26 Weeks

Can you all believe there's only 14 weeks left in this pregnancy then Jaxon will be here? I really can't believe how fast each week is flying by! Well this week our little baby boy is almost 2 pounds and 14 inches long from head to heel! All the nerve networks in his body are continuing to grow and develop more and more each day. He can hear pretty much everything outside the womb and startles when there's a loud noise. (I felt him jump about a week ago when Jake's alarm went off in the morning, poor little guy I think about had a heart attack!!!) He's continuing to build fat on his body and his skin is slowly not as transparent as it once was. He's practicing all kinds of movements in my belly. He really likes to use those little arms! Some websites even say that he begins to open his eyes this week. Our little Jaxon is really growing and maturing at a fast pace!

I had a midwife appointment on Wednesday. I know I complain a lot about the care I've been receiving and this is no different. I was in the waiting room for about 10 minutes, got called back by a nurse who took my weight and blood pressure, and then she took me back in the back to wait for the midwife. I saw my midwife for a total of 5 minutes! She asked if I've had any bleeding, I told her no but I had those contractions last week and she just said they were normal and dropped the subject. She then measured my belly, asked about my weight gain and told me I'm doing the glucose test in two weeks. After that she might as well have pushed me out the door because she made me feel like our 5 minutes was up and I had to go. With the huge rush I totally forgot about a few questions I had for her. So I left the appointment kind of upset, but unfortunately there's nothing I can do about any of it. No civilian doctors are going to take me this late in my pregnancy. Another thing the midwife mentioned was that she was going to see me in two weeks (and the only reason it's two weeks was because the front desk people messed up and didn't schedule my glucose test for the current appointment so they had to schedule it in two weeks) after my glucose test appointment she would see me four weeks after that, then four weeks after that, then two weeks and two weeks. I googled last night when most people start seeing their midwife/OB every two weeks in the pregnancy and it usually starts at week 28 and then at week 36 they want to see you once a week!!!! If I went to a doctor that followed those timelines then I would see my doctor another 9 times or so before my due date. My midwife only wants to see me 5 times before my delivery!!! Not to mention, it won't even be the same midwife each time. Oh well, at least I know better for the next time we get pregnant- I refuse to go through the naval hospital!!! Sorry, enough ranting about how horrible they all are. At least Jaxon is healthy and growing stronger each day.


If you didn't see in the last post, Jake and I are finally in Escrow on our house! We should move in my mid to late October! Our home inspection is this Monday at 3 pm. I have a list of everything that the inspector should cover, just to be sure that everything gets checked out. Luckily with the type of loan we are getting, we have to have almost like 2 home inspections. The second one is more of an appraisal, but he'll cover a lot of the same things the first inspector covers. I really can't wait to move in and get Jaxon's room all set up for him. I think this is the perfect first house for us. It's just big enough for us to grow into for many years, but it's not so big that we don't know what to do with it all. It also is move-in ready but has several different projects that Jake and I would like to do to make it more "us". But what matters the most is that it's a great place for Jaxon to grow up. It's safe with some of the best schools in all of California and there is plenty for us to do. I think when he grows up he'll be really happy that we chose this as a place for him to grow up in.

I'm going to brag about Jake for just one minute. He has been at the gun range all this week for work. Each day he shoots pistol and rifle from various distances and various positions and at the end of the week they qualify and get scored. Well Jake shot expert on both pistol and rifle, which is the highest you can get and I don't think he's ever scored below expert in his career in the Marines, but he got the highest out of his group in pistol and second highest for rifle! What makes this even more amazing is that they're supposed to get qualified once a year and he hasn't gone for over two years because he was always busy. Pretty much what I'm trying to say is that he's a top shot!

The other night Jake and I went on a Craigslist rampage and got a couple things. We bought Jaxon's glider for his room and a Dyson vacuum cleaner! And I feel like we stole both of them! The glider that we bought has an ottoman and the nursing stool attached. This Dutailier brand retails new from anywhere between $350-600 and we got it for $130 and it's in great shape!!! And we got a Dyson vacuum for $100 and it's practically brand new and works better than all the other vacuums we have. We figured we'd need a good one with all the new carpet in the house. Jake and I are pretty much just the best bargain hunters around.

Okay, I'm just rambling now. I'll update you all next week on our home inspection and baby Jaxon at 27 weeks!!

Love you all!!

Momma, Daddy and Jaxon

Our New House!!

