Happy Birthday Bubba!

Although I’m confident that anyone who reads this blog knows just how wonderful of an addition we think our little guy is, I can’t help but to start this huge milestone off with the fact that we are beyond thankful for him. He has been a constant source of smiles and laughter and there really aren’t enough words to express how lucky we feel to have him in our lives. He has added so much joy and happiness to each and every day and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for our growing family.

His birthday party was an absolute blast and went off without a hitch. A big thanks to all the wonderful family and friends who helped make it such a memorable day for our monkey. I had originally planned an elaborate meal, but decided last minute that a menu of pizza, jello jigglers, chex mix, white chocolate popcorn, cupcakes, and a cake for Jaiden sounded not only better, but so much easier. Who doesn’t like pizza and cake?! Jaiden ate far too much jello, as his messy diapers matched the neon colors of the jello for days to come, but trust me, he enjoyed every last piece. We ate food, opened gifts, and then let him go to town on his cake. He was thrilled that he had the entire cake to himself and would take a glace at us between bites to make sure he was really being allowed to do this. After a few minutes of devouring the cake, you could tell that he had definitely had enough and that he'd hit his sugar limit. He was continuing to shovel cake in his mouth, but started spitting out every bit just as quickly as it was going in. Poor dude. I thought he'd be on a sugar high after the party, but instead he went into a sugar comatose and slept for a couple hours!


There were lots of people taking pictures there and I can’t wait to see what moments everyone else captured. Jaiden was beyond spoiled on his birthday and is thrilled to have so many new and exciting toys to play with. Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped us celebrate our baby turning ONE!

Check back next week for an update on Jaiden's SECOND Christmas, a new video we took of him yesterday, and a blog post from Daddy! We've decided that each birthday we're each going to write a letter to our kids and save them for something special down the road. I'm pretty sure we'll share parts of the first one with you all :) It's hard to believe this is already Christmas number 2 for him... although he was only 6 days old last time around, so I'm not sure if that really counts or not. As for the video, trust me when I say you're not going to want to miss it. Jaiden has three dance moves that we've finally captured on video... 1)the slow dance 2)the hip-hop dance 3)and lastly the romance dance. HA! Just wait :)

Halfway!

I guess I can technically say that I’m over the halfway point now. I’m 99% sure that I’m going to go for the planned C-Section route this time around, and that will be done right around 39 weeks (approximately April 20ish). I’m really hoping that the Dr who did my C-Section last time around will be able to do this one as well, even though I do realize that Makenna may have her own plans for her arrival date. All the Drs have done their part in telling me that I am a great candidate for a VBAC, but with everything I went through last time... being able to show up on a scheduled date, no awful laboring, getting prepped for surgery, and laying my eyes on our baby girl 10 minutes into surgery sounds pretty fabulous to me. I do have to admit I’m absolutely scared out of my mind that the epidural either a)won’t work or b)stops working in the middle of surgery... but all the Doctors are doing their absolute best to reassure me that the chances of that are slim to none. I’m excited to be able to meet this little one as she’s born, instead of waking up when she’s already 2-3 hours old! I still feel like I missed out on so much in Jaiden’s first couple hours. I don’t think I ever posted a picture of Kevin holding Jaiden up to me as I was out of it, but it still makes me a little sad. That being said, last delivery was so traumatic and scary, that I love the idea of it being “easy”. Yes, recovery is a little rougher with a c-section, but I’ll take it at this point.

We had our 20 week appointment today along with an ultrasound and I’m thrilled to be able to say that we have one healthy little buggy on our hands... AND my sister deserves an A+! She was right, it’s definitely a GIRL! Everything measured perfectly, all her organs are working hard and functioning great, and she’s super active! It still amazes me how much information Doctors walk away with about the little babes after an ultrasound. The way they can see all the chambers in heart, measure brain, rule out clef palate & lip, count fingers and toes, measure fluids, etc is baffling to me. Makenna was being a little modest in the beginning and not allowing us to really get a good look. The tech went on to start looking at all her anatomy, and said she’d come back to the gender. Makenna eventually came around and gave us a little show, just in time too I might add, because I was starting to mistake the cord for a penis. Don’t get me wrong, I swear I’d be happy either way, but I couldn’t help but think about the massive amount of stuff accumulating in the new nursery and how long it would take to do all the returns. We’re thrilled to be having a girl this time around. Not going to lie Kevin is a little scared, but still very happy none-the-less. After being around Jaiden and Kev for 5 minutes you can tell how much of a bond they have. I guarantee this little girl will be no different; completely wrapped around her Daddy’s finger from the minute he lays eyes on her.

