Jack: 16 Months, Mama: 20 Weeks

So, the Jackster turned 16 months last Wednesday. Time's a-flyin'! He's just more and more fun every day. His favorite things to do now are run(obviously), throw and chase his big green ball, eat grapes, sing(he's just starting this), and blow kisses. He's just such a joy and we thank God for him every day.

I hit the halfway point of my pregnancy this Wednesday and I can't believe how quickly it's going. It's amazing how easy it is to forget you're pregnant when you're chasing after a very active toddler. Jason felt Baby Girl bumping around in my tummy the other night. It was wonderful.

I spent this past weekend at another doula training and had a wonderful time! I'm now a Lamaze Labor Support Specialist and on my way to becoming a certified doula! I'm so excited!

Brokenhearted...

A family in our church, a family we don't even know, just lost their first child. Carolyn was due to have her baby this week and went into labor on Sunday night. When she and her husband, Drew, went to the hospital the nurses couldn't find their son's, Walker's, heartbeat. Carolyn labored and delivered her baby boy, born still, that night.

Ever since I heard this tragic news I cannot strip it from my mind. I am absolutely devastated for this family. I guess I just take healthy pregnancies and healthy babies for granted. You figure when you're 9 months pregnant that you'll be bring your baby home from the hospital. You feel as if you've passed the "danger zone" and reached the end of your pregnancy, which will culminate in such a joyous event and your heart will forever be full. I cannot imagine the feelings Carolyn and Drew and their families are enduring at this time.

Please pray for Carolyn and Drew. Pray for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Pray that God will touch their hearts and give them peace in time. Pray that they will rely on their faith in their Father to bring them through this incredibly difficult time of loss.

Hug your babies a little tighter and thank God for them each and every day. They are miracles.

It's a...

GIRL!!!! My mother's intuition was right and we're getting prepared for lots of pink around here! Jason and I had our big ultrasound this morning and our baby girl was so busy. She was playing with her hand, crossing and uncrossing her legs, and doing flips. Jack's going to have a baby sister! We're soooo excited!!

Not much to report...

... just some cute pics to share.

His favorite ball! He looks like such a big boy here!

Goofy!

Moo.

Growing and growing...

Here are a couple of belly pics Jason took this morning. I'm 18 weeks, 2 days. Only 6 more days till the big ultrasound! We're getting sooo excited!

I feel like I'm so big already! What's this gonna be like come December?!Jack, sitting on little bro or sis, getting a nuzzle from Mama.

Fever...

I came home from my childbirth/doula training yesterday evening to a very sick little boy. Jason said he just hadn't been himself yesterday and had just taken his temp and it was 102+. Usually when Little Man gets a fever he's still happy and playing but not this time. He just laid on my chest and whimpered, not at all interested in playing or even being out of my arms. It just broke my heart. We, of course, gave the regular course of tylenol/lukewarm bath/ibuprofen and then put Jack to bed. He woke around 11 and his fever was still up so we gave him some more meds and I rocked him and sang to him a bit before putting him back down. He did pretty well and slept through the night but when he woke up this morning his fever was 105!! We immediately gave more tylenol and put Jack in the bath to cool him down. I'm happy to report all is well and we are hovering around 100 now but gosh was that scary! Hopefully Jack's feeling better soon! Fevers are no fun!

UPDATE: Jack is all better! He's back to his old happy, active self this lovely Tuesday morning!

Happy Birthday Aunt Emmy!

Jason's sister Emmalee turned the big 2-5 this week! We went out for dinner with the fam on Friday night to celebrate and had lots of fun! Surprisingly we didn't get a single picture of Emmy on our camera so you'll just all have to imagine how strikingly beautiful she is! But hey, here's some shots of us!

Outdoor fun!

