James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT LIANA!

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA FELT!

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT KELLI!

Shower of Diapers

This is my 1,000th post.  Crazy!  I just thought I would mention that even though it is not going to be some celebration of all I have blogged or something.  Just seems weird that I have blogged that much.

Thursday night, Jon's fellow first year Pediatric Residents decided they wanted to have a get together to celebrate the future baby Felt.  I guess you could call it a baby shower, but it was not really like stereotypical baby shower.  Families were invited, even the almost 6-month-old triplets came!  We just talked and eat food.  There were presents, mostly diapers, since that was really what we need for this boy.  We got 941 diapers (295 size 1, 462 size 1-2, and 184 size 2)

to add to the newborn diaper I got before I left Toledo (not all the diapers are in the picture).  Jon and I are pretty sure this boy is not going to fit in newborn diapers for long, if at all since he is well over 6 pounds now and I still have about 4 weeks.  I wonder how long the diapers will last?  Probably not as long as one might think.  We also got 31 books, a toy cow, and a homemade Very Hungry Caterpillar mobile.

There was a book theme, which is awesome!  I always wanted to do a shower with a book theme, but most of the time you need more than just books.

James had fun too.  At first he was scared of the dog, but after the dog calmed down a little James warmed up to her.

Here James is sitting with Chris, one of Jon's classmates that James has become friends with.

Chris and Jon looked at the camera right as I took the picture.  James enjoyed coloring pictures with others too.  He even helped a little with opening presents.  As we were getting ready to leave, James finally wanted to eat something.  We gave him a few strawberries and then took the some home with us for him to eat right before bed.  It was a fun night, and thanks for all the diapers and books!

Visiting the Doctor and Daddy's Work

I brought James with me to my doctor's appointment yesterday.  I just had a non-stress test and some blood to be drawn, so it only took around 20 minutes.  James did great!  He mostly sat on a chair and "colored" (that is Jamesese for play game on the iTouch).  Nothing really new to report right now as far as this pregnancy goes.

Afterwards, we went across the street to the Children's Hospital to visit Daddy at work.  The lobby at the Children's Hospital is so awesome for kids.  James had a good time.  This wall has different things projected on it that have a motion sensor.

In the picture, when you moved your arm, or walked close enough to the wall, the squares would disappear.  James is also laughing hysterically in the picture.  Right before we left, it change to billiard balls that you could move by swinging your arm, or using your head.  Also in the picture, there are colorful circles on the floor.  When you step on them the color squish it different patterns.  There is also a "bubble wall."  Which is really cool to see.  When it was being built it was the tallest in the world, but one other has been built since so it is the second tallest now.  It is a place you have to see to know how much fun is there.

"Slave Day"

At my house growing up, we always called Saturday, "Slave Day," because it was the day we had to clean the house and yard sometimes too.  Well, on Wednesday, James helped me clean the house a little.  He loved it though.  He dusted the book shelves

and the floor.

Then he swept the kitchen.

While he was occupied doing those, I used my swiffer the sweep the floors, and I also cleaned two of our three bathrooms (just the floors and sinks, no scrubbing the tub/showers or toilets for me right now).  It was fun to see James enjoying dusting so much!  The rest of the day he carried the duster around to dust anything he saw.

SomeThing iS NoT riGht

Can you tell what is a little off in this picture?  Besides the cheesy smile on James's face.

If not, look at his shoes.  It almost looks like the angle of the camera is making his feet look big, but no. He is wearing my shoes.  He actually was able to walk around in them surprisingly well.  I had told him to get his shoes so we could go out back to play before bed.

Birthday Party

Monday night, we were invited to a birthday party for a member of our ward.  It was fun to get together and eat out side while celebrating.  James has a ball.  There were so many fun toys to play with, and part of the night he walked around with a bicycle helmet on his head.  He thought it was pretty cool.  Sadly I only took one picture, but I did get a picture to document the occasion.  Here it is.

James is playing in the sand box with Rand Ripple and Knight Yancey.  James loved the sand box and played there for a long time.  Happy birthday, John!  Thanks for inviting us to the party!

34 Weeks

Yes, I have reached 34 weeks!  It is great after all this pregnancy has brought.  Here are some comparision pictures.  Left is me now.  Right was me with James.

 Also should remember that with James at this point I had been on bed rest for 2 and a half weeks in the hospital.  I had just come home when the picture was taken and was still on bed rest.  Right now, I am doing well.  No bed rest yet (knock on wood)!

Last weeks ultrasound was good!  Baby Boy Felt is doing well.  Here are two of the ultrasound pictures.  If you look close you might see his eye lids, nose, and mouth.

