Hey everybody... Hope all is well in your world. Mom, Dad and Lil Duck are doing great. We've been having fun tossing around names, and taking it easy... Hard to believe we're heading into weeks 27 and 28!! Little guy is just growing before our eyes!!

It's been a nice week or so at our new house. Getting settled, still unpacking a few stray boxes. Everything seems to be finding it's spot, which is great for Mom because she not a fan of clutter!! Wow, this baby is gonna ROCK her world!! hehehe. We've been getting comfy, enjoying nothing going on this week. No Dr's appointments, which is really rare, and finishing up what feels like the 50th load of laundry! Lil duck's closet is starting to get full of sweet, tiny, adorable clothes!! We even finished up our registry's at WalMart and Target. Think we still have a few things to look at at Babies R Us, but we're working on it!

We planned another trip back to Florida this week. David, CJ, Kaitlin and Bryan even headed down from Charlotte for this trip!!! Clayton was coming home from AIT in El Paso, and this is our last chance to see him and spend some time with him before he heads overseas to Korea for a year. Its sad that he'll be gone for so long, but he'll be in great hands. I'm not sure that we've told him enough how grateful we are for his service. Every day he serves makes our country that much safer. Thank you Clayton!! We also got to meet his friend Ryan who came to hang out with him for the weekend, and he's just precious!! He fits in great with the whole family. Hey guy!! =o)

On Saturday the 10th we went to our nephew Cole's 3rd birthday party and had so much fun!!! It was such a blast to hang out with the little guy - he seemed so excited to have everyone at his house to see him!! Danny & Holly had an inflatable water slide for the kids, and we had cornhole set up for the adults... we played outside, and inside, then ate WAY too much food, opened presents & ate lots of cake!!! It was great!!! Just what a 3 year old's birthday party should be!! He loved having the "Lightnin' Keen" birthday cake that his mom made.. She did a great job!!!

Later that day we stayed at Danny & Holly's and watched the Florida/LSU game. Mom was a bundle of nerves for this game for some reason - hey, I mean, it was a BIG game... Tim Tebow did start (as many thought he would) and played a heck of a game too... Gators win!!!! 13-3!! "Best thing about 6-0 is you get to play for 7-0!".... So sing a song for the Orange and Blue!!!

On Sunday the Jags played Seattle and we all chilled out at Gamma & Gaga's. That was fun because we definitely needed our rest from Saturday!! I am pretty sure we stayed in our pj's for quite a while that day!! The following day we loaded up the car (again) and hit the road (again) to head home to get back into our normal (somewhat) routine..... We hated to say goodbye to Clayton, that was really hard!!! But he's excited about going overseas, so we're doing our best, despite our sadness....

During week 28 we had another big Dr's appointment. On October 13th, we had a chance to have a 3D ultrasound and see our little boy close up and in person. He's just so beautiful & we just marvel at the wonders God has made! We ARE truly blessed!! We also met with Dr. Lipsitz and she seems to agree - he's awesome!! hahaha.. Ok, well she actually said that everything looks great, and we're doing very well in our pregnancy. We have the diabetes well controlled, and although he's measuring a little big, he's happy and healthy! YEA!!

We also went by Tiffanie's office and dropped off our Blood sugar readings for the week. She called later in the day to let us know that she and Dr. Weirum didn't see any reason for any changes in our insulin routine. So for now, we're just trucking right along.... Again, it's been a very uneventful, eventful journey!!! =o)

Saturday the 17th was Daddy's birthday, and he turned the big 39!!! YEA!! Unfortunately, he had to work ushering the Vandy/Georgia game, and was stuck at Vanderbilt from 8 am to 3 pm (and it was COLD!!!).. BOO!!! But when he got home he was able to watch the Florida/Arkansas game, eat up a bunch of homemade chili and cornbread and then chill out!! GO GATORS!!! We eeked out a win 23-20, adding another win to our quest for an undefeated season!!! Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar! All for the Gators, stand up and hollar!!! WOO HOO!!

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning (ok, so it was nesting, but Mom just had to get it done) and starting on assembly of Lil Ducks crib and dresser. Hopefully we'll have it done very soon. His clothes and toys are ready to move in!!! hehehe

Our little guy has really started to hit a big growth spurt- by week 27 he weighs almost 2 pounds!!! Like a head of cauliflower and he's about 14 1/2 inches long - legs extended!!! Sure does explain the "foot in the ribs" thing!! hehehe. He's been sleeping and waking at regular intervals, and possibly sucking his fingers. His brain is really active now, but his lungs are still a little immature. And he's getting the hiccups more frequently now too. They actually tickle from time to time. He's a shot of what he possibly looks like at 27 weeks...

