Let's look back 2 years ago on Valentine's Day - oh how I've changed....

Brady 11 Weeks Old

Headed for daycare this morning and was reminiscing about my first Valentine's Daycare party at Shellis...had to look back with pictures - one from when I was 11 weeks old, and one from this morning.  Do I look the same?
<>

 

Brady- 27 Months Old




The turkey baby is definitely done - 38 weeks



It's been a fun weekend around our house, embarassing for my Mama, but I attached a picture of her TORPEDO belly with my new brother/sister. She is still feeling good for the most part, other than a sinus infection she's been fighting since last week. She finally went to the doctor and was prescribed amoxicillin which is helping! The picture to the left isn't her best - well, to be honest (sorry mom) isn't her prettiest but atleast all of you who don't see her can see how she has grown! She is working on handing things off at work which is a chore in itself! I helped her with all of the laundry this weekend so...I think we're ready for the baby, right?  If there is no activity this week, she will head to her appt on Friday to find out the date of the scheduled induction. She is continuing to have contractions here/there but nothing consistent!



I spent Saturday this weekend with Mom/Dad test driving new vehicles for Mom!  We were exhausted by the end of the day but I was a TROOPER and was such a good little man.  In the past 4 days, she has looked at a Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Citadel Durango, Ford Explorer, Chevy Traverse, Honda Pilot and GMC Acadia.  With the new addition of the new baby, Dad thinks it's a good idea to get Mom in a bigger vehicle. We're in no hurry, but just starting to look!
Dad and I bonded this weekend. Know why? Because he built me a huge fort (see below); it had a door, windows, flag and Dad also made an atenna not pictured. He also carved out in cardboard guns & walkie talkies.  I now know how to say "Breaker Breaker Daddy"

My Fort

 Dad headed out with good friend Wayne early this morning to wade fish the Mississippi River.  He had a blast and with the record setting temps of 50 degrees today, it was PERFECT for him to get away! Pics posted  below...I can't wait until I'm old enough for my own pair of waders so I can go with him.

Big Fish on the Missisippi



Turkeys by the River





Big Fish



Bathtime! Brady 27 Months

I ended the weekend with a huge bubble bath...can't beat it.  Have a great week everyone!  Tomorrow is Valentines Day so I prepared treats for my daycare friends and something special for Shelli too! I need to write this in my post today that I'm a talking machine and sometimes I don't stop!  Today I picked up one of my toys and said "Mom, this is a rocket man" and while we were also watching a DVD of Curious George, I said "Oh gosh Mom, this funny"  I'm really having full conversations now and can't believe how many new words I have learned in the past 6 months!  My new latest thing is the CAR WASH - I ask every day if we can go through the car wash. Ha!







T-MINUS TWO WEEKS and she will blow!

Mom had her weekly doc appt this morning again with Dr. Sarkinen. Updates below!

• Tummy is measuring small, but no worries
• Lost 1/2 lb, surprising for how much she has been eating lately
• Blood Pressure: Good
• Baby heartbeat: Strong
• Baby Position: Head down
• Contractions: Good and normal.  She has been feeling more and more contractions lately but not regular.
• Dilated 3cm, Effaced 80%
• Today, she is considered "full term" and it would be healthy to deliver the baby at any time
• Sleeplessness: Normal. Can't sleep a wink at night and absolutely exhausted during the day.  I think baby is trying to prep her with the new schedule.
• She will go back to the doc on 2/18 (Friday) if she has not "gone" on her own. At that time, Dr. Sarkinen will look at her calendar and schedule an induction date for 2/23 or 2/24 depending on her/hospital schedule.
• Mom is very thankful for Daddy lately.  She has needed to rest a bit and he's been great at keeping me under control!

Please continue to pray for a healthy baby girl/boy Sherck!  We are very excited for the new addition to our family!

My new PIMPED ride....ready for SPRING!

We've been researching online the past few months for the PERFECT new double stroller for me and my little bro/sis and finally found one!  Thanks to Gma/Gpa Durham, we have a new Baby Trend Expedition stroller and I'm excited but I don't think I'm as excited as Mom.  She calls this ride her bootie workin' machine so she can get good workouts once the new baby arrives!  I'm excited for the weather to get nice too so we can head to the park - being stuck inside every night is the PITS! Isn't it funny that the Girl Scout Cookies and the stroller for exercise arrived at about the same time? Even though Mom loves her munchies, I know its also important to her to have an active lifestyle and pregnancy & kids does not make this task easy. We hope this will help the cause :)


My new ride, I tell my parents that Brookie my daycare friend is going to ride with me

  Saturday night to get out of the house while Dad was at the Pheasants Forever banquet, Mom and I headed to Maple Maze indoor playground. What were we thinking? We thought 7pm on a Saturday night would be missing the rush and we were WRONG but I had a blast after I warmed up to all of the other kids.