Well Jake and I went out on Saturday to go look at houses. We looked at around 8-10 houses that day and actually liked the first we one saw the best. We put an offer in at the end of the day on the first house and got a counter offer from the seller Monday night. The seller's counter-offer was more than we were willing to pay so we told him no deal and went back out to look at a few more houses today. Before our house hunting today our realtor said he got another counter-offer from the seller from the first house, he came down in price and said he'd accept our offer on all terms as long as we came up $1000. So we went back to the house to take a second look and realized how much we liked it (since it had been the very first house we ever saw, we forgot a little bit) and decided to accept the seller's offer!!!!! We're now just waiting to hear from the realtor saying "congratulations!!!"

Here's a little info on the house:

• 3 bedroom (plus a huge den that we'll convert to another bedroom)
• 2.5 bath
• 1,735 square feet
• It was built in 1995
• fenced in lot that's 6,970 square feet
• 2 car garage
• formal dining room
• all bedrooms upstairs
• fireplace
• new carpet and paint throughout house
• there's new blinds on every window except the master bedroom

First, I'll explain the layout of the house then if you scroll down you can look at the pictures of it. As soon as you walk in the front door there is a formal living/sitting room to the left and the formal dining room on the right. If you walk straight from the front door you'll go in a little hallway that leads to the living room with the fireplace. To the right of the living room is an eat in kitchen and the kitchen area. The kitchen also has direct access to the formal dining room. On the opposite end of the living room (to the left) is a small hallway that has the half bath and leads to the laundry area and garage. There's also a sliding glass door leading to the backyard right off the eat-in kitchen area. If you take yourself back to the front door there's a staircase on the back end of the formal living/sitting room that takes you upstairs to all the bedrooms. At the top of the stairs you'd be staring straight at the den. If you took a right at the top of the stairs you would go into the master bedroom with connecting master bath that has a dual vanity, walk in closet, separate potty and a remodeled shower. If you went left at the top of the stairs there's two bedrooms and the other full bath. In the wall upstairs there's some built in shelves.

Ok, ok now for pictures!!!

  front of house:

view as you walk in front door to the left:

 formal living area/sitting area and the staircase

view as you walk in front door to the right:

formal dining room with new tile

kitchen looking into formal dining room. Eventually we're going to remodel the kitchen and extend the countertops out into the eat-in kitchen since we plan on only using the formal dining room. We might replace the pantry that's pictured here with just more countertops and then when we add more cabinets and such we'll make a small walk-in pantry or just make a bigger one. 

back side of kitchen. You can kind of see the small hallway that has a storage closet and the stairs just to the left of the closet.

fireplace in living room with the sliding glass doors that lead to backyard (that's why it's SO bright!) We're planning on putting the TV wall mounted above the fireplace.

here's the eat in kitchen and access to backyard. This is where we're planning on extending kitchen by adding cabinets and countertops along the back wall and extend the counters that are closest to us (in the pic) 

view of living room and part of kitchen. the eat-in kitchen is just to the left of the kitchen area.

view of hallway from inside eat-in kitchen/in front of sliding glass door. This hallway leads to half bath to the left and straight ahead through the open door is the laundry and garage

another view of kitchen and looking into formal dining. I'm standing in the eat-in kitchen area

shed on side of house. There's a fence with a gate right in front of where I'm standing so we can block this area off

backyard that needs a little water. It has a partially covered patio. The yard has built-in sprinkler system

master bedroom

master bathroom shower-remodeled with stone

our master bath shower

one of the spare bedrooms

upstairs full bathroom

view of backyard from one of the spare bedrooms

one of the spare bedroom closets- plenty of storage and shelves

I can't wait to show you guys what the house looks like after we move all of our stuff in. We should be moving by the middle of October!! We're very excited to have our first place and have a house for Jaxon to run around in. There's also a park within walking distance for him to go play at. There's no neighbors behind us, it's a big empty lot that people won't be building in and we're close to award winning schools. This house is also on the very south side of Temecula, so it's less drive-time for Jake when he has to go to work. Next time we go to the house I'll try to just record a walk-through of it so you all can watch a video of the walk through to really understand the layout of our house!

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. I'll update you all on it on my blog update on Friday.

Love you all,

Daddy, Mommy and Jaxon

Another Week Closer: 25 Weeks

Pregnancy has been flying by! I can't believe I am 25 weeks along today. I think after the contractions I had last week, every week that goes by I feel that much better because that means Jaxon is that much closer to his due date. But this week they say that Jaxon is about 13 and a half inches long from head to heel and weighs about a pound and a half! Our little man is slowly gaining some fat on his body and is just developing more taste buds and his sense of touch. He plays with his umbilical cord and sucks on his fingers inside the womb. I am to the point of my pregnancy where I am supposed to start counting his kicks to make sure he kicks about 10 times every hour. I already know this little man kicks that often, it's almost constant except when he's sleeping. It's so much fun watching my belly move when he moves- he makes everyday a great day!

