Doctors and Dentists, oh my!

June was yet another busy month of doctor visits but luckily none were for actual sickness.

Jonas visited the ENT (finally!) for his follow-up after getting the tubes. His hearing has improved by 20 decibels and everything looks perfect!

Reef had his very first trip to the dentist last month, too. What an ordeal! We'd been talking to him about how he would lay on a big table and the dentist would use special tools to clean his teeth, and he seemed to be receptive to all this. He really enjoyed the waiting room, with a movie and a playhouse but wasn't so sure about the actual exam room. Then the dentist had him sit in my lap and lean back with his head in her lap, and Reef lost it! He cried during the whole exam, which, luckily, was much shorted than I anticipated. Everything looked good except for dark spots on his first molars. She says they're not cavities yet, so we are keeping an eye on them and "painting" them with fluoride at night.

I had an OB appt at the end of June. Everything looks good with Lachlan. I go again on the 13th and then weekly after that. We're having an ultrasound on the 20th to see how big he is, and then we can set an induction date. I'm so ready for him to be here!

Summer Fun

Since it's been so hot here, we've been spending a lot of time indoors or in the shade. Gone are the days of trips to Sea World just me and the boys, I think. Mom's creativity is lacking on some days, so ideas of indoor fun would be appreciated. We're going next week to invest in some new play doh tools and inkpads/stamps and have been making many collages with magazine cut-outs. One of our new toys is a magnetic fishing set to replace to flimsy one the Easter bunny brought. This one is much tougher and should hold up to the rough-housing my boys can dish out. The day we bought it, I didn't feel like running a bath or braving the heat outside, so we fished in the kitchen. A bigger mess than I anticipated but still very fun!


Don't really know what "game" we were playing on this day, but it definitely involved the command, "Hug me, Jonas!"

One of recent backyard pool days. Must be done before naptime or it's WAY too hot for mommy to sit out there!

2 funny stories from Reef this week:

1. In the bathroom one morning, Reef says, "Why is that wipe (toilet paper) hanging down?"

Me: I don't know

Reef: It's because you used it to wipe your penis yesterday.

Me: Mommies don't have penises.

Reef, with a look of confusion: But you need one for the pee pee to come out.

Me: Mommies don't have penises; we have something else.

Reef: But you still have a hole for the poop to come out, right?

Me: Yes.

Reef leaves the bathroom, look quite relieved that there is still a way for the poop to come out!

2. Reef borrowed Troy's headset that connects to the phone when he's calling Australia and was wearing it around the house singing. Jonas was following. Then Reef hands Jonas the guitar, and says, "Jonas, you play the guitar while I play the earmuffs." Who knew earmuffs were an instrument!

Trip to Gigi's

Last weekend, the boys and I made a quick trip to Gigi's house to celebrate cousin Jacob's first birthday. I really can't believe he's already 1!

I searched high and low for a road trip buddy since I was a little nervous about making the trip with both boys and being this pregnant. Basically, I pictured the usual 4 hour trip taking way longer due to multiple potty breaks on my part. No luck finding a buddy, but we decided it was still worth it to go, so we headed off after breakfast Thursday. Our portable DVD player has been a lifesaver and we made it to Conroe with just one snack/movie change stop and 1 stop for lunch/potty. We had lunch at McDonald's in Navasota (where I went to jr high and high school) and it was quite the culture shock for my guys. They were fascinated by the group of African American guys sitting near us! Thursday afternoon was spent swimming with Grandma (Grandpa didn't bring his suit and Reef was NOT happy about this) and having dinner with my dad. Friday, we swam again with both Grandma and Grandpa and had Jacob's birthday dinner that evening. Jacob wasn't too sure about these big guys yet but soon warmed up and started chasing them around. We followed Aunt Taylor to the restaurant, and Reef was worried she was leaving without us. I told him to keep an eye on her. He said, "I can't close just 1 eye, so I'll use both eyes, okay?" So funny! Dinner was very exciting, with a guitar player, the happy birthday song, and of course cake. It was so good to be able to celebrate with Taylor and Jacob!