Maple Maze Indoor Playground

Sunday night, superbowl night Dad had a bunch of guys over for the Superbowl and Ma & I headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown Minneapolis to meet up with Gpa Becker, Gma Becker, Zoie and Ellie.  They had tickets to Shrek Musical at the Orpheum this night and I LOVE THOSE GIRLS!  I have been talking about Zoie & Ellie since then!

Zoie acting tough, Ellie in the Pigtails & I'm driving.

Tonight we're relaxing at home, maybe even splurging on an episode of Biggest Loser (blah) - Mom has another doc appointment tomorrow am at 830 to check on the baby and we will update all of you with any news!  It could be the same news as last week or there may be updates...we will see!

Baby Sherck #2 Update (36-37 weeks)

A note from Mom here...

Had another great appointment at the OB this morning.  Status from my check-up, the time is flying by!

• Blood Pressure: Great
• Weight: Lost a pound in the past week.  Funny since I've been eating like a horse.
• Hemoglobin/Iron: "Excellent"
• Dilated 2cm, 80% effaced
• Insomnia: Normal
• Braxton Hicks Contractions here and there: Normal and may increase moving forward
• Group B Stress test: Checked for bacteria in the "exit" canal. About 30% of women test positive and simple fix to put on antibiotics during labor if this is true
• Baby Heart Beat: Thump Thump Thump strong.
• Baby position: Head down and ready to rumble
• Baby size: Doc said "if I were to classify size of this baby I would definitely say small - 7 lber, you definitely do not have a 10 lber in there!"
• Timing: Baby could realistically come at any time. If haven't gone on my own by 39 weeks (Feb 23 or Feb 24th), will induce at that time to ensure I'm make it to the hospital in time knowing my quick delivery history.

I'll continue to listen to my body, rest and prep Bill & Brady for the whirlwind of what is to come in the upcoming months.  How exactly do I do this? Any suggestions? I have no idea but I'm sure we'll make it through....somehow!  We have prepared mentally and financially to continue to bring Brady to Shelli's during my maternity leave and think it will be good for routine for our family.  Don't worry - I've already prepped Shelli that if I need a nap and the baby won't sleep I'm dropping him/her off for an hour to play with the daycare kids. Ha!

We are very excited for the new addition to our family to arrive. Please continue to pray for a healthy baby and healthy delivery.

My "daddy shoes"

If any of you remember, back in the spring of 2008 while my Dad was camping along a trout stream, he brushed away some leaves to make room for his tent.  He found a little pair of boy camo Crocs pictured on the left. It was a sign to Mom & Dad that they were pregnant with a boy and it came true!  They cleaned them up and put them in storage.

This past weekend, they brought out these new shoes for me...I love them so much because they're just like my Daddy's shoes.  So, I call them my "daddy shoes" - they're big on me still but I think if I can grow a bunch this spring, they'll be perfect for the summer.  This morning when getting ready to head to daycare I said "I dun wana wear my boots, I wana wear my daddy shoes"

Oh boy.

Cami Surprise and my Dad's trip to the BWCA

Sundays are great days for me to sit, put my feet up and tell you about my week.  While Dad was away up north, we went for dinner with Gma/Gpa Sherck at Emma Crumbee's Thursday night and then to this awesome Gyro cafe with Wonger on Friday night.  I was sooo happy on Saturday morning when I woke up to BOTH Auntie Cami and Daddy home at our house!  Cami was reffing the weekend a few bball games and stayed with us in-between!  I love her.  I miss her. Cami (Cameeee, come back please?)

Me and Auntie Cami!

Saturday I helped Mom make some nummy appetizers, nap and prepare for hosting monthly card club at our house while Dad cleaned and prepared the copius amounts of beer.  Here's the deal with the card club - all parents (7 couples) go to one house and all kids (8) head to another house with a babysitter so it's fun for us too!  A random picture below that Shelli gave me of me and my friend Ryan at school. Mom thinks I look so dang cute in this picture I just had to post it. C'mon ladies...
 

Being happy with my friend Ryan at Daycare



Silly, I know.

 I've pasted a few of my favorite pics from Daddy's work winter camping trip to the Boundary Waters!  We are soo very glad he's home...when he's gone for a week we miss him tons! They hiked round trip total of 14 miles into the BWCA - probably a little more exercise than he's gotten for a while which may explain while his pants are hangin' on the ground.


