Showers of Blessing!

I had a wonderful shower last weekend at church. Connie, the sweetest lady, pretty much did the whole sha-bang solo and she had just every little detail planned out. It was perfect! She set up a beautiful display of invitations in the church foyer several weeks before hand. I am sad I did not think to take a picture of it. She had on the invitations for everyone to bring a framed photo of themselves from childhood. Every single one that came in, she then tagged it with a typed little riddle of clues so everyone could play a guessing game of "who's who"? At the shower she had round tables beautiful sached with all the frames. The food table was outstanding and beautifully decorated as well. Meme, Mom, Me, and Kamri all had our baby pics there too... 4 generations God blesses us with together!
The church put gifts in a big pink toy bucket, and gave me a gift card!!! And many other gifts were brought for little Kaci Grace and even some for big Sister, Kamri! That has really been a big help in getting prepared too!

Super Sibling-Kamri!!!

Super Sibling class was wonderful! Kamri was so cute... she will be a great helper when baby sister comes. She swaddled the baby doll, held her perfectly and did not let go. Pat and I were so proud of her as we watched her listen so intently to the teacher/nurse. They talked about all kinds of helpful things, like: what babies can/can't chew on, keeping their toys picked up for safety, changing diapers, rocking... etc. They also had a Super Silly Sibling video that talked about emotions. I thought it was very informative and hopefully some of the ways to deal with jealousy, sadness, etc. will come back to all of us when needed. We then took a tour of the hospital... where mommy's room will be, the nursery, and the hand soap sanitizer hanging on the wall. The nurse held up one of the babies for us to see through the window- very exciting!
I have been trying to prepare K as best I can for how it will be and have been letting her help out with as much as possible during these last stages. Although, I can't quite bring myself to discussing exactly how baby K will be getting her nourishment! I have read numerous articles on this and still do not know... I keep thinking maybe it will be easier once she 'sees' it happening. At whatever point I am certain it will be interesting with Kamri!

Picture update and Diabetes Class

Some of my friends and family who don't live near have asked for an updated picture during pregnancy.... I am usually the one taking the pictures so this is the most recent I could find... This is July 18th. Not much change from then... maybe a little bigger stomach depending on time of day! And I am due for highlights again :-)! Anyways... the story behind this picture: this was actually taken in a bathroom! Yes, we took a picture on the leopard print bed located inside the Saks Women's room! We got a few looks, but it was so much fun! We were celebrating all of our 7 birthdays together, a tradition for us girls. Enjoy. More to come!
Also, I went to my diabetes class today. I was so impressed with the dietitian. She was very knowledgeable and informative, and a wonderful teacher. I feel confident now that I know what I can and can't eat. I have to have a certain # of carbs at each snack and meal time, and prick my finger to check blood glucose level 4 times a day. It's not bad. If anything is out of range I just call her and she'll adjust my meals/excercise accordingly to get things under control. All in all I feel really good about controlling it from here on to the end of the pregnancy.

Gestational Diabetes

2 weeks ago I took the 1-hour glucose test. Ends up I failed that one, so I asked the nurse what I could do to help myself pass the 2nd test which is the 3-hour. She said for the next week to lay off of sugars. Ok, I can do that... with much will power! I layed off any sweets and any food that had a lot of sugars added to them. I read labels and mainly bought all fruit and organic food to eat. My sweet tooth has actually gone away.... But the way I am if I had another something sweet, my sweet tooth would come back very quickly... so I had absolutely nothing!
Well, Tuesday of this week I took the 3 hour glucose test, in which the nurse drew my blood for a fasting test. Then I had to drink the sweetest drink ever... down in 5 minutes. Then ever hour after that for the next 3 hours, the nurse drew blood to test. I passed my fasting test, but failed the others, so the result... I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Next week I will go to a class to learn exactly how to take care of myself and baby. I will be monitoring my blood sugar levels, blood pressure, the baby's movement and growth. I
I pray that God will watch over my baby and protect her health.
As for me, I am looking at it as an opportunity to get myself on a healthier life plan than I ever knew how to. I get to go to a dietitian which I always thought would be fun to do anyways. I am all for getting healthy.
If I want my children to grow up healthy, what better way than to lead by example right!?!?
So, as God tells us in his word, "... in everything give thanks," that's what I'm doing.

Kicks!

I have been feeling the baby move for a couple of months now... but today was even more exciting when she moved. That's because it finally happened at a moment when I could let Kamri feel. I wish I had my camera getting her face when she felt her little baby sister kick! WOW! She was so excited and couldn't believe the baby actually moved her hand out like that. We were at the grocery store stopped in the isle and I could barely get anymore shopping done. Kamri just kept wanting to feel it. We decided the baby must have gone back to sleep for a while. Kamri said, "I love her, my baby sister... I'm gonna take care of her... and can I help you change her diaper?" Sure I would love some help!

The cutest thing...

Kamri understands now, that the way God chooses to grow babies is in mommy's tummy... then when they're big enough, they join us in this world! Yea!
So the other day, while I was eating a sandwich, Kamri was staring at me some but not saying a whole lot. We talked about the beautiful day, what we would do that afternoon and night and so forth. Well, you can always bet that when K is not saying a lot there is a lot going on in that head.
Later that night, while I was walking out of her room after tucking her into bed, she called me back into her room... "momma" she said, "Does the baby really like mustard?" I had put mustard on my sandwich and K only eats mayo, so during lunch that day, that's where her mind was... worrying if the baby was ok with my lunch! How adorable. I told her, "right now the baby's ok with whatever I eat, but when she comes out she'll be making silly yucky faces like you do when she doesn't like something, then we'll know for sure." That put K's mind at ease and she laughed and went to bed peacefully!

We're Having A....(drum roll please....)

GIRLY, GIRL! Yeah.... sooooo excited I am! Last Tuesday Pat and I went to the doc to get my first ultrasound (17 weeks), and the nurse and doctor could tell right away it's a girl! I was so excited! During the ultrasound they were also going over all the fingers, toes, nose, mouth... each and every part of our little bundle and it was such a blessing to hear that this far the baby looks very healthy. You can't ask for a better doctor visit than that, right! It is amazing that this early even, we can see little details that are just so precious. She moved around a lot during the visit and kept putting her hands up behind her head, all comfy looking! God is truly an amazing creator!
So a few details... I dropped Kamri off with mom on the way to the dr., and mom gave me a present... a cutie little pair of boots (pink, with fur in them)... pic. to come later. She said, "If it's a boy, we've got some shopping to do." Well, her instinct was right!
Before we left the ultrasound doctor, Pat and I were told numerous times that he wanted to see us again in about 3 or 4 years, when we have our next! What... I think 2 is a good number, but this awesome dr., would make anyone want to plan for at least 4. He was so sweet, funny, and very persuasive... but I still think 2 is good! He has 4 kids himself and obviously loves them... and his job! He made our visit a little more fun than the norm I think. Pat and I had met there in 2 cars, so on the way back to get Kamri I just could not quit smiling. I was by myself and just couldn't wait to start calling and emailing everyone about... "It's A Girl!" Now I can change the colors on this blog to be 'girlie'! And we don't have to repaint the room! Yes!