VISIT OUR NEW BLOG!

For several and obvious reasons, we have decided to change our blog name from JohnNicoleandAJHall to bojanglesfamily.blogspot.com. Come visit us over there!

Why Bojangles? Well, I would say since John and I started dating we have always used this word to describe 'slowness'. I will say something like, "John, why are you bogangling" or "Stop Bojangling" and vice versa. It is a word that despite whatever it really means (which I have no idea) or the fact that there is a Southern fast food chain called Bojangles, to us it has become a very common word in our family! So, it is what I could come up with, because I'm definitely not creative. :). Hope you enjoy our new blog!

Ok now, I'm ready!

I'm so ready now to have baby boy--COME ON BABY BOY! I'm pumping myself up with quotes from the Bible and this is so far my favorite:

"And when she was in her hardest labor, her midwife said to her "Fear not for you have another son." Genesis 35:17.

I'm so excited to have another baby boy soon! CAN'T WAIT TO HOLD HIM! I can't wait to introduce AJ to him! I can't wait to kiss them both!

Still Here and Pregnant :)

Just in case anyone was wondering--I'm still pregnant! I can now say we are due next Wednesday--so fun and exciting!

So we can officially say we have MOSTLY everything done. Carseat installed, crib back to where it needs to be, bedding put in, diapers and such where they are, clothes washed and put away, double stroller ready for action. I even just got the carpets cleaned and made some freezer meals--I bought the stuff for some more, but need to make it and I will probably do that slowly until I finish because man it hurts to be on my feet for a long time! We also have to put the swing up and the pack n play in the basement, but that can wait if we have to. And for those of you that have had kids before--I have the extra thick pads and tucks pads ready for me when I get home from the hospital :). OH and the lansinoh and nursing pads as well. I'm ready for business!

So I think I'm ready. If he holds out, I am fine with that as well--but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this baby now if he wants to come :).

AJ's SO EXCITED!!!

At the grocery store yesterday morning, AJ overheard a mom telling her daughter that they needed to get a small milk since they were going out of town and didn't want to spoil milk. AJ turned to me and asked, "Mommy, are we going out of town?". I told him that we weren't because we were going to be having a baby soon. He responded with a very loud and happy "YYEEAAHH, I'M SOOOOO EXCITED!". It just made my day.

That reminds me, John and I were discussing something about brothers and boys and how from what we see, boys tend to struggle more in school..yada, yada, yada. AJ was in earshot of us and thought we were talking about HIS brother. He yelled at us and said, "My Brother is a GOOD BOY". He is already sticking up for his little brother. It's what we love to see.

He also has an eagle eye for babies and always points them out, "Mommy, there is a baby...aww...so cute!" or "Mommy, that baby is crying..aww.."

Now let's see how much he sticks up for him and how excited he really gets when the baby is here!

Cravings

I haven't had any cravings really during this pregnancy. Then today I suddenly was hit with a Sushi craving (of course I can't have any!). I've also had a craving for a nice cold Corona and lime, but that is more because I can't drink it then craving it! I just told John I'm so excited to be able to eat at the following three places after having this baby:

1. Sushi at our favorite sushi place called Hooked
2. Beer and crablegs at this place called Tim's Rivershore
3. Raw oysters at this oyster bar by our house

I'll be breastfeeding, but you can eat raw fish while nursing--luckily! A beer or a glass of wine is ok too, just can't go overboard. They say that if you are ok to drive, you are ok to nurse! They also have these little strips of paper that you dip in your milk to test if it's safe to feed baby. I'll be pumping ahead of time just in case I fail--especially since one beer might make me feel a little drunk at this point! So with that all said, I'm getting even MORE excited to have this baby!

Oh my gosh!

I was just looking at picture of AJ when he was born--and I am emotional. I'm going to have one of these beautiful little things very soon! On top of it, I remember this picture like it was yesterday, and now I have a little man!

Happy Father's Day

It's not quite Father's Day, but AJ's school celebrated the dad's this morning with a Donuts for Dads. I wouldn't have gone, but John had a meeting to get to and I had to take AJ for his 3 year old doctor visit. So, while I was there--I got a picture of AJ and Daddy. Daddy is holding up the laminated plate artwork AJ created. John loved it.

AJ is very lucky to have John as his dad. John amazes me every day with how amazing he is as a father. You can tell just how much he loves AJ. It makes me so happy and excited to add another child into our family.

Happy Father's day to all of those wonderful Fathers out there!

Full Term! 37 weeks

I'm two days late posting this, but we made it to full term (37 weeks)! Now, I really do hope that baby boy stays in there for a while longer, but if he were to surprise us now, he would be considered healthy.

Still feeling great--still working out, we have been walking a lot, and I have tried to go swimming as much as we can. He dropped at least a little (it sure feels like he did) because I started to measure smaller (happens when they drop). I still think he will not come early--even though some people think he will. My midwife does not do internals until 40 weeks and I really like that. With AJ, it only made me frustrated to know what my progress was--some people can walk around dialated for a few weeks!

I got a lot accomplished on Monday. I took the day off to kind of nest. I washed ALL of his clothes from 0-6 months and WOW he has a lot. I worry a little though, because AJ was born slightly earlier in the year, so I'm not 100% sure if the clothes will fit the season, but we will see.

Now we just have some really minor stuff that I want to get done--like cleaning out our cars and putting in the carseats. That stuff can come later if it has to, but would be nice to get done now. I also need to pack the hospital bag and AJ's bag as well. But other then that, I think we can enjoy these next few weeks!

