Weeks 21-22 Ultrasound::1st Fathers Day!

21 Weeks:

On Thursday, June 14th we drove back from Dallas and straight to 

our 21 week doctor's appointment.

We were really excited about this one, because it was the one

where we got the fancy 3D/4D ultrasound for 45minutes.

They check over all the anatomy of the baby and make sure

there are no defects/problems, etc.

Well, unfortunately, Conrad was sitting so low, the 

ultrasound tech could not see all the things she needed to see!

And on top of that, we couldn't get a very good 3D picture of him.

That is why I only have a few sonogram pictures to show...and sorry

for the creepy one...I just want to make sure I have it on here for myself

mainly:) The good thing about him being difficult is that means we get to come

back in a few weeks and get another anatomy ultrasound to see if he's in a better

position so they can check his heart, etc. So I was kind of excited about that part!:)

Here you can see his hand (up top)

and the bottom picture shows his 2 feet;)

He weighed 1.11 lbs and is measuring about a week early..

They did confirm for sure that he is a boy! Whew!:)

This was the best picture they could get..again, it just looks like a bunch of

fluid b/c the picture has to be straight on for a good one and she just couldn't 

get it with how low he was:/

I do love the video we got to take home from the ultrasound.

Its so amazing the things they can do these days!! 

We have the whole thing on a DVD, and my favorite part is 

at the end when you can see him sucking his thumb:)

I have recorded a clip here:

(for those of you that can interpret ultrasounds, I have edited the 

thumb sucking part here so you can see!)

Just to help those who might not see it:

Its a profile view of mainly his head and arm that is going into

his mouth while he sucks his thumb.

At the beginning I point on the screen to show where his thumb is going into his mouth.

You can see his tongue moving-its kinda crazy!

Then the tech will use the mouse on the computer to show

you the other pulsing thing behind his arm is the umbilical cord.

Then after that he starts moving around and it looks kinda weird.

The second video here is from the same u/s I just split it up.

You can see his whole hand at the beginning! Then the tech

kind of moved the sonogram around (looks all wiggly)

because she's trying to find his heart. There you can 

see his heart and she closes in to measure and listen to the 

heart beat! 158 bpm:

I love that sound of hearing the heart beat-the little life inside you.

What a precious sound that is.

-----------------------------

That weekend was Josh and Jennifer's Gender Reveal Party!

We were so sad to miss it-as it was in Dallas, where we just had 

been for a few days before our appointment.

Either way I want to post a few pics from it because it was so very

cute and I want to remember how funny it was that they were

so shocked it was a girl!!

The beautiful display at their house:

Ready to cut the cake---its a......

 

GIRL!!!

Her name is 

Greyson Kate Kirby

Can't wait for her and Conrad to play!!

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The next day (Sunday, June 17th) was Jordan's first Father's Day!

(although he says he hasn't really done much yet, lol)

Of course, we still celebrated:)

About to open his gift. I thought this bag was appropriate

after all the work he did in the garage, lol.

(I don't know what this face is..)

I didn't know what to get a first time dad, so I figured that 

memorable books would be good! Something he can

do with Conrad when he comes.

This book is called "Every Friday" and the reason I got it is 

because when Jordan was little he remembers going with his 

dad every Saturday to get donuts. He always loved that 

tradition and talked about how much it meant to him.

This book is about a little boy and his dad going to

get breakfast every friday, and I just thought it was neat!

He really liked it. He even read through it.

           

He's being silly here (go figure) but this is a onesie I found

online that says: "USAF Proud Son"

Its so cute! I know Jordan is in the Reserves now while in school, but

he will be active before we know it-and I'm sure Conrad will be proud!

I got him 2 other books I read were great for Dads/Sons: I love my daddy

 and Daddy Hugs.

I also made him a card. It is still sitting on his desk;)

Can't wait to see him reading these to Conrad in person! 

Thanks for reading:)

Veterans Day Program

Veterans Day at my school was so fun! I wanted to really instill in the students

a real sense of pride for their county and to understand how important it is

that we honor the people who serve in the military. I made it a big deal last year

at my school, and it has always been important to me. This year, it took on a new

meaning, since now my husband is in fact, in the military. I know he hasn't been in 

very long, but I know there will be many sacrifices made for this decision down the

road. I was so thrilled to see the students actually excited about Veterans Day.

As it got closer, we started decorating the cafeteria and putting streamers everywhere, etc.

and the students would walk in and say 'ahhh! whoa, cool! wow, etc' it was neat to hear

 them. One teacher has a student in first grade at our school. She came up to me the Monday before

Veterans day and said this, "Mrs. Carl, do you know what Elliot said when I woke him up

this morning?", I said, "What?" She goes, "He said to me-'mommy, do you know what

today is? Its the week of Veterans Day!'" He was so excited and actually knew what

Veterans Day was. I was so glad to hear it, it really made me glad for all the work and hours

I had put into this thing! =) I was happy to do it though, its the least we can do!

