Saturday, December 29, 2012

Pregnancy Update

I've had a few pregnancy milestones that I wanted to document. The day before our gender reveal ultrasound, Jared felt the baby kick for the first time. This was even earlier than I first felt Paxton, so it was kind of surprising and really neat. I think this time he just knew what to feel for.

Yesterday (22 weeks) was the first time we have been able to watch the baby move from the outside. It was really neat to just lay there and watch my stomach jiggle. The baby movements are by far my favorite part of pregnancy.

We have pretty much decided on a name but are trying it out for awhile and comparing it to our other choice before we announce it.

I have been craving chocolate malts from Braum's the past few weeks...pretty much every night.

At my last appointment, my blood pressure was pretty high. Since I had high blood pressure with Paxton also, I am supposed to keep a log and I will probably end up on medicine for it before too long. With Pax it never turned into preeclampsia so that was lucky...hopefully that is the case this time too. His heart rate was 144bpm and he is measuring right on track.

This baby is a lot more active than I remember Paxton being. I remember feeling Paxton move for a few minutes at a time about every hour. With this baby, I feel him move all the time.

I know this picture is super blurry, but I crack up every time I see it. I love the little photo bomb:


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Friday, December 28, 2012

This Christmas

Our first Christmas this year was Sunday night (the 23rd) at Granny V's house. She cooked an amazing dinner with ham, potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls. Paxton decided he would rather have something else so he ate an entire can of
mandarin oranges. After dinner, we hit the presents.

Paxton's favorite thing was this little bear that plays peekaboo.


He figured out the secret.


Paxton also got some baby Toms, clothes, a Buzz Lightyear car that he is obsessed with, a Mickey DVD and a little table.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Granny Pat's house for Ted's and more presents. Paxton got an Elmo chair...


And clothes, a dancing Mickey, a trike and some pajamas.

That night,we went over to Granny's house. Paxton wore his train sweater vest.


He was so good over there. He just walked around eating crackers and being sweet. We were really proud of him.

We came home, changed into Christmas pajamas and went to bed.

In the morning, we went in to see what Santa brought:


Paxton tried on his Elmo slippers:


Hammered at his tool bench:


And played with his dump truck:


After we opened presents, we headed to Gramsy's. It had started snowing by then.

Paxton got some bubbles that he was super excited about.


He woke up sick that morning, he was kind of wheezy and had a cough. We could tell he just didn't feel good. He went down for his nap after just a few presents.

When he woke up, he had a huge pile of presents to play with, but he was more excited about looking at the dog and the snow. It was his first white Christmas!


Paxton got a Mickey table, lots of clothes, some cool Nikes, blocks, an OU Mickey, a castle, and a basketball goal.

It was a great Christmas! Paxton was spoiled, even Baby #2 got several presents, and more importantly, we got to spend lots of time with our whole families!

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Snow Day!

This year, the meteorologists were predicting a huge snow storm on Christmas Day.  We did have a white Christmas, but it was definitely not a big snow storm...there probably wasn't even a half inch.

Then, on Friday morning, I woke up and looked out the window and our back yard was white.  I couldn't remember if I had looked out the back window since Christmas, so I wasn't sure if it was still just leftover snow from Christmas...but it looked like a lot more! I looked into the front and knew that it had snowed that morning.  We were shocked because snow is a big deal here and if it's predicted then it's all anyone talks about and it is big news.  We hadn't heard anything about this.  It turned out that it was a surprise to pretty much everyone!

It kept snowing the rest of the morning.  Since Paxton hadn't gotten to go out in the snow on Christmas because he was a little wheezy and not feeling good, we knew we had to take him out.  We bundled him up and headed into the back yard.
 He loved it!  He ran around everywhere in it, and laughed at Scarlett because she freaks out in the snow.
 He played in it a little bit, but then he found his bubbles and just wanted us to blow them.
It was fun to see how much he has changed since his first snow last February.  When I took him out in that, he just sat in it and looked around with a huge smile.  He wouldn't touch it or move.  This year there were tiny footprints all over the yard.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Saturday, December 22, 2012

TWENTY-ONE MONTHS!!!

 Paxton turned 21 months old today!  I can't believe that his second birthday is getting so close, it doesn't seem like we should be the parents of a 2-year-old!  He is definitely learning new things and impressing us daily.

