Car Swap!

For the past year, we've been watching the prices of used Toyota Highlanders and Acura MDXs. We knew eventually we'd like to upgrade the Corolla to an SUV, but weren't sure when that would be a real option. As our due date gets closer (and with paying off both our cars in August!), we started watching prices more closely, and talking about why upgrading would be important. One of the biggest factors was wanting more seating--after all, we're going to need room to still haul Dan and Anna's kids when we watch them (in fact, when we told Josiah we were pregnant, he wasn't too happy, and we're pretty sure it was because he didn't know how they'd fit in our car with a baby too), so we wanted an SUV with third row seating. I also was concerned about how my back would handle lowering a car seat into the backseat, considering just one weekend of putting Cami in her seat could make me hurt. And there were other factors like wanting an automatic, sitting higher for driving on the freeway, and a better winter time car.

The search got serious last week, and we ended up finding a great deal on a 2004 Honda Pilot (which got added to the list after researching them). It's great to drive and I'm excited for the day when I get to drive it on a regular basis (when Jace comes), but for now, I'll be driving the Solara because it gets better gas mileage.

We just listed my Corolla on Craigslist tonight, and already have an interested OSU grad student! It'll be sad to say goodbye to my car... she's been a good one! But I'm very excited to have upgraded to what Nolan calls, a "mom" car.

"Lola" the Corolla... she was a great car!

The new Pilot... I'm not sure it has enough personality yet for a name.

More Pictures of Baby Jace

Here are two new profile shots!

So Much to Be Thankful For!

Our ultrasound went well yesterday--Jace was very cooperative and didn't cover his face at all! The tech was able to point out to us that Jace's lip was complete and showed us how there would be a black line if Jace had cleft lip. And then we just got the call from our doctor that after looking at three different angles, it looks like Jace's palate is complete as well! So, unless there's a surprise when he's born, it looks like he doesn't have any clefting.

We're praising God for it. I'd rather give God the glory and say He healed my child than blame it on a faulty first ultrasound. And I know that God is going to use all this knowledge we've gained about it for a reason.

It's actually kind of strange to think of Jace as not having a cleft now. For the past four weeks, the entire time I've been able to identify him as a boy and with his name, I've envisioned him with cleft lip and palate. My looking forward to the future with him always involved a cleft. When I looked at pictures of babies, my mind would then imagine that same child with a cleft lip. I embraced the cleft possibility, knowing it would be better for me to be ready for that result rather than so hopeful that it wouldn't be there that the news of a cleft would be devastating. So now, it's almost like there's a different child inside of me. I am thrilled his lip and palate are complete. I am so thankful that he won't have to have the surgeries. But I would have loved him just the same regardless of the outcome from this ultrasound.

I've already been asked if we're still keeping the name Jace, and the answer is yes. We chose that name because it meant healer, and I know that God healed him. I've been so blessed by all the notes of encouragement from our friends and family. This experience has meant my child has been lifted up in prayer more than he would have been otherwise. I'm just sure God has great plans for his life, and if it's to be a healer in relationships with other people, then this name must stay. And who knows, maybe he'll be a very rough and tumble little boy who gets hurt a lot!

Thank you for all your prayers! God is good!

Just a few days away...

We go in Monday for the ultrasound to see if Jace has cleft lip/cleft palate. From what I've read, we're more likely to see the lip than the palate. We are confident that Jace's lip and palate will be exactly as God intends them to be, and aren't worried about the results of the ultrasound. Our biggest prayer request at this time is that Jace won't cover his mouth or pull the umbilical cord to his face (like last time) or decide to be stubborn and sleep with his back to us (like last time). Thanks for all your support and prayers!

This and That

Toby climbs in Nolan's lap every chance he gets. It used to be that he'd put his head and front two paws in Nolan's lap and then slowly sneak the back two up (just sure no one noticed). Now, when Nolan's in the recliner, Toby takes a running leap. He's still sneaky on the couch though. You can see how much Toby loves his Nolan. Such a different dog than the one we brought home six months ago!