One last thing before my 37 week photo. I had to measure myself this week for a dress for my best friend's wedding (Maggie is getting married October 15). Do you know how hard it is to decide what size I will be wearing? Being a nursing mom, my boobs are going to stay big, so I ended up ordering a dress that is TWICE the size of my pre-pregnancy size because that is how large my bust measured! When she told me the waist size, I was like...uh, I'm going to need to get that altered in by a lot.

Here is my 37 week photo:

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago we spent three hours with a professional photographer--one who I have seen the work of before and loved. She did engagement photos for good friends of ours recently and I absolutely loved them. They were exactly the 'style' I love when looking at photos. Well, I am extremely unhappy with our maternity photo shoot. We started out the day at Frying Pan Park in Herndon. She gave AJ a balloon prop, which actually ruined all of the photos and I ended up carrying it, causing my hand to be awkwardly placed in every photo. She was keen on keeping the dumb balloon prop. It was a cute idea for a location (although our original idea of the carnival was better--but it closed the day before our scheduled date), but I didn't realize how smelly and gross a petting zoo would really be for us. I found that our faces expressed 'it is really smelley here' instead of 'we are so happy to have a new baby in our life'. The photos from the park are pretty much a bust--all of them (except a couple at a tree that wasn't near the grossness).

Then we went back to the house where I did my maternity photos by myself. She only uploaded 4 of them because it must have been a terrible shoot. I felt weird and she didn't help me pose at all--so I knew I was already feeling large and in charge, much less I am so not photogenic. None of those will be posted or used ever because I hated ALL 4 of those pictures.

So that brings me to the following. I like some of them, but they dont' really show our faces! I guess I knew what I wanted, we didn't get it, and I am just disappointed. But--here are a couple that I do love (and some I kind of like):

Needless to say, we plan on getting professional photos done for newborn/family shots, but she will NOT be doing them. I contacted a few people already that come highly recommended in the newborn industry..and I am going to be very clear in my expectations and speak up when something dumb is suggested.

5 weeks--BIG DIFFERENCE

Wow, what a difference my belly has made in just 5 weeks. Here is me at 30 weeks:



And 5 weeks later at 35 weeks:

Baby boy is GROWING! I just realized my angle is a little different--so the rest of me looks different too--I will have to retake on on Wednesday at 36 weeks and get in the same outfit so we can really tell :).

35 weeks! Only 35 days to go!

Today is 35/35..meaning 35 weeks and 35 days to go (until the due date at least). I'm feeling really good. I of course am a bit tired and have a little bit of a hard time falling asleep since I'm so big, but I stay asleep which is the big thing. With AJ, I had terrible insomnia at this stage, so I'll take what I have now. Also, the heartburn and general uncomfortable pregnant feeling is much easier this time.

I am having Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contractions) at least once a day. I had none of those with AJ. It is just merely a little uncomfortable, but it always messes with me. Last Saturday I actually thought I was in labor. During a much needed nap I woke up with contractions but fell back asleep. They continued for the rest of the afternoon, but weren't very timetable. Then that evening I woke up to timetable contractions--about every 7 minutes. I drank some water and rested, but it didn't make them go away. I kept getting upset saying, "I can't miss AJ's birthday party!". I decided to walk around and the house to see what that brought and sure enough, they went away.

So other then that, I am feeling really good. I'm still working out (although it's slightly harder!) and keeping active.

We finished AJ's new big boy room! I will have to take pictures and send them out. We have three things left to do: getting the curtains up, installing his drawer under his bed, and buying a bookshelf for his books. All of that will slowly get done by the end of June or so. For the baby's room--well that room is mostly done since we are keeping it pretty much the same as AJ had it. Here is my to do list for this month:
-Wash newborn and 0-3 month clothes (the joy of having a second boy, we kept his clothes!) and put away (can't wait to smell the dreft again!)
-Put up his monogram in his room
-Sanitize the room and change the bed from a toddler bed to a crib with a bumper
-Put the carseat in our cars

Wow, I can't believe we are so close!

I have a 35 week picture to share, but I need to upload it to my computer. Guess who is back in business? That is right, I bought a new lens this weekend--just in time for AJ's party. I have some great pictures to share with you all in blog world of his new room, birthday party and birthday. I hope to remember to upload tomorrow.

Happy 3rd Birthday, AJ!

My dearest AJ,

Wow...you are THREE now! I know I have said that when you turned 1 and 2--and I may continue to say that every year. As cliche as it sounds, it is really true--time goes by so fast when you are having fun.

I remember May 30th three years ago. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I remember your dad doing push-ups between pushes because he had to exert the extra energy building up inside of him. I remember how he said, "wow", as he saw your head getting closer to delivering. I still feel that intense motivation hearing that word--I wanted so badly to meet you. Within minutes you were on my chest looking at me and you were simply the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You lifted your head--not bad for a 5 minute old baby!--and looked around the room. Knowing how you are now, it makes sense that you did that. You are such a curious little boy.

Seeing you grow into what you are at three has been the most incredible thing to witness. All of the milestones--from rolling over to crawling to walking to going potty has just been so amazing to watch. I see so much of me in you--the stubborness, the determination, the need for it NOW. I see so much of daddy in you too--your playfulness, your tough boy attitude, your charm. You are so loving to everyone in your life. You know how to make a bad day good and how to really melt my heart. All you have to do is say, "I love you Mommy" with those big blue eyes and you have me wrapped around your finger. Daddy gets mad at me sometimes because I can't help but give you what you want when you are being such a cute little boy--but that is why he is here, to be the bad cop (because I love being the good cop!).

