new blog address

We decided to switch blog domains and are now using Wordpress, instead of Blogger. The address to our blog is now: http://www.jeremyandkellie.wordpress.com.
Please change your bookmarks accordingly! The blog on blogger, will still be up for a while, but I will delete it soon, and all the new posts are now going on the new blog! Thanks!

10.5 weeks

I ended up having to go to work for a couple of hours this evening. I was hoping to get called off for the entire shift, but there were too many Christmas babies. Well, I was only at work for 2 hours and then got to come home, but before I left I took a little peek at our baby :). I took a video on my phone. I know it is hard to tell what you are looking at; the babies head is to the left and the feet are to the right, and it is laying on its back. And its moving like crazy!

10.5 weeks from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

backtracking a bit

Since I have been completely blog lazy, I feel like I need to update on a few things that happened in between the past two posts.
Thing #1: We took a great trip to Iowa with Jeremy's parents to go visit all of their extended family. We went in the middle of October. It was about a 9 hour drive, which I was a little hesitant to do with Liam, but overall he did VERY well. I still continue to swear by our portable dvd player, that I know keeps us sane on long road trips with him :). Jeremy's parents rented a cute little cabin in Clear Lake, Iowa. It was a great place to be able to go for Liam's naps, and when we needed some down time, and great to spend time with Jeremy's parents. Jeremy's grandparents, and many of his aunts and uncles came down for our wedding (I feel like that was forever ago), but we hadn't seen any of them since then so it was nice to able to see all of them again, and to meet the ones I hadn't met yet. No one had met Liam yet, so of course he was the center of attention :) Liam enjoyed running in the tall rows of corn at grandpa Oscar's farm, and picking apples from the apple tree :). On the way home we got to visit grandma and grandpa Birkey in Des Moines!

Thing #2: We flew to Houston, TX for Thanksgiving! Liam is well traveled for being 19 months old :). Our whole family (with the exception of Dathan and Elizabeth), went to Texas to be with John and Erika for Thanksgiving. We did this two years ago also...I think we should just go ahead and make it a yearly tradition. We had an amazing time, and Liam LOVED it down there. We took him to the beach for the first time, and he could have stayed there all day, chasing birds and dodging the washed up jellyfish :). 2 years ago when we went I was 12 weeks pregnant with Liam, and still not feeling the greatest. So I was looking forward to enjoying this trip, and not being pregnant. HA! That didn't happen, but praise the Lord, my morning sickness has been much more bearable with this pregnancy so far. The main things we did were, the beach, shopping and the Kemah boardwalk. Oh, and a few of us adults went to NASA one afternoon. There is SO much to do down there, you really have to pick and choose. The Saturday before we came home, our family got to meet my Aunt Korrene and Uncle Michael (my dad's sister) at Kemah for lunch, since they just live in Houston. So that was definitely an added bonus! We were very nervous flying with Liam for the first time, but he was a champ, and is now completely obsessed...I mean OBSESSED, with airplanes. Perfect. I mean, that is a pretty cheap hobby :).

blog neglect...but big announcement!

It is quite ridiculous how long it has been since I have posted anything on here! I am going to do a better job. Well I figure, since its been a couple months since posting, I might as well come back with a bang! So here it is...Looks like we are going to be adding another little one to our family in July, and Liam is going to be a BIG brother! :). We are SO very excited. We found out quite a while ago, and I am very proud of myself for keeping it somewhat of a secret until now! I am 10 weeks pregnant today. We are due on July 19th, which seems like SO far away. But honestly, right now, that date can just take its time getting here, because Liam has a little bit of growing up to do before this little one comes :)

So far he seems pretty excited. I know he doesn't understand even a tenth of what this really means. But he does understand that there is a baby in my belly. He will come up to my belly and kiss it, and say, hi baby. It is pretty sweet. Although, he also thinks there is a baby in his belly...I'm sure he will get it all sorted out soon :) Ha! Liam and this little one will be a little over 2 years apart, which I'm hoping will be a good distance. I have a feeling it will be more than we bargained for, for quite a while, but hopefully we can make the adjustment smoothly.

I will already answer one question you might have...yes there is just ONE! By looking at the picture below, you might think I am further along than I am, or that I am carrying more than one baby. But praise the Lord there is only one :). Trust me, I have looked several times :). I guess that this is just how I carry my babies...very big. I did the same thing with Liam when I was this early, and everyone asked, are you sure you aren't having twins? So I might as well prepare myself for that question this whole pregnancy too. The other picture, is one we just took at work when I was 9 weeks along. You can see the little "nubs" for arms and legs on the baby :) When we looked yesterday it was flailing its arms around everywhere and spinning in circles. Its a feisty one :) We did have our first official appointement with our Dr when I was 8 weeks pregnant, with our first "official" sonogram. He said everything looked great, and was growing right on schedule.

