Pregnancy Update

So, we went to our monthly prenatal appointment on Wednesday. We got to have yet ANOTHER ultrasound. We just had one last month to reveal the sex of the baby, but this time they wanted to measure the baby's organs and check to see how big he was. There was some confusion as to how far along we really were. The first u/s showed him with a due date of January 3, 2011. Two weeks later, they did another u/s to check his progress and he was then showing a due date of December 27, 2010. This time, they checked his size and he was showing his size with a due date of December 25, 2010! Alas, they decided to keep his due date as the original January 3, 2011, and just know he is a big boy and weighing in 9 days bigger. He is the size of a large banana and weighs one pound!!! It was great to get to see our little guy again!!! And again... he was NOT shy!

In these pictures, you can see Logen punching me (he was VERY active that day - as usual), his "boy" picture (Steve loves how they label those pictures with "boy" in the top left corner), and lastly, he's looking at us!

As far as me with the pregnancy, everything seems to be going great. My belly bump is measuring 22 inches which is exactly where it should be and even though at this stage in the pregnancy I should have gained 8-14 lbs, I am still 2 lbs less than I was when we first found out we were pregnant. The Dr said since Logen is growing great and my belly is progressing fine, it's just fine! I've really been trying to eat well and keep my weight gain down... let's hope this trend continues throughout the pregnancy.

At this appointment, since we found out the official due date, we asked Dr. Bass a couple of questions. First of all, would he give us clearance to fly home for Thanksgiving (since we won't be home for Christmas)? He said, SURE! He'll evaluate again as it gets closer, but as of right now, he sees no signs of any kind of issues that would keep us home bound, so we bought our tickets on Thursday! Now we'll be able to be home for our baby shower! YEA!!! The second question we asked him... Will we induce again and how early can we? We REALLY want to have Logen home for Christmas if at all possible (of course not jeopardizing his health or safety), and Dr. Bass said it would be possible. So, as of right now, we plan to induce early, on December 22. If Logen is still growing bigger and bigger, we may even do it a little earlier! So... it looks like we will have our little boy home for Christmas! Since it will be RSV season, Page will not be allowed to come to the hospital to visit, so what better Christmas present... meeting her little brother when he comes home a day or two before Christmas!!!

We are all very excited and everything seems to be coming together. We have his baby bedding bought and should be delivered sometime this week, we registered for our baby shower, and we're just enjoying our time together the three of us, until our little family becomes four!!! We'll keep you updated as the pregnancy progresses!

Proud Parents

So, this week at daycare, I decided to really step it up on the Pre-K stuff for Page and the other kids. Emily is only here on Thursdays and Fridays and Gabriel is only here on Wednesdays, but I hope to still get Page working every day, if even just for a little while. I was SO impressed with how smart she is. (I don't know why I was so surprised... her Mommy and Daddy are geniuses... LOL).

Anyway, it all started when she was watching Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Yes, yes... I know. TV is bad for kids. I don't necessarily agree with that 100%, though. Too much TV is bad for kids, I'll give you that, but Page has learned SO much from her educational shows that she watches. She's learned her colors from Yo Gabba Gabba, some shapes from Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse, some Spanish and Chinese from Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-lan, and so much more.

Anyway, she was watching Mickey Mouse and as always they had to call for Toodles for help. Page was able to tell me every tool that would solve the problem they were having, before the TV told her. Then later, she was able to tell me the order in which the rocket ship needed to be put back together... in order of size. I was SO impressed. I've never taught her these problem solving strategies, but she knew them. Wow... I was literally knocked off my feet. I was beaming with pride.

After that, I started to feel bad. Why does she have to learn all of this from TV? I should be teaching her this stuff. And I have a little. We do flashcards and puzzles, but I think she really grasped it from the TV. So, I made a bunch of copies and today we started doing "school" which Page was SO excited about! She told Steve about it first thing this morning, that she was going to "school" while he went to work. Too cute!

