the costs associated with having a baby for same-sex partners. It is hard, because we can’t just “keep trying” like heterosexual couples can. We have to order the sperm, have it shipped, wait for the right time when Shannon is ovulating, (which has also been hard because she has signs of polycystic ovarian syndrome and is on medication to help her ovulate. Now she has to track pretty much everything she does) go in to do the insemination at the doctor’s office, and get one try to see if the pregnancy will occur. If it doesn’t, we are out over $600, and then we start saving money to try again, which won’t be for a few more months. It is a very difficult and stressful, sometimes tearful, process.

Shannon and I, however sad and stressed out for ourselves, are extremely happy for our friends and family that have had children recently, or those who are pregnant now. We couldn’t be happier for those of you who want children, who have tried for ages or not, and who are and will be great parents. We look forward to being a part of your lives and seeing your little ones grow. We will be the best aunties and friends we can be, and will be there for all of you, as we always have been.

It’s the people who are irresponsible, who have sex to have sex, and just make babies, without being able to take care of them, that have us upset. Any crack-head off the street can have a kid, but we have to work so hard, and I have to prove my worth as a person, and as a parent, to have my own child. That is what upsets me the most. Some stranger has to come into my home and decide if I am a good parent or not, when there are meth-addicts out there who are putting their children in danger every single day.

We will be able to raise our kids with a supportive, loving home. We will give them what they need. There are people out there that have kids just to work the system, costing people money, not even caring about their kids. They pawn them off on the child’s grandparents, or aunts and uncles to raise, just so they can go do whatever they want. As long as the parent is happy, that’s what matters. Every day in the news is another story of some poor child being killed by someone they thought loved them. There are plenty of families that would give these children homes. What is wrong with people?

For us, feeling the tiny hand of our own child, seeing our baby, holding our little one close, is what is missing. There is no lack of love for our child. We have plenty of that now, and more to give when they day comes that little sprout is conceived, and even more than that when baby comes into the world. There will be no lack of love or support for our child. The only thing that is missing now is our child. We are mourning someone that has never been here. We are yearning for their presence, even though we’ve never shared their company. There is a void in our life that has never been filled, and there is something big, very big, missing.

Who really can describe the feel of a tiny hand that has never been held?

Time Flies...

 And now all of the sudden, we are at 31 weeks of preparing for Finnian's arrival! Holy cow, time has gone by so darn fast! The good news is that we have finally made some progress on her nursery and got it somewhat set up, and continue to make progress on it daily. Hopefully we will be ready for her when she decides she wants to come greet the world!

We had a doctor's appointment the other day to check on her development. She is doing great! Shannon is doing great, too! We got a chance to see her again because the doc wanted to check to make sure it was her head that she was feeling. It was a nice opportunity to see her cute little face again. I love that every time we see her, she has her little hand up by her face. She's so darn sweet. It is hard to believe I can love someone as much I do already, and I haven't even met my little one.

We are going to the docs every two weeks now, since we are close to the end of the pregnancy now. It is going to get busy in the next few months. We are ready for it, though, I think! Our parenting/birthing classes will start in the next couple of weeks, too. Those should be interesting, to say the least. I am not looking forward to the gross videos I have heard about. We'll see. They better have snacks.

Shannon and I both continue to collect little things for her, as well. I can't go into a store without looking at baby stuff, or little books or things like that. It seems like every time we go somewhere, one of us comes out with something for the little one. I saw a book yesterday and had to get it for her, because it had an owl puppet on it. I can't wait to read to her every night. I do it anyway now, but I am looking forward to holding her and letting her look at the pictures as I read to her. It is kind of hard to show her pictures through Shannon's tummy at this point. I still try, mind you, but I am not sure how much she can actually see.

Our baby girl is healthy and doing well. When she hears music, she moves a lot more. We were at the Willamette Valley Fiddle Contest yesterday, and every time the fiddlers would start playing, she would wiggle more and more. I put her little lullaby glow worm to Shannon's belly and pushed it's belly to make it play the music. Finn moved closer to it and would wiggle when the music would play. I hope she loves music and moving as much as we do! She and I will dance, even when the music has ended.

