Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Pregnancy Journal

Well, being pregnant when already having a 2-year-old is different.  The second time around is always different, I guess.  When I was pregnant with Patton I wrote down tons of memories of my pregnancy and took more belly pictures than anyone really needs to.  I've only taken 2 this time around.  It's not that I'm not excited about this pregnancy, I guess I just realized that I don't have to make a big fuss about every single week's bump picture or what the books and websites tell me I should be feeling.  Some of the excitement I guess is gone because I've been here before, but that doesn't mean I don't cherish it.  So, below are some of the things that have stuck out in my mind lately about this pregnancy...things that can eventually be put in Jack's baby book.

Ultrasound - November 2nd, 2012:
We found out that Baby Lewis is a boy!  Patton called it first!  His name will be Jackson Thomas Lewis, but we will call him Jack.  He moved and gave us quite a show at the ultrasound.  He looks a lot like Patton as far as we can tell.  He was healthy and estimated to weigh 1 lb.  Thanks be to God!

Kicks, Punches, Karate, Flips, etc:
Jack is definitely a mover and a shaker!  His kicks make my whole body jump sometimes.  Patton was a mover too, but Patton seemed to be in my rib cage more than Jack is (so far!).  Jack doesn't really get the hiccups like Patton did either.  But when he starts moving, he's moving for a while!  He rolls and turns, bends, and practically jumps sometimes.  You can actually see him moving from across the room!  It's amazing and a blessing!

Cravings: 
Due to acid reflux, I've drank more milk during pregnancy than my husband could probably drink in 5 years.  We go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week, and 80% of that consumption is all mine.  The past 2 weeks I have been craving root beer...badly!  Every time we go grab lunch or when I go to the store, I'm getting root beer.  I'm also on a Frosted Flakes kick.  It's never been a favorite of mine, but lately I have been having bowl after bowl for breakfast (and sometimes for other meals and snacks). 

Coincidence:
I turned 28 weeks pregnant on December 28th, which happened to be my 28th birthday.  A little ironic!  I actually made Josh take a bump picture that day :)

Jack's Nursery: 
We are reusing all of Patton's nursery decor, furniture, and clothes.  Pop and DebO came to visit on Saturday, January 5th to help us out.  Pop got all of the baby items down from the attic, DebO played with Patton, and I went through box after box to decide what to wash, what to put back in the attic, what to store in the closet, etc.  Now the baby clothes, blankets, burp cloths, towels, washcloths, sheets, etc. are all washed and ready!  The crib is made and ready!  The closet is now organized (mostly).  The curtains and sheers for the windows are in progress.  Josh has almost finished Jack's name sign that will go above his bed.  As soon as the weather dries out, Josh will put the white paint on the frame and finish it up.

More Baby Book Entries for Patton

Well, since my last post, we have found out that Baby Lewis is indeed a boy!  So now his name is Baby Jack...Jackson Thomas Lewis to completely accurate.

Patton has made this pregnancy so entertaining.  It seems we can't look at this pregnancy without seeing it through his eyes at times.  He has been so excited about getting a baby brother, so here are a few of the memorable moments that HAVE to be documented.

November 2nd, 2012 - We had our 20-week ultrasound, and we took Patton with us.  Before the ultrasound tech called us out of the waiting room, we asked Patton to give us his last guess, "Boy or girl."  He said, "It a boy, Jackson Thomas."  The words sound simple enough, but if only you could have heard the incredulous way he said them, like we were silly for asking, of course it was a boy.   Not only did he say it was a boy but he remembered the name we had told him a week before.  He couldn't remember the girl name, but then again I guess in his mind that name didn't need to be remembered since obviously he was getting a baby brother.  Well, he was right of course!  He called it before anyone else did.  When we had the ultrasound and officially found out it was a boy, we asked Patton what he was going to do with a baby brother.  He said, "We play ball together."  Melts my heart!