Jack loves to play outside - loves it. He'll go to the back door and point outside when he wants to go out and play. He'll run and run and just squeal with delight when we're in the yard. He loves to swing and play in the sand. He even cries when it's time to come in - it's really quite pitiful. Last Sunday, after church, the weather was just so beautiful that Jason and Jack went out for a quick play session before nap time. As I was cleaning up after lunch I hear that wonderful scream of utter joy and peek out the back door. I saw Jack, dressed in shoes only running from Daddy and the water hose. Apparently what started with Jason washing the sand off Jack's hands turned into a full-on water party! It was priceless!

Lots going on!

Soooo... it's been a while. Again. Things have been movin' in the Maurice house lately! Jason's been studying like a maniac for the audit portion of the CPA exam. He's taking it tomorrow and could definitely use your prayers! Jack never, and I mean NEVER sits still. He's constantly on the move. Running around the house and yard, stacking boxes and blocks to build towers, emptying drawers, etc, etc. Needless to say, he's been a handful for me to keep up with. By the time we put him to bed in the evenings I'm completely spent for the day and need to recharge in order to do it all again the next day!

I've also been busy the last few days or so. I am becoming a certified doula through Doulas of North America (www.dona.org). I'm super excited about it! I spent this past weekend in a prepared childbirth class (bonus that I'm expecting and can use this info for myself) and LOVED it! I am so excited about beginning my journey as a doula and empowering women to have the kind of births they wish for!

Baby update...

I had my second appointment yesterday with Lindsay, one of my midwives. Jason was able to come with me and we brought Little Man along for the ride. That was an adventure! Jack was too funny just running circles around the waiting room. Thankfully the other patients or staff didn't seem to mind much. As far as the baby and I are concerned everything looks great! I weighed EXACTLY the same as I did when I went in 4 weeks ago - a surprise to me since I've regained my appetite and have been eating just about everything in sight! We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat and the midwife even showed Jason how to feel on my tummy to find my uterus. That was pretty neat considering the OB I had with Jack barely stayed in the room long enough to feel my tummy himself! Our next appointment is on August 10 and we'll be having the "BIG" ultrasound to make sure everything looks great with the baby and to find out whether Jack will have a little brother or a little sister! We're sooooo excited about that!

15 Months Old!

Well, one more month has passed in Jack's world! He turned 15 months old yesterday - and what a busy day it was! We went to church yesterday morning and then to a lunch/baby shower for the Williford Family. Jack had lots of fun playing with his friends and their toys - especially Caleb and Luke's lawnmower - the louder, the better!

I took Jack to his 15 month checkup this morning and everything looks great! He weighed in at 24 lbs, 3 oz (50%) and was 31.75 inches tall (75%). Dr. Raine is really pleased with his progress and Jack just loves to visit Dr. Raine. He just giggles and grins at him - that is till they bring out the shots. Jack's sleeping off the shot shock now thanks to a good lunch and some Tylenol.

Also, on Thursday night we came to the end of a very special phase of our mother/child relationship. Jack nursed for the very last time. It's just weird to me that I nursed him EVERY DAY of his life till then and I'm not doing it anymore. The transition really hasn't been bad though. I'd been cutting out a feeding every week for the past month or so. Jack and I were both ready to wean I guess. I wasn't too keen on nursing a newborn and a toddler at the same time come January either! So, my little baby is even more of a big boy and I've got a few months of "freedom" before the new little munchkin makes an appearance!

Happy Birthday Pappaw!

We celebrated Pappaw's birthday on Friday evening. Jack just has so much fun running around Gigi and Pappaw's house and playing in the yard. We were joined by Aunt Emmy and Uncle Bryan, Uncle Ross and Honey. Everyone relished the fajita dinner and LOOOOVED Gigi's famous chocolate cake - Jack included! Pappaw, have fun at Home Depot!

There's those classy Maurice kids!
Much better, guys!If I had a hammer...Mmmm... cake...
All sporting the hats from Uncle Ross - apparently I'm really excited by hats!

Happy (belated) 4th!

