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.

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.

It's a.......

BOY! John is ecstatic, and Jenna is so happy to be getting a baby brother. Let the planning begin!

What a month!

Wow! This has been a month. To re-cap, we started out on the 8th getting approved for a mortgage(praise God!), but that same day my mom ended up having emergency surgery to remove an infection in her leg. It was a VERY emotional day. She ended up being hospitalized for 5 days before coming home on IV meds for the next 4 weeks. During all of this we went through making an offer on the first house we looked at, then finding out someone we knew had put in an offer on the same house(being hugely dissappointed) and then(2 days later) hearing that they changed their minds and resended the offer. Then there was the waiting, waiting on Fannie Mae (owns the house) to either accept or counter our offer, after 4 days they did counter, and we accepted but we had to wait 3 more days for them to basically say ok. We waited on them to actually sign the contract (another 3 days), and now we have to wait on the apprasial to find out if they will give us the loan(apparantly USDA is alittle picky). All while taking care of my mom, being a mom and a wife. It's all very stressful, but I'm getting through it. I just hope April is a little calmer, at least just a little.

We really love the house, as does Jenna. She already knows her way around the house, and even which room is going to be hers. By the way, she wants purple walls and purple carpet, she is such my child. I'm just praying everything continues to go smoothly, I don't know how I'm going to explain it to her if something happens and we don't get the house. But, as I continue to believe and say, "If it's meant to be, it will work out."

A family hobby that I'm finally embracing.

My Grandmother made all of my dresses when I was a little girl. I never wore a store bought dress until I was around 10 or 11. I was always amazed at how good she was at sewing. I watched her all the time, learned a lot of the terms and what different machines did. She would let me help when I could and showed me how to do a lot of things. All that said I have always had a high interest in sewing. I sewed a little in my high school Home-Economics class, and when I got married, my parents bought my first Singer sewing machine. I purchased a how-to book on sewing and made some really cute curtains for our den. After that I basically piddled around with a few projects, but I never got really into it.

Sewing is something that you have to practice, practice, practice to get really good at (a little family history helps too). I was way too impatient to realize this when I first started sewing on my machine. After a lot of failed attempts at a few projects I put my machine up. I just got really frustrated with fact that I wasn't good to begin with.

I read lots of blogs, and recently came across some really great sewing blogs that gave me some inspiration. I got my sewing machine back down because I really love to sew. I would love to be able to make my daughters clothes and other things for her. I just have to get that practice. I recently came across this great blog with a nap mat tutorial. Jenna really needed a new one so I gave it my best shot, and it turned out great!!

My most recent projects were for a good friend of mine who is having her second little girl in October. I made bibs, burp clothes, and a taggie blanket from tutorials I found on the Internet because I still need a little guidance before I go at it on my own. Here are some pics of the finished products.

I made three off these bibs. The only problem I had was sewing the area where I had to leave open for turning, but hopefully that will get easier.

The taggie blanket worked out great and I made a set of four burp clothes. They have quilt batting in the middle for extra absorption.

Here's little miss Jenna showing off Mommy's creations.

I hope to continue my sewing adventures and plan on sharing them with you on my blog.

Introductions

OK, so this is my first post, obviously. I have been reading other blogs for a while now, and felt it was time for me to give blogging a try. As my blog title states I consider myself an optimistic person and this blog will contain ramblings from my everyday life as a wife and mother. So, on to introductions and a little about myself.

I am 27 years old and have been married for 6 years. I married young, but I don't regret it one bit. My husband's name is John and we have a daughter named Jenna. I have a younger brother, Jeremy. John has two younger brothers, Kyle and Stone that live in Wyoming with his dad. I work for a local hospital and, for the time being, part-time at a department store. John is an electrician, which amazes me everyday considering his condition (that's a whole different post). Our daughter, Jenna, is 2 1/2 and is the light of our lives. She has the greatest personality and is so cleaver. I hope I don't bore you too much, but with a 2 year old there's always something going on! :-)