04.26.09

Hello from the Marquardt Household and my apologies for how sporadic my posting has been. Life has been very crazy!! I have to be honest, I just erased my entire post. I had written so much that I realized it became more of a vent session to the world than at all what this is really about - our growing family. But I would be lying if I didn't say I had felt overwhelmed in the last 4 weeks. I have. But I will say that I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and as always, God's presence surrounds the chaos that is my house!! That has been evident over and over again, and I praise His name for it.

Baby is growing, growing, growing!! I had my first 2 week appointment this past week (now 32 weeks) and it was a reality check being seen again so soon, this baby is coming quickly! If you remember back to Oliver's pregnancy I dealt a lot with Braxton-Hicks contractions, and at one point was taken off of work from 33-35 weeks. That is happening again, but I feel much better equipped to deal with them this time. There have been a few painful ones, but really nothing that raises a true red flag. His activity is still, in my mind, much more subdued than Oliver's was, but he has definite periods now of sleeping and activity. If I watch for those times he's pretty consistent. One uncomfortable thing is he turns - a lot. He was breech last visit, this visit was head down, and now is transverse (laying sideways). I say that with confidence because I feel no movement in the lower pelvis or high by the ribcage, but only on both my hips!!! It's weird and uncomfortable and I hope he moves again soon.

Lastly are some pictures - some from Easter, Awards Night @ Awana, and the Circus. Oliver has had a lot of fun this month and one story that sticks out as my favorite was Awards Night @ Awana. He was standing up there, SO proud & standing tall, tummy out, and trying hard to keep a serious face, but found it in himself to scope me out of the crowd to give me the cutest, most obvious wink, still never breaking the serious character! It melted my heart and was one of the cutest things he's ever done. I can't believe I've been given the opportunity to be his mom, to enjoy this. And God's going to give me another little boy - I really can't wait!

~jrm~

Oliver enjoying the elephants at the Circus

Awards Night for Awana @ church -- he was so proud!!


Adorable Kyla - Precious Parker!


The Bimbo Boys watching Veggie Tales

Marquard Family Easter 2009 - Pirate finger puppets and all

04.01.09

There was a very popular "note" going around on Facebook, called "25 Random Things About Me." I thought since it's been a bit since my last post - we'd modify that a little bit and have some fun with it.

~25 Random Things About This Pregnancy~

1. I am 28 weeks and 3 days today.

2. I had an appointment today - all went well!

3. This baby is still breech. And loving it. The bladder apparently makes a good trampoline.

4. My glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes was today. I passed with flying colors! I was actually on the low side for blood sugar. And I no longer believe anyone who says Mt. Dew has too much sugar. My blood doesn't agree with you!! LOL

5. We got the new crib sheets - very exciting.

6. The upstiars construction is going well.

7. We currently have no carpet upstairs. That part isn't the most fun. But I keep dreaming of new carpet...soon! Coming April 22nd.

8. I have rockstar parents who came and helped with all the remodeling. My dad makes a mean staircase and my mom is really good at scraping old, icky, cat urine smelling carpet out of rooms.

9. I also have a rockstar brother that came and helped out a ton this week. He's turning out to be quite the handy man. Roofing - painting - ripping out carpet - entertaining a 3 year old - eating an entire box of Velveeta by himself - spooning my baby dog Cooper - you name it, Chris does it!!

10. I also have a rockstar sister. Her and her hubby make some awesome kids. And she offers a TON of emotional support. You can just ask her about that. She knows how crazy I am.

11. Even though baby is breech, he still prefers my right side. I look quite lopsided.

12. I am now on 2-week appointments. How crazy is that?

13. If I could describe this pregnancy in one word = EXHAUSTED.

14. I still have no swelling. YEA!

15. I unfortunately have the face of a 14 year old. BOO.

16. I was obsessed with "belly pics" with Oliver's pregnancy. This pregnancy I have taken a total of 3 whopping pictures.

17. The Braxton Hicks contractions that pretty much plagued Oliver's last trimester have started. I get them most days, several times a day. I just don't get all worked up about them this time! They don't hurt. My baby's moving. All is good.

18. To combat Braxton Hicks, you should drink lots of water. I hate water.

19. This baby is still quiet - but has what I call "freak out" moments. All of a sudden he will just go NUTS! And then nothing. It's quite comical.

20. We are narrowed down to 2 names. Those 2 names change quite frequently. But we usually don't agree on more than 2. :)

21. Sleeping is getting more difficult. Numb hips, sore shoulders, round ligament pains. But amazingly enough very few, if any, bathroom trips. I'll take that!

22. I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible that I may get more sleep after this baby is born. Even considering the newborn factor, I still think I may sleep better/feel more rested after baby is out.

23. Oliver is starting to act up. More on that later ... but we're narrowing it down to the fact that he realizes another baby may be coming. And we don't think he's too happy about it. He is almost 4 and smarter than we give him credit for.

24. Still not dealing with much heartburn. YEA!

25. Baby just used his trampoline again. I just about peed my pants. :)