We have nine more weeks until the little Sprout reaches her due date. We have a lot left to do, but we are getting there, and we will get there by the time she is here. At least we'll have some things set up before she gets here. That's the plan, anyway. As for the rest of it, we are just continuing to go do the doc appointments and make sure that Shannon is healthy, and that Finn is healthy. So far, everything is going as it should, and we can't wait to meet our little baby girl and show her off to the universe.

Best News EVER!!

Whew! Twenty-six weeks has blown by. It seems that in no time at all, she will be here, with us, brightening our home, every single day. I can’t wait!

The past couple of weeks have been a little bit of an anxious time for her mother and I. We had an ultrasound about 6 weeks ago, and it turned out that she had a “soft marker” in her heart that showed an echogenic focus, which is a genetic marker for Downs. All of the tests we have had in the past didn’t show any signs of this, so we weren’t terribly worried, but there is always a small nagging feeling there when someone tells you that there could be an issue. We had a follow-up Ultrasound here in Corvallis about 3 weeks later, and got the results. The marker was still there, so at our appointment last week, the doctor we saw suggested we go to the “specialists” in Eugene, where we had our genetic counseling and sequential screening previously. We made the trip yesterday.

Let me first start by saying that I love the people down there. They are so wonderful and supportive of us. When we went before, we saw a genetic counselor, who went over everything with us, gave us the numbers of things that could happen, but also gave us the “probable” numbers, putting our minds at ease. We then went in for our ultrasound, at that time, where the tech was amazing, and very good at her job. She talked us through it, explained to us what we were looking at, and made us feel great about everything. The doctor came in immediately after the tech was done taking the images, and he was awesome. He could be an elementary school teacher if this doctor thing didn’t work out for him. He has got to be close to 6’5” and has the softest, goofiest voice I have ever heard, but he also has the sweetest tone and body language to him. At our first ultrasound, he talked about Finn’s “feetsies” and how she was developing and everything looked great. He made us feel very reassured.

This time was no different. We got there, and saw a different counselor at first. She went over all of the paperwork, all the tests results, basically told us that she didn’t feel that we had much to worry about, based on all the screenings and blood work and all the previous four ultrasounds we have had, as well as Finn’s development thus far. We then went in for our fifth ultrasound, with the same tech as last time. She went over everything again; checking to make sure Finn is STILL a girl, which she is, and checking her anatomy. All is well in that department. She has two kidneys, two lungs, a liver, a heart with four chambers that work correctly, a brain, all her bones, all her digits, eyes, nose, ears, a mouth. She’s a well made kid.

The tech (and I do feel bad that I am blanking on her name) took some pictures for us. She made sure to get another one of her feet for us. We are collecting feet pictures, because at all of our ultrasounds, that seems to be the only part of her that Finn will let us get a good view of, since she is so wiggly! The tech also got a great profile picture for us. She said she was going to show us her face, too. Shannon and I thought it was going to be another “skelator” photo, of her bones and facial structure, which is great. Then she switched the machine over, and all of the sudden, we see a 4D image of our sweet little Finnian, right on the screen! We got a glimpse of our baby and what she will look like! It was so amazing. Seeing my beautiful daughter’s face and what she will look like brought such a wonderful feeling to my heart. My sweet little baby girl, and her little face. It was brilliant. I know she doesn’t have my genetics, but she is so my kid…

After the tech was done, we were waiting for the doctor to come in and were still staring at the pictures. He surprised us a little, as we were discussing little Finnian and how beautiful she is! It was the same doctor that was there when we went in for the first ultrasound. He was as wonderful as ever. He came in and said everything was looking good but was going to have a quick peek at her. She wiggled around a bit, as she hates being poked and prodded, but he finally found her. He made sure she was still a girl, too, and luckily, in the 20 minutes since last checked, she was STILL a girl! He found her little heart, and the chambers looked good. He took a still image of them, and pointed us to the tiny little spot that has been our worry for the last two months. It was a little light grey area, so tiny, that at first I wasn’t even sure what he was talking about. He pointed out that in most cases (these things are apparently very common) these foci are very white, almost the same color as bone on the ultrasound. With Finny’s being light grey, he said he wouldn’t have even called it a marker. That was the best news Shannon and I could have ever heard. Our little baby girl got the pass and is 100% healthy!

