Challenge from Chronic Admissions!

Nancy over at Chronic Admissions posted an awesome blog with a mind blowing stat and great challenge that I wanted to share.

Make sure to stop by her blog and tell her whether or not your up for the challenge:

It's Friday! and it's 76 and sunny. It's the perfect day to open all of the windows and let in the fresh spring air... especially after all of the humidity we've been having here in the Northeast. Even better would be to make this day an outdoor day. Take the kids outside for a nice game of tag or wiffleball or for a long bike ride. Not only will it bring you closer as a family (and tucker those kids right out), but it can save your life.

The American College of Cardiology released the results of a study finding that sitting for 6 hours or more a day is as deadly as smoking. Yup, smoking! So for all of you sitting at your desk reading this, GET UP. Women are 37% more likely to die sooner compared to those who sit for 3 hours or less a day. Men have a 17% greater risk of early death. You may think that this is completely out of your power if you have to work. But if you take breaks to stretch or if you do some of your work while walking on a treadmill, you will be making improvements. Sitting too much can cause heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and early death.

I don't know about you, but I'd like to avoid each of those things. I already have a few issues with my heart, but like my cardiologist said, one of my problems disappeared when I was picking up the pace on the treadmill. So, I ask you again - especially you CF parents or those of you with CF - join me on my new mission to improve my lungs, my heart and my overall health. I'm doing it for me and my girls. What about you?

It's a Girl!!! (and 3D-4D pics are crazy awesome)

So Peanut's been a little modest with us for the last couple of ultrasounds so we thought we'd try to get an even better view and made an appointment with a place that could do 3D-4D shots. Unfortunately, we still weren't able to get a clear "4D" shot of the goods, but now two separate ultrasound techs have told us they are 99.9% positive that we're having a little girl :)

We are so excited it's crazy!! We were of course happy to have either a girl or a boy, but just knowing for sure what we're cooking is nice. Now, I will say, we're going to hold off a bit on any purchases until we have another confirmation ultrasound in about 9 weeks and the reasons are two fold - still no absolute money shot and the biggest reason, we've read on too many message boards about couples being told that they were having a little girl at 19 weeks only to birth a boy 20 weeks later :) I mean, the techs did say 99.9% right?

The best news was that our lil' Peanut passed the anatomy scan with flying colors. She's growing right on target and all of her internal organs are looking fabulous.

Enjoy the pics and we'll of course post more pics as we get them (you can also be on the look out for a video as well)...

Thankful Thursday - Snorkeling and My Rock

Know what time it is? It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for a healthy little baby. Our 19-week scan yesterday went well and peanut is measuring just right, has all his organs (that they can see) and has an adorable little face! I am so very thankful to have a growing, flourishing little baby, and I hope he/she continues to develop just the way God has planned. Who knows if God has a little boy or a little girl in store for us...hopefully we'll find out today...but whatever peanut is will be just right!

I'm thankful for a great long weekend with family. The annual trip each year to Rocky Point, Mexico with Ronnie's entire extended family (about 40 in total) is always a blast. This year was no different. I am so thankful for such a wonderful family and such wonderful memories that are created each year. There is nothing like fun, sun and relaxation with an incredible family.

I'm SO very thankful that my hubby is always a rock and a voice of reason. We've had a few little hiccups the last few days (well, WE haven't had the hiccups, but this pregnant, overly emotional stress ball has) and Ronnie has calmed my anxious mind, been the voice of reason, and best of all, snuggled me when his wise words went in one ear and out the other...mannn, gotta love pregnancy hormones in an already emotional and high-strung woman (poor Ronnie!)

I'm thankful for my God. When I need something, anything, and I cry out to my God, I often wonder how people do it when they have no faith, no nada to cry out to. I'm glad I have someone bigger than me, and an even bigger and better rock than my incredible hubby. I'm not sure where we'd be without the faith we have!

