Life and Family Update

It has been quite a while since my last update and a lot has happened between now and then!

First off, little miss Evalyn Jane is gearing up for her big arrival! I'm 36 and a half weeks pregnant and she is about 6 lbs and 18" long by now. I had an OB appointment yesterday and I am a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced. I was more dilated and effaced this time last pregnancy with Jaxon, so she might stay in there longer than he did. She is quite the little dancer still, always moving and bouncing around. Unfortunately, her head isn't as low as expected and she's sunny-side up, like Jaxon was when he was born. That means if she doesn't flip over soon I am going to have horrible back labor again, which I wouldn't wish upon anybody! Her nursery is slowly coming together nicely. I have sewn her curtains and one crib sheet for her. I have yet to even start on her crib skirt, and I'm not sure when I'll find time to with Jaxon running around! I should probably start packing my hospital bag, but I've been procrastinating on that as well. Ready or not, she's coming soon!

A lot has been going on with Jaxon since the last update as well. Some people may know this already, but Jaxon was evaluated after his 18 month check up and found to have a speech delay. He was at a 12 month old level and was recommended to start speech therapy. We have a lovely lady come to our home every Wednesday to work with Jaxon for an hour and he has progressed so much in the last 5 weeks! Jaxon went from only saying "dada" to now saying dada, mama, ball, bubble, dog, and poop (which is extremely helpful!). He can also say some other words, but really only Jake and I know what he is talking about when he says them, such as: Leila, truck, and duck. Jax is also signing a lot more words now too like: please, help, more, eat, and shaking his head yes. We are so proud of Jaxon and the progress he's made lately. He is quite the chatter box now and will tell everyone he sees his life story, which is a world's difference compared to a month ago! He still isn't technically caught up to his age yet, but we expect him to be there soon. Also something we've been keeping under wraps lately is that Jaxon has a mass on his back. Jake and I noticed it around 15 months or so and I forgot to mention it to his pediatrician at his 18 month check up. Well, it started growing a bit so we took him in to get checked out. Neither pediatrician at his office knew what it was so we were referred to a surgeon who could tell us whether we needed an ultrasound or MRI to look at the mass closer. The surgeon thought an MRI would be best, so on August 1st Jaxon went into the local children's hospital and had an MRI done. He was such a good little boy that I can't speak highly enough of him. His MRI was scheduled for 10:30 am and he wasn't allowed to eat any foods after midnight the night before and no more liquids after 7:30 am. Oh, and we had to check into the hospital by 8:30 so I was just imagining this horrible day where I had the grumpiest toddler in the world that I had to keep restrained in a little waiting room for a couple hours. To mine and Jake's surprise, Jaxon was a complete angel!!! He did start to get cranky a little but we were able to easily distract him. I would've been way worse than he was if I were in that same situation! Well, finally around 11 we went back to talk to the anesthesiologist because they had to put Jaxon to sleep in order to keep him still for the test. The nurses told us that all kids hate when the mask is put over their face to make them go to sleep and to expect a tantrum to occur, but of course our little boy was a trooper and did fantastic! I'll admit that that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch. As Jaxon was breathing in the gas he started making weird noises and just before he fell asleep he turned to look at Jake and I. Geez, I'm crying just replaying that memory in my head. Jake and I were told to leave at that point while they gave him the anesthetic through an IV. A little over an hour later Jaxon was done and awake and as happy as could be! He was such a brave little boy and we couldn't be more proud! As far as results, we won't know until the 19th, but we're thinking that must be a good thing because if it was serious we'd be seen much sooner. Overall, Jaxon has had a very busy last 6 weeks and we're hoping things will calm down a bit soon.  Hahaha! Joke is on me! We're about to have a newborn!!

Jake's unit left for deployment in mid July so he is now with a new unit until we leave for Japan in January. In a way, he got a promotion at this new unit, just in terms of more responsibility but not in pay. darn! He is the head crewchief in the shop and helps write up the flight schedule for the whole unit. Pretty much what this translates to is working a ton and leaving often. It is so sad that he barely sees Jaxon now because he doesn't get home until after I put him to bed. Right now he is gone for the week, but hopefully this is the last time he leaves out of town until after Eva arrives. We are just taking things day by day and hope each day that Jake will be home in time for dinner or bed.

We had maternity pictures done last weekend and I should be getting the CD back of those within a couple days. I do have a couple sneak peeks to show you all that I'll add at the end of my post.

All in all, the Lester family has been extremely busy and things are about to become more hectic in the next couple weeks as we finish preparing for our daughter's arrival! I hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to remember to update more often. (I say that a lot, don't I?)

Lots of love,
Lester family