The Maize

Last weekend Barry's parents came down to visit. On Saturday, they picked up Barry's niece and nephew who live in Imperial, and we all went to THE MAIZE.




Here is Barry and his dad and all the kiddos as we began the corn maze...



Here's Barry carrying Leslie so she can try and see over the corn and tell us which way to turn...

Here's Barry and the Kiddos ringing the Victory Bell... finally!

They also have a ton of other little activities for people to play on... ideally children, but Barry tried them all out too:) To "help Leslie" I'm sure...

Here is Barry "helping Leslie" and his nephew with the sandbox diggers...

Just kidding... here he is really helping her! I think the real reason couples have babies 2-3 years apart is because that's about the age the kid starts liking Daddy more anyways.

And here they are riding the tractor pulled Cow Train. She LOVED it! She threw her arms up over every bump and waved at everyone passing by!

Here I am smuggling a pumpkin! Just kidding again! 26 weeks down...

Here's Barry and me in a rare non-Leslie picture...

We had a super great day and spent alot more time out there than I ever thought we could! We only had to leave because Leslie's nap time was way over due! Keep checking back for some video, too. It's no zoo or Disneyland, but for Midland, this is about as good as it gets...

Kid's Halloween Party

A friend hosted a little Halloween party last friday night. Basically just so us grown-ups could have an excuse to talk and show off our kids to eachother! Leslie wore her Minnie Mouse outfit from our trip to Disneyland because her Bumblebee bows aren't made yet, and she just woke up that morning asking to wear it for some reason. Funny baby...

Elbow Dance

Here is Leslie's short lived but fondly remembered "Elbow Dance"

More Doctors

I had my 6 month check up on my breast lump this morning and everything looks good. I was anticipating it to grow because I've read they usually do with pregnancy, but it was the same size. They still think it is fibroadenoma (a benign tumor.) I'll go back in 6 months so they can check it again.

Now I have to go take Penny to the vet for her monthly shot...

ENT Dr Visit

So Leslie saw the ENT today, and he agreed that she needed to have tubes put in her ears. Even though she's been on antibiotics since Thursday, her ears were still very full of fluid, and it didn't look to be draining at all.

I also asked him about any suggestions he had for getting her allergies under control, and he gave us some samples of Singular to try along with her Allegra and Nasonex. I hate her being on so many medicines!

I think he only does surgery on Fridays, so the next time he could get her in was Halloween which I opted out of. Even though the procedure isn't supposed to be a big deal, she'll still have to fast before, and we have a big day planned. I need her on top of her game! So, her surgery will be Friday, November 7th. Hopefully she can stay well until then. We will go in to the ENT doctor Monday November 3rd for a check up and then head to the hospital for pre-registration and lab work. They will tell us what time to be there and when she has to start fasting ect... There won't be any needles for the surgery. They just use a mask to put her under, then make an incision, drain the fluid out, put the tubes in, and she's done. Most people I talk to say it takes about 5-10 mins.

Hopefully this will get her feeling and hearing better! I'll keep you posted as I know more. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

The week in Review

This is a her rendition of a dinosaur. And you thought deciphering ultrasound pictures was hard!




She loves helping clean the table...

I had some friends over the other morning and they both brought their little boys. Barry was not happy when he saw this picture of two boys "reading" in her bed!






Since Leslie was first born, Barry has ALWAYS wanted to get her a skeleton outfit, and I would never let him dress my little girl in one. But, I found these pajamas online and they were too cute not to get (and they glow in the dark!) Leslie LOVES her "Halloween pajamas."

This is her trying on her Bumble Bee costume for Halloween. Stay tuned for actual Halloween pictures...

Leslie finally got to take a shower with me this week. She has tried several times, but she finally picked a time to ask when Barry was here to help get her out and I wasn't in a hurry. She really really liked it and stayed in playing for a while after we were done washing...

Daddy likes it if we pretend he's ET...

Good Dr Visit & Bad Dr Visit

Good Dr Visit...

