18 Months =1 1/2 years

I can not believe I have a 1 1/2 year old little boy!! For some reason 1 1/2 seems older to me than 18 months even though I am aware that they are the same lol. It is insane how quickly the time has flown by!! We went to the doctor this morning for his 18 month well check and the Dr. said he is perfect!! He weighs 27 lbs. 6 oz. which is in the 70th percentile and is 34 1/4 in. long which is in the 93rd percentile!! I didn't realize he was SO tall and it seems like he is finally slimming down since he is more active now!! I am so thankful for a healthy little boy!!

Out little buddy is so much fun these days!! He keeps us cracking up constantly!! He really is a little clown and knows exactly what to do to make us laugh at him!! His is busy busy busy and just goes non-stop playing with toys and learning new things!!

Here is a little of what he is up to these days...
*He wears size 18-24 month clothes.
*He is still in size 4 diapers.
*He has shoes ranging from sizes 5-7.
*He goes to bed around 7:30 pm and wakes up between 7 and 8 am.
*He takes one nap a day anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours but most days its 1 1/2 hours.
*He loves taking a bath.
*Some of his favorite toys are cars, trains, balls, Dance Star Mickey, and stuffed animals.
*He is the cutest little dancer I have ever seen and always busts a move when he hears music.
*He loves reading books.
*He is learning more and more words. Some of the new ones are..
-Trash
-Crash
-Shoes
-Bath
-Go
-Juice
-Sponge Bob
-Choo Choo
*One of his favorite new things is to throw things in the trash. He especially enjoys putting his dirty diapers in the diaper genie.
*He will shake his head yes and no to things he wants and doesn't want.
*He has a mouth full of teeth. He only lacks the bottom 2 eye teeth before the 2 year molars next year.

That's all I can think of right now but I'm sure there is more!! He of course has his toddler moments when he throws some serious tantrums but that is to be expected at this age. In the next couple of week we will be making the dreaded step of taking away the paci!! I asked for some tips today at the doctor's office and got some things to try. She said the main thing is to try and make sure he is done with it by the time we come back for his 2 year appointment. I will let you know how that transition goes. We will also be making another transition soon from the crib to a big boy bed. We don't really want to purchase another crib just so Maddox can stay in his for a few extra months once the baby comes along so after we find out the sex of #2 and figure our who we want in which room we will look for big boy furniture and start making that transition as well. I will of course keep you updated on that move too!!

I guess that is about all that is going on in the life of our 1 1/2 year old right now. I am thankful on a daily basis that God chose Collin and me to be his mommy and daddy!! He is such a joy and a precious gift to our family!! I love getting to watch him grow on a daily basis!! It is such a sweet time in our lives!!

I will try to get some pictures to post soon because I know that is what you guys really want to see :D.

Until Next Year...

I can hardly believe Christmas has already come and gone!! It seems like that happens faster and faster every year!! It was so much fun celebrating with my sweet little boy this year and I know it will only get better the older he gets and as our family grows!!


Last night we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church (Maddox looked SO cute all dressed up), had dinner with our friends the Davis', and then came home and got ready for bed. I continued the tradition from my family of getting new jammies to wear on Christmas Eve night. I can't wait until next year when I get to find matching jammies for my babies!! After Maddox went to bed, Collin and I assembled a train set for Maddox and set everything out for the first of what will be many Christmases to come!!






Collin and I are still trying to decide how we want to do the whole "Santa" thing with our kids because we feel like it is a tradition that has gotten WAAAY out of hand!! I am by no means saying that our children won't get gifts but we are just thinking we might would rather be creative and come up with another way of doing things without creating a bully kid that spoils it for everyone else!!

This morning Maddox got up at around 7:30 and was pleasantly surprised to find a new train set ready for him to play with when he came down stairs!! We opened gifts and enjoyed watching Maddox play with all of his new toys!!





We ended up just hanging out at the house all day and had brisket, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, shoepeg corn, and green beans for lunch!! Yummy!!

It was a great Christmas but I have to say I did miss being with the rest of my family back in Texas!! It is hard to believe that next year at this time we will have a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old!! I can't wait to celebrate this fabulous holiday with my family of 4 next year!!

