and now there are TWO!

Man, it's been a long time since I've posted! My apologies if you're an avid reader who's been waiting patiently for an update... ;). Let's start with Dominic- he's awesome! He's about 20 months now and is just becoming more and more of a big boy. He loves balls and anything with wheels (car, truck, tractor...). He always goes right for those toys in any setting he's in. He knows a lot of his body parts, and loves LOVES to read. He's always carrying books around, bringing them to us, or sitting down on his own to "read" them, which means he sits there turning the pages, babbling at the book... it's adorable. He's learning so much and has such a great memory for things; I'll point out different things on the pages of the book and as we go through it he can point them out when I ask! That's probably normal for his age, but it still makes me really proud and makes me think he's just the smartest boy in the world =). He knows words and can say quite a few, but he really doesn't talk very much (speak English.. he's always jabbering but rarely says things we can understand). I think he's just taking his time, but his pediatrician wants to keep an eye on his verbal skills so I guess we'll see. He's a little tough guy- he falls all the time, but it really takes a lot to get him crying about things, and even when he does cry it usually doesn't last long. He's very tough about stuff like that, and I've actually heard that's common among gastro babies because they went through so much when they were infants. He's perfect.

On July 14th, 2010 I gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Scarlett Isabella! She was 8 lbs, 13 oz and 21 inches long, and absolutely perfect and healthy. I went all-natural with NO drugs or anything, and yes it hurt, but it was over really quickly (4 hours total in labor), and I would definitely go natural again! It was an amazing experience. Bringing home a newborn was new for Rick and I, because Dominic was almost 3 months by the time he came home. Scarlett was exactly 3 lbs and 3 inches bigger than Dominic at birth, and she's a chunk! It's so strange because I had one teeny tiny baby for so long, and now a big ole chunky monkey- she was in the 94% for weight at 6 weeks, haha. Now Scarlett is about 3 1/2 months and she and Dominic just love each other to pieces. He's so sweet and loving with her and always gives her kisses and hugs. If she's fussing, he'll go right over to her and pat her head or belly, or try to rock her bouncy seat, or just try to help in general. Sometimes his efforts lead to him squishing her a little bit, but he's never intentionally hurt her. In fact, the few times he's accidentally hurt her and made her cry, he starts whining and crying and looking at her- he gets really concerned about her till she stops crying. It's so sweet. And Scarlett just smiles and smiles at him, and everyone else. She's the happiest, smiliest baby ever and I love it! I spend large parts of my free time just talking to her and making goofy faces because it's so rewarding to get that smile from her.

Kids are healthy, husband is happy, I couldn't ask for more.
Thanks for reading!

Stephanie

14 months today!

Hello! Today Dominic is 14 months old! He's been walking since 12 1/2 months, and is almost running now! He loves to walk everywhere he goes and has mastered getting to a standing position from the floor. He used to have to crawl over to something (coffee table/me/a toy) and pull himself up, but he doesn't need that anymore =). He's such a big boy. He says "Yeah", "mmmm", "mama", "dada", and a whole lot of gibberish. He talks constantly, but only he knows what he's saying! He eats regular food, drinks whole milk from a sippy cup, and has started deciding that he does and doesn't like certain things. When he's done drinking from his sippy, he immediately throws it on the floor. We're trying to teach him not to do that, but so far no luck. He loves to feed himself- if I give him a bite of something, he'll usually take it out of his mouth so he can put it back in himself. It's so funny to see him test out his independance with different things. If we're in the house he won't hold my hand to walk somewhere, but once we're somewhere else I can hold his hand without a struggle. He's still the happiest little guy. He's so content and happy- he makes it easy on us! He'll sit and play by himself and be perfectly happy. I sit down with him to play, but he usually just takes my toys and plays by himself with them.
I'm now almost 29 weeks pregnant with a little GIRL! I'm in my third trimester and am totally feeling pregnant. I can't complain, though- aside from back aches, heartburn, and getting exhausted, I really do have it easy. I get a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions but they don't hurt. Rick and I are enrolled in Bradley Childbirth classes- which is an all-natural, drug-free birth plan. I want to experience birth how it was meant to be! I want to do it like women have done it for thousands of years, and how animals continue to give birth. God created women to be able to give birth, and technology and medicine has taken that away from us in a lot of ways. I'm excited to meet this little girl, but at the same time I'm totally nervous about have TWO kids, especially two under two! Dominic takes so much time and energy as it is and I just don't know how I'll manage with a newborn as well as him. I know people do it all the time, and I know we'll be able to do it- I'm just nervous about it. I don't want Dominic to feel neglected at all or get less love and attention, so we'll just have to step up our game when she gets here!
We're moving to Pennsylvania and buying a house in June- and I'm due in July, so while it's very exciting it's also very stressful!

Thanks for reading =)

Stephanie

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Hello All! I've finally come back to continue my last post =). Dominic is almost 11 months and has been crawling since shortly before 10 months old. He is a SPEED DEMON! It's so funny- he crawls away from us, and when I walk behind him or call his name, he turns around to look, smiles at me, and then takes off even faster! It's as if he's saying "I'm outta here, Mom!". It's just too cute. He's still not saying 'Mama' yet... he says "Dada" all the time but still doesn't put meaning to it, so I don't consider it a first word ;). He's learning all sorts of new things- it's so cool to see him learning that if you push this it makes a sound, or if you turn that, it lights up... stuff like that. He sits and plays with his toys and is still the happiest baby I know. He's cutting his 3rd and 4th teeth now! It's the top two and he's handling it really well- not cranky about it at all! Rick, myself, and Dominic are all fighting a yucky cold right now and it stinks! But- I was reading something on babycenter and it said to expect your baby to get between 8 & 10 colds before his 2nd birthday, and this is his first real one... I think we're doing pretty well! I ordered his first birthday supplies- I'm really excited about him turning ONE and having a nice party for him... I just can't believe it!
Baby #2 is going great as far as we know! I'm now 15 weeks and feeling wonderful! Knock on wood, but I have relatively easy pregnancies as far as morning sickness and symptoms go! I felt awful from about weeks 6 to 9, but since then it's been pretty smooth sailing :). We had a bit of a scare when at my 12 weeks appt they couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler, but the next day at the ultrasound showed a moving baby with a beating heart. Until we know the sex, I can't really decide on any decore, names, or anything like that, so we're really anxious to know!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Stephanie

Ringing in the New Year with a New Bundle of Joy!

Most of you already know this, but Rick and I are expecting our second baby! Dominic has been doing so well and has been cleared from any specialists for a while now and we want them close in age, so we started trying! Just like with Dominic, we were pregnant the very next month and I am now 12 weeks along! I've decided to keep this blog going instead of starting a new one, and I'm just going to continue updating about Dominic, and of course info on the new baby too! ...Dominic just woke up, I'll finish this later.... =)