Boys back at the lodge for eatin'



Tuscarora Outfitters - Andy Ahrendt whippin' up breakfast



Taking a break, feeding the birds

Winter Hiking  BWCA style

The view driving 'up north'

  



This was Dad's sleeping snow fort, otherwise known as a "quinzee"



The sled Dad pulled in...



Snow Shoes

 Everyone have a great week!  Now that Mom's due date is quickly approaching, we'll be staying near home in town for the next few weeks in case baby decides to arrive a little early.  We will continue to update you as Mom heads to her doctor appointments.  As always, please pray for a healthy baby and simple  (yeah right) & safe delivery.

Hey, Doc - What's the news?

  

Mom headed today for her 35-36 week Baby Doc Appt and it was fairly uneventful which is GREAT NEWS! Stats below:

1. Weight: The scale keeps going up and up, now 7 lbs heavier than she was with me full term. As of today though she said she is stopping the counting.
2. Blood Sugar: Maintaining it OKAY, it much more tougher now with sugar cravings.
3. Blood Pressure: Looks good!
4. Fewer contractions and less baby movement because he/she is squished.
5. Baby is head down, which is great news! Already preparing to make an appearance.
6. Belly measuring up at about 34CM - (34 weeks)
7. Will return in one week to check to see if dialated, group B stress test & update.
8. Swollen fat fingers, hands and feet: normal
9. Baby heartbeat: a strong THUMP THUMP THUMP

Mom keeps asking me when the baby is coming and I just reply to her "No Mama, No - No baby, No baby"

Think its about time she prep a hospital bag? She has a feeling I'm going to have a brother.  Well, if I do - please tell him I'm not sharing my nerf gun.

Oh no, baby must be coming soon!

I feel like every time I blog, I apologize for the delay and being a slacker. Well, I'm doing it again - I swear I've just been too busy!! Here are a few snap shots of what I've been up to lately!

This weekend on Saturday we celebrated Gma Sherck's birthday with garlic, cheese & sundried tomato stuffed pork loin & beer cheese soup. Yumm....Happy Bday Gma!
Today I spent time prepped the baby's room and I helped. Oh, yeah and it's been a snoozer of a day - woke up at 10:15am and it's now 5pm and I'm still in my jammies. I love days like today. As you can see in the pic below, I was re-breaking in the baby chair. We will keep the room plain tan until "it baby" arrives. If I get a sister, we will paint it girly style (ick) and if it's blue we'll figure out something. Crib is up, diapers & wipes purchased, bottles/pump sanitized, what else are we forgetting? When my parents ask me "where's the baby?" lately I've been telling them that the baby went home. What I will soon find out is that the baby will live here...ugh does that mean less attention for me? Please continue to pray for a healthy baby brother/sister.Friday night, while Ma headed out with the girls to celebrate Shelli's birthday, it was guy's night. Me, Gpa Sherck and Dad headed to the annual boat show.

Mama is 35 weeks pregnant now and there isn't much room inside her belly. She runs back to the doctor this Wednesday but has been feeling much better with fewer contractions the past couple weeks. Besides feeling uncomfortable, not sleeping very well and craving foods she shouldn't have, she feels blessed to feel this good at this point. She has already gained 5 more lbs that she did full term when I was born, but maybe that means that my little bro/sis is a chunker! Pic of her below...

Wednesday night, Hump day was a blast this week! We made potato & leek soup for all of Mom's friends Cracky, Anna, Erin, Wonger, Jen, Jenna, Tini & Rye to celebrate Cracky's visit to the Twin Cities before she leaves for duty in Africa. The reason it was a blast for me is because my size friends Fuzz, Reese, Keelin, Jade & Julia also came over for chicken nuggets, corn, mandarin oranges & chocolate milk. The girls are below - we tried to get some pics of the kids but I was tantruming at that point and Mom doesn't have any on her camera. Whoops, sorry mom.

I've been sitting on my potty a lot lately. I've only gone potty once, but it's starting to grow on me and will sit on the potty to read a magazine.

Dad is headed out this week for the Boundary Waters winter camping for work in chilly temps. Not only will we miss him, but wish him the best of luck in the crazy weather!! I hope everyone is doing well - things are good here at our home. We're healthy, happy, feeling good and anxiously anticipating the arrival of baby sherck. Please pray for a healthy delivery & VERY healthy baby. Two girls names to choose from and NO boy name picked out yet. I think what that means is...we'll decide at the hospital I guess, right?

Introducing: Neko Becker Burns

Congrats to Auntie Cami and pseudo Uncle Ryan for the new addition to their family, little puppy Neko! Neko just arrived this week from a breeder and they're working through the fun of having a new puppy, potty training, loving and sleeping. I can't wait to meet her and to wrestle her...sure hope she's hypo-allergenic. Ha