Heartbeat

We went to the doctor last week...Friday. It was the first time we were able to hear Baby's heartbeat! Unless you've had that moment for yourself you just can't imagine the feeling of hearing the life inside you for the first time. It's indescribable. Anthony was actually able to join me at the doctor's office. He can't usually make it to the appointments because he works till 5 or after every day. It just so happened that he had some strategically placed cancellations and was able to meet me there. I'm so very glad that he did. He wanted to hear Baby's heartbeat too. I can't blame him. I wouldn't have missed it for anything! 

Dr. Miletich found that thump thump on the first try, then she laughed because the squiggler wiggled away from the doppler. When she finally got a good reading on it she said it was right at 150 beats per minute. I was shocked! Lincoln's was always above 160 and I'm pretty sure there were times when he was in the 170s when it was this early in the pregnancy. This is the first difference in the two pregnancies. And an interesting one at that! I wonder what this means?! Does this truly mean that this is a boy because of the lower heart rate? Or is it a girl because it's different than Lincoln's?! Or does it really not mean anything because all of those factors are all very subjective anyway?! Who knows....

We scheduled our next ultrasound and appointment for October 18. God willing, and with a little cooperation we will find out if this Baby is a boy or a girl!! I'm VERY excited to say the least. I'm the kinda girl who needs to know NOW! I've gotta plan, gotta think , gotta get mentally prepared! Plus, I've gotta shop!!! :) 

It's funny how much faster things happen with baby #2. I am totally in maternity pants because nothing else fits. My shirts will fit for a long time yet since so many of them are flowy anyway. Thankfully being pregnant in the exact same seasons means I don't have to buy many new things. Of course I've gotten a few things here and there, gotta add some variety. But nothing like last time when I started from nothing! I've even shared some of my stash with a girl at work who is 10 weeks ahead of me and had NOTHING to wear. Poor girl. It was some clothing I received as a hand-me-down and it just wasn't my style. But they look cute on her and I was happy to help. I have some extra "Bump Bucks" to spend at Motherhood Maternity this week and I can't wait to buy a new pair of comfy pants for work. That's the hardest part, spending money on stuff to wear to work. Yuck...I'd rather by cute fun stuff. *Insert mantra: I can do anything until March!!!*

On an even brighter note, my niece is born!!! Zoey Taylor was born last Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 5:12 am. She weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was happy and healthy. (No middle name decided on as of yet.) Zoey and Leslie are both well. Zane loves her to pieces and just wants to hold her and touch her and kiss her!! Sooo sweet. I hope Lincoln is a good big brother like that! 

What a chunker! She's sweet and very soft and snuggly. I held her and she just slept and snorted. She makes all kinds of little noises! I don't have a picture of me with Zoey cause Leslie took them on her camera and I haven't scavenged them yet. But soon!

Check out this SUPER cute poster I made for Leslie's hospital door:

I made one very similar to this 3 1/2 years ago when Zane was born. I thought it was only fitting that Zoey should get one, too! Holding her certainly makes me happy that I'm pregnant and that I'll get to hold this little one before I know it. Oh how time flies!
Lincoln update:
This kid is AMAZING!!! He does something new and wonderful every day. More on that later!! But for now here are a few cute pics of my toddler!!!

 Lincoln and Nana on a visit to Ma-maw's house this summer. He's such an outside boy! It was a beautiful day and we got to play outside.

His super cute Mickey hat! Did you see the ears!?

Announcing...

Drumroll please…..

Here is the first sneak peek at our newest, tiny, precious addition! Baby Vance #2 is expected to arrive sometime around March 22, 2012! I am sooo terribly excited! Lincoln is going to be a GREAT big brother. His favorite word is baby…well, that and truck! But who knows, maybe he’s just getting ready because he knows what’s coming!

I say scheduled to arrive…but you never know. I look at a due date as more of a suggestion. Here…be ready at LEAST by this date. You know, Lincoln was 5 days late…who knows what this baby will do? My best friend, Amy, is already begging me to hold baby in until her birthday, March 28. I’ve got some really bad news for you Amy…that baby better be outta here before then! Or someone (besides me) is going to be VERY unhappy! We also have some baby friends who were born on St. Patty’s day. I wouldn’t mind sharing my baby’s birthday with some very cute friends! And I don't think Kyra and Liam would mind! But, that would just add fuel to Erin’s fire to buy tons of green things for baby to wear….YUCK!!

We found out we were pregnant on vacation in Yellowstone National Park this summer. We were actually at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. We had taken Clomid again, only one cycle, and I packed my pee sticks. When I could wait no longer to christen one of the tests I went for it. Finally, blessedly, thankfully….there were two lines. Ok, so one was VERY faint and just slightly there, but mind you…it was THERE! Oh how I cried! Hooray!!! Anthony kept asking if I was sure…the line was sooo faint. I said, “Listen here, buddy….if there are two lines, no matter the color, that’s it!”

