Halfway Through!

I'm already halfway through my second pregnancy. WOW. Double WOW. First off, I feel so incredibly blessed to be pregnant in the first place. Through the roller coaster of the end of my first trimester, I feel very blessed that this little girl is doing so great. We had our anatomy ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything looked wonderful! She was in the most awkward positions though! She was standing on her head, with her arms and legs tucked in! They were able to get all of their measurements and check her heart/brain/etc, plus confirm that yes, she is a girl! This pregnancy has been a breeze and has been flying by. I feel very very blessed to be able to say that! I think I take pregnancy very well! Maybe I should be a Michelle Duggar - JUST KIDDING!

As far as differences in pregnancies go, Reagan is much calmer than her brother was. And, looking back on things, I should have known judging by how active he was inutero, how active he would be in real life. That kid does not ever stop moving! ;-) Reagan just gives me little kicks every now and then. I think that I am slightly larger this go around then with Clayton, but that was to be expected seeing as my stomach muscles did not have time to recuperate after Clayton! I have had two colds now, which stink since you can't take anything. Plus, I'm allergic to acetaminophen, so I can't take anything for pain. I don't think I was EVER sick with Clayton. Again, super blessed. I don't think I even had so much as a minor cold. But, oh well, I'll get over it! It probably has something to do with the fact that I carry around a germy little boy all day! Hehe...

I do feel bad that I have not done pregnancy survey's with Reagan. I barely even take a weekly picture. I took one when we found out, one at 15 weeks, another at 18 weeks, and now 20. Oops! Oh well! I guess that was to be expected! It's hard enough to keep up with my crawling 8 month old, let alone a blog! It is still crazy to think that we'll have another baby here in our lives in just 4 1/2 more months. We know God will provide!

Which ones bigger? lol

DVR is the best!

My best friend Cristina posted her top 5 DVR picks right now on her blog, so I decided to post mine as well! DVR in our household is a life saver, and quite frankly, I don't know what we'd do if we had to watch commercials. Spoiled much?! Welll... when you have a baby, and he requires 100% of your attention at all times now that he is crawling and pulling up (yes, new development today!), then TV tends to take a backseat... as it should! So, therefor, DVR it is! BTW, I still call it "taping" shows, and my husband gets mad at me. lol... Sorry, old habit!

Ok, although these are not necessarily my all time favorite shows (because Gilmore Girls would be number 1), these are my top 5 shows that I currently DVR (as in the season is going on right now). Enjoy!

#1 - Parenthood

I think I mainly love this show because of my absolute infatuation with Lauren Graham. Ok, that sounds funny, but I love her. And her character is pretty good on the show too. Sometimes, as Cristina said, the show can be boring, but I love the big family life and seeing all of the families stories unfold. I doubt this show makes it many more seasons unfortunately.

#2 - Glee

I'm a huge music fan, so any show that showcases a range of music and does it in a new manner (i.e. last week they did songs from West Side Story - amazing!) has my DVR recording it! Oh wait... this is the only musical show on air? Ok then! It's a little cheesy at times because all of the kids are young and in high school, but that's ok with me! My favorite singer is Rachel, just because man that girl can sing, and as far as characters go - I like Coach Beast! haha! Oh, and Kurt's dad.... ok those are not main characters. Oh well!

#3 - Grey's Anatomy

Oh Grey's... I've been watching you since my freshman year of college (or well, that's what I remember!). Although this show is just about drama and not about medicine really, I somehow still find myself watching every week. Last week's episode was great. I thought my favorite character, Christina Yang, did a great job. It's one of those shows that I get mad when they don't show the previews for next week, haha.

#4 - How I Met Your Mother

I admit, I only started watching this show on it's repeats on Lifetime, or whatever channel it was, but then I really got into it and now Darren and I tape, oops, DVR, the new episodes so that we don't miss out! I really love this show and it's story lines. Funny, serious, sad, whatever it may be. I think my favorite episode so far has been when Lily and Marshall were finding out the gender of their baby.. it was cute!

#5 - Gossip Girl

Ok, I hate to admit this one, but I'm going to anyway.... Yes I watch a stupid teeny-bopper show on the CW. Yes, I realize no Emmy award winning shows are ever aired on the CW... but too bad. It's my guilty pleasure show. Darren hates it and so I have to watch it when he's not around, haha! 

I have to add a runner-up.... it's a new favorite show of mine!

#6 - Pan Am

I really only started watching this show because nothing else was on, and I had seen the previews. Turned out, I kinda like it! It's not a "WHOA I can't wait to see what happens next week!", but it's definitely worth the 42 minute investment in my opinion. I think it's funny that Christina Ricci is on TV now, lol. But, she's cute and does a good job!

