Pictures are up!

Dad is typing left-handed (one handed), so this is short.

Pictures are up!

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=herringfamilypictures&page=herringfamilypictures&album=3908

- dad

Sarah Ellen Herring is Here! 2:37am!

Well, we were here for about 1 hr 18 mins, and then Sarah was born at 2:37am on May 17th 2010. Delivery took... oh, about 10 mins or so. It was ridiculously fast, and up until this point, Mom has been getting repaired. Mom did this delivery NATURALLY as she could not wait the 1hr to get the lab results back!

Mom and Sarah are getting their first feeding together. We will be moving to the post-delivery room shortly, and then I will be doing whatever Mom needs.

If you need to contact us, please do.

- dad

Baby on the way!!

We are leaving for the hospital. Of course it would be right after midnight.

Check-in afterwards.

Later!

- dad

Catching Up

Thanks, Dad, for putting up the last few posts. With trying to keep up with Megan and get everything ready for the new baby, I just haven't really felt like adding "update blog" to my already too long to-do list. But I will add a few things here to bring all you readers up to speed on life around here.

So Megan turned 2 back in March. It's amazing to have a 2 year old and she's just hilarious with all the things that she says and does. She had a purple cake for her birthday (at her very specific request) and I'm sure she'd love to show you all what it looked like. Her favorite park of the cake - any cake for that matter - is definitely the icing. She's a sugar fiend like me.

Here are Megan's 2-year stats, as well as some other pertinent info:

Height: 36 inches (though I think the nurse was a little ambitious there, and I measured her a little closer to 35 inches)

Weight: 26 lbs, 4 oz (and I'm certain she's gained another few pounds in the last month)

Favorite color: purple

Favorite foods: grapes, blueberries, shrimp, elmo snacks, corn

Favorite letters: M and W (because a W is an upside-down M)

Favorite songs: Old MacDonald and the ABCs

Favorite activities: painting, washing her hands, taking pictures with mom's camera

Here's a Megan photograph...she's not too bad!

So, now you know!! She's also becoming insanely independent and I hear "Megan do by self" all day, with some "Mommy pick up" thrown in for good measure. She seems to have some grasp of the new baby's impending arrival. Last night I told her that my tummy was moving around a lot, and she said, "Baby Sarah come out soon." Bless her heart, I hope she's right!! She'll also tell me that some things are Baby Sarah's, like a pair of shorts that are too small for Megan or the new crib. Hopefully she'll adjust ok once the baby is actually here.

Here are some of the things we've done in the last month...

...Went to The Fork Stables in Norwood to see the horses

...Dyed Easter Eggs

...Hunted Easter Eggs and saw the Easter Bunny

...Went to the Museum of Life and Science and rode the train

...Went to a Durham Bulls Baseball Game and played in the Wool E. Bull playground

So that's it in a nutshell. Otherwise, I'm cleaning, organizing, doing lots of laundry, and just trying to make sure we've got things covered for the baby's arrival. I think we've got the big things covered: crib (check), diapers (check), clean clothes (check), hospital bag packed (check), and car seat installed (check). That puts us in pretty good shape. I'm hoping that all the newborn knowledge will come back to me. It's amazing how foreign it feels even after 2 short years...but Meg's been mobile and talkative for what seems like so long, that I often forget she's only 2. I'm just ready to have this little one out. I'm ready to get this show on the road, to stop being a punching bag for what is surely a world-class kickboxer or a kangaroo that is living in my tummy, to meet this little girl, and to be able to walk normally again (this pregnancy waddle has got to go!). It's sad to think that this will probably be the last time I'll be pregnant, because overall I do enjoy being pregnant - though this pregnancy has been tougher than my first, probably because chasing around a toddler doesn't leave a lot of time to just sit and bask in the pregnancy glow. BUT - I am excited about our growing family and can't wait to introduce little Sarah to you all.

Stay tuned, the next post will probably be "the one." Until then, take care! (oh yeah, and here's one more rare photograph of pregnant mama with the little one.)

Pop goes the Mommy!

Hi again!

Well, it is almost time, but not quite. Since this is our last planned child, and actually carrying around a child inside of you for 9 months is an important time, I thought it was only fitting that we have some pictures to remember this time by!

I guess that it is fitting that our last child is going to be born near Mother's Day weekend. It is a special time for Mommy and the family.

On a related note, Megan and Mom are both born in March while Sarah and Dad are both born in May! This will lead to some interesting birthday situations and delegation in the future, I am sure.

We may not be updating this for a while (or we might have to rely on help from others!), but we should have some exciting news on May 11th 2010! Mom hit her first date 100%! Let's see what happens this time!

Here's to hoping we see you all happy and healthy on the other side!

- Dad

The Great Wolf Lodge!

Hi all!

In trying to catch up with events over the past month, the retelling is not complete without talking about the Great Wolf Lodge!

Megan with the wolves!

Since our family is growing, Mom and Dad thought it was important that the family we have now had some good time together to bond. So, Dad took some vacation, and the family packed up and went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord NC.