I wish I could push the pause button on the remote of life. It kills me that you are getting older. I have loved every single moment with you--even the sleepless nights (oh and how many there were). Of course it has been hard being a mommy sometimes--but you make it more then worth it. I don't want you to grow up, I want you to just stay my little boy forever and ever. But, I know that can't happen. I am excited for your future, but can't help but to be sad leaving phases behind us. I just want to soak up every moment with you--I know I will blink and you will be graduating, getting married, and having children of your own. We just have to enjoy our time together now.

This year is going to be a big year for you. You are going to become a BIG BROTHER! You are so excited about becoming a big brother. You tell me that he won't have any teeth, he only gets to drink mommy's milk, and that you are going to kiss him when he is crying. I'm sure your brother and you will butt heads plenty of times over the years--but I'm confident that you will shower him with love and always have his back. That is how you are, loving and protective.

Thank you AJ for everything you have given Mommy and Daddy. We are so blessed to have you in our life. We love you more then anything in the entire world. Happy Birthday my little Monkey.

Boys weekend

Since mommy is away, the boys have a full weekend planned. Tonight John sent me this photo of AJ and M&Ms while at the movies watching Rio. So adorable.

Leaving on a jet plane

Lauren and I are on our way to San Francisco for a girls weekend with Maggie to celebrate her upcoming nuptials. "Trouble comes in Threes!"

Happy Easter

We celebrated our Jesus Christ by having a near perfect Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny came bearing some cool things for AJ (but no candy--I love that Easter Bunny!). He did, however, get some fruit roll-ups. AJ loved waking up to a basket full of surprises!

And he even got a new potty for the basement bathroom--which he loved as you can tell from his face. He loves "Cars" things--even though he hasn't seen the movie.

We had a nice Easter Breakfast outside since it was a beautiful morning. I love spring mornings more then anything season-wise. Do you notice the yellow and purple tulips? John sent them to me for Easter. He also sent 24 Chocolate Covered Strawberries AND a Easter Cookie Bouquet. No wonder I gained 4 pounds in three weeks (between that and Europe :)). That is ok, you only live once.

We went to Grandma and Eagle Pop-Pop's House. We got to open our baskets, eat an amazing meal cooked by my amazing mom, and play with the boys. Roman and AJ had a very interesting Easter Egg hunt. The Easter Egg hunt has been a tradition for us since I was born! Now it's so much fun seeing Roman and AJ continue that tradition by getting competitive as David, Kayla, and I did as kids (yes, I'm 15 years older then my sister and got competitive with her!). It was cute though, as they are still in that age where they aren't quite as competitive. What a change though from just one year ago--the boys were running and finding eggs and 'getting' the game. AJ even almost stole an egg that Roman was going for and when he got the egg, realized Roman was going for it, and gave it to him. It was very cute. AJ was on the move, so this was the best I could get (don't you just love his outfit ?):

We had a fabulous Easter!

30 weeks!!

We are 75% the way there with this pregnancy! I am feeling very behind in what I need to be doing and have a very busy couple of weeks coming up--so I'm fairly certain we will be getting everything done last minute. I was trying to avoid that since June is one of my favorite months and I didn't want to be doing anything--but what can you do??

I'm feeling great. I passed my glucose screening test with flying colors and am very healthy. So is the baby. I'm still working out and feeling good during the workout.

The baby is very healthy as well. He is head down already, so we just have to pray he doesn't move! He is moving a great amount.

AJ and John LOVE to talk to the baby and kiss him. It's very cute.

Nothing more to really report--just keep on keeping on at this moment!

Baby Boy #2's 4d pictures and videos

Technology is really amazing. I don't think my mom would have thought when she was pregnant with me that one day people would be able to see their babies in real live 4d imaging. Shoot, I think she was lucky if she got a grainy ultrasound.

The place where we had AJ and Dos's (as we are calling him--dos as in 2 in spanish) 20 week ultrasounds offers a free 28-30 4d study (we are a little over 29 weeks). It is so amazing to see your baby on the screen like that. I can't even explain it. The photos and videos below do it no justice really.

We brought AJ with us and he was so excited to see his brother. Oh, we also confirmed for sure that it is a boy--we saw all of his glory today! We also learned he is already head down (YEAH!) and got to see him open and close his eyes, smile, stick out his tongue, open and close his mouth, and saw the other beautiful parts of his body.

Now 4d imaging probably has some improvement to endure. It has already made improvement in the three years since we had AJ's. Today we got there and my bladder was slightly too full, causing him to be pushed up against the uterine wall and thus created blurry pictures. Then he had his feet, hands, and umbilical cord covering his face. With some taunting by the tech and some flipping and movement by me, we were able to get him to move his feet and hands most of the time, but the cord hung out. When the cord is covering the face, it causes distortion to the body parts it covers. Also, the ultrasound wand pressure causes 'bubbles' to the area it's hitting--so in all photos there is some sort of distortion. Some of you will think it's scary, but some of you will find that it's really a cool and amazing thing to see. I was blown away as I was able to learn quickly what everything was.

So first thing is first, let's compare AJ to Dos. The major difference in the photos below is that AJ's eyes are open and Dos's are closed. But, you can see that they look very similar (or maybe you don't see that, but we do!). I think that AJ and Dos have the same nose, eye shape, and face shape. The lips are a little fuller in Dos. John thinks the forehead shape is different. We are making these assumptions based on multiple photos and live imaging we saw today. It will be really interesting on how it really turns out!

