EXPECTING: A GIRL!! August 11, 2008

One of each! How exciting!! Parker has been celebrating all morning... he was right after all. He has been claiming since we found out that we were expecting our second child that he KNOWS it is a girl. Anyway, now we know and can begin our collection of PINK and LAVENDER clothes, blankets, burp cloths, etc. And a little dress for her blessing! So many things to think about. The most difficult part right now is choosing a name. If it was a boy, we knew exactly the first and middle name without any doubt. Girl names have always been difficult for me. We have about 4 or 5 that we both like, but I keep going back and forth. I am lucky to have a husband who is so patient! Time will tell... eventually we will have to decide on just one. I am going to try to upload the pictures of the baby's hand and little feet that they took on the ultrasound today. Also, they got a couple of videos, so hopefully I will be able to get those on. They are of her little bottom, legs, and feet... one of them she is kicking, but I think she's a little camera-shy because she stopped moving when the lady began the recording. It's fun to see anyway. The lady who did our ultrasound made several comments about how well I did losing my weight from Jackson and how small I was. That made me feel good because I feel like I'm growing a little every single day! I guess with each child, it's easier for your skin to stretch out. One thing is for sure... I will have to actually work out after this baby is born. With Jackson the majority of the 17 pounds that I gained came off with his birth and his little home inside of me. However, I didn't work on my stomach at all. I am lucky to only have 2 small stretch marks around my belly button, so that isn't an issue, but now that I am gaining with this one, I can see where working your abs definitely can pay off. Okay, probably more than you wanted to know, but hey, you can quit reading whenever you want, right? WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!

Baby Girl Ultrasound Video

I hope this video works!! You can see the little bottom, legs, and feet kicking

Baby Girl Ultrasound Video #2

3 days to know...

We went to the doctor today... I am 19 1/2 weeks along in my pregnancy. Everything looks and sounds great. Baby's heart rate was 146 and I have officially gained 2 more pounds since my appointment 4 weeks ago. I am gaining a little faster than I did with Jackson, but still in normal clothes and normal appetite. My tummy is beginning to grow and I can feel baby kicking more and more lately. I still have a ton of energy, which is a blessing as this school quarter comes to an exciting end! (Whew! We made it through another one... only two more to go!!) The most exciting news... just 3 more days to learn if we will be welcoming a little boy or little girl this summer!

Teething... again!

About a week ago, I looked inside Jackson's mouth and noticed that he had FOUR teeth popping through at the same time. He has had his main 8 teeth (incisors on top and on bottom) for a while, but now he is working on his eye teeth or "cuspid" (the pointy ones) and the "first primary molar" (next to the cuspid) on both sides on the top. How exciting! Besides his bronchiolitis and awful colds that we have managed to get, these new teeth help to explain his bi-polar behavior lately! I have been trying to get a picture of the inside of his mouth, but he hates it, so this is the best I could find to explain.

Jackson & Maddie = Cousin Fun!!

We finally convinced Tiffany to take a weekend and bring Maddie down to play with Jackson. They are 7 1/2 months apart in age... so she is obviously a little ahead of him developmentally. However, he is a quick learner and she is a good teacher.
They had only walked in the door 20 minutes previously when she taught him the word "MINE". He even shakes his hand when he says it. Yeah, we're pretty excited about that one!
He says something that sounds like Maddie and learned that girls do not like to have their hair pulled... so he used that tactic any time she tried to take his toys or didn't like what she was doing. I imagine nursery may be a different experience from now on.
They both held their own and overall had a really good time with each other.

More Photo Shoot with Jackson & Maddie

Road Trip (j/k)

They thought they were SO big "driving" Grandma's car. Maddie had the keys (actually to my car) and Jackson was content with a water bottle.

Riding Around the House...

Jackson loves to load up his big dump truck (usually with his ABC blocks) and push it around the house. He also thinks it's pretty fun to climb inside. Then he wants me to push him around the house. Maddie caught on quickly to just how much fun it was to climb inside.
We had to explain to her that she wasn't going to fit in the truck with Jackson, so she got the wagon. Here they are playing the the ABC blocks!

