Well, I am 15 weeks along tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday when I peed on the stick. So, preparations need to be made at some point and coming up with a name is one of those preparations. Sean and I have been tossing around a few knowing we are expecting a girl. (Did I mention my OB/GYN concurred the other day that we are having another girl?) We've been toying with the following names: Danica, Payton, Sadie, and Elkin. But today, on the way to Dillen's 5 year check up appointment, Dillen said, "I have a name for the baby!" She's said this before and offered up Lila and Sallysalenia - both very nice names but not for us. However, today she said, "Piper!" I immediately loved it and when I had her tell Sean he was surprised to find it particularly fun and now in the top running. So, no guarantees but certainly enjoyable to think about.

Posted by sean at 9:02 PM | Permalink

Well, the tooth fairy (Patinka) came and went. She took Dillen's tooth, left a lovely note, a shiny quarter and a charm bracelet with a little fairy charm attached. In the note, she thanked Dillen for her tooth and said that she looks forward to coming back for more. She said she will bring Dillen a charm for every tooth she loses to add to her bracelet. Dillen was thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, that she was ecstatic to find she has another loose tooth! She had a dentist appointment this week and received flying colors (and we were told she already has 3 permanent molars in!). Roxy did a great job, too, sitting patiently in the chair and allowing the dentist to clean and check her teeth. I was relieved to hear that she has a nice set of teeth, as well.

Below are some fun pictures I've been meaning to post (though they are seemingly cropped funny since the sizes are too big and I don't want to take the time to go back and resize them). The first of Dillen and Roxy are from Sean's studio - testing lighting for a client he had coming over. The color photos at the bottom are from a friend's backyard - movie night!

Posted by sean at 11:20 PM | Permalink

Well, it happened! Dillen lost her first tooth this morning. When she woke up I was surprised it was still hanging on since the thing was bending almost completely forward. She even ate breakfast and it was still holding on after. But then Dillen and I were sitting on the couch and she asked, "Hey mom, wanna see me kick my leg super fast?" I said "sure" and she started kicking her leg until she accidentally kneed herself in her mouth. She gave me a quick look like 'that hurt' so I quickly joked and said, "You didn't kick your tooth out, did you?" She started to shake her head but then looked at me surprised, opened her mouth and out came her tooth! We both starting laughing when we realized that she really did kick her tooth out! She hopped off the couch and started jumping around she was so excited. Of course Roxy was just as excited for her and started jumping around with her. Sean captured some great before and after pictures which are below.

In other good news from today, my mom drove down so she could join me at my AMA (that would be Advanced Maternal Age/i.e. Geriatric Pregnancy) screening - a 30 minute ultrasound to check for measurements. They measured the baby to be a week ahead of what I was originally told so we are actually almost 14 weeks! But, because of this, it was difficult to determine the nuchal translucency value (typically done between 11 and 13 weeks). They did come up with the number 2 and anything 3 and under is considered normal. So, fingers crossed all is well. (I will not do any invasive testing.) When I asked if she could determine the sex she asked if I wanted to know. Umm. Yeah. I want to know. Sean and I have been 99.9% sure it's a girl since we found out we were pregnant - which is also the sex we would prefer to have again. We have nothing against boys and I am sure would be excited if told it was a boy, but we "know" girls, we have all girl stuff, and we love the thought of having a future with three girls/three sisters. The technician said that she didn't see a penis and she did see the three lines - meaning, she thinks it's a girl! When I asked her how sure she was, she said "85% sure." That's a pretty high number and I imagine she was even erring on the cautious side. :) The ultrasound was amazing and we were able to see her get through a bout of hiccups, kick her little legs, wave her hands, try to suck her thumb and arch her back. She moved around quite a bit. We were also able to hear her heartbeat which was strong and steady. This was my mom's first time ever seeing an ultrasound so it was a special moment for both of us. She even got to take home a souvenir ultrasound picture.

After the appointment, we drove to Dillen's dance class where we relieved Sean of his daddy-duties and then my mom treated us to a tasty Red Robin lunch and then pedicures (and a manicure for Dillen and Roxy) at a nail salon. It was some fabulous girl time and Dillen was thrilled for the special treatment celebrating her tooth loss.

So, the tooth fairy comes tonight. We bought a special little tooth fairy box and we are looking forward to seeing what she will bring. ;)

Posted by sean at 2:32 PM | Permalink

Dillen said to me this morning, "MOM! I have a loose tooth!" Why I didn't believe her, I don't know - except maybe it was something I wasn't ready to hear (just another moment proving how big she is getting). She came running over and, sure enough, her lower tooth is loose. Very loose. It may even come-out-today loose.

Pictures to follow, I am sure. :)

Posted by sean at 2:13 AM | Permalink

We made a trip to Target today with the girls and I promised Dillen that if we saw the movie Mulan we would get it for her - since she is so into karate and princesses these days! On our trip home, with movie in hand, here is the conversation that occurred:

Dillen (looking at the cover): Mom, who is this little red dragon?
Me: That's Mushu. He's Mulan's sidekick.
Dillen: What's a sidekick?
Me: Ummm, hmm... a sidekick would be like Flounder to Ariel or the squirrel to Princess Genevieve.
Dillen: Yeah. But what is it?
Me: Well, it's a character that hangs out a lot with the main character... usually providing the humor and comic relief. The funny guys.
Dillen: So, Roxy's my sidekick, right?

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.

Posted by sean at 2:19 PM | Permalink

We had a wonderful dose of good news this week and a little bowl of bad served up.

The bad: Dillen didn't get into the Global Education program at the elementary school we were gunning for. She's 8th on the waiting list which means it's really a hit or miss if we get a call. The children for the program are chosen by lottery. It's a great program and one I think Dillen would really excel in. And though I am not at all disappointed with the school she will be going to education-wise, it will pose inconveniences down the road (i.e., the drive through construction/traffic, no opportunity to walk the girls to school, double-duty-drop-off since the schools are split K-3 and 4-6). So, we are disappointed but it could be worse: Just over a year ago we thought we were going to have to homeschool the girls because of the school we were zoned for in Dana Point - one ranked worst in all of Orange County.

The good!: We went to dinner on Friday night and one of Dillen's karate instructors came in and asked if we needed a new studio schedule. Though the karate studio is right next door to the restaurant and the instructor probably just saw us walk through the parking lot, we thought it strange he would come in to offer us a new schedule. We looked at him a little puzzled and I asked, "Has something changed?" He smiled and put the schedule down in front of Dillen. There, at the top, was a picture of Dillen in her perfect little 5 year old refold and the words 'Student of the month: Dillen Slavin.' He also handed her a special patch to be attached to her gi. She didn't quite know what this meant but knew it was pretty special by our reactions. After dinner, we decided to head into the karate studio where the black belt/team demo class was taking place. Dillen's head instructor, Ms. Zeno, came to the lobby to greet and congratulate her - as did about 4 other students/student teachers Dillen knows. They surrounded her with hugs, high fives, congratulations and smiles - basically, Dillen was feeling the love. She was beyond happy. Ms. Zeno asked if she would like to watch a special demonstration and Dillen said yes. As Ms. Zeno took Dillen into the studio, she made the announcement to the class that "the student of the month would like to see a demonstration." The two students who performed did an awesome job and Dillen's eyes were glued to them. When it was over, Dillen quickly responded, "That was really cool!" :)

Here are some pictures from the night Dillen received her yellow belt:

Posted by sean at 8:09 PM | Permalink