18 Month check-up

We went in for Brendan's 18 month check-up today. It was about a week early, but since we are getting ready to go on vacation, I wanted to make sure that his ears were looking good before taking two flights there and two flights back! Yikes! :)

18 Month Stats:
Height: 32 inches (36th percentile)
Weight: 24 pounds (23rd percentile)
Head cir.: 19 inches (61st percentile)

Although looking back at his 15 month stats, he apparently hasn't grown any...I'm not sure that that's right! He's certainly outgrown some of the clothes he was even wearing a month ago. We have to go back for one or two shots at some point, so I may have them try to get another height/weight on him. He's not the most cooperative child when it comes to being weighed/measured, which of course is 100% normal. :)

Popsicles!

I've been craving popsicles lately and when we got home from helping Uncle Rob & Aunt Jenny today we all decided to have one. Brendan enjoyed a cherry flavored one. He ate the whole thing!

Feeding the Ducks

At Mamaw & GrandBob's on Mondays, Brendan goes to feed the ducks with Mamaw. Well, OK...I think that he just shares some bread with them. According to mom he eats more of it then they do! So we decided to walk down to one of the ponds in our neighborhood and see if there were any hungry ducks.

We found one lonely girly duck who seemed hungry, but very unsure about getting too close to us.

Brendan has news to share...

Baby Low #2 should arrive either the end of February or early March.

We're about 8 weeks pregnant right now. We weren't planning on sharing our news quite yet, but had our first trimester ultrasound moved up to today due to some slight bleeding issues. Everything looked great on ultrasound this morning though...no signs of further bleeding or any reason that it occurred. Baby measured at 8w2d, which is about 3 days bigger than I thought it should be...I guess we just make big babies. :) Heart rate was 166. We do have an ultrasound picture, but it's not the best quality...baby definitely still looks blob like. :)


I've been trying to take it easy and rest, but that's hard to do when you have a 17 month old to chase after. :)

My next appointment will be mid-August with the Nurse Practitioner...my OB, Dr. E. is apparently on maternity leave with TWINS! I was so excited to hear this actually, because it means that there is almost no way that she'd be pregnant again/delivering when I'm due in Feb/March! I really like her a lot and am looking forward to working with her on this pregnancy. I am planning on a VBAC with this baby and am hopeful that she will be 100% supportive.

Prayers - Updated

I've been waiting to post an update to this for awhile...I know that I didn't say what three prayers were answered, but I thought that I would share them now as all parties involved are OK with it now. :)

1. Rob & Jenny sold their house on the west-side and will be moving to Fishers!
2. Laura (Felts) Fletcher is pregnant, due in Feb 2010, after more than 2 years of trying and starting the adoption process!
3. Jesse Prater got accepted to IUPUI's nursing program and will start in the fall!

We're so excited for everyone!


Original post:

I think that God's been very busy answering some long sought after prayer requests this month...

My only question is, they say bad things come in "threes". Is the same true for good things?

Froggie Pool

We had a fun filled Sunday hanging around the house. Brendan played outside with his golf balls (Uncle Rob should be so proud!). He went on a bike ride with his Daddy. Then we finally got out the baby/froggie pool this afternoon and let Brendan splash around in the front yard. He loved it! We'll definitely do it again soon! We finished off the evening by a quick walk to the park to swing and go down the slide. Brendan should be a tired boy!

Posts added to June

I got a little behind on my blogging...look back towards the end of June for some recent pictures of Brendan and see what he's been up to! Sorry for the delay!

Mexican Party/Family Reunion

Saturday was our annual Shoemaker/Hurley family reunion. It was up in Muncie again this year at Tom & Erin & Quinn's house. They have an amazing backyard which Brendan really enjoyed running around in. He was really on his best behavior all afternoon which was wonderful.

Pre-party snack - doesn't he look so big sitting at the kitchen table?!?


Eating grapes and tortilla chips with guacamole on them!


Playing with Natalie and his new lawn mower. (Brendan took a little tumble on the driveway recently and Mamaw felt very bad about it and got him a new toy today to make up for it.) It's pretty cool...it blows bubbles out the side when you push it!

Brendan really got into playing corn hole with the big people...I think that he did quite well, don't you?









Getting a little tired...

There is a little play house in the back yard (I believe that it was Bryn's from when she was a little girl...Natalie's mom). Brendan thought that it was cute...he knocked on the door, but no one was home.









One of Brendan's newest "tricks" is finding his tickle button or belly button. You ask him where it is and he'll lift up his shirt and show you. :)
Taking the milk cup for a walk...


Following my favorite person...Dada...
Meeting Willie, Quinn's dog...Brendan wasn't so sure about him, he's a little more energetic than our girls, Dora & Ellie.

Dinner at Uncle Rob & Aunt Jenny's house

In celebration of their upcoming move from the west side of Indy to Fishers, we all had a Sunday dinner at Rob & Jenny's house. Rob pressure cooked & then grilled some amazing ribs for dinner. We all relaxed and watched Brendan play it was a great evening. Can't wait until they are closer so we can enjoy more time together. (I really thought that I took more pictures than this, but I can't seem to find them right now. :( )

17 months!

Our Prince Charming at 17 months!

Grocery Budget 7/5-7/12

Sunday: Kroger
Quick trip...I decided to make chicken enchiladas and on a whim doubled the batch, but didn't have enough tortillas, so Brendan & I ran off to Kroger!

