First Official Word (besides DaDa, MaMa, and Bubba)

Preston has been saying "Dada" for a little bit now. When John walks out of the room, Preston will call for him. He has also randomly said Mama and Bubba (brother) but not very consistently. Well, on Wednesday, I picked him up to put him down for his afternoon nap and Carter said "night night" to him and Preston repeated it back! Now he says it all of the time. It is the one word he will repeat without fail.

Counting Elves

Carter's new favorite movie is The Polar Express. He is addicted to it. Seriously, if I would let him watch it over and over again he would. We do watch it once a day and as it is a very good movie, there is only so much of one movie you can watch.

We are having a hard time in this household with listening and following directions. One of the hardest times is going to bed. We use a timer and when the timer goes off he knows it is time to go to bed. Last night, the timer went off as usual and we started the routine of hugs and kisses. He really wasn't into it and started to throw a tantrum. John had a lot more patience than I did last night. I think something was in the air yesterday because from what I hear, a lot of kids were testing the patience of their mommy's. So, anyways, John started talking to him and getting him to calm down. He told him he should lay in his bed and count elves and see how many elves he count. He told him that he might even have dreams of elves. So, Carter went off to bed to count elves!

About an hour later, John went to check on him and make sure his pull up was pulled up and cover him up and everything. Carter was still barely awake. He looked up at John and with excitement in his voice he said, "Daddy, I'm counting evles! There are twenty of them!" John said he was so excited about it and he really was counting. I wish I could have seen it because I can just picture him. I love that little boy!!!

Am I Really 32 Weeks??

I have known my entire pregnancy how many weeks I am. But I think these past couple of days it has really hit me that I am this close to delivering. I think reality is finally setting in. I am starting to get into panic mode. How can I possibly get everything done that needs to get done? Oh my gosh, we are really adding another person to our family!!!!!

We still haven't transitioned the boys into one room. Carter now has a twin bed and John put the other crib together in Carter's room this weekend. Now, I just need to take the dreaded step of letting them sleep in there together. Well, I guess first we need to rearrange furniture. Right now the crib is in the middle of the room. I need to move all of Preston's clothes into Carter's room but before I do that I need to clean out Carter's drawers and closet to make room for Preston's clothes. Can you see how discouraging it can get?

I wake up with so much energy and a ton of things on my "to do" list but by lunch time I am so dang exhausted I barely have enough energy to make myself lunch. I feel like I am wasting precious days. Precious days to enjoy just being a family of four and precious days to feel like I am actually prepared to welcome a new baby.

Only 7 more weekends until my scheduled c-section... WOW!!

Such a Long Weekend

My weekend started on Friday. John took the day off to stay at home with the boys. My mom was having surgery and I wanted to be there with her. I got to the hospital around 8 in the morning and she was taken back to the operating room around 9. The surgery went very smoothly. She was taken upstairs and was to be discharged the next day. I stayed at the hospital until around 7:30 that night and then went home for the evening. Who knew sitting at a hospital could be so exhausting??

On my way back to the hospital on Saturday morning, she called to tell me she was being discharged. So, I got there just in time to walk with her down to the car. :) She went home and was doing great!

John, Carter and I had haircuts that afternoon. We ate lunch and then headed to Colleyville. We spent about an hour at John's parents' house. We showed them the 3d sono and the kids played. Preston stayed at their house while we went and got haircuts. I'm sure he enjoys the one on one time with Grandma and PaPa! After haircuts, we met them at Buca di Beppo's. It was yummy!!! I could live off of Italian food! We had a great dinner but it was time to head back to Wylie and get the kids in bed.

We decided not to go to church yesterday - Preston is still on antibiotics and Carter's tummy was acting a little weird and he had a runny nose. It was so nice to sleep in!! When we did get up, we got dressed and went to Two Rows for breakfast. They had the best breakfast buffet!

Preston then had his one year old portraits that afternoon. He did such a good job!! Such a cutie! He surprised me and didn't really care that much about the cake that he was supposed to dig into. He painted his legs with the icing but he didn't want to eat it. He ended up screaming. lol So, I hope Sharon got some good shots...I can't wait to see them!

My Dad and Mary came over last night. They brought over their pictures of their vacation to Mexico along with presents for the boys. Carter got a wooden turtle and Preston got a turtle piggy bank. Carter was very excited!! We then went to Chili's and had some more good food. They have the promotion going on to get an appetizer, 2 entrees and a dessert for $20! So much yummy food!! We did a lot of eating this weekend! :)

It was such a busy weekend but a good one. This week is looking to be just as busy as I am finishing up planning Preston's First Birthday Party. My good friend Courtney and her family are coming in town Wednesday night and I can't wait to see them!! These busy weeks are making September come that much faster!!

