We're Growing...and It's A Boy!

Well, seeing that he is due in less than 6 weeks I think it is time to announce that we are having a baby boy!!! Below is the story of our little guy

 

How we found out:
Martin and I were getting ready to head to a Predator's hockey game. We had great box seats that I got from work. Allison was nice enough to come babysit Emory for us, so we could enjoy a much needed night out together. I had taken a pregnancy test a week before, and it was negative. I decided to take one more test before we left that night. I have no idea why, I just had a feeling...but even with that feeling I did not expect it to be positive! I remember standing in the bathroom, just staring in disbelief and smiling. I walked out of the bathroom, and said "ummmm, Martin..." He couldn't believe it either! We were both shocked and excited. Allison came over and we had to tell her, and of course we was excited too. We had a great time at the game, but we had to hide the fact that I couldn't drink since we had friends at the game with us. Martin would drink his beer, and then hand it me and I would give him my full beer. I don't think anyone caught on.

The pregnancy:
This pregnancy has been much harder! I was very sick during the first trimester. The day of our first doctor's appointment I threw up 3 times. I never really threw up with Emory, even though I was nauseated a decent amount. What made this pregnancy really difficult was the fact that I was chasing after Emory all the time. There was no time to come home and lie on the couch when I was tired, because I had to chase a toddler! Although I have been really tired, I honestly can't complain. I have had it pretty easy with no complications at this point.

 

His health:
We had some scares with his health. At 18 weeks we went for the first ultrasound. The good news was that we found out that he was a boy!!! The bad news was that they saw some kidney problems and possible spinal problems on the ultrasound. He had a pelvic kidney, which means that one of his kidneys did not move up from the pelvis. They also thought they saw something around the spinal cord. They started throwing out words like spina bifida, and it was probably the worst and scariest moment of both of our lives. They referred us to a high risk doctor to try and get a more definitive diagnosis. We had to wait 2 weeks to see the high risk doctor, and that was the LONGEST 2 weeks of our lives. I cried daily and prayed nonstop. I tried not to worry, but I worried 24/7. We finally got in to see the doctor and they did another ultrasound. The left kidney was still in the pelvis, and it appeared to be non-functional. The right kidney, one the other hand, looked great! The other piece of good news was that they saw no problems with the spinal cord!!!I am so so thankful to God for watching over our sweet baby boy. There is no chance I could have made it through this trial without God by my side. I knew we weren't out of the woods yet, but I was just so thankful to hear that his spinal cord was normal. Another piece to this puzzle we discovered was that kidney problems run in Martin's family. Martin's grandfather and his grandfather's brother both only had one kidney! The exciting news is that neither one of them found out until they were in their 70s and 80s. So it looks like this could be genetic, and hopefully something that will not cause him any long term health problems.
After the appointment we followed up with the high risk doctor every 4 weeks, and all of the ultrasounds looked about the same. The left kidney keeps getting smaller, to the point that they can't really see it now. The right kidney keeps working great, and it is getting bigger to makeup for the left kidney. Now that I am 34 weeks, I am having ultrasounds every week. They just check the fluid levels to make sure the kidney is working. If the fluid stays normal, then the kidney is working. So far so good! We really won't know the whole story until he is born, but as of now I have turned it over to God. We are thankful that at this point it seems he will be a healthy, normally functioning baby boy!

Emory and her baby brother:
I don't think Emory really understands that she will be getting a brother soon. However, when we ask her where the baby is she points to my belly. We will tell her to give her brother kisses, and she kisses my belly. The other day she had a cup of water, and she put it up to my belly to give her brother a drink. Earlier in the pregnancy she would lay her head on my belly. I would make my belly jump and tell her that her brother was kicking her. She would laugh and then point at my belly, shake her finger, and say "no-no".  I think she is going to be a great big sister, and she will love having a brother!

Ready for him to arrive:
I am due September 8th, only 6 weeks away! We have the nursery ready, and we are just waiting on him to make his arrival! I cannot wait to meet him and complete our family. I can't imagine having two kiddos running around. We are so very blessed.

Emory: 19-20 Months

Weight and Length
Emory won't officially be weighed and measured until her 2 year check-up.

Clothing Size
She wearing 18-24 month clothes, but mostly still 18 months.

Sleep
Sleep is the same. Going to bed around 7:00 and waking up around 6:30. She loves to read books before bed. She still loves her Llama llama book, but now she also likes Goodnight Little Rabbit, and a Thomas the train book. Just this past week she has wanted to go to sleep with her baby doll and a blanket.
The next big task on our list is getting her to stop using the pacifier at night. Luckily she only uses one when she sleeps, but I am nervous that without it she won't sleep.

Eating
This child has never really had any problems eating. Recently she hasn't wanted to eat in her high chair, so she eats in her booster seat at the table now. She loves pretty much anything we give her, and she really loves sweets! She also likes to watch The Disney Channel while she eats. Her favorite shows have been Chuggington (a train show), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Babar (the elephant). Recently as soon as she sits down to eat she makes the elephant noise, because she wants to watch Babar while she eats.

Favorite Activities/Milestones:
A ton of cute happenings these past two months...