So, today we started small. We worked on shapes and her name. On the shapes page, there were 8 shapes (heart, oval, square, triangle, rectangle, circle, diamond, and star). She was able to tell me 5 out of the 8 - the ones in red. I was impressed. So, we started the shapes packet and the first day was circles. They had to trace the circle of different pictures and then they colored INSIDE the circle. She did great. Later, we iced circles (Vanilla Wafers) and enjoyed eating circles. Page and Emily both had fun. They also had fun learning how to spell their names (we'll keep working on it) and then they got to trace the letters of their name over and over again. They looked so smart sitting at the table with their pencils and their worksheets. My baby is growing up!!! Look how big she looks. Our big girl!!!

I have attached some pictures of Page and Emily (Emily not pictured) working on their packets and also fingerpainting with pudding paint yesterday. I have video of them going over their shapes and their names, too, I just need to edit them and figure out how to upload video on here. :) Anyway, I'm so proud of how smart our little girl is! I hope that all this learning we are going to be doing will give her the edge over the curve in school. I'm also happy she LOVES "school". I guess it's all about making it fun!

Page starting her pudding paint fingerpainting project.

Her finished product... just for Daddy!

And the baby is....

A BOY!!!! We found out this morning that Logen Warren Hustedt will be born around Christmas 2010! He was being a little difficult at first and my heart sank when the ultrasound tech said the baby was laying on its stomach, thus not being able to see the gender. Then, she had me roll from side to side and poke my belly a little and the little guy moved... to reveal his third leg!! YEA!! This is what we thought it was and we're VERY happy. Page, however, is still asking for a sister and a puppy. Maybe a puppy next Christmas and sister at a later time, but not now. :)

It was so amazing to see our little guy, even more amazing to see him moving on the TV. It was breathtaking. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Steve was very proud, too. He gets his little boy and I get my Momma's Boy!

The name is Logen Warren Hustedt. Logen is after my Dad, Len. We've really liked the name Logan, and I've always wanted to name my son after my Dad. He made me promise I would never name a child Leonard or Lenny, so we decided to change the spelling of Logan to the -en ending so that the name "Len" is within the name. LogEN
The middle name Warren is after Bruce Warren, Sr. (i.e. Big Bruce) Big Bruce is the dad of Bruce, one of Steve's best friends and now brothers-in-law. Big Bruce was one of the most influential men in Steve's life growing up. It means the world to Steve and me to be able to give our son the names of two such a great guys who we love very much.

We can't wait to start shopping for all the little blue stuff for Logen and even more... to meet the little guy!

Second Trimester.... FINALLY

OK, so I know it's been well over a month since my last blog. There's been SO much going on and I really have NO excuse for not blogging, just laziness. Since the last time I blogged, we've finished the school year out with my daycare kids (I only had one kid once a week all summer), we've been to CA to see Legoland and Disneyland, we've taken a trip to IL for Tad's wedding, and now we're busy preparing for Annual Conference next week. After that, another trip to IL for our Annual Summer Trip Home!

I guess the biggest thing that has happened to us in the last few months (other than Disneyland - if you ask Page... it may be the biggest thing) is that we were finally able to announce to all of our family and friends that... WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!! Page is going to be a big sister! All of our friends and family were thrilled (many not so surprised) and so are we! This past Monday marked the beginning of our Second Trimester! Thank goodness!!!! I'm hoping that the beginning of the second trimester means that all this gross "all day" sickness and extreme tiredness goes away. So far, it's getting better, but not gone! I'm hoping before our big trip...

We have a lot going on in our lives right now. We are excited and anxious about it all. I will try to get some pictures on here from Disneyland, and all our other adventures. If it doesn't happen... join facebook and check out my photos! They are all there.

OK, so for now, I'm out. I'll be sure to report in more often with all the excitement going on. Also, as soon as I get a belly picture taken, I'll be sure to put it up!

Oh, one last thing... in May, I had to say goodbye to a REALLY GREAT friend that I made here. She is awesome and... SHE'S COMING BACK!!! It's not under the best circumstances, but I'm happy to have Danielle and Ryder (Page's little buddy) back in AZ!

