Loren's cast is OFF!!

Today, July 29th, was the day Loren FINALLY got her cast off!!! She was SO excited! She knew exactly how many days were left on her calendar and just couldn't wait to get the cast off!! She got the "pink" cast off on July 8th and decided to go with a "purple" cast for the second 3 weeks! The purple cast was a little fatter than the pink so it caused some drama with clothes, and the past week or so had been rough with the hot weather and sweating and itching. But, today finally came, and she smiled the entire time we were at the orthopedics's office! She likes it when they use the saw to take off the cast, she thinks it's very silly and it tickles!! Her arm is a little more white than the rest of her, but not too bad! They took another x-ray and said that it is all healed! She's slowly starting to get used to using it again! I'm sure in a few days it'll be back to normal!!!

Here are a few pictures of Loren with her cast on just before we left to do to the doctor to get it off and right after we got home:

Loren, last picture with her cast on! She's SO excited to get it off!!!

"Cast off"!!!!

Loren's Dance Recital 2009

On Friday June 12th Loren had her first dance recital!!! I was unsure if she would do the dance on stage or not because at the rehearsal on Tuesday she refused to dance!!! I bribed her with many things...a barbie, getting her nails done, and ice cream!!! I also made sure she got plenty of rest Thursday night and Friday so she wouldn't be too tired!! But when she came out on stage on Friday at the recital, she did an AMAZING job!!!!! She danced so well and did everything she was supposed to do!! I was SO proud of her!!!!! She had a packed audience of family watching her, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, GG, Amy, Booma, Boompa and Great Grandma-Nana (Harmon)!! After the recital she got some beautiful flowers from Booma/Boompa and Grandma and GG! Then we all went for ice cream and came home!! It was a long night and by the end of it, she was definitely done!! But she said she had fun dancing and is excited to try jazz next year!!!!

Here are pictures from both the dress rehearsal and the evening of the recital:

Loren at the rehearsal refusing to do the dance!

Loren's group with their teacher on stage for the rehearsal.

She PASSED OUT after we got home from the rehearsal! Kaylynn kept trying to wake her up!

The evening of the recital! (Also, notice her new purple cast, it matched her costume perfectly)!!!

Loren and Booma



Loren and Mommy





Mommy, Loren and Daddy

ATD 2009 Revue!! On the marquee at the Raue Center!

Loren with her flowers from Grandma & GG!

Loren with her flowers from Booma and Boompa (she had to take a picture with EACH set of flowers)!!

IT'S A............

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Saturday 5/30 we had our ultrasound and found out that the baby growing in my tummy appears to be a girl!! Despite me being sure this one was going to be a boy, and the poll showing that others thought boy as well (with 13 votes for boy and 8 for girl), it looks like the girls will have a baby sister!! I do think Joe is nervous to have 3 girls in the house when they're all teenagers! But right now he's excited!! Now we have to figure out a name! The girls came with us to the appointment and at first Loren thought it was really cool to "see" her sister in there, but then she got bored of it. Kaylynn didn't really care at all!

The ultrasound showed the baby is doing just fine. HER (still weird to say) heart rate was 145. She probably weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures about 6 inches head to bottom (according to a website of babies at 19 weeks). She has VERY long legs, even the ultrasound tech mentioned how long they were! We got to see her kicking a ton and moving her arms around, but she mostly stayed curled in a little ball. They also noticed that the placenta is anterior (which means it's on the front of the uterus instead of on the back like it normally is). It's not a big deal, but it just means I won't really be feeling many kicks for a few weeks (which explains why I've only felt them a couple times) and I need to be careful about getting hit in the tummy. The placenta is still low-lying, by my cervix, but it's expected to move up as the uterus continues to grow. She's also breech, but it's still so early, so there's plenty of time for her to flip around.

Other stats, my blood pressure was 100/70 and my weight is 141 (I'm up about 11lbs, which is just right). Looks like I'm on the way to gaining 40 lbs again like I did with the other girls! :)

Here are the ultrasound pictures (they aren't the best because she was so curled up, but you can see her legs stretched out to the right):