A very happy Mother's Day

This year's mothers day is extra special for me. Because......

WE'RE PREGNANT!

We are excited for our new arrival in November and are overjoyed that everything is going well. 

It is also an extra special feeling because of something that occurred last fall.  I found out I was pregnant in October of last year and a few weeks later I miscarried. Having not ever experienced that before or having experienced that within my own family it was heartbreaking.  I wasn't sure how I would be able to move on, to convince myself that it was a fluke and wouldn't happen twice in a row.  I spent many months grieving our loss and watching gobs of other women post about their babies that were due in July/August. (But seriously, SO many babies due this summer!) It was devastating.  However, through lots of prayer and support from my wonderful husband and family I was able to see a more positive outlook..... which brings us to where we are today. 

I wanted to bring this up along with our great news because I know that so many other women have dealt with or are currently dealing with the same thing and I just wanted to say, I understand.  I get it.  It's something that is so incredibly painful and lonely to go through.  There are moments where you feel like no one else could understand the pain you're going through.   But I am here to say that there are, we're here, I'm here, if you need to talk.

And with that I'll show you our budding little baby.

2 years

Two years

At two years John is flourishing like a little flower (weeds are annoying things).  

He's currently doing his ABCs, 123s, knows his shapes, singing nursery rhymes, doing basic puzzles, and can spell out words that are already spelled out for him.

At his two year appointment he was 33 lbs and 36 inches!

We love him so much and each day is a new adventure with him.  I wish we could freeze time at each leap he makes and slow it down.  But it's rather enjoyable to watch him learn new things and be so proud of learning it. 

Beware of the photo dump.....

Our Helmet Journey

It's been 7 months since we started our helmet journey.  John made the transition easy but we were always ready for the day he would get that thing off! It time consuming (a fitting appointment once every two weeks at the beginning) but worth it in the end.  He had a LOT of progress and both Chase & I were thrilled with the results.  It was a tough decision to make but in the end we're glad we did it.

We got to see John go through all his big milestones with this helmet on.  We will always treasure it and I have to admit he was pretty darn cute with it on too!  Seeing him without one will take some getting used to but it's just in time for summer and HATS!  It will be interesting to see if he boops his head more often now as he is used to having protection at all times.  He's a much steadier walker now so maybe we're through the worst part of falling over (ha ha, I'm a mom of a boy, I know what to expect ;) )and moving more into him tripping over his feet because he's running. Below are some of my favorite pictures of moments while he was helmeted and also a few shots of him at the end and after "graduation". :)

Graduation day! 

Playing around at Cranial Tech waiting for the results of our final scan! 

Last picture with our helmet on.

Mommy & John's last picture with his helmet. 

Hope to see more of this in the future.  Fun in the sun with his hat! 

And of course one of my favorites. I think he didn't mind the mask because he couldn't feel it on the back of his head.  This of course led to some really great photos! 

One year

We made it! A year ago John's 1 year birthday seemed like lightyears away and that we would never survive off of such little sleep. The thought of never sleeping again and having a crying infant was just..... too much. But John made the whole thing incredibly easy. He has challenged us in ways we never thought possible and at the same time brought such inexplicable joy to our lives. It's a very odd feeling now when we have the house all to ourselves and John is away for the night at Granny & Grandpas.  We rounded out year one on the cusp of a double ear infection and the last week has been survival mode. But we're happily on the other side and about to go to our 1 year well check tomorrow.

In the last month we've gotten a new helmet, started to point at things, saying WORDS (of course only ones that mom & dad understand ;) ), and he even did a little bit of walking riiiiight before getting sick.  He's regressed in the walking phase but I think once everything clears up he'll be rip roaring ready to go!  We also had his birthday party which was so much fun and he had a great time eating the cake I made him.  It was a lot of fun to have our friends and family over to celebrate.

We also had an arrival of a niece, Genevieve Kate Barber. We are so excited to go meet her soon!

And now.... here's a few (ok fine, a LOT) photos of John in the last month!

                             

Spaghetti night!

Excuse me mom, I need to close the door. 

Daddy bird feeding baby bird, lol.

The morning of his birthday. :)

One of his favorite things.... playing with puppies! 

The arrival of our sweet niece in the wee hours of the morning on Feb 7th!