Now...here's for keeping this thing updated more often :)

update on liam

Well we had Liam's cardiology appointment Wednesday morning, and it went well. Basically the cardiologist reassured us, that most likely, this is nothing to be concerned about. There still is that little MOST LIKELY factor that bothers me a little. He wanted to make sure Liam was acting and playing like a normal toddler...we reassured him that this is NOT a problem :).

Let me just start out by saying how proud of Liam I was. The first thing they did was a 12 lead EKG, which involves putting 12 little stickers all over his body, and then attaching a wire to each sticker. From this they can see a read out of your heart rhythm. You have to hold very still while they do this so they can get a good reading, (you can imagine how this might be hard with a 16 month old), but he did a great job! I think he was pretty scared, so he just laid really still and looked around, wondering what in the heck was going on. The EKG confirmed that he does still have an irregular heartbeat, that is "trigeminal". This meaning, he has an irregular beat (called a PVC), that happens every third beat. The reassuring part of this is that, when he is active and his heartrate speeds up, the PVC's slow way down and sometimes, go away all together. This is very good, that they don't speed up when his heart speeds up.

The second thing they did at the appointment was an echocardiogram (a sonogram of the heart). This was the check the size of his heart, the condition of the muscle of the heart, the bloodflow, and to confirm that there was no fluid around the heart. All of this came back normal. Praise the Lord! He said that Liam's heart muscle looked very good, and shows no signs of damage. So then, he drew us a picture :). There are two nodes in your heart that fire the electrical impulses (the SA node, and the AV node). Liam has an extra little node somewhere between these two that wants to misfire, every third beat. And according to Dr. Allen, this is nothing to be concerned with at this time. He said that he sees about 3-4 kids a month that come in with this, and usually the irregular beats just resolve on their own. They don't know what causes them or how to prevent them, they just happen. He did say there was a rare chance that this can be a warning sign of an event in the future, but there is no way to know if this is the case. This a very very slim chance. In the meantime, Liam cannot have large amounts of chocolate, any caffeine, or over-the-counter cough or cold medicines (basically anything that would artifically speed up the rate of his heart). We are going to follow up with Dr. Allen in 6 months and they will probably do these same tests again and see how things are progressing.

So, overall, it was a very reassuring appointment. There still is that small chance, that something bigger could be wrong, but we are just putting our trust in the Lord, that Liam is just fine :). Dr Allen also talked with a pediatric rhythm specialist, about Liam, and he recommended the same plan of care at this time. So that was very reassuring to us. Thanks so much for everyones thoughts and prayers :)

First haircut!!

Before. Try not to look directly
at the mullet. Its bad.

















After pictures...
MUCH better :)
















Despite the fact that he looks
approximately 3 years old now,
I love the new hair cut :)

please pray

Just a quick update, because I want everyone who reads this blog to be praying. My friend Sarah (from work) is going through one of the hardest losses I can ever imagine. Her husband just died a couple hours ago. He was the sheriff's deputy that was shot earlier this afternoon in east Wichita. She has a little girl whose name is Natalie, who is 2 years old. I cannot even BEGIN to fathom what she is going through right now, and I so badly want to do something to help, but I know all that is going to help her right now is for people to be praying for her. I know the only possibly way Sarah can find comfort during this time is through Jesus, so that is what I am praying for. Sarah and her mom Diane are both nurses on our unit. I was supposed to be working tonight, but got put on call because it is slow, which I'm sure is a huge blessing, because I'm not sure how anyone up there is functioning right now. Please keep them in your prayers.

our latest drama...

It has been a while since I have had a chance to update! Now there is actually something worth updating about :) Just asking for a few prayers...this past Thursday Liam choked/gagged on a piece of an apple. But he seemed just fine afterwards...well soon afterwards he started vomiting, and he couldn't swallow any food with any success so we talked with the pediatrician and he wanted us to take him to the immediate care. We were thinking there was probably still an obstruction from when he gagged earlier. Well before we even saw the doctor at immediate care, Liam had the "obstruction" taken care of :). But then she came in to see him, and found that he has an irregular heartbeat. Which lead to more tests...he had an EKG a chest x-ray and an abdominal x-ray. Not one of my favorite moments as a mom, watching him go through all of that, all though I thought he was very cooperative for the most part. I was pretty proud of him. Anyways...the pediatric cardiologist read the EKG and didn't think it was anything to get too concerned about, but wanted us to follow up with our doctor. The chest and abdominal x-ray came back looking normal. So the next day we went and saw our pediatrician, and he confirmed the irregular heartbeat, and set us up with an appointment to see a pediatric cardiologist on October 7th. He also, does not think it is anything to worry about, but would rather have it checked out just to be sure. These things can be caused by a virus or multiple other things, and they usually resolve on their own, but we will get it checked just in case! So a few prayers would be appreciated :). He is perfectly fine now. Running around and being as ornery as EVER. He is quite the handful right now. Here is a pic of him getting his EKG. It was quite a challege to get the test run before he pulled all the wires off :) A BIG thanks goes out to my mom for meeting Liam and I at immediate care and hanging out with us for the 3 hours we were there :) I think at the end of it all, grandma was a little more traumatized than Liam was :)