Double Ear Infection

Poor Preston! As soon as he was completely over the stomach bug he got an ear infection in both ears! His nose has been runny since last weekend but I just figured it was because of teething. Yesterday morning, he woke up with blood all over his ear. It really freaked me out but after I cleaned it with a wipe I could tell it was just from him scratching his ear and it wasn't coming from inside. I decided to just watch him yesterday but as the day went on he started pulling and tugging on his cheek and he had a rough time going to sleep. He isn't fussy nor running a fever. He is playing just like he always does. I took him in this morning and sure enough both ears are infected.

Carter was so cute. I had told him we were going to go to the grocery store but on our way I found out that the doctor could see us immediately so I told Carter we were just going to see the doctor and not go to the store yet. He was okay with it until five minutes later. He then said, "Mommy, why don't we just go to Kroger and then go home and I will get my doctor kit out. I will be Dr. Carter and I will look at Preston." I had to tell him that he was a great doctor but we better see Dr. Morchower first and then after lunch and nap he could be Dr. Carter and look at Preston. Carter loves to go to the doctor when it isn't him that is seeing the doctor. He still benefits and gets a sucker and the nurses flirt with him.

So, we got a prescription of Augmentin and he will recheck his ears when we go for Preston's ONE YEAR check up on August 4th. Can't believe he is turning ONE next week!!!!

31 Week Doctor Appointment

I went today to see Dr. Jacoby for my 31 weeks appointment. From here on out I am going to start going every 2 weeks. How did that happen so quickly?? My blood pressure was 120/70 and I gained 4 pounds. I am now starting to measure big though. I measured at 33 weeks, so just two weeks over than what I am. I think this is when Preston started putting on the the pounds so it is probably in my best interest to start watching my sugar intake.

We also had an elective 3d/4d sono and it was pretty cool. Baby actually looks like Preston as far as we could tell. I asked the tech if these were pretty accurate as far as what they look like and she told me that she thinks all of the babies look alike. I laughed and said, "Well, why are we paying for this then? We should have just pulled up pictures on the internet and saved some money!" It was worth it though. He has some pretty chubby cheeks and a little cute nose! She tried to get a picture of one of his feet but as soon as she found one, he moved.

I also picked up the CBR cord blood kit. Now I just have to remember to take it to the hospital on delivery day! I think I'm going to start packing my bag and just go ahead and throw it in. I can't believe it's time for me to start thinking about packing my bag!!!!

We scheduled the c-section date. It is scheduled for September 17th which is a Thursday. Dr. Jacoby isn't on call during any of the weekends in September so this way he will still be able to see me the day after Baby is born. If I stay in the hospital for the recommended 4 nights, that will put me going home on John's 30th birthday. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It is such a big birthday and I don't want to take that away from him. We didn't even think about that this afternoon so maybe we will change the date. I'm not really counting on making it that far anyways but we shall see.

Dr. Jacoby performed another fFn test and should hopefully know the results tomorrow. If it comes back negative, it will at least give me peace of mind for another two weeks. I want to keep him in there as long as possible, even though I'm starting to get super miserable. I know it is so much easier to take care of him in there then out here and I definitely don't want to go the NICU route again!

So Not Ready For Sleepless Nights!

I took Preston to see Dr. Morchower yesterday. I was on the fence as to whether or not to take him so I talked to the nurse. She suggested that I go ahead and bring him in since it was a Friday and he was still so fussy. The doctor said it was just a virus which I figured. But he also said that he was cutting his first molars. He has been such a great teether but those molars must really be bothering him!

I put him down last night at 7. He fussed every now and then until about 10 when he started crying hard. I got him up and rocked him. He went back down and was up again at midnight. I gave him a bottle and he went back to sleep until 3 or 4...I kinda lost track of the time. I tried to give him another bottle but he just wanted to play. I changed his jammies into fleece jammies thinking maybe he was cold. I put him back down close to 5 and he snoozed until 10 am!!

I think you block out how exhausting it is to get up through out the night. He would go to sleep on me while rocking him but wouldn't even lay down when I put him in his crib. I know at one point we both fell asleep in the glider. It does make it interesting considering I have a huge 31 week belly for Preston to lay on! :)

John had to take my minivan to the dealership for some maintenance this morning. So, he woke up early and took Carter with him. Carter had a great time! But the best part is I got to sleep in with Preston! I can't remember the last time I slept so late. Granted, I'm still sleepy but it was definitely nice to get those extra hours of sleep.

