Glaciermeow

I feel like it was January just a few days ago! Here is a pic of the boys  from a couple of weeks ago when we were camping.

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And he's a week old.  Elijah Aaron was born Jan 8, one day past his due date.   He was 9lbs 2oz and 21 and a half inches tall.

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Today is our 11 year anniversary. Chip stopped on his way home from work last night and bought me a dozen roses, I thought it was very sweet

Jacob has had his cast off for about a month now and you'd never know his leg was ever broken.  he's not loving 3rd grade except for PE. He got sick and cried when he had to stay home because it was PE day.  Normally he would jump at the chance to stay out of school.

 Joshua had his 4th bday last month and we went to a pumpkin patch, let him and Jacob pick out a pumkin and he had his cake when we got home. He had the choice of a hundred different cakes and he ended up picking one that had a little golf course and golf cart on it. There was no changing his mind but it was cute anyway.  He's got one visit left at the dentist to get filings and he has done extreamly well up to this point.  It really helps that they will let me go back with him. The old dentist we went to he'd be crying his eyes out before he even went to the back.

I am about 33 weeks along now. I am up about  3lbs from my pre-pg weight. I have been eating very healthy and the doctor is happy with that.  We like the name Elijah for him so far.

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Since the last time I posted we got the 2nd ultrasound done and the tech said that she was able to see the baby's heart and everything looked good with that as well.  I'm at about 24 weeks now and my next appointment is in a couple of weeks.  At this point we like the name Elijah for the baby but haven't really made up our minds on a middle name yet.

Jacob broke his leg last month. We went to one of those inflatable playground places and he lost his grip going up one of the slides, fell and landed on his right leg and broke it in a spiral fracture. He has had a full up to his thigh leg cast on for a month. It was so difficult to do showers or much of anything with that big thing. Today they removed it and put one below his knee and said he can start bearing a litle weight on it so we are pretty excited about that.

I took both boys to the dentist and they both have cavaties. :( We found a new dentist that will let me go back and sit with them while they are getting their work done and Josh did excellent with his cleaning. I just hope that he does well with the work they do too.  Jacob acts like a pro at the dentist now. You'd never know he used to cry at just getting an xray.

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I got a phone call  on Wednesday telling me that my tri-screen test where they check for spinabifida and down syndrome and stuff like that came back slightly elevated.  I think  the normal is 2.50 and mine was 2.55.  Anyway they sent me for a level 2 ultrasound today and everything looked good. They did not see anything abnormal at this point. The doctor told me that when there are levels higher but nothing shows up they will just moniter the mother and I think he said that I would get monthly ultrasounds and at 28 weeks I'd have to do weekly  nonstress tests.   They were also able to tell us the gender and the tech said there was no mistaking this one and that she was 100% positive that it is a BOY!

So we will have 3 boys! 

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We decided that with a new baby whether it is a boy or girl that someone was going to have to share a room so we decided to get the boys bunk beds. Josh has been sleeping in our room all the time and so we were preparing to have to walk him back to his bed over and over and over but he stayed there all night.  Day 2 they seem to enjoy sharing a room and LOVE their new beds. 

Today Joshua, who NEVER takes a nap, decided that he was tired and went on his own in the middle of the day, got in bed and took a nap!!  I would have seriously considered this arrangement a LONG time ago if I'd of know how much they were going to like it.

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Today is Jacob's 8th birthday! We took him to six flags white water in Marietta. He was so brave I just could not believe it.  He used to cry just to get in the water and now he will enthusiastically do the scariest slides at the waterpark. I took him to the pool and he went to the diving board in 13ft deep water and jumped right in and swam to the side! After I got over my anxiety and saw that I wasn't going to have to jump in and save him I was so proud I had tears!   We ended up getting him a schwinn stingray, chopper looking scooter with air tires and a spongebob game for the wii.  He is getting so big, he's about 5ft tall and wears the same size shoe as I do now! 

I loved that he picked this cake as it went well with the chopper looking scooter we bought him.

