Sm'apples

I don't get to hang out with my favorite girls as much as I would like to. We all have busy schedules and hectic lives, so anytime we can get together it's a ton of fun. Today, Amity brought her kids, Hannah and Taylor, and her niece Peyton up to Bellingham to pick apples. My other friend Candice, also came up from Seattle to hang out. It has been forever since us 3 girls were together! We went out to Sm'apples in Ferndale to load up on tasty, cheap apples (only $1 a lb for Honeycrisps!). Hannah, Payton, and Taylor headed out with big buckets and filled them up within minutes. Hailey enjoyed a leisurely ride in a wagon pulled by Candice while the older kids did all the work. Although, once Hailey saw Taylor snacking on a apple, she decided she wanted to pick them too. All the kids enjoyed an apple (or 3 in Taylor's case), fresh from the tree. It was a fun day. After apple picking, Candice stuck around and we did some shopping around town and had dinner after Jeff went to work. It was a great day.

On Monday I get to see my other favorite girl Michelle for much needed pedicures, lunch and exciting stories of her month in Europe! I can't wait.

Amity searching for the perfect apple

Candice

Taylor and Amity

Taylor loved eating the apples

Candice, the apple smuggler

Peyton, Amity, Hannah and Taylor

Part of our apple haul

Auntie Candice and Hailey

We all wanted to take this puppy home!

So cute!

BBQ

I can't believe I forgot to post these pictures! Back in August, our good friends hosted a BBQ for all of Jeff's old crew from Everett. This is the group that Jeff was working with when we began dating and we all used to be so close and hang out frequently. Sadly, people slowly transferred to different agencies, detachments and different divisions. Even though we don't get to see these guys and their families all too often, when we get together it's like nothing has changed. We hope to make this get together a yearly tradition!

Boys will be boys

Detachment 15

Detachement 15 kiddos

Jeff, Keffeler and baby Kendall

The boys

Uncle Scott and Hailey

Latest Ultrasound...

On Tuesday I went in for another ultrasound to check Madeline's fluid levels, and once again everything looked great. She was moving all around and putting on quite a show. The tech at our OB office in Bellingham never quite answers my questions, she always just says she will send all the info down to the UW for evaluation and they will answer our questions on the next visit, so I can't be sure. But to me, Madeline's bowels looked bigger than they have looked before, so they possibly could be dialated (bad) but it could just be the difference in ultrasound technology between UW and the Bellingham office too. So I'm trying not to let it worry me. During the ultrasound, Maddy had her arm over her face and we could see a fat role on her wrist. It was adorable, and makes me feel better knowing she has some fat on her.

Once again the ultrasound looked so good, I didn't have to stay for an NST. Which I was kinda disappointed about because I wanted to see if I was still having contractions. I go back on Friday for an NST, and then back to the UW on Wednesday.

I need to get some pictures up of the nursery because it's completed! I will find time to do that this week.

Yet another NST

NST today was ok. Madeline wasn't moving much and her heartbeat wasn't showing accelerations, so they kept me a while to make sure things were okay. They finally saw what they needed to, but it still worries me. I was also having lots of contractions. Nothing too strong, but they are definitely noticeable. I don't remember having early contractions with Hailey.

I go back for another ultrasound to check fluid levels and do an NST on Tuesday, then another NST on Friday.

UW update

Wednesday we went back to UW for another check up. Our doctor told us during our last visit that we would be discussing our induction date during this visit, so we were excited and anxious to have an end in sight. First I had an NST (non stress test) done. Once again Madeline was very active and I even had a couple contractions, so she is doing great. Then we met with a doctor who did an ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid and check her growth. Everything looked great. The doctor estimated that Madeline weighs about 5lbs 2oz (which is in the 20%tile), and during her measurements, the doctor said that her belly area looks to be about average size, which is great news because hopefully it will make the process of getting her intestines and bowels back inside much easier. Sometimes Gastro babies have small bellies which make it more difficult to get everything back where it belongs, hopefully in our case, it will mean that Madeline will only need a silo (picture a plastic bag full of her insides hanging above her, slowly easing everything back in), as opposed to having to stretch out her stomach to accommodate her intestines and then easing everything back in.

