Reunion Photos

This first one is of my friends Kelly, Amber, Erin and I.


The next one is of Kelly (just a bit tipsy).


Then, here's Shawn and me.


The last one is of Kelly, Amber and me.

Man, I'm Getting OLD!

We had our TEN YEAR high school reunion tonight!! That may not sound like a long time to some of you out there, but to me, it's a long time! I feel so old all of the sudden.

We met at a local park during the day for "family day", and several people showed up with their kids. Then this evening, we went to the banquet center of a restaurant/hotel for dinner, drinks and dancing (I skipped the drinks and dancing). It's so interesting to see how people have changed since high school. People that I NEVER talked to (and who never talked to me) the entire 4 years of high school were giving me hugs, talking, and just catching up tonight. It's good that people grow up and realize that there is more to life than high school, you know?

I hadn't been dreading it really, but I wasn't really looking forward to it either. However, in the end, we ended up having fun. I think Shawn even enjoyed himself. I guess we'll do it again in 5 or 10 years.

WE HAVE A FLOATER!

I'm sitting here, watching TV and catching up on my e-mail and stuff while Shawn gives Keira a bath. All at once I hear him yell, "Diana!! GET IN HERE!!" My first thought is that Keira has hurt herself, so I RUN into the bathroom.

When I get there, I see Shawn holding Keira (naked and screaming) over the tub. I ask, "What's wrong? Did she get hurt???!" To which he replies, "We have a floater...our first submarine!" I look into the tub and see......poo! So, I scooped it up with a cup and flushed it. GROSS!!!!!!!!!

He said that she was just sitting there playing in the tub, looked down and started crying. He thought it may have scared her. Poor thing (and poor Daddy). I'm just glad I wasn't the one bathing her tonight! Hee-hee-heee:)

Ahhh, kids....

Cool Picture

I saw this picture on a message board and thought it was really cool. So, I decided to put it on my site for you to enjoy. It would be awesome to be able to see my kiddo's foot like this...

Movement!!

I've been feeling Reagan move around for about 2 1/2 weeks now. Last night, Shawn got an unexpected birthday present. We were lying in bed about to fall asleep, and I felt Reagan moving around, kicking and squirming. Her movements were actually strong enough that I could feel them on the outside of my stomach. So, I told Shawn to put his hand on my stomach and wait....in just a few minutes she kicked him! I think he was pretty excited.
He felt Keira move for the first time on Thanksgiving Day 2004. And now, he felt Reagan move on his birthday.
I'm so exctited that her movements are becoming strong enough for other people to feel. What a wonderful part of pregnancy!!

A New Home for Max :(

Well, we did it today. We found a new home for Max. We've been thinking lately that he isn't getting the attention and affection that he needs from us. He spends all day inside and is in the basement when we aren't home. What kind of life is that? No doubt, we love him, but it's just not fair to expect him to live like that. Add to that the fact that we have another baby on the way and the little bit of attention that he gets now will be diminished even further...poor Max.

Luckily, Shawn found a young couple (Alisha and Tim) who have two children (ages 5 and 2) who were interested in taking him home with them. They have a yard (that they're in the process of fencing), and time and attention to give to him (no babies at home). Alisha and her little girl came tonight to meet Max. He went to her (Alisha) immediately and she bent down to pet him. He didn't move away from her the entire time they were here. When she finally said that they'd like to have him and we put him on his leash, he was so excited! He went straight to their car and waited for her to open the door. As they drove away (sob!) he was standing on the back seat with his paws on the front console beside her. He seemed perfectly happy.

As they drove away, I had such mixed emotions. I was happy to see him go to a happy and loving home. I was also a bit sad because he's been our baby for the past 4 years. I hope he's happy and I hope they're happy with him.

We exchanged numbers and e-mail addresses. Alisha said that she'd e-mail us photos of him, and Shawn told her that if they couldn't keep him, we'd take him back. I think it's going to work out. He's such a great dog. We'll miss him!

(NO more dogs until Keira and Reagan are old enough to care for one on their own!)

Keira's birthday countdown!

Countdown!

I found these cute tickers online today and decided to add them to my site. I'm over halfway there, so the countdown has begun!

Becoming so real!

The reality of having another daughter continues to settle in more and more each day. I hadn't really felt her move much (or at all) until a week or so ago. The day we found out that she's a girl, she really started moving around. Since then, I feel her moving a lot. She rolls and squirms, and the other night I actually felt (on the outside) her kick or punch me. It's the most amazing thing about pregnancy in my opinion. Even as I'm typing this, I can feel her squirming around. Hmmmm....maybe she's hungry since I haven't eaten breakfast yet.

I don't think Keira really "gets it" that there'll be another baby around here in a few months. Shawn and I talk to her about Mommy having a "baby in her belly", and she'll pat my stomach and say "baby", but I don't think she'll understand it completetly for awhile.

