Potty Trained!!

Shaun is potty trained; well when he is awake anyway!! I am so happy at the success we have had in training him. We took the advice of a few friends and did the “naked” method. This is where he is naked from the waste down when at home. We started on a Sunday afternoon at the beginning of September. We laid out a bunch of towels in the living room, had a potty seat close by and started. Shaun had one accident that day, one small accident the next day, but then pretty much no accidents when at home and naked!! He goes over to the potty chair when he needs to go. The strategy also says to put loose fitting pants on with nothing underneath when venturing out. It says to do a small outing the 2nd day and a longer outing the 3rd. He did pretty well on outings, with a few accidents sometimes during the first couple of weeks.

The strategy calls for being naked at home for 3 months! This seemed a bit long given how well Shaun was doing. So, 2 weeks into it we tried putting underwear on when at home. Unfortunately, he had some accidents when in underwear so we had to take them off. During the next week he seemed to be doing better; we had put him in a pull up sometimes when going out if we didn’t want to have to deal with an accident. Since the pull up was staying dry, a week after trying underwear we tried it again and haven’t looked back!!! No accidents in underwear and pants. He has begun to tell us when he as to go if a potty is not readily accessible. He was even able to hold it on the drive to Auntie’s house last weekend (about a 45 minute drive). With about 10 minutes left before we got to Auntie’s, Shaun said he had to go potty. We told him we were almost there and then he could go potty. He was dry when we got there and then went a lot!!!!

He still wears a diaper when he is sleeping, but that will be stage 2 of potty training down the road sometime when he can control it in his sleep. I am happy with stage 1 only taking about 3 weeks (knock on wood)!! He still has an occasional accident, but they are few and far between.

We all 3 got our flu shots this week and the nurse was surprised to see Shaun already in “big boy underwear” when I pulled his pants down for the shot. That made us feel pretty good!

On the pregnancy note; all is going well!! I am feeling well and getting bigger! My appointment this month was boring and uneventful, which is good! Next month I get to do the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I am currently 23 weeks (about 5 months), so less than 4 months to go!

This week also is our birthday week; mine today and Bill’s tomorrow!! Happy Birthday to us!!!

August

On the last day of August, the weatherman referred to the month as “Augtober” meaning that it wasn’t very good weather (at least on that day). The last day poured all day and felt like fall. However, we did have some good and hot weather in August. One really hot day (90+), was on the 14th. We had back to back birthday parties to go to! First was cousin Antonio’s first birthday party in their backyard.


We left that party and went to Forest Park where friend, Spencer was having his 3rd birthday party. It was a good day for parties! And, it was our first time going to other little kid parties. I can see a ton more of those in the future, hopefully not too often back to back on the same day!

Shaun also had his first dental cleaning appointment. He did so well; I was so proud of him! He had his very first visit a year ago, but there was no cleaning involved then at 18 months; just a look and a fluoride treatment. We also found out on Friday that he won the monthly drawing for the no cavity club. He got a $25 gift card to Target that also came with some neat insect tattoos in a magnifying glass.

Shaun picked out a "Dinosaur Train" set with his winnings. He loves the show!

The next exciting thing we did in August was move Renae into her house! My sister is a homeowner now! Shaun and I did mostly supervising; however Shaun did move in her bathroom scale and garbage can. He loves being a “big helper”. Renae, Mom, Corinne, and the guys (Bill, Dad & Doug), did all of the moving. With 3 big vehicles (minivan, truck and SUV) it only took 2 trips each, plus a 3rd in the minivan. They did all but the last minivan load before lunch. Renae had done a bunch of the small stuff already, so that helped a lot. Then we helped Renae hook into her internet connection via her laptop and Wii on wireless. We were having trouble at first. It took all 3 of our brains, but we finally figured it out and now she can use her wireless on her laptop and Wii (for Netflix instant viewing on the TV). It is such a cute house!


As far as baby Hunter #2 goes; he is doing really well! I have really begun to feel him move. Bill even felt him move last Saturday. The report from the last doc visit was really good; it couldn’t get any better. I am half way to the estimated due date! I will post the next baby/pregnancy update and picture at 5 months on September 23.

Baby Hunter #2 is…….

A BOY!!!!!!!

We had the “big” ultrasound today. We got a bunch of pictures and they said everything looks good including his boy parts! Here are a few of the pictures. He was moving a lot so it was hard to get good pictures. This one seems to be very active because at the last doc appointment he was moving a bunch when the doc was listening for the heartbeat. The heartbeat today was still nice and strong at 153 beats.

