We're even Stevens this April

We woke up early to go to our gender revealing ultrasound when I was just 17 weeks pregnant. I was nervous they wouldn't be able to tell us quite yet because I was still not too far along. But those fears were dissolved after they told us they were 100% on the gender of this baby. Jade kept saying WOW and BABY the whole ultrasound. She has been really getting into the baby-lovin stage by taking care of her dolls around the house. I often find her feeding, holding and going for walks with her babies. It's definitely exciting to see because before we know it we will have another precious child of God enter our home for good. The ultrasound was all good news because the baby looks VERY healthy, very cute and is very much a BOY! If Alex and I are honest, we really wanted a boy this time. Well, I even wanted a boy the first time. So when the ultrasound tech told us that it was in fact a boy we were stunned. How often do you get the gender you secretly want? I guess you have a 50/50 chance…but still…we felt lucky. Now we will have both genders to even out our family..for now at least. Having a girl was way more fun than I even anticipated. And now we are about to experience the unique fun that every boy comes with. 

I feel those kicks!!

The tech said his head isn't hollow. The angle of the ultrasound just makes it look that way.

I hope his thumb isn't as big as it looks :)

I hope he grows up to be like his Daddy. I so badly want this for him. My in laws raised an amazing man. I want more than anything for our son to develop Alex's kindness. His true nature is to be a peace maker. He has an incredible balance of leadership and humility. He nurtures more than I ever expected the father of my children would. He lights up my world and allows me to see my potential more vividly. I've never known someone so aware of my needs. I am continuously having moments where I think…and this is why you married him. I want our son to reflect those same feelings in his future wife. I know God has a plan for this tiny boy in my belly. I feel God's love for him daily. He has innate qualities, a special presence and will fill a void that our family will be unaware of until the day he arrives.  

All kinds of sick and all kinds of blessings.

For weeks now I have been sick SICK SICK! I can't catch a break. I'm sick from pregnancy..but I was prepared for 9 months of this and I have learned to accept it for the most part graciously and for the other part like a psycho but mostly gracious..I think. But while getting and IV to help with the pregnancy puking, I had the world's worst cold/cough combo. Then JUST as I got over that I got an ear infection in both of my ears. I spent a day trying home remedies and texting Alex about my predicament. It was on the day of the week that Alex is gone before I even wake up and home right before bed. I had no car to go see a doctor and I was just trying to get through the day. So once Alex got home we went to bed and I continued with the home remedies. Later, in the middle of the night, I woke up with the worst pain in my ears. It was 4:30 am and Alex warmed up the car, scraped off the snow and got me Tylenol so that I could go into emergency. This pain was not something I could manage any longer. Alex offered a prayer before I left. And I knew that God was with me because the pain subsided enough while I drove to the hospital. The doctor at emergency confirmed I had two ear infections and ruptured my left ear drum. Cool. He suggested I go see an ear doctor later that day to have him look at my ears because he was worried there was further damage and worried about the blood in my ear. My first question..what drugs are you gonna give me? He was scared to give me a strong antibiotic because I'm pregnant. So I took whatever he was willing to give me and headed to the 24 hour pharmacy. After taking the pills for half a day and still feeling sorry for myself, I remembered our good friend here is a doctor that is going further to be an ENT(ear, nose and throat doctor). I contacted his wife in hopes she would ask him all the questions I had and help me know what to do because I was still in so much pain. He called and said the antibiotic the doctor gave me was not ideal and offered to call in a better antibiotic that was still safe to take while pregnant. YES! Give me the good stuff! So a big thank you to Matt for the prescription and his wife Whitney for the delicious supper she brought us last night. I have been taking the new medication for almost a day now and I have high hopes that it will start working soon, the pain will ease up and my left ear will be able to hear again haha. We have had a lot of tender mercies lately..like a lot, but the biggest one is how amazing our daughter is. 

Jade we love you for so many reasons but these past couple weeks the biggest reason is how EASY you are. Your dad and I have had so many talks recently about how much in awe we are when it comes to you. You are obedient, smart, kind, sweet, funny, independent and ours, all ours. We are blessed. I can't imagine having any other child during these hard weeks. I have gotten SO many babysitting offers from ladies in our ward. I definitely feel the love from our ward and I appreciate their willingness to serve, it's amazing. But when I'm asked if I need a babysitter to get some rest, I honestly chuckle to myself because I never have any complaints when it comes to you. I honestly don't think anyone understands how easy I do have it as a mother. I have complaints about energy to cook, clean and go to doctor appts but never any about you. You are simple and easy. When I hurt I see you stare at me with concern and you often stroke my head and kiss my nose. When I am in pain, I swear you know and you bring your toys to the room I am in and play quietly by yourself. I talk to you and comment on your baby's eyes, hair, outfit and you just giggle and continue playing. I hardly have to get up from my forever spot on the couch yet I am still able to play with you. We have a good thing going and I can't help but thank God for sending me you. You have a sweet spirit that is always searching to comfort, support and please me. You have taught us so much about life in your short time in our home. Thank you for blessing us more than we deserve. God gives us only what we can handle while he still tries to challenge us. Me being sick is challenging for both your daddy and I, but Jade, you are a diamond in the rough.

