Wishing everyone happy holidays and a blessed new year!

I know I'm a little late, but better late than never, right? These last couple of weeks have been super crazy and I've been sick, so blogging was not my first priority. Our Christmas was great! We did the usual. Christmas eve with immediate family at my sisters, and extended family the next day. This year we opened presents at midnight. It was a little bit of a struggle towards the end when Jacob started getting crabby but, besides that, he did really well. He enjoyed opening presents whether they were for him or not. He would get mad when he didn't have a present to open so we let him open our presents, too. Jacob got a ton of gifts! No surprise. He's spoiled. He's the littlest one in the family. But not for long. Some highlight gifts were a toddler play gym, cozy coupe, a mini ATV, and so many more. I will definitely be reviewing his favorites within the coming weeks. I can already tell which ones he loves! But we are very grateful for all the gifts. It was such a fun weekend!

A little update on the new little bean, I still have morning sickness but it's starting to ease up a little bit. I'm hoping it stays how it's been these last 24 hours. I can handle that. My sense of smell is still super strong. But other than that, I'm doing great. I can't wait for 2010. I'm hoping it's better than '09, and I think it will be. I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!



The tree with presents, and that wasn't even all of them...


Waiting around 'til midnight...


Everyone was singing happy birthday to Jacob and he wanted to "blow out" this candle...


Opening his 1st gift...


A gift for Jacob and his dad to enjoy...


He had the most fun playing with the paper...


Taking a ride on his ATV. He can't quite steer but he can sure go go go...


Joining in on Beatles rock band on Xmas day...


How we told extended family about our new little bean...

We're on our way to 2 under 2...

Yup, I'm pregnant! Jacob is going to be a big brother! I'm 8 weeks today, and due July 27th. Just a little over two weeks from Jacob's birthday. It's such a blessing and a miracle! It was quite a journey to get to this point, but I'm so happy we're here. It actually only took us two cycles of trying to get PG. But it could have been very different. I had mentioned earlier in the year that I was having problems and that #2 may be more difficult to conceive, and it was. I'm just glad we didn't have to go to an IF specialist. However, this bean didn't start without problems. I knew exactly when I ovulated, but it was not 2 weeks from the first day of my last period. It was actually 37 days after. So I ovulated, and I did the 2-week-wait thinking nothing of it but hoping something would happen. I tried not to get my hopes up. The Saturday I found out, November 14th, I woke up and decided I would take a test. First thing I did, when Jacob woke me up, was take a test. I thought the line would be faint if I was PG, but there was a possibility there wouldn't be a line. Three minutes go by and I look at my dollar store test (yes, I buy these in bulk when we try) and there it is, a decent line. I was so happy...I cried. I couldn't believe it. I had to tell someone, but Jess was at work and I wanted to wait to tell my immediate family, so I told Jacob. It was during his breakfast that I was brainstorming how to tell Jess. And, of course, I went with the most obvious, something with I'm going to be a big brother. I printed out a little sign for Jacob to hold and I took a pic of him, when Jess got home I told I had to show him this awesome pic I took of Jacob (I always do this when i take pics), and there he saw the sign. He was so happy! And again, he said he knew it would happen quickly for us. Ahhh, I love him! So now it was up to me to decide when we would tell immediate family. I knew Thanksgiving would be perfect (just like we told them on Christmas with Jacob), but then if something were to happen between the time I knew and then, I would need support. We decided to have a dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and tell everyone then, so I made a shirt for Jacob that said I'm going to be a big brother. During dinner time, I rolled Jacob up to the dinner table with his little shirt on. The closest person sitting next to him was my brother M, and after awhile, he finally asked something along the lines of, does this shirt have a theme? I was like huh? Theme? What? Uh, yeah. Finally, everyone started looking and reading it aloud and we received a small chorus of congratulations. However, my other brother's reaction was funny. After he read Jacob's shirt he said something like, did you get that shirt on super sale or something, why would you buy that for him if he's not a big brother?! Everyone was like, hello!

