It dawned on me on March 8th that I hadn’t had a period for a number of weeks (although I couldn’t remember when my last cycle was). I took a pregnancy test when I got home, it showed up that it was positive right away. I asked Eli if he wanted to be a big brother, he said “no” and walked away. Since I didn’t know when I had my last period, we were able to get in for an ultrasound on March 15th. I just wanted to know my due date so we could tell people our exciting news. We laughed when the technician said the due date was Nov. 10, 2010. We laughed for two reasons: 1. Eli’s birthday is Nov. 11th, 2. it is smack dab in the middle of hunting season. With both babies we tried to NOT get pregnant in February and with both babies we did get pregnant in February. Oops! Oh well.

I should also mention that at the same time we found out we were expecting, we found out our family doctor was leaving. Even though we were super excited for her and her new venture, we knew we were going to miss her greatly.

I knew that I was suppose to see the doctor sometime between 8-10 weeks. Well, I didn’t go see the doctor until I was 14 weeks. I kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off because I was scared (scared of starting over with a new doctor and scared of what was going to happen). The pediatric cardiologist says there is a 4% chance that our future children could have a heart defect. To most that would seem so minuscule, but to me it is still a 4% chance. I explained my fears and concerns to the doctor. He was very reassuring and very nice, this certainly helped to put me at ease.

At the first appointment I got to hear the heart beat and it made me cry. Even though I was feeling reassured about this pregnancy through lots of prayer, my stomach was in knots before my second appointment. I was able to talk to Dave who prayed for me and God gave me instant peace. At my second appointment I heard the heart beat again and cried again.

We have an appointment in two weeks for an ultrasound. I’m hoping and praying that the baby will cooperate with us and we learn if we are having a girl or boy. I’m also hoping and praying that the baby will be whole and healthy. I know I made it through the heart stuff once and could do it again, but I don’t want to.

If you happen to think of us, please say a prayer (or two) over the next two weeks. Pray for my fears and concerns to dissipate and that I can rely on God’s strength. Pray that God can cast my fears out and that I can be joyful instead of fearful. Pray that the baby cooperates and gives us a good view. Thank you!

On a brighter note…Eli has a birthday wishlist! He would like a walking toy (to help him learn how to walk), medium sized toy balls (he likes playing catch), stackable toys, magnetic letters/numbers and plastic cars. These are all items that he likes playing with at other people’s houses. He also told us that he wants these toys.

Dave leaves for his big hunting trip this weekend. He leaves on Friday right after work and will return 9 days later. Eli will be going to daycare all day and Mama will be exhausted! I know Eli will do just fine at Jenny’s house, it will just be a new experience for him/us. Eli and I plan to go to my parent’s house the first weekend to celebrate his birthday with the family. The second weekend is still up in the air – if the Drews have their baby by then, we plan to visit them. If they haven’t had the baby yet we’ll go visit the Hintgens and meet baby Yuli. Or we’ll stay home and scrapbook with Sarah and Gator. So many choices we just need to decide.

Eli… is successfully sleeping through the night. He has been doing this, more or less, since we moved into our house. We are so thankful that he is now sleeping through the night, that means we are sleeping through the night as well. Eli is crawling all over the place now and pulling himself up on just about everything he can. He is not walking yet but does walk along furniture and other things. His vocabulary is ever expanding, he can now say – mama, dada, baby, book, oh, no and make lots of babbling noises. Because we were unable to have him circumcised when he was born, we had the procedure done last month and he came through with flying colors. Eli is also eating like a horse, he has a lot of new foods that he likes. He likes to eat – apple slices, bananas, peaches, pears, mangoes, grapes, cereal bars, cheerios, puffs, sweet potatoes, yams, carrots (mixed in with fruit), spaghetti-o’s, bean and bacon soup, applesauce, bread chunks and so much more.

Our house… is slowly coming along. We’ve been gone for a few weekends and haven’t gotten too much done. Dave did a beautiful job on our new banister. It looks fantastic! We still need to stain it, but it is up and I feel better having it up (we have the baby gate up now). Yesterday was a good work day for us. We ripped out some sheet rock from the entry way, Dave finished ripping out the sheet rock in the 3rd bedroom, finished painting the kitchen (still needs a 2nd coat), did some more organizing and overall just felt very productive. Our next project is the entryway. We need and want to finish the entry way so we have a place to hang our coats and keys. They take up a lot of space around the house.

Other news…I got new hearing aids (pictures in the ‘randoms’ photo album). I absolutely LOVE them! I wear my hearing aids a lot more now than I ever did before. With my old hearing aids it took me 3-4 weeks to go through a hearing aid battery, now it takes me 8-10 days to go through a battery. I also have a car from work now to drive. I drive a 2010 Ford Focus, its a sweet car and gets good gas mileage. Dave has gotten some new tools and is having tons of fun doing various building projects and working on his car.

I have updated several of the photo albums, please take a look.

Congratulations Nate and Sarah!!! We are super excited for you guys!! Tentative due date is late April and deciding upon the sex of the baby is still up in the air. Nate wants to know, Sarah is not sure if she wants to know.

Owen Lund Danielson

Auntie Megan and Owen – so cute!!

Uncle Dave and Owen – good snuggles!