Preston woke up in a great mood this morning and is already back to himself. I hate seeing any of my babies sick and not feeling good, so it is so refreshing to see him playing today!

The past two nights, though, has just become a reminder of what's to come with a newborn. I can't wait to meet the little guy but I can definitely wait for the sleepless nights!!!

Sick Baby

We have been so lucky in the fact that Preston has only been sick twice in his first year. Carter was in daycare full time so it felt like he was always sick. Preston has only had two ear infections and even those were mild.

Yesterday, Preston woke up from his afternoon nap screaming. That is very unusual for him as he usually sits in there and talks to himself for a few minutes before the slightest fuss. I went in and picked him up and he felt warm. He had a very low grade fever. I don't give Tylenol unless the fever is 100.2 or higher and it was right around 99/100. He sat in my lap and wouldn't move from there. He laid his head down on me and we just sat. I thought maybe he had another ear infection or maybe he was teething. Then, after sitting there for about an hour, he threw up all over the place. I don't know where all of this food was being stored because there is no way his tummy is big enough for all of that. Maybe TMI but I'm still shocked. He was so scared as this was his first time to ever throw up. Then as we were cleaning it up it happened again. John took him and went to change his clothes as I went to change mine.

It has been a long time since we have been through this type of thing and I felt like a first time mom all over again. I didn't have a clue what to do next. Do I give him dinner? Do I give him his night time bottle? Do I put him to bed hungry? So frustrating!!

We all sat down for dinner and I put Preston in his highchair and gave him a sippy cup of water and a saltine cracker. He ate the cracker but definitely took his time with it. Towards the end of dinner though it happened again. Seriously...where did it all come from??? Luckily, this time it all landed in his tray and he had a bib on to catch everything.

We took him and gave him a bath and got him ready for bed. I sat with him on the couch while John and Carter went to the store. We had to restock on paper towels and lysol. He also picked up some pedialite. I gave Preston a bottle with 4 oz of pedialite and he quickly drank it. I put him down in his crib and he was out.

He woke up about 3:30 and I tried to give him more pedialite but he didn't want anything to do with it. I tried to put him to sleep in the pack n play in our room hoping he would sleep better next to me but that didn't work out. I took him in his room and we rocked. We rocked FOREVER! I have never been the type to rock my kids to sleep. I have actually done a great job in teaching both of my kids to put themselves to sleep. I never wanted them to depend on someone putting them to sleep. But last night was such a different story. He eventually started to drift but woke up as soon as I laid him down. I stood there and patted his back until he went to sleep again which was about 5:00 am.

He woke up this morning still with a slight fever but nothing big. He drank 4 oz of formula and has kept it down (knock on wood) so far. He still rubs his tummy so you can tell it is still bothering him. He did play for about 45 minutes on his own so that is an improvement.

He is currently down for his morning nap. When he gets up I 'm going to try to give him a little solid food but will stick to the BRAT diet for the day. He is supposed to have his one year old pictures down tomorrow and I really hope he is feeling better and we don't have to reschedule. I absolutely hate to see my babies sick and not feeling good!!

Helping with the Dishes

One of Preston's favorite places to hang out is at the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is open he is in it!

July 4th

We celebrated July 4th over the span of a couple of days. Wylie's city fireworks show was on Thursday, July 2nd and this was our second year to go. Carter has been talking about it since we went last year, even though he hid and didn't even watch the show. Every time we drive pass the high school he mentions, EVERY TIME! He was super excited to go again and I bought him ear plugs so it wasn't too loud for him. He seems to have super sensitive hearing and the loudness is what scares him. One of Carter's friends, Hannah and her mom, met us there. We have continued on with one of John's traditions in that we brought popcorn with us. Carter and Hannah shared popcorn and had a great time! Preston seemed to like the show too. There were a couple of booms that scared him but he had a good time.

Then on Saturday, July 4th, we had our 3rd Annual 4th of July BBQ and Homemade Ice cream party. We had a house full! Bill and Beckie, my mom and Ken, Robert and Vickie, Grandad, and Paul and Brittany. John grilled hot dogs and we had pasta salad and watermelon. Then we made homemade vanilla ice cream. Bill and Beckie bring over their ice cream maker and everyone takes turns cranking it. Sure, we have an electric one but it is a lot more fun when everyone cranks. This has been my second year in a row to be exempt from cranking due to pregnancy. We did do it inside this year which was a huge plus! The ice cream was so good and is my favorite part of the day!!