We decided to try to wait to tell the family until we’d made it to our first OB appointment and had an ultrasound to see how many were in there. With Clomid you never know… so we just wanted to be sure! Honestly, I had NASTY dreams about twins! I was realllly hoping that wasn’t true! Turns out, just one happy baby that actually looked a lot like a gummy bear! Such a sweet sight to see! We went to the OB at 10 weeks for the first ultrasound and all was well and healthy and happy. 

We are now just over 12 weeks and ready for the 2nd trimester!

I haven't been sick or anything...just so terribly tired. Learning a new grade-level and the stress of going back to school, chasing a toddler, and making a baby does leave one extremely tired! Anthony's ready for that party to be over for a while, so I'm not always wanting to take a nap!

I have to say we are so very, very excited!! I can't wait to find out what this baby is! I'm praying for a girl, but honestly I'd be just as happy if it's another beautiful baby boy! Lincoln is definitely precious and I could handle that again!

A FEW Yellowstone Pictures

We started our vacation in St. Louis, Missouri and visited the Gateway Arch. It was miserably hot and we were very tired when all was said and done. Our Wyndham hotel was VERY nice and we welcomed it after a long hot day!

Here we are up at the top of the Arch. It stands 635 feet tall.

The very next day we landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was so beautiful and the weather was MUCH MUCH nicer. Check the snow on the mountain tops in the middle of July!

Anthony decided he needed to paraglide off the top of a 10,000 foot cliff while we were in Jackson Hole. This is Lincoln enjoying the ride up the mountain in the tram.

Anthony was tandem with a very experienced guide named Rolf. We watched them float down while Erin, Lincoln, and I took the tram back down the mountain. Anthony landed before we made it to the bottom!

The town square in Jackson Hole is flanked on all 4 corners by these enormous elk antler arches.

This is by far my favorite photo of the trip. It's a picture from Grand Tetons National Park. The colors were gorgeous and we just stood in awe of the beauty. The lake was like glass and reflected the mountains perfectly.

Our first entrance to Yellowstone, Wyoming!

Just one picture of the many, many hot springs. The bacteria causes the water to make such beautiful colors. Every color in the spectrum is there...from blue, to red, to orange and brown.

Our first buffalo sighting! How did I know that we'd see HUNDREDS more?!?! And of course, they rule the road! A very large traffic jam ensued while half of the herd crossed the road to join the other half at the realllly stinky sulfur springs! The ranger said they stay near the hot sulfur springs because it keeps the biting insects away.

Old Faithful! We spent one night here at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The Lodge was beautiful and Old Faithful was pretty faithful. I think the estimated time of eruption was 8:16 and she actually erupted at 8:25 or so.

It was so cold we all had to wear jackets! And the mosquitos were terrible!

One of several grizzlies we saw. He was jumping up and down on the logs looking for food.

Grand Prismatic Spring

This was one of my favorite places. The spring was absolutely beautiful and even the steam rolling off the hot spring was blue. We hiked up this mountain behind it so we could see it from above. It was much more impressive from up here! It just happened that we had to hike up a trail that required both hands and feet!

This is Lower Falls. Part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...they call in Little Niagara because of the sheer amount of water that falls every second.

Tons of snow around! This was piled up almost taller than us! Lincoln played in it and tossed it around.

Craters of the Moon, Idaho.

It's a giant lava field from about 2,000 years ago. It's one of the newest lava flows in North America. There were trails to walk and caves to explore. We even walked through Lava Tubes.

Lincoln wasn't entirely sure about the cave thing...so he and I stayed outside while Anthony and Erin explored the cave with a flashlight.

Salt Lake City, Utah

This is the beautiful Mormon Temple that's in the middle of Temple Square downtown. We had been here before, I think in 2007 when we went to Utah to snowboard. 

We have this EXACT picture taken in 2007...except without Lincoln of course! I'll have to find it and post it, too!

These are just a FEW of the 1,300 pictures I took, plus the over 600 that Erin took. It's a very abbrevited version of our very wonderful vacation!

I know...I know...

It's been forever!!! 

I am very sorry, but we've been quite busy. We've spent 2 weeks out west visiting Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park. Once we got home we settled for a week or so and then left again for Virginia Beach. 

I promise I am working diligently to cull out my favorite pictures to share. I only took over 1,300!!! It's really hard to decide what to share, or what I want you to see. 

But for tonight I'll leave you with the sweetest thing my baby boy did for me today:

This morning as I'm checking my email Lincoln was playing outside on the deck. He pushes around his scooter, rides it around, throws his balls...he loves it out there. Anyway, he suddenly shows up in front of me holding my potted begonia! He looked at me all sweet and said "fowah," handed it to me and walked away!!! He had climbed up on one of the chairs beside the table, pulled the tray the flower sits on towards him, pulled the flower off the tray, hopped down off the chair and brought it inside to me! I just couldn't be mad! It was such a precious moment. My heart just melted a little bit! I don't know if he really knew that he was giving me a flower and that it was sweet, but it was soooo precious. 

Here are a few cute pics of the boys at Ian's birthday party in June.