I go in for my next monthly visit on Wednesday. I’ll post if there is anything to say, but hopefully not because it is just routine. 2 Weeks ago I also went in for a blood test to check for Downs Syndrome and Spina Bifada, among other things. I didn’t get a call so that means all is good and it will be discussed at the next appointment.

Today I am also 4 months along or 18 weeks; 5 months to go! Here is my monthly picture at 4 months!!

Soccer & Thomas!

Shaun started Daddy & Me soccer in July. It is 8 times, once a week, for 1/2 an hour for 2-3.5 year olds. He loves it! They run around dribbling the ball and have little activities to do. I went and watched and took pictures on the first day. That day they had colored flags to run to after pointing to the same color on their paper, put on a colored jersey and ran to the flag of the same color, put different body parts on the ball, and learned how to stand with their foot on the ball to listen to coach, among other things. At the end of each week they all line up and take turns kicking in a goal. Shaun did well! On the first day a lot of the kiddos carried it in, but Shaun kicked it! Each week has a different theme with different activity games. Shaun gets a lot of running and can't wait to go back.





We also went to see Thomas the Train! Shaun loves trains, or “choo choos” and especially Thomas and his friends. Thomas comes once a year over 2 weekends to Snoqualmie, WA. For the price of a ticket each you get a 25 minute train ride and access to all the fun activities they have there, like bouncy house, trains, tattoos, stories, music, food and of course souvenirs. We spent a total of about 2 hours there. Shaun had a blast. We got pictures with Thomas too. We were able to get right up next to Thomas when he was at the station between trips. We barely got our picture taken before he left again. Shaun was not happy to see him go. Luckily that made a good transition to leave since we were done. We invited Aunt Renae to come with us since Daddy had to work.




We also spent a few weekends at the lake. Shaun loves to play on the beach and throw rocks into the water. He even went in swimming and jumping (into Auntie’s arms). Antonio, Jess & Albert even came up one weekend. The boys had “fun” together! Shaun has also really been loving his swim lessons this year. Just last session he was even going under the water a little bit to be a “submarine” with daddy. We are going to continue swim lessons through September. Then, after Shaun’s birthday we will start up again at the preschool level (we won’t have to get in with him). He is growing up!


Bill also just finished up his 2 week duty. He was lucky and just had to go to the base in Everett, so got to come home after work every evening. Aunt Renae watched Shaun for the 3rd year in a row. We are so grateful for her willingness to watch Shaun and take 2 weeks out of her summer to do so! Auntie even took Shaun to 2 of his soccer "games". This year they had the new playhouse/swing set in the backyard so didn't have to go out to parks.





On the pregnancy note: the last doc visit on 7/28 went well. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Shaun and Bill came this time too, since they hadn’t come yet to hear/see baby and also the doc had said that he would like to see Shaun sometime. We also got the “big” ultrasound scheduled for August 23, so I’ll post the next pregnancy update late on that day!! I am currently 15 weeks. I am feeling better. Last week was totally fine. This week I had 1 rough morning, so the bad mornings are getting fewer and farther between!

Exciting News!!!!!!

We have some exciting news to share with the world! Shaun is going to be a BIG BROTHER because I’m PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God’s plan included granting our request to be parents again; this time with no fertility help!! We were both shocked and amazed when we found out. I didn’t fully believe it until I had proof from the doctor even though I was feeling sick.
Here’s the timeline:

Remember back at the beginning of May when we went to the “Weekend to Remember” marriage conference? This is where we regrouped as a couple, to God and maybe even conceived our baby!! They said at the conference that some of us would get pregnant here, and it looks like we might be one. When the speaker said that, it didn’t even cross my mind that it could be us because it had never happened before in the 6 years we have been in baby mode (minus the 9 months I was pregnant with Shaun and approximately the year following).

Fast forward to June 6: I was 3 weeks late. Do I dare take a test? In all the years before Shaun, I would take a test, it would be negative, and then the next day or soon thereafter I would have confirmation. I wasted a lot of tests. Plus every time I thought I might be pregnant (before taking a test), I would start to have symptoms, but then they would be dismissed. One of those symptoms I was currently having was feeling off a little while after eating. About half way through the week of feeling off, I said, “I’ll take a test on Sunday when I’m 3 weeks late.” My cycle is not always consistent, but that would be late even for me. Plus, I was seeing my parents on Saturday, so if I took the test on Sunday, the day after, I wouldn’t have to try and keep a secret from them all day if the news was good.