- Carter sitting on top to hold it down while others cranked

- Carter cranking

- Papa getting Carter his ice cream

Our Newest Additions

We have added a couple of new additions to the Manning household to make our lives a little easier. We child proofed our house when Carter was little but never completely. Since he was in daycare the majority of the time, there just simply wasn't the need to or he was just that good of a kid! :) So, since Preston has turned into a crawler he has also turned into a climber. We are having to make sure that all of the doors in our hallways are closed, otherwise you will find him playing in the potty or pulling Carter's nightstand on top of him! :) I have been a little freaked out how that is going to play a role in having a newborn around. So, we invested in a gate that bolts into the walls and blocks off the entry way. Now, the kids are able to stay in the living room and kitchen which are both pretty safe. We did teach Carter how to open the gate so he can come and go as he pleases. Right now it is still a novelty and he wants to constantly go in and out - kinda defeats the purpose but I'm hoping that wears off soon.

The other addition isn't quite geared towards baby proofing but is heaven sent!! The Roomba!! I have wanted one for so long and we FINALLY got one. We didn't get the top of the line one that you can schedule and everything but we turn it on as we are going to bed and we wake up to a freshly vacuumed living room every morning! I LOVE IT! He were going to have it do both the kitchen and living room every night but evidently when it is over a black rug it thinks it's falling off a cliff and stops altogether and the area rug under our kitchen table is mostly black. So, we run it in the kitchen a couple of times a week while we are awake and help it start again. Nothing like getting a chore done while you sleep!!!

Doors

We learned very early with Carter that our lives are a lot easier if we just teach him to close doors inside our house instead of redirecting him or keep telling him to not go in that room. Well, we have now started with Preston. The first door...the kitchen pantry. He loves the pantry and will pull everything he can out extrememely fast. It has only taken a week to teach him to close that door now instead of play inside. As soon as he sees the door open, he runs (crawls really fast) over to it and closes it, turns around and claps while he cheer him on and clap with him. He is so proud of his accomplishment!

Yay! More Teeth!

Preston now has 8 teeth!!! His eighth tooth finally cut through on the top. So, that makes 4 on the bottom and 4 on the top. He is a great teether! He hardly gets fussy and you wouldn't really know he was even teething. Huge difference in how Carter cut teeth. Carter always ran extremely high fevers and was absolutely miserable when he had new teeth coming in. I can't believe how big my "baby" is now getting!

Live Life Abundantly

John and I watched a Will Smith movie, 7 Pounds, a couple of weeks ago. It was an oddly great movie. It had a great message but was presented in an odd way. It really made me think about how we treat people in our daily lives and truly made me want to go out and do some good deeds for others and live my life abundantly!


While, watching the movie, my friend, Dana posted a blog of one of her friends, titled Choices. It really sums up my life right now and probably the lives for a lot of stay at home mom's. I have really been struggling with the idea of a new baby coming into our lives. As excited as I am to meet this little boy, I am super scared!! I even mentioned to John last night, when am I ever going to get a shower taken?? It seems like I am letting Carter watch a lot more TV than I used to in order to get things done around the house and even then I don't even feel like I am keeping up with the house and the things that need to be kept up with.


The Choices blog reminded me that I need to forget about the load of dishes that are in the dishwasher for just a little bit and take a little more time to play with my kids. I need to brave the heat for just 5-10 minutes and go outside and blow bubbles. I need to live abundantly!! I want to remember all of these days with my kids as great days and days of laughter and playtime and not days of being stressed out and worried. My kids aren't going to remember that the kitchen was a little dirty or their clothes weren't put away as soon as they were dry. But they will remember their mommy playing games with them and having fun with them.


Carter, Preston, and Baby, I promise from this day to live my days for you boys and play with you more and give you the mommy you so much deserve! I love all three of you so very much and I hope you will always know that!!

Vacation Bible School

Our church, Waterview, had their annual VBS last week. It started on Sunday night and ended on Wednesday night. We didn't make it on Monday as we were celebrating Cayden's birthday but Carter went all of the other nights. The theme was "Super Heroes of the Bible." Carter had so much fun!! Now, whenever I tell him that he needs to eat all of his dinner so he grows up to be big and strong, he will say, "Big and strong like Jesus and God?" I'm so thankful that we are raising our kids in the church and they are going to grow up knowing God.

