Last weekend J and I traveled to Pine Bluff, AR to visit with J's paw paw and Grandma - he learned to blow lots of bubbles and as you can see Grandma was pretty excited about it! We did some fun and essential shopping for the baby on the way - and it really better be a girl!
Brad is on vacation this week and i am trying not to get him to do too much, however each day we seem to running errands. Today was the nicest so far as we enjoyed a long coffee and great lunch in Rogers at a new place recommended by a young girl at the optometrist i go too - turns out it made the best coffee we've had since being in AR plus we really liked the atmosphere - much like Tassie.
I have no other news - feeling huge. The aircon is again on the blink is our car - thankfully its raining here so has cooled off a bit.

Happy 31st Birthday Brad!

Happy Birthday Cake = Happy family!
I am heading out for the weekend to take J to visit his Paw Paw and Grandma near Little Rock, and will be away tomorrow (brads actual birthday) so we celebrated this evening with the yearly dose of homemade doubly rich chocolate love heart cake. Jackson really got into the whole birthday thing this year - and can remember every cake he has had so far. He loved decorating it and singing - twice - we have a little video which i will try to put up on the blog of the decorating which is pretty cute.


Happy cake face

Harris Crawdad festival 09

Brad and I had a crawdad boil at our place last night - it had been planed for a month so we had J out the house for the weekend which has been great since it really was not a child friendly event! Lots of sun, drinks, music and great company just hanging out at the house. Brad and George got to show off their brew master skills - with 4 kegs on tap of their latest brews, plus we had Matt's hard apple cider (aka how to get drunk in 3 seconds cider). There was no beer left by the end of the night, all kegs dry as bones and some VERY happy chilled out guys and girls singing in the garage to Josh's acoustic guitar concert. Enjoy the pics.


Our first batch of crawdads early on the afternoon - we had 100 pounds so did a fair few batches! They were delicious but a lot of work for very little meat! The bugs were brought over by some people from the other side of the State who also pretty much cooked them for us too in exchange for beer.

Jen and a very preggo me.

Pat and Elizabeth - thanks for all your help guys! couldn't have pulled it off without you!

too cute shoes

throwing washers - why is it that men can play this game for HOURS and not get bored?

Courtney and Jen doing some sort of Indian tribal dance. It was late, and they are drunk :)
For some reason, despite the prettiest twinkle lights out back, and all the chairs out back - everyone seems to migrate to the garage - happens every time we have anyone over, one person or twenty. It is a damn fine garage though.
who's been sleeping in my bed? George in the top bunk.

old friends

I drove to Jonesboro AR to visit with a dear old friend Jessica - we had the best time and pretty much didn't stop talking for two days straight. She has two boys now, 5 and 4 who were delightful! One never stops being a superhero - it was crazy to try to keep up with who he was at any one time! Jackson got to spend the weekend with his NeeNee - and seemed not to mind that mum and dad wern't around - actually i kind of think he enjoyed the break from hormonal/stressed out mum and workaholic/stressed out dad.

In baby news - the level 2 scan got moved up to today, and I went to UAMS telemedicine center in Fayetteville to have the scan this morning. Everything went well, and although they were not able to definitivly say that there were no heart abnormalities (due to the scan not being able to detect small defects that could be caused by the paxil) they did rule out any significant heart damage/defects and were happy to report that the babies heart structure apeared normal. They also confirmed for Brad's sake that yes indeed - we are being joined by a little girl. Maggie-Grace is now also due a bit earlier, the 12th according to this scan - so will wait to see when/if they schedual a c-section due date a week prior to this. Previously i have told most everyone the baby is due around the 10th (meaning that was the estimated c-section date). There is also no longer any concern with the placenta - it has moved up and no longer is low lying over my cervix, which is a big relief. Thank you to everyone who had us is their prayers and thoughts as we struggled through these last few stressful weeks.
Less stressful times - cruising in our 'whale' along the East coast of Tasmania. Magic.
Jackson and Nee Nee baking cookies - he was VERY excited to bring a bag home to me and dad. He has his own little set up at Nee Nee's - with Diego bedding and a special Diego cup, along with enough Wiggles videos to keep Jackson singing all day - he is very spoiled! I think Ole John also doesn't mind the company - as Joy seems to cook a BUNCH when Jackson visits - the latest treat being the most delicious blueberry pie i have ever had!

I still can't believe what a big boy he is for just 2 years old. Joy pointed out the American flag to him, and of course the smarty pants that he is said "Obama likes that", Joy asked him who Obama was and J was quick to let her know - "He's our President". When Obama is on CNN i point him out to J - and now he knows who he is. T.V has its virtues people! Plus sesame street is still the greatest kids show around in my opinion - J likes to see what letter/s and numbers are going to be on. Not that we watch it every day - but i do DVR it. I love DVR.