So on June 6 I used a test that had been sitting in my bathroom cupboard from before I got pregnant with Shaun. It came up positive! I silently took it over to Bill and he looked at it. He said, “Does that mean positive?” I said, “I think so!” But, it had to be expired (at least 3 years old), so I wasn’t too confident in the result. Later that day I went to the store and bought another test. Same result! Since I was 3 weeks late, I was technically already 7 weeks along!

The next day I called my prior OB and got the first 2 appointments set up. Even though this is our second pregnancy, the start is all new because this time everything started out the “normal” way. Since Shaun was conceived through IVF, we had at least 3 ultrasounds at the fertility clinic at about 6, 7 and 9 weeks, and then I went to the regular OB to start the prenatal visits.

The first appointment was on June 18 with the nurse, I was 8 weeks. This was just a preliminary appointment to discuss history, anything new since last baby, blood work, etc. She even asked if I wanted an ultrasound to see baby and get measurements to see how close the timeline is. “Of course!” I said. She called over to the ultrasound clinic and they were able to squeeze me in if I came right over!

Here is the ultrasound picture from June 18 (8 weeks): The lighter area inside the dark area is baby!

The doc later said that the measurements were right on for being 8 weeks, so my estimated due date of January 23, 2011 would not change at any later stage in the pregnancy. Measurements this early are more accurate than measurements later on. That date is 3 weeks before Shaun’s 3rd birthday. I’ll take it though!

The first appointment with the doc was on June 29. Nothing major to report from that other than that he thought we had a really good start! I even got an in office informal ultrasound to see baby’s heartbeat. At every appointment we either see or hear baby’s heartbeat. Since it is too early to hear, we get to see! It was right there blinking on the screen. We even saw him/her move! He/she is already active!

Here is the ultrasound picture from June 29 (10 weeks). It is not meant to show detail, but they gave me pictures anyway:

Starting at 7 weeks I didn’t feel too well. I have thrown up a bunch of times. For about a month I was nauseous for about 2/3rds of each day. It got better starting at 11 weeks, but I am still not feeling good. The bad mornings are now only a couple times a week instead of most mornings. I hope this is a trend in the right direction! Doc said that it typically gets better between 14-16 weeks. That is soon!

My next doc appointment is on July 28. I won’t post an update after that unless there is something significant to say since I’m saying pretty much everything right now.

I’m officially 3 months along, or 13 weeks; done with the first trimester!! Past the major danger zone! On to trimester 2!

We will probably have the ultrasound where we find out the sex in the last week or 2 of August. That will be my next pregnancy post.

So, that pretty much catches you up on all the excitement!

Me at 3 months!

Montana Trip!

In June we took a trip to Montana to visit Bill’s family. We left at 7am on a Saturday and got to Kalispell, MT at 5pm (6pm local time). That is about 8.5 hours of driving plus stops. We stopped in Ellensburg after 2 hours for breakfast. The bowl of cereal I had just wasn’t going to cut it until lunch. We ate at McDonald’s. Shaun loved eating some pancakes. Then we continued on for 3 hours to Spokane where we ate lunch and filled up the gas tank. Then it was on the road again for 3.5 more hours. Shaun was awake the whole trip to Spokane and mostly in a good mood except when we were nearing Spokane. We kept him busy with toys and books. We attempted the portable DVD player when we were nearing Spokane, but it did not like the car bumpiness, which got Shaun upset because he wanted to watch “Cars”. Shaun immediately fell asleep after leaving Spokane and slept for about 2 hours or so. He was awake for about the last hour of the trip and in a decent mood. We were all ready to be out of the car at that point though.

Daddies and their kiddos: Shaun (2), Kira (7.5), Kamron (4), & Kayla (5.5)

We checked into our hotel and then headed over to Bill’s mom’s place in Whitefish for dinner and the “reunion” and meeting. Grandma and Seth had come over here to meet Shaun when he was 1 month old, but hadn’t seen him since and all of the others hadn’t seen him at all (3 uncles, 1 aunt, and 3 cousins). We spent the week just hanging out with the family. Shaun got to spend some good playtime with his 3 cousins. One afternoon we went over to the nearby train station, or to see the “choo choos” as Shaun would say. There is a small train museum and the train depot to see all the cool “choo choos” going through.