My next appointment is Wednesday this week. I quit my Centering Pregnancy group, so now I see a midwife one on one instead of in a group setting. I think I will like this so much better. I also have a breastfeeding class on Thursday.

My belly button has almost popped out completely. I used to have the deepest "innie" belly button and now part of it is an "outie" and the other part is flat with my tummy. Only a matter of time before it's totally popped out.

Jake and I are going to go look at houses tomorrow up in Temecula. We're very excited to be looking for a real home for Jaxon. He deserves a stable place to live and moving every year when a lease is up is not very stable. I would say 95% of the homes that we fell in love with online are either short sales or foreclosures. The only traditional sales in our price range don't have everything we're looking for- they're lacking a bedroom or a bathroom or are very small. If we have to, we'll move into an apartment after we get kicked out of our current home and live there on a month to month lease until we can close on a house we really love. We just know that we aren't going to be pressured or rushed into buying a home that doesn't have everything we're looking for just because we're getting kicked out of our current place. I'll post pictures of the houses that we look at tomorrow that we like.

I'm not sure if you all heard about it or not, but all of San Diego and even as far as Arizona, Tijuana and Orange County lost all power yesterday. Jake and I thought it was a blackout scheduled by the electricity company and that it'd only last an hour or two, but we went to a friends' house and heard on the radio that it wasn't planned. It was a HUGE deal here in San Diego. None of the traffic lights worked, no a/c, etc... Traffic was really backed up on all the highways and side streets. The power went off around 3:45 pm and came back on around midnight. The bad thing was that it was a very hot day here. It got up to at least 97 degrees in our house. We kept the doggies cool by giving them a cool bath and not drying them off all the way and made sure they had plenty of water and ice cubes to munch on. Originally they had no idea what caused the huge outage and so they were predicting we'd be out of power until tonight! Thank goodness it came back on!! Because of the outage Jake didn't have to go to work today so he got an extra short work week since he didn't have to go to work until Wednesday this week with Labor Day.

Well, I'll update you all next Friday about Jaxon and my doctors appointments. I might add pictures of the houses before Friday though, so stay tuned for an update!

Here's my belly this morning.   :)

Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Jaxon

The Magical 24 Weeks

Today I am 24 weeks, 1 day pregnant with little Jaxon Adam Lester. Our little man has been growing like a weed in my belly! He has gained approximately 4 ounces since last week and measures anywhere from 10-12" long. They say he could gain up to 6 ounces this week alone! In development this week he is growing more and more blood vessels throughout his body and the bronchi in his lungs are branching off into the smaller branches called bronchioles. The air sacs (alveoli) at the end of his bronchioles are also secreting surfactant. To not get too complicated, it pretty much helps our lungs expand and makes it easier for us to breathe. Jaxon this week is mostly working on gaining fat and will continue to do so until the end of pregnancy.


So at the beginning of my pregnancy I had barely any symptoms and was coasting on through it week by week. Well within the past month I've developed some more symptoms that I can blame pregnancy for, such as heartburn! I made some homemade pizza last night for dinner and boy did my chest burn afterwards! Good thing I had some Tums in the house! I also get heart palpitations almost every single time I lay down. I don't think I'm supposed to be getting them this often, so I'll have to mention that in my next doctor visit. Another thing I'll have to mention at my next appointment are the Braxton Hick contractions I had last night! I only had two of them, but I'm pretty sure that's what they were. I just felt tight pressure on my belly and it was rock hard. It wasn't really painful, just uncomfortable.

With my ever-growing belly it's getting harder for me to get up from either a sitting or laying down position. It's funny when Jake helps to get me off the couch. I won't even talk about how hard it is to put pants on in the morning, bending down gets me winded!! But what makes this all worth it is feeling little Jaxon kick and punch me all day and all night.

I've discovered Jaxon really likes to hear music with chimes or bells in it. Yesterday I played him the instrumental version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and he went crazy in my belly!! But when I changed it to a song with someone actually singing he just sat there and didn't make a move. I think we've got a little musician on our hands.  :)

Jake and I went to Babies R Us and exchanged Jaxon's travel system for a totally different one. We also purchased a lot of the little odds and ends we'll need before he arrives. Pretty much the only thing left to buy for him is bottles and diapers and we'll be set! I know he's going to love everything you all have given him!