Thanksgiving Week 2012 - First Long Stay Away From Home
Pregnancy hormones can be blamed for my blubbering the whole week before Patton left to visit my parents for 5 days, right?  I was a crying fool!  Patton had a wonderful time though visiting with all my family while Josh and I chaperoned the youth retreat that weekend.  He went to an Alabama football game with my dad (his second game in the sky box).  He ate fruit, popcorn, and hot dogs, and he loved the band and Big "Pal" as he calls him.  He got to play with Luke at mom's house, and he went to the park with Aunt Ashley.  When I finally arrived at mom's house for Thanksgiving, he was so happy to see me, and I was moved to tears by that sweet hug.  He informed me that "Baby Jack" was "Jackaroo," because Papa T told him "Patton Poo and Jackaroo."  He told everyone the baby's name was Jackaroo.  He loved seeing Baby Amelia and holding her, he fell asleep right before we all ate dinner, and he loved playing trains with Luke.

Christmas Tree 2012
Patton loves Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, all of it.  Josh and I put the Christmas tree up when Patton took his nap Sunday after church.  We only put the star on, and then we woke him up to come see it.  He said, "Oh wow, my Christmas tree!"  He was amazed.  We told him Santa must have come put it up for him, and he was looking everywhere for Santa.  He loved the star on top and he sort of helped us decorate the rest of the tree :).  He was sad when I took it down after Christmas.  I took the ornaments off while he was at school on a Friday.  He came home and didn't notice it for an hour or so, and then he asked me where it went.  I told him I had to pack them up.  When Josh got home that night, Patton opened up the sunroom, pointed at the bare tree, and said, "Daddy, look."  Josh said, "What happened?"  Patton replied, "My mama did it."  I made sure to include Daddy in taking down the tree, just to share the blame.

December 19th, 2012 - Church Christmas Program
This doesn't have anything to do with Baby Jack, but Patton and I were shepherds in the church Christmas program.  He was adorable with his little roller skate sheep (a "sheep" made out of a roller skate, poster board, cotton balls, and a pull string).  He loved pulling it up and down the aisle.  I asked him what his sheep's name was.  He said, "Patton."  He and Lawson (who named his sheep "Bear") were so cute pulling their sheep.  Patton cried throughout most of the program, but maybe next year we will get past the tears...at least he enjoyed the sheep.

Christmas in Birmingham 2012
Patton loved opening gifts this year.  His first Christmas celebration was at Papa T & Nona's house.  He was blown away by all the Alabama gear he got.  He got an Alabama jersey, so he stripped down to his diaper and put it on right in the middle of opening gifts.  He also got a red Schwinn tricycle (same color and brand as my dad's bike), and we had to follow clues to find it.  Dad had made clues with Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) on them.  It was so precious!  He rode that bike until he was too tired to ride anymore...their poor baseboards.  Patton's second Christmas celebration was at Nannie and Poppy's house.  He got some pirate gear, an easel, fireman rainboots, and movies.  The sweetest part was how he reacted to gifts we received for Baby Jack.  Patton would help me open them and then have to show off what Baby Jack got..."Look, Baby Jack got new PJs.  How cute!"  He also loved for other people to open gifts.  He would either help them unwrap their gifts or stand there and watch saying, "It's a, it's a, it's a...sweater!"  He was excited about every gift that was opened. 

