Prenatal Check Up for Baby P

Today I had my check up for Baby P.  Dr. Dalla Riva did my check up today, because Dr. Hulsen was running way behind.  Dr. Hulsen's office has moved to a new building in the hospital and this afternoon was the first day being open.  I had to drink a solution an hour before my appointment so my blood could be drawn to test my glucose levels.  I didn't have a problem with this in the past, so hopefully everything is still healthy.  Even though I had a large Pepsi and a chocolate chip cookie for lunch!! :)

I am currently 28 weeks and 1 day into my pregnancy.  I have entered my last trimester with month 7!!  I measured 28 centimeters and the baby's heart rate was 132 bpm.  My sciatic nerve and left leg are quite bothersome, but I have a monthly massage appointment to help with this.  I have gained even more weight!! Oh my goodness, I better start to slow down.  The baby moves nonstop!!

 Nolan thinks my belly button is pretty cool!

 
Bill and I are going to start working on the nursery sometime soon.  We have the new crib and changing table bought, along with Nolan's new bedding set.  The pregnancy still seems surreal most of the time until I receive a huge jab in the ribs!

Summertime Fun

Yesterday The Purcell Family ran around like a bunch of crazies, we went to Hillsboro, Vandalia, and back to Glen Carbon all in the matter of twelve hours.  Nolan did a great job for being out of his normal schedule and had a lot of fun with family and friends.  First, we visited Grandpa Bill for his birthday and played with Zoo Zoo Pets!  Second, we attended cousin Olivia's birthday party in Vandalia and swam in the lake!!  Third, we ended our day at the Keller household roasting s'mores and playing outside!!

Nolan enjoyed the lake!!  At first he kept saying the water was cold, but the two Olivia's helped him wade his way in until he was used to the temperature.  Of course, Nolan saw the jet ski and wanted to go for a ride.  It took some convincing from Papa T and Daddy for me to allow Nolan to go for a ride.  As soon as Papa picked him up, Nolan looked at me with a huge smile on his face a said bye bye as he waved. Imagine the excitement on Papa T's face when I okayed this ride, but only in the cove!!!  After the ride everyone swam, Nolan loved laying back and floating with his face up to the sun.

After swimming in the lake, Liv wanted to take Nolan to the swing set to play.  Poot wanted to do everything cousin Liv did!!  I was able to snap quite a few good pictures because Liv was entertaining Nolan and making him smile.  Olivia also helped take a few pictures; she is very good at photography!

Nolan became hungry, so we changed into our dry clothes and snacked on some food for awhile.  It was time to head out to the Keller's, so we said our goodbye's to the family and returned to the open road once more.  Next stop, Schnucks, to contribute to our part of the cook out at the Keller's. lol

Mark and Tiffany invited their neighbors over too, so there were a ton of kids running around playing.  Nolan is quite the flirt.  There was a little girl about two years older than Nolan and he thought she was pretty cool!

 Flirting...

Caught flirting.... haha

Nolan did good staying away from the fire.  He would get a few feet away from it and say, "hot."  At one point he attempted to blow on the fire to cool it off.  This child cracks me up!!  He didn't want anything to do with a s'more, but he loved the graham crackers.  I had my fair share of s'mores!!

Blowing on the fire to cool it down.

Nolan and Grant practicing their bag skills for college.

The Purcell Family had a busy, but fun day!!  Nolan lasted until 9:30 and we headed home.  I think Bill and I were just as tired as Nolan.  We all slept great!!

Nolan's 18 Month Check Up

Yesterday, Nolan turned 18 months and today was his 18 month check up.  Nolan is right on track with his height and weight as usual.  Poot measured 33.5 inches tall, which places him in the 85th percentile for height and he weighs 26 pounds, which places him in the 65th percentile for weight.  My little boy is growing up!!  Nolan only had to have one shot today and he took it like a champ.  He grimaced a little and then waved bye bye to the nurse as she left.

Poot has entered toddler phase,  smiles one minute and throwing a tantrum the next.  Along with the toddler phase is the all boy stage!! Oh my goodness, this little boy climbs, crawls, yells, throws, and falls nonstop.....he is hard to keep up with at times.  Bill and I are constantly following him around the house telling him not to touch this or climb on that.  It doesn't help that Bill is constantly wrestling with Nolan, this increases the rowdiness.

Nolan is saying ALOT of words, mimicking sounds of animals, and attempting to do things all by himself. It seems like overnight, he has grown up.  As I'm writing this post, Nolan came up to me and said "mama" for the first time!! Yes, he has said almost every word but "mama."  Yay BUBBA!!

