A Smattering of Subjects

FIRST TRIMESTER?
It seems not many agree on when the first trimester starts...some say 12 weeks, some 13 and some 14. I guess if you're truly dividing the pregnancy into 3 parts then the first trimester would end around 13 weeks and about 2.5 days. With Dalton's pregnancy I said the end was 12 weeks because I was feeling better by then. With E's, about 14 weeks. This one? Who knows? I'll go with 13. I'm actually not feeling like crap yet today and here it is already 1:00!!! Yesterday at this time I had to go lay down because of the constant pukey feeling. We'll see what the rest of the day and even tomorrow brings.

So yeah, I'm 13 weeks today. Wow. And I'm pretty sure my belly is a poppin'. I haven't gained any weight yet...in fact, as of this morning, I was down 2 whole pounds from where I started. But Fin is definitely growing in there. Why do we show earlier each time? Why? Although I wouldn't necessarily say it's earlier than with D. I had a small belly for my 10 year high school reunion and I was 13 weeks that day. So far not a single person has asked when I'm due simply by looking at me. That's good, right? I'm still just passing for fat? :)

I got a phone call this morning with some of the results of my first trimester screen. They'll draw more blood and check things again (mainly open neural tube stuff) at about 16 weeks. But for Down's Syndrome our chances came back as 1/1000. Just based on my age my risk would normally be 1/490. They "worry" if it comes back 1/50 or less. For Trisomy 18 (which you really do not want as it is "incompatible with life") my risk is 1/10,000. Simply based on other 30 year olds the risk would normally be 1/1700 and they'd worry when gets down to 1/100. So, for both of those my numbers are looking great, even better than just my chances as a 30 year old lass. Granted, not all cases are caught with these tests but can't do anything about that anyway, can you?

ART EXHIBITION
It seems I haven't been showing off as much of the boys artwork lately. With church and school plus stuff at home Easton often has stuff to show off. And even little D does stuff at church. Let's take a look...

Dalton came home from church yesterday with these two things:




However, he's colored that same one before only it was better before because they put an "owie" on the sick guy:


I might wager a guess that either they don't have a large crayon selection or that turquoisey blue is Diddle's favorite color.

Easton did this at church yesterday:


And this was waiting for me in his school folder on Thursday:

Easton says it is Daddy lifting him up in the air and me "as a robot". Huh? And how come I'm the only one with a body, hmmmm?

This is hanging in the hall at school:


The kids are learning about all kinds of different artists in school and then doing projects "in the style of ___". Of course the kids don't get that so much and they still just paint whatever the heck they want. I think that one above is supposed to be from the "in the style of Gaugin" week. The week before was Van Gogh. One kid did hers of "Van Gogh's house". The next one is supposed to be "in the style of Monet" where they just did a fingertip in paint. Easton told me he did a bridge and lilypads and something else. Can't wait to see it if it's true. Monet is my favorite.

Then there's this one E painted at home. The paint brushes are kinda fat so I'm still impressed he was able to do Wonder Woman so well:


And we made this while Diddles and Daddy went to Roo this weekend:


PICTURE CATCH-UP
Somehow I'm all behind with the pics once again. Last Wednesday after Carson left we went "exploring". However, Croc shoes and exploring don't mix. Especially for Dalton whose Crocs are still way too big. But we set out anyway:


He'd lose his shoe about every 6th step:


See, something in E's Croc:


I called an end to the exploring after that and carried D home on my shoulders. We went to get Diddles' free "birthday scoop" instead:




Followed by a car wash:


That night Spidey helped me crush my cracker crumbs for dinner:


I have no idea why I took this but it's from Thursday:


On the way home from Easton's ENT appointment he fell asleep. I let him snooze in the car for a few and then went to get him. I could not wake him up! So I just enjoyed holding my sleeping 4 year old on my chest since that is something I NEVER get to do anymore and just listened to his snores while D and I watched some Toy Story. I tried to wake him up after that and he still wouldn't! So he slept on the couch:


And Dalton attached himself to my leg while I fixed dinner:


And would try really hard to reattach the few times I could get loose:


The next morning:


Random lunchtime pictures from Friday:






Friday evening:




Saturday morning found Jason taking Dalton to the Roo class we'd missed this week. Easton and I did that above hibiscus magnet project:


Then we played Moon Sand since it's something we rarely do anymore, especially with Dalton around:


This is how I feel much of the time lately...it must be contagious:


Sunday was church, the boys did okay. Easton made friends with some man that I assume is part of the children's chuch. He said the man was holding him. I'm a little freaked by it, honestly.

Sunday afternoon we opened up the game Gramoo gave Dalton for his birthday, "Honeybee Hop" where you jump over this bee that spins around. E rocks it, of course:


Dalton, not so much:


But he's having fun anyway:


Today we were supposed to have a play date. We've been planning it for months, actually. It's a kid from Easton's class at school and his younger sister who is a bit younger than Dalton but one day they'll probably both be in Mrs. M's class together. Well, the oldest kid in that family had to stay home sick from school today so they had to cancel. Bummer. Instead I decided it was time to tackle the laundry. Normally, when I feel like myself, my goal is a load per weekday and two on Fridays. I can stay fairly on top of things that way and we've always got clean stuff to wear. However, I'm lucky if I'm even doing two loads a week lately. It's been awful. Somehow I can keep the basics clean and available but oy...just check this out:


My helpers helped me carry it all downstairs and helped me sort it into piles. I haven't made a ton of progress yet because Dalton's eczema requires me to run an extra rinse cycle on all the clothes because our shirts and sheets and towels and stuff still come in frequent contact with him. So, I've folded a load, have some stuff hanging to dry and I've got a load in both the washer and dryer right now. Gotta get a move on, though. In fact...I best get going so I can make a dent in that pile!

Adios!