Sunshine and Smiles.

That's what yesterday was full of and it was awesome. It was 72 degrees, sunny, and absolutely beautiful. We had so much fun on the first really acceptably warm day to take the boys to the little play park in our neighborhood. We have an awesome swingset in our backyard, but because the yard slopes down it was still a little bit too muddy back there for them to gallop around (although first thing this morning Riley looked out the blinds at the swingset in the backyard and asked to go outside and play, haha). 

pulling Hayden back on the swing, which he thought was absolutely HILARIOUS

he loves swinging - bar none, one of this most favorite things ever

I was super proud of Riley because last year he had this big phobia of going down slides. He just refused to do it. When I got him out of the car he literally bolted towards the playground and immediately wanted to go down the slide - with his brother no less.

aren't they the sweetest little things ever?

dirty mulch hands. which had to be carefully examined

Riley found a bag of Christmas lightbulbs at the park, which he also had to carefully examine

Oh and Riley met a girl. A super cute little blonde girl and her equally adorable red-headed baby sister. He was so cute and bashful as he talked to her with his little shy smile.

In any event, the day was great. My mama came over to take Riley to school since Hayden's post-op appointment was at 11:45 (and he goes to school at noon). She said when she dropped him off Riley wanted a kiss and a hug. Then he was waving at her as she walked away and he was blowing her kisses, which made her teary eyed. Little stinker doesn't even blow mama kisses when I drop him off for school!

Speaking of appointments, wee man's appointment went great! Dr. Cain said he was healing up perfectly and everything looks wonderful! Phew. Dr. Cain said unless there was a reason he needed to see me back, I didn't need to see him again. No offense Dr. Cain, but I hope we don't need to anymore either. 

Next up on the agenda is my next appointment with Dr. Schubert at IU on the 25th. I have some concerns to talk with him about, namely some pretty excruciating back pain I am experiencing on my left side (and left side only) and some pretty intense pressure I have been feeling. I am sure its nothing, but I want to at least double check. Lukas hasn't been moving a whole lot the past couple of days either, which I want to talk with him about. I rarely ever feel him during the day - I mean like at all. But then he will start moving around a little in the evening to let me know he's okay. I know he is getting bigger and there is less room for him to move about in there so maybe I am being overly cautious. Nonetheless, having appointments every two weeks now seems strange. Hard to believe we are at that point already. It definitely makes it go by so much faster. 

And guess what? We are 28 weeks today! Dr. Schubert said ideally he would like to get me to 39 weeks so Lukas is a little bigger, which is a good thing. That means I might be pregnant for only 11 more weeks. That just boggles my mind. I have tried so hard to savor these last weeks since we found out. At first it seemed like a cruel joke in some ways. Like this experience tainted the remainder of my pregnancy. That way of thinking has changed of course. Now I just want to get him here safe and secure and I really want to soak up ever second of our precious time together, despite everything else. This pregnancy isn't tainted at all, its just more complex than what I am used to. And that's totally okay because Lukas is worth it!

Here is a slightly different belly picture for you. Its me at the park taking a load off while I watched my little boys run around and laugh with one another. Kind of crazy how much that little belly is sticking out there now, but I love it =)

Have a happy weekend friends! Be safe and have some fun and as always please keep praying for our sweet boy!