Anywho, like I mentioned earlier, this little bean started with a bit of a rocky start. I had my first OB appointment on November 30th. It was to be my intake appointment where they gather all my info about me, family history, yadda yadda. Well, because of my last period, they ordered an ultrasound to see the baby. At the appointment, according to my last period, I should have been 9 weeks. Well, I have the ultrasound and the doctor doesn't see anything, at all. She starts mentioning miscarriage stuff. Did i have cramps, bleeding? I tell her no. She thinks it might be ectopic. What?! I start to stress...bad. She orders blood work to check my HCG levels after the U/S, and then I'm free to go home. At this point, I think I'm having a miscarriage and I will have to prepare for surgery, even though I have no symptoms. I go home, and Jacob and I have lunch. My doctor calls and says my numbers are up and she wants another U/S done STAT by radiology (a thorough one). I have to go back ASAP. I wait for Jess to get off work (I couldn't go through anymore alone) and we head back. I drink my water and we do the U/S. I head up to the doctor's office so she can interpret the results. She pulls up my U/S and there in the middle of the screen is a little black sac. There's something there, it's in my uterus, and I'm probably only about 5 weeks! I cried. I was so relieved. A few days later I had another blood draw to test my HCG levels again, and they were high. More great news! Finally, last Monday, December 7th I had another U/S to see how the bean was doing, and low and behold, we saw the fetal pole, saw it's little hear flickering, and even heard the heart beat. It was beating at 154 BPM. We were so happy! The doctor also measured me and guessed that I was at 7 weeks, very close to the official dating U/S performed just a few days later. At the official dating U/S, December 11th, I was 7 weeks 4 days. So here I am today at 2 months pregnant, and it couldn't be more different than when I was PG with Jacob. I have morning sickness that comes on at night. And I have the best sense of smell. It's horrible! I can smell anything that is BAD. It's gross. For example, I can smell the trash from my kitchen when I'm in my living room. I've never been able to do that...ever. Other than that, I've been a little more tired and peeing like crazy, but I know it's worth it (and it won't last my entire PG).

First test from $ store...


Just to confirm with a more $$$ test...


Jacob telling his dad...


Top photo is the bean's heartbeat with squiggly lines
Bottom photo is a measurment pic...

Jacob's 1st visit with Santa.

A couple of Saturdays ago, we had an impromptu visit with Santa. A friend of mine had a birthday party for her son at this cool place called John's Incredible Pizza. And it's sort of like Chuck E. Cheese, except way better. It kicks CEC's butt. They have better food (a buffet), it's cleaner, and the games/rides are cooler. The party was first thing in the morning and it was at a mall, so after we had fun at the party we decided to get Jacob's 1st picture with Santa. And with it being early, there was no line, no crowd, no wait. We had Santa all to our selves, and I was worried. Jacob was way past due for a nap and he got a lot of energy out at the party, so I had no idea if he would be cranky or get upset. But then again, it's Jacob and he's pretty laid back. I should have known better. As soon as Jacob saw Santa, he started chatting him up and talking about who knows what. And if you look at the picture, you can kind of tell Jacob was explaining something. And because Santa had no visitors we were allowed to take multiple pictures and pick the best one. It was a great first visit!

Christmas is in the air...

Here in the C household! Actually, I started decorating for Xmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. We borrowed my parents tree, which we downsized to fit comfortably in our tiny home. And I hung our stockings, and made a cheap but cute wreath. Our color scheme for our tree is silver, white, and blue. The ornaments are all plastic at the bottom, and I put the breakable ones on the top portion of the tree. I got the idea for my wreath last year from Eddie Ross. I bought all of my tools at the dollar store. It cost a total of $12 to make and I had leftovers. I used the leftovers for my tallest apothecary jar. You can find a bunch of tutorials online for the wreath. Just google - DIY ornament wreath. I think I spent a total of $20 bucks for ALL of our ornaments all from the dollar store. I love the way everything came out, but especially my wreath and tree.

A little late.

I hope everyone had a long relaxing weekend with family and friends! I did! I really had a nice weekend. It could have turned out completely different but I thank God it did not. So, Jacob had his EEG done, and the results came back normal. After talking with his neurologist he basically said that we have to wait and see if Jacob has another seizure, and I pray to God that he doesn't...ever! Of course the odds are not in his favor, and since he's already had 2 in a month's time, it doesn't look like that may happen. But we'll keep praying and our fingers crossed. Oh, and He developed a rash! I have no idea what's it's from but we'll see what his pedi says about it. Our thanksgiving was very low key. We spent it with family and friends at my mom's house. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, bacon wrapped asparagus, pumpkin pie, cake...a stomach ache. Actually, I didn't. Saturday I had a day to myself. I had dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant...mmm, and I went to the movies and saw The Blind Side. It was a nice feel good movie. Today, Sunday, my cousin came over to visit and gossip. In all, a very nice weekend. Oh, and I can't forget. I got a new computer! Yay! I can't wait to get it! My current computer is eight years old! Yes, eight years! Thank you Best Buy for putting your Black Friday Sale online! And I got some Xmas "shopping" done. Oh and our Xmas decor is up. I'll post pictures soon!

