Yesterday we had the baby's ultrasound gender results sealed until John and I could open them together. When he got home from his flight last night at Nellis, we fired up the webcam and skype and opened the envelope together. (Isn't modern technology amazing!?) The frontrunner name for our little lady: Camryn Claire Caldwell. We're excited!!
We got to see baby #2's 18-week ultrasound today and received some unexpected 4D pics as well! It was fun to get a sneak peek at this little one's growing features (albeit still slightly alien-like). Most importantly,everything is looking and tracking normal, no soft or hard markers for chromosomal abnormalities - a huge answer to prayer. This ultrasound for Cannon's pregnancy, nearly 2 years ago now, was a difficult one for us...it showed several concerning markers for Trisomy 21 and ended with an amniocentesis and 3 days of bed rest for me.While we would welcome any baby God would choose to give us, I can't deny that I am relieved and thankful that this little baby is looking healthy.
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A first look at my face! I'm kind of shy!
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
And...mom's appetite is back! As evidenced by the growing bump below. :)
Applicable to many things, but in today's case...
the now-needed baby barrier:
The necessity of protecting my 1-year old from the tempting danger of power cords, glass shelving, and heavy entertainment equipment has overridden my sense of the aesthetic. Like intruders trying to break in, both Cannon and the dogs have already paced "the fence," testing for vulnerable points of entry. So far it's held up.
In other news...
We're trying to teach Cannon to hold his tooth brush. Rusty's trying to tell him that he's got the wrong end in his mouth.
One of his all-time favorite toys; the ball popper. It's been really great in teaching him cause and effect and how to release an object into a hole.
We visited the Luke AFB flight line with some friends yesterday. Can never start the love of jets too early, right?
Resuming my quest to catch up our blog...
July was an eventful and challenging month for both John and for me. On the 4th, John left AZ and drove up to Nellis AFB to begin 6 months of F-16 Weapons School. I decided to stay in our house, holding down the fort with Cannon and our two dogs and remaining at my job while keeping Cannon in his therapies.
We celebrated our 7th anniversary on July 6th apart, but flowers helped a little. :)
Checking out the fishies with Jenn, Madison, & Noah Clegg at the World Wildlife Aquarium.
Kidfest: the intense but incredibly fun summer event the church I work for hosted.(Photos, once again, courtesy of Carrie Fay Amaro)
As part of our Children's Ministry, my teammates and I put in over 100+ work hours leading up to and during the event! Being a virtual single parent in the throes of 1st trimester morning sickness added a whole other dimension to Kidfest for me, :) but God was gracious and faithful and gave me the strength and help I needed to make it through! Seeing kids, families, and volunteers impacted in an amazing way was completely worth it.
Work hard, play hard!
John's brother Patrick and his wife Carmen flew in from FL to AZ to help me with Cannon while I worked with Kidfest. When it was all over we drove up to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas to visit John at Weapons School, stopping at the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona as part of our trip. I was so grateful for Patrick and Carmen's help and company. They even took the baby monitor and looked out for Cannon a few nights so I could get some uninterrupted sleep, a commodity more precious than gold!
And that brings me to present day...
Cannon loves books, even thick ones. :) "How you doin'?"
My only two teeth so far! How does a 1/4th Filipino boy have hair so red?
River hoping for a stray Cheerio. Deep in thought.
My good friend Anna took these fun photos with my camera. She just left from her stint in keeping me company. Thank you for visiting us, Anna!
On the Cannon front, he's doing remarkably well. Webcams and Skype have helped us keep up with John while he's away. Cannon continues to progress in his development. After mastering crawling, he's become a pro at pulling up and is getting more confident with cruising. He loves to pull up on our entertainment center and get REALLY close to the TV. He's also getting good at holding a crayon and coloring.
We're working hard on walking and also paying special attention to his communication skills with the addition of a speech therapist to his Early Intervention team. This brings us to 4 therapists, each visiting us for 1 hr each a week.
We think Cannon's doing well with speech for a 17-month old with Down syndrome; he can say "bubble" "ball" "mama" "dada" "mmo" (for "more") and the ever-important "no" He's also very good at all the vowel sounds, using "ooh" and "ow" appropriately. He has a penchant for monologues of babble too and even adds in gestures for emphasis. It's pretty hilarious. Thought not as consistent as we'd like, we believe he can do the baby signs for "more," "music," and "all done." He's also good at high-5 and 10s and, just today, is learning how to blow kisses. We're so grateful for these small steps in the right direction.