So there was a lot of decorating that went on:

Here are all the branches of the military posters I made-don't laugh at the Air Force one!

It's harder than it looks!!

thank you Cricut for the letters above=)

BIG THANK YOU to Jordan for getting on the top of a ladder to put those flag streamers up

when he had a test coming up!!!

This is from the back of the cafeteria looking at the stage.

We made a humongous floor to ceiling American Flag on the stage out of butcher paper!!

One of the teachers at our school did the balloon pillars=)

Red white and blue streamers:

The Dickinson VFW came and let us use their flags for decoration and

they were a great help before it started. Great men! 

The Dickinson High School JR ROTC came to perform for the program!

It was really cool. They had a huge part in making the program very cool.

The Veterans Day Program (yes I see the typo...long story)

People are arriving-it was getting full!!

I had the students fill out a survey back in September of whether or not they had a Veteran

in their family. They filled it out and gave it back to me with a picture. 

I then proceeded to get the address of the Veteran and we send them each a personalized

invitation (on this flag paper) that invited them to come to the event. 

Then we took their picture and I made a slideshow of all the Veterans stating

their name, branch, rank and what student they are related to at our school. We showed

that slideshow after the Poem Reading on there. (There were over 150 pictures!)

passing out programs to the Veterans.

(you can see Phil in the background=)

It was a full house-standing room in the back!!!

Some Veterans are standing b/c they heard their branch being called.

We handed out the 'buddy poppies' to them as well=)

Presentation of the colors at the beginning.

If you look at our 'flag' we used students at our school with parents in the military-

their handprints were used to make the stars=)

Every grade level (PreK-4th grade) performed that night.

And each grade wore a certain color (red, white or blue) 

This is first grade singing 'Oh, I love America' with their A-M-E-R-I-C-A signs!

(sorry I have to make it small!)

Doing their drills with the replica guns. It was really neat when they spun 'em around

and they threw them in the air!

walking up in silence.

The folding of the flag (with taps) was a the end. It was so powerful.

We did this right after the slideshow of all the Veterans. The whole cafeteria was completely

silent, it was so neat. So many Veterans teared up, and were touched. I was so proud of the

students and the great job everyone did!

Yay my husband came, and Phil and Amanda. I was so glad they were there!! 

He brought me beautiful flowers too, which was exciting=)

Guess who else surprised me and came??? Jordan's mom!!! Mrs. Carl

drove down and totally surprised me to come to the program! It was 

so cool when I looked over and saw her in the audience!!! (I have a blog about this

to come soon!=) It was really neat.

At the end of the program, apparently my school had all

pitched in and they presented these beautiful flowers to me !!!

Of course, I had no idea this was coming, and I started crying in front of 

everyone=) It was already an emotional program, and then seeing Mrs. Carl

and everything, I just kind of lost it. But I was pleasantly surprised

by their sweetness! I did not expect anything, so it was very kind of them.

They were beautiful in my classroom.

The flowers from Jordan were beautiful in our home=) 

It was overall a great performance and experience. I couldn't have done such a big

performance without all the help! I was so humbled to see so many people there. 

The Superintendent of my district came, as well as the Director of Fine Arts! So

I was a little stressed, but it turned out so wonderfully! The Veterans Day 

Program is my favorite one to put on all year, but I am thankful now 

it is over=) I can relax.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to thank our military!

Parents in Town!!!

Going to Oktoberfest downtown!!!

It was hosted by First Lutheran of Galveston

So glad to have my hubby back after TEst day!!

Our friends sabotaging our pictures!!

Adam and Stacy, bein silly

Phil and Amanda

Our Groupe of friends!!!!

There was a great band, and Jordan couldn't resist showing off his moves!

haha

Watching the end of the Rangers vs. Yankee's game after that...let's just remember

how great that was...

Sitting out on the porch after all that fun!!!

Next day meeting up with Jordan at the Wings Over Houston Air Show

(he was asked to volunteer at the medical clinic there that morning)

walking around lookin at stuff!

ready to see some planes!!

IT was a gorgeous day, but a little windy!!!

his extra shirt became his 'sun shield' for his neck....classy.

Here are some pics I took of the Thunderbirds:

MY FAVORITE ONE:

Planes after they landed:

My parents left early Sunday morning. We really enjoyed having them here and getting

to experience such fun stuff together here on the island!!