One quick story and then I’m calling it a night. The other day I had absolutely the most awful photography idea. I thought it would be really cute to have Jaiden eating a massive holiday lollipop out in the snow for our Christmas card. Holy cow, was I wrong about this. Don’t try this. I promise you it will end badly. I even thought I would give it a shot inside... wrong again. Long story short—everything was sticky, we had newly colored carpet for a good couple days, and a little boy with a massive tantrum. The lollipop ended up stuck to the carpet so Jaiden decided that he'd just lay on top of it and continue to lick away. Needless to say, it was a mess. I’ve posted a few pictures I somehow managed to get before everything went downhill. It’s hard to imagine that my baby will be one soon! I’ll be sure to upload lots of pictures from his party. I can’t wait to see what he does with his cake... although I have a pretty good idea :) We are getting family pictures done this weekend so I'm sure I'll be bombarding you all with lots of pictures in the next few weeks :)





We didn't get very good pictures of Makenna during the ultrasound. She was cuddled up facing my back so profiles and pictures of her face just didn't happen. I posted a few just because they're still fun to look at. There's also a new belly picture. I'm carrying this little girl so differently then Jaiden. Jaiden was a little lower and throughout my belly, she is right out in front and center. I'm so much bigger at this point than I was with Jaid too. I'm get nervous thinking about how big I'll be a few months from now...

Jaiden’s First Thanksgiving = very happy (and FULL!) baby... and preggo Mamma :)

To say that Jaiden thoroughly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving would be one of the biggest understatements ever. He inhaled every single part of the meal and loved it all... turkey, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, carrots, fruit, pretzel jello salad, rolls, and so on. The only thing he wasn’t a fan of was the green bean casserole. As soon as that hit his mouth, it was right back on the high chair. You definitely know when he doesn’t like something, although it doesn't happen often. He sticks his tongue out as far as possible, tips his head down, and waits for the food to fall out on the tray. Once it hits the tray, he’s figured out that he can make it disappear by throwing it on the floor and quickly laughs as he watches the dogs gobble it down. On Thanksgiving Day we headed over to my parents house and had a wonderful time watching football, eating tons of food, and of course taking a snooze. We missed Scott & Cammie, but hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future :) In the evening we headed back to our house, packed up the car, gave Jaiden a bath and got him ready for bed, and then were off to Grandma William’s house. Jaiden was asleep 10 minutes into the car ride and slept the entire 4 hour drive down. Of course once we got there he had to explore the entire house, and entertain everyone with his giggles and new silly noises... so getting him to go down at my Grandma’s was a little rough. We stayed there Thursday night and Friday night and then left at Jaiden’s bedtime on Saturday night—which again worked great for him to sleep the whole way home. Jaiden LOVES his great grandma and always wants to give her his famous open mouthed, slobbery kisses. From the smile on her face, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say she didn’t mind one bit. We had such a great thanksgiving weekend and are amazed that with each passing year we have more and more to be thankful for...

On that note, it’s time for a little pregnancy update. Everything is going fabulous. The morning sickness passed weeks ago, and I’ve been feeling absolutely great. I did have yet another UTI at my last appointment so they’ve decided to have me on the low-dose medication for the remainder of the pregnancy. I’m starting to feel this little beans movement more and more each day :) We have our ultrasound with the Doctor next Monday, which seems insane to me because I’ll be at the HALFWAY point! Holy moly, this pregnancy is going SO fast. Check back next week for another little update, some belly pictures, and a photo of how quickly our baby girls “stuff” is accumulating. I thought shopping for a boy was fun... but WOW, girls are awesome! I have to admit, I’m LOVING all the girl stuff way more than I ever thought I would. I honestly still don’t think it’s hit me that there’s a little princess in my belly. Whenever I think of her all I can see is Jaiden, which is funny because I’m absolutely certain that she’s going to come out a spitting image of her Daddy, dark eyes, dark hair, and dark complexion. Time will tell :)

A few things about Jaiden and then I’m done I swear. I didn’t realize that it had been so long since the last post! One thing that is for absolute certain is that Jaiden’s favorite color is orange. There’s no doubt in my mind, or anyone else’s that has ever been to the house. Personally I despise the color orange, but for whatever reason, he LOVES it. We have tons of toys, balls, stacking rings, blocks etc. and Jaiden is absolutely adamant on carrying all his orange stuff around with him constantly.... to the point that if you take it out of his hand, the toy is warm from being held for so long. He always eats whatever is orange on his highchair first and will point to anything orange that we see while out and about. That brings me to the next fun thing... the pointing game. He wants to know what everything is so as soon as he wakes up, the game begins :) I walk into his room to get him up in the morning and he starts pointing away, and with every point that he makes he says “Ohh” I respond, Oh you see your monkey’s?! Then he moves to the next thing in his room until we have not only named everything (including blinds, lights, and so on) but also gone through every sound each animal makes on his little shelves. This “game” continues all day long. He is SO curious about everything around him and will keep pointing and saying “oh, oh, oh, oh” until someone tells him what he’s pointing at. As soon as he has a response from someone, he smiles and moves onto the next object. What a little goof. Other news, Jaiden has cut 3 new teeth in the last week, poor guy, which brings the count up to 7 little chompers. The drool has been way more than normal, and he’s been slightly cranky, but all in all he’s been a champ about it. I can’t imagine that 3 new teeth at once would be pleasant. Last but not least we have been given the seal of approval to start cow’s milk! Yayy! Don’t get me wrong, I loved nursing, but I’m ready for a little break before Makenna arrives and I start all over again. I’m thinking it might take a couple weeks to make a complete transformation, but I’m hoping that by his birthday he’ll be completely weaned.

I love this little face more than he will ever know



blurry, but I had to share regardless. We were having so much fun playing on the air mattresses at Grandma Williams house




16 weeks

17 weeks... I'm just shy of 19 now, so I'll post another pic soon

a failed attempt at making Jaiden smile. How un-enthused does this kid look?!

Makenna Rae is on HER way :) :) :)

Yesterday was the big ultrasound, and just like any ultrasound I’ve ever had, it was absolutely amazing to get a sneak peak at the little babe growing inside. I totally get why ultrasounds aren’t a “routine” thing... BUT they are truly one of the best things in life. Seeing a little baby use you as a trampoline, watching them rub their eyes, flip around all over the place, and and so on — only makes you fall more and more in love with them each and every time.

With all that being said, we’re pretty sure it’s safe to say that we’ll be welcoming a precious baby GIRL in April! Did I expect girl... NOT AT ALL. So many people thought it’d be a girl, but I tried my hardest not to think one way or another this time around. Ask my sister. I kept having her go back to the gender region, zoom in, and take another peak... totally thinking that one of those times a little penis would magically appear. There was absolutely nothing to be found. We could even make out little lines that clearly indicated a “girl” part, but for whatever reason I was still in complete disbelief. Beyond thrilled, but in denial. I really don’t think it hit me until I looked down at the clothes we were accumulating on our shopping excursion after the fact and saw a whole lot of pink. To be honest, I think it’s still sinking in! We’ve had a little girl name picked out for awhile, so the name game was a piece of cake this time around. We love the name Makenna Rae, and the only way that’ll change is if something magically grows between her legs in the next few weeks. I have my 16 week appointment on Tuesday and will be scheduling the 20 week ultrasound for sometime in early December. With each pregnancy we’ve bypassed all the early testing and the ultrasound my sister did was definitely for “fun” reasons, so it’ll be nice to go over all her anatomy in a few weeks and hear that she’s a healthy little one. We’ve had no issues and all the indicators point to that, but as a parent you still let out a huge sigh of relief after knowing everything has checked out perfectly. Her heart rate was 157 bpm yesterday and let me just say that she is one active little girl. My sister has done lots of ultrasounds and she was amazed at just how much of a wiggle worm she was. I’ve been feeling little flutters for weeks, but not too much more than that. I’m so excited to feel all the little kicks and punches again. Needless to say, we are beyond thrilled to add a sweet baby girl to our family and I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on this little beauty :) I still can't believe that in just a little over 5 months I'll be holding my DAUGHTER in my arms. We are blessed.





Here are a few pictures from Halloween and Jaiden's first hair cut. The hair cut is adorable and he was a CHAMP throughout it, but WOW does he look like a toddler. I was thinking you wouldn't be able to notice too much of a difference, but I was totally wrong. He needed it though. No more curly pony tail for JaiderBug.


He was exhausted before the trick-or-treating even began. He had such a runny nose all week and you can tell he wasn't feeling 100%.


Before the haircut:







After the haircut :) MUCH better: