Decisions, Decisions

As in what am I going to decide to do on Monday at our ultrasound--find out if it's a boy or a girl or wait and be surprised. I still don't know what my final decision will be. I have wavered back and forth the last couple of weeks because Troy has made a strong argument in favor of knowing; however, I really do want to be surprised.

A couple of people have told me that it's my body so I should ultimately have the final decision. As much as I would like to claim that and take the easy way out of it I don't feel that is fair to Troy. The baby is just as much his as it is mine. I just get the privilege and challenge of carrying the baby. So, ignoring Troy's feelings is out and I'm back at wavering.

Troy's argument (which I am choosing not to share the details of) is valid and strong. Based on our experience with Luke it makes sense but it's not as simple as wanting to know so we can decorate the nursery or buy girl stuff if that is the case. A couple of people have told me that they agree with him in his argument and based on that alone they would find out. The only problem with the argument for me is there is no guarantee that Troy is right. If I could know for sure that he was I would agree and find out. So, again no decision based on his argument alone (at least for me).

And then there's my argument that this is the only surprise factor in this whole thing. As I've mentioned previously I'll be having a repeat c-section so the actual birth day will be scheduled (unless of course the baby decides to come quite early and I go into labor which is possible but not too likely in my head). Other factors of this pregnancy make the gender being the only surprise more of a big deal to me too. There aren't very many true surprises in life and I do like a good surprise. Troy says that no matter when we find out it will still be surprise which is true but I do have more patience than he does (I'm not bragging only telling the truth). So, no decision based on my argument alone either.

We have discussed just having Troy find out but he is concerned he may not be able to keep it a secret from me and also it wouldn't really help his argument if only he knew. So that option is out.

{{Sigh!}}

The other tough part of this decision is that Troy is going out of town for the weekend. He's leaving this afternoon and won't be home until Sunday afternoon which doesn't leave us with a lot of face time to talk this through. I have a bad feeling that this might come down to a last minute decision which isn't what I want to happen. My goal is to have this figured out no later than Sunday night. Wish me luck!

(Just so that I can remember, the final poll results on finding out or being surprised were 9 to 8 in favor of finding out.)

1st Bike Ride

This morning Troy and I took Luke for his first bike ride on his new bike. He seemed pretty excited about his first ride although it didn't last too long. We went up and down the sidewalk in front of the house just once but I will say the temperature was already ridiculous (that's why we went this morning rather than this afternoon). Troy started out helping Luke and trying to explain pushing the pedals around and then I helped him for a bit. For his first ride it went pretty well and he did manage to get the pedals around a few times.

Luke is Three!

Today is Luke's 3rd birthday. We've had a birthday filled weekend with 2 sets of grandparents and we also celebrated last weekend with the other set of grandparents, aunts and cousin.

Last weekend included fireworks, swimming in the lake and a Cars birthday cake along with many rounds of hide and seek with Grandpa. Luke was most excited about his Cars cake and enjoyed seeing his first fireworks.

This weekend started on Friday afternoon when my mom, step-dad and Troy's parents got here. We spent Friday afternoon playing and getting ready for the dinosaur birthday party on Saturday morning.

The party started at 10 Saturday morning and I have to say that I think it was a big success. There were a total of 4 boys here including Luke and they really had fun together. We had a dinosaur egg hunt, dug for fossils, opened presents, splashed in the pool and sprinkler and had pizza and ice cream cake. Luke was worn out when everyone left (so was Mom for that matter).

After nap time and waking up a bit Luke opened his presents from the grandparents, aunts and uncle and Mom and Dad. It was really entertaining for the adults because Luke would say something similar to, "This is cool" or "Wow" after opening each gift. He got lots of new Legos, a fire station and truck, some games and a new bike.

After a nice dinner Luke enjoyed all of his new toys and he played numerous rounds of Hungry, Hungry Hippos with all the grandparents. Even though Luke was exhausted it took him quite a while to settle down and go to sleep. We enjoyed listening to him through the monitor tell all of his stuffed animals about his party and his new toys.

This morning the guys played golf so Luke got to spend some extra time with Grammy and Grandma. It was a pretty chill morning playing with his new toys and entertaining the grandmas. After the guys got home from golf, we had lunch and then everyone left before Luke took a long nap.

The rest of the day we spent as just a family of three relaxing. For dinner we enjoyed a pizza picnic in the family room while watching Planet Earth (Luke loves to see all the different types of animals).

Underwear

So yesterday was an interesting day around here. Interesting for progress in the potty training department that is.

When I went to get Luke out of bed, he was laying in bed with the covers pulled up just singing along to himself. I pulled the covers back and realized his pj pants were on inside-out. Not too unusual but it surprised me because I didn't think he had gotten out of bed yet.

Then Luke says, "Mom, I took off my diaper and put on my underwear."

So I checked that. Sure enough his diaper was gone and he did indeed have underwear on only they were backwards. I didn't see his diaper anywhere and asked him where it was. He looked at me with a duh look and said, "It's in the trash can."

Yep, the diaper was in the trash can. So, I asked, "Do you not want to wear a diaper today?"

"No Mom not today."

We then proceeded to use the big boy potty successfully and put the underwear and pj pants back on correctly. All the way down the stairs I kept telling Luke that he had to tell me when he needed to go potty since he was only wearing underwear.

We ate breakfast and I asked if he wanted to go potty. No. I asked about 10 minutes after that. No. I probably asked about every 5 minutes until it was time to run our errands for the day. I did put on a diaper for venturing out to much objection but I knew we weren't ready for that big a step yet.

