SAUCER SCHNANIGANS

Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body grow and mature rapidly. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function, although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear. During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will l...

Today our MOPS group and our playgroup at the base reserved time at a place called Pump It Up. This is an indoor inflatable park for little people to jump and slide. The boys had a BLAST!! Here are some pictures from today. All 3 of us sliding down the BIG inflatable slide! Alan sliding solo Eddie sliding solo. I don't know how many times he managed to get other mommies to help him climb to the top!! Alan finishing the inflatable obstacle course

Here is "Noel's" first ultra sound. This was taken to be sure of the due date and show's "Noel" at 7 weeks of development. I had the boys with me for the doctor appointment and Alan was very excited to see the baby in mommy's tummy on the "TT". He even did a tribal dance and whoop when the heartbeat came on the speakers. If Daniel couldn't be there at least my little Alan came through!! the wave across the bottom of this picture is the baby's heartbeat. Many of you were curious about where the info from the previous post came. I get email about the baby's development every week from subscribin for FREE at www.babycenter.com. I also check on info and "chat" in the message forums on www.epregnancy.com Both wonderful resources for any expecting family.

Hello, Amy! Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — your baby has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In his oversized head, both hemispheres of his brain are developing. His teeth and the inside of his mouth are forming, and his ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover his tiny peepers and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. His skin is paper-thin, and his veins are clearly visible. Your little one also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. His liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his tiny body. Your baby still appears to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of his tailbone), but it will disappear in the next few weeks.

We took Grandma and Papa Joe to the beach to see the sunset and have dinner. Eddie LOVES the beach. The restaurant had live music and the boys had a BLAST!!!

Here are some video clips from Christmas. The first one is a few days prior when Eddie found my Santa Chicken from last year! This is one of the boys opening the BIG present from Grandpa Bear and Big D. It's already getting lots of use as we are having a "sunny & 80" winter :) Thanks Grandpa Bear and Big D!!! This one is of the boys enjoying the electic train from Great Uncle Tom.

It was very exciting to share our big news with Grandma (my mom) on Christmas day in person. She had a very special gift to open and was very emotional when she figured out what was inside!!!

Well the holidays have had us pretty busy so I apologize for the delay in our holiday updates. Here is a video clip of Daniel finding out our biggest news. p> Yup, that's right we are going to have 3 kids under age 4 for awhile. You can keep track of our pregnancy progress with the ticker count down below. Due on Daddy's birthday August, 27th.