Me and Lincoln at a water park in Pocatello, Idaho. The day before we came home from vacation.

And...we're done....

Nursing that is...

It's now been about two weeks since we nursed before bed. I'm OK with that. I'm pretty sure Lincoln is too. He was really only nursing for about a minute or two anyway, so it's not such a big deal to stop. Instead of nursing we just put on his pajamas and he sits on my lap with his paci and his blanket. He sits until I can tell he's good and sleepy and then I lay him down in his crib. Some nights he goes right to sleep, other nights he lays there and just talks and wiggles for about 30 minutes. For the first 3 or 4 nights without nursing he screamed....that was the hardest part! We'd just go in and talk to him ...lay him back down, and then say goodnight again. He'd scream for about 10 more minutes and then he was down.

He's sleeping between 10 and 12 hours at night. He goes down between 8 and 8:30pm and gets up between 7:30 and 8. Usually... Two mornings last week he was up at 5:45...YUCK! We were all tired. He's eating very well. Some of his favorites are mac & cheese, spaghettios, pancakes, pasta, hot dogs, chips, and the list goes on!

Lincoln's Words

I just wanted to post really quickly the most wonderful things we've been hearing lately. Here is Lincoln's current vocabulary:

Mama

Daddy

Yiye = Lile
Nana

dall = ball

tu-uh = truck

ta = car

ni-ni = night night

bye bye

hey

uh-oh

no
doo = door

He also has lots of sign language:

cup

up

more

all done

bath

yogurt

We're working on outside, diaper, and dog. 

A quick pic of our recent trip to South Mountain State Park. I'll blog about that soon!

Weekend Fun!

Lincoln got his first haircut on Friday! It was bittersweet....he was so precious as he sat there in that chair and was a perfect angel. He didn't fuss or cry once. He never tried to take the scissors away from Melissa or anything. Anthony decided that his curls over his ears were getting unruly and needed a trim. I had already said that I wasn't cutting his curls from the back! I'm afraid if I cut them off they won't come back. He looked at the comb and held one so he could brush his hair while she was cutting. He turned to see what she was doing maybe once or twice, but that was it. Otherwise he just sat there and waited to be finished! 

He gave her this look when she brushed his hair into his eyes so she could snip it. 

He had to help sweep when he was finished! He LOVES a broom! 

Here's the bittersweet part, he looks sooo much older!! Something about that messy curly look said sweet little boy. Now that it's all trimmed up and short in the front it's such a big boy cut! I have to admit I shed a tear! Anthony saw him when he got home and said he wished we wouldn't have cut it....we're going to let it grow back out!! :)

On Saturday we decided to check out a zip line course here near home. The Beanstalk Journey is here in Morganton, NC. The course has like 5 wood bridges and 5 zip lines. Here we are all suited up and ready to head out on the course.

You had to climb up the Giant's Ladder to get onto the course! It's a huge rope tube. 

My very fist zip!! It was tons of fun! We're about 50 feet off the ground and each zip is about 50 feet long.  Except for the last one, that's 500 feet!

Anthony showing his personality!! We obviously didn't take Lincoln. This place doesn't allow anyone under 4 years old or 70 pounds. Not to mention that after our 3rd rope bridge and 2nd zip line the sky turned ominous. Huge black clouds came rolling in and filled the sky. As we were trying to get from one treehouse to the next the wind REALLY started whipping! I mean, blowing the pine trees a good 15 feet over and showering us with branches and leaves. Then came the rain...COLD, cold rain! Just a few drops at first, so it was OK. They were going to let us finish the course. Then suddenly: thunder!! And the sky opened up and poured on us! They had to "rescue" us by tying us to a rope and rappelling us down from the tower. We made it about halfway through the course, enough to know that we liked it and want to do it again. The best part is we get a FREE pass to return any time! So not only did we get halfway, we get to go back for free!!! That's my kind of trip. And it was a big adventure! We weren't scared, just cold and wet! We will definitely return to use our free passes soon...

Sunday, June 19th was Father's Day. 

This is Anthony's 2nd Father's Day and he is such a good daddy. Lincoln adores him and loves to play with him. They wrestle in the floor and play guitar together. Ok, so Lincoln just really smacks the strings and carries it around. But it's still cute! Yesterday at a yard sale I bought Lincoln a big tool box full of cute little plastic tools. Some are Little Tykes toys that make noises (without any batteries!) that sound so fun. There's even a tool belt. We filled it up with tools today and he wore it around the house taking all the tools out of it! Anthony can't wait until Lincoln is old enough to start helping around the house. Not because he doesn't want to do the work, but because he wants to do it with Lincoln and teach him how to do things, like his daddy did. 

We got him a Kindle. He's always talking about how the books in the basement are taking up so much space and we've sold about all the ones we're willing to part with. So I thought that an e-reader would be a great way that he could still have his books, but not have them cluttering up the house. Plus, he reads like 3 books at a time anyway...and this way he doesn't have to pack 3 books in his suitcase! 

Lincoln loves Daddy!!!