A quick Jacob update...

It's been a long couple of days. We've all been trying to recuperate and get ourselves together. So early Thursday morning (11/19, a month exactly from his last) Jacob had his second and worst seizure. It was around 3:45am and he had been woken up, accidentally by Jesse. He had gone to check if he still had a fever since Jacob had one when he woke earlier in the night, and he did. Jess brought him to our bed where I gave him medicine and cold water, however I saw a change in Jacob and I knew something was going to happen. Sure enough, he began to seize. This seizure was not like his last in that he did not convulse as much, but was very stiff, and where the last seizure was only a few minutes, this one lasted at least 15 minutes. A very long time which could mean something more serious. We called 911, and we're rushed to the ER. They ran tests (all normal), he had IV, they eventually changed us over to our primary care facility, and by the time everything was over Jacob had been battered, bruised, and was utterly exhausted. Poor thing. It was a hard 24 hours. Today, Jacob is back to his old self, however the tests continue because of the length of his seizure. He has not had a nap today since he woke up this morning and he will only be able to sleep a total of 5.5 hours tonight. Why you ask...Jacob will be having an EEG tomorrow morning and needs to be sleep deprived for the test. We are praying and hoping that everything comes back absolutely normal, and we'll find out on Friday when we go over the results with his neurologist. It's been a hard, trying time but I thank God for a our wonderful support system. Without them I don't know where we'd find the strength. And THANK YOU to those of you have kept us in your thoughts and prayers, and for leaving comments, texts, emails, and phone calls. I truly appreciate it.

It happened again...

Early this morning Jacob suffered a second febrile seizure exactly one month from his last one. This one was MUCH worse than the last. Please keep my baby boy in your thoughts and prayers.

Jacob is 15 months

I can't believe it! He's such the little toddler. Unfortunately, he doesn't get a 15 month check up, but according to my estimates, he's probably weighing in around 27 pounds. He looks to be gaining around half a pound to a pound a month, and is mainly in 18 month clothing. He seems to be tall. As far as talking, he doesn't say any words on his own but he mimics, for example, he'll say bah-bah (bottle) after we say it or leche (milk), or da-da (dad). And if I ask him for something he'll know what it is, like he'll point/go get his socks, shoes, eyes, nose, hands, etc. However, his favorite statement of the moment is...UH-OH! He says it for almost everything! Jacob's also become quite mischievous. He's very curious about everything, and has got to be in everything. He's recently learned how to climb onto the couch, my safe haven for my cell and the remote. But no more of that. He also has a new chair that once belonged to my nephew (he's now 13!) and has just learned how to sit in it himself, and do other things with it! I love that he's curious but I'm such a worry wart!

And I've been such a bad blogger! I just feel like there really isn't much going on right now, but I'm almost positive that will change soon.

How I found him this morning while I was making my breakfast...


Chillin' in his chair...




He's learned he can push his chair...right up to the table...

Halloween in Review

We enjoyed a quiet and fun Halloween with family. Jacob definitely had the most fun that night. He had a 3 hour nap in the afternoon which meant he could stay up a bit later than usual and boy did he stay up! We started our trick-o-treating at around 7pm, and we're out for about an hour. We hit up about 4 blocks, and while that may sound like a lot, it was a very sad Halloween. A lot of the houses around our area did not give out candy, and our haul was very disappointing. But Jacob didn't know the difference. He rode along in his wagon waiting for each stop. He loved it! But I'm not surprised. His favorite thing to do is be outside! After collecting candy, we hung out at my sister's house while they gave out candy, and Jacob got to enjoy some of his candy. And we got to enjoy his sugar rush. Yup, Jacob was hyperrr. He had just a few pieces of candy, but they sent him over the edge. He was walking up and down the sidewalk blabbing for a good 45 minutes! Until the rush just stopped, and he was done for the night. My little lion was out by 9pm! But he kept us laughing.

Hanging around Halloween afternoon...




Ready to go in his costume (Oh, and this little lion wouldn't be complete without whiskers)...










My nephew in his Red Death (from Phantom of the Opera) costume he was so proud of...


All the kiddies...

Have a Happy Halloween...

weekend! Hope everyone has a safe and spook-tacular weekend! We're getting together with family and friends for dinner along with some trick-o-treating! And Jacob's going to be a lion!