4D

Hello All,

For those patient followers, there is going to be a VERY special treat at the end of this blog entry. Josh and I have barely recovered from our most recent trip home, and we will be getting back to the grind tomorrow. We both went home for the family shower for Henri and Emma. It was great to be home and see everyone and I had a wonderful time at the shower. A big shout out to my mom and dad who really put together a beautiful shower. Speaking of beautiful.....my mom and dad celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary on Sunday. That same day Josh and I took our parents and siblings to a place called BecomingMom. It was a chance for everyone to experience an ultrasound with Henri. Henri was exceptionally active and really gave everyone a show. He yawned very big during the exam and did plenty of moving!! I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I also got to see the 4D ultrasound of Emma while I was home and it makes me even more excited to really see her once she gets here. Another shout out is in order. My brother and sister-in-law are two of the most gracious people. They have shared the "pregnancy spotlight" with Josh and I with grace and understanding and we are so thankful for that. Henri will turn 28 weeks this Thursday and seems to be growing beautifully. The next big hurdle will be the glucose tolerance test and it will come in a week and a half! We hope this entry finds everyone well and looking forward to celebrating the July 4th weekend! Hope you really enjoy these 4D photos of Henri!

This was one of the first 4D images we captured of Henri. The view is of the left side of his face as he is nuzzled into his placenta.

Another great view of his face from a greater distance. His eyes are shut and his left arm is out across his belly.

As I said, He was very active during this ultrasound. Here he is contemplating life already. His left hand is up under his chin as if to say "What in the world are you all staring at me like this for?" The black spot on his head is just shadowing from placement of the probe.

Shower for Henri

For those of you who have suffered with so few posts recently, we are making up ground today! This is the third and final post for the weekend. On Saturday several of my gorgeous friends had a baby shower for Josh, Henri, and I. It was at Tara's house and Wendi, Shannon, Laura, and Mary Jane also pitched in to make it perfect. The day was beautiful and the food was amazing. I tried grits for the first time, and they were delicious. We also had other amazing casseroles and dessert was from the cup cakery!!! The girls all made onsies for Henri, and they really put forth a lot of thought and effort. The amount of gifts that everyone gave was completely humbling to both Josh and I. Henri will definitely benefit from all of them! As good as all that loot and grub was, having my mom and sister in law here with the support everyone at the shower has given was the most important thing! It's so nice to have so many people who care about you and what is going on in your life. Girls.........thanks from the heart, I appreciate all of it more than I can show.

Here are Wendi, Laura, Lynn, and Courtney all working hard on making personalized onsies for Henri! They were all wonderful.

Shanny, Tara, Lynn, and Mary Jane are all working in this photo.

And the photo everyone at home has been waiting for!!! Katie suprised me by coming into town and mom thought to get a picture of us together belly to belly. I think these two cousins will have it made.

Nursery Progress

The nursery is coming along. Josh has really been hard at work getting things accomplished in the most difficult of circumstances. Our house is about 100 years old, so levels and plumb walls were completely overrated when our house was built. Having said that, Josh got a huge hurdle out of the way this weekend. The jacked up wall is now plumb, and the door to Henri's room is up and perfect. The next step is to finish the door striker plate and get the last few pieces of drywall up. After that comes the framing of the closet and hopefully within the next couple of weeks he will begin the mudding and sanding of the walls! It sounds like a lot and it is, but Josh is very patient to do things exactly perfect and I can't wait for everyone to see what an amazing job he has done with the final product!

Eventually we will get the knob up and paint the door white, but just having it up and level is a hugh step!

Anna Update!

So Anna is 17 months now and her vocabulary that was mostly non-existent the last time Josh and I were home (early February) includes octopus! She is really growing up to be a big girl. She has been to her first parade and her first water park adventure! We get to go home and see her in 3 weeks and we can't wait! In the interim, here are some photos of her nearly famous baby blues! Enjoy.

She is having a tough time deciding which comfort item she needs most. Her sippy cup or here blankie.

Enough said!

Introducing Henri Warren

Hello All,

Thanks so much for your patience with getting these ultrasound pictures up. There was a bit of technical difficulty, but Josh has taken care of it. There are only two pictures tonight with more in store for you. Thank you to everyone for the prayers and well wishes for Henri, we appreciate it very much! Hope you enjoy!


Here is a profile shot of Henri. Y0u are looking at his right side, head to the left, and his left arm up near his face. He really seemed to like this position during the ultrasound. Right now he weighs about 9-10 ounces.



And here is the picture people most request. Here is a shot looking from his bum up toward his head. His legs are in the frog position and there is no denying the obvious here!

Momma Mania

Happy Mother's Day!!
Josh and I want to send a happy mother's day out to all the moms in our lives, especially our own. We love you!
p.s. Four days until the ultrasound!!
~Josh and Mel

Phase IV

Hey guys,

So phase iv of the nursery is complete. That officially means that all of the old plaster is off the walls and we are ready to install the new drywall on the walls. One small hurdle first, moving all the outlets to more convenient places before we hang the drywall. Josh will have to run a few more wires for this project but will hopefully not find any snags in his way. On that note we should also say that we are 16 days away from the ultrasound!!! There won't be any pictures of this phase in the nursery because it doesn't look much different. However, Josh and I spent hours and hours this weekend working in the yard. Josh worked on getting the back yard ready for the new fence we are going to install and we both spent time planting new flowers in the landscaping out front. There are a few pictures of that, though I fear it does not do the amount of work that it took justice. Hope this finds everyone well. Quick shout out to John....we hope therapy is going well and you are recovering everyday. Quick shout out to Andrea......can't wait for you to get out of the hospital on Thursday.....here's hoping for a pft of 74!!

Josh picked these out to fill space in the front beds....he likes the "grassy" look to them. We planted the taller lillies behind them in between the liropas.

I picked the lilies and one of them has already bloomed, we just planted them on Sunday. I hope that means they will all do well this summer!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but we also put white new guinea impatiens between the azaleas up by the house. Those did really well last year and in a few weeks we expect them to really fill in the gaps between the azaleas.