AJ circa over three years ago:

Our second son:

I show this photo because it reminds me of a Sleeping Baby AJ. I also felt like they were similar in a lot of ways--facial expression wise.

Now on to some exciting videos! Here is the first of three:

This photo is amazing because it shows his little hand (he has 5 fingers!)

In this one, you will see him open his mouth, a little tongue, a smile, and him open and close it.

So a very amazing day--and now I'm SO excited and ready to meet my little baby boy. I can't wait to snuggle with him, to have him wrap his little hands around my finger (and he will have me wrapped around his finger just like AJ does), to nurse and look into his eyes, to hear him coo, to watch AJ interact with him...I'm just so looking forward to it.

Oh and in just to bring me down to earth for a minute, I thought I would remind myself of not only how I looked in the first few weeks after AJ, but how tired I was as well. Ok, nevermind, I'm back on cloud 9 thinking of those days and how amazing it was to snuggle with such a precious little thing (and now emotional thinking of how fast time flies):

A busy Good Friday

AJ and I had a very busy day today! First--AJ had his very first dentist appointment and I'm happy to report that he was really good! We started with him watching me get my teeth cleaned first. Then he hopped right in that chair ready to go. The hygenist counted his teeth (20) and even used the pokey thing to clean some plaque--which we all know is the worst part. AJ did so good and sat still, listened, and relaxed the whole time.

Then we went home for lunch and a nap. After waking up--we got to go see our baby boy in real live 4d. It was amazing. AJ sat on John's lap and pointed at the screen saying, WOW he is doing this or he is doing that--he is point to his face or he is moving. It was really incredible. I will post a separate blog entry on that experience.

Then AJ and I went to go see the Easter Bunny (John had to go back to work). Of course my brave little boy loved the Easter Bunny. Look at the big smile.

Then we came home and had some supper and cookies that John had sent us for Easter (he also sent flowers and chocolate covered strawberries, but I'm not sharing!). After supper, we dyed Easter eggs. AJ's favorite food is hard boiled eggs believe it or not, so he will enjoy colored ones!

A great Good Friday for us!

Wow--AJ is ALMOST three!

I just booked his birthday party--exciting! It's strange that I will have a THREE year old in a month and a half!

We're back! Funny (now) Poop Story Inside

Well, we survived our first European vacation as a family! It certainly is a whole lot easier to go as a couple without small children and we had our National Lampoon's European Vacation moments for sure, but AJ was such a perfect angel. Of course he had a few two year old meltdowns--but they were mostly due to exhaustion and I know I wanted to through a fit sometimes, so I don't blame him. Overall, he was so good.

One very awful thing that happened was that we lost our brand new digital camera. The camera was purchased specifically for this trip (to avoid bringing a big bulky SLR camera that could have been lost) and was lost after a week--so over 400 pictures all gone. It was our fault--I'm pretty sure--as I think we left it on a hop on-hop off bus in Brussels. AJ fell asleep on my shoulder while we were waiting for the bus at the end of the day. Once on the bus (with a stroller and sleeping child!), he looked so peaceful and I asked John to take a picture. He showed it to me and I think I put the camera down on the seat. Neither of us thought to look to make sure we had everything because we were so distracted with a sleeping AJ and a stroller. It put a bit of a strain on my next few days. I was in mourning for sure. John wasn't as bothered as I was. I just had so many plans for those pictures! It could have been so much worse, that was the theme for me this trip actually, we were safe, we didn't get robbed, we didn't lose our luggage, we were fine. We made up for it on John's I Phone, but the picture quality isn't great.

One of the moments that reminded me of the European vacation was our first train ride out of Paris. If you are skiddish on kid bowel movement stories, you might want to stop reading. If you are a mom, you will want to read.

First off, I have to say that riding the train in Europe is SO EASY. I thought it would be like flying where we had to be there early, check bags, etc. I had never even took a train in the US and the last two times we travelled to Europe we took flights internally instead. Realistically, you don't need to be at the station until about 20 minutes before the train leaves. Anyway, I say that because we didn't know how easy it was and showed up super early for our train out of Paris. We found a quiet and out of the way spot in the train station and just waited. I left to go to the bathroom and John changed AJ's poopy diaper in the said quiet spot. Remember how AJ was doing very well in potty training? Well, I regretfully say that John and I pushed for him to go in his diaper at times because not only are the bathrooms not clean in Europe for the most part, but you also have to pay to use them--even in some restaurants where you are paying good money for sub-par food!

So anyway, AJ had held in his poop for a day, partly because he was used to going on the potty and partly because the change in food. We were getting worried (remember--AJ is a kid that goes A LOT in a day) and then relieved when he did finally go. So John changes his diaper and I come back from the bathroom. I asked John if he was sure that he got everything because I swore I still smelled it. Thinking that maybe it was the disgusting bathroom I just came from, I dropped it, thinking maybe it was ME that smelled. A minute later, I look over at AJ, who was sitting on luggage and being quiet and said to John, that does look like a poop face, doesn't it. Sure enough, he was pooping again.

I asked AJ if he was going again and he didn't break concentration. I guess I caught it once he was already in the middle of his business. John and I laughed it off and he made sure to tell me it was 'my turn'. Once AJ seemed to be done, I told him we were going to change his diaper again and he complied.

Man, it smelled without even taking his pants off. I knew it was going to be bad, so I thought I should be somewhat careful. AJ was in a stage of wearing his soccer jersey my mom had just got him before he left (luckily we had a washer in the Paris apartment!). It came with soccer shorts and AJ really wanted to wear the shirt and shorts everwhere under his warmer clothes. In hindsight, it was a good thing he had an extra layer of clothing. I took off his jeans and the smell intensified. I immediately knew this wasn't good. I asked for some help from John before taking off the shorts--very carefully of course. Sure enough, the shorts were filled with poop. I mean filled. Let's not even discuss the diaper.

So within two seconds I went from smelling poop to a poop explosion. Even with careful attention, I still managed to smear the poop all over AJ's legs. John quickly took the clothes to the nearest trashcan. Then, after a half hour of no one coming near our little corner, a group of about 50 people walked by. My son's poor poopy butt, laying on our large piece of luggage, and legs were in the air held on by just three fingers on my left hand while I was trying to use wipes to clean him up -- all while trying to avoid smearing further poop to our luggage or me or John or onto the upper part of AJ's body. I glanced over at the people--who were of course, all staring at us in disgust.

I just shrugged it off and went back to work. John and I got a system going. AJ was laughing at us. Our faces were priceless I'm sure. It took a good 15 minutes, but we managed to clean him up well enough that we felt he at least no longer smelled. We put a good new diaper on him and LUCKILY had our bag so we were able to put all new clothes on him. His shirt and socks weren't affected, but I felt better with all new clothes.

The little **** laughed at us. LAUGHED at us cleaning up HIS mess! I swore I smelled poop the entire train ride. This caused us all to shower when we got to our hotel before doing anything. All of our clothes ended up in a laundry bag just in case so not to disturb our other clothes.

It's funny now looking back on the story. The rest of the trip I felt paranoid that we were going to have to go through that again--so I never left without a change of clothes for AJ.

I will post some more stories this week and hopefully some pictures later once I somehow get John's IPhone photos to my laptop. Ok, I am still upset about losing the camera.

So many updates!

Giving some updates of AJ! Mr. Man is very independent these days. It's amazing. We thought he was starting to drop naps because he was just up in his room quietly playing during nap time...but NOPE. The below picture is precious. It was taken about 4:30 on a Sunday--a Sunday that was also a very nice day and after a park adventure. I love a sleeping AJ (well I love an everything AJ, but a sleeping AJ after he exhausted me is a perfect AJ :)).

AJ has actual conversations that can last 20 minutes or more. He LOVES to talk. He talks to Grandma often. She is one of the only people in the universe that would never get bored talking to a two year old AJ. They have so many important things to talk about (like spongebob underware). While driving one day, AJ was playing with my old -- and I mean old because I dont' remember ever having a 'flip' phone -- cell phones and 'called' Grandma and had a conversation with Grandma-- a very serious conversation:

My birthday was a few weeks back and my boys really spoiled me. I just wanted to spend the day with them. The day was BEAUTIFUL so after AJ's swim class we ventured out to DC for a day of tourist activities. We walked a TON and went to a few museums and Georgetown before walking to Washington Harbor for dinner. Here is a picture of AJ and I. See his sweater vest? Yes, I dress him like that and I love it. He looks so darling! Oh, I'm so excited to dress another little baby boy up like it :). Too bad AJ doesn't enjoy it as much as I do. If it were up to him, he would wear a 'tank top' and basketball shorts all the time. He is much like his Daddy. Good thing I'm the boss.

We took AJ to his first MMA fight. The dulles sportsplex has these fights on Saturday evenings sometimes. John had two tickets and his friend bailed out on him so he asked if we could go, knowing we might need to leave if it becomes overwhelming for AJ. Well, let me tell you...AJ loves ALL SPORTS. He cheers for everything. He was cracking people in the place up with 'GET HIM' and 'GOOOOOOOOO' at the top of his lungs. He did so well. He was a perfect little angel and enjoyed himself. Notice the picture that both John and AJ have 'fists' up.

And that brings me to our second little terror. Pregnancy is great. I am now 26 weeks and feeling amazing still. We leave for vacation next week and I'm so excited about it. Oh, and I got my iPad2 in, so hopefully we can update on the trip with pictures and such!

PA visit

A few weeks ago (I didn't take any pictures so didn't post anything!), AJ and I trekked up to Philly for a very quick one night visit.

We drove up to Delaware and spent a few hours with my stepmom, brothers Martin and Joseph, and sister Matalie first. Joanne and kids moved from Missouri around Valentine's day and seem to be settled and happy. I'm very glad.

We then went to PA to see my girl LEAH! I love Leah so much, and so does AJ! They have fun playing together! Here they are hanging out drinking juice!

On Sunday, my cousin's daughter Marlena had her baptism. After the ceremony, my cousin Matt scooped AJ up and immediately tried to get him to say GO EAGLES. AJ wasn't having it, he would argue GO REDSKINS right back, or say "I don't like the Eagles, I like the REDSKINS!"

AJ hanging out with some of his cousins. He looks like such a big boy!

And finally, a picture of me and him. I think he was attacking me in this picture and we were laughing.

Great weekend away!

A new baby in the family!

On Tuesday, my cousin Jacquel gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Maddox was 8 pounds and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well.

I have A LOT of cousins. My older cousins--George, Joey, and Matt, had all 6 of their kids around the same time--give or take. Then years went by without any new great grandkids. Now the next batch of great grandkids have been coming at a steady pace. AJ was the first, followed by my girl Leah, my nephew Roman, Ava, Marlena, and now Maddox. In July we will welcome baby boy Hall. I wonder who is next!?

Friday night Fire

Sometimes in life crazy things happen that really put things in perspective.