OK..... don't judge me based on the shows that I watch. I realize that they are all realllly stupid and a bunch of time wasters... but isn't that what TV is for? ;-) Just be glad I didn't add Say Yes To The Dress! haha!

The gift of life

The Catholic church, and well I guess all churches in general, just wrapped up a pro-life campaign called the 40 days for life. During this time members of different churches would go to Planned Parenthood and pray peacefully. They offered counseling but nothing was forced. No violent protesting if you get my drift! I am happy to announce that during these 40 days, nationwide, 465 known women decided to not terminate their pregnancy. That is 465 babies who are going to be given the gift of life! Now I don't want to get all preachy on my blog, because even though I am devout Catholic and very pro-life I realize that everyone should be entitled to make their own decisions. Kinda off topic, but have you ever watched the show Teen Mom on MTV? I LOVE the couple Caitlyn and Tyler. Now those kids had their head on straight! They gave their baby girl up for adoption because they knew that they could not provide for her the life that she deserved. ANYWAY, back to my topic... I think it is wonderful that prayer can make a difference.

In my life, I look at my baby boy and just think... Wow. I am so blessed. He is amazing. Even though we had to pray and pray and pray for him, God had His plan for our precious baby boy. Just like He had His plan for our growing baby girl! Even though we were definitely not prepared for another baby we accept this gift from God with the utmost honor. (Hey, you do the deed, you know the cause and effect!)

During the 40 days for life I not only prayed for women who might have been contemplating abortion, but I also prayed for women struggling to get pregnant. Can you imagine if the shoes were reversed? Wow! Anyway, just wanted to share the good news of all of the saved lives. Please pray that these mothers will continue to realize the gift of life and that these babies will be raised in a loving environment, wherever that may be.

Four Glorious Years

Four years ago today - actually in thirty minutes from now - I married the love of my life, my best friend, my soul mate. My husband is the most loving individual that I know and I am so blessed to be his wife. It is crazy to think how much our lives have changed in four years. We are now a family of four (3 1/2 since one is baking! hehe). Our love for each other has only grown. The four year anniversary's traditional gift is fruit and flowers, so we will be picking up some strawberries and chocolate after our dinner out tonight! We're playing it low-key tonight because a) We have a baby boy  b) I'm pregnant with lil sis  c) We're hoping to be in Puerto Vallarta next year this time! haha! Here's to many many many more years of married bliss!

It's.... A.....

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! Baby #2 is a beautiful little girl! Or so the ultrasound tells us! ;-) Congrats to the majority of you, my dear blog readers! The girl votes far outweighed the boy votes! Truth be told I thought that it might be a girl. With my son I had his name picked out, bedding, etc and did not know what I would do if it was a girl! Now, for this baby I knew everything for a girl and nothing for a boy! We are thrilled that we will have a baby girl joining our family in just 5 more months!

Big brother is not going to know what hit him!

Our proof! The lady said this was perfect evidence!

Our baby girl will be named Reagan Elizabeth. We decided to share her name early this time around because we know a lot of people who are expecting! Even though we picked a semi-unique name you just never know!

We can't wait now to watch our sweet girl grow, and can't wait until April (hopefully April, hehe) when she makes her appearance!

Seven Months!

Happy Seven Month Birthday, Clayton Scott!

You have changed even more this month than in the past - as if that is possible! You have really started to develop your own personality, and we love to see what new changes you'll bring us day to day! For starters you are so close to crawling! You can crawl backwards and on 10/30 you took two "steps" forward. However, most of the time you just move either both legs and not the arms, or your arms and not your legs. It's quite amusing! For us, not you! You get a little frustrated when you aren't getting anywhere, or are going backwards instead of forwards! You are excellent at turning circles! So soon you will be crawling forward like a big boy!

You sit up so well now and so it is easy to stick you down with some toys in front of you for a while. You've taken a couple of falls but you are able to shake it off pretty well! Your favorite toys to play with while sitting are your cookie jar (plastic jar with shapes that sings!) and your gator at Pop & Gia's house. Your all time favorite toy right now though is your teething giraffe. Nana nicknamed the giraffe Clarice because she is French, but I think her real name is Sophie! ;-) You have worn the spots right off that giraffe! It will keep you and your teeth happy for quite a while at a time!