I like to pretend I'm sleeping and Jade likes to pretend the remote is a phone. My favourite part of the video is at the end when she says "It's Jade"! Which sounds more like "It jeeed".

I love my parents, especially in person

As soon as we came home from Georgia we were greeted by my parents who had already spent a night at our house. The next day we immediately went to Costco to buy some beds. My parents buy us kids two single beds (which makes a king when put together) when they come to visit so they can have a king size bed to sleep on when they come to visit and we get two single beds for our kids when they aren't visiting. It's a great deal if you ask me! They justify the purchase by saying it saves them money because a week in a hotel would cost more than the beds. I'm excited because I'm going to start Jade in a big girl bed in the coming weeks and now I have a bed to set up her big girl room! My parents know how to cheer up a sick pregnant lady and an exhausted law student. We went out to eat everyday and tried all the restaurants around our house we have been wanting to try. They spoiled us with all sorts of NEW things for our house. I capitalize NEW because we never buy NEW. So it is a real treat to say we have some quality stuff around here. Jade was spoiled with attention and Canadian candy obviously. She still screams PAPA and MAMA even now that they have gone. It's kinda sad. She is now experiencing a candy detox :) We went to the Henry Ford Museum which contains million dollar vehicles throughout our history. It was a really neat place to read about all the different progressions and inventions our world has made. It's insane to think about. It had airplanes from the beginning of the technology to now. It had so many things that it took us hours to go through. It had fun kids sensory sections for Jade and electric scooters my parents insisted on me using. It actually did help because I didn't waste any calories or puke through the entire experience. Little successes matter! We tried several pet stores to find a free "zoo" for Jade. The pet stores around here were sadly stocked but Jade still got to see puppies and that is all that matters to her. I was also able to go to a million doctors appointments which sounds lame but I don't usually have a car during the say so we have to plan a lot just to schedule appointments. It was nice to just get a lot of that type of stuff done. While at my OBGYN appointment, my doctor suggested going to the hospital over night to get hooked up to IV's and you can read about that experience here. It was nice to have my parents to take care of Jade while I was in the hospital and Alex was at school. The iv's helped and I haven't puked since! It has been two days and it feels awesome! I unluckily came down with a cold and sore throat which was passed down to Jade, so I haven't been able to fully appreciate not puking after meals. But my cold is nearing the end of it's stay and I'm excited to feel completely healthy! A nurse is coming to our house several times a week to keep the iv's in my system on a regular basis so I keep down calories and nutrients. It's definitely gonna take some getting used to with me doing my day to day stuff wrapped up in cords and iv bags but I'm glad my doctor is looking out for me and taking needed action.  After I was discharged from the hospital my parents took me for ice cream and then we all went to a Redwing's game. It was such a good game that ended with a wing's win! We went out for pizza in down town Detroit before the game and it was fun to finally experience this place we have been living in for months now and had yet to really see. Alex drives through the city to get to school but never has spent time walking around and I spend my days at home with Jade. It was fun and a great way to finish off their visit. We love when family comes! Now my parents are 2 hours away in Ohio with my sister Natalie and her family and will be back next Friday to go to ANOTHER wing's game with us before they fly home.

Halloween 2015 in Georgia

We were able to go to Georgia to attend our newest niece, Gwenyth Nyali Steven's baby blessing! Tasha and Ben came back to the States from Africa to have their beautiful baby girl! She is just so well behaved and easy and not to mention flawless. We spent a night tending her and only woke up twice for 10 minutes to feed her and BAM she was back sleeping. Her blessing was wonderful and the visit was FUN FUN FUN! We got there Halloween morning and relaxed while at the same time ooing and awwwing at little Gwen. Then we went out to a BBQ place which was a great introduction to Southern food. In the community that Tasha's parents live they use golf carts like vehicles. I kid you not, we went to the grocery store in one and they have specified parking spots for golf carts and everything. So for trick or treating, everyone decorated their golf cart spooky and went door to door. It was quite the experience and our little chicken enjoyed her first Halloween out on the streets. We also visited the Georgia Aquarium which was the highlight for Jade. She loved all the "shish" :) And then directly after we went to the world of coke museum. THAT was a delicious experience where they have taps of all the different coke products that are offered around the world. It was YUM YUM YUM! Tasha's family was so good to us. I always love being around that family because they are such a good time. Alex's parents and his little sister Natalie were also there for the blessing and it was so good to see them. Jade gets so much attention from them and Alex and I forget we have a child when we are around them. Jade is always taken care of :)  It was sad to leave our African family which has now expanded to 3. The only thing that made the goodbye tolerable was that we are all meeting up again at Christmas time.

Canadian Thanksgiving In Stow Ohio

We traveled to Ohio this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend to be with my sister Natalie and her family. We love being around them because their kids are so full of life and Nat and Dave are so similar to us. We found out last minute that Landon's soccer game was canceled so we made the most of it and had some fun family soccer time in the indoor field together. Both Landon and Easton are very athletic. Landon even got to 100 goals before we left :) We put together Thanksgiving dinner and endulged in it non stop for the entire weekend. It was fun to be pregnant with my sister again! We were able to talk baby a lot while our husbands could talk sports, careers, school and other less than fun things. We did an early gift exchange for Christmas because we were sure when the next time was that we would see each other. It was fun until Alex and I unwrapped the new and improved Christmas "pooch". In our family we have this famous "pooch" that someone gets every year for Christmas. It's funny because we always forget and then BAM someone is unwrapping this cheap dog stuffed animal as a gift. The story behind it goes all the way back to when I was 10 years old and had a paper route. I had gotten one of my school friends a dog in a purse stuffed animal for Christmas as a gag/inside joke gift and mistakenly forgotten that I had left it on the kitchen counter while I went out to do my paper route. While I was gone, my sister Natalie and brother Jordan discovered the ugly creature and got out a sharpy and proceeded to draw unibrows and chest hair all over my friend's gift. They had a good time laughing at all the things they thought up to draw on the poor pooch. When I got home from my paper route I discovered my graffitied gift. I showed my mom and she tried not to laugh as she investigated around the house and talked to possible culprits. Natalie and Jordan confessed and said they thought it wasn't a big deal because they didn't think anyone cared about the ugly stuffed animal and just had some fun with it. I was so upset because I had specifically bought this gift for a friend and I was 10 and everything was a big deal I guess. They bought me another pooch and then we all forgot about the experience. Little did we know, my mom kept the vandalized pooch because she thought the whole story was pretty funny. She wrapped the gift and addressed it to Jordan and Natalie. On Christmas morning Jordan and Natalie noticed this nice looking present addressed to them that  they thought was probably something awesome. When it came to opening the gift they were sorely mistaken. It was the pooch coming back to haunt them. Every Christmas since my family wraps the pooch up for one unsuspecting family member. SO this year Alex and I opened up a gift that was in fact the pooch but instead of the original pooch it was a singing and dancing pooch that was also vandalized in a similar fashion. Jade cried every time we turned it on and it started singing. I don't blame her because it WAS quite frightening. Anyways...it was a good time. Hopefully we see them soon. It's so nice only living a couple hours from family.

Nat and the gang visit the "ghetto"

My lovely sister Natalie and her kids came to visit us. We were so happy it was that weekend because Alex had it all off for the long weekend. We imagined a total party and that's what is was. Within a day of their arrival we found this huge kids pool for my backyard at a garage sale! Since I don't have a car most days, it's important to me to find things to do around the house. We set it up for some of the last rays of summer sun and enjoyed for hours. The boys kept asking to "check on the pool"  the next day on Sunday when we were restraining the urge to party in the pool for the Sabbath. They were so patient and just stared at the glistening water all Sunday even though they knew how fun it was the day before. I just love them. We ordered pizza, got ice team cones from the local dairy and went garage sale shopping. It was a short weekend but we loved having them here and i'll post soon about when we visited their neck of the woods for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend!

16 weeks

I am addicted to babies. I love them. But they don't love me back all the time. This week my OBGYN sent me to the hospital to get hooked up to iv's over night. I'm currently writing this as I sit here at 6 am, because hospitals have a law to never let you get some shut eye. The iv's I'm getting include: electrolytes, fluids, calories, anti-nausiants and prenatal pills. After this my doctor is working on getting me at home care to get iv's a couple times a week until the baby is born. I guess I should explain why it's necessary. With Jade's pregnancy I suffered with HG the whole time and lost a lot of weight. This pregnancy I'm starting out at a lower weight and don't have much body fat to give. I can't keep a lot of anything down and my days consist of running to puke and wondering when I'm going to puke next. Not fun. Either is this hospital visit. I'm hoping it helps. Or at least helps baby #2 get some good nutrients. Alex stayed with me until late last night and as soon as we both knew he should probably leave in order to get sleep for school tomorrow I started crying uncontrollably. Alex and I have spent almost no nights a part from each other since we've been married. We don't like it, in fact we hate it. But here I am at 6 am the next day and I've made it. Now I'm just hoping I get outta here by tonight because we have tickets to the redwings game and a cute baby I already miss terribly at home. Maybe I will feel good long enough because of the iv's they are giving me to enjoy and keep down some greasy game foods too. In the mean time I will just torture myself and watch the food network while I'm on this liquid hospital diet. Sounds smart right?