When we got home we took off the diaper, went potty and then had lunch. Again I started with the asking. Well, apparently I didn't ask often enough because about 10 minutes after lunch we had our first accident. No big deal right? Well, I took Luke to the big potty to make sure he was finished and then went to put a towel on the carpet. I was gone all of 10 seconds maybe. Luke managed to get half the roll of toilet paper into the toilet while I was gone. So several flushes later we put on another diaper because it was almost nap time and we're definitely not ready for that step.

Luke wakes up from his nap and I head upstairs to get him anticipating no diaper and a pair of underwear on. Nope. I had the first half of it right--no diaper but the underwear was laying on the floor and I'm looking at bare bottom (which is rather cute I have to say especially with the swim suit tan line). Luke told me he couldn't get the underwear on by himself. I had a couple more errands to run so we put another diaper on and the underwear on top of that.

We didn't take the diaper off for the rest of the day but I consider it all good practice and a sure sign from Luke that we are inching ever closer to no more diapers :)

Swim Lessons

Last week and this week Luke has been taking swim lessons. I am in the water with him which depending on the temperature outside and the water temp can be good or bad. Overall, we are having a great time together.

It didn't start out so great though. Last Monday, our first lesson, Luke cried and screamed the entire 40 minutes because all he wanted to do was go down the slide and play. By Wednesday he had it figured out that we weren't there to play and he was enjoying the entire lesson. We have even made a new friend and they have fun splashing each other too.

Yesterday by far was our best day yet. Luke went under water several times and either held his breath or blew bubbles. It didn't bother him in the slightest and I was so proud of him! He did a great job kicking and using his arms too. Now we just need to work on combining everything.

These pictures are from Monday. Grandma and Grandpa were still here and came with us so they could watch Luke and as a bonus I got pictures.

Favorite part of lessons: jumping in the water

Working on blowing bubbles

Attempting to float on his back and kick

Getting used to having his face in the water while blowing bubbles

Ending the lesson with a few rounds of Ring around the Rosie

Weekend Catch-Up

We have had a few busy weekends lately and I haven't gotten around to posting anything about them. So we'll play a bit of catch up now.

We spent a long weekend in Kansas from June 10-14. Our first stop was KC so that Troy and I could enjoy the New Dinner Theater with my dad, stepmom, stepsister and nephew. We saw "The Odd Couple" which was quite entertaining. Luke enjoying the evening with Grammy and PawPaw.

The next morning we drove to Topeka to spend the rest of our trip with Troy's family. Saturday we spent around the house and Luke enjoying getting some goldfish for Grandpa's pond. On Sunday we drove to Leonardville, KS to help Troy's aunt and uncle celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It was great to spend the afternoon with them and see a bunch of extended family.

After that celebration we drove to the family farm in Barnes, KS. Luke loves to see the cows and chickens and we had some homemade ice cream that he was certainly a fan of as well. It was a long day but Luke was a trooper and Grandpa even taught him how to pump his arm to get truckers to honk for him.

On Monday, Troy's brother and sister-in-law, Todd and Georgia, went with us to the Topeka zoo. It was quite hot but we managed to see a bunch of animals before we were all completely wilted. Monday evening we spent more time with extended family at Lake Shawnee enjoying a potluck dinner and celebrating Troy's uncle's birthday. Luke loved the fountain that he took a dip in after dinner to cool off. We drove home Tuesday morning.

I have to throw in here that after that weekend I was most excited to get home to find two red tomatoes to pick. Luke helped me pick them and Troy and I enjoyed them for dinner. I am very sad to say that we haven't had any more home grown tomatoes since then.

Two weekends ago other than helping Troy celebrate Father's Day we didn't do too much except hang out as a family at home. We did have to call a plumber on Saturday to clean out our main line because it was clogged with tree roots but that was our only excitement for the weekend.

This past weekend we got to see Grandma and Grandpa Johnson again. They drove here Thursday afternoon and spent the night with us. On Friday we all met Troy for lunch at Chesapeake before they headed on to Dallas to visit Troy's brother. They stopped to spend the night again last night and went to swim lessons with Luke and I this morning before heading home. It was a short visit but Luke loved entertaining them!

And next weekend is the 4th of July and we're going to Tablerock Lake to spend time with my dad, stepmom, stepsister and nephew again. Then the following weekend is Luke's 3rd birthday! CAN NOT BELIEVE LUKE WILL BE 3!!! Time flies in the summer when you're having fun.

15 Weeks

I am so excited to say that I think (knock on wood) that my "afternoon/evening" sickness is finally gone! It seemed to magically disappear overnight last Monday night. I still have to make sure that I eat regular snacks so I don't get too hungry but I have been able to eat almost normally all week. It is wonderful to crave and be able to eat fresh fruit and veggies again!

I also believe that I have felt a few flutters of movement this past week. It is early to feel movement but not unheard of and I know this baby is anxious to say hello :)

If prompted or asked, Luke will still call the baby Rudolph. Troy and I are not encouraging this name only friends and family. I'm still trying to come up with a better alternative. Luke has also started saying hi to the baby more frequently which is so much fun. Last night before bed he even gave the baby a kiss and said goodnight. He is going to be such a good big brother and a helper for me.

Troy and I still have not come to a decision about whether or not we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl. We are having a definite disagreement about this because I am now leaning toward not wanting to know. I had a very vivid dream the other night about the ultrasound and finding out the gender and I was hugely disappointed in the dream (not by the gender, it was a boy, but because I knew). There really is no compromise in this situation because Troy doesn't think he can keep it a secret from me if only he found out. So, if any of you have been through this and you have a suggestion I'm all ears.

As you can see below I'm definitely starting to show more although it does still depend a bit on what I'm wearing. So far I haven't had to buy any more maternity clothes but I'm afraid that I will need more shorts at some point soon.