You still have your boredom issues if you are in the same place too long. You let us know by screaming that you are done and ready for the next thing! Sometimes at work all you need is a change of scenery, so we'll take you outside! One day we let you scoot around the warehouse in your walker. You entertained yourself for quite sometime, spinning yourself backwards in circles! Speaking of work, you love everyone there! I don't know what everyone is going to do when you eventually get a nanny!

A fun development that you just made on your 7 month birthday was that you danced for the first time! Daddy has a stuffed Reveille dog, A&M's mascot, and it plays the Aggie War Hymn. Well the other day Daddy had it in his office and played it for you and you danced along to the music! So far we can only get you to dance to Reveille and the War Hymn! Oh, our sweet baby Aggie! So fun!!!

Mommy and Daddy get a huge kick out of this, but your all time favorite activity is "pankin" (spanking) things! You hit and drum on EVERYTHING! Everyone we talk to says that they have never seen a baby pank things as much as you! By the way, Gia came up with the pankin' slang! There has to be some drumming skills in there somewhere with all of the hitting that you do! We just hope that you don't continue this trend and hit your sibling one day! ;-)

One of your favorite activities is still bath time. Now you are big enough to sit up in the tub, so the second we set you in the water you go to town splashing the water all over yourself, Mommy, and the floor! It is really a funny sight to see! You just really like hitting things, see?! Your other favorite activity... being scared! We don't know why you love it so much but you will laugh so hard when someone scares you! It's really fun to get you rolling!

One thing that is pretty funny, but I guess usual for kids, is that you love new toys. It's as if you know they are new! When we buy you a new toy you will be hooked on that thing for at least a week... then it's time to move on to something else! Luckily for you, and us, you have plenty of toys! And, people love you so much that they keep buying you more! ;-) You're not spoiled or anything!

You have really started to take an interest in Pearl, your puppy. Every time she comes in the room you smile, even though she licks you in the face! We know that she will make a great dog for you and that you two will be great friends! Mommy loves this! Another thing I love is that you are so ticklish! It is so funny! This is going to make your toddler years really fun!!!

Food wise you are still taking your bottle like a champ and eating between 7 and 8 ounces every feeding. You have tried a variety of foods now and the only thing you did not like was bananas, surprisingly! We thought for sure you would love them! After all it is one of the few baby foods that still smells and looks like it's original food item, ha! You like all of the vegetables we have given you, and your favorite is still squash. While Nana was here she taught you how to hold your bottle! You don't do it every bottle but you will hold it for quite a while!

Yes, you're eating your toes!

Nana also was very awesome and helped us start to wean you from your beloved pacifier. You now pretty much only have the paci during nap time, night time, and if you are just really upset. I bet you only have the paci a total of a few hours a day. Major improvement! We are ok with you still having it at night for now because we know it helps you sleep! You are a great sleeper and sleep for nearly 12 hours at a time, but the paci is definitely what keeps you calm and sleeping! Some nights Mommy and Daddy have to put the paci back in your mouth if you wake up, but that's ok because we'd rather take away your paci then try to wean you of thumb sucking later on!

You're still babbling on and on but usually only saying "dada". We can't wait for the day when you use your words in context!!! You like to carry on conversations with people when they talk to you. If they are saying dada then you repeat. If they are screaming, like Mimi likes to do, then you scream back! It's pretty entertaining!

Your 7 month birthday was Halloween, so you celebrated this past weekend by attending the Lions Club carnival! You were Curious George and Daddy dressed up as the Man in the yellow hat! You even won a prize in the costume contest! We can't wait until next year when you can really participate!

The only negative thing that I have to say is that you are developing a bit of an attitude. We laugh it off right now! ;-) For instance, if you are playing with something that you're not supposed to, like a highlighter at work, and we take it away you will start to cry! One day Mommy took away something and you started bawling! This is not a good indication of what it will be like when you are two! We are trying to teach you "no" and even though it's hard to upset you, it has to be done! Believe us, it's for your own good!

Growth wise you are wearing 9 month pants and 6-9 month onesies. Most of your PJ's are 9 month sized although they are a little big on you. Mommy thinks you have long legs and a short torso like Uncle Adam! Before this month you were always perfectly wearing the baby sizes. Now we're having to mix and match sizes! It's been cold and hot here too, so finding the appropriate weather clothes has been a bit of a challenge! You are still in a size 3 diaper! You're about 20 pounds now which means we are moving you up to a big boy car seat! You are not fitting very well into your infant carrier anymore! Our baby is growing up!!!

We love watching you grow and change, and we can't wait to see what the future has to hold for you! You have been, and are, the best baby and the best gift from God. We love you so much!!!!!

Love,
Mommy