Merry Christmas

We will be heading to Grandma's house tomorrow! Just wanted to share a few pictures of Aidan on Christmas Eve. He's ready for Santa to come!

Baptism

Here are a few pictures of when Aidan was baptised! Due to all the snow and ice Damian's family wasn't able to make it up. Aidan did great and didn't cry at all.

2 months old!

Here are the latest photos of Aidan! He will be two months old on Saturday. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. On the left is a photo of him in his Baptism Suit. He will be baptised on December 16th. He loves getting a bath...so hopefully he won't mind being sprinkled by Father Tom.

THANKSGIVING

We survived a three hour trip in the car. We went to Damian's parents house for Thanksgiving. It was a bit of a learning experience for a first timer. We had to stop so that I could feed Aidan. During the day, he likes to eat every two hours. Damian's Grandma Lucy has had some recent health problems. She fell down on two separate occasions and has several broken ribs. For the past 4 plus years she has been living with Damian's mom, Eloisa. The doctors told them that she would need to be moved into a nursing home. She is requiring more and more care and Eloisa isn't able to lift her. It was a sad thing to have to do right before the holidays, but they were able to bring her back home for Thanksgiving day and spend some time with her. I took a picture of Lucy, Eloisa, Damian and Aidan together. Four generations. It was amazing to see them all together. It was a tough holiday for me...it made me miss my own Grandma and Mother. I remember a picture of my Great Grandmother, grandmother, mom, sister and nephew all together when Tyler was just a baby. Five generations!! It dawned on me that right there in that house was all of the Grandparents that Aidan will ever know. He is very lucky to have them. I hope that they all take good care of themselves and are around for a really really long time.

It's getting close to Aidan's two month birthday! It is so hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. Damian and I realized we were losing all of the days and so we bought a camcorder. We have only used it a couple of times. I feel like I need to enroll in a class to figure out how to use it. I promise to post some pictures up very soon. We are having our annual holiday photos taken this Sunday, so that will be a good one to put up. Aidan weights 13.3 lbs now! I am shocked that I am still able to carry him when he is in the car seat.

One Month Old

It's hard to believe that an entire month has pasted. My little boy is growing up so fast. We went to the doctor on Monday and he weighs 11 lbs now. He is really long too. He was having some issues with crying and spitting up and I just wanted to get him checked out. The doc told us he has reflux and colic. That might explain the 3 and 4 hour crying spells. Aidan is taking some medications now that seem to help with the reflux. I just hope that he isn't in to much pain now. We went to get pictures taken today to mark the occasion. Daddy and Mom attended the information class for him to be baptised. He is scheduled to be baptised on December 16th.

Happy Halloween

Aidan had two costumes this year. The cute little cow outfit was a gift from Aunt Beth and the Pumpkin was a gift from my dear friend Karen. I thought he looked so cute in both of them.

Happy Birthday

Aidan Howard Almanza was born on October 8, 2007 (Columbus Day) at 3:18 pm.
He weighed 8.54 lbs and is 20.5 inches long.
He has black hair and blue eyes (at least for now). Mommy thinks he is the cutest thing she has EVER seen. Aidan had his first doctor's appointment today and he is almost back up to his birth weight. He is doing great. Mom and Dad are a little tired, but we are getting by....spending some time getting to know our little guy.

OVER DUE!!!

We are at 40 weeks and counting. Doesn't look like Aidan is planning on making his grand entrance on his own. I went to the doctor on Friday. He is very happy where he is. Because I'm past due, they had me do a NST (Non-stress Test). I basically get hooked up to a monitor for 20 minutes and they check his heart rate. Doctor said he was very smart and perfect, "text book". So he's doing well! I have to go back on Monday and do the same thing all over again. We will be checking into the hospital on Thursday evening and being induced Friday morning....unless for some reason he decides he's ready. Keep praying for that!

Two More Weeks!!