At 21 months Paxton is:
  •  Obsessed with Mickey.  He still isn't saying a ton of new words, but he mastered "Mickey".  He says it as soon as he wakes up in the morning and multiple times throughout the day.  We definitely need to set some kind of limit on how much time he spends watching it. He has learned from it at least.  He now knows what sound a bird makes, a cow makes, and a frog makes.  He can sing the intro song and the hot dog song and we catch him many times a day yelling "toodles". 
  •  Getting really good at communicating his desires without talking.  He has established lots of little work-arounds to get what he wants without actually having to learn the word for it.  He will bring us a book with a picture of fruit or cupcakes when he wants a snack and then whine and point when we get to the page with the picture of what he wants.  He will point to the soap bubbles in the tub when he wants us to blow bubbles.  He is also really funny about wearing shoes and socks right now.  He got some Elmo slippers for Christmas and if he isn't wearing shoes, he will bring those to us to put on him.  If one falls off he will bring it to us and then turn around and sit in our laps and have us put it on.  It's funny because he used to always rip his socks off when he got the chance.
  •  Able to point out tons of body parts and clothing.  He knows hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, hand, tummy, belly button, knee, foot and toes.  He can point to his pants, his shoes, socks, shirt and diaper.  He has also learned to point to other people's body parts, so if we ask him where Daddy's nose is, he can point to that.  He knows pretty much all of our family members and can point them out when asked in real life or in pictures. We tried to teach him that the baby is in Mommy's tummy, but he didn't get it, so now when we ask him where the baby is he points to his tummy. 
  •  Asking to sit on his potty sometimes but hasn't used it yet.  We aren't potty training by any means, the kid can barely talk, but we got the potty chair so he would get used to it and he likes to sit on it.  He will sit for a few seconds at a time and then ask to get up. 
  •  Still in a throwing phase.  We are starting to work on teaching him to only throw balls and if he's in the right mood, he will usually put whatever he is about to throw down nicely and take a ball.  He really likes to be praised so that is working better for us than discipline.  He does have a guilty conscience sometimes and if we tell him no, he will put himself in time out.  We try not to laugh but it's pretty funny.  We have only put him in time out maybe three times so we aren't even sure how he understands it, but he definitely does. 
  •  Officially back in to giving kisses.  He would do it when he first learned how (maybe around nine months), and then stopped for quite awhile.  He would give kisses to stuffed animals or babies, but not adults.  Now he will give us kisses whenever we ask.  He has also graduated past the open-mouthed kisses and kind of puckers up.  It's precious.  If he's not in the mood to give a kiss, he will tilt his forehead towards our lips and allow us to kiss his forehead. 
  •  Mimicking a lot of things.  He will help us unload the dishwasher, he will comb or brush his own hair, wash his face, wipe up spills and wash his own hair.  He is also really starting to mirror how Jared plays with him.  He will get into the same wrestling stances and then try to tackle Jared. 
  •  Suddenly the owner of 16 teeth.  He was stuck on eight for about eight months and then the next eight all came in at once.  He was more easily irritated for about two weeks while they were coming through, but other than that he did really well.  He slept fine and was pretty happy most of the time.  I was surprised when I looked in and saw them all coming through at once. 
As always, we are loving watching this little boy grow up and learn new things.  If I could freeze this stage I would.  We haven't entered the tantrum and "no" phase yet, so it's definitely the toddler honeymoon phase.  He is so much more cuddly now which is great.  We are trying to soak up as much time as possible with him as our only child.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Playing Outside

Since it was sixty degrees here yesterday, we got in a little bit of playing outside time. I actually took the real camera out with us instead of just my iPhone.

Paxton makes the "vroom vroom" sound when he pushes any car or truck, regardless of size. One of his favorite things right now is to push this truck around and yell "vroom vroom". It is pretty cute.






We played with bubbles too. He yells "POP, POP, POP" as soon as he sees the container and then every time I blow bubbles.


It was impossible to get a picture of him with the bubbles since I was the blower and the photographer, but I love this picture of him watching in awe as a bubble floats down.

He also tries to eat the bubbles, so that's fun too.



He's obsessed with the kitty, Sticker, and Sticker lets Paxton pet him and pull his tail. Sometimes, he gets bored of it and escapes to his window sill.

He is not as big of a fan as Scarlett and sometimes she gets a little bit over-excited and jumps on him. He does not like when that happens.


Sometimes I just can't believe how big he's getting.


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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Toddler Stuff

So, Paxton got his top four teeth and his bottom four teeth right on schedule, but since then, he stalled out. I wasn't sure he was ever going to get his one-year molars, and he was quickly passing the acceptable timeframe for the next few teeth as well. I wasn't worried about him, I knew he would grow them eventually, but I was ready for him to be able to chew. A few days ago, I noticed that he had cut one of his top canine teeth, which I didn't even know was on the horizon. Then yesterday, I looked in his mouth (which is quite a challenging thing to do...we mostly have to sneak glances when he has his head thrown back laughing) and saw the top canine tooth that I had originally seen, the very tip of the other canine tooth, the bump of a top molar, part of a bottom molar and a very swollen spot where the second bottom molar is coming in as well as his next bottom tooth. This poor little guy is literally getting eight teeth all at once. We haven't noticed him acting any differently, he hasn't had a fever or been fussy or drooly, so I was very surprised to see all those little teeth in there! I think somebody deserves some ice cream tonight.

Last Sunday, we had fast food for lunch and Paxton got into one of the honey mustard packets we left out. He finger painted with it all over the couch and on the carpet. He also ate out of the container like a puppy. These are the kinds of situations that I just find myself laughing instead of trying to discipline...


