Coffee Coloured Ultrasound

Sorry to keep many of you in suspense since it's been a number of days since our ultrasound. We went in on Monday and we realized that we had paid for the regular one instead of the 3D. But once we found out how expensive the 3D was, I was glad at that moment that we hadn't paid for it!

We got into the room and the Dr. was very friendly. He showed us the heart beating (which was a bit slow) so he had me turn on my left side and within 3 minutes, the heart rate went up 15 beats per minute and the baby was kicking around like crazy. How amazing is that?!

The baby measured long in the femur, which made me hope for a moment that meant the due date was pushed to a week earlier. Oh no, the Dr. assured me, some babies are just taller than others. Duh, I knew that, but I guess it's been hot lately and I was thinking one less week with lil' heater inside would have been a nice thing to look forward to.

The baby waved to us :) and was somewhat cooperative to see their goods.

But of course with the coffee swill quality of the picture, it was hard to see much. The Dr. asked us if we'd like to know and Carl interrupted him with an emphatic YES! With a bit of searching around and double checking, he told us what he didn't see. No testicles and no penis. I just laughed out loud because I thought, Who is going to believe it could be another girl? Certainly no one here, since the shape of my stomach clearly spells out Boy. Seriously could it be any more obvious?! Punto = boy, seguro!!! He did show us her goods, and I thought it looked familiar to what I saw the last two times, but who knows. Sigh....and Carl wasn't completely convinced. He said if kids can have different sized legs, boys can have different sizes of jewels.

As it turns out, we think we're having a girl, but to make sure we'll probably go ahead in the next while and splurge on the 3D ultrasound.

Is it really a girl? Stay tuned for the final verdict.

26 Weeks

We took the picture a bit late, so it's more like 27 weeks, but it's not that big of a deal.

This month, I've had raging heart burn, so I've been eating a lot of carrots, papaya, and green apples. Carl bought me this awful chalky stuff that I only use in emergencies, like when I know I'll be having to eat a whole chocolate bar and the carrots would interfere with the flavour.

I've also been having nausea again, which was something that happened with the other kids. It's more like throughout the day, I smell something and then immediately feel like I have to (or in some cases, do) throw up. Sigh. Well, at least my diet isn't limited because of my sensitive stomach, it's because of my nose.

The baby is moving around and punching and kicking up a storm. You can actually see my stomach move now; it's pretty cool, even fourth time around is an utter miracle. Although, this beautiful miracle does get a bit annoying at 4 a.m.

The kids are also becoming more interactive with the baby. Asha is always telling me about how she'll be bigger than the baby, talking to my stomach, and setting aside clothes that are too small for the baby to wear. She still emphatically claims it's a girl, and when Kezia tries to let her know it could be a boy, Kezia just gets a swing to the face. Joel is a bit more understanding that even though he so badly wants a brother, a little sister wouldn't be that bad. We keep encouraging him that no matter the gender of the baby, he will be a awesome big brother; and he just beams. He loves to pat my stomach and sing to the baby.

We're scheduled to go for an ultrasound on Monday, so I'm almost frothing with anticipation. Will everyone be right and it will be a boy? Will our baby have totally fooled everyone and be a girl? Will Asha be the only one who was right and bold enough to pronounce it?

Or will this baby close their legs and refuse to give up the goods. Carl says that we're not leaving until we know, even if that means he has to coax that kid with a flashlight and a good squeeze. Should be interesting......

And this is the Bag I'm taking to Grandma's

There's a story book that our kids love to read by that title and it's all about this kid bringing his stuff to Grandma's house. It's quite hilarious and ridiculous!

Well, Asha has started packing a bag to take to a variety of locations. Sometimes it's to the snow house (Grandpa Heppner's cabin), sometimes it's Cochabamba, other times it's Brasil. But either way, by the look of things, she's going prepared.



Here's her checklist:

Chalk for tracing a path
Erasers to rub out the chalk
Joel's cell phone to call her kids
A pack of cards to play with
Her baby, Nicolas
Wipes for baby Nicolas and for any messes she might find
Baby powder for sweaty skin
Gardening shears to protect herself

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend sort of snuck up on us. It was a very full, but good weekend.

Friday night, I got to go shopping all by myself to buy groceries for our Sunday feast. For those of you with small children, you can appreciate how special a night out in the shampoo aisle can be! I even had an ice cream after I was done shopping and didn't have to share it with anyone.

Saturday morning, Kezia had a birthday party downtown. I did a bit of shopping in the market during her party time AND even went for a banana split. Seriously, I was really spoiling myself this weekend. I haven't had ice cream in two consecutive days in longer than I can remember.

That afternoon, all three kids were invited to another birthday party in the south part of town. That party was a lot of fun and I met some great parents that want to have us over in the future. Right after the party, the four of us headed to our friends' church where Carl was preaching. We arrived home at 11:00 and collapsed into our beds.

Sunday morning, we got up early to prepare some of the food for our Canadian Thanksgiving lunch. We were having some of the SALTers over (they are one year volunteers with MCC) to celebrate. We baked two chickens, I made pies and stuffing, Carl made a vegetable casserole, potatoes and gravy and jello that was the colour of pepto bismol (c'mon, you have to have some sort of weird jello salad on the table).

The 4 gals arrived at noon, we took a few goofy shots with the turkey hats (almost as staple as the jello salad), and then sat down to a lovely meal. We enjoyed conversation around the table and then later in the living room until 6 p.m.

It was very nice to be able to share our Canadian Thanksgiving with some other MCCers. The SALTers kept saying it was so nice and they were so thankful. We were thankful to have the resources to be able to put on a meal like that and the opportunity to share it with others.

My batteries died before I could take a table shot, but if I can receive a picture from one of the SALTers, I come back and post it, okay?

Kezia's First Competition

A few weeks ago, Kezia had her first inter-club competition. It was here in the city, and there were teams from Cochabamba and La Paz. Her category was called Bebe and there were about 15 little girls ages 5-6.

Kezia did really well. I would have frozen out there in fear, but she walked out confidently and did her routine. She ended really strong and everyone cheered. You could see the pride just glowing from her. Thank you to all of you that prayed for her on that day.

In the end, the club that hosted swept the podium, but that didn't matter. The director of our club praised the girls profusely. Gloria kept telling them that they were all her champions and that they were so brave to go out and perform; little tiny girls with their baby milk teeth.

On the way home, Kezia said she had so much fun and the best part of it all was that she did her best and was so proud of herself. That's what it's all about.

(I'll post the video once we can figure out what's the deal with the camera cord. Sigh.....)


Before the competition, with her friend Thaise.



Lista.



What a finish!



Waiting for the medals to be handed out.



Campeonas!