The last night was a family fun night. They had hot dogs, chips and cookies. The hot dogs just kept coming out. I could hardly believe how many they cooked up!! Then after we ate we went out to one of the parking lots where they had games and bounce houses for the kids. Carter decided to go through the obstacle bounce house which actually surprised me a little because it was HUGE! He also enjoyed riding a barrel train! It was so hot though and we all left there wanting A/C and cold water.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Carter's new favorite shirt is his VBS t-shirt! He has slept in it countless times and has worn so many days! I'm shocked!!

Cayden's 8th Birthday

Our nephew, Cayden, turned 8 last month. I can't believe he is already 8 years old!!! Carter looks up to him so much and loves when get to see him. Cayden treats Carter just like one of his friend's and plays with him. We met everyone at On the Border, which is pretty common when it comes to the McCord family. But, that is where Cayden wanted to eat. He had a great birthday and his Nana got him an Ipod Touch!

Blowing out his candle!

Cayden and Carter

Cayden showing Carter his Ipod.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day at our house this year. This is John's 4th Father's Day!! John's Mom and Dad came over as well as Grandad. John grilled hotdogs and sausages, Beckie made her yummy egg salad and I made a cheesecake with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream. It was a great lunch!

I didn't know what to get John for Father's Day so I thought long and hard. John has always talked about his greatest memory as a kid was going fishing with his Dad. So, since John already has his own fishing pole, I took Carter to Walmart and let him pick out a fishing pole for himself. It was a gift for John so that he can now create memories of taking his own boys fishing. He seemed to really like it, although Carter couldn't keep it a surprise.

My cheesecake with berries. I kinda screwed up on the whipped cream and it almost turned into butter! :)

Self Feeding

I have started to let Preston practice self feeding more solid food. He loves the little Gerber microwavable bowls of pasta. I haven't been brave enough to let him do it with the pasta and meat sauce but here is a picture of him eating chicken/pasta and veggies. He loved it!!

He ate his first "breakfast bar" this morning. Carter loves Nutrigrain bars and would eat them all day long if I let him. Preston managed to gobble Carter's breakfast bar this morning before either of us had a chance to take it away. So, as I was reading the manual on our new Roomba, which I can't wait to use, I sat Preston in his highchair let him have his very own. I only have one more month before we can start weaning him off of formula so I need to get him eating more solid food. Plus, I don't really think baby food is filling him up anymore.

11 Months Old!

Preston is 11 months old today!! I can hardly believe it has almost been a year since he was born. It has been a whirlwind of a year that's for sure! He makes us so very happy and I can't imagine our world without him. He is such a happy baby and everywhere we go people ask us if he is always this happy. Yes, he is!! He is now crawling, standing up, walking around things and loves to play with his brother. Yesterday he started clapping. It is the cutest thing ever!! I am now planning his first birthday party and excited to celebrate his first year of life! I have made his invitations and need to order his cake... Now, what to get him for gifts???? God knows we don't need anymore toys!! Happy 11 months, baby!!! I love you!!

Thank Heaven for Chiropractors!

I have been having some major hip pains in my right hip for the past couple of months and have just been dealing with it. It has gotten so bad though that I wake up everytime I turn over or move in my sleep. It hurts to bend over, sit down, stand up...it just hurts! It came during my first trimester but went away after a couple of weeks. It now hasn't let up and is making me miserable. I spoke to Dr. Jacoby about it and he said my hormones are causing my pelvic bones to relax in order to prepare for birth and that's what's causing. Well, great, because I don't push a baby out and I don't need my pelvic bones to relax!! He told me I had three options - 1.) see a chiropractor, 2.) go to physical therapy, or 3.) deal with it. I chose option 1. I went with the recommendation of some of my Wylie Mom friends and went to Dr. Shad Reif yesterday. I was a little nervous as I have never seen a chiropractor and I had Preston with me but the appointment went great!

I do have a birth defect in my spine that was diagnosed when I was 18 which he agreed is playing a role. My bottom vertebrae is half vertebrae and half pelvic bone and causes me to have muscle spasms in my right hip. Dr. Reif explained that my right side is being pulled up higher than my left side and is pulling the muscle that is attached to my hip and back. In turn, it is putting pressure on my sciatica and causing my hip to hurt. He showed me some stretches that I have to do on my own to help stretch that muscle and did a few adjustments. I have noticed a small difference already and that was just yesterday! I am so impressed with Dr. Reif. He called me at 7:30 last night just to see how I was doing and said that they number he was calling from was his cell and not to hesitate to call if I had any questions. I go back tomorrow for another adjustment. I am going to ask how long he thinks it will take to get it to where I can live pain free. Hopefully he says just a couple of weeks!!