Well, after my doctor's appointment on Friday....doesn't look like there will be any baby sightings until October 12th! Aidan has made himself quite comfortable and isn't making any attempts at coming out to meet us. Unless by some miracle things change, I will be induced on October the 12th! So the count down is still on!
Damian's office had a really nice baby shower for us last week. He works with a great group of people. They decorated the conference room all cute with balloons and decorations. They gave us a bunch of stuff that is going to come in very handy, including a bouncy seat that Damian put together last night. Sadie doesn't know what to think about it. She has to sniff it every time she walks by it. Pretty funny!

He flipped!

Aidan has decided to finally flip over after all these months! I went for my last sonogram yesterday and he is head down and ready to go! His heart beat was about 140 bpm and they estimate he is about 7 lbs. I have three weeks to go...which breaks down to 20 days total and 13 more days of work! =) And that is IF I have him on my due date! I'm trying to hold out until the end of September at least. Damian's office is giving us a baby shower on the 26th. I definitely don't want to miss out on that. It was a big surprise to be invited. I am glad I will get to meet more of the people that he works with.
On another note...my best friend, Karrie, is also pregnant!! She is due in April! I am so excited for her!

One month to go!!

We have one month left!! And hopefully my body holds out! I am at 36 weeks today. I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts that we got at the BBQ a few weeks ago. It was so great to get together with everyone. I only wished I had more time to visit with each person. The evening was way to short! We have one more birthing class to attend and a class on how to take care of a newborn next week. We have had a tour of the hospital and are pre-registered. The maternity care coordinator was concerned about my back surgery and the epidural. So I contacted my old surgeon. I was shocked that he remembered me! But he should since I was a patient of his for over 10 years. He said that there was still plenty of room below the surgery sight for the epidural! Good news for me!

I've included a picture of an x-ray of my back, in case anyone is interested in what corrective spine surgery looks like.

Grandma

My Grandma passed away this past Monday. She would have been 90 years old this September. This picture was taken a little over a month ago. The funeral was yesterday. It was a pretty difficult day. It was really hard to say good bye. I am sad for Aidan who will never have the chance to meet her. Some thing good did come out of all of this though. My brother, Bryan and I talked! It felt really great! I have missed him so much. And in all the grief that I have felt over not being able to give my son a grandma, at least now he will have an Uncle...and an Aunt and two more cousins that I thought would never be a part of his life!

30 weeks

Well, from here on out my appointments will be every other week. I gained exactly 4 lbs since my last appointment. Aidan weighs 3.8 lbs! Which the doctor informed me, means that he will be near, if not more then 8 lbs when he is born. On top of that, he has a big round head. Since he is sitting breech it isn't getting all pointy! So delivery should be a real party! He has a few more weeks to flip himself over and get in the right direction! Dr. said everything looks great...that he is growing right on schedule and that his heart rate is good at 131 bpm. Aunt Beth went on a little shopping spree and picked up 7 outfits and a bunch of diapers!! Can't wait to see them.

foot prints

I'm so excited that I only have 9 weeks left until my due date. I think it would be really great to have Aidan on my birthday. Chances are slim...I'm still holding out hope. Went in today for my sonogram with the specialist. I never know what to think. He said all of his parts look good. He has hair!! They estimate that he is 3 1/2 lbs....but he is breech. So in the next few weeks he needs to flip over!Friday I have my normal monthly check-up. Hopefully I will get some clarity on what the doctor saw on the sonogram. This will be the last time it will be monthly, from this point on it will either be every other week or every week up until my due date. Thought I would share these prints off our birth certificates! Damian's footprint is on the left...the one with the long toes. I'm on the right! I can't wait to compare our prints to Aidan's! Damian weighed 7 lbs when he was born and I was living large at 8 lbs 6 ozs!!

Midnight Bike Ride

We survived our 7th year of the Midnight Bike Ride. We weren't sure we were going to be able to ride due to some crazy weather...but it all cleared off before midnight. This was our first year to ride the tandem...and Lindsey's first year to ride with us. Of coarse we had the bikes all decorated and even had the Ipod so we could hear some tunes. The route was suppose to be 13 miles, but I think it was probably just over 10. We did manage to get up to 34.5 mph going down some of the hills. I was pretty impressed that we made it!! Next year we will have Aidan with us!!

