20 Weeks

Well, I'm halfway through my pregnancy. The second trimester is the best, I feel great. The worst part is that my face has broken out - my chin is dry, red, and bumpy at times. It's nothing I can't deal with, just a bit irritating. We had the big anatomy ultrasound last week, and his anatomy looks great but was measuring a little small. I am going to go in for a growth scan ultrasound in 4 weeks just to be sure he's growing on target. I remember doing this with Holden too. I'm sure everything is fine, but I'm happy my doctor is being proactive. I'm posting another self-timer portrait of my belly, it's definitely getting bigger.

The exciting news is....we have chosen a name. Our baby boy will be named Cash Jones Fletcher. It's one we both immediately agreed upon, and I love it so much. To me it represents a laid back, cool, hip kind of guy; the one you just want to be around. Plus, Holden and Cash sound like perfect brother names, like a team that can conquer the world together!

First Dental Visit

Holden made his first trip to the dentist yesterday, July 23rd. It was a wonderful experience. He went in and sat right down in the chair. The dental technician showed him all the tools and even let him play with them. She was extremely patient with his "what's that...what's in there?" She showed him inside of every drawer and explained what everything is used for. Next, she cleaned his teeth. Finally, the dentist came to check his teeth and she said they look great. He may have a bit of crowding in the front when he gets older, but it's nothing to worry about. I'm lucky in that I have a boy who loves to brush and floss his teeth, so the trip to the dentist was a breeze. I did learn that our brushing routine needs to change a bit. Holden has to always brush/floss first, and when he's finished he says, "Your turn...more toothpaste!" I do the real thing after. Well, I learned we were using too much toothpaste. Ingesting too much fluoride could stain his permanent teeth. So I think I'll have to let him brush with just water, and then I'll finish with the toothpaste.

Swimming with the Graces

On Monday, July 21st Holden and I headed up to Seal Beach to swim with Lori, Ryan, and Charlie Grace. Their friend, Kendall, was there too. I think Holden was a whole lotta boy for those sweet girls, but he had a blast playing with them. He's been asking all week if he's going to go back to Ryan and Charlie's house. Their pool was warm and their playroom a wonderland of fun.

We had a bit of a scare while we were there. Holden fell from the step he was on in the pool. I totally thought he could make it back to the side because he had swam that distance plenty of times before. But he was panicked, caught off guard, and struggled. Lori rescued him and brought him safely to the side. Although he was physically safe, it scared him to death. I think it scared me even more though. All of our friends here in San Diego have put their children through Infant Swim Resource, a water survival class for infants and children. Now I'm looking into getting Holden enrolled. It is a huge time commitment - classes are 5 days a week, 10 minutes a piece, for about 5 weeks. The classes don't come cheap either. It will cost between $500 and $600 in the end. But for me, the vision of Holden struggling will haunt me forever and I have to take steps to ensure his safety. We just observed Paxton Sammis' swim lesson yesterday, and he is doing amazing stuff after 4 weeks. The trouble will be getting spot right now. Due to summer and their segment on the Today Show - classes are in high demand right now. Ok, a bit of a side track......back to the day with Graces.

Lori made a wonderful lunch for the kids, and delicious salads for the moms. We had lots of time for catching up since the kids were playing so well in the playroom. We had a second swim session and then headed home. We left around 3:00 and Holden fell asleep before we were even on the freeway. Thank you for a great time, Grace Family!

The Dillon Family in Town

Mark, Tori, and their boys Trevor, Griffin and Devin were in San Diego this weekend. We went to the San Diego Zoo with them on Saturday, and had them over for dinner on Sunday. Holden loved playing with his cousins.

The Big Brother

Holden is going to become a big brother around the end of November or beginning of December. I've been pregnant for eighteen weeks now, and am currently feeling great. The first trimester was tough. I was nauseous a lot and was exhausted, working full time and taking care of a busy toddler drained me. Around 12 weeks, when the morning sickness should be coming to end, I got a horrible flu and cold. I couldn't get rid of it, and didn't start feeling 100% until about a week after summer vacation started. We did all of the recommended tests like the first trimester screening- the results came back great - but I decided to have the amniocentesis done since I am 35. We just got the results this week - all of the chromosomes are normal and we are having a BOY! Up to the this point, anytime we asked Holden if he wanted a brother or sister, he would always say brother, so it couldn't be more perfect. Our family is going to be complete with two happy little boys! We are thrilled! I will update with belly pictures in the coming weeks. I took these pictures of Holden and I with the auto timer - they're not the best photos, but you can get the idea....I'm pregnant.



Holden and I have been talking a lot about this baby lately; I've tried to get across that it's his brother coming. He asks everyday, "You have a baby in there!?!" Sometimes he'll say he has a baby in his belly too. One night last week, when I was putting him to bed he asked if I had a baby in there.

I said, "Yeah, it's your brother. He's going to stay in my belly and grow and around Christmas time he's going to come out and live with us."

H: "He going to live with us?!"

Me: "Yeah. He's going to live with us in our house."

H: "At Christmas?"

Me: "Yep."

H: "He grow in 'der?"

Me: "Yeah and then he'll come live with you."

