I want to remember...

At 17 months I want to remember....

....how much you love your sister.
....the way you walk with a purpose.
....how you say "oh gosh!" when you do something silly.
....that you call Ronan, "RoRo"
....the way you crinkle your nose and snort when your excited about something.
....the fact that you've had 4 haircuts already.
....your insane love for dogs and ability to hear them bark a mile away.
....that you never cry when I drop you off at daycare, you just say "bye,bye."
....how much you love your daddy.
....you still don't sleep as good as your sister did.
....you love blankets, you always want one covering you while riding in the car.
....that you call all of your stuffed animal bears "beby."
....you would drink a gallon of milk if I let you.
....that you call a cookie, "nunu."
....your obsessed with wearing everyone else's shoes...especially Jenna's flipflops.
....that you love watching videos of either yourself or dogs on our phones.
....how you always turn the Xbox and cable box on and off constantly, and how it drives your daddy mad!
....when you give a me kiss you make the "mmwaa" sound.
....that you are a holy terror compared to your sister.
....everytime you smile it makes up for all the times you drive me crazy.

I love you Liam Bradley....

Our weekend

We had a rough beginning to our weekend. We got a surprise ice storm Thursday afternoon that none of the meteorologists in the city saw coming. I had to leave work early (as did everyone else in Bham) to get Jenna because all the schools closed early. A drive that would normally take me 15 minutes took an hour and fifteen minutes. The ice piled up fast, and it was a nerve racking drive home.
The next morning schools opened late so I took Jenna to her Nini's (John's mom) house to spend the day. Around 11 she called me. Apparently Jenna had caught the stomach virus her Daddy had last week. She's four years old and has somehow managed to avoid ever vomiting until then(with the exception of spitting up as a baby). Thankfully Nini said she would tend to her so I could stay at work and try to avoid getting it myself. When I got home, John took care of her most of the time, she mainly lounged in her playroom watching TV and would occasionally go get in her bed and sleep. Around 9 I went to check on her and she had gotten up and put herself to bed, poor girl. She woke up the next morning a completely different child. She felt so much better and was glad to be feeling good.

Saturday we decided to go register for my baby shower for Liam. I've got some great friends who said they wanted to throw me a shower and with 4 1/2 years between kids, plus having a boy this time, we need a lot of stuff. There is a new baby store in town that is amazing. They have everything you could imagine needing and then some. Going through the store I really started to get excited about having another baby around. I just hope he's easy like Jenna was. She spoiled me I think. I still can't believe we are going to have two kids. It's a little surreal. Sunday was the Super Bowl. I don't really watch pro football, but the commercials can be really fun. It was a good excuse to have a few friends over too. John made homemade chicken and dumplings which is his signature dish. Over all, we had a good weekend, especially since Green Bay won.

We have a name!!!

It feels so good to have a name chosen for our son. I was beginning to stress out a little because he didn't have a name, but we're good now. So, without further ado, his name will be:

Liam Bradley Paxton

I love the name. I have always loved the name Bradley, but John wasn't a huge fan. So, he caved a little and let me use it for a middle name. Liam is short for William, which was my dad's name. It feels good to get someone from my side on the family remembered with his name.

I can't wait to start on his room. We have the bedding and theme all picked out. John is a pirate lover and we both wanted to go with a pirate/nautical theme if we were having a boy. Here is the set we have picked out:

I absolutely love it! The colors are perfect and I love the whale. It's a good mix of a nautical and pirate theme. We will be using Jenna's old crib, which is a light wood, and I think it will look great. The matching accessories are also adorable.

Recipe Monday

So, I have a little recipe to share today. I had to make this twice this weekend because everyone requested it. I learned about it from a friend a few years ago. It is such a simple recipe, and I'm sure there are different versions and names. But here's mine. It is a little time consuming. You should allow for about an hour and a half of your time.

