Expecting.........

Well, my dear blog readers....... we are expecting baby #2! I know, I know. Shocker, right? I mean, Clayton is not even half a year old yet. Oh believe me, we were just as shocked as you are. It all started the week of August 3rd. I knew my period was supposed to start, and day after day I checked when I went to the restroom. Much to my surprise there was nothing! So, on a whim I told Darren we should buy a pregnancy test. After all, I just KNEW my body was screwing with me, and I just knew that this meant that when we did try for #2 that we would struggle again. We got home from town on Tuesday the 9th and I took the test right away. I laid it on the counter, finished redressing, then Darren walked in.Within the 30 seconds that all of that took two pink lines popped up in the window. Darren and I both looked at it at the same time. I started crying and shaking. I just knew that the test was going to come back negative. I just knew it. Now we were staring back at a positive and all I could think was how poor we were going to be. haha.... Darren remained so calm through the whole thing. He hugged me, kissed me, and reminded me how it really was a blessing. I soon got over myself and ever since that moment I have truly realized that I am crazy for ever being upset. This is a wonderful blessing from God. A child, any life, is a blessing. God may have made us wait around for the first kiddo, and may have shocked us with this one, but we knew how babies were made, and we chose to accept God's plans for us. We are now thrilled. We can't wait to meet our little one. I'm sure everyone wants to know if we want a girl now, but really, we don't care! We know Clayton will be an amazing big brother to this baby. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy!

I came across this blog post on one of my favorite blogs.. it talks about how she and her husband willing accept children from God. They adopted a beautiful little girl and not longer after they did they got pregnant on their own! Their babies are about a year apart, just like mine will be. I know that people will talk, and quite frankly this was one thing I told Darren that I was worried about. However, I will take it all in stride. I have two beautiful blessings from God. Two amazing lives to take care of.

This pregnancy has not been as easy so far. First, I had one day of shooting pains in my ovary area. This was preceded by a day of spotting. I was so nervous that I was either having a miscarriage or had an ectopic pregnancy. So, I went in to see Carylon (aka the best person EVER!) and she gave me my first ultrasound at 7 weeks 2 days. Although all we could see was the tiny dot, we did see the baby's heartbeat! Poor Darren had to work and did not get to go... plus at this point in time we hadn't told anyone so I basically had to sneak away to the doctor. During the ultrasound Carylon was worried about the placement of the baby inside of my uterus and so told me to be on pelvic rest and to take it easy. If I felt any cramping or had severe cramping then I needed to get to a hospital right away. That weekend we went to Little Rock to visit our best friends and Cristina was able to call her mom and get some more medical advise. Rosa agreed that I should be on pelvic rest and that I should have another doctor do a better ultrasound to see what was going on. So, away we went to Midland for a better ultrasound! At the ultrasound Darren finally was able to see our baby and his/her heartbeat! The ultrasound tech and OB both said that the baby had great placement and that I should not worry. However, the baby was measuring a week smaller than my EDD based on my LMP. (I'm abbreviating for all of you boy readers!) I was 9 weeks 3 days at that ultrasound and the baby measured 8 weeks 3 days. The OB suggested that I just ovulated later than expected, but the whole reason I am pregnant to begin with was because I apparently ovulated earlier than expected, haha. SOO, now I don't know what's going on with that, but the OB is going to monitor everything closely. She classified me as a threatened miscarriage because of the problems with the cramping/spotting. Oye... what awful words to hear. I am confident that everything will be ok though! God will take care of our little surprise blessing!

Lastly, it's been a tough pregnancy because I have been sicker! Not only have I had worse morning sickness, I now have all day nausea and nothing, NOTHING, sounds good or tastes good. It doesn't help either that I had the terrible cold and sinus infection. In case you're new to the world of pregnancy, you can't take hardly ANY medicine while pregnant! Plus, I am allergic to acetaminophin so I couldn't take anything to relieve the sinus pain! (Side note: I have been writing this blog post for over two weeks now, hehe, and I am happy to say that the morning sickness has subsided and I am feeling great! In fact, I think it was easier morning sickness than I had with Clayton!)

We had another ultrasound last week and everything looked great with the baby. They even did a 4D and we got a wonderful picture of our beautiful baby! So amazing how formed they are at 10 weeks. I can't even begin to imagine how anyone could have an abortion if they saw the images that I saw.

So, yes, God works in mysterious ways. We feel very blessed and we know that He will provide. We may just eat ramen for a few months, or a few years, but that is ok because life is a precious precious gift!!!

My baby is growing up!

Our life lately has been a whirlwind! But, it's been so exciting because Clayton has been changing so much! First of all, he can now sit by himself! Granted it doesn't last a horribly long time, but he does it! He is best if he is leaning forward slightly and putting his hands on the ground or on his legs. He is definitely getting better at balancing himself though, whether it is when he is sitting, in an exersaucer, or being held on our hip.

He is still trying to crawl but getting nowhere. That's ok with Mommy! ;-) He hasn't figured out how to use his arms! He will scoot on his tummy with his legs and  go after toys or whatever we place in front of him. He also can turn in all sorts of directions... but just not much movement forward!

Lastly, we decided to forgo the rice cereal because he hated, and I mean HATED it, lately. We moved him to the Stage 1 veggies and fruits! So far we've tried sweet potatoes and green beans! At first he made a horrible face, but then he liked it and ate his whole bowl! He still prefers his bottle though. You can tell that he gets either tired of eating from the spoon or frustrated that it is not filling him up fast enough. We have tried feeding him before and after his bottle, before it's time for a bottle, you name it! The kid is just particular and likes his milk! =)

Another new development that just popped up, literally, today was that he has two new teeth! His bottom two center incisors just poked through today! We knew he had not been acting like himself these past few days, but we had no clue that he was working on two new teeth! You can see the pearly whites poking through his bottom gum. Poor kiddo! He hasn't been fussy at all but he's been sleeping a lot more and he's not been drinking his bottle as well. Normally he pounds down all 7 ounces without a problem, but he barely drinks 6 these past few days.