13 More Weeks To Go

Had my 27th week appointment today. Everything seems to be going well. Aidan's heart rate was 150 bpm. I have gained a total of 19 lbs already...seems like a lot more. I had to take the routine test for gestational diabetes at this appointment. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I won't know the results until later. I go back again for my next check up in four weeks. I am suppose to start doing kick counts every day from now on to make sure he is moving around enough and being active. Another thing to stress me out.
We bought a crib and have it all set up. It came with a changing table. I think it looks really nice...kind of made things seem very real. Still need to get a mattress for it. I also picked up a pack and play (portable crib) at a garage sale. I am not sure how often we will be traveling in the near future but I figured it might be a good idea to have one just in case. Damian's mom has also been doing some bargain hunting is all set up for when we are there to visit.
We are planning on having a big BBQ/Baby shower on August 25th...that's a Saturday. Time to be announced later, probably like 6:30 to 9ish. Hope that we can have a bunch of friends and family come and join us.

Aidan

We have finally decided on a name!! Aidan is an Irish name meaning fire. With a slightly different spelling, Adan, is Spanish meaning earth. Either one would be pretty good as far as Damian and I's ethnic backgrounds go. I picked the spelling of Aidan because it has the same letters as in Damian's name (minus the M), plus I like the way it looks!
I did go for a ride on the tandem this weekend. Other then looking completely ridiculous in spandex bib shorts...I thought it went pretty well. We only rode about 5 miles...to take it in to have the shifting adjusted. I am registered for the midnight bike ride, but before July 14th I will have to find some bigger shorts!
I saw the specialist today to have Aidan's heart looked at more closely. My oldest brother died of a heart problem when he was 18 months old (back in the early 60's) and my doctor wanted to take some extra precautions. The heart looked fine! I thought the appointment was a complete waste of time. The sonogram looked just like the other ones that I have already had and I don't know how they could have seen anything differently. Not to mention that they didn't even check the heart rate!! I go see my doctor tomorrow for my 22 week appointment, can't wait to see what she has to say!

Half Way There

Well, Thursday was the half way point!! So I've got about 19 and 1/2 weeks to go. It has gone by pretty fast so far...but I'm getting anxious. I think we are going to try to have a big BBQ/Baby Shower the end of August...around the 25th. So save the date! I know it's probably going to be hotter then heck by then! I haven't started working on getting his room ready yet, because we have been trying to remodel our downstairs living room. The project is coming along very slooooowly. I think once all of the TV shows go off for the summer then I will get a little more ambitious/bored and be forced to finish up down there. I'm looking forward to the three day weekend coming up!! I might try to go out and ride the tandem and see if I'm still able to get on a bike! The Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride is coming up and I need to figure out if I'm going to make it this year.

It's a....

If you don't want to know what we are having - read no further!!! Yesterday we went to the doctor for my 18 week check up. The baby is doing great. Heart beat is at 144 and it weighs 9 oz already. Which is a little a head of schedule. Yeeks!!! I hope that doesn't mean I'm going to end up with a gigantic baby. Well, the sonogram let us see the brain, kidneys, heart, arms, legs, feet, spine, face and HIS business!! He was very active...which doesn't surprise me. Any kid of mine will probably be going nonstop. He was rolling around and turning over. We even got to see him open his mouth and close it a couple of times. The one picture of him looking right at us sort of looks like Johnny Blaze, the ghost rider, so I've been calling him JB for now. I have another appointment in 4 weeks for an ECHO. My oldest brother died of a heart defect and my doctor isn't going to take any chances with my little guy.

Four Months

I am nearing the 16 week mark on Thursday!! Yahoo! That means I'm almost half way there!! We had a little scare last week and I went to the doctor...that is where the sonogram came from. (See pictures.) Everything is fine now. It was pretty exciting seeing the little guy in there. The two ladies doing the sonogram both commented on how active the baby was! I could see the arms and legs moving all over the place. According to the measurements, the baby is a big 3 oz, about the size of a lemon. Heart rate was at 143. Both of the women thought that they saw "something"...but said not to go out and buy up a bunch of blue stuff just yet! I have kind of thought it was a boy from the very beginning...but I guess time will tell. I have my 18 week appointment on May 4th and another sonogram is scheduled for that day. I am hoping that they will be able to tell me 100% sure if it is a boy or girl. Stay tuned!

