It's a GIRL!

I can't hardly believe I'm saying this, but Donohoe Baby #2 is going to be a girl! I thought for sure we were destined to have all boys. Jack comes from a family of 3 boys, and I have all brothers and almost ALL boy cousins. Girls just don't come along very often in the Massey family - but when they do, boy are they special! :)

It was really fun to get to see the baby in the sonogram yesterday. We got to see a few 3-D images which was cool (I'll post pictures at some point). The whole time the nurse was showing us all of the different body parts - head, abdomen, feet, kidneys, heart, etc. I kept thinking "So... what is it!? Am I going to be buying pink? or more blue? playing with dolls? or more trucks? softball? or more baseball?" And then finally (at the very end) she showed us... it's a girl! She kept her legs open just long enough for us to get a look, and then she closed them right back up. Very lady like already!

 I remember with Nolan thinking how cool it was to get a glimpse of the baby that's inside of you. But this time was different. I think now that I've had Nolan I know what a joy children are. Just looking at the baby girl, I was already overcome with love. As I was sitting there in the sonogram room, I just kept thinking "I love you so much already!" (for the record, this would have happened if it was a boy too). I know every baby is different, and no one could ever "replace" my Nolan - he is so very special to me is so many ways. But my motherly instincts are already kicking in for his little sister. I find it interesting that as soon as I found out this was going to be a girl I already started worrying more. I wonder why I feel the need to protect her more than I remember feeling that with Nolan? Obviously I want to protect Nolan too. But I guess being a boy I know he is going to be able to fend for himself. With a girl, I am already worried that there won't be any good guys out there to treat her right, or that girls are going to be caddy and lower her self esteem. I hope that doesn't happen. She is already so beautiful. And she deserves the best! And plus she has a great older brother who will kick anyone's butt if they try to mess with her! :) I am lucky to have 2 great brothers. I am excited to see the bond that she and Nolan will have!

Fun on the Farm

Nolan has been learning a lot of new words lately. One of his favorite words is "ride". The other one is "outside". Put those together and you can make this child happy for hours!

It should come as no surprise then that Nolan LOVES to go to the farm. There are so many things to explore and "ride". We've been going out there a lot recently to help out with things and work on the apartment. Nolan lucks out because while we work, he gets to play. Here are some pictures of his adventures there recently:

Nolan meeting the pigs:

Nolan riding on the tractor with Pops:

Checking out the 4-wheeler:

Going for a walk:

The Christmas trees that we helped plant:

Thank you NIFLA!

What is NIFLA you ask? And why am I thanking them? Well... NIFLA stands for the National Institute of Family Life Advocates (click here to see more: http://www.nifla.org/). They are an organization that does a lot of things, but one of the things they do is train nurses in ultrasound. They do this because if a woman sees an ultrasound of her baby she is less likely to have an abortion. This is something that I am very passionate about, so I was happy to volunteer as a "model" for the nurses to train on. I know I was suppose to be doing NIFLA a favor by volunteering, but honestly I think I am the one that won out. I got to watch an ultrasound of our baby for 45 minutes. It was really fun! Usually at the doctors I feel like they rush you in and out so they can get to all the patients, and they don't always take the time to really let you look during the ultrasound. Plus, a lot of times the nurse will tell me what she is looking at and I have no idea what she is talking about because she goes so fast. But this time was different. There were 6 different nurses who took turns using the ultrasound machine on me. The neat thing was that while they were learning what to look for, so was I. The nurse that was teaching them was very good about explaining everything - and by the 6th time of looking at it and felt like I really knew what I was looking at. According to them I have really nice anatomy :) Ultimately it was just really cool to get to watch our baby for 45 minutes. It is so rare to get to see inside the womb, so I really enjoyed it! We got to see lots of different views. We saw him/her move around, swallow, and give a peace sign - all at only 14 and a half weeks old!

Here are a few pics of the newest addition to our family:

This is our little peanut at 8 weeks:

Here is his/her (still don't know which yet!) face:

(Looks a little alien-esque, but still cool!)

Profile shot - isn't it so cool to see how much he/she has grown is just 6 weeks?

This is him/her giving a peace sign:

Another profile shot - you can't really see his/her legs, but I promise they are there! I saw them kicking all around!



News Update

I know it's been a long time since the last post, but to make it up to you I have some big news to share!

Nolan is going to be a big brother! Woo hoo!

The due date is Sept. 6th. I guess we have a knack for September birthdays. That will put Nolan and his little brother or sister at 2 years apart. My brother and I are 2 years apart and I always thought that was a good amount. Hopefully it will work out well for Nolan and Baby too!

Non-Stop

Someone asked me recently how I ever get anything done anymore. And the answer is, "I don't." Nolan goes non-stop, all the time. If you take your eye off of him for one second you never know what he'll get into. Here are a few examples:

- Today I had to call Poison Control for the first time. While I was brushing my teeth, Nolan got a hold of the mouthwash and somehow figured out how to take the top off. Next thing I know I look over and he is drinking it. On the back of the bottle are all kinds of warnings about not ingesting it and keeping it out of the reach of children, especially those under 6. Luckily when I called poison control they said he would be fine as long as I gave him something to eat and drink and he didn't throw up or get suddenly sleepy (because mouthwash contains alcohol). Oddly enough, Nolan seemed to really like it, and he's had really fresh breath all day!

- Shortly after the mouthwash incident, Nolan was eating some crackers to help settle his stomach. He then proceded to take the crackers into the bathroom, dunk them in the toilet, and tried to eat them. Since when did toilet water become the new cracker dip? Gross.

- Yesterday Nolan had to sit in time-out mutliple times at the babysitters for climbing on things he's not suppose to. He must not have learned his lesson because when we got home, he continued to try to climb on top of tables and such. Later we went over to a friend's house where he climbed on top of a desk, then on top of a computer, stood up, and started pressing buttons on the security system. I fear it's only a matter of time before I walk in and find Nolan on top of the refrigerator or somewhere else ridiculous. You just never know with this boy!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! (a few days late). 2010 was a pretty good year. Nolan learned lots of new things - how to sit up, eat real food, got 12 teeth, how to crawl, how to walk, how to dance (which he loves to do - just like his dad), how to climb (which he also LOVES), how to say a few words, and much more. One of my favorite things about 2010 was watching him learn new things. It is so fun to see him discover something new! He is at such a fun age. I can't wait to see all that he accomplishes in 2011!

Wishing you all the best this year... May 2011 be filled with joy beyond your imagination!

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:16-21

Bean Bags!

I did it! I made bean bags! This might not seem like a big deal to you, but I am really proud of myself so I thought I would share....

Jack recently acquired a corn-hole set. Unfortunately we left the bean bags outside and the squirrels got to them. If you know anything about corn-hole, you know that having the boards doesn't do you much good if you don't have bean bags to throw in them. So I decided that for Christmas this year I would make Jack a set of bean bags. It seemed simple enough. However I don't really have much sewing experience so it proved more difficult than I thought. But with a little patience, and a lot of help from Nina, I was able to finish them this past week. It was quite a relief to have them done. Now I feel like I can do anything! (better not get ahead of myself... but if you know anyone that needs some bean bags let me know! =P)