Our 20 Week Ultrasound

Today was our 20 week ultrasound! And before you get your hopes up, no we did not find out what we are having! We didn't find out with Marley and we want this baby to be a surprise also. I have been having bad dreams that we accidentally found out, or even worse I felt like I saw but couldn't really tell. But luckily, the ultrasound tech didn't even look, so there wasn't a chance of us finding out. And when we looked at the baby's legs, they were crossed! So, this baby was cooperative in the way we wanted him or her to be and is keeping it a secret!

She told me that my placenta is right in the front, so that might be why I haven't felt a whole lot of movement. I felt the first flutters around 14 weeks, but it hadn't gotten very consistent yet. I could only feel it when I was resting and really concentrating on feeling it. However, the past two days I have felt some really big movements, all over the place! And i don't have to be concentrating to feel it. Asa has tried to feel it, but the baby hasn't really cooperated yet. Hopefully it will before he leaves! With all the movement I have been feeling the past few days, I can't imagine what it would be like if my placenta were in a different place!

The ultrasound was amazing. I thought Marley's 20 week scan was impressive, but this one was even better. The baby moved the whole time, swallowed, kicked, waved it's hands around, and gave us some awesome shots. We saw toes and fingers, which were all there, and we saw a cute little nose just like Marley's. We didn't get to find out how big the baby was, but the heartbeat was 157 beats per minute. But if you think that might tell whether we are having a boy or girl, just know that every other time we have gotten a reading, the heart was beating in the 130s per minute. So, you never know!

At one point, she got a shot of the baby where we were looking straight at it's eye. We could see the circle that was the eye socket, then a smaller gray circle, and then another even smaller dark circle inside (kind of like a bull's eye). The ultrasound tech told us we were seeing our baby's eye and we could see it moving back and forth! It was amazing! I had no idea that was something you could see on an ultrasound!

We didn't walk away with really great pictures, so I wish we had recorded the actual ultrasound. But it was awesome, and not something I will forget. I am so glad Asa got to be here for it, and he has informed me that he is taking all of the ultrasound pictures with him when he deploys! He will miss so much of this pregnancy and the baby's first eight months, so I am very happy he got to see it today. I think it really helped him realize this is really happening!

Marley's Words, Part 1

Marley likes to play this game that she has named "Let's Talk About Daddy's Truck." It's basically like a little riddle game, where I give clues and she has to guess what it is that I'm talking about. So, I say, "What has four wheels, is gray, and Daddy drives it?" and she says, "Daddy's truck!" So, today, she was making the riddles for me and I was guessing what she was talking about. She talked about Daddy's truck, my car, and a school bus. Then she said, "What has four wheels and chairs drive it?" I looked at her confused, and said I didn't know. Then she giggled and said, "That's silly! Chairs don't have hands!"

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While we were driving in the car, she looked out the window and said, "All these trees in the whole world are sad because they don't have leaves. They all dropped off!"

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On our last morning in the cabin in Oklahoma, I found Marley on the potty.
Marley: "I pooped!"
Me: "Awesome!"
Marley: "You like poop?!" (smiling and excitedly swinging her head)
Me: "Well, not really. I like it in the potty!"
Marley: "Oh, you like peepee?!" (still smiling)
Me: "Yes, Marley. I love peepee."

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"I'm tooted!"
"I'm tooted. It was quiet toot."
"I'm tooted a lot toots."
I seriously hear there 50 times a day. I think I have the tootin'-est kid ever.

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To Asa: "You're in big trouble mister!"
To me: "You're in big trouble young lady!"

Outside Finally

Today, Missouri was warmer than it has been in months. Probably warmer than most February days in the past. So, what did we do? We spent as much of it as we could in the sunlight, soaking up the 70 degree weather! We took two trips to the playground, had a family picnic on the front porch, wore capris and flip flops, and let the house air out. I love days like this and I totally needed it after all the sad, cold days of winter here in Missouri. Tomorrow it will be even warmer, and we plan to drive to Springfield and spend some time doing something outside. Anything, really as long as it is outside!

Her hair was not actually standing up like that, the wind was blowing it that way!

This girl takes every little bit of crust off of her sandwiches, but then feasts on Daddy's crust!

And there's nothing like a popsicle to top off a picnic!

Our dear friend, Bolta

I don't think I have ever mentioned Marley's imaginary friend, Bolta. She started talking about him months ago, and we have no idea where she came up with that name. But here's what we do know:

He has been invited to dinner countless times, but we are always stood up.

Every single time Marley gets a hold of a phone, she needs to call him. And he seems to do a lot of the talking, because Marley only ever has time to say "uh huh" and "ok, bye!"

He has had a lot of jobs in the past. He has worked at the grocery store, the movie theater, Walmart, many restaurants, and at Mimi's work. But his latest job is at Daddy's work. However, I don't know how he ever gets any work done with all the talking on the phone he has been doing!

He lives in Missouri sometimes, Texas sometimes, and most recently under a stage at Beaver's Bend in Oklahoma.

For the past week, Marley has been reporting that he came to our house and took all kinds of things. She whispers in my ear, "Bolta came to our house and took our couch (or lamp, or cup, or shirt, or chair)!" None of those things are missing, but for some reason she just wants to get him in trouble!

He was supposedly at our house for Christmas, but we never actually appeared anywhere.

So, as you can see, we do not know a whole lot about him. Everyone pictures something different. If you see Bolta anywhere, please snap a picture with him and ask him why he keeps standing us up for dinner!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Marley has a big attitude lately.

"Don't touch!" when I pick up something she didn't want to be picked up.
"No!" at pretty much anything.
"Just a minute..." when I ask her to do something.

I hear those things come out of her mouth and I wonder how often I actually say those things during the day (and sometimes I smile just because it can get a little funny to watch such a little girl have such a big attitude). We all forget to say please, right? And we all say things with a little more attitude than we mean to, right?

The hard part for me, other than trying to watch what I say, is explaining to her that she can't talk to people like that. I feel totally guilty, because I know she heard it from me. It's hard to explain to a two-year-old that, yes that is the way I said it, but no you cannot say it that way. So, I try as hard as I can to be patient and talk to her in a nice tone, but everyone here knows that sometimes it just comes out! No matter how hard we try!

Modeling

I'm not really sure where she learned it, but when Marley is feeling fancy and I want to take her picture, she turns into a diva! And she loves to strut her stuff!Me: "You are such a diva!"
Her: "I'm not diva! I'm Marley!"