Ronnie's List:

I'm so thankful that everything looked good on lil' Peanut's ultrasound yesterday! S/he has a great looking brain, heart, spine, bladder, kidneys, fingers, toes, hands, legs, feet and everything else. The lil' bugger is still being shy however and not giving us a clear shot of his/her genitalia so we're still wondering what the sex is. We have a 3D scan today, so we're very hopeful that we'll get some definite gender answers!

I'm thankful for the safe trip to and from Mexico for the whole family this past weekend. Every year about 35-40 of us head down to Rocky Point, Mexico for our annual "family reunion". Other than the occasional flat tire or speeding ticket, we've managed to go to and from without a hitch. This year was no different and I'm thankful that despite all of the warnings coming from our government about our friends to the south, we made it in and out safe and sound.

I'm thankful that I was able to experience God's wonderful underwater creation. Mandi and I had the chance to snorkel this weekend and it was absolutely wonderful. I hadn't been snorkeling since I was about 9, so I was eager to go again although I didn't really know what to expect (but quite honestly, my expectations were low). I was pleasantly surprised. I saw a ton of fish, sea urchins, corral and other cool stuff that I would have never seen had I not stuck my head under water. God is good and His creation is magnificent.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Thrown for a Loop

Sorry about the lack of postage guys. No, not stamps, but my inability to throw up some good blogs while I was on vacation. I of course had planned to write some sweet blogs to automatically post while we were gone, but that obviously didn't happen. FAIL. One BIG issue with being such a routine kind of a guy is that when my routine gets thrown off, everything else suffers as well. I hate that those who actually look forward to reading these things every day faithfully checked in only to find a big fat nada. To the four of you who actually come to this blog daily and enjoy reading the garble that I put on "paper" - I sincerely apologize and I promise to try and be better the next time my routine gets thrown for a loop.

I guess the best thing to do to get back on track is just to catch you guys up on what's been going on...

- Every single year my family goes to Rocky Point, Mexico for what I like to call the annual family reunion. Now, I'm not sure if you can call it a reunion since 90% of us see each other at least once a month, but saying "reunion" just makes it seem more official. The family has been going down there every year for the last 32 years. This year there were 42 of us, so when I say family, I mean BIG FAMILY. We actually had to rent two houses this year because we had a few additions due to my cousins wedding. Her and her now husband Matt have been dating for over 10 years and finally decided to "take the plunge" and tie the knot. It was nice having some of Matt's family there and also some cousins that usually can't make the trip were there because of the wedding. As always, it was a great time down in Mexico!

- Even though I was thrown from my routine, I still managed to get three treatments in every day I was there but one. The day that I only got two treatments in was the day we had a trip away from the house for a snorkeling adventure. Swimming around the ocean and breathing through that little tube actually proved to be a pretty good treatment based on the mucus I fed some fish with (eww, I know). Actually, it was pretty funny when Mandi first put on her snorkeling gear - she put on her mask and stuck the breathy thing in her mouth, took one breath and said, "Whoa, I feel like you". Hahaha, I love her.

- One thing we did manage to get on the blog was a poll about Peanut's sex. We still don't know whether we're having a boy or a girl, but we wanted to get your guy's take on it based on everything you've seen or just your gut feeling. We actually get the official results today, but it's not too late to vote. You can find the poll in the top left hand corner of this page. Go ahead and take a stab at it. As of the time I'm writing this, girl has the lead with 60% of the vote.

Well, just a little catch up blog for you guys. If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to ask and tune back in tomorrow to see what sex Peanut is. Thanks for bearing with me while I was out of the loop!!

Boy or Girl? Take the Poll!

We thought it would be fun to see what sex you guys think little peanut is by having you take a poll. We have tried our best to find out using stuff like "the ring test" and early ultrasounds, but so far, the results are inconclusive. So what do you think, boy or girl?

You can take the poll on the left side of this blog. Thanks guys!!

**Oh, by the way, we should know for sure on Wednesday and will make sure to fill you guys in :)