2nd Trimester

Went to the doctor for my monthly check-up on Friday. Everything seems to be going great. I weigh more right now then I have ever weighed in my entire life...but don't really feel like it yet. I recorded the baby's heart beat on my cell phone so I can listen to it whenever I like. The baby is about the size of a lemon right now. It's about 3 1/2 inches long from the top of the head to the bottom and weighs approx. 1 1/2 oz. I won't be able to find out if it is a boy or a girl until about the middle of May. I am so anxious. I started looking at all the different ideas for decorating. There are millions to choose from. I saw some cute little black and white cows that I am a little partial too. Might be pretty cool considering Daddy is on the Cowtown Cycling Team.

First Baby Present

When I checked the mail today, I got the greatest surprise!!! The baby got it's very first present. My dear friend, Roger Harrison, sent me the tiniest little Trek cycling jersey. (see picture) It is probably the cutest thing I have ever seen! I almost cried! Thanks Roger - you're the best!

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day, Damian and I went out on the Plaza with two of our good friends, Nichole and Bobby. Even though I volunteered to be the designated driver, we had more fun watching the drunks then getting drunk. Despite me getting sprayed by perfume by an extremely drunk girl, we had great food and great company and ended the night on a high note...at least for me. I finished the night off with a little indulgence...cherry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I'm sure next year will be a little more low keyed.

What's up baby?

Other then making me sick on a near daily basis...the baby is about 1 and 1/2 inches long and weights about a quarter of an ounce. Despite being so small, it already has fingers and toes, can open and close it's fist...kicks and stretches. I think it's getting more exercise then I am. I am nearing the end of phase one and hoping that the next one will leave me with more energy and less nausea!!

WHAT!?!

I broke the news to the office yesterday at our morning meeting! If only I had a camera! The look on their faces was PRICELESS!! I don't know if they didn't believe me or if they were in shock. Lindsay's mouth just fell open! I loved it!
My friend Elena is learning how to knit and she has promised me a baby hat that looks like fruit. She said that we had to wait to find out if it was a boy or a girl so that we could decide between a blueberry or some other girly fruit! I am almost as excited about the hat as I am about finding out what the baby is going to be. I guess picking between a blueberry and a cherry will be easier then figuring out a good name that I'm going to like for the rest of my life. I really don't know how people can pick out a name!!

One of us gets Fifth Place, the other gets Fat Pants!

Damian took fifth place in the Vet Expert class yesterday in the first race of the season, Devil's Revenge. The weather was less then perfect, but at least the rain held off until the race was over. I helped out with the scoring. I don't think I will EVER do that again. I really felt like I missed out on the entire race. I prefer to hand off water and take pictures. Plus, 6 hours of solid standing was a little hard on me!
Can't believe that I am going to have to break down and get some bigger pants!! I really didn't think I would be putting on weight so fast! This morning was a challenge trying to find something comfortable that still buttoned! And I have such a long, long, long ways left to go! Speaking of comfortable, I am also having problems with my sciatic nerve. I look completely ridiculous when I try to get up and walk after sitting for long periods of time. At least the pain isn't constant.

Dr. Appointment

The doctor's appointment went well. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! 163 bpm!! Maybe we have a future cyclist on our hands! I was told that it might be time to start shopping for pants with elastic - what a thought! I don't think I have ever owned any pants with elastic that weren't made for the gym.

Noob

Looks like we will be adding a new addition to our family in October. I am due on the 4th...which is one day before my 34th birthday! I have been really feeling my age the past few weeks. I am 10 weeks along as of yesterday, March 8th! Going to the doctor today for a check up. I have already heard the heartbeat once, but I am anxious to hear it again today. If everything goes well, we will be sharing the news with our friends this weekend! =)