Bath Fun!

Towel time & Reading Books Together

Of course, after bath fun comes towel time! Too cute!

They were being really cute, reading next to each other... until I got the camera and then they were distracted.

Jackson imitating one of his puppies... [VIDEO]

Parker nor I can watch this without laughing ourselves... I guess it's one of those contagious laughs. Jackson just kept imitating the puppy over and over. I couldn't get the longer video to upload; that one is definitely better. I will keep trying, but in the meantime, this one is cute too! (I finally got it to upload using Google Video, but it's not clear... I'm not satisfied, so I'll try to find another way to add it...)

We're Moving...

We found out yesterday that Parker has been assigned to complete his internship/job in Hillsboro this summer, so by the end of Finals week Spring quarter, we will be packed up and ready to move to the west side of the state. (Hillsboro is about 20 miles west of Portland, OR. Parker's family has lived there since he was in Kindergarten.)

We are excited to be close to family, to be in a cooler place this summer (especially being at the end of the pregnancy), and to go on another adventure... isn't moving always an adventure? Luckily, this is only a partial move... we will just have to pack the absolute necessities. I think the majority of what we bring will be Jackson's toys! Those are definitely a necessity... just ask him. (Plus, I'm sure we'll have plenty to load up in preparation for our new little one, who will be born in Portland during August.)

Baby Update - 15 1/2 weeks along

Well, we finally had our first doctor's appointment today. Everything went very well. The doctor just kept commenting on how big the baby is. Just a few more weeks and we will find out if it's a boy or a girl! (We have another regular appointment in 4 weeks and then the exciting ultrasound sometime during the last week in March.) We got a few pictures today. This one is about as active as Jackson was, but isn't nearly as camera-shy. The baby kept "waving" it's hand or foot as we were looking at it. Even the doctor was laughing pretty good. I tried to take a picture of the three of us with one of the ultrasound pictures, but Jackson was not very interested in smiling for a picture. (He was upset because he wanted to play with the baby's picture and I wouldn't let him.) Well, here we are anyway!


I'm feeling good still. Lots more energy than a few weeks ago and we're all excited about that! Food is finally starting to taste better. I have gained 2 pounds, but all of my clothes are still comfortable. However, I'm sure it won't be too much longer before I hit that lovely in-between stage where your own clothes are a little uncomfortable, but the maternity clothes look huge. We found out that Jackson was a boy and I was still in regular clothes, so I guess time will tell. I know that each pregnancy is a little different.

Thank Heaven for Grandmas!

We want to send a big shout out to our Moms (Jackson's Grandmas) for spoiling us once again! We received Valentine's surprises in the mail... Jackson helped me to decorate our windows. He was curious to know how the tape dispenser worked, so I gave him a small piece of tape for each of his hands. He kept shaking them and shaking them, trying to get the tape off. It was pretty funny to watch. And it kept him happy and occupied while I finished the windows. Now our house looks like we're all ready for Valentine's Day! Parker and I are excited to celebrate this year and Jackson loves his new stuffed animal - a super soft bear. He has been walking around holding the bear, with his head tilted toward his shoulder so that he can feel the soft fur. He (Jackson) is so cute! Happy Valentine's Day in just 5 more days!

EOU Basketball Games

Parker, Jackson, and I went with some of our friends to the EOU Girls' and Boys' basketball games. We had a great time. I am a little embarrassed to admit that Jackson was absolutely captivated, mouth hanging open, by the dance team. However, last night was breast cancer awareness night and so they were wearing non-fitted pink t-shirts with non-fitted black sweatpants. Not bad. I'm hoping it was the bright pink shirts that caught his attention so fully! Anyway, these couples are also a part of our FHE group, so we see each other at least twice a week.

