EXCITING NEWS!

Well... looks like I can finally say, We bought a house! This house is so perfect in every way.... well maybe not EVERY, but what house is, right?! We will have THREE living spaces, FOUR bedrooms, THREE and a HALF bathrooms, a BIG backyard with SWING SET, a FIREPLACE, and best of all... A DISHWASHER!!!!! This will hopefully be our FOREVER HOME!!!! :D I like the location too! It's in Park West neighborhood (Behind Normal Community West High School). I think I will like having the kids schools really close by... in case I ever need to "swing" by for something. Hehe

I think I've looked at the pictures of it posted online about 100 times! :D It's just so beautiful to me!

More exciting news... I felt my first BIG kick today from Baby #2! I had been feeling little flutters here and there, but nothing that made me think OH, HI BABY! But this... this was a for sure, "MOVE IT," kind of kick! I was lounging on the couch with Jude in my lap and had my arms wrapped around him, so my left elbow was pressed against the left side of my belly, then, I guess the baby said, "Hey Mama, you are taking up some of my very limited space!" and gave me a big ole nudge out of the way! It was so neat and I wished I could feel it over and over again, but nothing but little flutters since. But, it looks like kicks aren't too far away!! :D

We find out baby's gender on March 8th!! Just 8 more days!! Bryan, Jude and I will be finding out together, then to tell family we are having a GENDER REVEAL PARTY! It should be lots of fun! Guests have been asked to come wearing either BLUE or PINK depending on what they think Baby#2 is! (I can't wait to see what people think, because I haven't really heard from many people other than a couple on my side of the family.) I will be making cupcakes with either blue or pink cake (covered with icing and the cupcake liner), then, when we are ready to reveal, everyone will get a cupcake, and all at once they will open them together to get some EXCITING NEWS!! We can't wait to know!!!! :D

Not only will the cupcakes be to reveal our next baby's gender, but they will also be celebratory cupcakes for Bryan's 27th birthday which is March 13th! I can't believe how old we are getting! (And yes, I know we are no where near old to some of you, but to think I helped Bryan celebrate his 20th Birthday.... and he was actually at my 16th birthday dinner.... THAT WAS ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO!! We have quite a history for such a young couple!) I just love getting to spend every day with Bryan and I enjoy trying to make his birthdays memorable... I think finding out the sex of our baby will do just that! :D

I know this is JUDE'S blog, so I will mention he is doing very well these days. He is such a sweetheart (Bryan and I talk about this every night... we are SOOOOOOOOOOO IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!!) Since last week he has been Mommy's little shadow, and quite a protective one at that! Now, when we tell Daddy "bye" in the mornings... Daddy gets pushed away if he kisses me. Then Jude throws his arms around my neck and pulls me close. Haha its the sweets thing, and Bryan doesn't mind and thinks it's cute too, so that works for me! :D (Don't worry, Daddy gets lots of hugs and kisses too!)

4 more weeks!

Mommy here. Well, I went to the doctor today. I weighed 104 lbs on their scale. Doctor said baby sounds great with a heartbeat of 145 bpm. That is much lower than I had expected it would be... it makes me think we will be having another boy! Jude's heartbeat was always around 155 bpm. They say the higher the bpm the more likely it will be a girl and lower is a boy. BUT... Dr. Thornton did mention that the lowest heartbeat she has ever heard... was a girl, so we will have to wait and see! I asked her what she thought I was having, (she guessed Jude right) and she thinks it's another boy! Bryan has been dead set on it being a girl (he was also right with guessing Jude), but now that the doctor thinks boy, he's second guessing himself. Either way, we will be so happy with what our baby is! We get to find out on March 8th! With Jude we had our parents come with us to find out, but this time we are going to do something different to surprise the family... haven't decided for sure what it will be, but we are going to do things a bit differently with this pregnancy. We loved having our family there, but I think it will be special with just the 3 of us too (...or should I say 4!)

I would love another boy! Jude is just the greatest thing I could have ever imagined. Our bond we share is so magical... just thinking about it makes me tear up! I just hope I can spread that love and have the same kind of bond with another boy... I mean, if we were to have a girl I feel like Jude and the girl would understand that a mother/son and mother/daughter relationship is just a little different, so I wouldn't have to feel guilty about doing different things with each of them. But with two boys.... how do you make sure you are being fair to their feelings and their relationship with me?! I've heard it just comes naturally, but I don't know how... How will I have the mother/son bond that I have with Jude.... with a different son?!?!

