28 week Ultrasound

2 weeks ago we had our 28 week ultrasound.  Everything went well and he is a fiesty one!  Jason and I both think he looks a lot like Cooper did and we cannot wait to finally meet him.  I'm so excited that I can count down in single digit weeks now!  And there is still no name for the little guy.  Jason wants to have options, but we haven't said these are the two/three names we like.  We have ideas, but nothing is set in stone.  We have a few more weeks to get that all figured out. 

The baby room is still Cooper's room.  I need to get in there and take down Cooper's decorations and put up the new ones.  Also, Cooper's big boy room needs to be painted and set up as well.  I hope he loves his new big boy bed!

And we had family/maternity pictures taken this past Sunday at my parents farm.  For family that would like to order any, I'll send you a separate email when we get all of them and I upload them to Mpix.com.  For now, here is a photo from the shoot that Angela Wyatt posted out on Facebook.

Andy

This past week has been a hard one on us all.  Andy has been not wanting to eat his food for a while now.  Sometimes he would half of his food, sometimes none at all.  On Wednesday, I came home from work as usual, let the dogs out, filled up their bowls with food and water, and let them back in to eat.  Sadie gobbled hers down in no time, but Andy would just drink water, look at his food, look back up at me, and then go lay down.  He just had this sad look in his eyes, so I immediately called Jason and told him we needed to take him to the vet.  Jason left work, came home to get Andy, and took him in.  They didn't run any tests that night, just took a look at him and took his weight.  He had lost 15-20 lbs in 2 weeks, which was hard for us to see because his fur is so thick.  The vet thought at that time that it could be kidney failure, cancer, etc.  They just didn't know without running any tests.  So, Jason took him in Thursday morning at 8am, they drew blood and told him they'd have results within 24-36 hours.  Yesterday the vet's office called Jason and said that the majority of his tests came back normal, except for his liver.  I guess the numbers were off the charts, higher than any they've ever seen.  They've ruled it out to be one of two things:  either a cancerous tumor on his liver or a disease called Leptospirosis.  To make sure if it's cancer or not, we could choose to have an ultrasound done, but we've decided against that and are treating him for the Leptospirosis. Here is the link if you want to read up on it more:  http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/canine-leptospirosis.  Andy is on antibiotics for it and pain killers.  He's eating now and our goal is to just make him comfortable and put weight back on.  We don't know how much time he has, but we're definitely spoiling him and making him a happy boy.  And of course, we're not forgetting about Sadie, she's just not getting as many treats.  :)  Please say a prayer for our big boy, as this will be hard on all of us, especially Jason.  He's been his boy since his college days where he was his fraternities house dog.  He's made all the moves with Jason and been through so much with him.  He's a wonderful dog and although we knew this day would come as he's getting older, it's still a hard thing to deal with.  We love our Andy boy so much and just hope that he isn't feeling any pain.  For now, we're enjoying him and loving on him every minute.  We love you, Andy! 

Anniversary Weekend

This past Saturday Jason and I spent the day in Dubuque at the Julien Inn. We arrived at 1:30 to check-in and then we had a relaxing day at the Potosa Spa. We both had a package to enjoy. Jason had the men's day package and I had the mommy to be package. Jason's consisted of a massage, manicure, and facial. I has a massage, milk bath, and a pedicure. It was truly the best experience we've ever had at a spa and would definitely go back. After our spa time, we got ready for our dinner at the Pepper Sprout. Jason had the ribeye and I had the beef tenderloin. Both excellent. After that we walked down to a sweet shop called Stam's and they had the best chocolates. So good! We had such a nice time and enjoyed every minute. Happy 3rd Anniversary, babe! It's been a great 3 years and I can't wait to see what the future holds! I love you!

Pumpkin Patch and Kitchen Remodel Update

Sunday we took the Cooper man to the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch.  He liked most of it, except the haunted maze (which they told us he was the right age for-NOT!) and the pony.  Jason took him through the maze and said he cried and yelled for Mama the entire time and the pony rides were a huge fail.  He cried and screamed and wanted off of that thing ASAP!  We thought he'd be ready for that this year, but we'll try again next year.  He wasn't sure about the bouncy house, but after Daddy got in with him, it was a go.  All in all, we had a good time and will try it again next year!

Trying to get Cooper excited to ride the pony....it was a no-go.

Cooper and Daddy hanging out in the bounce house!  Cooper loved it!



Daddy helping Cooper hold the baby chick.

And the kitchen update-the cabinets are all painted!!!  Our countertops are in, but we are going to wait to have them installed until we tear off the wallpaper and paint.  And then it's onto the floors!!!

Swimming Lessons!

Cooper had his first swimming lesson this past Saturday at the Muscatine YMCA.  He wasn't quite sure about it at first, but then absolutely loved it by the time it was over.  When we were leaving, he kept on yelling 'watie! watie!', which is how he says water.  :)  We are looking forward to going back this Saturday morning with the little guy!

As you can see, he was LOVING it by the time the class was over and they got to jump in.  He was such a big boy!

24 Weeks

Baby Boy Gregory is sounding good, that is according to the doppler last Thursday.  His heartbeat is in the 140's and I'm measuring at 24 weeks, which I was at 23 1/2 weeks for the appt, so right on track.  We discussed what it will look like in the end since I'll be having a scheduled c-section.  The original date they discussed with us was December 23rd.  I brought it up again to my midwife, Kim, and she looked at the calendar and realized that was a Sunday, which they don't schedule c-sections on Sunday's.  So, by law, they can only schedule a c-section a week prior to the original due date, so since they don't schedule them on Sunday's, they've moved our date to December 24th.  Yep, Christmas Eve.  I don't know how I feel about it.  My birthday is December 31st, so it's always been close to Christmas.  The only things I don't like about it are that it's on a day where there are a ton of parties already scheduled, so you can never schedule one and expect people to show up to yours.  But, on the upside, there's always a party!  Also, that was always a time when you were on Christmas break from school, so you could never officially celebrate it.  The same will be for my son.  Parties will be hard to schedule on the very day of his birthday and just like me, he won't be in school during that time.  I blame Jason and I for poor planning :), but we will try our hardest to make his birthday standout from Christmas in years to come.  I'm crossing my fingers I go early, like I did with Cooper, but you never know.  We'll just have to see when that time rolls around!  It's crazy with every appt how fast this pregnancy is going and how close December really is.  I'm so ready to meet our little guy, but I know he's got to stay in there a while longer.  :)

Kitchen: Progress

Since we had company this weekend that wanted to spend time with the little guy, Jason and I spent the majority of the weekend working on the cabinets.  We've gotten quite a bit finished and just have the painting part left.  We sanded and primed Saturday and Sunday and then yesterday we started putting on the first coat of paint.  It looks great so far and I can't wait to see the finished product!  We bought the new hardware and picked out new countertops.  I can't even describe how excited I am to have a completely different look in our kitchen.  I know it will look great!