Saturday morning, we went to the splash fountain with Gigi. It was a big hit last year and did not disappoint this year either! We did leave bumped and bruised from various run-ins with each other, another little girls, and the concrete in general, but they didn't let that slow them down! We ended the visit with a swim with Gigi and Mr. Don (Mommy wasn't feeling good) and another dinner with my dad.

The drive home was uneventful with just one stop for pottying, movie change, and putting PJs on. I super tired but glad to be home in time to sleep in my own bed and celebrate all of Father's Day with Troy.

Pregnancy rant

No pictures in this one. Just need to rant a little about how this pregnancy has been sooo much less fun than the last two! I'm sure it has a lot to do with the extreme heat this summer and chasing two little boys around!
So far in this pregnancy, I've had 3 occasions where I had to or thought I would have to call the doctor after hours.
1. When I fell at the grocery store, carrying Jonas and a gallon of milk! I knew I was fine but just needed to hear the doctor say it too! Luckily, it was the partner who goes to our church, so she didn't laugh at me too much! On a funny note, when the answering service returned my call, the caller ID came up as EZ Psychics! I almost didn't answer!
2. Last Wednesday at church, I started having this burning epigastric (upper abdominal) pain that came and went every 3 minutes for several hours. I was pretty sure I wasn't having contractions but the longer it went on the less sure I got. The pain finally went away around 4am. Pretty sure it was caused by the iron pills I started that day, so I haven't taken any more of those!
3. At my mom's house on Saturday, I started having this severe stretching/tearing pain around my belly button. I've had it before but it usually goes away after a few minutes. This hurt a lot more and lasted much longer. About the time I was getting ready to call the doctor though, it suddenly went away. Who knows what that was all about?
On top of these weird things, there's all the "normal" pregnancy woes too...swelling, reflux, varicose veins (yuck!), no sleep, weight gain (although I did lose 3 pounds at my last visit, yay!)....I'm sooo ready for Lachlan to be here, so we can move on from this phase! I'll have to re-visit this post if ever I miss being pregnant!
Coming soon...our weekend trip to Gigi's house...but not tonight because I'm too lazy to upload the pics.

Beach Trip

Two weekends ago, we took a quick trip to Corpus with our friends, the Bravenecs, who have a condo down there. Our friends, Greg and Allison, joined us, too, with their son Bruce. It was definitely a full house but well worth the trip. We arrived late Thursday night and set our boys up in their shared room. Troy and I were VERY nervous about them sharing a room for the first time, but they did great the first night.
We kicked off Friday morning with a pancake breakfast and trip to the beach, both of which were loved by all, except Bruce (definitely not a fan of the beach!). After 2 hours at the beach, we headed home for lunch, followed by some fishing on the dock. This didn't last long since it was sooo hot and not nearly as exciting as Reef was expecting. They did look cute in their life jackets though! Jonas wore his around the condo, calling it his backpack!
After a nap (which was quite an ordeal) for the boys and jet ski time for Troy, we headed to the aquarium, which was a big hit with the kids until they got to hungry to focus on the fish. The dolphins were definitely the favorite! The aquarium was followed by a pizza dinner, a popsicle, and bedtime. Unfortunately, Brunce and Jonas seemed to have other plans. Jonas cried for an hour and a half, which we finally determined to be caused by a nasty case of diaper rash caused by the sand. Somehow Reef slept through the whole ordeal!
Saturday, we got off to a later start and only had about 45 minutes at the beach, which was not nearly enough for Reef and Jonas and their beach-loving mom. We fed the sea gulls (Jonas' favorite beach activity) and dug holes in the mud before heading back for lunch and the trip home.
Definitely a tiring trip but the boys did much better than expected at adjusting to a different schedule than their used to. Can't wait to go back!
Here are the pictures, not in order because I don't have the patience for that!
Loving the popsicles! Are we surprised that Reef wanted the blue one?



Reef got to touch a stingray! Very exciting but he kind of flipped out!

Underwater dolphin viewing.

Fishing with Dad.

Family photo before leaving the beach. Reef refused to look at the camera.