The family spent 24 full hours at the park, and had a great time!

We got to visit the bear...

played in the water, and just had a lot of good fun! Megan really liked her time there, but I think the whole family agrees that "84 degree" water sounds fun, but when you are soaked, it is REALLY cold. We haven't seen so many kids running around with purple lips ever!

The family had a great time, and if you would like to see more pictures, just head over to the link below. The NEW family will head back in about 2 years, and we expect to have more fun then!

Ps. Scary talking tree -- we will hear your bed time story next time!

The Great Wolf Lodge Pictures

- Dad

The Yuckies

Last week we went through a very unpleasant first: Megan's first stomach virus. And it was NOT pretty. I don't do well with throwing up, and now I can say with certainty that I don't do well being thrown up on. Poor little Megan didn't keep anything down - solids or liquids - for about 2 days. And during that time, pretty much all we heard from Megan was "Meggie tummy hurt."

After a reassuring trip to the doctor, she finally did feel better. By the middle of the week her appetite had returned in full force. She asked for an egg for breakfast, so I told her I'd fix a little egg, and she said, "No, Mommy, a BIG egg." She ate the egg (I fixed her a little one just to be safe) and a piece of toast. When she'd eaten that, she turned to me and simply said, "Yogurt." Then she ate the whole cup of yogurt. And she's pretty much been eating everything in sight since then.

I think we're back on track with everything now. It was so sad to see her feeling so bad, but at least it didn't last too long.

Last week I also had a doctor's appointment. Everything checked out just fine and mom and baby are both growing. The baby kicks all the time, especially at night. I've surrendered to comfort and am now wearing maternity clothes. At my next appointment in February, I'll have my glucose test. After that, we enter the 3rd trimester and I'll have appointments every 2 weeks.

Updates from the Belly

I know this is the post a lot of you have been waiting for (us included!)

We went to the OB this morning for our big 19-week ultrasound. The baby was pretty active and moving around a lot. We got to see a lot of good pictures of the baby and all the major parts are there...arms, legs, brain, heart, stomach, hands, feet, etc... Everything looked right on track according to the ultrasound tech. The baby is about 10 ounces and measures right at 19 weeks. We also got a peek at the "goods" and boy are they right when they say every pregnancy is different, because boy was I wrong about what's growing inside me - We're having a GIRL!!! (I was just so convinced otherwise!) As excited as I was about the idea of having a boy, I'm just as excited to be having another girl. I think Megan will enjoy having a little sister.

Check out the chin on our little girl! Is that a Sinclair chin or what?!

In other pregnancy news, I'm finally feeling better. I still feel nauseous on occasion, but I've had no sickness since the 17th week...so hopefully the 11-week run of morning sickness is over. I've gained a total of 8 pounds, but so far don't particularly look pregnant. I've been feeling the baby kick and move around for about a month or so now which is a very odd but comforting feeling. Hopefully everything will continue to progress well, and we'll keep you posted!

Round Two

I've thought a lot over that last few weeks what to title this post. I've considered, Our Big News (sounds kind of generic), Brian & Stacy Plus One More (but do I really want to liken our family to Jon and Kate?), or It's Not a Baby Bump, It's Too Many Roast Beef Sandwiches! (that's probably the most accurate of them all) ...but whatever I call this post, it all boils down to yes, we're having another baby!!

I'm 14 weeks now - officially in the 2nd trimester. We had an OB appointment this morning and heard the little whooshing heartbeat. I'm so glad to be out of the first trimester which I'll briefly recap: I ate, puked, slept, woke up, puked, ate, and puked some more. In the early weeks potatoes were my friend, so much so that I fully expected to see this on the monitor at our 8-week ultrasound:

Fortunately, our "proof of life" photos showed the standard little tadpole-baby:

Our next doctor's appointment is Dec 15. This will be the big 19-week ultrasound and we should find out the sex of the baby then. Our due date is May 11, 2010. So then we'll have a 2 year old and a newborn! I'm sure Megan doesn't grasp the concept of what all the new baby will entail, (though she does tell me that babies sleep) but I did sit her down and show her the pictures of the baby from the ultrasound and told her that the baby was in mommy's tummy. She then lifted up my shirt, pointed to my tummy, waved, and said, "baby." And if we ask her where the baby is, she'll point to my tummy.

I guess that's all the new baby news for now. In Megan-world, she's talking non-stop and learning new words every second it seems. She's started counting (she's got a handle on 1-4 and 5 on a good day) and she's singing. Mostly she sings her ABCs. A through G sound pretty good and the rest of it is a bunch of Cs and Es, but she's getting the tune down. It's really adorable and she's so proud of her counting and singing. Brian says I need to get videos of this, so I'll work on it. She wants to do everything by herself, too. Independence is great, but it leads to a lot of frustration. But other than that, things are good! Here's a picture of Megan couch-surfing:

We'll keep you all posted on the pregnancy!