The countdown has begun!!!!!!

My sweet hubby will be home in 26 days!!!!!! I am so excited and my fingers are crossed that this time goes by VERY quickly.
There has been so much that has happened since we last saw daddy - it is crazy to think of all the things that have gone on in the past 6 months.
Ella has had her hair cut twice - and it is VERY short but super cute - and everyone is hoping that she doesn't cut it again ever so it can actually have a chance of growing back out - especially since she keeps saying how she wants long hair like Rapunzel -"not at the end of the movie mom the beginning of the movie"
Halee has grown leaps and bounds and while she is still mostly wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers she is huge ;) Halee has been rolling over since she was 2 months old and she started to scoot around 4 months - well she is now crawling on her hands and knees!!!! She is only 6 1/2 months old but that girl can move!!!! One of my favorite things though is that she can now say DA DA  :DI have been trying to get her to say da da forever and now she does - I always point to daddy's picture and tell her that it is da da and I'm hoping that she knows that Matt is her dada - we will see how she reacts to him when he gets home - but I am hoping she loves him as much as Ella and I do :)

The end is near....

So I have 4 weeks left till my due date will I actually make it? Only one person knows and she isn't saying :) But there has been some progress - I lost my plug Wednesday morning about 4 am and was having some very mild contractions they were fairly random but were worse when I was on my feet. So I called and left a message for Matt on his voice mail and then put my mom on stand by. I stayed off my feet for the most part and took it VERY easy (I want her to wait a couple of weeks so she is really ready and not preemie). The contractions didn't progress - and that night I only had a couple and none all day today - so my mom is no longer on stand by - and hopefully Matt has calmed down :)
When Ella was on her way labor went fast. Contractions started and were strong and frequent. I had been trying to sleep on the couch (no position was comfortable anywhere) I went in to the bedroom to tell Matt that she was coming. He jumped up got dressed and rushed out to the car then he came back about 5 min later to see what was taking me so long!!! I was having contractions every 3 min. or so and when he came back in I was in the middle of the hallway doubled over in the middle of a contraction. He was so funny in his panicked state.
Now with Halee he is panicking again - he is out at sea and so he has been getting email updates 2 or 3 times a day - and he is talking to his command about getting flown off the ship so he can take the first flight here :) I'm hoping he listens to me telling him that everything is fine and he doesn't need to worry - but then he wouldn't be himself :)

Halfway!

So we are finally at the halfway point of this pregnancy - and I already feel like I should just be waiting to go into labor at any minute - this has been the longest 20 weeks of my life!!!!! The good news is that our little girl is growing right on schedule - unlike Ella who at 20 weeks was only measuring at 15 1/2.  We did the 20 week ultrasound at 18 1/2 weeks so Matt could be there and she was measuring at 18 weeks and 4 days - right on track :) Her heart is fully formed and functioning right and her brain is developing perfectly. There is no cleft palate like some of my doctors in Virginia were worried about because of one of my meds - I wasn't worried about that - if she was born with a cleft palate it could be fixed - and I was more concerned about staying pregnant :) It was so good to see her doing so well - especially after losing the last 6 and at the end as the doctor was leaving he told me that I wouldn't be losing this one!!! I already knew that she was a keeper - because of a blessing that I had at the very beginning of the pregnancy - but it is so very reassuring to see your little one doing so well and to have your doctor confirm that everything is progressing perfectly :) - at least the baby is developing perfectly anyways.... we did get one bit of not so great news. The placenta has a fold (didn't know that was possible) and while it wouldn't usually matter to much the fold is over the cervix which means I might need to have a c-section (such a dirty word) I have NEVER wanted to have a c-section even though there was a slight chance I would need one with Ella. Some say that they would rather have a c-section  but when you are only in labor foe 5 1/2 hours with your first one a c-section just seems like it would be torture. Hopefully the fold will move or disappear and I won't have to worry about having a c-section but if not at least the baby is doing really well - that is what really matters.

ITS A GIRL!!!!!!!!

So we found out on the 29th of April that we will be having another little girl!!!!!! Ella knew all along it was a sister - but I kept saying it had to be a boy because no girl would be this mean to mommy - well I sure was wrong - because this little one is definitely a girl :) Now the name debates have started!!! Before we found out we had names picked out - if it was a boy he would have been named Erik Jonathon Loane and if it was a girl her name would be Felicity. So her name should be Felicity right? WRONG as soon as we found out we are having a girl Matt says I think we should name her Halee - really? He was even telling people we were going to name her Felicity before we found out we were having a girl. We haven't come to an agreement - we kind of decided to wait till she gets here and then decide if she looks more like a Halee or a Felicity - my guess is that Matt will win - but we will see.

Does this baby make me look fat?

So a lot of people have been asking if I am showing yet - well you can decide for yourself.....

(Picture courtesy of Ella)

Ella the photographer

So Ella has always loved the camera - especially if she is the one taking the pictures and she is actually getting really good at taking pictures that you can tell what they are :) She has been sneaking the camera  lot lately here is some of her recent work:

Self portraits

Coloring time!!!

They are so cute when they are sleeping...

Yummy pizza :)

my recent creations







Make a funny face mommy :)

Our new little one :)

So to date we have had 3 ultrasounds - I guess that is just one of the joys of having a high risk pregnancy (okay the only joy besides still being pregnant)
Here is our little one at 7 1/2 weeks:

Here is our little one at 11 weeks:

 

While this has been a rough pregnancy - not even remotely like being pregnant with Ella - and definitely very nerve racking we are looking forward to our new little addition joining our little family.
I have been on Lovenox (blood thinning shots) for 7 weeks now and while I am sick and tired of stabbing myself every day I know that they are the reason this baby is still here :) We are just excited that this little one is doing well and growing big and strong!!!
Ella and I will be back in Utah (for good) on the 10th of April. Matt will be in San Diego where his ship is stationed and will be in and out to sea the rest of his enlistment (with at least 1 more deployment sometime during the next 14 months) and then he will be joining us at home in Utah :)