28-weeks. Baby Girl is Growing! We're All Getting Ready.

 Baby girl is most definitely, definitely growing!  My back feels kinda like its breaking at the end of every day, and I have some yucky swelling......but I reckon that's par for the course when you chase around a wonderfully fiesty toddler all day :)  Oh how very, very blessed we are.  God is SO GOOD!!!

My appointments will now be every two weeks.  Next appointment this coming Tuesday.

For those of you hoping/wanting to know a name - sorry!  We're having an awfully tough time with that chore.  Just can't decide!

Preparations have begun for baby girl.  Her closet is slowly filling with clean and pressed clothes (thank you, mom!).  I'm gathering back various, necessary baby items that I had loaned-out to friends who could use them.  We (mostly Nick) has been hard at work refinishing my childhood dresser; from a light oak to painted white.  It's gonna be beautiful!!!  Sure has been a labor of love.  We followed the advice of Bob Villa, HGTV, and all the folks at Home Depot who said sanding and spray painting was definintely the best way to get it done.  WELL..........after nine cans of top-of-the-line $4/can spray paint, it became apparent that that course of action was not going to work.  So, Nick is now on his third, and hopefully final, coat of brush-on oil based paint.  Shew.  Will look forward to posting before and after pictures of that project.  

Next, I begin work on curtain for the nursery.  I've purchased several different fabrics in coral, navy, and white and plan to cut them all into strips to make shabby-chic fabric strip curtains.  Excited!  Thanks, Linda, for the great idea.

Here's a couple of recent pictures of Jordan in action.  He's doing pretty good with his potty training.  Loves peeing in the grass.  Stays dry most all day, as long as mommy insists he goes pee.  #2 in the potty, on the other hand, is still very much a work in progress.  Not having much success there yet :)

Every day, Jordan out of the blue will mention "baby sister" in a happy and pleasant way.  He has said that he will share his blanket and his stroller, that he will hide eggs with her, and he likes to mention the "present" that she will be giving him.  Something we plan to do when he comes to meet her at the hospital.

Usually when he talks about her he also says the phrase "he loves us."  We're still trying to figure out what he means.  Not sure exactly, but I'm hoping that he's thinking of himself and his baby sister and then reminding himself that "he" (either daddy or Jesus) loves them.  The love of those two people are facts that we talk about every day.

OH HOW VERY BLESSED WE ARE BY A MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS HEAVENLY FATHER WHO IS SLOW TO ANGER AND RICH IN LOVE TOWARD US.  

OH, HOW "HE LOVES US!"

Doctors, Doctors

Jordan had his 2-year appointment yesterday, and I had my 25-week appointment today.  Both went great.

Jordan is in the 61st percentile for height and the 66th percentile for weight.  Nice and average. Maybe he won't be short like mamma.  They didn't measure his head this time.........so no more jokes about his big ole' noggin, I guess :)

The doctor, and the printed materials that they gave me, both said that by the 3-year appointment, a child should be able to form some sentences, count at least 1-10, have a fairly good mastery of his ABC's, and know some shapes and colors.  This, of course, thrilled me. Jordan already says some sentences, can count 1-15, knows all of his ABCs, and knows all his colors and some shapes :)  I am so thankful to God for Jordan's intellectual development.  Now - may the development of his heart toward Jesus be just as strong!!!!!

I had my gestational diabetes test today.  Last pregnancy's diabetes test came back negative, which resulted in a twice-as-yucky follow up test that came back perfectly normal.  Hoping to NOT have to repeat that again this time.  Otherwise, the doc said the baby "sounded perfect."  Love that little heartbeat!!!