Well, it's taken me a bit to wish everyone a happy 4th! Hey, I'm only 5 days late! We started the day off taking Jack to his very first parade! The Coursey family came with us and we all had so much fun! Jack did get a bit frustrated when he was confined to his stroller when it wasn't moving so Daddy had to take him for a walk and let him get out an run around a bit. He was pretty entertained just looking at his friend Selah and eating cheese crackers though.

After the parade we headed home for a nice nap and then we were off again! The Dearing family hosted a wonderful cookout and Jack got to play with lots of his buddies from our playgroup. The dads got in some good bonding time with the kids and with each other and the moms got to catch up on girl talk!

We spent the evening just hanging around the house. No fireworks for this crew! I'd been a bit under the weather most of the day and all the activity was really starting to take its toll. We put Little Man down to bed and turned in early ourselves - exciting, I know!

Prayer need...

It appears that God is opening doors for Jason to embark on an amazing journey to further His kingdom throughout the world! Jason has been presented with the opportunity to travel to China with a group from our church in October. They will be working in 2 children's homes, spreading the love of Jesus Christ to all who will hear it. Jason will have to raise the money for his travel and lodging expenses, etc. Please pray that God will continue in guiding Jason toward this amazing mission, helping him have the monetary needs of this trip met in a timely manner. Pray that all planning on going to China will be able to raise the funds they need, will be cleared health-wise to go, and will make it to China and back safely. Pray for God's will to be done in regards to this mission trip and pray for those going to be able to freely and safely spread the love of Christ! We'll keep you posted!

A site worth visiting...

I just came across this today. I thought it was worth sharing!(Click on the picture!)

Some randomness...

So now that I've got new-found energy I'm snapping photos a lot more often. Here are some shots from yesterday...

Reading in the "bear chair"

Climbing...

The living room fort was such a hit that Daddy got me this cool tent!
An overhead view...

... and from a tunnel.

Bathtime!
Pure joy...

...playing in the bubbles......bubbleface!

Belly Pics!

So, these are actually the very first pictures I've taken of my pregnant belly. It's pretty surprising to me, as well, but I never seem to get the chance to stop long enough to have Jason snap a photo. I really wish I'd taken some earlier to compare these to but, eh, what are you gonna do? I have popped out a little bit in the past week and am looking more pregnant than "thick". These were taken this morning at 13weeks, 4 days (or so we think).

Rainy day fun!

So, with all this rain we've been getting Jack's been going a bit stir crazy. Poor guy will just stare out the back door and reach for the handle just itching to get out and play in the yard. Sooo, we decided to have a little fun in the living room! We built a fort (that stayed up for about 2 minutes) and Jack LOVED it! He got such a kick out of hiding in it - till he tore it down and decided he'd rather just play with the blanket instead. We had a carpet picnic and threw all the blankets and pillows we could find on the living room floor. We lounged, we bounced on the cushions, we sporadically watched a little of Finding Nemo. We had so much fun and Jack completely wore himself out.

The Fort - afterJust layin' around

A bit of mischief...

We should've known. The house was soooo quiet. Sneaky little bugger.

Summer fun!

Things have been very busy around here! I'm finally starting to get a bit of my energy back and am able to keep up with the housework for a change. Jack has become a little toddler tornado in the past couple of weeks and just goes and goes and goes. He practically runs everywhere! Just a couple of days ago Jason and I watched him run, full-speed and head-first, into one of the end tables in the living room. He cried for just a second or two and then was off running again!

We've been spending lots of time going for walks (in the morning to avoid the heat) swinging on the swingset, running in the yard, and playing with Jack's newest toy - a sand and water table, courtsey of Yaya (thanks Mom!). Jack just loves to splash in the water and dump it all down the front of his shirt. He also likes to destroy anything that happens to look like a sandcastle. Saturday he even had his first taste of sand... and he went back for more! Blech!

Here are some photos from the past week or so. Enjoy!

Jack, showing a box who's boss.

Watermelon is goooood. Mmmm...

Playing in the sand.

Running in the yard with his new shovel!