My friend, Becca, asked me to make her a diaper bag for her son Israel. Here's the final product:

I'm excited to make a bag for Jace. I've had some really cute fabric for a boy's bag for a long time now and am excited to get to use it for myself! Here's the inside of Becca's bag (it's kind of hard to see, but there are a bunch of pockets):

Toby's been looking like a shaggy Muppet for a little while now, so yesterday he was taken in for some grooming! Of course, he was very nervous, but the girls at the groomers thought he was so sweet. Here he is with his long ears, tail and legs pre-grooming:
And here he is post grooming. Nolan thinks his ears make him look like a 6 year old girl with a bob hair cut

And finally, a belly picture! Here I am at 21 weeks along

We're less than 2 weeks away from finding out if Jace has cleft lip/cleft palate. Nolan and I both have a real peace about knowing that God is in control. I've done so much research online and have become so familiar with cleft palate/cleft lip. In my mind, he has it. But that's not to say I won't celebrate BIG TIME if he doesn't. Last week I was home sick one day and found a blog of a family who's 2 year old daughter has cleft lip and cleft palate. You can find their blog here. I spent the whole day reading all 2 years worth of posts. It began with watching a video of Adalynn's "first face." I cried tears of joy through the whole thing because of how beautiful she is. I loved being able to follow their journey through surgeries and what it takes to care for a child with CP.

Thank you so much for all the encouraging notes we've received! Please continue to pray for Jace--especially that this ultrasound we have coming up would reveal enough for our doctor to be conclusive about him either having it or not having it.

Introducing Jace John Nelson

We had our ultrasound last Wednesday. It was incredible to see the baby moving around and find out it's a boy! He was nice and cooperative while the technician took all his measurements, but once she was ready to get the picture shots, he put his arm over his head and fell asleep. When the tech tried waking him up (had me roll over, jiggled my tummy a lot, etc) he just curled up in a ball and rolled over with his back to us. I guess we have a good sleeper on our hands!

His heart and brain and limbs look like they're developing just fine. He size is right where it needs to be for how far along I am. But our doctor called the day after the ultrasound saying that when she took a look at it, they saw that he might have a small cleft lip/cleft palate, if one at all. So we're going back in for another ultrasound on October 5 to hopefully get a better look. She's thinking that a month of growth will help them see clearly if he has it or not. We're glad to hear that it isn't distinct enough or big enough for her to be conclusive at this time (from what I've read online, you can spot cleft lip as early as 16 weeks, and this ultrasound happened at 19 weeks). So we're hoping and praying that 1) if he has it, God might heal it before the next ultrasound or by time he's born, 2) he doesn't have it, or 3) if he does have it, we're praising God for medical advances and what they're able to do for this these days!

Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate is most common in boys, and 1 in 700 babies born in the US has it. So it's much more common than we thought it was. This in itself is a testimony to what a great job doctors are doing with it, in that you'd never realize how many people have had it.

If he does have it, we'll get set up with a team from Dornbechers up in Portland. Cleft lip is typically repaired when they are 10 weeks to 3 months old, and cleft palate repaired by 9 months old. So while it's so treatable, he could still have quite a first year of surgeries in store for him (and potentially many more surgeries ahead of him if it’s cleft palate).

All this made me REALLY want him to have a name already--to give him more of an identity. And I wanted his name to mean something, since he'll have so much to face at first. I started looking through names that meant things like strong, God heals, etc. Finally, we decided on "Jace" (which comes from Jason, but that won't be his name). Jace means healer, and on some websites, it also meant God is Sovereign. Both fit well we thought. Plus, Nolan loved that it's unique, since he likes names that he hasn't really heard before. So as of now, baby's name will be Jace John Nelson (Nolan’s middle name is John, it’s also his father and grandfather’s name).

We really have an incredible peace about the whole thing. I’m so thankful for a doctor who’s thorough and spotted this. From what I’ve read, not all doctor’s catch it. What a blessing to be able to know what we’re heading into and to be prepared for it! We're sad for the pain he could potentially face at such a young age, but at least he won't remember it as he gets older.

He'll be beautiful no matter what. And I'm just sure, if he does have cleft palate/lip, he'll be a much stronger person because of it.

Just A Little Update

We're so happy the major heat wave is over (although we really didn't suffer much, only being exposed to the heat as we walked from our air conditioned house to our air conditioned cars to our air conditioned offices). I'm also feeling affirmed in our choice not to go to Latvia as I'm still feeling pretty crummy in the evenings, and still throw up about 2-3 times a week.

On an exciting note--Nolan was able to go with me to my doctor's appointment today and we heard the baby's heartbeat again. The nurse commented that it was a much deeper tone than most babies, so it must be a boy. Nolan is saying that either gender, it has such a strong heart, it'll be a football player some day.

September 9 will be the day to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl. Hard to believe we're only five weeks away!