1 package of flour tortillas
1 8oz. container of sour cream (had some frozen that I used in the enchiladas - worked out fine by the way, but needed some fresh to have with tacos)
3 8 oz. bags of shredded cheese (on sale for $1.25 each)
1 head of lettuce
2 Roma tomatoes

Total: $7.54 (used Rx credit, so spent $0)

Target:
4 jugs of Target brand apple juice
2 8 oz. packages of deli ham
1 package of pesto basil marinated chicken ($5.45 with a $3 off coupon on it, so only $2.45)
.14 lbs of bing cheeries for Brendan
1 gallon of whole milk
16 bags of pup-peroni dog treats (on sale for $2.39 each, and traded to get multiple $1 off coupons - we give Dora little pieces of these, since she can't eat the crunchy ones that Ellie likes since she has so few teeth left)
4 boxes of Gerber baby cereal (Brendan still gets 1/4 cup of cereal with his bedtime milk - helps him sleep better - worth every penny!)
3 Degree deodorants (.44 each after store & manufacture's coupons)
2 packages of veggies (one broccoli florets & one stir fry veggies - .99 each after target coupons)
2 1 lbs. packages of strawberries (.99 each after Target coupons)

Total: $51.50




Menu:
Sunday: Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican rice & Corn
Monday: Apple Ham Crescents (yes, we're eating these almost weekly, we really like them and they are pretty easy too!)
Tuesday: Veggie Stuffed Tilapia, Creamy Pasta, Green Bean Casserole
Wednesday: leftovers (Chris had to work late and didn't get home until 7pm and I was too tired to cook then)
Thursday: Basil chicken, pasta & steamed broccoli
Friday: Hawaiian Pizza (Tomato sauce, ham, pineapple, & mozzarella cheese)
Saturday: Dinner @ Aunt Julie & Uncle Mark's - bringing ice cream for dessert

Grocery Budget Week 7:

Menu:

Sunday: Leftovers from the weekend (Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes, Sea Bass, Salad)
Orange Roughy (Crispy Oven Fish Recipe) with Garlic Butter Rice, and Broccoli
Monday: Apple Ham Crescents (Recipe here from Pillsbury's Website) Broccoli & Carrots
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza (Chunks of chicken, BBQ sauce, Red Onion, Cheddar cheese)
Wednesday: left overs
Thursday: Tortellini with Roasted Red Pepper Cream sauce with Salad and French Bread
Friday: BBQ Ribs, Grilled Corn on the Cob, leftover baked beans, leftover peas
Saturday: 4th of July - Cookout - took this appetizer: Grand Old Flag Cheese Spread

Tuesday - Target:
1 Johnson's baby wash (.19 cents after manufacture & Target coupons)
1 tub of Target sliced ham
1 bag of lettuce
4 ears of Sweet corn
3 packages of Baby back ribs (will eat one this week and freeze the other two for later in the summer)
1 lb. strawberries
$17.91

Wednesday - Kroger
1 can of pears
1 jar of apple jelly
1 travel size of Kroger baby wipes (Free after coupon)
1 4 pack of Starbucks coffees
9 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce (Free after coupon)
4 bottles of A1 marinades (Free after coupon)
1 5 pack of Kraft Mac & Cheese
1 bottle of Kraft salad dress (Free after coupon found on Mac & Cheese box)
5 lbs of ground beef (had 4 coupons for $1 beef when you buy A1 and 1 coupon for $2 off beef when you buy 1 Kraft salad dressing and 2 other Kraft products - including BBQ sauce)

Total: $16.16 ( had a $25 pharmacy credit, so paid $0!)

Thursday - Kroger

2 4 packs of Starbucks Frappicinnos
4 boxes of Cheerios
1 package of Pita pockets (marked down to .50)
1 bag of romaine lettuce (marked down to $1.49 and had $1 off coupon)
1 package of Hoagie rolls
1 package of flour tortillas
1 package of 80 count baby wipes (after coupon, $.47)
4 bottles of Ragu alfredo sauce
10 bottles of BBQ sauce (free after coupons)
1 gallon skim milk
1 jar of roasted red peppers
1 gallon whole milk
1 carton of ice cream
2 yellow onions

Total: $17.10 after $8.84 pharmacy credit (Actually, have another $10 pharmacy credit from filling an Rx that day, but it didn't get credited to my account before I checked out...sometimes it takes up to a day.)

Total for the week: $35.01 (actually cash, after Rx credits)

Climbing & Bowls

One of Brendan's newest tricks it to throw a toy behind the toy box and then climb up on it and try to get it.



Bowls are still a favorite toy around here.

More talking!

I'm a little slow in getting this posted, but figured, better late than never. :) About a week and a half ago, Brendan starting saying his second "word"...it is "uh, oh"...the oh part is usually very draw out. The best part is that he usually only says it as he's throwing something to the floor that he shouldn't be throwing...such as his spoons, milk cup, food, etc. :) He's too cute, to not laugh or at least smile.

He's also starting to say "ball"...which tends to come out more like "ba", but it's definitely directed at spherical objects that he likes to throw.

There's still the random "da-da-da" and "ma-ma-ma" that are heard, but they don't seem to be directed at either one of us. Oh, well...it'll happen at some point, right? :)

I'm just thrilled that he's starting to verbalize more, as that was the milestone that he was most behind in at his 15 month check up...definitely still has some ground to make up before his 18 month, but he'll certainly be a lot closer.