1. She is still trying to hop/jump. She's getting better, but it is still hilarious to watch. She bends her knees, picks one foot off the floor, and throws both hands in the air.
2. She is talking ALL THE TIME!!! Some times she just babbles, but recently she is trying to repeat everything we say. It will be impossible to list all of her new words, because she is trying to say everything we do...but I will list some of my favorite ones that she is saying.
She finally says her name now! It sounds like "Em-ree" and it's precious. Probably her favorite word is "no". She says it all the time and very loudly. We hear "nooooooooooooooooo" a lot! Some others include happy, lawn mower (mon-mow), sit (dit), up, yellow (lellow), yeah, and some of the names of the kids in her class. The other day she heard me say "oh shoot" after I dropped something. She instantly said "oh doot". Looks like I have to watch what I say!
 3. She still loves to dance, and now she loves to sing! At school they do the chicken dance, and Emory tries to do it. It's adorable. She also dances to the Pharell song "Happy". When she hears it she dances and says "happy, happy". The other new song she has learned is the itsy bitsy spider. She tries to do all the hand motions when we sing the song. She is really good at the "wash the spider out" part. Last but not least is wheels on the bus. She loves to say "beep beep beep" when we do the horn. At the end of every song we sing she yells "YAY" really loud and claps her hands. They learn all these songs during circle time at daycare, so I guess they say yay at the end of every song.
4. She still makes her animal noises, but her new favorite one is to make a very loud lion roar. She roars very loud and we act like she scares up. She cracks up laughing and does it over and over.
5. Sage had knee surgery, and has to be in her kennel for a while. As soon as she came home Emory pointed to her leg and said "boo boo". She has been so sweet to Sage since she has been hurt. She takes Sage treats while she is in her kennel, and tries to give her kisses.
6. Her love for her baby doll has reached a whole new level! She takes her baby everywhere!!! She sleeps with it, takes it to daycare with her, eats with it, and doesn't let it out of her sight.
7. Emory still says "no-no" and shakes her finger at Sage if she tries to mess with her while she is eating, but now she says "no-no" to her baby brother too! She will lay her head on my belly, and I make my belly move. I tell her that it is her brother kicking her. She starts laughing, and then points at my belly, shakes her finger, and says "no-no".
8. We have recently joined the YMCA by our house. They have a great indoor pool for kids. Emory loves going to the pool. We also did swim lessons this month. The first 3 lessons she hated! She screamed the entire time, which is so strange since she loves going to the pool. I think it is because she doesn't like being held in the water, she wants to walk around on her own. At one point during the lesion we had to dunk them in the water....she LOST it!!!! By the 4th lesson she was doing much better. She was kicking her feet and trying to jump into our arms.
9. She got all of her canine teeth in finally!
10. She has started doing some funny things lately. She will stand still, arch her back, and stick her belly out. She also does the "moon walk". She bends over at the waist, and slowly walks backwards.  Now she does the same thing, but walks forward. We call it the "old lady walk".
11. She loves to go to the grocery store, and when we leave she gets stickers. Last month when we were leaving the store she put them on her cheeks. When we got home I noticed that she had taken them off her cheeks and put them on Sage's head. Sage just sat there and took it! She's such a good sport.
12. A HUGE accomplishment last month is that she peed in her potty!!!! We bought her a potty and let her sit on in before bath time. She has actually gone pee in her potty multiple times. We still have a long way to go, but it's a start.
13. She loves backpacks. She puts her books in her backpack and then wears it around and says "ba pack". Every week we have to take a sheet and a change of clothes to school for her and we bring it in a backpack. Lately she will put the backpack on as we walk to her classroom.

Months 19-20
 Lots of fun activities these past 2 month. My parents came into town and we had a great time. We took Emory to Cheekwood and the zoo. Martin's family also came into town in June, and when I say Martin's family I mean A LOT of his family. We had a great time!!! Emory loved having everyone here and getting to play with Parker and Grant. I turned 30 in June! We celebrated with Martin's family, and Martin and I are going to a nice birthday dinner soon. Emory and I had some fun trips together. We went to the zoo, Monkey Joe's (a fun place that is full of bouncey houses), and the book store. She loved them all! It took her a while to jump on the bouncey things at Monkey Joe's, but by the end she was having a blast! She also loved the book store. She wanted to play with every toy and read every book. Martin's cousin Alison and her husband Greg are living in Nashville for the summer. We have had a great time hanging out with them and their sweet baby Grant. Emory loves seeing baby Grant! Emory also went to our neighbor Cami's birthday party. She had so much fun playing with the other kids. Oh, I almost forgot! We went to Pensacola to visit my parents in June. Emory was PERFECT on the 7 hour drive there and back. She was very content reading books and playing with toys. She loved the beach. She played in the water, and liked to play with the sand too. Emory also played with some friends over the past 2 months. Early in June Lane came over to play one weekend, and then we went to spend the day with Hudson. She just has so much fun playing with other kids. Unfortunately she got hand foot and mouth disease a few weeks ago and a little before that she had an awful GI bug! She had to stay home for 4 days due to the GI bug, but luckily the hand foot and mouth disease passed quickly.   I think that about sums up the past 2 months. We have had a busy, but super fun summer. I can't believe it is almost over, and we will have a new baby boy within the next 6 weeks. Here's to a fun and exciting new journey!