Last night we had friends coming over for dinner. John trains in Ju Jitsu with Steve and his wife Kristin soon joined the other side of our gym that I attend, personal training. They are a wonderful couple and I know when they start a family sometime soon, they will be fantastic parents because they LOVE AJ.

Anyway, Steve got stuck at work and said he could be at our house around 8pm and Kristin would be meeting him there. This turned out to be a really good thing. Around 7pm, John and I were prepping dinner while also playing with AJ (ok, he was mostly playing, I was mostly cooking). I had a great menu planned with our favorite grilled asparagus, garlic-olive oil-tomato cous cous, and steaks on the grill. The asparagus takes about 50 minutes to an hour on low on the grill. I asked John to start the grill around 7 so I could get the asparagus on there by the timed it warmed up, around 7:15. Little did we know that the both of us turn the grill on very differently. John turns it on and keeps it on high before turning it down to low. I turn it on and immediatly turn it to low.

At 7:15 or so, I threw the asparagus (tightly wrapped in foil) on the top shelf of the grill and closed the grill top. I walked inside the house and checked on AJ and John and went back to prepping. At this point I had pretty much everything set--including the dinner table. I did one last check and turned around and BRIGHT ORANGE caught my eye WITH the shades to the kitchen closed overlooking the deck.

I ran over to the french doors leading out to the deck and screamed for John. The grill was in flames and was only 2 feet or so from our house. In addition, we have a wooden deck like most people.

John told me to grab AJ and call 911 while he ran to get the fire extinguisher. I got on the phone and gave all of the relevant information. I admit I was a little bit freaking out. John came down to us and told me that the fire extinguisher didn't work--it was just too old and we never got it checked in the 5 years since we got it.

Meanwhile, AJ--who has been potty training perfectly--was in nothing but underware and a pair of shorts. 911 told us to get out of the house immediately and to get our neighbors on either side out as well. I told him we have a child and I need to get clothes and John ran up the two level of stairs to get him something warm to wear.

I grabbed our dog Tyson and my half naked child and ran out with John just a minute or so behind us. I ran to one neighbor to get them out of the house and asked them for their fire extinguisher. They jumped on it and when John got outside he ran back in to try to extinguish the fire, but their extinguisher didn't work either! Our other neighbors (who our deck backs up to) were not home.

Within a minute or so (talk about FAST!) three large fire trucks with about 15 or so firemen rolled up all loud and proud. A fire chief SUV also came as well as a police car. The trucks stretched across our entire street just about. A few of the men ran in the front door while a few others got the fire hose out and went through the back. Meanwhile the cop (who was really nice) came to talk to us to get our information. We couldn't see anything but within about 5 minutes or so they all came out to tell us that the fire was out and everything was off (including our stove that was cooking the cous cous!). The firemen were all really great and took us to the firesite to examine the damage.

Turns out that one of the burners was stuck on 'light' and NOT on high. They said if it was on high, worst case would have been my asparagus would have burned. John said at this point it was 85% his fault and 15% my fault. I won't argue with that (even if I feel very responsible for not checking the burners).

We got so lucky. We had next to no damage. Our grill is of course gone and we have a couple of burn spots on our deck floor as well as some 'wilted' siding, but we really did get SO lucky. The rain the day prior was our saving grace as well.

What is left of our sad grill:

The firemen let AJ go explore their truck and he had a really fun time with the excitement. Later he told our friends that "mommy was scared, but I was BRAVE".

Everything was wrapped up by 7:40 and John and I were left in complete embarrassment. One of his co-workers lives across the street from us and she came over to check on us. We also can't face the rest of the neighborhood today just yet.

We went back out to the deck, which was COVERED in white powder from the firemen. Our neighbors--who are very snobby and keep everything in perfect order (they do not have kids clearly)--were not home, but their deck was also covered. John went down and fed the hose up to me. He turned it on and then cleaned both decks clear of powder.

I thought our meal would be ruined but luckily our steaks were good to go! John had the genius idea to grill out on his tailgate grill--in the front of the house of course :). By the time our guests arrived, they wouldn't have even known what we just went through if it wasn't for us telling them and explaining why John was grilling in our front. I also had some green beans to work with in the fridge as well. Turns out our meal was perfect and we had a great night.

It's hard to tell (no flash on my cell), but you can kind of see John in our front yard grilling. That would be some sort of hand sign that I do not understand, but thought it was funny anyway.

We certainly learned some lessons last night. I also learned that when it came down to it, the only thing I worried about was getting my family to a safe place. I didn't care about anything else--not even photos or my favorite pair of jeans or anything. Now I know I can honestly answer the question "if you had a fire and had to get out of the house quickly, what would you take with you?". The answer would be only my family. Material things do not matter at all.

So we are off to get two new fire extinguishers this weekend--one for us and one for our nice neighbors. We also will make sure to get it checked every year to make sure it is still working. DAVID (my fire fighter brother): can you please check it for us every year?

I also bost this because I hope that EVERYONE reading this will take precaution in case of a fire. We were lucky, yes, but we could have easily not been and we were not prepared for a fire. Please, please please learn from us!

When POOP excites you :)

You know you are a mom when...poop really makes you happy. Well, actually that isn't really true, but this morning it was!

AJ has been peeing in the toilet for about a year. Poop, however, has been a different story. He goes SO much and couldn't really 'get' that feeling I think, so he would just end up going in his big boy underware. Eventually we got sick of cleaning up the mess, so we stopped potty training and just let him lead the way.

