The goods...

He's got 'em!

Our little boy.

Our little Jack!

I was shocked and so very happy.  One little girl and one little boy.  It just feels right.

Jack Ellis Dismukes

Jack was my grandmother's brother's nickname.  It means "the Lord is gracious" and He certainly is.  He knew exactly what our little family needed.  Ellis is Brandon's mom's maiden name and I love it.  It means, "the Lord is our God."  It's a simple, strong, and masculine name.  It's one syllable like Reese's name and more importantly, she can say it!

And now for the details:

At our appointment yesterday, we did not find out what it was.  We had the ultrasound tech write down what it was and put it in a sealed envelope.  Everything else about our baby was "perfect."  He was measuring exactly on schedule and estimated to weigh 13 ounces.  My blood pressure was very high, so I will have to be on meds, but the doctor doesn't feel like it's something to be overly concerned with.  At 34 weeks, I will begin having weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds to check on the amniotic fluids.  We will deliver {probably} a few days before 39 weeks, so I'm guessing around March 1st or 2nd?  As long as everything stays on course, that is the plan!!

So, after we left the appointment we took the sealed envelope to Lauren who had already baked a pink cake and a blue cake.  She saw what the verdict was and iced the cake with white icing.

After we left her house, we got pulled over {I mean, why not?} for not wearing our seat belts {oops!}.  Luckily, he gave us a verbal warning and we were on our merry way.

We then met my parents, B's parents, Scott, Cat, Noah, and Lauren up at The Pub {thanks Blake for the hook-up} and had a private room.

We couldn't really wait any longer, so we decided to cut the cake before we ate!  As soon as we cut it, we could see the bright blue!!!  We all teared up and really had a great night surrounded by our family!

It really was such an exciting way to find out!

And now for the video:

 

Sorry it's dark, but you get the idea :)

And here's my preeeeeeeeeeeecious little baby who's so excited about baby Jack that she woke up this morning saying his name!!

18 weeks and 18 months!

Disclaimer: this post was obviously started a few days ago :)

How often does that happen?? 

The new munchkin is cookin away!  I've been feeling the kicks since about 14 weeks {much earlier than Reese} and I'm ready for other people to start feeling them too!  There's not much new to report....until October 25th...the day of the big reveal!!

Now, onto my 18-month-old going on 18-year-old.

She's all over the place.  Speaking in sentences.  Running around in big girl shoes.  She's a mess!

She's got some pretty cute phrases that she's picked up over the last few weeks:

I'llllllllllllllllllllll do it!

Hold you, mommy {when she wants to be picked up}

Are yous?  {where are you}

Hug {she walks up sideways to you and puts her cheek against you!}

Der he/she is!

Booooog {bug}: whenever she sees a black speck that may or may not be a bug!

Uh oh spaghetti-o!

She can also identify most body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, head, face, arms, hands, fingers {neeners}, belly, booty, legs, feet, and toes.

When she wants something and can't reach it, she says "REACH!" or "have it peas"

That cold I mentioned last time, well that turned into strep throat.  Really though, you wouldn't have known it because she didn't act at all like she did last time she had strep! 

Have I mentioned she's a creature of habit?  Like, hardcore.  She has a memory like you would not believe and you can't get anything by her or distract her once she sees something she wants.  And what does she normally want??  Peepaste AKA toothpaste.  I'm not sure why the "tooth" part was replaced with "pee" but I hear the word many, many times a day.

She knows exactly where certain pages are in books and wants to read those pages.  She's a puzzle master and is obsessed with the "eepane" {airplane} puzzle.  

Her newest accomplishment?  She can count to 10!  I'm not sure she could count out 10 objects, but she can say all the numbers 1 through 10 in order.

We are working on colors but so far everything is blue or orange {can't say I object to that!} and occasionally pink!

We had her 18-month-appointment yesterday and here are her stats:

weight: 26.6 pounds {50-75%}

length: 32 inches {50%}

head circumference: 45.5 cms {50%}

Who would have thought that a short 18 months ago, her weight, length, and head circumference were less that 1% {not even on the charts!}

What a big, growing girl!

17 weeks...and a new man in my life!

We are almost to the half-way point in Nugget's womb journey!  I can't believe it.  I went to my check up yesterday and even though I saw the little guy/gal on the screen, it still doesn't seem real!  I have to remind myself that I'm actually growing a little person! 

Everything looked good...my blood pressure was back down to normal.  I lost 2 pounds so now I am instructed to eat every hour.  That is easier said than done.  I feel like I've been eating so much, so I really don't see how I lost weight.  BUT, the important thing is that Nuggie is growing right on track.  In fact, "it" was measuring 5 days ahead!  What a blessing!  I got to see all 10 fingers, as s/he had the little hands right up by the face.  We attempted a look at gender, but the legs were together. :(  That big appointment is scheduled for Oct. 25!!!  Dr. G. made the mistake of telling me he was a push over when it came to doing ultrasounds...yeah, that was probably not a bright move on his part! 

All kidding aside, we will be doing ultrasounds for growth/fluid check at least every 4 weeks.  We found out Reese was measuring small at her gender ultrasound, but I feel confident in this baby's health and growth!

In other news, Reese has her very first cold!  Pretty amazing that we've made it almost 18 months without a cold, but you wouldn't even know she wasn't feeling good if it wasn't for her runny nose and cough!  She's still her silly, playful self and her appetite has not been affected!

AND.

I have laid eyes on these sweet cheeks:

 I mean.  The lips.  The nose.  The cheeks!!!  Annnnd, the smell.  Why can we not find a way to bottle baby smell?  I would purchase that.

Seriously...he's soooo adorable and squeezable and squishy and I love him.

Precious!

And how was Reese with this new baby around??

Clearly affected. :)

Learning important things {like shapes} and fully accessorized?

That's my girl!

Reese-ism{s}

In honor of her 17-month birthday {last week} AND my 100th post {!!} I thought I would fill you in on some fun things that Reese says and does!!

• If she does something that she thinks is funny and you haven't acknowledged her, she will yell out "Hey Reese!"  Like, look at me now!
• She looooves to look at pictures and videos of babies, especially herself and "baby Nonah." 
• She thrives on routines.  She does have some OCD tendencies.  If she's done something a certain way ONE time, it must be done that way EVERY time.  For instance, she must wash her "hanes" 30 times a day, especially after she eats {which isn't a bad thing...} and we must brush our "teefies" multiple times a day as well.
• When we sit down to eat, she wants to hold everyones hands and "pway" and she bows her head and 2 seconds later she pushes your hands away and says "eeeemen."  {I really need to get this on video!}
• She remembers the craziest details about things.  She reads this Elmo book that has an elephant spraying water on the first page.  Well, she thinks it's rain, so it's the "rain" book and that's the only page she cares about.
• She has another book that has different objects to find.  She goes to the page with the bee and if you don't pretend the bee is tickling her, then she grabs your fingers and makes you tickle her belly with it.
• We walked to the mail box one time to get the mail and now she's OBSESSED.  She points out every mail box on the way home and says either "mail" or "botch".  She will cry if we don't walk to get the mail and she must carry 1 piece of mail into the house.
• She can identify her eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, head, hair, arm, hands, fingers, belly, feet, and toes.
• She sings "ashes, ashes" all the live.long.day.  That's the only part of Ring Around the Rosie she knows.  Although, last night she started saying "pocket" {pocket full of posies...}
• She also sings parts of "rain, rain go away", "twinkle, twinkle little star", and "itsy bitsy spider"
• We have left Yo Gabba Gabba behind and moved onto Barney!
• She is so funny when it's time to go to bed.  I will tell her to get her Tigger and Gigi {lovies she sleeps with} and she will go pick them up and then come grab me by the hand and say "night night"  She will then give kisses and say "wubb woo" and then walk straight to her crib and say "der it is" and then I turn off the light, put her in bed {there is no holding, rocking, swaying, etc} and leave.  Some nights she will literally lunge for her bed.
• If she wants you to follow her, she will come grab your hand and say "mone!"  AKA "come on"
• Following in her OCD ways, she has become obsessed with the potty AKA "poyee".  She wants to sit on the potty and has begun saying "poyee" when her diaper is wet.  I'm really not pushing the issue at all, but I'm letting her explore the concept.
• If I have a drink and she wants it, she will walk to the drawer where she knows the straws are and yell "taw" over and over until she gets a straw.
• I believe her word count is over 100.  We are starting to put 2 words together, like "big tuck" for big truck and "hi T" or "hi Babs".  She does say all done, "tank" you, "hode on", and all gone.
• Her newest word is "otay" and it is ADORABLE!  
• Her Nana has gotten her loving on Sonic ice and Reese will say "ice peas" all day. 
• She can pretty much feed herself with a spoon or fork.  Sometimes she needs help stabbing it with the fork, but for the most part, she's pretty good!
• The other morning she woke up and named every family member she knew: Mommy, Daddy, Babs, T, Cot {Scott}, Jojo {Joel}, Nana, Paw, Ebie {Aunt B} then she named all her body parts and then she went back to sleep.  Haha!
• She knows on and off, up and down, in and out. 
• When she wants to be held, she will reach up and say "me!"  Like, "hold me" I guess.