We went over to Odessa again today to have a follow-up with the perinatal doctor, and he said everything looked perfect. They double checked the gender for me and made sure my little princess wasn't sporting a sword (Barry 2008,) and she was very definitely still a girl. She is also measuring 25 weeks to the day! We got to see a really good picture of the face and watch her yawn, and it didn't look anything like the couple ultrasound pictures we have of Leslie. I'm so anxious to meet her! I think Barry is still glad to have a few weeks left to prepare though!

A pediatric cardiologist from Dallas Children's was also in town, so we saw her for a fetal echo of the baby's heart, and once again, everything looked just as it should! It was very comforting seeing the aorta with a consistent diameter the entire way around and not the narrowing and bulging we saw with Leslie.

So I am officially released from that doctor, and now just get to sit around Midland and get fat and see my regular Ob/gyn until I deliver. Hard to believe only 15 weeks left!!

Bad Dr Visit...

Leslie woke up at 11pm last night crying that she felt bad and her ear hurt. It took 2 hours to get her settled down and feeling well enough where she could sleep. So, we took her to the doctor this morning, and she did have a very red and very infected right ear. For those counting, this is her 5th ear infection in less than 2 months.

She has always struggled with frequent ear infections, but we keep on thinking she's going to out grow them any day, so we have never wanted to put tubes in her ears. And, it's always a scary risk to have to put your child asleep for something unless there is no other option. However, her ear infections are getting exponentially more severe and painful each time, and they'll hit her quick and hard, and she'll now spike a huge fever with them, all things which she never used to struggle with.

So, much to our disappointment, we have decided to get tubes put in her ears. We have an appointment with an ENT doctor Monday. I'm not sure what all is involved, but hopefully, we can get her well and feeling better on a consistent basis.

It's hard to watch her feel so horrible so often, and I know she hates it too. I'll let you know what we find out Monday on all the particulars...

Houston Zoo fun

This is what Leslie enjoyed most about the zoo... the kids play area. She is a connoisseur of playgrounds, and I think this one definitely made the top 5.




Her favorite section was this little eagles nest she could climb a ladder into. Barry had to keep making her get out and get at the end of the line to give other kids a chance to play. He said the first thing she did when climbed up there was kiss the eggs! Glad she was already on antibiotics:)

Barry told her that if she wanted the eggs to hatch, she had to sit on them...

And she liked walking from lily pad to lily pad for a good while too. Why do we even buy her toys?

Houston Zoo

Leslie had a great time at the Houston Zoo, but it wasn't quite how I expected her to have it.

Here she is looking at the Orange Monkey...

The elephants and giraffes weren't anything special for her, but she really liked watching the Meercats pop in and out of their little holes. We got to be right up close and eye level with them, so that helped.














Of course, her favorite exhibit was in the tropical rain forest section where she got to see several Nemos and Dorys...

She climbed through this tunnel several times...

Here's Daddy's favorite exhibit... the white alligator...

Houston yard fun #2

Here is one of Leslie's collections of Binx's "peaches"















And now she must wash her fruit in the birdbath















And before we left, Leslie had to collect a few more rocks for Grammy to remember her by...

Houston yard fun #1

My parents boast a huge jungle/garden oasis in their backyard. We spent ALOT of time back there everyday doing chores.

Here we are picking okra, but Leslie saw rocks and decided to collect them instead...



Like most toddlers, she really loves to collect any thing. Here she is marveling at her collection of pine cones...

She crawled threw all the branches of the tangerine tree (hanging to ground heavy with fruit) to collect a few "peaches"

I should have zoomed this in, but here she is "cooking" her "peach" with a stick...

And here she is filling the bird feeder with seed...

Houston trip

We packed in the car and made the long 9 hour journey to Houston last week to visit my dad and stepmom and family. Here is a summary of our trip through pictures...



Here is Leslie watching Saturday morning cartoons in her favorite chair...


Here she is watching cartoons and playing with her belly button...

Here she is watching cartoons laying on the chair. I just thought it was cute...

Here is Leslie tickling Binx...

and Binx tickling her...