sweet cousins

We have gotten to spend a lot of time with Michele and girls in the past couple weeks before "brothie" was born. It has been great!! Sophie, Lili and Liam play SO well together, it is fun to watch. Now that brothie (I guess he does have a name now...Miles!) is here they will have another little play mate in a few months :) At least the boys can stick together now :).
This video is probably my favorite video so far. The two girls pushing Liam around in the swing might seem like torture, but don't be fooled, he loved EVERY second of it! They are becoming quite great play mates.

sweet cousins from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

wrestling with daddy

This video shows a favorite activity that goes on at our house pretty frequently :). I just love how much these two love each other. We sure are missing Jeremy right now. He is in Indianapolis at his "nerd convention" as I like to call it. I'm glad he was able to get away for a little while and take a break. He has been working so hard at work, he deserved some time off. But we sure do miss him!

wrestling from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

mommy and daddy fun

tickle tickle

We have had a lot of videos lately :) Here is another one. He has just been doing/saying too many cute things lately!

tickle from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Blowin Bubbles and Slidin

1, 2, 3, GO! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Blowin Bubbles! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

lil stinker

Thought maybe I should put an update up that isn't just pictures. Although I know the pictures are pretty cute (I could be biased), maybe everyone would like to know what Liam is up to these days.

One new "fun" (for him) thing he has learned how to do is open the trash can! Oh, and throw things in it :) I frequently find his toys and i-pod in the trash can. Luckily he has not learned that opening the toilet lid is the same concept. I'm not quite ready for things to be thrown in there. A few things that he has been doing for quite a while, but are still annoying, are taking books off of the bookshelf, playing in and eating Emmett's dog food, and playing with the dvd's and dvd player. Not sure how I am going to break the dog food thing. He is obsessed with it! And the poor dog has to eat, so its not like I can put it up where he can't reach it. In the past week he will walk into the laundry room where the dog food is at, and I will tell him no (like I always do), and he will stand there and stare at it (and at me, while I am trying not to smile), then walk away. So I guess its a step in the right direction. That is something I need to work on...my poker face. Lots of the bad things he does are just too dang cute, so I try not to smile so I don't egg it on, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.

There are lots of not naughty things he is doing also :). He LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He has played this game for quite a while but now when he pulls the blanket off his face he says "pee-boo!" Its pretty adorable. He is getting much more verbal. Pee-boo, is one of his many words now. He also says, mommy, daddy, doggie, puppy, yo!, yeah, no, baby, hi, bye-bye, papa, bird, bubble. I'm sure there are a few more that I am forgetting, but the point being he is sure starting to talk a lot more! We love it! You might have noticed in the list of words was the word, Yo! Jeremy taught him to say that the other day. Now when he sees someone and gets excited, he will say, "Yo!" Its pretty cute.

Lets see...he has just recently learned to climb up into his little kid chairs. He gets up in there and is so proud of himself. He gets a big smile on his face and claps :). He is also very good at throwing balls now. It is pretty fun to play catch with him, because he gets so proud of himself when he catches it! Another fun thing he is doing is, signing. We have been trying to teach him some baby sign language, and he is finally starting to catch on a little! He will do the sign for sleep, when he is tired. He also does the signs for more, ball and shoes. It is just amazing to watch him figure things out and watch it finally click. I like to think he is a pretty smart boy :)

I will end with a traumatic story :) Not sure who it was more traumatic for, me or Liam. Yesterday afternoon Liam was taking his afternoon nap and I peeked in to check on him, and I thought it was really cute that he had fallen asleep with his leg all the way through the slat of the crib. Then about 30 minutes later he starts crying on and off so I peek in on him again, but he is in the same position, so I thought he was just fussing in his sleep. But the crying continued, so I went in there. He was awake and saw me at the door, but instead of jumping up, like he usually would, he just laid there and stared at me. That was panic attack number 1. I get over to his crib and realize his leg is pretty well jammed in between the crib slats. So I start trying to wiggle it out and its not budging. Panic attack number 2. So I yell at Jeremy to come in and help me and we are both tugging and pulling on his leg trying to get it out. By this time he is screaming (I'm sure it didn't feel good), and I am on the verge of tears, so I climb in the crib with him to attempt to keep him calm (ok, and me), while we try to get his leg free. After trying for what felt like 20 minutes I am yelling at Jeremy to go get saw and saw the crib apart. I guess that would be panic attack number 3. Thank goodness he DIDN'T listen to me, and instead of got a tub of butter. After applying some butter to his leg it slid right out. Poor Liam had a bruised and swollen knee/upper thigh to show for it. But after the incident he was walking and climbing on everything like nothing happened. So I gave him some ibuprofen and iced his knee, and called it good.