Christmas at Home 2012
Patton was practically the assistant sound guy during the Christmas Eve service.  He loved putting the headphones on as Josh worked the sound board.  He loved the candles at the end of the service.  He got Mickey Mouse slippers that night, so he was happy with the one gift we let him open on Christmas Eve.  Christmas morning he woke up and came to our bedroom, and he was completely oblivious to it being Christmas.  He cuddled inbetween us until Josh said, "Mama, I thought I heard some reindeer last night.  I wonder if Santa came to see us."  To which I replied, "I thought I heard some sleigh bells."  Patton was quiet and then whispered, "I heard bells too."  Josh asked him if he thought Santa came and brought him some toys.  That got him out of the bed and down to the living room.  He was amazed by the empty milk glass and half-eaten cookie.  He was thrilled with the candy canes and gloves at the top of his stocking, and then when we opened the sunroom he was just elated when he saw his Spiderman bike!  He moved everything else out of the way so he could get to that bike!  He rode it in the living room for a bit, then came back to the sunroom to see everything else.  He loved his Alabama bean bag chair and drum set, his Lightning McQueen car, his soccer ball, his baseball glove, everything.  He even got a book from Baby Jack about being a big brother, and he thought it was so cool that Baby Jack got him a gift!  Josh read the book to him, and he loved it.  After presents, we ate cinnamon rolls and sausage balls for breakfast.  Patton said, "I want Santa to come to my house."  Josh and I explained that Santa was busy delivering gifts to children all over the world.  Josh said, "Why do you want him to come back to your house?"  Patton said, "So I can tell him thank you."  Sweetest boy ever!

Christmas in Butler 2012
We traveled to Butler during a break in the rainy weather on Christmas Day.  We had steaks and ate until we were all miserable.  Patton was so excited to open gifts and help everyone else open their gifts as well.  He made everyone laugh as he would pull one piece of wrapping paper off at a time and then have to put it in the trash bag before removing more.  He was the slowest unwrapper ever, but it was so cute.  He became the trash collector, cleaning up all the messes of wrapping and bows.  He loved his monster trucks that his aunts and uncles gave him.  He was excited about the tool work bench he got too.  The weather started getting bad towards the end of our unwrapping, so we all started rushing and then headed over to Katie and Patrick's house to spend an hour in the basement.  All the women and children were downstairs in the basement while the men kept watching the weather channel.  The storms passed us and we all returned to Pop and DebO's house for dessert and playtime.  Patton enjoyed playing with all the baby toys Luke and Anna Whitley received.  He loved playing with his cousins and holding them too.

Baby in His Belly - January 2013
Patton informed me the other morning while we were watching cartoons (and not talking about Baby Jack at all) that he has a baby in his tummy too.  I asked him, "Well, what is your baby's name?"  He told me, "Baby Luke.  You want to feel him kick?"  So he proceeded to pull his shirt out and put my hand on his tummy.  He sucked in his stomach and then puffed it out really quick.  He said, "He kicked you!"  He then had to let Josh feel it and anyone else at church on Sunday that would feel his tummy.  He will still come up to me, especially after I have asked him to feel my belly when Jack is moving, and I have to feel his "baby" kick me too.

Fireman Patton - January 11, 2013
Patton wore his fireman raincoat to school this morning, and when I told him the raincoat said "Fire Chief," he was certain that he was now a fire chief. The whole drive to school he "called" the police on his cell phone and told them to get out of the way because he was on his way to a fire. When we arrived at the church, he rushed into Sheila's office and said, "Fire Chief to the rescue!" He told her that he puts out fires and puts out cones (to keep people away from the fires). He pretended to put out a fire with an imaginary hose, and Sheila thanked him for putting out the fire. He said, "Just doing my job." Where does he learn this stuff? Now that is his saying whenever you tell him he did a good job (like cleaning up toys). Just doing my job!

Baby Jesus - January 13, 2013
The nursery Sunday School lesson that morning was about John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River.  I showed Patton and Gage a picture of John and Jesus in the river and asked them to tell me what they saw.  Patton thought they were in a pool.  Gage noticed that he had hair like John the Baptist.  When I mentioned that the men in the picture were John and Jesus, they gave me funny looks.  We had last talked about Baby Jesus during Christmas, so I explained to them that Baby Jesus grew up and this was him in the story.  Patton said, "Oh, I'll go get him for you."  He went to the toy bins and found the baby doll that had been used by them during Christmas as Baby Jesus.  He said, "Here he is!"  So "Baby Jesus" joined us as we learned about John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan.  Patton still remembered who our story was about the following day, "John and Jesus," he said, "in the river."