I can’t wait to hold her little head against my cheek and cuddle her and protect her. To see what she will mostly look like has made it so much more genuine. Ever since January 17^th, it has been real, but to see her, see what she will look like, see her in more than just a 2D form, with no external structure to her, no skin, no anything but bones and organs; seeing her in 4D, with her eye closed and her hand by  her face, and her little mouth shut and her cute little nose, it has made it even more incredible than I could have ever imagined. I can’t wait to meet her. We have three months to get ready for her arrival. I just hope we are ready for it! There is still so much to do!!!!

Wiggly Worry Wart...

Today we had our 20 week appointment for our little Sprout to talk about her progress and how the ultrasound went the other day. We met with the newest addition to the Samaritan OB/GYN group, Angie Chisholm. She was very nice and very focused on her job. She hadn’t had time to go over the ultrasound results before meeting with us, so she took a few seconds to look it over while we were sitting in the room with her.

She said that everything checked out and looked good, and then came the “but”…the word that no parent wants to hear. Finnian has a single echogenic focus with her left ventricle. Angie didn’t really explain what it was, and didn't seem worried about it, because all the other test results were normal. She told us not to worry about it much. Yeah, right...according to some research we’ve done, here is what Wikipeadia says:

Echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) is a small bright spot seen in the baby’s heart on an ultrasound exam. This is thought to represent mineralization, or small deposits of calcium, in the muscle of the heart. EIFs are found in about 3-5% of normal pregnancies and cause no health problems.

EIFs themselves have no impact on health or heart function. Often the EIF is gone by the third trimester. If there are no problems or chromosome abnormalities, EIFs are considered normal changes, or variants.

Researchers have noted an association between an EIF and a chromosome problem in the baby. Types of chromosome problems that are occasionally seen include Trisomy 18 (Edward's syndrome) or Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). In the case of an isolated EIF, and no other ultrasound findings, some studies show that the risk for a chromosome abnormality is approximately two times a woman’s background risk. Other studies report up to a 1% risk for Down syndrome when an EIF is seen on a second trimester fetal ultrasound exam.

Considering little Sprout has had nothing but great results on all her other tests, I think everything will be fine, and she will grow out of it. But it doesn’t hurt to pass on some good thoughts and energy to our little Finny if you wouldn’t mind. We could use all the help we could get. It takes a village, after all, and we really need our village right now.

Finn’s heart and development are great. She just has this little hitch in there, that is most likely nothing, but it could be something we need to keep an eye on. We will go back in a few weeks for another ultrasound to check it out and see if it has corrected itself, which we fully expect it to have done so. If not, we will have more tests to do, and we will do what we can and what we have to and do the best for our baby and help her in any way we can. She is healthy and strong at this point, and we fully expect her to continue to be. It doesn’t mean we won’t worry about her, but we know she is a strong little nugget, and she will be just fine.

As we were sitting in the car, I asked Shannon if this is how it is going to be the rest of our lives—worrying about our little baby girl. It’s a 24/7 job now, and, though I know little Finnian will be just fine and dandy at our next ultrasound in 3-4 weeks to check on her little abnormality in her little tiny, strong heart, I am still going to worry about her health and wellbeing every day until I turn to dust.

I love my little girl. I can’t wait to see her in October. I gave her a little pep talk, and told her that if the Boston Bruins can make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, she can do anything she wants to do! We just have to concentrate on getting her solid and well and ready to meet the universe!

Sugar and Spice...