H: "I eat him?"

Me: "No, Silly! You can't eat him, he's your brother."

It took me telling this story to Trey and my mom to finally get that he was trying to make a connection to the baby being in my belly and eating food. He knows the food he eats goes into his belly, so maybe he thought I ate something to get this baby in my belly. And if it's his brother and he'll live with him, will he have to eat him? I thought it was really cute and funny. Our conversations have gone on to where the baby will sleep, and if the baby will go to his classroom with him. It's cute how inquisitive he is about the whole thing.

Fourth of July 2008

We spent the Fourth of July with my parents in Visalia. Trey returned home from Mexico late on the night of the 3rd, so we drove on the actual 4th of July. The roads were empty and it was smooth sailing all the way up. When we got there, we swam and had a great bbq dinner. Holden went to bed before seeing fireworks - there was no way he was going to last until almost 9:00. My parents and Trey and I started watching a movie, I think we actually forgot it was the 4th until the fireworks started booming around 9:00. Houston absolutely lost it! He jumped up into Trey and mine's lap and was shaking and panting uncontrollably. We realized this was the first 4th of July we'd been home with him, which explained why we had no idea he hated them so much. We never made it to the back yard to see the fireworks, but instead held Houston while he freaked and finished watching the movie.

The rest of the weekend followed a pattern: eat Nana's great waffles for breakfast, swim, play with play dough, nap, ride bikes, watch movies, swim, feed the turtle, dinner, bed. Holden loved swimming and started to master jumping in, turning around, and swimming to the wall. He even started lifting his head to take breaths while swimming. However, he refused to float. No matter how hard we tried or how much fun we tried to make it, he just wouldn't. Houston was obsessed with rescuing us while we swam. He stood guard on the edge and would lick and nip at us if we came close to where he was. Sometimes he would just impulsively jump in for a "rescue". We enjoyed throwing Houston's ball or a dive stick in the pool, and watch him fret over it. He would usually end up getting in to fetch it up.

The sad part of the weekend was that my parents' 16+ year old dog, Gabby, passed away on July 5th. She had a heart attack and then went down hill from there. My mom held her until she passed. It was really sad, but the whole family was there to see her on her way. Although Trey kept Holden out of the house for most of it, Holden didn't know quite what to make of it, and even still this week he'll ask me "Where Gabby go?" He seems content enough with the answer, "To Heaven".

We had a nice relaxing visit. We drove home on the 7th.

We took Holden to the park on the morning of the 5th.

He wanted Nana Judy to push him "super high".

He really wanted that dive stick.


He stood like this for a couple of minutes before deciding to go to the steps and get in.

Couldn't take it anymore - he's in!


On a mission.


The rescue.


Holden's jump in-turn around-get the wall sequence.

Jumping....

...in!

Turning around.

First breath.

Back under water.

Still under and going strong.

Second breath.

To the wall. I was shooting this with the continuous shot feature on my camera. I lifted my finger off right before he got to the wall because I was so excited, and I started cheering for him. He loved doing this over and over again. We actually had to make him stop because he was getting tired without realizing it.

San Diego County Fair

On Monday, July 2nd we took Holden to the San Diego County Fair held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Trey and I hadn't been for years; I think we had just as much fun as Holden did! Holden had his first experience on rides. He loved them, but while riding he had the most serious look on his face. You wouldn't know he was enjoying them unless you saw him bounce off the ride and ask to go again. Trey and I enjoyed the fatty fair food and the shopping. Our # 1 fair find was an awesome jewelry cleaner. My wedding rings look brand new and I'm now addicted to cleaning them. I'm looking forward to going again next summer.
Be warned: we took a million pictures of Holden on rides - it was so much fun to watch him.

Animals

The night before, we told Holden we were going to the fair and that we would see animals and go on rides. I asked him what kind of animal he wanted to see and he yelled, "An Elephant!" I told him there were no elephants at the fair but he could see cows, pigs, and sheep. He was ok with that. We hit up the animal section first and Holden like seeing the cows, turkeys, and bunnies. When we entered the Kiddie Land section the first thing we saw were elephants! I couldn't believe it! They were giving rides. We stood and watched them for a minute, and then continued to walk on our way. Holden shocked us when he said he wanted to ride. Trey took him and they loved it.

Rides

We stood in front of a lot of different rides before letting Holden actually ride. I think we were afraid of letting him go on by himself. After we broke the ice and let him go on his first ride, we saw that he was ok. From then on we ran from ride to ride, letting him ride while we snapped pictures and yelled to him like a bunch of crazy people.

The Monkey Maze

Ok, we've all seen this type of fun house before. You know, make it through the maze at the bottom, look in all the crazy mirrors at the top and then ride down the slide. Safe enough, right? Trey took Holden and they loved looking at their funny images in the mirrors. Then it was time for the slide. They shot down that thing like a bullet and Trey landed flat on his bottom. They both came back looking shocked and Holden said , "That's dangerous!" (You may want to blow up the fourth picture to see Trey's death grip and Holden's shocked look.)

The Favorite

Although it was supposed to be hot air balloon basket, Holden called it a teacup. This was his favorite ride.