Tonight he did not want to sit in his high chair.  Nolan wanted to sit in a big chair like mommy and daddy, so Bill sat him in the chair.  Nolan wanted to feed daddy too, but only the green peppers Nolan didn't like. :)

 Here Dada let me help you eat your veggies!!

 Green Peppers = YUCKY

Nolan received a guitar from my good friend, Brittany, on his birthday.  He has really taken an interest in it this past week.  Every night after dinner and a bath, Poot grabs the guitar and plays a tune.  He is too funny to watch.

We went to the Glen Carbon Homecoming last weekend, but it was so hot we ended up only staying for a little bit.  Nolan was able to ride one ride, eat a chicken kabob, meet the Lorax, and win a pet goldfish.  Poot's cheeks are so red because of the temperature outside!

I'm sad to say the goldfish passed away this morning.  I went to feed "fish" it didn't have a name, and it wasn't moving.  I decided to let it sit awhile and check it again once I got home from work.  The fish was in the exact same spot at the bottom of the bowl.  Bill tried to put it in the garbage disposal and grind it up!!!  I persuaded him to flush it down the toilet instead.

I wonder why the fish didn't live....

Back around Easter, I saw a commercial for Little Tikes Scoot and Zoom scooters for toddlers.  I have looked everywhere for them and finally found one at Target.  I chose the Dinosaur one.  The scooter is more geared towards toddlers because of the pillow top seat and a handle to hold onto while scooting.  Nolan had other plans.  He thinks its fun to stand on the scooter and jump off, making the scooter fly in the opposite direction.  This child is going to give me a nervous breakdown!!

Look at me mama!!

Vroom Vroom!!

Today when Bill picked Nolan up from Stacy's, Nolan had a melt down because he had to leave behind the Hot Wheels Cars.  Bill decided to make a mad dash to Wal-Mart and buy Nolan a few new toys.  A truck and a few Hot Wheels cars have been added to Nolan's toy box collection.

Nolan is really starting to say words and imitate sounds.  He loves to make tractor and truck noises.  Every time we pull up next to a truck, he purposefully says, "car," because Bill and I always say TR-UCK.  Either that or Nolan is saying the end of truck and it sounds like car.

I decided to snap a few pictures of Nolan playing with his truck and cars.  He was so infatuated with the toys he would not look up at the camera.

I decided to capture a video as well, so you can hear his sound effects.

An Adventure to the City Museum

Today Bill and I decided it would be fun to take Nolan to visit the City Museum in St. Louis.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea because this place was packed!!  Neither Bill nor I have ever been to the City Museum before.  It was a neat place, but a lot to take in.  Bill and I are still recovering from sensory overload.  Nolan had fun, but is still too young to fully take in all the entertainment the Museum has to offer.

Nolan loves fish, so we decided to start out at the World Aquarium.  He was able to see tons of sea life and even pet some animals.  Nolan liked the turtles!  The first thing Nolan did when he touched the turtle, was to try and shove its head back into it's shell!!  I'm surprised the turtle didn't try to bite him.  Bill had to show Nolan to only touch the turtle's shell.  Nolan was able to explore all over the place.  He loved being independent and liked being able to show Bill and I the animals.

 Scuba Nolan!

Get your head back in there.....

Located inside one of the tanks was a slide, where one is able to go down and see all the sea life in the tank.  Nolan loved the slide!!  Bill said while they were sliding down, a huge sea turtle swam over the top of them!

Bill is now scuba certified, so I made him have his picture taken!! 

After we left the aquarium we ventured to the Rooftop which is located on the 11th floor.  Two big attractions on the Rooftop are a ferris wheel and a slide that goes down the whole 10 stories of the building.  Bill and I decided to hold off on this slide until Nolan is a lot older.  A ferris wheel on the 11th floor didn't sound like too much fun to Bill or I, so we didn't partake in this fun either.  However, there was a much smaller slide Bill took Nolan down.

The Rooftop also contained tons of obstacles and buildings for Nolan to climb on.  Poor Bill had to take Nolan through almost everything because I couldn't bend down for a lot of the tunnels.  A lot of the architecture was pieced together with steel rods and Bill said some of the work looked a little iffy, so he didn't take Nolan too high.

All in all, we had a great afternoon at the City Museum.  Bill and I are a little unsure of how they pass the health code stipulations, but the kids seem to enjoy the place.  Maybe we will revisit when Nolan is older and we don't have to worry about him falling off of high structures or electrocuting himself with all of the open wires....