In other news, Jake and I are looking into becoming first-time home owners!! We went to the bank today to get pre-qualified for a home loan, we should hear back next week how much we qualify for. We're going to be moving up north to a city called Temecula. It has one of the top 10 school districts in ALL of California, plus it was voted to be one of the top 10 cities to live in in America! We're very excited to call this "home". It also doesn't hurt that we can get a house for "cheap" up there, at least compared to San Diego city limits. If we were to purchase a home similar to what we're looking at up in Temecula here in San Diego it would cost us about $500,000 or more! In Temecula we can get the same house for $225,000. I feel bad for the current home owners everywhere because when we look up to see what the homes used to sell for they were in the $400k range and the owners are just losing so much money in their houses selling now.... but Jake and I are willing to take advantage of that. We're looking at buying a 4 bed, 2 1/2-3 bath house. I'll fill you all in when we actually go look at the houses ourselves instead of just on the internet.

Well, Jake is calling me saying that dinner is ready. I'll update this later with pictures of my belly!


UPDATE SEPTEMBER 5:::
So last night I'm pretty sure I had some contractions. It was one of the most painful things ever. I was doing dishes after dinner and they happened for about 30-45 seconds a piece and were about 3 minutes apart. It was hard to breathe when they happened. I went to lay down on the couch and had another one, but they stopped all together after that. I know obviously they couldn't have been "true" labor contractions since they stopped, but I didn't think Braxton Hicks were supposed to hurt that badly. The ones I had a few nights ago didn't hurt at all. So I have no idea what it was that occurred last night. I just hope it doesn't happen again for another couple months, little Jaxon needs to stay in there as long as he can!!!

We love you all!!!
Mommy, Daddy and Jaxon

Close up of Jaxon's bedding

I've got a big ol' belly

Jaxon is getting SO big!!!

Jaxon's Things

As I said in my post yesterday, Jake and I have bought a lot of stuff for Jaxon since we've been back in San Diego. I wanted to show you all some of the stuff we bought for him so here's the pictures!

This is Jaxon's bedding:

Jaxon's crib:

Jaxon's dresser/changing table station:

Jaxon's jumperoo:

Jaxon's play mat:

Jaxon's swing:

Jaxon's travel system (stroller and matching car seat): We aren't sold on the brown and blue. The other color we're thinking about getting is the gray/blue one pictured below. Which do you guys like better???

Well, there you have it. We've got pretty much all the bigger stuff Jaxon will need when he arrives! I will add pictures of his nursery when we move and it's all set up! I can't wait to show you all!

Love you!!!!

We're having a BOY!!!!!!!!!

I almost forgot about updating this blog since I took a couple weeks off! Boy was it great to be home with family and friends. It was a much needed vacation for Jake and I. Here's a little recap of our visit:

We had the most amazing baby shower ever! All of our friends and family were able to come and celebrate baby Lester with us. We played a few games, that even the men enjoyed. The first game was to put a piece of paper on top of your head and draw a baby. It was hilarious what some people had! Jake and I picked the winner of that, which was my brother Kyle. The next game was to guess how big around my belly was. Jake and my cousin Brittney were right on! There were some who guessed way too small or way too big. My brother in law, Mike, had guessed so big that the tape fit around Jake and I together with extra room!!! It was funny! And the last game we played was the guess the baby food. We had squash, pears and mac & cheese. My sister in law, Cate, was the only one to guess correctly all three. We also had plain white onesies, bibs and burp cloths that people painted and decorated. And as all of you know, Jake and I finally got to find out if we were having baby Jaxon or baby Evalyn. My sister Missy made the most awesome gender cake! When Jake and I cut into the cake I saw the most blue inside ever and screamed "It's a BOY!!!" and started crying! I yelled it out before everyone else could even see the inside. We were so incredibly happy to be welcoming baby Jaxon into our family!! My brother took a video of the cake cutting, I'll post it once he gets it off his camera. It really was my favorite day of vacation. There's nothing better than spending an evening with all your friends and family.

Jake and I also enjoyed some good ol' Kansas City food while we were home too. We ate at Jess and Jims a few times and had some Jackstack BBQ and Buffalo Wild Wings. Just thinking of it all makes me want some more.

Also while we were home I got to see my sweet nephew Grayson!! He has got to be the cutest little boy in the entire world. He's always so happy and lovey. I miss him more than anything. I had the hardest time saying goodbye to him.

The last weekend Jake and I were home we went to my brother and sister's lake cabin at the Ozarks. It was so much fun! Jake had such a blast wakeboarding, tubing, and going on the wave runner. He had been dying to go to the lake for the last few years, he wanted to stay there for so much longer than a couple days. I had to take it easy at the lake with little Jaxon, but I still got to enjoy boat rides, tubing and going on the wave runner. I can't wait to take little man to the lake when he's older. We owe Kyle and Missy a big thank you for letting us come and stay with them!

