It's an emotional week at the Kassel Household.  Over the weekend, it was finally nice enough to paint Laura's "big girl" bed.  Andy did a GREAT job.  He put it together on Sunday with some help from Laura.  She slept in it that night.  She did great and really seems to enjoy climbing in and out of her own bed.  Last night, Andy took her crib apart, signaling the end of the baby era for me.  I know we are having another one, but it's hard to believe that time has passed so quickly and Laura is almost 20 months old.  Time just moves along too fast.

On another high note, we had our morphology ultrasound today.  We are having a BOY!  John Michael Kassel is healthy and quite an active little guy.  It was great to see that he is developing normally and that all looks well.  He weighs about 11 ounces and all his measurements are right on target.  After the ultrasound, we had our regularly scheduled doctor appointment.  My blood pressure continues to hold steady at normal so that is a very good sign.  I'll begin weekly biophysical profiles (meaning monitoring of the baby's heart rate and ultrasounds) between 28 and 32 weeks.  Since I lost amniotic fluid so quickly with Laura and the doctor doesn't know why, it's necessary to make sure everything stays status quo.  The nice thing is that we get lots of ultrasounds and get to see him many times again before he is born. 

On a very low note, this is our final few days with Smokey.  We are having her put down on Friday.  Her quality of life has gotten very low and it is time.  Both Andy and I are having a very hard time with this and we have gone back and forth with this decision, but our heads know it is the right one to make.  She has been a great dog.  I will miss her constantly being under my feet and following me around all the time.  I will remember the dog that was so full of energy and loved to play.  She will be very much missed.