Feeding the sea gulls.

Reef and Jonathan sitting in the waves. This is what Reef talks about when he tells people about the beach trip. He really liked Jonathan!

This one's kinda scary....

Doctors for everyone!

May/early June has been a busy time in the doctor's office for the Gibbins family!
Lauren had 2 appointments with her OB in May. Lachlan is growing right on target and things are looking good, despite a MASSIVE weight gain on my part. I did fail my 1 hour glucose screening and had to do the 3 hour fasting test earlier this week, but I passed with flying colors, so no gestational diabetes for me! Yay! I have another appt on Tuesday, where I'm hoping to discuss the possibility of induction and see some much better numbers on the scale.

Reef had his 3 year appointment with the pediatrician and was happy there were no shots! He weighed in at 34 lbs (75th %) and was 36 inches tall (40th %). His least favorite part of the visit was the blood pressure cuff.

Jonas had his 18 month appointment the same day as Reef's. He, unfortunately, did get one shot but didn't cry too much. He weighed in at 25.5 lbs (60th %), was 33 inches long (75th %), and has a head circumference in the 96th %! I discussed allergy testing with the doctor, and he ordered a RAST test. So I had to take poor Jonas to get his blood drawn, which he handled like a champ. No crying at all! The test came back negative, and we have slowly added strawberries and nuts back into his diet. All has been tolerated well except peanut butter, which led to some vomiting the day after. So he may not be "allergic" (though my GI dr says peanuts often don't test positive until age 2) but he definitely sensitive to peanuts.

Troy visited with the eye doctor last week when he suddenly couldn't see out of his right eye because it was hurting so much. This has happened on at least 2 other occasions. Turns out he has a sensitivity to the staph bacteria that we all have living in our eyes, and it was causing ulcers. Antibiotic eye drops fixed him up quickly. Troy was also tested for glaucoma and passed with flying colors. I'm jealous of his perfect vision!

Busy busy!

May was quite a busy month for us, but now I can't even remember what all we did! Reef had his end-of-year program at preschool. He was very serious about the whole thing. The teachers had told everyone to stand still with their arms at their sides, and, while all his classmates waved to their parents, Reef was still as a statue with his hands glued to his sides.

After the program, their was a reception with cookies and crackers. A big hit with my guys!

Goodbye Jeep!

The days have seemed very long since preschool ended, especially if the boys get up really early. I busted out the play-doh last week and am always reminded why we don't do it more often. What a mess!

We try to do our outside activities early in the AM since it is already so hot here. This is our new favorite park-obviously.

Our neighbors behind us, John and Babette, have graciously offered us the use of their pool anytime we like, so we've taken advantage of that several times. The boys have enjoyed it, and I think it's good preparation for their swimming lessons that start next week. John even took some pics of us swimming. How great is that!

The boys and I have also made some day trips to Sea World and the zoo while Troy is at work, but no pictures of those trips since I have a hard enough time just keeping up with the kids!

Also in May, we celebrated the graduation of our NEON (youth group) kids. I can't believe our 4 years is done!

June is shaping up to be another busy month for us, with 2 weeks of swimming lessons, a trip to the beach with one of Troy's co-workers and his wife, a visit from Gigi, and a possible trip to Conroe for cousin Jacob's birthday. I'll try to do better with my blogging though...I forget so many things if I don't write them down right away.

I'll leave you with some funny things Reef and Jonas have said lately:

• Reef: "Are you annoying me, Jonas?" He says he learned that word from me.
• Jonas, pointing his finger at Reef, "Listen!" Think I'm guilty of that one too!
• Me: "What did you learn in Sunday school today?" Reef: "About Jesus." Me: "What was he doing?" Reef: "Nothing. He was just in my Bible."
• Discussing middle names for Lachlan today (we are very open to suggestions, by the way!). Reef: "I like LUKE. Let me show you which one that is on the list, Dad. (he did actually point to the right one). Not JAMES, I don't like that one. Jonas, on the other hand, liked Bruce, saying, "Lochy Bruce!" This is the first time he's even said the baby's name!