Summer Days...

For my birthday weekend we went to Des Moines to the Blank Park Zoo. It was a lot of fun! Ethan's favorite animal to see was probably the lions, although he wouldn't allow himself to stop and watch any of the animals long enough because he was so excited. Bennett's favorite animal was the monkeys. He, on the other hand, could have stayed and watched them play for hours.

It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo. Perfect weather. I'm pretty sure that Bennett would have walked the entire time if we would have let him...he was SO TIRED by the time we were done. The boys also really liked the petting zoo that they had. Of course, mom and dad didn't bring ANY CHANGE to get food for the goats, so we just had to watch the other kids feed the animals grain. Great parents, huh?!

Yesterday we went to the library to make bubble wands and sign up for the summer reading program. After that I had a picnic down by the river with two Burger Kings...

Enjoying the beautiful weather. Bennett loves the bubble mower!

Ready, set, mow!

How adorable is he?!!! Seriously, I have really cute kids!

Ethan looks so grown up here.

The new tent and play tube is a hit!

Ethan's favorite way to spend his time.

So cool.

We got a new bike for Ethan for the summer. He had bruises on his knees from where he hit the handle bar on each crank of the pedal from his little Radio Flyer one, so we thought it was time!:) We measured him this week and he is 42.5 inches tall!

Since getting his bike he has had one "good tumble" down the hill at Fontana Park, and since then he has been worried about riding his bike at all. I am happy to report that tonight we had a successful ride!!! He was scared to go down the driveway hill, but did great after that. :) Ethan is such a sensitive boy...I worry about it sometimes, how can I help him feel more self-confident?! Look at him! What a sweetie...

29 Weeks and Ultrasound

I am 29 weeks pregnant today and we got to see Alanna. Yes, her name is Alanna Rae. I am SO BEHIND on posting, I feel like there are a million things I have forgotten to blog about!

We chose Alanna Rae because Alanna (A-Lon-na) is my middle name and Rae after my Grandma Whitesell's middle name. There are several meanings that I have found for the name Alanna, but my favorite one is "precious". She is a precious gift, that is for sure.

Our ultrasound went really well today! Dr. Hintz measured my amniotic fluid right away. They measure this by centimeters. There are typically 4 pockets of fluid that surround the baby. In one pocket alone today I had DOUBLE the amount that I had total at the end of my pregnancy with Bennett. Right now it is looking normal and healthy...thank God!

Her limbs are all measuring 4-5 weeks behind. I looked back at Bennett's measurements at around 29 weeks and they were all 5-6 weeks behind. They are very similar little babies. She is estimated to be around 2 pounds right now.

Her brain and heart look great. Dr. Hintz can still see that one of her heart valves is a little bit thicker than on the opposite side, but the blood flow is very good through her heart so he is not concerned at this point.

I didn't get any pictures. I know!!! She is so beautiful too, so pretty. It is my fault for not asking for any, he usually gives me plenty, we were all just so focused on looking at her, I forgot to remind him.

I am continuing to grow, I have just felt so much better this pregnancy than with Bennett. On numerous occasions during a meal, Adam will just look at me and say, "It is so nice to see you eating while you are pregnant! Do you realize you didn't eat very much when you were pregnant with Bennett?" I only gained 10 pounds total during Bennett's pregnancy and I know that I am WELL BEYOND that with Alanna. I think I am as big as I was at 9 months with Bennett as I am right now!

I will go back in 2 weeks for another appointment (I can't believe I'm in the 2 week check-up zone!) and then 2 weeks after that I will have another ultrasound (June 30). She will be here before we know it.