Last Monday, he was 5 pounds 9 ounces (83rd percentile).  He is developing well and growing.  Both good signs.  I am now going to the doctor twice a week.  I am having non-stress tests twice a week.  They have so far had good results.  Baby is moving and his heart beat is good and strong.  I also have found out that I am having small contractions, but that is normal.  As long as they don't get more intense or at regular intervals for at least 4 more weeks.  I am also now having an ultrasound once a week to watch for anemia in the baby.  I am still having my blood tested once a month to make sure the antibody levels do not go up as well.  I will have that test again tomorrow.  I am so grateful that the nothing has changed there so far.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers.  We are so grateful for all of you!

Random Pictures of James

A few pictures of James.  Here he just wanted me to take his picture. 

I was sitting at the computer trying to blog.  He saw the camera and insisted I take his picture.  In the next two pictures, I think he was watching Toy Story and eating Oreo cookies.

He climbed up into a camp chair and made himself comfortable.

I came down stairs and found James like this.

He had been playing when I walked up stairs.  I was not gone that long, but I do not think he has been feeling really well. 

He has been hit hard with seasonal allergies this year.  Poor boy!  I think it is more than grass that is giving him problems this year.

More Sliding

James is getting more daring on the slide.  Here is a great video of him playing on the slide.

I love that he says, "Cool," when he gets to the bottom the first time down.  He loves going to the backyard and playing on the slide.

Plan For Me

James brought home a mobile from nursery.  He had not colored much of it while in nursery, but wanted to color it more at home.  Here is a video from him coloring and "reading" what it said.

Now, he runs around the house dragging this project and calls it his kite.  He is quite the character!

Our Weekend

We had a fairly busy weekend.  Friday night, we went to a pizza party with some of Jon's fellow residents.  I did not take any pictures, even though I brought the camera.  James had lots of fun in Chris and Lauren's backyard.  There was a small fish pond, which he loved.  Sadly there were not any other kids there, but James made friends with most of Jon's classmates.  He loved trowing the helicopters (maple tree seeds) and sticks in the air.  He even picked some tomatoes, but we stopped him before he picked all of their tomatoes.  He laughed hard enough to throw up a little.  He was exhausted when we got home and went right to bed.

Saturday was our ward's Pioneer Day celebration.  We made it in time for lunch.  We were actually able to sleep in which was really nice!  There was good food

and a big toy for James.

James played the whole time we were there.

He loved the slides.

Even when he fell of the end of one and landed on his face in the mud and bark he got back up, spit out what got in his mouth and went back for more.

There was also a water balloon toss.

Is started to rain on us, so we left, and then James wanted to eat lunch.  All the food was put away at that time and everyone was headed to their cars.  It was fun to hang out with some of the people in our ward.  James had lots of fun too.

When we got home, James had to had a bath because he was filthy and wet.  Then we gave him some lunch.  He crashed for a nap pretty quick after that.  For dinner, we got take out from the Twisted Rooster.  With a name like that we had to try it.  They have an interesting menu.  Check it out.  Their fried pickles were really good, and so was the mac and cheese.  There are a few other things I would like to try, so we will likely go again.  After dinner, I cut James's hair(s), so he got another bath.  I am glad he is liking baths again!

On Sunday, James had a hard time in nursery.  I think he was tired, and maybe he realizes a change is coming.  I had to go in there for a little while with him, but was able to go back to Relief Society eventually.  I hope he will do better this next Sunday, because Jon will be working.

Our New Zoo

James and I went to the zoo one day last week.  The John Ball Zoo is really nice.  It is not as big as the Toledo Zoo, but there were a lot of different animals.  We were not quite able to get through the whole thing in just an hour, but we will go back again.  Here are a few pictures.

Looking at the pink birds.

Pink flamingos.

What is that?

I think this is some kind of ant eater, but I never saw the sign.  It was probably before we saw this animal.

Cannot really see them here, but this is grizzly bears. 

When we first got there they were sleeping, but before we walked away the woke up and growled.  Not a sound I would want to here in the wild, but it was cool to hear it at the zoo!  Here is a picture from the turtle exhibit.  It was fun to see how many we could find, I think I counted 9 (not in this picture though).

We saw other animals.  These were just the ones I took pictures of.  We saw a bobcat, cougar, sleeping lion, jumping monkeys, ducks, camels (with camel rides), goats, bald eagles....  I think that was all.  James also got to pet a turtle, which he thought was really cool.

More Backyard

Here are some more random pictures from the evenings we have spent outside.  Throwing chalk.

Yes, this is a favorite thing to do currently.

Not the best quality picture (taken on Jon's iTouch), but funny to see James's head just over the hedge.