Another BIG milestone

Well, this weekend brought some pretty exciting things to our home!!!! All day on Saturday (and literally ALL day - sorry Danielle for not making it to Music in the Park) we spent the day preparing for Page's big move! We spent the morning researching the best (cheapest) place to get Page a new bed. We ended up at Big Lots and decided to get her a Twin bed instead of a Toddler bed. Page got to help pick it out. Now, we had the bed and Steve and Page started putting it together, while I started looking for a cheap mattress for the bed. We looked everywhere, but we didn't want to spend a lot of money. We couldn't find anything, the cheapest was $100 at Big Lots. Then I went on Craigslist (I should have done this at the beginning). I found someone who was selling a Twin bed, bed spring, mattress, and sheets all for $100. So, we decided to make the 30 minute drive to the North Valley and pick up the bed. At this point, we had already opened and started making Page's new bed. So, we now have two Twin beds, but we are still a mattress short! Oh well, we'll put the other bed up as a guest bed when we get a new mattress. Anyway, we got it all put together and ready while Page was napping (in the Daycare nap room). She woke up and got to finally see her new bed! She loved it!As soon as Page saw her new bed, she immediately asked Daddy to read her a book! THAT'S MY GIRL!!! She loved it! She needed a picture with both Mommy and Daddy!

Now, we've both heard horror stories as to how hard some kids transition into Big Kid beds, so we prepared for the worst. Page is very independent and has a mind of her own, so we were a little scared about how Page would do. So, we changed her door knob so we could lock her in (I know it sounds horrible, but it turned out it wasn't necessary) and we left her crib in the room in case it just didn't happen. We gave her the option as to which bed she wanted to sleep in and she immediately chose her Big Girl bed. She went RIGHT to sleep. We told her she could play IN HER BED for 5 minutes but then it was night night. She was asleep in 3 minutes! She fell out of the bed once but was fine. She doesn't get out of bed until one of us comes in and tells her she can get up and when she is awake, she just plays or reads in her bed. It's great!!!

She was sick Sunday and Monday morning and she was more upset about puking on her new Princess sheets and big girl bed than she was about being sick! Poor little girl! She loves her new bed so much! I'm so glad she transitioned so well!!! We are so proud of our little Princess!!!!

Easter 2010

We had a great Easter together. We missed our family and friends back in IL, but had a great time just the three of us. On Saturday we dyed the eggs and Page had so much fun. On Sunday morning, Page hunted and found all her eggs and loved eating the (very little) candy. Later in the day, Page helped us "destroy" the eggs by making egg salad! It came full circle. We had a great time, but we always do... as long as we're together!


Steve and Page starting to dye the Easter eggs!

At this very moment (I don't know how I caught it) she's telling Steve, "I want to hug

you" How cute!!!!!

They have so much fun together!

Smile for the camera!

Now it's my turn to help!

This may be most recent favorite picture of Page! She looks so grown up. She's so

proud of herself!

Look at my full basket!

I think she did ok on the Easter front! She had SO much fun!

Our happy family on Easter

She looks like she's up to no good! That's my girl!

What You've All Been Waiting For...

Here are some pictures of Page from the last few months! She is growing like a weed!

Pic. 1: Page and Aunt Vicki

Pic 2: Page playing outside

Pic 3: Steve and his new grill

Pic 4: My first "dip" in the pool

pic 5: Page and Uncle Jered at her first baseball game of the season - Uncle Jered caught her the ball!

More to come.....

I'm trying...

