THE BLAND FAMILY

2 Year Pictures

Carson got school pictures taken this year (in September). Here are the previews. :)

And then we went to Portrait Innovations for his 2-yr. pics. Here are some of my favorites!

Howl-zoo-ween and Witches Walk

We went to Howl-zoo-ween this year at the Peoria Zoo. We bought tickets in advance and still had to wait in line for almost an hour. It was crazy! Carson was wonderful though and loved watching all the people.

Witches Walk was a bit....quiet this year. Maybe because we were one of the first in line and it wasn't very dark. I don't know. It was a good activity, but honestly, it seemed kind of lame this year compared to what I remembered from last year. Still fun though!

Howl-zoo-ween:

Long line

Carson refused to put on his Tiger suit at first :)

But I bribed him w/ Smarties....

Mickey Mouse!!

Witches Walk:

Birthday party

We held Carson's party on October 8th. He had a Cars theme since that was his current obsession. :) He loved opening presents and he got some wonderful toys. He's a very lucky little boy!

He still talks about all of his "new toys" and often says bye to them in the morning. "Bye new toys!!"

CAKE!

Loving his new "Lightning" chair/bed

Carson - 2 year checkup

Carson had his 2 yr. checkup on Sept. 30th. He didn't need any shots other than his flu shot. He was so brave! They did screenings for lead and anemia as well. He was SO GOOD. And SO excited that they had Mickey Mouse stickers!! He loved the "sticker" he got on his finger after the finger poke too. :)

Stats:
Height: 37" (97%)
Weight: 32 lbs., 10 oz. (92%)
Head: 50 cm. (83%)

The doctor said that he looks very healthy and is advanced developmentally (talking, counting, throwing, kicking, etc). We're so lucky!

Baby Bland #2

September 26th was our first visit to Maternal Fetal (the perinatologist) - 16 weeks and 1 day. I'm considered high-risk again for this pregnancy due to my uterus shape (arcuate) and Rh negativity. The uterus shape can lead to miscarriage or pre-term labor and the Rh factor can lead to Rh disease in the baby. Lucas is positive as was Carson. That leads to my body producing antibodies that essentially try to fight off the baby. While I was pregnant with Carson, I did test positive for antibodies. They will monitor my antibody levels through blood tests each month to make sure everything's going okay. They don't think it should cause a problem with this pregnancy. The visit went well and we found out that we're having a GIRL! I didn't really have a feeling one way or the other, but when she said it, I was still so surprised. I guess deep down I just expected another boy. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed/nervous with the thought of raising a little girl! But I'm getting more and more excited! I think Carson will be a wonderful big brother.

During the ultrasound, they did find two choroid plexus cysts on baby girl's brain. It's a "soft marker" for Downs and Trisomy 18. Of course, hearing those words, especially after what Mandy and Bob went through, is a bit paralyzing. But I also know that Carson had the exact same thing and he is perfectly healthy! I just have to hope for the best and try not to think about it. The doctor said not to worry at all and there are no other markers. She looks perfectly healthy. From what the doctor said, they're actually very common and most just go away before the 3rd trimester. We'll go back in 6 weeks for another sono and then we might go every couple of weeks for a bit, just to monitor the blood flow a couple of times.

The one thing that I'm reminded of this pregnancy is how SCARY it is. I tend to be a worrier and, while I try really hard not be paranoid about things, every once in a while, I can't help but think about all the things that can go wrong. After what we all went through losing Tyler, it's just terrifying. But I know that there's nothing that I can do and I have to have a little faith. Just praying that she arrives healthy. :) If we're lucky enough to get her here safely, I think that we're done. :) I don't think I can do the morning sickness or constant worry again. LOL.

But here she is and we cannot wait to meet her!!

Looks like she may have big feet like her big brother!!

Thankfully, I've been pretty busy the past couple months so there isn't as much time to think about things. But I think I worry more now that I can feel her all the time (I'm 21 weeks as I write this - started feeling her between 16 & 17 wks). And it doesn't help that I read Baby Center message boards and read all the horrible things that can happen. Lucas yells at me all the time about that. I see or read things and get all upset. Same reason that I'm forever banned from Animal Planet. :) But anyway, I FINALLY got the results of our quad marker test (I won't go into that story), but it came back "normal", so that helps me breathe another sigh of relief. I know without a doubt that we will love her no matter what, but I just want her to survive and be healthy.

We decided on a name shortly after finding out the gender. We scrubbed the list we had when we were pregnant with Carson. We narrowed it down to a few and went back and forth with emails while at work and settled on it pretty quickly. Almost so quickly that it made me second guess it, but......And we were going to keep her name a surprise like we did with Carson. But we're kind of feeling that we want to get to know her as much as we can, as early as we can. So we're happy to announce that AVERY GRACE is expected to arrive on March 11th!

St. Louis

Carson turned TWO on September 22nd! We celebrated with a trip to St. Louis. We hit the Magic House (children's museum), Grant's Farm and the zoo. We also were able to spend some time with friends while there. We all had a blast. It was nice to get away for a while.

Magic House: