New Arrival (4 months ago...)

We welcomed Skyler James Workman into the family on April 12th, 2012 at about 10:53pm. He was 21 inches long, 11lbs 3oz, and bright red hair. :) He's started giggling and laughing now and I'm loving it! He's such a sweetheart. :)
Jessica is a GREAT big sister and she loves helping Mommy. One of her favorite phrases, "I can help you with that Mommy!"

Skyler James Workman

I am 30 weeks 4 days pregnant today. We are having a little boy and we have decided to name him Skyler James Workman. I have gestational diabetes (GDM) and have been monitored closely by a wonderful doctor. Yesterday we had our 4th ultrasound to chart the growth of little Skyler since he has the potential of being a big baby (due to my GDM). So far, he is measuring about 3 weeks ahead of schedule with a huge huge head! Yes, his body is measuring at 33 weeks but his head is measuring about 36 weeks. This means a "fun" delivery for me. Plus, he is currently in the breach position, completely stretched out in my tummy. His head is pushing up into my ribs (no wonder, little chunky monkey) and his feet are continually tap-dancing on my bladder and cervix. There's still plenty of time for him to turn but I have a sneaky suspicion that he's not going to. All we can do is hope, pray, wait and see. 

The biggest (no pun intended) thing to wait for is to see how big Skyler gets. Yesterday he measured at 4lbs 8oz which puts him in the 85% right now for his developmental age in the womb. (Not surprising since Jessica was/is always in the 80-90th percentile range). If he gets to be 10lbs the doctor is going to (most likely) schedule a c-section at 39 weeks. If he is 10lbs earlier than that, they might have to schedule the c-section around the 37th week. So far, with weight gain and growth being what they have been, we are looking at a 9lb baby full-term. Unless, like Jessica, my water breaks early. He could be here in 3 weeks if he follows that plan. Hopefully that would only put him at 6 or 7lbs. :-) 

What can I do about all this? Watch my sugar levels. Now, that is easier typed than done. I have a diabetes kit and I test my sugars 6 times daily (before and after each meal). I have been working hard to be perfect on this diet but it's not always easy and, especially in this last trimester, even being perfect on the diet doesn't seem to be keeping my sugar levels down. I have a feeling that at my next appointment (March 1st) my doctor is going to kick up the GDM intervention to the next level which is to place me on insulin pills. Hopefully that will resolve it and we will not have to go to the last step which is insulin shots. (Yuck!). A friend of mine in our ward is a nurse and said that with GDM, the last trimester is always the hardest with managing sugar levels. I have been stressing about it until I got a blessing from my wonderful hubby and, long blessing short, the Lord said that everything is in His hands and all I can do is be perfect in my diet. He'll take care of the rest, whatever that "rest" may be. 

In any case, we are SUPER excited for Skyler's arrival. More and more I love him and cannot WAIT to see him on the 'other' side of the womb! :)

Scrapbooking

I have been scrapbooking semi-consistently for about 2.5 years now. I've realized a few things:

1) I'm actually not really a "scrapbooker" - I would classify myself as a "Memory Keeper"

2) There is no right or wrong way to keep memories

3) I love that I have taken over 1,000 pictures each year of Jessica's life. I hope it continues as baby #2 is on his way...

4) I love journaling with my pictures

5) I love putting a bunch of pictures on one page...

6) It's okay to have times when I am scrapbooking a lot and times when I am not

7) Some scrappers say there is no such thing as "caught up" - while I am not caught up with my scrapping, I definitely think there is nothing wrong with wanting to be caught up and with trying. So far I'm about 1/3 done with the year 2009. :)

8) Having an organized scrapbooking room is WELL WORTH the time, money, and effort to get it in that shape

9) A picture is definitely worth 1,000 words BUT the journaling helps bring out the important ones

10) I'm a better mom when I'm scrapbooking. Sounds funny, but I am. I feel better knowing that I'm doing something to document my family's life

11) I have trained my daughter to "pose" for pictures. The minute SECOND she see's me with my camera she starts smiling and saying cheese. After I take the picture she is always asking, "Let me see! Mom, let me see!" haha...

I'm Back (I think...)

Judging by the date of the last post, it is obvious that this is LONG overdue! I will keep this short and simple but here are some bulletin updates about our lives in the past few months:

• Jer is still working at Avant Assessment full-time and the MTC part-time
• We find out at the end of this year if Jer is able to get a job full-time at the MTC
• Jer got a raise at Avant Assessment
• I was able to quit working part-time and just focus on being a stay-at-home mom
• Jessica has turned 3 years old as of the 11th of January - I can't BELIEVE she is three now!!!
• We are expecting a baby boy in April! (Hopefully he doesn't take after his sister and come the month before - we are praying for an April baby not a March baby...)
• Jer was in a car accident in November and walked away with only a broken wrist and bruised legs - it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the totaled car allowed us to pay of our current car loan, buy another car out right (which eliminated that previous car payment), buy a new bed (which we DESPERATELY needed), and pay off some other debts. Plus, it was a blessing to see how the Lord was protecting Jer since (literally) he didn't die and was not disabled. I'll have to post pictures of the car - the Lord truly was watching out for him!
• We celebrated our 5 year anniversary last May - Jer surprised me with a trip to Disneyland! Just the two of us. It was perfect!

That's only a brief, brief, brief overview of our last few months. It's been a hectic, busy, yet wonderful ride! I hope to post more often now, especially with our growing family.