33 weeks, 3 days

here i am at 33 weeks, 3 days pregnant! 18w5d                    20w3d                    24w3d   28w2d                   33w3d
i'm doing okay. my fatigue and nausea has returned. it's getting harder to sleep at night because my hips hurt and i am constantly running to the bathroom. the great thing is that i still don't have any swelling in my ankles and feet yet. woo-hoo! i saw my doctor today and was told that my platelets are still low, but my doctor wasn't worried. he reminded me that the same thing happened with my last two pregnancies. i just have to have my blood drawn more often so that he can keep tabs on it. i've read that low platelets could result in abnormal bleeding during or after birth. i hope that doesn't happen. so far, i have gained 18 pounds. i'm hoping to stay within a weight gain of 25, so we'll see if i can hit that target. :P

a ball game

lucas and emma experienced their first live baseball game tonight. it was our local tri-city dust devils against the boise hawks. we lost, 4-2. oh well. we had a great time anyway!

babymoon 2008

there's not a whole lot to say here except a big THANK YOU! to our friends shannon and brady for giving us the opportunity to go on our last babymoon. we dropped off lucas and emma on friday morning and headed over to leavenworth for a weekend of chillaxin' (as allan would put it). it was wonderful (ahhhh). we spent the weekend milling around downtown leavenworth where there are lots of great little stores and boutiques, playing an 18-hole round of golf, seeing a great outdoor musical (the sound of music), and just chillin' and relaxing in general. we had this great meal at a little place called pavz. the sea scallops pesto pasta was delicious...that's what i would recommend. the best part was the pear crepe that we shared for dessert. it was this huge crepe filled with ice cream, sweet cheese, caramel, and a fresh pear. it was AMAZING. if you're ever in leavenworth, you've got to try out this dessert. here's a picture of allan that i took from our hotel, and also the damage we did with the crepe. you can see more pictures from our weekend here.

a blankie for baby

our friend and allan's co-worker, rebecca, is one of the sweetest people we know. she has the biggest heart for people, as well as pets. you should see how she has her home set up for her dogs. they live like little princes and princesses. :) allan came home one day with this amazing quilt that rebecca sewed for our babiest girl. it's beautiful! and, the colors are awesome. i want to keep it for myself because it is so soft and cozy. thank you, rebecca! we know our little girl will love it!
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cherries galore

we went cherry-picking at a local orchard last weekend and came home with a big batch of tasty bing, vans, and rainier cherries! the rainiers didn't last very long simply because they are my favorite. plus, we picked the least of those because the kids were getting restless and we were all starving and ready for some breakfast. you can see the fruit of our labor on allan's blog.

after our time at the orchard, we stopped by a cool little cafe in west richland called indulgences. my decaf iced white chocolate latte and breakfast burrito definitely hit the spot!

thank you to horace for opening up your orchard to us...what a treat! lucas and emma loved their 4-wheeler rides! and, thank you to rebecca for inviting us to join you for such a fun morning!

freedom!

our neighborhood is amazing when it comes to fireworks on the 4th of july. the show started around 8 o'clock and remained steady until 11 o'clock! everyone came out with their lawn/camp chairs to watch the brilliant display. we had a great time visiting with neighbors who we don't get to see or talk to often enough, and the kids had a great time just running around and taking it all in. we contributed only a little with our sparklers and mini fireworks, but lucas and emma loved them nonetheless. glad they're not picky! check out the cool picture that allan took of lucas playing with a sparkler. you can see more cool pics like it on his photography blog...go see!

growing up (and out)

lucas and emma are growing up so fast, it seems. here's emma helping allan vacuum and being a ham about it afterwards. she also loves to climb, so here's a shot of her sitting on top of our speaker. lucas upgraded to a true big-boy bed tonight. we bought lucas a trundle bed and he loves it! we have been wanting to get a bed for lucas for a while now, but we couldn't decide on what to get (bunk bed, traditional headboard/footboard, trundle). we were waiting to find out the gender of our third baby before deciding. (if we were going to have another boy, then we would buy a bunk bed now in anticipation of the boys sharing a room later on. but if we were going to have another girl, then lucas wouldn't really need a bunk bed.)


emma had her 14-month check up on monday and her stats were:

height: 30.5 inches (50%)
weight: 21.2 lbs (20%)
head: 45.5 cm (40%)

unfortunately, we discovered that emma has a moderate peanut allergy. we're going to have to be very careful about what we feed her. we are praying (and you can, too) that somehow the allergy will go away. we know it's unlikely, but you never know.

as for me, i've grown "out" some more based on looking at my profile in the mirror. and, i have really been feeling the physical effects of being pregnant. my hips hurt (it feels like my bones are rubbing against each other), my belly is completely in my lap when i sit straight, and i can feel myself waddling and leaning back a little when i walk. this pregnancy has gone by so fast for me. it's unbelievable that we are going to have a newborn again in about 10 weeks. not sure i'm ready!