Stitches are out!

Wednesday morning we headed down to Denver to see our doctors in Lowry and got the stitches removed. As you can see from this first picture, it was still very red after the first 15 minutes. The doctor told me we had to keep SPF45 (or higher) sunscreen on the area between his lip and his nose for the next year or so to prevent further scarring. That piece of info makes sense. The doctor told me it was healing nicely and that she didn't think that plastic surgery would be in Eban's future.

Next Friday, we are getting Eban tested for lead levels in his system as all the toy recalls have us a tad concerned. We'll keep you posted on that activity next week...and we'll have updates on Jackson - I'm sure!!

Anyway, I took the following picture this morning so you can see how it's healing.

This afternoon, I had a nice lunch with several co-workers who took me for spicy Thai food. Unfortunately, nothing is happening with Jackson. I was hoping it would instigate Jackson into arriving into the world, but I'm not that lucky!

This weekend, Grammy Swooz arrives and that's about it. Four more days...and yes, I'm counting!

October 2nd it is!

Well, the update is very simple today. If I don't go into labor naturally, I will be induced on October 2nd. I'm supposed to report to St. Joseph's Hospital at 8:30am to get a Pitocin IV drip to help me progress into labor.

Little Jackson is enjoying the warmth and darkness of my womb, but it's time to meet him! I hope he decides to stop being so stubborn and come into the world prior to that, so we'll see.

Grammy Swooz will arrive on Saturday, September 29th to help with Jackson and Eban. She had me 33 years ago by eating a large plate of spaghetti and then had to navigate through a snowstorm to get to the hospital and barely made it! I'm hoping Italian food is the trick for me too as I'm eating a lot of pasta but it's not helping with Jackson...he likes it in there.

Our first stitches!

Well...at the young age of 14 months old, Eban experienced his second hospital ER visit and this time acquired two stitches. We were at a friend's house and he grabbed their little dog and he turned around and nipped him. We were in the hospital for 2 and a half hours just for 2 stitches...Here's a pic of the morning stitches and then the afternoon stitches! The doc said he'll have a small scar the rest of his life but if he didn't have the stitches the scar would be bigger.

The most awful thing about the visit was when they had to confine him to this stretcher type thing and then swaddle him in there so he couldn't move at all. He was screaming so loud and there wasn't a thing we could do to "save" him. That's when they gave him the two stitches, but to see him in pain...that's just not something we want to experience again. He rebounded once we got in the car and was a total trooper. The good thing is that he won't remember this at all when he's older!

That was Friday night...Saturday, Nani, Eban and I went to see the Titanic exhibit at our museum of Nature and Science. It was very neat but we couldn't take photos. We did take photos in other areas as Eban LOVED pressing the buttons to certain things...see attached.

He also loved the Kids Discovery Zone where he could play with puzzles and other items.

Nani the Nanny

Nani arrived safely on Friday all the way from Paraguay and she looked fabulous after traveling for over 28 hours or so. I should have taken her home so she could nap, but instead we went to the University to have some snacks for Courage to Care Day, our annual day of volunteerism in the metro Denver area. She had a couple of bites of pizza and a couple bites of a cookie while I pounded down lemonade and a huge cheesesteak.

We got Eban and he was shy at first with her. That lasted about an hour and now he's all over her. Poor thing will never get a rest...plus, she's so tiny and Eban is half her size already!! He always wants to get picked up and she's so nice and obliges him every time. I told her we'd fatten her up and she laughs at that!

Nani saw her first school bus, had her first taco (she really had three tacos) and thinks Denver is very clean.

This weekend, we went to meet Morgan, my friend Kayce's 5 day old little girl (see Kayce and Morgan in this pic). She was beautiful and so alert for being less than a week old. When our friend Tawnya came in the house, we introduced Nani to her and Tawnya glared at me and said, "She has a name!?" And I told her that Nani's name was NANI. So Ryan and I had to explain the fact that the word "Nanny" in English is similar to that of the word Au Pair. She had a good sense of humor about that...thank goodness!

Well, Jackson is still due on October 2nd. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and I'm only one centimeter dilated...DARN it! Romy, my doctor, said I could induce next Tuesday if I was miserable but she doesn't recommend that to anyone. I'll wait to at least the first of October, but then I may consider inducing...I just feel so heavy and lethargic. I am certainly not getting enough sleep at night as I'm uncomfortable and having tons of nightmares.

This weekend, we are going to have dinner and Jen and Chris's new lake house. Saturday, we are meeting other Boulder-area Au Pairs and their families for a pizza dinner and on Sunday, the Au Pairs are getting together to watch the Nanny Diaries in Denver. I have heard through the grapevine that in the movie the family that hires Scarlett Johannsen's character doesn't call her by her proper name, but instead calls her by "Nanny." I tried to explain that to Nani that it's ugly for Americans to do that, but I don't know if she understood. I hope she did.

That's it for now. I'm ready to have Jackson. As I was writing this, I had two short contractions...so I guess it could happen today???

First Museum Visit on Monday

This week, Ryan and Eban have been fighting severe colds and I'm doing my best not to catch them as that's the first thing I want! I'd love the opportunity to be super sick while delivering Jackson...that sounds quite enjoyable! ha.

On Monday, Grandpa Bob and I took Eban to his first museum called The Butterfly Pavilion. Eban loved looking at all the insects and spiders. The butterflies weren't that interesting but boy oh boy, that insect room was great! The staff allowed kids who were old enough to play with a tarantula - but I kept Eban away from that as I could envision him smacking the spider and then accidentally stepping on it.

We also bought him his second Halloween costume at Kids R Us. Ryan and I had our first visit to this store and it's a kid utopia. All sorts of games, all sorts of fun and you could spend an arm and a leg in that store. We also didn't realize they sell baby stuff too, so that was good to learn.

Well, Jackson is due any day now. As I was leaving work yesterday, I passed a student on the way to the parking lot and he started to engage in a huge belly laugh. After I continued watching him, he stuck his finger out at my "gut" and said "OHMYGAWD Lindsay, you are as big as a house!" I kindly thanked him for pointing out the obvious and said when his beer gut gets larger, I'll be happy to let him know he's expanding. He was quick to inform me that it wasn't a beer gut but a Long Island Ice Tea gut. Ahhh...the honesty of university students is refreshing!

I'm off to the airport to pick up Nani! Yeah!!