Hopefully she won't be too jealous of Reagan. She's (pretty) good with Tyler and so far with Aidan. She has a tendency to be a bit rough with Tyler, but I don't think it's agression. I think she's just being a kid. She doesn't seem to mind when Shawn or I hold either of the other babies, so that's good. Although, it may be a different story all together once the baby is actually living in our home with us and Keira has to share some of our attention with Reagan. My goal is to continue to spend as much time as possible with Keira once Reagan gets here so she doesn't become too jealous or resentful. I'm hoping that she's young enough that it'll just feel normal to her. My plan is to try to involve her as much as I can with caring for Reagan....getting me diapers and so on. I also read somewhere that it might be a good idea to get Keira a present from the baby and give it to her when we bring Reagan home with us. Someone suggested getting her a baby doll (with a bottle, pacifier, stroller, diapers, etc) that she can take care of when Mommy is taking care of the new baby. That might work.

I guess we'll learn as we go. If any of you have any suggestions or words of wisdom, I'm always open and willing to try new things!! Wish us luck!

19 weeks, 3 days to go until my due date!!

We've Decided on a Name!!

Shawn and I have decided on a name for our newest baby girl! After some thought and serious discussion, we have agreed on Reagan Marie.

Once again, we had one boy name chosen and about 7 or 8 girl names that we went back and forth on (over and over again). We ran several of them by friends and family, and got mixed replies on each of them. Some of them we liked were Malia, Mia, Corinne, Zoe, Sophie, and Ava. Finally, I asked Shawn to look through the baby name book and fold down the pages of the names he liked. When I looked through the book after he was done, I came across the "R" page he had folded down...and on the page was the name "Reagan". I thought it was a great sign that he had picked that for one of his choices since it was one I had been tossing around for a while, too. SO, we decided to use it. I'm excited that we can call our baby girl by her name instead of "it", "her" or "the baby".

I think Keira Grace and Reagan Marie go pretty well together. What do you all think?

Our New(er) Car

Wednesday was a big day for our little family. In addition to discovering that we'll be adding another baby girl, we also bought a newer car! We decided after vacation that we'd need to have a bigger vehicle once this baby got here, and we had originally thought we'd wait until January to buy one. But, all of you who know Shawn know what a researcher he is...and he's been doing a lot of research about SUVs. Well, he found one on AutoTrader.com that we were interested in looking at. So, Wednesday morning, we went to take a look at it and to test drive it. I loved it immediately! It was just too good of a deal to pass up, so we traded in our 1998 Toyota Camry for a 2003 Toyota Highlander. Here's a photo of a Highlander that's similar to ours.

We're having a baby.....

...GIRL! We went in today for our 20 week ultrasound. The tech said that everything seemed to be normal and that she'd give all of the pictures and measurements to my doctor to look at and interpret to be certain. Then she asked if we were interested in finding out the gender. We said that we'd like to, that is, if the baby was cooperative enough. So, she tried to get the baby to open up so we could get a look. No luck. Finally she had me try rolling over to my side to make the baby uncomfortable to see if that would work. And it did! The tech said, "There it is! It's a baby girl!!" I recognized right away what I was looking at because she looked just like Keira did in her ultrasound pictures. I got all teary...I wanted another girl. I love Keira so much and I'm excited that she's going to have a sister to grow up with. Now we have to decide on a name for our newest baby girl.

He's here!

Aidan Alexander has arrived at last! Becky's doctor induced her labor on Friday evening (June 30). At (about) 8:00 pm, we heard from Dwayne that she was slowly progressing, but her contractions had gotten closer together and the doctor thought they could expect the baby to come sometime in the middle of the night. So, we decided to stay at home and wait for news. Our plan was to drive up in the morning if we hadn't heard from them before then.

We were on our way to the hospital at 9:00 the next morning when we got a call saying that she was dilated to 9cm already. When we got to the hospital, she was fully dilated and ready to push. We all left the labor room at 10:30 after wishing her "GOOD LUCK!" and went to the waiting room to await Aidan's arrival. Dwayne came out at one point and said that his head was there, but he was facing up, so they had to take measures to turn him before delivery.

At 12:20 or so, Becky's grandma walked down the hall to listen outside the door. She came running back saying, "I heard a baby cry!!" So, Holly and I went down the hall with her and listened, and sure enough....a CRYING BABY!! A short time later, Dwayne came out to tell us that he was here and they were weighing him. He said if we wanted to come down to the nurse's station and take pictures, we could. So, of course, we did. What a doll! He looks just like Becky and her family. He has dark hair (a lot of it!), her mouth and nose, and Dwayne's dimple in his left cheek. And he's BIG...9lbs. 9oz. and 21 1/2" long. I'm so excited! We're planning to go to their house on July 4th, so we'll get to spend a bit more time with the new family.

Welcome to the world, Aidan!