Doctor's Appointments

Aiden had his 15 month check up yesterday. He is 25 lbs even putting him in the 55th percentile for weight and 34 1/4 inches tall, putting him in the 97th percentile for height. Everything checked out fine, closest thing to a problem which didn't even come close to a real problem is his lymph nodes were a little swollen but that's because he has seasonal allergies. I couldn't give him any anti-Florida antibodies because I don't have them myself. He did receive two more shots which, on top of his still teething, has made him the most miserable baby ever. He just wants to sit in my lap and fuss and toss and turn and when I'm not holding him, he is at my feet trying to get picked up.
Today I had another OB appointment. All my blood work came back as they should. My exam went well and we heard the baby's heart beat for the first time! :D During the entire appointment Aiden was fussy and not content with anything especially because I couldn't hold him, but when we heard the heartbeat, he turned toward me and with the biggest eyes in the world said, "Oh, wow!!" He knows how to be adorable at just the right time to make up for all the fussiness. The heartbeat was in the 140's, so as far as old wives tales go, it looks like a boy, but we will officially find out two weeks from today on May 12 when I go in for my ultrasound.
I'll let you know more when I get more information.

In Case There Are People Who Aren't Aware Yet..

Thomas and I are expecting our second baby October 22. We are extremely excited and ready to see how we tackle the challenge of two little ones. Pregnancy so far is going well. I already feel like I am gigantic - too gigantic to be only 14 weeks along but I have to keep reminding myself that most of it is that incredible amount of still stretched out skin from Aiden.
Morning sickness has not yet abated, much to my dismay. It is 24/7 and there are so few foods that sound good: PB&J with a big glass of milk, but not too big because a lot of milk makes me queasy these days, quesadillas with salsa, but not too much salsa because my heartburn is terrible already and completely loaded hot dogs that, of course, are full of sodium, making my feet swell already.
I am starting to get a little more energy. I still have to take naps everyday, but I am able to clean for the first half of Aiden's nap and then sleep the rest of the time. So I'm still super exhausted, just not as much. I'll take what I can get.
My next appointment is April 28 and I might have more information for you then. After that, it should only be four or five weeks until we find out what we are going to have.
As I'm falling asleep everynight I lay there and try so hard to feel the baby move, but I can't say that I have felt the real deal yet. I look forward to when I can feel him/her move because it seems to me that it'll make all this more bearable. As for now, I am just thankful to our Heavenly Father blessing us with another little one and hope that we'll stay healthy.

Yard Sale!

We (I say we, it really was just me and kinda Rosie because Thomas got off work as we were starting it and Rosie had to get ready for Prom so she was in and out) have successfully pulled off our first yard sale and I'd say we did pretty well. We sold all of our furniture that we don't need in this house, an old film camera, a trumpet, shoes, a neon guitar light, an accordion and a few other things. Mostly things that I absolutely wouldn't have expected to sell. But we sold enough to finish paying off our car so that is awesome.
Things to keep in mind for the next one is to have everything priced before you start bringing it out. I had all the labels, but just hadn't put them on because I was sick all the night before and had no motivation to do anything (apparently a reputation I'm making for myself these days). Also, it's a good idea to have small bills as change on hand before it starts. With the first guy, I realized my mistake and Rosie ran to Publix to get change but they said it was too early in the morning and they didn't have that many 1's and 5's, and the bank wasn't open yet. When it did open, I asked for cash back half in 1's and half in 5's and I got two 20's and a 10 back. Of course, but they were busy, and we made do.
It was exhausting and I'm glad to have it behind me, now it's just time to clean the house after the throwing of stuff inside afterwards so I could take a nap. :p

My Husband, a Hero.

At the beginning of March, Thomas and his supervisor were called to the scene of an accident where a car had crashed into a power pole and ended up downing two of them. When they arrived at the scene, the passenger, who had tried to get out of the car and run away, was dying from electrocution and the driver, who was still in the car was screaming for help because the car was now on fire. Thomas, in great danger to himself decided to try to help the lady because as he was standing there, seeing that no one was doing anything because of the downed live wires and the car being on fire and the great personal risk of going near the car, he knew he wouldn't be able to come home and tell his family that he didn't even try. He ended up saving the life of that lady just seconds before the fire spread to a fuel line and the car burst into flames.
Today he was recognized by the Chief of Police of the City of Live Oak and received a Life-Saver pin to wear on his uniform, and also received a plaque from the Mayor of Live Oak.
I cannot express how amazed I am by my husband and the good heart that he has. I cannot express how grateful I am that my child(ren) has such an amazing example right here in their own home and I cannot express how much I look up to him and honor him as the head of this household. I love and admire him for the person he his deep down inside and for the moral compass he has.
He truly is my hero.