Our three boys are all in different stages right now. Trey is the smallest and youngest, born in November. Then, there's DeeRay - 6 months old, who wins the award for chubbiest cheeks, but still weighing less than Jackson and wearing smaller diapers. Jackson is the oldest, biggest, heaviest, and by far, the loudest! I love to watch him interact with these two. It gives me a little bit of an idea as to how he might react when our baby arrives. These pictures are the 3 boys with their Dads.

Muscles

The boys were showing off their muscles and I thought I would share. (The pictures of Jackson are a little blurry... he was running back and forth. I was lucky just to get him semi-centered in the frame.)

Jackson is growing by leaps and bounds every day. It's so much fun to be a part of the discovery process as he figures out the world around him. As you can see, Parker LOVES having a constant buddy to hang out with!! And we both agree that Jackson is starting to take on a few more of Parker's features and expressions.

SillySoldier Boys!

I spent 7 hours doing homework. I had 8 papers to write and couldn't push it back another day. So... Parker played with Jackson while I locked myself in the den to meet all of my deadlines. These pictures do not tell half of the story, but they're pretty cute! (I told them to smile, but Parker told me that they were soldiers, so they had to be serious. You can see him trying hard not to smile in one of them.) The two of them were hilarious... they came up with all sorts of "games" to play. All I could hear from the den was giggling and more giggling. It felt SO good when I finally finished at 8:00pm. It will be nice when I don't have to do homework anymore! Just 2 more quarters... yea!

Announcement: Coming soon... in August 2008!

Parker and I are so excited to be expecting our second baby in August of this year! Our projected due date is August 11th, but we'll see what happens. We will find out if our baby is a boy or a girl around the end of March/beginning of April and then the real planning will begin! So far... Grandma Breshears thinks the baby is a girl, Grandma Ussery thinks the baby is a boy, and Parker is absolutely certain that it's a girl. As for me, I have no idea. I don't have any hunches or feelings one way or the other. Part of me thinks it would be awfully convenient to have another boy because we already have boy clothes. However, besides clothes, almost everything we have is pretty non-gender specific. I did that on purpose. Either way I am excited to hold a baby that doesn't weigh 25 pounds--I'm starting to feel it in my back... this will be a great adventure! There are days when I try so hard to "get a feeling" one way or the other. I'll get super excited about having another boy and imagining how much fun he and Jackson would have together. Then, I think it would be so much fun for him to have a little sister and to dress her up. But... still no feelings, just thoughts. I am SO excited either way. I just want to find out yesterday if it's a boy or a girl. Having 2 children to chase after and take care of will sure be different from just one, but we can hardly wait! And I am beyond curious to see how Jackson will react to being a big brother and to watch their relationship develop over the next couple of years. This is a very exciting time in our lives as we get ready to finally finish school and get semi-settled wherever Parker gets hired on and welcome another little one into our family!!



I'm feeling pretty good and have a decent amount of energy and just into the second trimester. There are days where I still feel sick to my stomach and NOTHING sounds good (or smells good) to eat. I just figure it's a good diet plan for now. My portions haven't changed at all. I am SO happy that I am in my second pregnancy and still have not thrown up!! (I HATE throwing up!) And I am just loving spending time with Jackson and watching him develop and change over time... he is SO much FUN!!

Mommy's Boys

I was finishing some homework and finally turned off the light in the den around 11:00pm. Everything in the house was quiet, but Jackson's light was still on and Parker wasn't in our room. I called him from the den, but didn't hear a response. I glanced in Jackson's room and there they were... all snuggly... puppy and all. They were both so tired! I tried to wake Parker up and he started speaking some language that I've never heard before. Then, I told him it was time to go to bed and he started speaking really loudly to Jackson - who was sound asleep, in the same foreign language. Finally, I took Jackson from his arms and tucked him into bed. Then, I coaxed Parker into our room. It was pretty funny and I got a cute Father/Son picture out of it!

La Grande Birthday Party

We decided to have a little birthday party in La Grande when we got back into town... with our friends here. It was fun to get together and to see everyone after being gone for a month.

And Jackson had so much fun playing with his friends again. It's WAY better now that he can chase after them on foot, rather than speed-crawling after them! I think he has evened up the playing field!