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.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITIE!

30 Weeks

Left is a picture of me at 30 weeks.  On the right is me at 30 weeks with James.

 

Two weeks ago I had an appointment, things looked good in the ultrasound.  I also had my glucose test at the time and it came back normal!  So glad for that!  I also had an appointment earlier this week with my doctor.  This baby boy is currently 4 pounds, 79th percentile, slightly smaller than James was at this time.  He seems to be developing well except that he appears to be getting anemic.  The doctor said it could be a false positive, and not to panic yet.  I am still waiting to hear the results of blood work to see if my antibody levels have changed.  The doctor said I would hear the results the next day, but it has been 3 days now.  I called this morning, but the nurse will call me back.

I will go back in a week and see how things are going then.  At that point, we can discuss options.  He did tell us what those options would be if things are the same next week, but we will see what happens before we tell all of you what those entail. 

More Make Shift Funiture

Since our front room currently does not have any where to sit, we have gotten a little creative.  We use our camp chairs some times, and now James uses the stroller.  Here he is watching a movie on the iTouch while chillin' in his stroller.

"Say Cheese!"

We are getting closer to buying a couch, but decided we will have to get a bed first since ours seems to have broken in the move.

New Table

No we have not bought a new table, but James has found a new place he likes to eat.

He will be so sad when we get these boxes unpacked.

Kitchen

James loves to help me when I am cooking.  Some of the cupboards and drawers have locks on them, but the ones that do not, he empties and "cooks."  Sometimes I have to search the house to find what I need, like measuring cups and spoons.

He really likes the silverware drawer.  Here is is lining up the spoons.

I have since convinced him to put them on the table instead of the floor.  Jon caught James doing this with the baby spoons.

At least he is finding ways to entertain himself while I am making dinner.

He also likes to take the lids, bowls, and pitcher out of the cupboards.  I love to watch his imagination work as he discovers different things through out the house.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETHAN!