Dom's Birthday, Baby Shower, & Sickness

I know it's been a while since i've posted anything, so i'll try to give a short summary of some of the more interesting things going on in our lives. To start off, i'll brag on Joel again. I didn't think i'd be getting a baby shower for this baby since none of my friends offered to throw one. It really isn't about the gifts, it's just a sentimental thing for me. I've always loved baby showers. It's fun to celebrate your baby on the way with friends and family, and look at all the little baby things, etc. Joel planned a surprise shower for me and did such a great job. He planned it 3 weeks in advance (pretty good for a man) and he went all out. It was on a Saturday. He was supposedly helping my brother in law move furniture (he's got a big work truck so it's normal for people to ask us for help moving stuff) when really he was getting everything together. He picked out all of the decorations himself, bought me (Rowen) a few gifts, ordered the cake, and spent a lot of time making all kinds of great food for the shower. I thought he and I were going on a date and that his sister Kimmie was going to babysit Dom for us. I was taking Dom over to her house to meet Joel there, and when we walked inside it was the baby shower! It was pretty small, mostly family, but it was so special. Joel had a ribon/pin for me to wear that said "it's a boy" and we had a really good night talking about Rowen and eating and opening gifts. Here is a picture of my little family at the shower.


Dominic had school pictures taken recently and I just received them a few days ago. They turned out so cute. I don't know how they got him to pose. It was really hard to choose which ones I wanted, I happen to think my son is super handsome. They even made him a little back pack with one of his pictures on it and says North Star Academy. Here are a couple of the pics

This is Dominics class at school. He and I made cupcakes together the night before his bday and took them to school the next morning. His class sang happy birthday too him and I wish i'd taken my video camera - they were so cute. Dom was smiling so big, and the kids were all clapping and getting into it. This is just a pic of them sitting at the table waiting to start. The little boy sitting on the left in the red shirt is Jacob, his best buddy.

This past week has been full of sickness for us. Monday Dominic got sick and it was so sad to watch. I think he just had a cold, but it was so hard for him to sleep becasue of his cough and sore throat. He went a few days without eating at all. Thankfully it's easy to keep fluids in him because he's always thirsty...always. His lasted a few days. Tuesday I started getting sick. I thought i'd picked up Dominic's cold but it's continued to get worse and worse. It is honestly the most pain I can remember being in. Finally on Friday I realized it had to be something pretty serious. I tried to get into a dr. but could not find anyone who could see me. (my dr.'s office closes at 12 on Fridays. Joel was still out of town working so his sister took Dominic for me and I went to the ER. I'm glad I did. I have an upper respiratory infection, they said it is pretty serious and not only hard on my body but the strain and stress could be harmful to the baby. After they were done with me and gave me a prescription, I went up to a room in labor and delivery. They had me on a few different monitors and watched the baby for a really long time. They ended up keeping me there for a while. The baby wasn't as active as he should be and they were worried my sickness was affecting him. So I basically had to lay in the bed drinking orange juice until his heart rate went up and he started moving more. (several hours) When they released me his activity was still at the minimum of what it needed to be to let me go. So we are praying for Rowen and I will see my dr. in a few days for a check up.

On a more cheery note, Dominic is talking SO much lately. I just love it. He can put words together and make a sentence (somewhat) and he sings all the time. Sometimes i'll recognize the song (usually ones he sings at school) and other times I think he's just making things up. I'm going to see if I can add a video that I took of him in the bath the other night singing. It started off as "Happy Birthday" but by the time I got my camera I think he was just making words up : )

Love you guys, your prayers for Rowen and I are much appreciated.