growing belly

A few shots for those who are far away:

We had a little ultrasound on Friday and David appears to be about two and a half pounds at this point, with 11 or 12 weeks to go. His placenta is enlarged--as was Hava's--so I'll have an in-depth ultrasound sometime in the next week or two to make sure everything is working properly. Personally, I think I just make big placentas but better safe than sorry, I suppose.

I'm very happy to be in the third trimester!

lately

I have been majorly nesting--aka cleaning out every drawer and closet to throw away, give away, or otherwise get rid of anything we don't use or don't need. I've taken some furniture, a box, and two bags of stuff to the thrift store so far this week, but I've already started to fill another basket so I'm sure to go again soon. Billy has caught the bug too; thankfully, we're on the same page here!

In the organizing spirit, I went through all of the baby and toddler clothes that I have saved from John and Hava (many boxes worth). In the middle of the mess, we found an old dinosaur costume of John's that Havilah can barely fit into. Isn't she sweet?

So I couldn't resist pulling out the photos of John in this costume for Halloween 2006:

With (baby!) cousin Cambria, the strawberry:

My how my boy has changed since then! His latest interest is Billy's iPod which John claims belongs to "Daddy and John." 

(Makes me wonder what his kids will be experiencing when they're three and a half!)

The iPod is safe, but nearly everything else around here is one step away from the recycling bin or the thrift store. I like to think of it as preparing to move--long in advance!

High five!

Daddy and Hava's hands...

speech & summer

I think it's time for a small update on John's speech, therapy, and school. Starting with school: there are only four school days left of this school year! The final day is next Wednesday and then we'll be on summer vacation. 

Last Friday, Billy and I met with his teacher, school speech therapist, and the vice principal for his I.E.P. (Individual Education Plan) meeting. John does not qualify for summer assistance because, basically, he did too well this school year and didn't show a need for it. I actually felt satisfied that he doesn't qualify for assistance. It's a milestone...and a goal: someday, he won't qualify for any "special services." 

Ms. Martin and Ms. Jenny were pleased with his progress and set lofty goals for next school year. It inspired me to set some summer goals for John. Just because he isn't in school, doesn't mean we won't be working hard and learning lots.

On a similar note, I just got back from John's therapy and Tamara (the speech therapist) said, "John is making huge improvements, don't you think?" Yes, I do think so! He has started to tell us what he's thinking about (whether or not we can understand it) and he is taking more risks verbally. Sadly, our insurance for the "year" runs out soon so we really will have a summer break, in every sense of the word. The insurance coverage begins again in August so until then we'll work hard on our own (oh, and with the help of his beloved www.starfall.com).

Now I need to get busy planning what our days will look like, without the structure of school and therapy appointments (and with the major inconvenience of not being able to be outside for more than a few minutes at a time because summer has arrived). Weekly library trips? Setting up the swim pool in the backyard for quick morning dips? Play dates? Children's museum? I'll have to plan, or we'll end up just getting out of the house for groceries...not good. Let me know if you have any good ideas!

minivan mama

Does this make me a grown-up?? Just four weeks shy of six years of marriage, we have finally become a two vehicle family. There was no room in the inn (that is, the Malibu) for another carseat, so we didn't have many options. I'm especially happy about the color and the deal we got.

Long live this minivan!

pajamas!

I was able to get some fun pajama fabric for John in Portland (thanks Mimi!) and finished up four pairs, which he loves. It sure is nice to have a grateful three-year-old to bestow sewing projects upon. (-: Hava got a pair of pants too, for fun. Tonight they obliged me with a tiny photo shoot:

And--unrelated to sewing--I finally found a trick to get John to smile for the camera. Hooray! I was getting tired of having all of his pictures look a bit dopey. (-: