Christmas has started

I am so sorry I haven't done a very good job keeping up with this blog lately :( But now that we are 14 weeks into this pregnancy I am starting to slowly feel better and getting back on top of the things that I should. I am determined to do the back log blog posts this week including our trip to Michigan at the beginning of November, our family trip to Deep Creek the week end after that and Thanksgiving! Be prepared for blog overload this week.

But Today is all about starting our Christmas season. The past few years have been so strange for us, in 2007 I was pregnant and living with my parents while Shawn was in Iraq and last in year we were again living with my parents while we transitioned to live in Maryland. My parents are amazying people who always have made Christmas come alive for me, but this year it is wonderful for the Bransons to have their own Christmas. We are starting new traditions and celebrating as much as possible.

Yesterday we went with Grams, Pops, Aunt Natnie, Uncle Tommy, Ella, and Sam to Applewood farm to cut down our own Christmas Tree! Johnny has had an iky nose and needed a nap and then had a poopy right in the middle of the field, so he didn't enjoy it as much I would have liked him to, but it was still a good time all around.


All ready to go, that is my Christmas Monkey!


Johnny's favorite part of the day, feeding the goats right out of his hand!

12 Weeks, Ultrasound and Screening

I am not sure what this one is, but that baby sure is cute!

See baby head, chest and arm? You kinda have to look close.

There he/she is...laying flat in Mommy's belly with his/her feet up in the air and little arms curled in tight!

Today I got to see our baby...looking like a real little person! He/she played with toes and had the hiccups!!! It was really amazing.

The screening today was to look closely at the baby's spine and some of my blood work to see our risk for certain birth defects. The dr and tech didn't say much to me about the results, which I took as a good sign. We will know in a week or so. But I have little fear (there is always some fear) about the results. No matter what I am carrying this baby and having her/him.

I was just so relieved to see the little heart beat and to see our baby move around inside me! It was an amazing and overwhelming experience. Lately it has been hard to accept that there is a baby on the way. I know I feel sick, I know I am pregnant...but I don't feel like I did with Johnny, connected to the baby. I am never not thinking about it, but at the same time reality is just that I feel sick and can't drink or eat certain things, having a baby, another child hasn't really hit home yet, but today helped...a lot! all of a sudden the tiredness and sickness was gone (or at least didn't matter) and a real little person was inside of me and became center stage. I think about what double stroller we will get, how we will rearrange the extra room, or what crib we will use...car seats and bottles...but it is still all very distant...the baby in general is very distant, but seeing it move and watching the heart beat really helped bring it a little closer.

Grams Minus an Appendix

It has been a strange day and we are all happy that the end of the day has come. This morning Grams started to vomit excessively and started having very bad pain in the side of her abdominal. Eventually in early afternoon Pops took her to the ER since the pain became unbearable. Immediately we all thought of appendicitis and a CT scan confirmed it.

Around 5:30 this evening they took her appendix out. The surgeon said it was great that they did it and got there just in time and before it ruptured. Before the surgery her white blood cell count was very high so they will be keeping her until Thursday to make sure she gets a full round of heavy antibiotics. She got settled into a shared room and Pops and I left her at 8 pm for the night. (new flu regulations will only let visitors between 12 pm and 8pm and NO one under 12, which means to grandchildren to visit) But her nurses all seem very sweet and attentive and she seemed as comfertable as she could be.

She was in good spirits and just kept saying how stupid it was and how strange it all was, and asking about the grandkids and her facebook farmville.

But she is healing GREAT and we all expect a quick recovery. Call me for more details or her room number, I am sure I am leaving something out, sorry.

11 Weeks Pregnant

PICKLES!!!
That is the word of the week, Momma loves pickles!! I went through three jars this week, then had to take a break before I wore them out. Nothing else new Mommy wise, still sick to my stomach, still really tired, still having head aches and still having trouble sleeping. BUT there is only ONE week left until we hit the 2ed trimester! I should start really showing soon too, so we will start to do the weekly pictures again next week.

We saw the midwife today and it was a really quick appt. I havn't gained any weight, and we were able to hear the baby's heart beat with the little Doppler!!! Twice she found the heart beat, though the baby kept running away, and it was right in the 160s, which it really healthy! It is much higher then it was during the 7 week ultrasound, but that is normal and just fine. It was a wonderful morning, Mommy cried.

