long over due

Back at the end of August we took a short trip to Indiana to see family so we will start with a few pics from that trip. One of the most fun parts, and also the most photographed, was seeing the kids play so well together. They really had a blast together!

Playing soccer!

Searching for and eating the very last rasberries of the season...

Blowing a ton of bubbles, if Luke wasn't otherwise occupied that is what he always wanted to do!

We also went to a "farm" that had lots of wild animals that the kids could see and in some cases feed. Mimi and Papa paid for each of the kids to go on a camel and pony rides! Luke was ecstatic about the rides, but so tired he had a hard time waiting his turn and finding out that he only got one each!

We even got in one good family pic of all of us together!

Here is one token picture from Winfield. This year I went with Luke on my own. Greg had to work so he only made it down for Saturday during the day. At night I slept with my Mom in their pop-up camper, mostly just the three of us though Dad was there part of the time. During the day various friends and family helped me keep an eye on the busy little guy and at the end of the evening they helped me lug both sleeping boy and all our survival gear back to camp. It was hard, especially since I was still not feeling the best with the pregnancy, but it was also a really good year. Luke had a lot of fun playing with everyone and I enjoyed seeing a lot of people who are normally pretty far away.

Here is one belly picture taken over a month ago on October 6th, I guess I need to take another!

Here are a few of my sweet boy...

Luke and I played outside in the leaves about a week after Halloween, so here are a few pics of Luke!

He wouldn't jump in them with me but he did like to throw them in the air and say, "WHEEE!!!"

We carved pumpkins on Halloween with Amy, Derrick and Glen at their house in Derby, this is what they looked like one week later...

First Greg's (looks like he lost his teeth)....

And mine (in case you can't tell they are leaves, and they did look pretty good when I first did it).

Finally here are the pictures we got from our sono on Wednesday the 10th of November!!!

Face and hands!

The beginning of this pregnancy I was really sick, throwing up around 3x/day, even with medications. It was pretty miserable, I have to say, even though we were thrilled about expecting another baby after such a long wait.

The nausea finally passed around week 14 or 15 and I felt so much better that it seemed as though the whole world was better! Finally I had energy to be a parent again, I could walk into the kitchen without feeling sick, I could even cook again! Needless to say I wasn't the only one in my family grateful that I was feeling better again.

Because of all the nausea my entire family was positive that we were expecting a girl this time around. As you can see from the pics though, we are looking forward to a "baby broder" for Luke. I am really excited about having two boys in our house, I guess we will just have to try again for a girl later! (-;

Now my belly feels huge, even though it still doesn't look it. At my last weigh in about 3.5 weeks ago I still hadn't gotten back up to my pre-pregnancy weight but I had gained 1 whole pound from the month before so at least I have started moving in the right direction. Luke is super excited about this whole thing and says lots of cute things about the baby. I know it will be a big adjustment for him when the baby actually gets here, and I don't expect him to really like all of those changes, but for now it is fun to see him so excited and happy about everything. He loves to put his hand on my tummy to feel the baby, or lay his head on my tummy to listen to the baby. He likes to pretend to be the midwives we are seeing and use a flashlight like a Doppler at which point I am expected to make the sound of a baby's heart beat. He used to talk about having a baby in his tummy too, but I think now that my tummy is so much obviously bigger he has stopped for the most part. He often asks if the baby is going to come out and we always say not for a long time, it has to get bigger! He also loves looking at pictures of me when he was still inside my tummy and of himself when he was a brand new baby. I hope that looking at those pics and videos helps him have a little bit of a better picture of what this baby will be like when it first comes home, small and not able to play yet, but of course the videos don't show a lot of the things he will be faced with all of the sudden.

As I mentioned we are seeing a pair of nurse midwives who practice out of a free standing birth center in Yoder, KS, about a 40 minute drive if we stick to the speed limits. (-: I am really excited about the whole process and really am enjoying getting to know them. They have labor tubs and big comfy beds and they bake you a birthday cake when you deliver! They also have all the safety meds and equipment I would expect them to have and they have an excellent track record. They have a kitchen that you can cook food in after delivery and you don't stay there long, usually 6-24 hours after delivery depending on how you and baby are doing and what time of day you deliver. Then they do home visits for a little while and later another visit at the birth center.

Currently I am 20 weeks, at the halfway point. I can feel the little guy move now, occasionally even from the outside if I happen to have my hand there at just the right moment. Greg still hasn't gotten to feel him move yet, but I think Luke has. We haven't decided on a name yet, and probably won't tell anyone until after he is born anyways, but we are looking for an in-utero name and have gotten a few really good suggestions already. If you want to get one in I think we will decide officially on an in-utero name by Thanksgiving! (-; My favorite suggestion so far is Cookie, or something related to cookies, for a very strong wonderful woman I know.

Anyway, that's a quick update, long over due, from the Myers' house. Hope you all are well!