Hot Chicken Cheese Dip

Ingredients
9x13 glass baking dish
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 small bottle of light ranch dressing(I use light because the regular is a little strong)
1 8oz cream cheese
1/2 bottle of Moore's Buffalo Sauce
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips

Prep
Preheat your over to 400 degrees. Boil chicken until cooked. Remove from water and sit it to the side for about 15 minutes, or until it is cool enough to shred. During that time, coat the bottom of your 9x13 dish with the cream cheese. Mix the shredded chicken with the buffalo sauce in a medium mixing bowl. Spread the chicken mixture on top of the cream cheese. Pour the ranch dressing evenly over the chicken mixture(you may have to spread it out with a spoon). Sprinkle both bags of cheese over the top.

Bake
Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese in the center is melted.

And, viola! you have an amazingly delicious dip that all your friends will love!!

21 weeks!

Wow. I can't believe I'm over half way through this pregnancy. It seems to go by so slow in the beginning, but, I'm really starting to get excited now. So, here is a little update on our progress:

Gender: It's a Boy!

Size of baby: about the size of a banana

Total Weight Gain: 5lbs

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants and tops w/some regular tops too.

Movement: lots of kicking

Sleep: still sleep well, getting up once to pee

What I miss: shaving my legs easily

Cravings: Pizza, pizza, pizza

Symptoms: I'm done for by 9pm every night

Best Moment this week: Jenna talking to my belly

What's in a name?

Why is it so hard to name a boy? Jenna's name came so easily to us and we had the perfect girl's name picked out if this one was a girl. But we're having issues with picking a boy name. It started out Jack Thomas. It didn't go over so well with certain un-named close family members who thought it would be ok to make fun of. Seriously!! who makes fun of a name?? to the parents faces!! Those of you who know our family should know who I'm talking about. So, instead of struggling with that his whole life we decided it was best to take that one off the list. Plus, I think we were both settling with it as well. We've got 4 1/2 months to come up with something and we may not know till he's here, but he'll have a name before he comes home.

Life and Death

Life



So it has been four years since my last normal pregnancy. This one, thankfully, is going very well. I am one of those rare people who doesn't get sick or have a rough time in their pregnancy. Every pregnancy is supposed to be different, but this one has been very similar with only a few exceptions.

I am so excited that I'm having a baby boy! It's going to be a totally new experience. I am wondering how I we're going to handle a rambunctious little boy, especially if he's anything like how he's been acting in my uterus. This kid is the future karate kid. He hurts! I don't ever remember Jenna kicking me like this. He moves around so much. But I love the movement, it is the coolest thing about pregnancy to me. The fact that God chose me to carry this little life is awesome.

My weight gain has been non existent far. I'm eating, but I have noticed that I don't have that huge pregnancy appetite yet. I did get in trouble with my doc. I had not gained anything by my 15 week appt. At my 20 week appt I had gained 5 pounds and that has satisfied her for now. I'm sure I'll start to pack on the pounds soon enough. ;-)



Death



Ronan and Axle are our two cats and we have two dogs(German Shepherds), Max and Lucy. The cats are predominately inside and the dogs are outside surrounded by a privacy fence. (can you guess where I'm going with this?)

Axle is still a kitten and stays inside 90% of the time. He has started venturing out occasionally with Ronan. Ronan goes in and out regularly. Axle and Jenna are best friends. He lets her push him around in her baby stroller, she carries him around, and when he was really little she would wrap him up in a blanket and hold him like a baby, and he liked it! He tolerates her better than any animal I know.

So, Sunday night we are awakened by Axle scratching at the carpet and Jenna's door wanting to get into her room. John gets up and lets Axle outside and we go back to bed. At around 3:15a I hear the dogs.........then I hear a cat.........(if you don't care to read details stop now)......I opened and looked out the window to see poor Axle being tossed around like a toy by our dogs, he never had a chance. John got up and went to clean him up and I lost it. All I could think about was Jenna and how much she loved that cat.

The next day we got Jenna ready and I took her to school and went to work. That afternoon is when we would tell her. The afternoon came pretty quick, I picked her up and we went home. When we got home John sat her down and told her that Axle had gotten out and died. She lost it for about 5 minutes and then she asked for a snack and to watch cartoons. Kids amaze me sometimes. She did ask what happened and we told her that a dog bit him and he died and went to heaven. She's been doing OK, but will occasionally tell us she misses him. We won't be getting another one. I don't want her to get the idea that she'll get a new one every time something bad happens.