Brad brought J back some snaps after he had the best time with them on 4th - he would stomp on these little ball things that make noise like a little firecracker. The above is J begging for more snaps.
Playing pretend. J loves to play pretend anything - pretend the Dragons are getting us mum! Pretend to eat this mum! Pretend to sleep like Jeff Wiggle - hell yes!! He loves to play this game and will pretend to sleep for at least 5 mins at a time until you yell "Wake up Jeff!"
Pretending to wash Fred. Those yellow things are what the Sunday paper came in, and our now his special gloves.
Pretending to wash his hair - he especially likes to pretend to wash my hair - and Brads. He is also happy to help clean the walls as we have been doing FOR DAYS since the new wood laminate was installed.
Our 4th was a great day - we went round to Gina and Clayton's lake house late afternoon and stayed until evening, leaving well fed, happy and tired.


Yes Gina let J actually drive - and no one was injured although I am sure I came close to toppling off but that could just be the fact i have no sense of equilibrium these days.
This giant $%*&G ball - is J's new favorite toy given to him by Clayton. J screamed/refused to get into the car at night and had to actually hold this giant blow up ball all the way home - falling asleep on it. It has served as great entertainment ever since as he can literally roll over it into "the water". more pretend play.
showing off my new flooring which we will be paying for for like the next upteen years. but it is so worth it - even if it is already peed and spewed on.
J loves his new Henry Octopus - no it is not Henry from wiggles but according to J every octopus is named Henry. and every baby is named Maggie Grace - and every woman with a large belly has a Maggie in it. He can be too cute at times and this evening laid his little hands on my belly and looked down to say "HELLO!". J has spent the last week not sleeping at night - between being sick he has also been WAY constipated. I wont give details but the poor boy has not been happy at all - and not sleeping i guess cause he is just uncomfortable. I am hopeful the issue is resolved as of today - i can't take much more of this getting up in the middle of the night. I need all the sleep i can get before this new baby arrives in two months! 8 weeks! Crazy days ahead.

In the wars

Jackson has been in the wars this past few days - He slid off a concrete bench at the park and skinned up his back and legs a fair bit (i had just gotten on the phone with Angie so my idea of a chat while J ate his fruit cup was shot) His obsession with bugs led him to capture a wasp - and get stung on the thumb - this required a bandaid and a long discussion on how some bugs are best left to fly and not get caught. I seemed more upset than him as his finger swelled up three times its normal size. He barely cried, just jumped around a lot saying ouch ouch ouchy - he cried more when he was not allowed to watch a dvd first thing in the morning. He was walking Fred (perhaps not the best of my ideas) and fell over his own feet while trying to navigate Fred around a letterbox and skinned his knee up pretty bad. Then yesterday at 4th of July he ran into a glass door and was slightly stunned for a minute - thankfully he has a tough head. He used to be such a careful boy - but is getting much braver.

I can't believe Roddick just lost at Wimbledon. Roger - 15 grand slams. what does Andy have to do to win at Wimbledon???

We have new floors - they are stunning, they would have been even more enjoyable had our boy NOT gotten a tummy bug that had him puking every hour from 6am this morning. I KID YOU NOT! RIGHT ON THE NEW FLOORING! It hasn't even been laid one day! ... and yes on the new carpet in my bedroom too, it was a sad, sad morning. Thankfully i was up to date with all the washing so a few extra loads today was not a hassle. What was a hassle - trying to clean off the layers of mortar dust all over the walls and every surface from the laying of new wood laminate - pretty peed off - we just put up a new light fixture in the foyer which now looks a hundred years old with all the crap over it- i am leaving it for the carpet guy to look at when he comes next week to do a once over of the walls again to try to clean them. The ceiling fan is beyond help - we wanted to get a new one anyway so I guess now is a good time.
in other news....
I am heading to LR for a level 2 ultrasound to check my baby is o.k - there have been some issues over an SSRI i have been taking (had i known the effects i would have stopped taking it ASAP) it is a bit of a mess up with my medical team who failed to fill me in despite me expressing my concern after reading a Vogue article on SSRI's and heart valve defects and pulmonary hypertension in newborns. I had to chase them up again asking why I hadn't heard back from anyone - only then to be told to stop taking the medication straight away. Of course I did, with awful side effects - but the medical team knew I was on this even before I got pregnant with this little one! so all in all I was very upset with my medical team, and they have fully admitted their lack of care/ oversight - which was suprising but also helpful. Now rather than being scared and upset, I am focusing on what needs to done from here on out. The likelihood of any complications is still very slim, and I have been reasurred that they don't expect any problems, but the fact is the risk is still exists and it is my baby, and they should have informed me about the new information on this drug when I first saw the clinic. They will also have an NICU NP in the room on delivery at my OB's request, which i think they are doing as I was pretty upset about this whole issue and they are really trying to make sure my confidence is somewhat restored in their system. Plus Pulmonary hypertension, although reversible, can be fatal. The medical team needs to know to be prepared for it.
Will keep everyone filled in on any updates via the blog. the u/s is on the 22nd of this month.