We were home for an extended period of time, but time went by way to fast. I wish we lived closer to home or you all could just move to San Diego! I'd be one very happy girl if that could happen.


As for Jaxon, we are 23 weeks along today. He is about 11 inches long from his head to his heels and weighs over a pound. The bones that form his middle ear are completely formed so he can hear mommy and daddy talk, read and sing to him. His blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. His face is almost fully formed and in one of our ultrasounds my sister gave me, we could tell he has daddy's lips, mommy's long fingers and long legs! He was so precious! From here on out little Jaxon doesn't have much fat on him at all but he'll be gaining about 6 ounces of weight every week until birth.
As for me, I've been gaining weight and have quite the big belly now. I also have been waking up in the middle of the night the last couple nights with leg cramps. I have heard that they were common during pregnancy, but I thought I lucked out and wouldn't be getting them. It's painful waking up with charlie horses in your calves and feet. I still have the biggest appetite in the world. I out-eat Jake during every meal, he is amazed every time. Baby Jaxon loves kicking and punching me during all hours of the day and night. It's the most amazing feeling in the world. He's kicking as I type this. There are times after I wake up I can see he slept on one side of my belly because my belly will be very lopsided. He's just so precious.

Since Jake and I have been back in San Diego we have bought almost everything else that Jax needs before his big arrival. We bought his nursery furniture, travel system, activity mat, activity bouncer, mattress, and other odds and ends. I can't wait until we move and we can set up his nursery. We are keeping everything in the boxes so it'll be easier to move when the time comes.

I'm sorry this post was so long, there was a lot to catch up on! I'll be updating on a weekly basis again. It was so great to see so many of you while we were home. Jake and I miss you all so much already and can't wait to see you again.

Baby Jaxon at 23 weeks

love

Mommy, Daddy and Jaxon

Halfway there, Little One!!

Is it me or has the first half of pregnancy flown by? It seems like not too long ago Jake and I found out we were pregnant. We've got a very busy second half of pregnancy ahead of us, so that should make time pass by quickly.

Wow, 20 weeks! Our precious little baby is now over 10 ounces and 6 and a half inches long! The first 20 weeks they measure baby's length from the top of his head to his rump because his legs are always curled up, but from here on out they measure baby's length from head to tippy toe. So measuring baby more accurately, from head to toe, he is about 10 inches long!!! No wonder I can feel him all the time! When you're at the grocery store go grab a large banana and that'll be about the size of baby this week. I've learned that this week baby has developed taste buds. Everything that I eat he or she can taste also, so they say to eat a wide variety of foods so after baby is born then they'll be more likely to try different foods because they will have already been exposed while in utero. Baby can taste all these foods by swallowing the amniotic fluid and as we know, with consumption comes waste. This little one is already working on his first dirty diaper for Daddy to change at the hospital. Meconium is accumulating slowly in his digestive tract and will arrive shortly after birth. Also this week I have began to notice some of baby's sleep/wake cycles. Our little one sleeps more than 14 hours a day, just like a newborn, but mommy loves when baby's awake and playing in her belly! And finally, baby's sense of hearing is becoming so in tune that if he hears a loud noise, he will cover his ears! Mommy's got a little genius in her belly!

Jake and I did a few of the different old wives tales last night to guess the sex of our baby. Here are the results:

Heart rate: Boy
Cravings: Could be either!  :)
Baking Soda Test: Girl
Chinese Gender Chart: Girl
Ring Test: Boy

So it's really up in the air as to what this little one is! I can't believe the ultrasound is only a few days away and then we all get to find out in 8 days!!!!

Jake was able to go with me to my Centering Pregnancy Group appointment on Wednesday. He thought it was a little strange at first, but towards the end I think he enjoyed it a little. We had a masseuse come and give us mini shoulder massages and then show us some exercises to help with back and hip pain. And the remainder of the time we talked about all the possible discomforts of pregnancy. Baby's heartbeat was in the high 130s-140 bpm and sounded very strong! And I'm 3 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight! My next group appointment is Sept 15.

And finally, here is my belly picture this week. I've never felt more comfortable in my own body than I do being pregnant!

We can't wait to see you all. We will drive extra extra safe on our way to Kansas City, we've got precious cargo on board, and I'm not talking about Lucy!  ;)  I will update the blog when we return home from our trip! We love you all so much!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Baby Lester