So we didn't get an induction date because Madeline is looking so happy where she is, that the doctors don't want to consider induction any time soon. So we will go back to UW in 2 weeks (Oct. 12) to re-evaluate. In the mean time, I will continue seeing my OB in Bellingham twice a week for NST's and ultrasounds. We are thinking that an induction at 38 weeks will be probable, however, we want to avoid doing an amino to check on Madeline's lung development. So we continue to wait...

Speechless

Jeff's co worker's surprised us with the most amazing gift: They all signed their badge numbers on a onesie for Madeline, gave her the most adorable Teddy bear, and gave us enough money to stay at The Ronald McDonald House for an entire month while Madeline is at Children's Hospital.

To say I was speechless is an understatement. We have never received such an amazing gift, ever. It made me cry knowing how much they care about us. I still don't have the words to say how much this means to us.

34 weeks

I'm posting this a couple days late, but here is the latest belly picture. Hailey is such a good big sister. She loves to kiss and hug my belly before going off to preschool, and likes to lay her head on my belly to feel Madeline move. Hailey still likes to tell people that she" has a Madeline in her tummy too." And when getting dressed in the morning, she will often say "you can see my Madeline in this shirt," while putting her hands on her belly. It's adorable. I can't wait for her to see and hold Madeline for the first time. We haven't really explained to Hailey what is going on with Madeline, I kept it vague and told her that Madeline will need to stay at the hospital for a while before she gets to come home, and she will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a while while Madeline is at the hospital. We plan on having Hailey stay with one of us at the Ronald McDonald House as well, but in the beginning she will stay in Mt. Vernon while we get arrangements figured out.

Latest Ultrasound...

was great! Everything is still the same, which is all we can hope for right now. She was moving all over the place and was so active, the doctor said I didn't need to do an NST afterwards. I asked about Madeline's growth, but they said they would send all the data to UW and they would update us on Wednesday when we go. Fingers crossed that she is still packing on weight each week so she will be as big and strong as possible when delivery time comes.

We are really anxious/excited about our Wednesday appt. because we are going to discuss an induction date. It could be as early as 37 weeks, which is just 2 short weeks away. I feel like I would rather have a set date, rather than risk the possibility of going in to labor in Bellingham and not being able to get to UW in time, because Hailey came SO fast that we would never make it to Seattle in time.

NST

Last NST on Tuesday was great...ultrasound on Friday to check fluid levels and another NST. I can't wait for the 28th so we can figure out the induction date!

BelleWood Acres

Hailey has wanted a pair of cowboy boots since we went to the Lynden Fair, so when I found a great deal on a pair of purple John Deere cowboy boots I had to buy them. Unfortunately, they came in the mail a day after our visit to the Puyallup Fair, but Hailey didn't mind. She was so excited about them, and put them on right away and said "I need a purple cowboy hat to go with my new boots!" She then asked if we could go to a farm so she could wear her boots, because "boots are supposed to be muddy." I didn't know of a farm that we could visit, so I looked in to other places to visit and came across BelleWood Acres, which is an apple orchard in Bellingham that had a tractor ride and U pick apples. It sounded like a fun family activity for a Saturday morning, so off we went! The first thing we did when we got there was take the tractor ride through the orchards, which Hailey loved. Then we learned there were horse rides too, which of course Hailey wanted to do. But before we did the ride, we decided to sample some of their apple products, first we sampled the hot apple cider donuts, yum! Then we bought an Apple Flower, which is a sliced apple covered in hot caramel, peanuts, whip cream and cherries. It was sooooo good. They also had fresh apple pies, turnovers, mini pies, cider, cheeses, and honey roasted peanut butter to sample and buy.

After our treat, we wandered around the "farm" and checked out the packaging room where they were boxing up apples to ship and the cider room where apples were being pressed in to cider. Then we got back on the tractor ride to head down to the horse rides. Hailey picked out a tan horse named Flower to ride on. Thankfully they had helmets for the kids to wear, because the horses were BIG. Hailey had a blast on the horse, and after her ride, we headed up to get her face painted. She picked out a pink tiger mask and sat perfectly still while having it painted on. After she was transformed in to a tiger, we headed out to pick some apples. The owner of the orchard took us out to the U pick area to show us which apples were ready to be picked. He gave Hailey an apple he picked off the tree that she got to eat and she thought that was pretty cool. We picked a few Zestar apples, which are really sweet and crisp, then we headed out for much needed naps :-)

Hailey loved wearing her new boots and put them to good use by jumping in any puddle she came across.