Good U/S Visit for Jenn Today

We had a bit of a rough night last night. Lincoln had been working on some sneezing and coughing spells, and last night he was up routinely with a nasty cough. Beginning at 2:30, I sat with him in his chair, thinking that sitting up would help him breath better. Then we moved to his bed where I stayed with him to make sure he stayed on his propped-up pillows. Needless to say, I went to work tired this morning. I would have gotten some sleep because Jenn traded places with me at 5:55am and gave him some Tylenol and Vicks Vapo Rub, but by that time, Lincoln decided to start talking... a lot... because he was all the way rested and feeling better from his medicines!

The sneezing has persisted, but otherwise he's doing well.

Jenn went for another ultrasound today. If you were confused by my last note about her and Lydia, here's the explanation: She's supposed to measure in centimeters the same as the number of weeks she's been pregnant. At her last visit, she was measuring 4 cm less. There are a number of potential reasons for this, from the serious to the no-big-deal. If her placenta was failing and there wasn't sufficient amniotic fluid, that would be a bad thing for Lydia. But today's visit demonstrated that things are okay. Lydia has moved down (Jenn was very suspicious of this because of how she was feeling), and that accounts for the measurment change. Jenn and I were suspicious that things were okay anyway because why else would the put the ultrasound appointment off for a week? If Lydia's life were really in danger, I'd think they'd ultrasound ASAP. But that's human medicine for you. Also, according to the ultrasound measurements, Lydia's measuring at 6# 5oz. We'll see!

Our busy month is blitzing by toward October. There are still events on our calendar, but they'll mostly be at the mercy of one big event.

On a completely separate subject, I want to high-light a website for a company that I like: Fleetwood Properties. The guy behind this business is a first-rate businessman that is doing a lot of good in the Akron area. He buys homes that are in awful shape, fixes them up, and sells them. They're usually in not the nicest neighborhoods, but because he makes them so nice, he helps out the property value of the area. It's also a way for folks to buy a nice house that they otherwise wouldn't be able to find. Further, providing good links to any website is a good thing when it comes to the search engines, so I thought I'd help him out a bit.

Hot Air Balloons!

As I touched on in yesterday's post, Jenn, Lincoln, Yunfei and I went to the Hot Air Balloon A-Fair in Ravenna last evening, and we had a very good time. I'd never been to such an event, and the pace with which they filled the balloons, and the close proximity of all of the balloons going up at the same time was really neat to see.
Then I wrapped up the evening at Edge Late Night. And this evening I've got my first Edge Small Group of the year. It ought to be another good session!

Lincoln Hikes the Ledges

Last week we went hiking at Kendall Lake and the day was beautiful!
Jenn took the dogs to work with her today, so it was a Guys Only morning for Lincoln and me this morning. So after breakfast, we took the camera out to the Ledges and went for a hike, and this time Lincoln didn't ride in the pack! Two-and-a-half hours later, we made it back home for lunch and the Buckeyes.

Here's the product of the photo session:

I'm pretty sure he's the cutest boy around.

Catch up

Things are going pretty well here. Jenn and I have been busy with this event and that get-together. Jenn's been feeling okay, though she says that this pregnancy is very different from Lincoln's. She more uncomfortable more of the time, and she's been having trouble sleeping for some time now. Borrowing some clothes from Mary was a huge help as she's able to have extra outfits for work and church. And speaking of work, Jenn's been keeping very busy with work when she's there, and even more busy at home with Lincoln. She actually says that she's more tired after a day with Lincoln than a day at work.

Jenn's last visit with the OB revealed that she's 4cm short. This means that she needs to have another ultrasound next week, and while we're not terribly excited about that, there's a possibility that it may show that she needs to be induced sooner than her due date. We'll keep you posted. We're asking the Lord for a healthy pregnancy and deliver no matter when the day comes... please join us.

Jenn's also been in Cheesecake Mode lately. Most recently it was a cheesecake with cake in the middle of it, surrounded by raspberry jam and peaches. Holy. Cow. There's a few pieces of leftovers, but those will be gone by the end of tomorrow.

Lincoln is doing well. Physically, he's doing great. Socially, he's doing very well, too. The potty training is about 80% there, though he's much better for everyone other than me and Jenn. So we're still working on it. He's been very good going to his Sunday School class and spending his time with Miss Leah on Tuesdays when Grandma & Grandma Gates go to Ladies Class.

He's really been funny lately. The wheels are definitely turning in his mind. You can tell he's very proud of himself when he makes clever connections and answers tougher questions. He's been making very funny facial expressions when he makes these connections, and Jenn and I just laugh.

For instance, he loves paying attention to me when I'm using any sort of tools, such as inflating the tires with the air compressor. Then, completely unrelated, he was playing with Grandma in the basement and he banged his head on the door frame. To calm him down, she applied a cool, damp cloth. Then when Lincoln arrived home, he told Jenn that Grandma held an air compressor to his head (cool compress, get it?!) to help him feel better.

Another funny thing... you'll recall our visit to the museum recently. We were then watching the Buckeyes rout the Canes last Saturday, and as Lincoln was cheering for the Buckeyes (he can spell O-H-I-O!), he said, "Go! Run to the..." He paused, knowing that there was a word for where the man with the ball runs, but not recalling that the term was "end zone" or "touchdown," he said, "Run to the museum!" Ha!

So with the exception of some whiny moments, Lincoln's been a total hoot.

This Saturday evening we're going to a hot air balloon festival. Look for photos from that as I expect we'll have a blast.

Labor Day @ Leesville Lake

We had nothing short of a great Labor Day weekend at Leesville Lake with Grandma Paulette, Grandpa Doug, Auntie Em and Uncle Jeremy. The only thing that could have made it better would be if Gretel and Betty hadn't begged for breakfast at 5:55 am. Other than that, we had a great time relaxing and catching up with the Hopwoods. They even taught us to play Mexican Train Dominos!

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Bedtime Routine

Each evening I say to Lincoln, "You have a few things to say to mommy." And he finds Jenn and goes through the bedtime routine.