And now our blog is all caught up! Hope to keep this trend going!
Continuing on...
Dressed and fancy for the May B-Course Graduation.
Happy Cannon!
At Luke & Adrianna Kippert's wedding Memorial Day Weekend. Cannon slept through most of the reception, but woke up in time to dance! He absolutely loves music.
Another big step for me in May: I finally started using Facebook. Revolutionary! (If we're not already friends on FB and you'd like to be, let me know!)
Getting to see Gramma!
On vacation in June with John's family at Big Canoe, Georgia. So fun, so beautiful, and the perfect relaxing getaway with people we love.
The very different ways John and I went down the Big Canoe rock slide. What does this say about our personalities and approaches to life?!?!
While we were in Big Canoe, I also started to suspect we were pregnant. At first I thought I was getting motion sick from the winding mountain roads we would take to get to the vacation house, but then when that feeling didn't go away, I began to wonder. By the time we made it back to Arizona I decided to take an at-home pregnancy test, and sure enough we were pregnant. A doctor visit confirmed the test and after doing the math we were already at 7 weeks! So began the excitement, the exhaustion, the sickness, and the JOY!
Another huge and happy milestone happened in June: Cannon began crawling! On Father's Day no less! It was a huge gift to John and to me and an amazing answer to prayer. After 8 months of therapy working towards this seemingly simple skill, we were so ecstatic. My tears were pouring down and we were both cheering like crazy. Cannon didn't know what all the fuss was about, but he was sure proud of himself. It was a great day!
John's fini flight with the 61st Fighter Squadron. Thank you to the Wiens family for coming and helping us send him off in style!
Look out for Part 4 tomorrow night!
In case you missed the last post, I'm making up for lost blogging time with pics and highlights from the last several months. (I got a little slide show happy in this post)
Here's where I left off...
Cannon's 1st Birthday Party in March. A lot of fun and a celebration of one sweet and precious year!
We couldn't have done it without our family. My parents, John's mom and stepdad, my sister, and John's sister and neices all flew in to help us celebrate. We were, and are, so thankful for Cannon's joyful life and his survival through surgery and setbacks. He is our perfect gift! Thank you to everyone who was able to join in that day and share our happiness.
Hanging out post-party. Cannon loves his family!
Celebrating John's Weapons School acceptance with Riley Lewis.
At the Phoenix Children's Museum in April.
I love to swing!
A Happy Easter at the Ortegas.
At John's brother Jake's wedding in April. Congrats Jake & Jasmine!
To be continued...
To make up for my poor blogging these last several months...okay, maybe 8 months... I thought I'd catch the blog up to present day with pics and highlights since January...yes, January...
So here goes:
We finished the PF Chang's Half Marathon together in 1hr 57 min and some change, decent for post baby and less time to train.
My first painting in months...a gift for the Pastor I work for.
Our favorite pics of Cannon in January
At a friend's bday party. These three boys are all open-heart surgery survivors!
We finished the backyard in February! It was awesome to enjoy the cooler weather outside and the fire pit at night.
Our favorite February pics courtesy of friends Carey and Ginger.
Cannon's heart-melting 1-yr photos by the incredibly talented Carrie Fay
Highlights:Part 2 to come...
...a new baby Caldwell, due to make an appearance January 31, 2010. These were taken this afternoon. We're 12wks 1day so far!
A surprise, but a good one!
Hope morning sickness and a super busy summer will excuse my recent lack of blogging. Promise to post an update on a happy big brother soon.
Here's a recent picture until then...
We put an old mirror up in Cannon's play area and ever since he's been loving talking to himself and playing with his reflection. Sometimes he has entire conversations with the boy in the mirror. This day he was also very fascinated with the patch of sunlight and shadow flickering on his play mat.
He's been making the rounds with doctors recently and so far had all good reports. His ENT says no ear tubes required as of yet, his barium swallow study showed a fully functioning esophagus, and his cardiologist doesn't want to see him again for another year! Thank you, Lord!