Lastly, for the past four weeks he's been sleeping upstairs in his crib by himself. He sleeps from about 8pm to 7am, and it is glorious! Some mornings he wakes up earlier, but we can usually get him to fall back asleep after his bottle for a bit. Makes it so nice for us!

I can't believe that my baby, BABY, boy will be half a year old in just a couple of weeks. Where does the time go? He is the sweetest baby ever. We are so incredibly blessed. People tell us all of the time that we don't know how lucky we are! =) Love him to pieces!

Five Months!

Happy Five Month Birthday, Clayton Scott!

You are still changing by leaps and bounds! Once you started moving a lot during your 4th month you didn't stop! Your thing this month has been your attempt at crawling.... Mommy and Daddy better get ready! You spend a lot of time on your tummy, since when we put you on your back you immediately roll over. So, I guess you were getting tired of just sitting there and decided to start moving!You will tuck your legs up towards your tummy, duck your head down, and push off! One day you made so much progress when Mommy wasn't looking and you bonked your head pretty good against the side of the desk! Don't worry, we watch you much more closely now! While we were in Little Rock you attempted to use your arms to help yourself crawl, but they are just not strong enough yet. Once they are though - watch out!!! I know that I talked about this last month, but this month you have really made it your mission to start moving!

Your other big movements include being a little spastic baby while we are changing you. It's really funny how much and how fast you can move your arms and legs! We also have to make sure that you don't roll over on us while changing you! One day you rolled over really quick and so were just flashing your hiney in the air for a minute! ;-) Ahh, don't you love those kinds of stories!

Since this summer has been so hot (about 70 days over 100 degrees), we have spent a lot of time in the pool! Pop and Gia built a pool in the backyard and you have loved swimming in it! We've taken you to pools in other places too, and every time you love the water! You will play "potchi potchi", which means you splash the water. You'll splash so hard that you will soak your face, but you don't seem to mind! Speaking of water, you got to go on your first boat ride this month! We took you to Lake Brownwood with the rest of the Hillger family. We had a great time taking you out on the pontoon boat!

You just started to do a new thing when you see someone for the first time in a while. This could be a difference of a day, an hour, however long you want! You will be in our arms and you will lean forward and grin so big! It's as if you are just so excited to see the person and you can't wait to get out of our arms to them! One other new thing is that you now know what your paci is, where it goes, and how to put it in your mouth! We can hold it in front of you and you will grab it and put it in your mouth! Rather impressive! It's funny to Mommy though... seems as if since you know what it is maybe we should take it away now! I don't think that'll happen for a few more months though!

Being active is a big part of your life apparently! You move non-stop! You are always hitting things, batting at your toys, grabbing everything within your reach (and of course putting it straight into your mouth!)... It's hard to keep up with you sometimes! You love when we put you in your exersaucer and you can hit and play with all of the fun toys on it. You will also bounce up and down! Links are still your favorite toys, followed closely by anything that spins, and of course, anything that makes music!!!! You LOVE music! We have filmed you moving around like crazy and then we'll start some music and you instantly calm down and just listen. It's so cute! You also will let out a huge grin when Mommy plays or sings you "You are my sunshine". Sweetest thing!

A rare negative for you has recently developed. Mommy & Daddy really didn't think this would develop until you were atleast a toddler! You will get mad when we take something away from you!!! Mostly you only get mad when we take paper away from you. You have become obsessed with crunching and chewing on paper. Of course this is not very good so we'll take the paper away. When we do you start crying! It's funny but sad at the same time! You're showing more and more personality each day... you little stinker!

Your sleeping habits are getting much better! You now sleep almost all the way through the night in your crib!! You usually start to make grunting noises around 5am or so, and Mommy will get up and put your paci back in your mouth. You instantly fall back asleep and stay that way until 7am. It's been so much better! Plus, you go to sleep on your own and usually at a good time of night. We always know when you're ready to sleep because you start grunting! It's cute! We are thinking that the rice cereal is helping, plus you nap less during the day now. Speaking of rice cereal... you now eat a new food! You pretty much hate it, but we add some apple sauce and you tolerate it! Some nights you eat more than others. You still prefer your bottles! You are drinking about 7 ounces each bottle (we just bumped you up from 6 ounces). I don't think you've not finished a bottle in a looonggg time! You little piggy!

Size wise you haven't grown a whole lot. Maybe just outwards, hehe... You are wearing size 3-6mo, and still a size 2 diaper. We are about to switch your night time diapers to a size 3 though! You're weighing roughly 17-18 pounds. Appearance wise, you are the cutest baby on the face of the planet. Ok, we are biased! But really! You are so handsome! Your hair is getting lighter and lighter (what little hair there is!) and your eyes are still a gorgeous shade of blue! Right around your iris there is a small circle of hazel, so we think either your eyes will stay blue or maybe turn hazel. They definitely don't look like they're going to turn brown! We love that about you! So handsome!

I say it every month and I will keep saying it all of our lives.... you bring such joy to our lives. We love you so much and can't image what we ever did before you were around! You are probably the world's best baby and we greatly thank you for spoiling us in that way!!! You are such a blessing from God!

We love you more than you'll ever know!

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy! I love you!

Love,
Mommy