And everything nice. That's what our little Finnian is made of. We are having a girl! We found out yesterday that our little Sprout is going to be a little girl, bringing pink and frills to our home. We couldn't be more excited about our little bundle of joy. She is growing right along, and all is going well. Her size is great, as is her heart rate. Everything seems to be healthy and strong. We have her 20 week appointment tomorrow, and will get more details that the tech doing the ultrasound couldn't give us, but we expect only good news.
We spent an hour yesterday, in the ultrasound room, looking at our little wiggler. She didn't sit still the entire time, so it was hard to get a good photo of her, and also hard to get good measurements. The tech, Rachel, had to be super fast at taking pictures so she could get the measurements she needed. She waited until near the end of the appointment to have Shannon roll on her side so she could get a better look at Finn to see if we would have a James or an Ivy for the middle name. Turns out, we got an Ivy! She showed us the three tiny little lines indicating "girl" and didn't see anything else, nor did we. We would have been happy either way, but we are very excited for our little girl and can't wait for her to enter the universe when she is fully baked!
After our appointment, and after we texted our families, we went and grabbed some lunch and showed the pictures to my dad. He was very excited at the news. Shannon drove us to her work, as I called my grandma to tell her she was going to have another great-granddaughter. She was tickled pink with excitement! It was really cute to hear her over the phone. I then went to work, and showed my mom the pictures of our little Sprout. She was excited, too! Babies tend to bring out excitement in a lot of people.
Apparently the only person not excited that Finn is a girl is my nephew Caden. My sister told him "Cousin Finny is a girl!" and he responded "No, No girl!" We are going to have to get him used to little Finny being a girl. Though she'll be a tough nut, I am sure, and I am sure he'll come around. I think part of the problem is he is sick of girls, since all of his playmates are girls! We call them his harem. Everywhere he goes, there are little girls after him. Andi and Brian are in trouble!
I picked Shannon up from work, and we went to sign our new one year lease on the house we rent. We love living there, and love the house and location. It is a great place, and a great neighborhood, right next to my folks, who are very excited they will be near their granddaughter, and we are excited to have babysitters so close (wink wink). As we were signing the papers, the property manager asked us about how we like living there and how we like the house. We told him we love it and it's great. He asked if we had thought about buying, and Shannon told him we were going to use this year to get our stuff in order and look into it. He then told us to talk to him first if we were interested in the house we are living in now! How nice would it be to not have to move?? SO NICE! Shannon and I have had many conversations about the changes we'd make to the house (painting, windows, counters, adding a sink in the bathroom, etc), and to have him say that this could be a possibility is a dream come true. Now we just have to get our crap in order and hopefully things will work out! Fingers crossed for a year!! Come on, Lotto!
After we did that, we went to the store, and picked out Finnian's first outfits together! It was so fun! Shannon found her some little Sesame Street creepers that have the character faces on them. They are quite adorable. I, of course, went with Super Girl sleepers. I mean, come on, it's Super Girl. The only odd thing about me picking them is...yep, you guessed it...They're PINK!!!  AAAHHH! I got my little girl something pink. Gross, I know, but the only thing that is saving them is the giant silver "S" in the middle of the chest, and the wicked awesome utility belt on the belly. My kid is gonna rock that sleeper! I am going to have to make her a cape so she can run real fast, like cousin Caden!
Now the fun stuff begins. I am going to begin many projects, like fixing up the changing table, making it safe for our little one, and for us. We have some shelving units for the wall that need to be sanded, painted, and hung up. We have some major cleaning out of the garage to do, and of the nursery to do. There is some decorating, including hanging up the awesome Owl kite Finn got from Caden. We have lots of washing to do from all the clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and other stuff Auntie Kelly has given us. The list could go on...and on...
As for now, we are just enjoying the time we have together, and enjoying our little wiggler. She is a very active little thing. Shannon can feel her moving all around in there, and I was lucky enough to feel her last night at dinner. She has strong little legs, and big feet. I am looking forward to getting her into Lil' Kickers when she is old enough. I think she is about ready to start now, with the way she is kicking around in there! She's going to be something special.