Then this weekend we went to Philadelphia. My niece (well, she isn't really my niece, but I am adopting her) Leah turned two in September and is completely potty trained! I kept telling AJ that Leah had BIG GIRL underware on and didn't have to have her diaper changed. This must have sparked something in AJ, because since we got back on Sunday, he has been VERY interested in wearing BIG BOY underware and peeing. Still, though, pooping was an issue....that is...

UNTIL THIS MORNING!

AJ woke up, asked to be put in his underware and then wanted to go to the potty. He sat down (he sometimes stands to pee, but we let him decide) while I brushed my teeth. He is to the point where he can completely dress himself, so he doesn't need my help pulling down or up with his clothes. ***TMI WARNING****

Anyway, I heard a "plop" and stopped what I was doing. I look over at AJ and he is in DEEP CONCENTRATION. Then 10 seconds later, he looks at me and says, "MOMMY, I POOPIED IN THE POTTY!!!". I about flipped! I was SO EXCITED! He FINALLY WENT!

We are going to continue to push the potty training and who knows, maybe AJ is a typical boy and won't be ready. Regardless, I feel like we are finally going in the right direction!

GOOD JOB MY LITTLE MONKEY BOY! MOMMY AND DADDY ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

22 weeks

22 weeks and I'm getting bigger! It is so interesting to see the change in just two weeks.

Here is me, at 20 weeks, just two short weeks ago:

And me this morning (excuse the silly face and my glasses, it was first thing in the morning!)

I am feeling really, really good these days. I feel healthy now (after weeks of being sick), have great energy (well as much as you can have being pregnant), and am (knock on wood) sleeping OK.

I'm still able to wear my own clothes. Well, mostly. There are shirts that I feel are too short and I have to wear the Be-Band for most of my pants, but I have only started wearing 1 maternity shirt and that is because it doesn't even look like one. I know this is going to be short lived. If I have another growth in the next two weeks, I will need to start wearing more maternity shirts!

My uterus is measuring about two weeks before it did with AJ. At my last appointment, it was already at my belly button. Now I can feel it is above my belly button.

Baby boy is MOVING (actually, he is right now as I type). He is more active then I remember AJ being (but the things you forget when you are pregnant the second time!). When I'm active, there isn't much coming from him, but when I'm resting--it's like he is doing flips in my belly. In the middle of the night is when he gets really crazy. I love it though, even if it wakes me, because I feel like I'm bonding with him. It's such an amazing feeling to feel your little baby moving inside of you. I missed that after AJ came into the world and I know I will miss it after Baby Boy does too (but having them to hold makes up for it!).

The other night Baby Boy woke me up and I could feel him on the OUTSIDE for one of the first times ever. I immediatly woke John up, who made a noise and put his hand not even on my belly. I moved it to the right place but he was snorning again before the baby moved. Needless to say, he doesn't remember any of this and was upset that he didn't wake up for it. We still have lots of time to feel the baby though--and to see him inside of me like an alien will be really cool too!

Nothing else to really report, we just keep on keeping on. I'm looking forward to these next 4 months!

Swim Class

Saturday mornings we take AJ to a swim class! It's a great way to start your day and I really enjoy it as well. AJ loves the class. His favorite part is "Humpty Dumpty" where we sing the song while the kids are sitting on the wall, then when it comes to "Had a Great Fall", they jump into the water. AJ still doesn't like it when we stand up, but he will eventually!

My boy and I before the class started. Notice how we are inside, but AJ still likes to wear is UV guard, the kid is funny:

The class is intended to get kids comfortable in the water. We join them and hold them and they introduce them to kicking and using your arms. It's fun! AJ likes to dump water on my head and his teacher's head as well.

Here is a picture of us about to begin the class:

Thanks for reading!

20 weeks

We are half way there! This is the part of the pregnancy where I am feeling great and gaining weight :). So far I have gained 13 pounds. I don't have any cravings right now and have been eating relatively healthy. Other then being on the last leg of being sick for two weeks, I'm great.

We had a small scare that ended up fine. After our ultrasound, we got a call from our midwife that the amniotic fluid was low. She said she would be more worried if the baby wasn't absolutely perfect, but he is so she wasn't really worried. We had to go back in for another ultrasound to see baby boy and we measured just fine! We will just continue to monitor how I'm measuring. I tried to stay very calm and tried not to google anything before the ultrasound and I think it worked because in the end we were fine :).

I'm feeling him move a lot now. He loves to hang out on my bladder so even when I don't have to go, I have to go. He loves to be awake in the middle of the night because when I wake to go to the potty, he is moving around a lot! I hope this doesn't mean he will be up all night after he comes.

I still haven't 'popped'. My belly is certainly bigger then it was, but I don't look pregnant and it depends on what I'm wearing if I 'look' pregnant. I am still able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, even some pants. I like to be comfortable though and wear the belly bandit usually.

Here is my 20 week picture from this morning. Excuse the silly looking face, I just got out of the shower and was still sleepy.

AJ is getting excited. He tells me he is going to teach baby boy to throw a football, walk, run, and jump. He thinks he knows the name of the baby, but we haven't 100% decided on a name, so we will see. I'm not sure if we will announce it or not either.

I'm slowly cleaning out our guest room. We only have a three bedroom house, so we lose our guest room. It didn't get used too often anyway, so we will keep the futon in that room and move AJ in there after it's cleared out. AJ is getting a new bed and dresser and we are keeping all of his furniture for the baby. We will also decorate it the same. AJ said he is ok with this as long as he gets to bring his Redskins pillow and Redskins flag. He is so funny.