I hope your Christmas was as fabulous as mine was and pray that your 2011 is richly blessed!!

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you all a very blessed day celebrating our Saviour today!!

Santa: Round 2

Obviously, it didn't go over as well as the first time around!! :D

They Came!!!

Well sort of...

I have been anxiously waiting for our new personalized stockings that I ordered to be delivered and today they came!! I wasn't sure they were going to make it here by Christmas which would have been so very sad but Pottery Barn and UPS came through. I opened the package right when it was dropped off and found only 3 of the 4 stocking I ordered in there. I of course ordered 4 because little Peanut needed one too I just didn't have his/her's personalized yet since we don't know the gender or have a name!! That was the one that didn't make it in to the package which was kind of bummer. The packing label said it should have been so I immediately called Pottery Barn and the lady said she re-ordered the missing stocking and assured me that it would be here by Christmas!! I am so happy with how they turned out!! They just look presh hanging on our mantle!! I'm not going to post a picture until I get the other one in the mail...most likely on Christmas Eve!!

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season thus far and hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Saviour!!

Strep and Ear Infections

I forgot to post about this in my Texas post...

Unfortunately while we were in Dallas, my buddy woke up one morning with a fever and just seemed to be feeling yucky!! I gave him doses of Tylenol throughout the day but that didn't seem to be bring the fever down at all. All day Thursday he was super cranky and fussy and I could just tell he felt crummy!! Finally on Friday morning when he woke up still burning up I decided it was time to take him to the walk in clinic!! They checked him out (he weighs 29 lbs now!!) and finally diagnosed him with strep throat and a double ear infection!! Poor buddy!!! They decided since we would be flying the next day to head home that it would be best to give him a shot because that would kick in a lot faster than the antibiotics which could take 48 hours to start working. He of course screamed when he got the shot but it did seem to start helping by the afternoon!! They also gave him 3 prescriptions: 1 oral one for the infection, ear drops and a cream for the terrible rash he had from the infection!! We are still working on finishing the round of ab but he seems to be completely back to his normal self!!

It is so hard to see your baby so sick and it is especially hard at this age because they can't tell you what's hurting and what they need you to do for them!! I'm just thankful we were able to figure put what was wrong and get him to feeling better before our 2 hour flight back home!! And thankfully neither Collin nor I came down with it so that is really good!!

I'm glad my happy, silly baby boy is back!!!

Service

Instilling the virtue of service in our children is super important to Collin and me!! We want our kids to know how to serve and love serving others. Most Tuesdays, Maddox and I got up to His Hands Christian Ministries for a few hours to help out. I know Maddox is still really young and doesn't really understand what we are doing or why we are there but I think it is important to start him out from the very beginning learning about service.

Today, we were up there and I was working the check-in table like I always do and he totally melted my heart. Like I said, I know he doesn't totally get it but there are definitely some connections being made by our continued time up there. At the check-in table people come in, sign in, I check them in on the computer and we give them a ticket to receive their sack of food. Maddox was sitting in the chair next to me when someone walked in and he said "Hi", then picked up a little purple ticket and held it out to give it to the person signing in!! SOOOO cute!! He was obviously just imitating what he has seen me do in the past but I think that goes to show the importance of our children seeing us serve.

I truly hope our time spend up at His Hands, even though its just a few hours a week, will make an impact in molding him into a person who loves serving others!!

Baby #2 Update

I had a check-up today to see how things are progressing with this pregnancy. It was a quick appointment with not much new to report which is a good thing as far as these check-ups are concerned. The baby's heart rate is 160 and Dr. G said everything looks good. I am at about 15 weeks at this point. Our next appointment with be our big ultrasound!! YAY!! I cannot wait to find out the gender of this little peanut!! Our appointment is Jan. 11 at 9 am. So you can def expect an update then about that appointment!! Above all, we obviously want a healthy baby but it is a fun appointment being able to find out the gender!!

Christmas Comes Early This Year...