3 Generations!

We were kind of nervous about how Shaun would do sleeping in a hotel room for the first time with us in the same room too. The first night was a nightmare getting him to sleep! Bill in his frustration was ready to pack up and go home in the heat of the moment. We got back from his mom’s place kind of late; around 10pm. Then it was a struggle until he finally fell asleep about 1:30 am! We think it was a combination of being in a strange place, getting his usually nap in the car ride over and then being up so late and over tired. He would not stay lying in his bed. He would do everything from sitting up to wondering the hotel room and jabbering the whole time. We tried everything from me lying next to him, Bill lying next to him, both of us lying next to him and even for the first time driving around and around town to put him to sleep! We had never done that before. He fell asleep in the car, but by the time they were back up to the room he was awake again! Ug! I think we spent another hour fighting with him until he FINALLY fell asleep; probably from sheer exhaustion. We were all SO tired. Shaun proved it too by sleeping very well after that, even until 9am!!!

The 4 brothers: Bill (32), Jeff (30), Seth (15), and Ethan (20).

Seth, the youngest is now the tallest!

I’m glad to report that the first night was the only one like that! Our strategy for the rest of the week was to tire him out and not get him to bed so late. So, with no nap and running around with his cousins all day he was good and ready for bed! We brought his jammies and toothbrush with us so he would be ready to just plop in bed as soon as we got back to the room. He would usually fall asleep within 5 minutes of the 20 minute drive back to the hotel. Bill would carry him up to the room and he would stay asleep; beautiful!! We could even putter around the room with the TV on low and it wouldn’t even disturb him until we were ready for bed.

We made the reverse journey home the next Saturday, stopping in Spokane for lunch and gas again and then at a rest stop just after the Columbia river gorge. It was a nice get away from our daily routine!

Sesame Street, Aquarium, Zoo & Swing Set!

The month of May was a busy one! It started out with our Sesame Street Live show. Shaun had a blast. He was such a good boy; sitting and watching intently the whole time. He wasn’t one of the little ones running up and down the aisle because he didn’t want to miss any of the show! At intermission we told him it was break time and then Elmo and the gang would be back, so that satisfied him during the break. However at the end, he said, “Break time!” and was bummed when we told him it was all over and time to go home. We bought him a few souvenirs of course: a t-shirt, the program which is like a big picture book, and an Elmo twirly toy.

We also took Shaun to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time. He wasn’t into it as much as I thought he would be, but he still had a lot of fun.

We also went to the Woodland Park Zoo on Memorial Day weekend. We went last year at the same time, so we thought it would be good to go again. We learned last year that the Navy sells discounted tickets at the base, so Bill went and bought 2 tickets ahead of time (Shaun is still free). Full price this time of year is $16.50 for adults, and the base sells them for $10 with no specific day required to go. We also saw you can buy $2 off tickets at Iver’s around the Sound. We had a good time even though the weather wasn’t that great. We were originally planning to go on Monday, but the weather forecast for Sunday was a little better, so we played hooky from church and went that day. We still got sprinkled on, but we didn’t even bring out the umbrellas we brought. Shaun had a good time and got a stuffed penguin as a souvenir. We are thinking of checking out the Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on my day off for the 4th of July because it sounds like they have different animals to see.

Shaun got his very own swing set/play house in the backyard! Grandma & Grandpa said they would get him one for his birthday back in February. We finally found one that we like. We knew we wanted one that had some climbing parts to it since Shaun is a boy and loves the climbing things at the parks. It is amazing how extravagant, big and expensive they can get! You can spend thousands of dollars! We were not looking for one anywhere near that expensive though. Luckily Lowe’s has one where you buy the parts separately and make it as extravagant or not as you wish for a reasonable price even if you were to buy the most extravagant setup. We have not had a lot of good weather, so putting it together has taken awhile and it is not totally done yet. Dad & Bill have spent several hours on 3 different days so far putting it together. There still will be a rock wall on the right hand side (with more siding), a few more handles and a steering wheel up in the play house when it is totally done. Shaun loves it already! Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!

We also started swim for the spring/summer and went with Antonio and Jess to Renae’s for a visit and day at the park since it was so nice that day.

Later this month we are looking forward to a trip to Montana to visit family. Shaun will get to meet his 3 cousins and 2 of his uncles for the first time and see Grandma and another uncle again (who he has only “seen” when he was 1 month old).

We are hoping for some better weather soon since this spring has been awfully rainy!