Wow... this last week has been a rough one. With all of the stuff with Steve's sister, Christi, and now I find out my Grandpa is in the hospital and his cancer tumor has grown. I'm usually the person who would take these opportunities to feel sorry for myself. I'm trying a different approach now. Steve has been telling me for years to be more positive and let the negativity go. So, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to be strong for Steve and for his family. I'm trying to be strong for my Mom and my family. I'm trying to be strong for Page and for myself. Things were doing OK... I was succeeding most of the time, but it just seems to keep getting harder. I'm trying to make a change and God isn't allowing me practice, he's throwing me in. I guess I should be thankful for that. There are SO many things to be thankful for right now. My daycare is finally full, which means we should be financially set for a little while; I've had a great week with the daycare kids; my daycare parents are awesome and I couldn't ask for any better; I get to stay home with my daughter - what I've always wanted to do; I have a couple more days/nights to spend with Steve before he leaves on his business trip; Christi is alive and we have a second chance to help her; my Grandpa is 87 years old and has lived a full and enriched life; and so much more. I'm trying to focus on all of that. I have such amazing family and friends who supports me and my family and everything that we are dealing with. I am very lucky and have so much to be thankful for this year. It helps to get these feelings and thoughts out of my head. It helps me to really think about all I have. Even though there are some tough times right now... and even very tough times, we are lucky to have what we have and should not take that for granted and utilize every day that God gives us as a gift to help and serve others. I need to stay strong and stay positive. I have to remind myself of my oldest and most favorite quote: "God won't give me anything that I can't handle." I can handle this. I will get through this and I will be the support that my family needs. I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing family and extended family. I am proud to be both a Rolves and a Hustedt. I know I am biased, but I think they are two of the best families anyone could ask for. So please, continue with the prayers and please understand if I have a momentary lapse of positivity, but I am trying... I will keep trying... God is good.

What a great day

As many of you probably already know... I know my husband knows.... I can be a pretty negative person sometimes. So, with that said, I wanted to make sure everyone knew how great of a day I had. Nothing special happened. Today was day 2 of 3 of my full days with the daycare this week. This isn't a regular thing, I'm usually only full 2 days a week, but I'm definately not complaining. Today, one of my regular Tuesday and Thursday girls, came with her older (5) sister for the day while Mom worked in Maricopa (a city about 40 miles south of Glendale). Anyway, the 5 year old attends Pre-K on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Allison is here. Today, Madison (the 5 year old) brought her homework along from Pre-K. She was so excited to work on it and she was so smart. When she was done working, she wanted to keep going. I made some worksheets for her and we worked together on them. She was so excited when she learned how to do soemthing new. I loved it! I guess I didn't realize how much I missed teaching. But then I thought about it and remembered... I still get to teach these wonderful, innocent kids that I work with everyday. I get to teach them before they end up hating learning and while it's still fun. I have the best job in the world.

Also, Allison and Madison's mom brought me an unopened complete set of Your Baby Can Read. She had a couple at her house and thought we might enjoy them. The kids loved it! Page was amazing. She was already interacting with it and amazing me with how much she could do. I am an advocate for the program now... after only one day. I can't wait for Steve to get home from work so Page can show off her new skills. I am so thankful for getting the opportunity to stay home and raise my beautiful daughter, and still get to do what I love... teach! Thanks to all of my friends and family for their continuous and amazing support and love!!!

Halloween Fun

WOOF, WOOF... Page barking for the camera

Full view of Page's Dalmation Dog costume. Notice the orange pumpkin socks!

Page decorating her cookie

The yummy treats I sent home with the kids.

MMMM... Pumpkin Heads - made and bought by a Grandma of one of the kids.

Page had a great time at Miss Tricia's Daycare Spooktacular Halloween Party yesterday. I think all the kids did, actually. I had fun, too. We were all exhausted by the end of the day. Some of the activties that Page participated in were decorating cookies, coloring pumpkin pictures, making picture frames, making door hangers, dressing up for the Halloween Parade (just around the house) and eating all the yummy treats. It was a busy but fun day. All of the kids looked so cute, especially Page. Being the non creative person I am... I dressed as a Bears player (Dick Butkus to be exact). It was a fun time for all. We are now looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday and to the Gobbling Good Times Thanksgiving Party! Yes, Page and I are already planning. So, enjoy the pictures and we can't wait to see you all! We are working on finalizing our Holiday Travel schedule. Once we have it, you'll have it!