14 Months

Can't believe our baby is 14 months old already...he cooperated for a photo shoot :)

MO Vacay

We had a wonderful little family vacation to the Branson area to see Erin. It was a MUCH needed vacation for everyone I think. Especially Erin. We left Sunday, the 12th and came back on the 15th. Erin got off at 6:15 Sunday evening and had to be back 6:15 Tuesday evening. This was here ONE 48 hour break of the summer. ONE. Yeah, she works really hard. We spent the two days we had with her just relaxing at the condo that mom and dad rented. It was really rainy both days we were there, which was marvelous, because it meant that it was not painfully hot. We did a little shopping at the outlet mall and Branson Landing, but other than that we just enjoyed each other's company. Which was wonderful since we hadn't seen Erin since May, and she isn't come back until August. She couldn't believe how big Liam was. He has grown and changed so much since she saw him last! Tuesday evening when she went back, Jeremy, Hill and I got to go back to camp with her for the evening. It was great to see where she has been working the past two summers, and put some people's faces with names :). Everyone we met, just told us what an amazing person Erin is, and how she run's the camp, and how things don't run smoothly when she is not there :) We got to help her set up for one of her parties that she throws for the kids, and then she took us out on the lake on one of their boats. Then we had to say goodbye. That was the not-so-fun part. It was great to see her while we could!! We miss her so so much, and can't wait to have her back here....at least for a little while...after camp.



Our two children that we took :) ha ha.
One is more high-maintenance than the
other..you pick :)













All us "kids"








Erin, Hill and I on our failed
attempt at paddle boating









Aunt Erin and Liam. He missed her :)










Eating at Shorty Small's on
the lake












It was pouring rain and Liam found
a puddle. He splashed in it for about
10 minutes, laughing the whole time.
















Siblings :) This was when we
went back to camp with Erin












Me and my sister :)
I miss her so much.













Me and Hill waitin on Erin.
We worked REALLY hard :)













On the boat with Erin. She is
a pretty legit boat driver.

fishin buddies

I think papa has a new fishin buddy :) Liam LOVED touching the fish that they caught. No fear. And coming soon...pic's from our vacation to Missouri to see Erin.

No Holds Barred

This was the title of my daily devo that I read yesterday...I wanted to share, because I LOVED it.
It is out of Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning.

"What the world longs for from the Christian religion is the witness of men and women daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burned in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how unreal they are. Jesus, Son of the living God, anoint us with fire this day. Let your Word not shine in our hearts, but let it burn. Let there be no division, compromise, or holding back. Seperate the mystics from the romantics, and goad us to that daredevil leap into the abyss of your love."

I loved the simplicity of the message. Yet, it seems to hit the nail right on the head. A great motivation for how we should be living.

nike+

So I have decided it is time for me to stay dedicated to something, for once in my life. Maybe I will actually do it, because I really do love the concept. I have started working out with nikeplus.com. I have put quite a bit of money into it, so that is also motivation to keep going :). Visit the website and check it out, its pretty neat. You have to buy nike+ shoes, and then you buy a sensor that goes in the bottom of the shoe. The sensor comes with the attachment for your iPod. Then you start to run. The iPod and the sensor talk to eachother while you are running (or walking), and it keeps track of your distance, calories burned, average pace, and your time. You can listen to your music on your iPod while you are working out, and a little voice will interrupt every once and a while to update you on how much time you have left. Once you are done working out you plug your iPod into your computer and it automatically puts your workout onto the nikeplus website. On the website it graphs out your runs. Its pretty neat. The feature that I am LOVING is the training feature. I am doing their "walk-run" training. It is for people who are trying to get back into running again. So every day, it tells you exactly what you need to do, in order to build up to 25 minutes of running at the end of 12 weeks. And for me that is really helpful. I need something to tell me exactly what I need to do. Then it keeps track of all your runs in your training. You can also set goals for yourself, and it will keep you updated on how far ahead, or behind you are on reaching your goal. Mine is to work out 48 times in 12 weeks. If you are already an avid runner, you can do their other types of training. You can train for a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or full marathon. And it will tell you exactly what you need to do everyday in order to be ready for your race!

Anyways...just thought I would share what I have started. I am hoping to stick with it. So far I have done 5 days in a row..its a start right? :) So how long does it take to establish a habit? I am hoping not very long :) Today is my day off, according to the training. They give you ONE day off a week. So generous of them.

Speaking of iPods..Liam's new word is iPod. It comes out more like, "i-ba". But he is pretty cute carrying around his iPod, and trying to say the word.

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