Landon's Baby Shower!

We had our baby shower today and it was so much fun. We had so many people at our house for a BBQ and a few games and presents! It was crazy looking around at all of the people who came out to celebrate Landon and our growing family. So many different parts of my life all in the same room. My siblings: Tarah, Kim and Craig. My good friend and Craig's fiancée Demarae. My best friends Emily and Josh and their girls, My friend Kelsey from High School, a few people from work, a few friends from Zumba, my long time friend Andréa and her Mom Amanda who is like a second mom to me and has been since Junior High. I feel so blessed to have so many people to celebrate with. Landon is one lucky little dude and he is already loved more than he could ever imagine.

My best friend Emily hosted the baby shower with the help from another good friend Kimmy. She put a lot of time in to planning the decorations and I loved them. I could tell she really wanted to make the day special for me. I am so thankful to have the friends that I have. They mean the world to me.

I decided to do a co-ed baby shower because I wanted the guys there to help cook the food. I figured since I have been craving BBQ for almost my entire pregnancy, it was fitting to have that for lunch at the baby shower. Thank you to my fiance Bill, our best friend Josh and my brother Craig for helping cook the food. You guys are awesome!

Carter and his story

This past week has been so crazy. My brother Carter has been fighting a type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma since March. He had an MRI on Tuesday May 29th which showed that the tumor in his leg had grown instead of shrunk. He has been doing chemo since March to try to shrink the tumor, but that was not the case. The doctor told my parents that they were more than likely going to have to amputate his left leg during surgery. They said if enough cells were dead they would try to save it. About an hour in to his surgery, the doctor called my parents and said they were for sure going to have to take the leg. A few hours later my 17 year old brother woke up without his left leg.

Carter before his surgery, visiting with some of our other younger brothers.

Another before surgery picture with our sister Taylor.

Carter's recovery is going very well. The doctor's at children's hospital say that he is a model patient and an inspiration to other cancer patients at the hospital. Carter has a long road of recovery ahead of him. He will continue to do chemo for many months to ensure the cancer does not spread to any other bones in his body. It will take his leg up to 5 months to heal before he will be fitted for a prosthetic limb. He faces up to a year or more of physical therapy and has many life changes ahead of him for the rest of his life. Carter has been very confident and loves to hear that so many people are supporting him in his fight. People who have never met Carter are reaching out to him and that means more to him than he can express.

Carter after surgery.

Aside from Carter's cancer, my family is facing a very hard time financially. My dad had to quit working in order to take Carter to his appointments each week and shortly after that my Mom was forced to resign from her job due to her hips. She will need both of her hips replaced this year and will not be able to work until she is recovered from that. My family lives 2 hours away from Children's hospital so gas is a huge finance for them along with household bills such as rent, car payments, food, and utilities. My siblings and I have set up fundraisers within the community to help them get through this hard time. Any help for them would be greatly appreciated, even if it is just reaching out to them to show them that you care.

There will be a Zumba benefit for Carter on Tuesday June 5th from 6pm-7:30pm, admission is donation only and all proceeds will go to the Howard household. For more information on this event, please go to http://www.facebook.com/makesha.hays#!/events/418316364865778/ if you cannot make this event and would still like to donate you can also visit www.carterscancerfoundation.org. Every little bit is appreciated.

28 weeks (7 Months already!)

How far along? 28 weeks

Total weight gain: up 20 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Some maternity and some regular clothes.
Stretch marks? None yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. :)
Sleep: Sleeping just fine for now.
Best moment this week: Finally getting all of the nursery furniture put together and doing our first loads of baby laundry. So much fun!
Miss Anything? My energy and motivation to be active. I'm still working out 3 times a week, but I'm quickly losing my motivation.
Movement: I have been feeling Landon move much more than kick the past few weeks. It's amazing to feel him rolling around.
Food cravings: Barbeque. Good thing this baby is a summer baby. :) I have also been craving frozen yogurt.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Most meat, but chicken is the worst.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: No, I still have a ways to go.
Symptoms: Mostly no energy. It's all I can do to make it through my 8 hour day at work to come home and pretend like I'm going to do something productive like laundry or cook dinner.
Belly Button in or out? Almost completely flat! :)
Wedding rings on or off? On during the day. I take them off at night because my hands swell up when I sleep.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I have my moments, but I've been mostly happy.
Looking forward to: My baby shower on June 16th and of course meeting my little guy in August.

I can't believe I'm starting my Third Trimester already. I feel like I have so much to do still, with not enough time. I'm sure I will feel that way for the rest of my life though. I'm thankful I no longer have to worry about the nursery and getting all of the furniture set up in the middle of summer. I finally washed and put away all of the clothes we have for Landon so far, so we have a good idea of what sizes we still need. I'm happy he will be born when it's somewhat nice outside, so we can just put him in onesies for a while. I'm ending my 4 day weekend from work and I feel like it went by way too quickly. I'm looking forward to my time off with Landon. I read that in your Third Trimester you have little energy, similar to the first trimester, but I'm hoping to find some motivation somewhere to keep up with Zumba. I feel so much better when I make myself do it and I have a lot of energy afterward.

Our first Official Blog Post.

First off, I just want to say that we have some amazing people in our lives and we are thankful for all of you. We have so much going on these days that a blog seems much more memorable and worthwhile than updating through facebook. Thank you for wanting to stay connected with us and our adventures. I would love to stay connected with all of you just as much. We will be posting about the baby and nursery and all of our family adventures as often as possible and I am so happy to have you all join us on our way. :)