Easter

Well, it started on Saturday because Aiden and I had to go to a Primary Easter Egg Hunt. Unfortunately, it was a absolutely beautiful day, perfect for Easter Egg hunting and wouldn't you know it that my stomach was having a completely off day so I wasn't able to stay outside too long before the heat got to me and I had to run back in before I was throwing up. So I don't have any pictures of Aiden hunting for eggs. Terrible. But we had a great time. Jennifer read the story of the Three Trees to the kids, they went to hunt for Easter eggs and then we all came back into the church for refreshments.
After that, all four of us (Daddy, Mommy, Aiden and even Zelda made a few appearances) jumped in the pool and swam around for a little bit. I so desperately wanted to be outside to enjoy the beautiful day but the heat was too much so we decided to go swimming. We thought it was great because we felt the water before we got in and it was nice and warm, but we just didn't dip our hand in far enough. It was nice and warm for the top six inches and progressively got colder as it went down. But we soon were used to it and had a good time.
Easter Sunday we woke up bright and early to get ready for church. I had to be there early because the Primary kids were singing the prelude music so of course all my careful planning got us there two minutes early, just in time for me to run up and try to sing all out of breath. During Sacarament Meeting, Aiden was fussy. He wanted the hymnal, but he wanted to hold it just the way he wanted which of course was one page in each hand, over his head, just waiting to tear out pages. He was fussy and had green boogers oozing out of his nose on a constant basis, so Thomas ended up taking him home so he didn't infect the kids in Primary or Nursery and also Thomas had caught whatever Aiden had and wasn't feeling well either. So I stayed until the end and they came and picked me up.
Then it was home to take naps and then get ready to go to Nana and Pop-Pop's for the family Easter dinner.
It was a fantastic dinner and as always, Aiden had a great time playing with his cousins. It really is refreshing to see him running around and laughing with the rest of them because at home he just wrestles with Zelda then ends up crying because he gives something to Zelda that he really just wanted her to look at and not take, but she takes it and runs off to chew on it.
Since then he has had a blast pilfering into his Easter basket and sneaking candy out until he got to the candy that was wrapped in foil because he doesn't know to take it off, and will just chomp down on the wrapper and everything so we had to put it up and hide it out of reach. Now every time he sees it on the counter, he gets really excited and with the most fascinated face says, "Ooh!! What's that?" He absolutely loved the Chocolate Bunny and Reese's but isn't really sure about the Cotton Candy which is hilarious to me because he's so eager to eat the sugary fluff but when it disolves before it even truly enters his mouth, he has the most confused look on his face.
All in all, it was fantastic and can't wait for next year to see what it has in store for us with two little ones around the house.
Here are pictures of Aiden and his loot. He's a funny kid.







It took him a while to get that the stick was to hold and not to suck out of like a straw. I had to make him lick the lollipop before he understood the deliciousness of the not stick side.


And then he wouldn't let it go for anything.


He finally gave up trying to get over the quick-disolving of the Cotton Candy and just decided to squish it all into a tiny ball which he graciously shared with Zelda.

Why is that?

It seems that I am the absolute worst at updating this blog when people actually know I have news to tell and are waiting to read about it. I can update it no problem when there's really nothing to tell other than cute Aiden anecdotes, but when I move and relocate my family, it takes two and a half weeks to get the motivation to write a half-hearted blog.
I'd love to say that Aiden being mopey-needy sick the past few days kept me from writing a blog. Or even that my morning sickness is terrible and I can't seem to do anything other than sit on the couch and count down the minutes until I'm in the second trimester because that is the first gleam of hope that this could possibly go away. Or even that Thomas and I have been so busy unpacking or fixing up the house that I just haven't had time. But alas, it seems I've just had a terrible case of lazy and I have a wonderful backyard that is safe for Aiden and Zelda to play in without having to worry about incredible amounts of ant bites, or other dogs wrestling with Zelda too closely to Aiden and the weather, for the most part, has been fantastic. So I have neglected my unpacking duties and the house is not fit to take pictures to post on here and a blog post without pictures is just.. well, it's boring.
We are finally settling down and I have pushed myself to be motivated to finish unpacking and I've set the date for this weekend to be mostly unpacked so I can then sort through things to sell at a yard sale and so the house is fit enough to have company over because now that we don't live in the middle of the woods we can actually have people visit us! Yay!
Aiden had a tough time the first week and a half or so. He never does well sleeping in other people places and this was no exception. On top of that, during the move my frantic, pregnant mind misplaced the bolts to his crib so he was sleeping in a portable crib and when he finally got used to that, I found the bolts, so he had to get used to his old crib all over again. And to super top it off, he was teething, so it was just all around hard for him.
Even Zelda didn't eat the first few days, but she has adapted well and is loving that she can go outside to run whenever she wants, which I also love because I don't have to stand there and call her and bribe her with dog biscuits to come back immediately after she is done going to the bathroom so she doesn't run off with the other dogs and inevitably end up in the gross bull frog pond and coming out looking like she was doused with pea soup. I can just let her out, and when she's done, she comes back in, and it's wonderful!!!
Thomas and I are definitely enjoying it. There is some work to be done because it seemed that his Aunt was always in the middle of a new project to improve the house and since them moving was such short notice, we are now in the middle of a new project to improve the house, but that will come in time.
I absolutely love that Thomas is able to stop in during his work day for lunch and whatnot. It is also wonderful to be able to notice we were out of syrup and one of us run to the store and be back before the other is done cooking French Toast. I have sorely missed the convenience of having stores within walking distance.
Pictures will come shortly. Sorry for the wait. Mostly, I'm sorry it probably wasn't worth it.