Paxton has also figured out how to feed himself with a spoon. He has been able to put the spoon in his mouth for several months now, but honestly I don't let him try to use the spoon on his own very often...it's messy and he mostly eats finger foods anyway. But a few days ago, he seemed interested in trying on his own so I let him. He figured out the scooping method and was able to get his own bites a few times.


Apparently as first-time parents, we have been a little over-zealous with the ear thermometer. He loves this thing. Whenever we take his temperature, he mimics the beep before it happens and then says "again" over and over. He was playing with it while I was changing his diaper and he put it straight into his ear and made the beep noise.


He has actually been impressing us a lot lately with mimicking how to use things. I was folding his laundry last night and he grabbed a folded up washcloth and wiped his face with it. He also grabs his brush and brushes his hair, and one night he pulled the comb out and combed his hair. I'm not even sure how he knew what that was since we never use that. He will also point the remote at the TV and when nothing happens (Mickey doesn't magically appear), he hands the remote to us. He knows that's what makes Mickey happen. Sometimes, he takes one of our iPhones and puts it on the iPhone speakers. He has watched us turn music on like that and he will do it when he wants to hear music.

His two favorite things right now are Pat-a-cake and peekaboo. It is not our favorite when he plays peekaboo on spaghetti night.


He ended up with a completely orange face.


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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas Activities

On Monday night, we loaded up and headed to Quail Springs Mall to see Santa. When we got there, we realized it was pet night...there were lots of dogs there getting their pictures taken with Santa. It actually turned out to be a good thing because Paxton still got to see Santa but the line was much shorter and Pax loved looking at the doggies as we waited. I wasn't expecting a lot from the picture this year...last year Paxton was scared of Santa and this year he mostly just wants his mama to hold him, but I wanted to at least try. In the car on the way there, we kept asking Paxton what Santa says and he would say "hoooo.....hoooo....hooo" all drawn out and creepy. It was hilarious.

We put Pax on Santa's lap and his first impression was EXACTLY like last year's first impression:


But unlike last year, he got past it and sat calmly. He did not smile at all. Every once in awhile he would look up at Santa with a kind of fearful face, but then he would look at us and be okay. This year, we just got a serious face:


Then to reward him for being so good this year, we took him on the merry go round on the way out. He wasn't sure what to think at first:


But then he found a button to push and was happy.


He has really been enjoying the huge Elmo in our front yard. He loves to look at it and say "ahhh-do" (for Elmo). It's good that somebody is enjoying it because it pretty sure Jared is over it since he's always out there trying to get it to stand back up after the wind blows it over. Oklahoma is not the state for things like this...


He also has way too many Christmas outfits...











And this is not all of them...but now that I know that we have another sweet little boy coming along who will be almost that exact size in two short Christmases, I just can't resist!!

On Tuesday night we went to downtown Edmond to walk around and look at the lights. It was pretty chilly, but Paxton had a blast.








I love watching him experience all the magic of Christmas!!

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Finding Out

Jared and I were really excited for Gender Reveal day last Tuesday. We knew that the ultrasound and finding out the gender would help make the pregnancy a lot more real.

Here is my first posted baby bump at 18.5 weeks (when we found out):


I did not take baby bump pictures throughout my pregnancy with Paxton, but this time I have been. I will probably not share most of them, but I did want to document this one.

Jared took the whole day off and we tried to duplicate the day of Pax's gender reveal. Paxton's was in the morning, so things were in a different order, but we kept the activities as similar as we could.

We went to Chili's for lunch:


And then Jared got me some orange juice right before my appointment to make sure Poppy would be moving.

The appointment was during Pax's nap so Granny V came over to keep him while we went. We went to the appointment alone this time, unlike last time, because we wanted everyone to be surprised at the reveal.

The ultrasound was great. It was way more thorough than the one with Pax. She showed us all the different parts of the brain, the chambers of the heart, the kidneys, the femurs...everything. All of a sudden, she was between the legs. I didn't realize we were already at that point, but I knew what I was seeing when it showed up on the screen. She said, "what do you think it is?" And I said, "is that what I think it is?" She said, "yep, it's a boy!" We were so excited. I cried a little and we kept squeezing each other's hands and smiling the rest of the appointment. We are so glad to have a little brother for Paxton and a sweet little guy to wear all of Paxton's clothes.

We went immediately to Babies R Us to buy a gender-specific outfit like we did last time. We found this sweet whale sleeper and had to get it.


Then, we had to keep our excitement to ourselves until Saturday when we were having the gender reveal party. It was hard to call our sweet little baby a boy to each other, but go back to calling him "it" when we would talk to anyone else.


We took a couple of pictures before the party, but none during the party...


It was so fun to show everyone our video and watch their reactions. It was also so nice to not have to worry about keeping it a secret anymore!!

We are so excited to start decorating the room for a second little boy!

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