The 28th week was a real fun time for us, especially with our Dr visit. This is the start of our third trimester!!! HOLY COW!!! Little guy is still packing on weight, and is about 2 1/4 pound now!! He's also about 14.8 inches long from head to heel. He's blinking his eyes and actually has eyelashes now!! He may actually be able to see the light that filters through Mommy's belly!!! So cool!!! He's adding more body fat in prep for life on "the outside"!! You can see him (above) at 28 weeks in the 3D Ultrasound.

Couldn't you just sit there for hours on end and just look at him???? We did!!! It just keeps getting better and better!! God is so good!!

Ok, that's all for now, but we'll be back really soon with another update for everyone!!

Love, love, love,

Daddy, Mommy & Lil Duck

Hello everyone!! Just another update coming to you from Daddy, Mommy & the womb-mate!! Little man is growing bigger and getting stronger every day... we're so excited!!

Weeks 23 and 24 have been pretty eventful and uneventful, depending on how you look at it!! hahaha.. It's been nice to be able to rest and get back into our daily and weekly routine.

We had an appointment with our favorite Obstetrician, Dr. Lipsitz on Tuesday the 8th. She was pleased to see that we were getting the gestational diabetes under control. Even though we decided to go ahead with the insulin, she felt like the entire pregnancy was progressing very well. (Our little guy is an overachiever, so of course it's going well!! hehehe). We were able to hear his sweet little heartbeat again. Kind of felt like he was telling us he was doing just fine in there.... He was kicking pretty well afterwards too, so I think he likes for us to hear him! Dr. Lipsitz said "Wow, sounds really strong you guys. Really good."... it's always reassuring to hear things like that!!

When we were leaving the dr's office, we had to schedule an appointment with another dr in the practice. Dr. Lipsitz wants us to be able to visit with all the dr's, meet them and become familiar with them. That way, if there is an emergency or something happens and she's not able to be at the hospital with us, we're familiar with one of the other drs that will be treating us. I like that idea ALOT!! So our next appointment is with Dr. Allison Strnad (pronounced like stir-nod) on the 28th. Dr. Lipsitz said that we'll really like her, so I'm looking forward to meeting her.

We also had to drop by Tiffanie's office and leave our blood sugar readings for the week. It's really convenient for us that they're all in the same medical building. We get to see some of the same faces on each trip. That's kinda neat!!. We received a telephone call from Tiffanie and she said that although mommy's sugar readings were ok, they weren't great. So she and Dr. Weirum felt that we should go ahead and increase the insulin just one more time. So we're taking 14 units in the morning before breakfast and 6 units before dinner. Not much of a change, but we'll have to see if we notice a difference.

Saturday (the 12th) was a fun day in our house because we didn't do ANYTHING!!! No kidding, really, didn't do a thing!! We woke up, made a big yummy breakfast, and watched football ALL DAY LONG!! Watched the Gators beat up on the Trojans of Troy, winning 56-6!!! We never even changed out of our Pj's... it was fantastic to have a day where we could just sit there and do nothing... Nowhere to go - No plans - Nothing that HAD to get done that day - Catch up on some rest - FANTASTIC!!! =o)

On Sunday we went to Target to register and had a blast. We went in this time with a game plan (because it seemed like our Babies R Us registering was sooooo overwhelming) and got so much done in such a short period of time... I was stunned that we immediately agreed on everything! We even found the cutest little training potty that looked like a big baseball!!! How can you not love that?!!?!.... Like I said, we had so much fun!!

We had another follow up appointment with Tiffanie on Wednesday (16th). They like to check in with you every few weeks - face to face - to make sure that things are going well, see if you have any questions, and basically just check on your progress with diet, exercise, mood, etc.... Mommy's sugar readings look good for the most part, but the morning (fasting) sugars are still a little elevated. So we're going to increase to 8 units of insulin at dinner, and the long acting portion should take care of decreasing the early morning sugar readings.

Daddy & Mommy (& the womb-mate) are leaving on Friday (18th) to go home to Florida again. Saturday is the big game when the Gators take care of business against the Vols and Daddy & Uncle Danny are going to the game!!! SUWEET!!! Mommy is having another shower for Lil Duck Saturday morning at Ya-Ya's church and the whole family is coming too. Well, the girls at least - Gamma, Auntie Carol, Aunt Holly, Cousin Emma.... Think the other boys - Gaga and Cole - are going to be chillin' at home....

Week 23 really surprised us because our little boy is getting so big!! Chances are that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just a little more than 1 pound. He weighs about as much as a large mango! (For you Saturday Night Live fans - "No! You cannot touch the Mango!" haha). We're able to see him wiggle around a little in Mommy's tummy, trying to find a comfy position. His hearing is getting better too - his ears are able to pick up sounds getting him ready for the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now (like the vacuum cleaner, the washer/dryer and dishwasher) probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb... Pretty neat huh?.... He's an idea of what he looks like at 23 weeks.