It is actually nice that we have all of AJ's clothes, his bedroom decor, toys, etc....so the expense will be far less this time. We have some things to get (stroller, carseat, etc.) and I have some nursing things to get, but for the most part, we are pretty set. Makes having to pay for two kids in daycare easier to swallow.

So that is it--we are doing great and just keep on keepin on!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We spent it together as a family and it was fabulous. I love having two boys (three soon!) to spoil me :). At work John had two dozen roses (and my favorite vase to date!) delivered (they smell so good). The note said it was from John, AJ, and Baby Boy. After work, we spent the evening as a family. Usually we have a low-key day where John takes over dinner. Last year it took him hours to prepare and it was amazing (see last year's blog here). This year, he was planning on doing the same thing but has been in a bit of pain with his back and neck and had a doctor's appointment at 5:30 for it, so he decided to take us to Sweetwater. He called ahead so we only had a short wait (the wait was 90 min-2 hours!). While we were waiting, AJ was really snugly with me. We were about to take a picture (say, CHEESE!) and AJ turned and planted a giant kiss on my cheek and said "I love you Mommy". John caught it all on his I Phone. I loved it, as you can tell from the picture :).

Then AJ and I posed again for a smiling picture. He is such a happy kid.

Dinner was amazing as usual (we love Sweetwater). AJ was a hungry boy, he ate all of his food, plus two aussie rolls and butter, plus he split dessert with me! As we were leaving, we were talking to the waitress about how we were having another boy (she didn't believe I was pregnant) and she was insisting we have a third to try for a girl. John was saying we would have a third boy instead and then made the comment, "see her shirt now, it would be completely tie-dyed if we had three!". I looked down at my shirt and sure enough, I had chocolate stains from when AJ was sharing dessert with me. I should note that he was completely clean, he just managed to wipe his hands (without me knowing!) on my shirt instead :). I love having boys.

Baby Hall 2.0 is....

A BOY! We without a doubt saw everything, despite his insistance of being stubborn and crossing his legs for a good portion.

John kept asking me if I was ok. I was trying not to cry. I wasn't crying sad tears...I was crying happy tears. I have such a beautiful little boy and I look forward to all of the boy moments and dancing with him at his wedding. Now I get to do it twice! I get to dance with BOTH of my boys at their weddings. PLUS they will probably be each others Best Men. I can't wait to see them play, fight, and argue. And, I will be spoiled by TWO boys AND my husband. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I have so much more to write, but I am exhausted. Tomorrow I will show you pictures of the ultraso and share with you the reaction from AJ. We also had both sets of parents over for dinner to break the news. ntil tomorrow....

Pregnancy Insomnia

It's 4am. I have already paid bills, checked out all of my favorite blogs and caught up on postings, read cnn.com for the latest on Egypt, ate a bowl of cheerios and a banana, and laid in bed twiddling my thumbs. This has been my entire week. Yes, I have pregnancy induced insomnia.

I don't know how to get rid of it (advice please!). All I know is that I am tired. Really tired. If you didn't know me and had contact with me last night, you would have thought I was drugged. I was slurring my words, not completing sentences, dropping things, and staring into outer space. That was at 6:30. i made it to AJ's bedtime and don't remember falling asleep. That was after being awake since 3am, working out at 6, running around like a crazy person to get out of the house, working, driving to get AJ, making dinner, eating with the family, cleaning up, making a cake, and playing with our boy. Then I crashed. And now I am awake.

In about 5.5 months I will be BEGGING for sleep, so I find it funny that I have a hard time sleeping now, when I need it the most!

quote of the day

Taken from my favorite show, Modern Family (as I lay here on my phone listening to my child NOT going to sleep)::

"Your parents faked it, You fake it, And you hope you don't raise a serial killer"

Isn't that the truth? Parenthood is just a series of unknown curveballs...all you can do is your best and hope it was good enough! at the end of the day, the stress is more then worth the reward :).

The weather and being a Big Boy!

It's amazing how every day I think it can't get more fun to be a mommy and then AJ surprises me and it's more fun then yesterday! He is a ball of laughter and keeps us on our toes everyday. A few months ago we were at Babies R Us and they had mini shovels for kids. Did AJ want toys? No...AJ wanted the shovel. He said he could help Daddy shovel the sidewalks. We didn't fight him. I'm a firm believer (as a former obsessive clean kid myself) that if they ask for stuff that will help around the house, you get it for them :). We haven't had as much snow this time around, but we have had just enough that AJ could really shovel. This picture was actually from a few weeks ago, but we did manage to use it again last week during the bigger storm we got. John was late getting home (couldn't leave early like everyone else and got stuck in the storm and in traffic!), so AJ and I bundled up and decided to go play outside. That actually meant to AJ to shovel. I didn't complain. I helped too. Yes, my pregnant butt shoveled. I though, oh John is going to be so happy to come home and the shovelling is half way done for him. Well, by the time he got home it looked as if we didn't' touch it. Anyway, here is AJ:

And here are both of us:

It doesn't stop there. If my camera was working (yes, no lens yet), then I would have tons of great photos to show you of AJ being Mr. Independent, but I'll show you just one more. This is AJ after not only DRESSING himself (shirt, pants, socks, and shoes!), but attempting to tie his shoes too. The zippers he has down pat on the side, but the tying, not so much. But, it's important to let them try and so we did (even though we were running late for work already)

In the end I needed to help him finish tying the shoes, but our boy is showing some great initiative!