Ok I think that is enough for now!  I just want to remember as much as I can about her at this age!

My next post will be full of pics of Reese and Nonah!!!

And because I can't write a post without a pic:



Nugget

We need to examine the differences so far with Peanut and Nugget {numero dos' name}...

1. Finding out: 

With Reese, I took the test, called Brandon to the bedroom, told him to close his eyes and laid the test in his hands.  He asked if it was a thermometer and then smarted up and cried tears of joy!  We told our parents in fun ways and everything was rainbows and sunshine and lollipops!

With Nugget, I took the test, stayed in shock for 24 hours, told my dermatologist first {while hysterical}, told my mom second {while hysterical}, told Brandon third in the Target parking lot {while hysterical}, told his parents next {while not as hysterical, still crying}.  So yeah, totally the same, right?

2. First Trimester:

With Reese, everything was once again rainbows, sunshine, and lollipops.  Besides the peeing and occasional nap, I sailed right on through the 1st trimester with not one day of nauseousness. 

With Nugget, there is no rainbows, sunshine, and lollipops {unless Preggie Pops count?}  While I did not have morning sickness, I did suffer from late afternoon/evening sickness.  NO FUN.  I would like to thank my parents for raising my child these last 3 months.  I was lucky to make it to 8:00 p.m. without crashing.  And that usually included at least a 1 hour nap earlier in the day.  I am now 12 weeks and while the sickness has subsided, I went to bed last night at 8:15.

3. Baby's Health: 

With Reese, we didn't have anything to be concerned about until 20 weeks. 

With Nugget, we got the party started right at 5 weeks.  Since I was THAT person who didn't know how far along I was, when we had the first ultrasound, we only saw a sac and no baby.  I had bloodwork done that day and my hormone levels were low.  I began taking Progesterone and when we had the ultrasound at 6 weeks we saw Nugget!  I have switched doctors to a Montgomery doctor and when I went at 9 weeks, we saw an even bigger Nugget!  So, now I'm on no more hormones and when I go back next Wednesday, I am confident we will see a 3-month-old {fetus} Nugget!  Now, as far as the condition Reese had, we won't know if this baby will have it for a few more months.  Of course, the doctor is watching it closely and I can't say I mind having ultrasounds more frequently!  He thinks sickness is a good sign that everything is developing normally and if that's what it takes to have an uncomplicated pregnancy, I will take it!

Sooo, there's the rundown {so far}.  In all seriousness, even though this baby was a complete surprise, I am {getting} excited!!  My biggest concern was feeling like I was cheating Reese out of something, but I'm not sure what.  I realize that instead of feeling that way, I should be feeling excited that she will have a {hopefully} built in best friend and playmate for life!

I mean, who wouldn't want to be BFF with this face:

AND PIGTAILS. SEE THE PIGTAILS!!!

Love.

Ready or Not...

...it's happening in MARCH!!!

Like father, like daughter

I have posted before on Brandon's lack of laundry skills. :)   It seems that he has passed this trait onto his daughter.

That would be a sock, hanger, plastic bib, polo shirt, and a few items you don't see...

Like a highlighter!!

Checking out her work.

Oops....looks like she's adding something else.

 Like, her daddy's tie!

What a sweet helper!