For the first time since moving to Colorado we have decided to spend Christmas here instead of going back to Texas. It will be sad to not be there with our families for Christmas but it will be fun to get to celebrate Christmas morning at home with Maddox and Collin's parents will also be joining us here in CO to celebrate with us as well!!

Since we won't be in Texas for actually Christmas we made a 10 day trip to Texas this past week to celebrate with everyone and for Collin to run his marathon. It is a really strange feeling to be pretty much finished with Christmas gifts and all so early before Christmas. But we had a great time with our families and got some awesome gifts. We are so thankful for our families and everything they do for us!!

While we were there besides celebrating with both of our families we got to watch Collin run and finish the White Rock Marathon (he did it in 4:37...way to go babe!!), ate A LOT of good food (including Taco Bueno 4 times :D), did some shopping, got to see our sweet friends Jeremy and M'chelle and their precious 8 month old Jackson, saw a train exhibit and Santa, and went to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Texan!! We had a blast!!! Obviously based on that list I have TONS of pictures to post and we all know that is what you readers really want to see :D. So here they are (click on each collage to view it larger)...

14 Week Belly Pic

So I am totally aware of the fact that I have been a complete slacker when it comes to this pregnancy. I have always heard that the 2nd kid get a little jipped and it has already started!! Poor kid!! With me being so sick this time around plus having Maddox to take care of I just haven't felt like/had the time to take pictures like I did when I was pregnant with Maddox. So, here is the first one I have taken...I am now 14 weeks and a few days along. I am also posting the pic of me pregnant with Maddox at 14 weeks so you can see the comparison. I've always heard that you show sooner with the second and I def think it's true!! What do you think?? The green stripped sweater is this pregnancy and the white tank is Maddox's pregnancy!!



I will try to do better from here on out but I'm not gonna make any promises :D.

Next up on the blog: Christmas Comes Early This Year!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!! I wish we could be in Texas with our families but our adoptive families the Cox's/Davis' have taken us in this year since we are here in Colorado on our own. We have so much to be thankful for including our families and friends!!!

I am so thankful for Collin, Maddox and peanut #2 this year!! God has blessed me so richly throughout my life and for that I am eternally grateful!! I pray each one of you would have a fabulous day giving thanks for all you have been given!!

Poll

I added a new poll on the right to see if you guys think Peanut #2 is going to be a boy or a girl! :D Happy Voting!!

The "I LOVE this" Face

Maddox has this new fact that is absolutely hilarious!! I don't know where he learned it but he started doing it after Trunk-or-Treat when he was doped up on too much sugar. He has been doing it ever since and it just cracks us up!! He does it after he eats something that he really likes!! Here is a video of him doing it while eating some ice cream after dinner one night...

Snow

We officially have snow in the forecast for this week. I knew it was inevitable but that doesn't make me like it any more!! If you have read my blog for a while you know I'm not a huge fan!! But I guess there is nothing I can do about it...when it does fall I will just be staying at home waiting for it to melt!!

Christmas Cards

Every year I search the internet for the perfect Christmas card. But this year I went a different route. I have a friend that has a little business where she designs cards and stuff so I sent her an e-mail to see what she could come up with for our card. I had 3 pictures I wanted on the card and came up with what I wanted it to say and then she did the rest!! Once she was finished she emailed me the .jpg so that I could print it where I wanted. It was super easy and quick and I think I will end up saving a little money this year. I would highly recommend Ashley to anyone looking to have a custom card made for Christmas, birthdays, baby announcements or whatever!! She has some pre-made ones you can us or she will come up with a custom one for you. You can see some of her work and contact her through her blog... http://snowbirddesign.blogspot.com/ But I would get on it early because I'm sure she will get busier the closer we get to the holidays!!

Thanks Ashley for making our custom Christmas card this year!! I love it!!

Zofran

This past week I decided I had to do something about this nausea!! I was to the point where I wasn't able to hardly function because I was feeling so terrible. So I called the dr. and they said they could call in a prescription for an anti-nausea medicine called Zofran!! I have now been taking it for 2 days and it seems to be helping some!! Of course it hasn't taken the morning sickness completely away but it has given me a few hours a day that I don't feel HORRIBLE!! I will be 10 weeks on Monday and typically morning sickness is know to end after the first trimester so I am remaining hopeful that in 2.5 weeks I will start to feel better without the help of a medication!! Here's to hoping right?!?!

