The Kowalski Family Proudly Announces...

...that we are NOT having a tadpole or an alien!! (Much to Grants relief) I think there were more bets going on over the sex of our baby than about the NCAA basketball tournament! Tim's side of the family apparently jumped on the "twins" bandwagon with Tim, and Papa Kowalski said we need another boy in the family. Uncle Mike, Auntie Mita and Jared all voted 'boy'. My entire side of the family said 'girl'. Most of our friends also said 'girl'. My mom changed her vote to 'boy' the morning of the ultrasound. I have said 'boy' from the beginning. Well the wait is over...we have an answer!! There will be another BOY joining our family this summer!! We couldn't be more thrilled and Grant is overjoyed! He is already planning all the things he's going to teach his little brother. (i.e. 'Kung-Fu', basketball, fishing, and most of all, how to not like Kenny Chesney - much to my disapproval :) We have included a picture of our 'boy', although how the ultrasound tech came to this conclusion is beyond me. I had to have her explain it to me a couple of times!! Tim still doesn't 'see' the angle. Grant just wants to know "what's inside the circle?" Please continue to pray for us and especially me because the level of testosterone is about to go up again in our home!

Watch me grow!

We went for our very first ultrasound December 18th. The baby was just a speck on the screen - thus the arrow, since I couldn't seem to fnd my own child on the monitor! What kind of mother am I?? Before the Oakwood Fertility Center would release me to my OBGYN's care (they just help you get pregnant then turn you loose), I had to have another ultrasound to make sure everything was O.K. This one was only two weeks later, and look at the difference! The baby was already moving around and waving it's arm at us! We were amazed at the changes that were already occuring. The final ultrasound (barring any unforseen circumstances) was on March 20th. We are 20 weeks along - halfway there! I can't believe after all this time we are in the final stretch. I am trying to enjoy and remember everything about this pregnancy. I don't want to take anything for granted! Anyways, we had so much fun at the last scan. Grant went with us to "see" the baby for the first time. He couldn't understand why the baby wasn't in color and went on to ask if it was black and white inside my belly too. But, the real question was...Boy or girl?

Grant has Concerns!

Experiencing pregnancy with an inquisitive seven year old along for the ride has definitely been amusing! I have been trying to make sure I give Grant a 'heads-up' as new, weird and exciting pregnancy changes come up. He Does Not like change, so I knew he was going to have major concerns. Well, so far things have been going smoothly, until one day he came home from school and announced that all mammals have belly buttons. Once again, this was a fact that I was not aware of, so I was very impressed. A couple of days later, he noticed (He notices EVERYTHING!) that my belly button was starting to disappear. After thinking on this for awhile, he came to me with a very serious concern...Apparently the conclusion he had come to was that once my belly button had completely flattened out, I was no longer going to be a mammal! What does that make me? A reptile? A fish? I mean seriously, who thinks of these things?! Most of the time I have absolutely no idea what to say to him, but this time I am pleased to say, I could reassure him with the utmost confidence that in fact I am, and will always be a Mammal!!

Science Fair is a Huge Success!

Grant has been eagerly anticipating Science Fair for the last month! His class has been studying 'under the sea', and it seems like I am learning just as much as he is. For instance, did you know that a manta ray 'jumps' 15 feet in the air to give birth?! Well I sure didn't. Tim did try to convince Grant that I would be doing the same thing!! Anyways, the big day came and wouldn't you know it...I got the stomach flu! Poor Grant kept trying to convince me that I could make it, but needless to say, it was impossible. So Tim packed up Grant and they headed to 'the Fair'. Auntie Mita showed up to lend her support and Grant was thrilled! The highlight of the night was Grants 'Under the Sea' poster that he had worked so hard on with Tim. We are so lucky that Tim is so creative and can draw almost anything. If Grant had to rely on me for that, we would be "up a creek without a paddle"! (I contributed by cutting out the sea creatures that Tim drew!) Tim and Grant had so much fun together working on the poster, and it turned out great!

Good News! Good News!

Since I last "blogged" my grandma has received some very good news! All of her scans came back clean, so in other words, the cancer is only in her lung. We are praising God for this wonderful miracle! She has two more tests to go through tomorrow, the 25th, and if the results are good, her surgery is scheduled for April 2nd. The doctors told her she would be in the hospital about a week, but the full recovery time is about two months. She is already talking about having her hip replaced as soon as she recovers! Thank you to all who have been praying, please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Update on Gram

The schedule of events for this week has already changed dramatically! Sometimes I think I'm the last to know anything. My mom has been filling me in on all of the details that I'm behind on. Gram has already seen the oncologist...The type of cancer that she has is neither aggressive nor non-aggressive. I guess it is somewhere in the middle. It is stage 1 - which I believe is pretty positive. The negative side is that this particular type of cancer like to move to the brain or bones. She went for the PET scan yesterday, and a brain and bone scan today. Between these tests they will be able to see if it has spread to any other part of her body. This particular oncologist wishes to try to remove the upper lobe of her lung (that's where the mass is), then determine from there if radiation or chemotherapy is needed. All of this could change when we get the results back from the scans, if the cancer is elsewhere. Needless to say, Gram could be in surgery as early as next week or the week after. Please continue to pray and I will update as soon as I have any more information.

Gram needs prayer

Recently, we found out that my grandmother has lung cancer. We were rather taken aback because she was just undergoing routine tests before she had hip replacement surgery when they discovered a mass in her right lung on a CAT scan. She will be having a full body scan this Tuesday the 11th and on Thursday the 13th she will meet with an oncologist for the recommended course of action. Please join me in praying that the cancer is not only contained and can be removed through surgery, but also that she will have the strength to fight this battle and that our family can be strong for her during this tough time. Thank you for your concern and prayers!

18 Weeks and Still Growing!

O.K. everyone...I have entered the world of "blogging"! Don't be too shocked, or too excited yet because I'm just getting started. Becky Rodd has graciously offered to help me (poor her)...So here goes nothing...I guess I'll begin with our most recent news...This is a picture of my growing waistline (after a brownie sundae). For those of you who may not already know, after many years of waiting - sometimes not so patiently- our prayers have been answered! We are going to have a baby!! Our due date is August 10th - another summer baby! But the date that we are all eagerly awaiting is March 20th. That is the day we find out if the baby is a boy or girl. Grant is definitely on the "boy team", Tim is still holding out for twins, and I change my mind almost every other day. I'm just praying that it's not a tadpole or alien! (Grant says that is what the pictures of babies look like in the early stages!)