Family resemblance

The top shot is of me at 6months. I too had lots of hair, though it didn't stick straight up off of my head. And, hey, I'm in overalls too!


The bottom photo is of my grandmother at 11month (I think)?

And then there is Tam at 6.5months.

Our faces look so similar at this age!

Tam's first outing to a playground - 7months old!

It's warm; the sun is shining; and we are looking for a new adventure for Tam... So off we go to a nearby playground!

The park is right next to my school, but still about 1.5miles from the house, a little too far to walk there and back again. It is a nice, small park with lots of grass and a great little playground. After kiddos afternoon nap and bottle, we all grabbed our hats and headed out the door into the sunshine.

The play equipment had several pieces of various sizes, plus swings. We let Tam try just about everything with our help. He has finally mastered sitting up with out support and so really enjoyed just sitting and watching the other kids around him. There were about 5-6 other children all around the ages of 1-6 playing too. One of the 3 year olds was really friendly and often came over to try to talk to us and to Tam. Tam, of course, just squealed and grinned, but who knows, that might mean "Howdy, Partner!" in baby-talk. There was also a puppy on a leash, which captured Tam's attention too. Nice doggie :-)

We would let Tam sit on one of the levels with one of us, and then the other would go higher or lower to give him different perspectives on the world. Giggles all around.

We let him try the really short slide on his back and he wasn't too sure about that. Not really a frown, but definitely a "I'm confused" look on his face. We then took him down the larger slide sitting up with one of us and he liked that better!

Then, we tried the swings. They had a baby reclined swing and the bucket swings with lashes to hold him in. He again wasn't too sure if he liked it or not... He did like going forward and having the wind in his hair but didn't like going backward as much.

There was also a merry-go-round that I was excited to try with Tam. Unfortunately, it was off its axis due to too many wood chips piled under it. I guess that means it was a merry-go-stop.

We also saw that they had little kiddo cages! These were two "pods" connected by an enclosed plank. The pods really did look like little cages :-) It was the perfect size for Tam to sit and stand in to look out at the world at our eye level. He really liked this spot!

All and all, it was a great little outing for us and we had some quality family time together. I know that goober won't remember this stuff yet, but I also know that we're grateful for starting to make these awesome memories together already.

Our 20 week Ultrasound

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday. Yes, I have to admit I was a little bit nervous based on our previous test results, but also I was highly confident that all we be ok. Both Brian and I refused to waste time worrying about "a chance that there might be a problem." We were referred to a prenatal genetic counselor, and luckily she was in the same building as my usual OB/GYN. So, before you go in for the ultrasound, they usually recommend that the mom drinks 6-12oz of fluid so that she has a full bladder. Now I normally have a large bladder, no problem...but as soon as someone tells you that you can't use the bathroom, Of Course that's when you can't stop thinking about it! Ugh! About 10 minutes after waiting in the room, the tech comes in and tells me she doesn't think the full bladder thing helps at all and to have at it. Oh, did I ever thank her profusely!


Brian and I get in to the exam room, and I'm laying back all comfy, and the tech places the wand on my stomach. I swear she only looked at our little one 20seconds before stopping and asking us if we want to know the sex. She was fast! And she re-assured us that everything was looking good with this first glance. She then proceeded to take a much more thorough examination of all the angles and parts of the baby. I have to admit that it felt a little weird with her poking at me on all sides to get at all sides of the baby. For the most part, the little one cooperated by moving around a little bit, and not sleeping through the whole thing. I didn't think I could fall in love with just a photo but Ah....so CUTE!

We got to see so much, and so much clearer than either of us thought. (Not to many un-identifiable blobs). Our tech was great and she explained to us everything she was looking at, measuring, and why. We saw the head and all parts of the brain, down the length of the spine (looked perfect), all the bones in the arms and legs, the tiny stomach and kidneys, and the wee little heart. The heart was definitely very cool. From different angles we got to see the major artery and vein leading out of it and then we saw all four chambers beating at once. Very, Very, Awesome!


Then, of course, we got to see what sex the little one was and there was a very prominent appendage sticking out between the legs. Our baby wasn't shy at all about displaying his package. Yeah! We are having a little boy! Brian was grinning like a maniac :-)
The photo on the left is the view as if you were looking upward between his legs.

See our little dude there moving around all healthy and stuff REALLY brought home the idea that I am pregnant and we are having a baby soon. The little one really is in there growing bigger every day (around 1 lb currently). I can't wait until Brian can feel the little kicks and flutters from the outside too :-)