Joshua is getting really tall and is such a smarty.  I measured him yesterday and he is 41" and 34lbs at 3 years and 8 months old.  He is a whiz at computer, ds, and wii games and can even beat me occasionally..(and i'm good lol)  We went and got his hair cut and he looks like a totally different kid. I did't want it this short and he liked it for a day or so and then looked in the mirror yesterday and says that "I don't want this hair anymore, I want my Joshua hair back"  I'll have to get a picture tomorrow, the ones I have are pre-haircut.

We have been pretty busy lately. I started a small garden at the end of April and all of the plants have gotten so enormous that I can barely walk through to turn on the water to water them. One of my grape tomato plants is 6ft tall!  I planted some cucumber seeds and they have spread through the whole garden and into the grass, I had no idea that it was going to go crazy like this so I guess that I'll know to plant less next year. 

We also got an HUGE surprise at the end of  April and found that just two lowley little weeks after I cleaned out the house of anything related to a baby and  not very long after we started the south beach diet, which by the way I've lost 25lbs, Jacob has lost 15lbs and Chip turning into a toothpick and has lost 40lbs.  We found out that we are expecting a new baby due January 7.  My boobs started hurting a bit and I told Chip that the only time I've ever experienced that was when I was pregnant. I took the test and it was positive. 

We totally did not expect it but we are happy now that it's sunk in a bit lol.  I've been so not energetic and had morning, noon and night sickness  for what seems like forever but it seems to be backing off to mainly evening sickness.  I have my next appointment on Thursday for a check up.

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I'm so excited. I submitted a picture to a digital photography magazine and they published it. They told me a month ago that they were but it's totally different to see it in print!  too cool! :) 

This photo:

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A lot has gone on over the past month. My mother in law got an infection that went to her back and knees and had emergency surgery on both.  Now we are taking her to the hospital twice a day for 27 days for IV antibiotics.  Anyway, while we were there the other night it started snowing which has been extremely rare the past few years. In fact, Joshua is 3 years old and had never even seen the snow until then!  We went out into the hosptial "yard" and although there wasn't a whole lot of snow, it was excellent snow man/snow ball making snow and we made ourselves a snowman and snow angels while waiting.

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I got an email the other day from a lady named Chelsea that I used to talk to on a special needs message board. She has two little girls and one of them has down syndrome. She told me that she had been trying to find my blog and wanted to let me know about her daughter that she named after Amber.  She told me at the time that she was naming her daughter after her, but I really didn't have any idea of how Amber really touched her life. thought this was so awesome that she shared this with me and on her website at  

http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/

 ShaeLynn Mercedes. This was the perfect name for my little girl. I wanted to honor Amber Lynn as well as the impact she and her family had on our lives.

Amber taught me that the value of a person is not in what they can do. I already knew this to an extent but Amber made it perfectly clear to me.

Amber was her family's precious little girl. Just like my little girl's are in my family. Their differences in abilities do not matter. All 3 of these girls are loved and cherished. Amber's family did everything they could to help her reach her potential. In the end her abilities didn't matter. They missed seeing her smile, hearing her laugh. They didn't care that she never walked or talked. Amber's abilities were not who she was.

Everytime I write ShaeLynn's name I am reminded of what Amber Lynn taught me. That while I am here to help my children reach their full potential, I don't decide what that is. I do decide how I react to it.

I remember that in the end what matters is my little girl's happiness. Seeing them smile, hearing them laugh, watching them while they sleep. It doesn't matter what they grow up to be. They are my little girls.

All I ever asked for was happy and healthy children. I said I was willing to compromise on the healthy part as long as they were happy.

I didn't realize exactly how much I meant that, until Amber Lynn came into our lives. Amber Lynn and her family taught me how to truly appreciate that in a way I might not have otherwise.

Everytime I talk to a parent who is struggling with their child's delays… with not having a diagnosis… with the same relentless search that goes with having children with special needs. I find myself telling them about Amber. How she taught me that in the end that diagnosis doesn't matter. What matters is the little girl.

Amber will continue to influence people's lives because her legacy will always live on. Those who were touched by Amber are not going to forget her.

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