I was offered the H1N1 flu shot today, I didn't get since I have had a runny nose and a little bit of iky stuff this past week, want to be super strong before I get this new shot. I am still a little nervous about getting it, Shawn assures me it is just like the normal flu shot, just a different strand. But that is a debate I prefer to stay out of.

This afternoon Mommy and Johnny are headed on a plane ride to Michigan to see our good friends Tara and Tim for their daughter's first birthday! It promises to be a fun filled week end and I am really sure I will have TONS of pictures when we get back :)

Biker Boy

Papa got this jacket for Ella a couple of years ago, you can't tell me that isn't the cutest thing you have ever seen :)

Tough monkey!

He has been feeling a little iky lately (fever comes and go and a runny nose hangs around) so this is the only smile I got this morning, not even quite sure what it was for.

Halloween 2009

Our Halloween this year was a busy one! But super super fun!!!! We started at a local shopping area that had free trick or treating around the local businesses. Papa came with us and it was so much fun to see Johnny get excited about going from place to place....he knew he was getting candy, and before he got tired he would run, laughing.

His tail is fuzzy in this picture because as he walked it waved back and forth and was so so cute!

But Daddy we need to go to the next store...they have dum dums!

Running from store to store :)And picking out his own candy at Kohls. The only funny thing was that his costume had mittens for claws and made it hard for his to pick things up with one hand, by the end of the day he figured out how to hold something with both hands.

After two hours of trick or treating around the shopping area (and hitting every store) Johnny had a nap at Grams and Pops house and woke up to a party going on at Aunt Natnie's and Uncle Tommy's house! They threw the coolest Halloween party ever! We all had a great time!

This was Johnny's favortite part! "bobbing" for apples. At first he put his entire hand in the water, mitten claw and all, so we rolled up his sleves and he spent 15 mintes picking up and putting back the apples, he didn't care that they had prizes inside!

After the bobbing, we all sat down to decorate pumpkins! At first Johnny was sure what to do, but when we found the glitter paint pens he would have painted that pumpkin for hours!

Johnny especially loved Uncle Tommy reading storys. Johnny was such a ham, making noises and standind up to act out the story for everyone, and they all loved him too.

But then as the kids went looking for stuffed pumpkins, Johnny discovered these Halloween beach balls. This is Johnny after he attempted to carry 5 of them, but he had a ball. hehehe

Uncle Tommy and Daddy tried to scare Johnny by dressing Daddy up in this wolf man mask and gloves. Johnny (who had played with this mask and gloves the night before) knew it was Daddy right away and started moving the mask around to dig him out. (though Daddy did scare some other kids at the party, then let them throw balls at him to make up for it.)

We had to take a dragon break so Momma could clean it and get it dry for trick or treating, but smartly Grams and put Johnny super man pajamas on under his costume. By day a dragon, by night he is SUPER MAN! answering a call from the mayor to save the world again!

Here is Uncle Shawn (a knight, Grams made the cloak and shirt) and little Samantha a tiny little monster!

Super Man needed a break from saving Metropolis and have a snack. Aunt Natnie made this yummy and cute pumpkin cheese ball! Johnny really liked it, he would take the crackers and dig right into it, then lick of the cheese and dip again, until we showed him he could eat the cracker.

I just thought that the dragon playing the piano was pretty cute.

Daddy made the mistake of laying on the floor, Johnny enjoying crawling to him and then jumping on him!

After the party it was time for trick or treating. Johnny started the evening by helping Uncle Tommy give out candy. He did GREAT! I was so proud at how well he gave to others, he knew he had a big bowl of candy and he enjoyed putting it in the bags of other kids.

We took the candy and animal crackers we bought for the trick or treaters to Uncle Tommy's house since we knew we wouldn't be home all evening, he very wonderfully gave it all out for us, with Ella's help.

"grrrrrr, Godzilla does not give candy to kids without a costume, grrrrrr!"

After a little time of giving candy out, it was Johnny's turn to get some. He was a great little dragon and everyone loved him! We only did about 2 blocks, then Johnny was just tired! It was a busy day!


Just a little flash back, here is Johnny last year, at 7 months old on his first Halloween as a little stinker :)

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!