He is sitting on a rock next to the bushes.  He did not want to come inside.  Please, ignore the massive weeds seen in this picture.  We finally talked him into coming inside.  Climbing the stairs to the deck.

It was cool enough one night that we needed jackets outside.  Going inside by himself, without screaming!

We are really enjoying the weather and our shaded backyard in the evenings.  I hope we do not see any more hot, humid days this year! 

Outside

Since we have been spending more time outside, James has been enjoying the slide in the back yard.  Here are some videos of James playing on the slide with his egg-shaped chalk.  The first he tells all the colors of the chalk.  He mixes up blue and purple all the time.

He likes to throw the chalk down the slide too.

I am glad he figured out how to go down the slide by himself!

We love our backyard!

Backyard

Since the weather has been cooler again and the humidity low, we have been spending more time in the back yard.  It is really nice!  Jon has been told that this weather is more normal for August in Grand Rapids.  I hope that is true.  Here is a video that Jon took of our back yard.  We just got a weed whacker so it was the first time Jon had trimmed along the fence.

So our yard goes almost to the trees that you can see on each side.  It is not just the length of the brown fence across the back.  Since we are at the end of a cul-de-sac our front yard is really small, but the back yard has lots of space.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN!

At the Doctor

Here are the pictures of James at my doctor's appointment.  He really wanted to sit on the circle chair.

He sat reading his book for a little while.

Here he is pointing at the numbers for taking blood pressure.

He seemed to enjoy going to mom's doctor, but I do not know that we will bring him again, if we can avoid it.

When Dr. Jelsema came in, James did move to Jon's lap, but I've noticed that the doctor rarely sits on his chair.

"Clean-up, Clean-up....

...Everybody everywhere."

James has been a big helper recently with house work.  He will put the clean silverware away in the drawer, and most of the time he gets spoon, knives (butter/table knives) and forks in the right place.  He picks up his food when he drops it.  He helps sweep and mop.  Recently, he even help scrub the crayon off the walls after he colored there. 

Then, he wanted to scrub all the walls. 

He walked around with the Magic Eraser most of the day looking for "smudges" on the walls.

Good News!

Thanks so much for all the prayers this last week!  I know it helped!  I had an appointment yesterday, and it went really well.  Numbers are back where they should be, and the baby is no longer showing signs of anemia! 

We brought James with us so he could see his baby brother.  He was really excited, until they turned the lights down for the ultrasound.  I forgot about that part.  James still tends to be afraid of the dark.  He freaked out, so he and Jon went into the hall during that part.  James did well the rest of the time.  Jon took some pictures of James sitting on the doctor's stool reading a book, but they are on Jon's iTouch and he doesn't know how to attach them to an email to send them to me.  I will post them when I can.

Now that I will be 32 weeks on Friday, I get to start going in twice a week for stress tests.  An extra precaution to make sure the baby is still okay.  I will also still have an ultrasound every two weeks to watch for signs of anemia, and my blood drawn once a month to make sure my antibody levels do not go up.  Lots of doctor visits in the near future.  The good news is that Jon works mostly half days this month, so if I can get my appointments in the afternoon, he can come with me or watch James.

I am so grateful for all of you and the support you have been to us through all of this.  Saying thank you never seems like enough, but Thanks to all of you!

Tie

We go into the doctor later today for another ultrasound.  Hopefully all will go well.  I will try to post something about it soon.

Totally different subject, but James again insisted on wearing a tie yesterday. 

It was party because I forgot to put his tie away after church on Sunday.

He does kind of match too.  Sometimes he really makes me laugh, but I am glad he likes to wear ties instead of always pulling them off.

Surviving Summer

Wow!  It is already August!  I cannot believe it!  On Saturday, Jon's program had a "Surviving Summer" party.  One of the attendings had the party at his home.  He has a swimming pool,

barn with an owl who lived in it, basketball court, and large yard.  It was fun to get out and get to know some of the people Jon works with.  There was also lots of food, water balloons, and a few games.  James was scared of the pool, which was better than him running and jumping in.  He also did not want to touch the water balloons.  He loved to look at them and watch other launch them at new comers, but he did not want to throw any.  James loved the bean bag toss,

 and ladder golf,

and basketball.  Jon and I even played ladder golf with James. 

We do not know the rules or scoring, but it was fun to throw the balls and see if we could get them on the "ladder."  James also likes this exersaucer,

even if he was too big to sit in it. 

He insisted we put him in. 

It was warm, but it was not as hot and humid as it had been.  We bought James his own camp chair.

He liked to have his own chair.  It was a fun party, but we did not stay the whole time since James still really needed a nap.