Peanut #2

Yesterday we had our first doctor's appointment and ultrasound to check on baby Packer #2!! The first appointment is always an exciting and nerve racking one. Dr. G said the baby looks good and has a strong heartbeat!! Praise God!! I was exactly right on my estimated due date of June 6, 2011!!

He did see something on the ultrasound that he wasn't certain about though. At first he thought it might be a second sac, meaning there could have been twins at one point but one disappeared which is a common thing. He later decided it was something related to the umbilical cord. He said he thought it was either the baby's intestines because they form outside the body and move in as the baby gets bigger. Or he said it could be a cyst inside the umbilical cord. He said he would do a little research after we left and let us know. He called me back about 15 minutes after we left and said he found 2 possible causes of a cyst both of which were benign and didn't have any impact on the pregnancy. That was reassuring!! He wanted us to go back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound so that he could have another look and to just monitor that situation. Right now we are too concerned about it because of Dr. G's reassurance but I will keep you updated on that as we find out more.


Honestly I can't really tell you what is going on in this picture...lol. Obviously the peanut shaped object is the baby but other than that I'm not sure. I think the left end is the head but I'm not positive. But maybe we will get some better pictures at our next appointment on Nov. 10th.

Thanks for the continued prayers during this pregnancy!!

Trunk or Treat

This past Sunday we had Trunk or Treat at our church! It's always fun to see everyone all dressed up!! I unfortunately forgot my camera but snapped a few on my phone of our cute little lion. He wasn't thrilled about the costume but as long as we distracted him with candy he was fine! He ended up having 4 dumdums, some skittles, a box of nerds, and a package of smarties and that is just what I saw him eat and doesn't include what other people gave him when I wasn't around!! To say he was on a sugar high would be an understatement!! He was WILD!! Lol!!

Our little Lion enjoying one of many Dumdums...

He ate all his nerds and this was his reaction when he didn't see anymore...lol

He wasn't thrilled about riding the train by himself...

But Daddy saved the day and rode the train with him!! (he almost had to spend the rest of the evening riding the train though because it was such a tight squeeze!)

We LOVE Popcorn...

My child has a new found love for popcorn thanks to his Kiki and Aunt Mo. The other day I wasn't feeling well and he found the bag of Target Popcorn (our fav) in my purse and this is what happened...




All I could do was laugh and thankfully a quick run of the vacuum had it all cleaned up!!

Different

This pregnancy has already been different than the first one with Maddox. With Maddox I remember feeling sick only a couple of times the entire pregnancy but this time around I haven't been so lucky. Last week, when I hit the 5 weeks mark, I started feeling sick and have felt that way pretty much constantly since. BUMMER!!! I know it will all be completely worth it but man it is no fun at all feeling nauseous while chasing around a 1 year old!! But I know this too shall pass!! Just pray that I get to feeling better soon and that during this time and can still be a good mommy to my little buddy!! Thanks!!

Videos

Here are some videos I've taken of Maddox. The first 2 are of him walking and the last one is of him saying his animal sounds. ENJOY!!

Fall Blog Layout

It has been feeling a lot like fall around here so I felt it was only appropriate to get rid of the flowers and bring out the fall colors on my blog. Happy Fall!!

Family Pictures

I mentioned in a previous post that we had family pictures taken while we were in Texas. Erin has posted some of them on her blog so I thought I would post a link so everyone can check them out. She did an amazing job and I can't wait to see them all. So, here is the link if you care to check them out!! http://eephotography.squarespace.com/ee-photography/2010/10/3/holly-collin-dallas-family-photographer.html

BIG Brother

Collin and I are THRILLED to announce that Maddox is going to be a big brother!! We found out a couple of weeks ago and could not be more excited!! We are estimating a due date of 6-6-11. We will go to the Dr. in a few weeks for our first ultrasound. Of course I will keep you updated on all the details of Little Packer #2!! Please be praying for a healthy pregnancy and healthy little one!!