26 weeks: 6 1/2 months!!

How is it that I'm almost through the second trimester already! Baby Chewy has really been growing. He's on the move constantly especially at night between 8-11am. While some of his kicks and rolls can be quite painful, I am trying to savor and cherish each one... more and more realizing just how much of a miracle God has chosen to create in me, and that this might be the last time I get to feel another life inside of me (I'm hoping it's not the last time, but one never knows). Both Jonathan and Aaron have felt Corban moving around. Jonathan loves to rest a hand on my round tummy while I'm reading to him and Corban happily kicks at it. Aaron doesn't quite have the patience to feel for the baby for more than a few seconds. He's cracked me up a few times when he puts his hand on my tummy and immediately says, "Oh! I heard that one, I heard him kick my hand," when in reality the baby didn't move at all! One day though he snuggled up close and rested his head on my stomach and only moments later Corban delivered a swift kick. Aaron sat up and said, "I felt that! He kicked my ear!"

I am feeling really great. I've been sleeping pretty good too which is a blessing. I've only had a handful of nights where indigestion/heart burn have made me pretty uncomfortable. But I've found drinking a small glass of milk or eating an apple to greatly alleviate most of the symptoms. I've had a couple Dr. appts since our 5 month update. I went in at 6months and my blood pressure was high again. So Dr. asked me to take it 3x a day and come back in 2 weeks. I went back just last week and it was high still in the office even though I'd gotten normal readings at home, at Wal-Mart, and using my mom's blood pressure monitor. He's a bit confused as to why my readings are so high in his office. He ends up taking them 3-4 times during the course of my appointment and they come down each time. He thought about putting me on medication, but can't really justify doing it since I'm getting normal readings everywhere else. So I still have to take my blood pressure a few times a day and keep a log to take back to him at my next appt. in 2 weeks. Other than that, everything else is going very well. I'm measuring right on for my due date and I've gained about 15 pounds so far.

Chewy has been doing some developing of his own as well! His face is nearly completely formed and he can hear all kinds of interesting sounds: air exhaling from my lungs, those gastric gurgles produced by your stomach and intestines, my voice as well as Kris' and the boys' (which he will probably be able to recognize at birth), and even very loud sounds such as honking horns, barking dogs, or a wailing fire truck. At 24 weeks he was about as long as an ear of corn. I love taking the boys to the grocery store and finding the corn and watching their eyes bug out as I tell them that this is how long their baby brother is! So fun! His lungs are makes strides toward full development but are a long way from being ready for life on the outside. Since both Jonathan and Aaron were delivered pre-term and had underdeveloped lungs, this is one area that we're praying about the most- full term baby with fully developed lungs!!! Chewy's nostrils are opening and he's able to "breathe" the amniotic fluid- something that Jonathan found quite horrifying at first, "Mommy how can he breathe in the fluid? I can't breathe underwater, if I breathe in the water, I'll choke on the water!" Yes we are all learning a lot with this pregnancy. Jonathan sure doesn't miss much! At 25 weeks Corban is starting to pack some fat on his thin frame and his hair has color now too. And now at 26 weeks, his eyes are opening, though the view inside my uterus probably isn't that exciting! He's about 13 1/2 inches long too and weighs about 2 pounds.

And here's a couple cute pictures of my big boys wearing the T-shirts Papa & Grandma brought them from Yellowstone National Park!

JJ- almost 6 and AJ almost 4!

My goofy boys!

Fun Times!

 Sidewalk paint! Yet another great idea that I pulled from Pinterest. Aaron quickly lost interest but Jonathan and I happily painted for at least an hour one evening after dinner. It's been so hot here (we had a solid week with temps around 112 degrees)... so the best time for us to be outside was after dinner once the backyard is mostly shady. 

 The best part was after the sidewalk paint dried, then we really got to see our beautiful drawings. Jonathan created a robot (2nd from left) holding a ladder in one hand and a house on his head. I made the turtle and the cross.

 Kris took some drip hose and created a mud pit for the boys to play in. They are really loving it. It sure did create some nasty laundry though, so I chose one outfit for each boy and dubbed them the "mud clothes". In the above picture Jonathan created what he called a mud sculpture complete with a stick flagpole and leaf flag.

 Aaron carrying some muddy water near the mud pit. He hadn't been playing long, as evidenced by his nearly spotless clothes.

 I once read something that said the definition of boy is this: A noise with dirt on it. I still find this to be incredibly true... and something that Jonathan demonstrates eagerly. Kris had to give him a good hosing down before he then soaped up in the shower to get all the mud off.

 We have some really nice neighbors next door. The wife runs a home daycare and they have a couple of young girls of their own. The boys enjoy talking to the girls through the fence and watching them play.

 Another fun summer activity: making our own Popsicles!! I found a popsicle mold at the dollar store and we've had fun creating different types of frozen treats! First we took fruit from the frig and made cantalope/watermelon popsicles- so yummy! Then the boys really wanted chocolate, so we made chocolate pudding and froze it in the mold- instant fudgesicles!!

 As you can see both Aaron and Jonathan were loving the chocolate popsicles! 

We have a huge plum tree in our backyard and once those plums were ripe we had tons of fruit!! I decided to give canning a try. The jam turned out very yummy and we have quite a few jars in the cupboard to eat and to share!

 Plum tree bursting with fruit.

Aaron helping harvest the plums!