Then I think about the bond Jude would have with a brother less than 2 years apart.... WOW! How much fun they would have! They would only be a year apart in school (the cut off is Sepember, so Jude will miss the cut off and this baby will make the cut off), so they could have similar friends, maybe classes together in high school, play sports together... and lets hope not fight over the same girl... I hope to be the only girl they need in their lives LOL! (Wishful thinking I know...) I can just see the two of them playing together, laughing, fighting, hugging, building forts..... the list goes on. Jude would LOVE a brother, I have no doubt about that!

But... what if it's a girl? I would just love a girl. I have mentioned in the past that I would be scared to have a girl... dreading the day she'd turn out like ME! I was a spoiled rotten brat... there's no denying that. I had a mouth that got me in trouble, but a huge heart that would show through, sometimes. I cared a lot about people's feelings (sadly the one I left out a lot of times was my mother's... Sorry mom!). I worry if I had a little girl, she would treat me like crap... think I don't know anything, am lame, never was cool like her... that sort of thing. I realize those years are far away... but not really...(Why must time fly by when you become an adult, but when you are young it seems to last forever?!) (I feel like I took the garbage out just yesterday... which is probably why I missed putting it out this morning... Darn it!) I just know how girls can be since I am one... but then I think about how Bryan and Jude will have a lot of fun stuff they will want to do just the two of them... then what will I do?! I am not good at being independent.... I like people around me. (I know there are people who like to go off in a room by themselves and read a book..... I'm not one of them.) I would LOVE to have a girl then that I can take out to get our nails done or go shopping!! (Jude already hates shopping...)

So, whether this baby has a little "something" down below or not.... I will be unbelievably excited and happy... and probably emotional... but in a good way! :D

I'm a dancin' fool!

I'm a dancin' fool! So, I finally decided I don't have to be too shy to dance around my Mama... I don't know why I ever was... she is nuts and always dancing and actin' crazy! She makes dancing fun! I just started yesterday, and Mama caught it on video, but I was in the bathtub, so I would like to keep that video private. Only a select few will get to see my new moves!
This weekend was fun! I got to spend Sunday morning with Aunt Kati while Mama and Dada went to find us a new house! I hope they find one soon so I can have fun running around, exploring my new surroundings! I also look forward to helping Mama get my new baby brother or sisters room ready! We find out in a month what the baby will be!!!
Mama is 14 weeks pregnant today, which means she has begun the 2nd trimester. She is really excited because that is supposed to mean the morning sickness is over. So far this morning she is feeling pretty good. It makes up for her horrible "middle of the night" sickness on Saturday. She weighs 101.5 lbs on our scale at home. She goes to the doctor on Thursday, so we will see what she weighs on their scale. I can't wait to hear the heartbeat again! If the heartbeat is over 160 bpm again I am going to guess I'm having a baby sister! Dada is sure it's a girl... Mama doesn't know... but thinks it could be a girl. I can't wait to find out! :D

By the way, I'm 16 months old today. So what does a 16 month old like to do you ask...?
I like to... open and close doors, but prefer to close them. (No door should ever be left open, unless it's my bedroom door... I gotta be able to go play with my toys when I want.)
I like to... read books, play with all remotes and phones (I like Mommy's because it has a keyboard that slides in and out!), throw balls around in the kitchen, put balls down my giraffes throat (that probably sounds funny, but it's just my ball toy!), and play with my Legos in my Lego dump truck. (Sometimes I get mad at them, and enjoy chucking them across the room.)
I LOVE T.V. and my ipad. Anything that has a bright screen with fun stuff to watch, I'm going to enjoy! Those are just a few of my favorite things.
I will admit I am still not talking much at all... I just don't see a point in putting in effort of learning to talk when I get whatever I want by just moaning and groaning. I use non verbals like walking to the fridge when I'm thirsty and Mommy gets me a drink!, I toss things when they aren't working for me and Mommy comes over and helps me figure it out!, I stand in front of the TV when I want to watch one of my shows and Mommy puts on something just for me!, I go grab my blankie and paci when I am tired and Mommy will put me to bed!..... so who needs to talk?! ;)
I will do it one of these days... but as Mommy and Daddy have figured out... I do things on my own time... :)

Pictures take a really long time to post here, so check them out on Mama's Facebook! Thanks!