Graduation!!!

On May 16, 2008 I graduated from college....YAY! I wasn't going to participate in the graduation ceremony since I was going to be 9 months pregnant; I wasn't even sure if I'd make it to graduation before having the baby. However, my mom talked me into it. I am very glad that I did participate. It was pretty neat and a very good closure to 6 years of college. We were all a little nervous with how Aleigha would do during the ceremony. She pleased us all and was very well behaved. I think it helped that I was sitting near the end and they had seats just a couple of rows back so if I turned around she was able to see me and wave to me. She was very quiet and well behaved. However, while they were announcing the names and presenting the diplomas, she had to go to the bathroom. She stood up on her chair, pulled down her dress panties and underwear and yelled, "POTTY!!" They were just one or two rows ahead of me and Chris was afraid if he took her out, he would miss me getting my diploma. So he decided it would be a better idea to put a diaper on her (we keep one or two on us at all times b/c she wears them during naps and bed times and ever in case she pees through all her underwear). However, Aleigha was HIGHLY offended by this...she grabbed the diaper and threw it and started screaming. Molly decided to take her to the bathroom rather than have her scream. They were able to make it back in plenty of time for me to walk across the stage. Other than that incident, she did very well. After the ceremony, my parents threw me a graduation party. They had lots of great food and lots of friends and family came to celebrate...it was a great time. I graduated with 2 degrees...a Regents Bachelor of Arts w/ an emphasis in psychology and an Associates of Applied Science: Board of Governors. I also graduated cum laude with just .06% from magna cum laude. I plan on being a substitute teacher for a couple of years while the little ones are still at home. In the mean time, I want to go back to school to complete my Elementary Education degree. Then I'd like to teach full time once our kids are in school themselves. However, we might decide to have a couple more children by then, so we'll just have to play things by ear. Being a wife and mother are the most important things to me. But I am glad I have a degree that I can fall back on if needed. I put a lot of emphasis on education and I want to be a good example to my children. Well, here are some pictures of graduation. Also, I threw some in some recent pics of Aleigha. Hope you enjoy.

Adorable pig-tails

She was getting upset because I was distracting her from watching tv

Very engrossed in "Little Bear"...she calls it "Teddy"

My beautiful Aleigha with her beautiful eyes and smile
(not to mention all the food over her face)

In her adorable Sailor dress

Hard at work...like Daddy

After graduation

My parents and I

"YAY MOMMY!!!! Way to Go!!"

My family

They have all been very supportive of me while I have gone to school.

Pop and Aleigha before graduation

Walking into graduation

Receiving my diploma from the dean

Graduation Picture

Update

Hey everyone! One of the perks that come along with a high risk pregnancy and high fluid is you get a weekly ultrasound. I have had 5 3D/4D ultrasounds and 2 2D ones earlier on. I had another ultra sound today and the baby corroborated very well. So I added some more. Good news is...he is heads down finally, and my fluid levels went down a little (still above avg). He is almost 7 lbs. (a little big for me). The doctor scheduled my induction date for June 2nd...so a little less than 2 weeks. I hope he comes earlier though. All these picture debuts are making me a little anxious. Not to mention...I am pretty miserable. But nonetheless, we are very excited and can't wait for our little guy. I hope you enjoy the pictures. They say you don't take nearly as many pictures with baby number 2 as you do your first child. Well, we can at least say that he is off to a good start with over 40 ultra sound pictures of him.

Baby Number 2

We finally were able to borrow a scanner from my parents...so we can show off our beautiful baby boy, before he's even born. I have had 6 ultrasounds so far. I will continue having an ultra sound every week since my fluid levels are high. As of today, May 13 2009, my fluid levels are at 26%...mainly making me really uncomfortable. The baby weighs 6 lbs 5 oz (3 oz heavier than Aleigha was when she was born...and he still has about 3 weeks to go.) I'm nervous that I will have to have a c-section if he gets too big. Also, he is in the transverse position (laying side ways across my stomach)....the worst position to be in when I go into labor. He still has time to flip though and since my fluid levels are high, he has plenty of room (which is a good thing about the high levels). However, if my water breaks on it's own (which is another symptom of the high fluid) and he hasn't flipped yet, then they will automatically do a c-section. There is too high of a chance that the cord will wrap around his neck. If I start having contractions and get to the hospital before my water breaks, then they will try to manually flip him. So right now, everything is up in the air. We'll just see how everything is when I go into labor. They will induce me at 39 weeks if he doesn't come before that. I'm really hoping he does come early though...I am sooo uncomfortable. We are still a little undecided about his name. We have narrowed the names to: Gabriel Christopher, Brenton Christopher, Brenton Gabriel, or Carter Matthew. I think we are leaning towards one of the Brenton's. I was at Aleigha's peditricians yesterday, and I was talking about the popularity of the names with one of his nurses...under the age of 2 years old (as patients) they have about 4 or 5 Gabriel's, 1 Carter (3 more over the age of 5), and no Brenton's. We don't want him to have a real popular name. All the names are still an option though...I suppose we will just have to see him to know. Well, I hope everyone enjoys the pictures of our litle baby boy. All of these pictures were taken last week at 35 1/2 weeks, May 6 2009. The first three are 4D and the last one is 3D. I wanted to post the 3D so that people can see the difference bwtn 4D and 3D. The technician told us that the only difference is there is motion for the 4D, therefore, making the baby look more "full"-which is more accurate.

His foot is up by his forehead-you can see his perfect 5 little toes

A half smile-you could see him smile perfectly during the ultra sound, but she couldn't get the full smile

His mouth open-looks like he's licking his arm

3D picture