35 week appointment and Sienna's 3-year stats

I turned 35 weeks yesterday.  I'm so ready to be done with this pregnancy (and yet, trying to be so grateful at the same time for this amazing miracle).

I was able to get a 3-D ultrasound yesterday (babies still look a little odd at this stage, IMO), but it was still super cute.  Some pictures looked like it could be a girl, and some looked like it could be a boy.  So, I remain blissfully clueless about this little one's gender.

Baby is weighing 5 lbs., 7 oz.  That is right about 50%, and the nurse said I should be on track to have a 7-8 lb baby (which would be the smallest baby ever born to my husband's side of the family).  Baby's heart rate fluctuated between 139-155 bpm.  It's head down (I don't think it's ever been head up), and looks mighty squished in there.

We've settled on names (finally) for this little one.  Hannah if it is a girl.  There is a lot of meaning associated with that name, for us.  It would have been Brae's name if he had been a girl.  It's Brae's birthmom's last name.  It's the woman in the Bible who struggled with infertility.  It goes really well with Sienna.  And, my middle name and my sister's middle name is each Ann.

If it's a boy, I'm leaning towards Drew.  Tygh is very picky when it comes to boy names, and on his list, this is my favorite.

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Last week, Sienna had her 3 year check up.  She is still off the charts for height at 39 1/2 inches.  She's 90th percentile for weight at 36 lbs.  She's just a tall, sturdy little girl.

The doctor noted that she seemed quite sassy (that's not hard to pick up), but that she otherwise is a healthy little girl.  She prefers water over any other beverage. She loves salads with ranch dressing.  She's a champion sleeper.  She's been potty-trained for 6 months.  She is a fish in the water.  She loves playing dress up.  And she loves animals.  If I were to predict, this girl will be a vet or do something with animals.

She seems generally unaware of the fact that she's going to be a big sister soon, although she's got all the right lingo down.  She has started wanting to try the baby's pacifiers, and crawling into the crib.  I'm trying to prepare for some regression in her.

All in all, life is good.  We feel extremely blessed with how God has shaped our family. 

And I just cannot wait for this next month to be over.

Sienna's 3rd birthday party

Last weekend, we held a joint birthday party for Sienna and a friend of hers from preschool.  They both turned 3 within days of each other.

The theme was puppies.  Sienna loves dogs. 

The other mom graciously took on the task of planning the entire party.  I just helped fund it.  She went all out with the puppy theme, including serving hot dogs, puppy chow, and "ruff"age.

She made dog ears for the kids, dog collars with their names on them, had dog bone water bottles, and each kid got to adopt a stuffed puppy to take home.

All in all, a great success!

A Hard Week

This last week has been hard.  Three members of our family were hospitalized.  One just got out.  One remains.  One died.

Even one of these events is enough to cause you to pause, and put life in perspective.  All three at once is enough to paralyze you. 

Someone very smart once said that life is but a series of trials.  We are all either in a trial, just leaving one, or about to enter into one. 

I don't feel that I'm currently in a trial (although one could argue everyday life is a trial).  I also don't feel that I've just left a trial.  So, that must mean I'm about to go into one.

I could take that and become paranoid about it, or I could choose instead to relish every single morsel of time until then.  I could become obsessed with the eventuality of the next trial, or I could choose to be grateful for the moment, and not let the little things in my life swell into a fabricated trial (e.g., not let the fact that Brae has broken the blinds in his room become the central thought of  my day).

I know that the next trial is coming.  I don't know when, or what it will be.  But, I commit to entering it with grace, enduring it with thanksgiving, and leaving it with a lesson to tell and a helping hand to deliver.