24 Months (2 years!)

Dear Titus,
At 24 months...

• You weigh 25 pounds.
• You wear size 4 diapers and 18 or 18-24 month clothes (18 month pants)
• You sleep from about 9 to 7:30and take one nap from about 2:00-3:30/4:00.
• You are getting in your 2 year molars and they are a PAIN. Definitely the worst teething set yet!
• You still love letters and numbers and when you get excited you will yell "TEN!" or "EIGHTEEN!" which are your favorite numbers.
• You have started saying a lot more vocabulary words! My favorite things you say right now are
• "Wherego?" (Where'd it go? You put your hands in the air and ask this anytime you throw a ball or toy somewhere)
• "Ass-sauce" (applesauce)
• "Hep" (help)
• You still have trouble expressing yourself when you are really upset or want something, which is frustrating for everyone involved. But I'm sure you will pick it up before too long!
• You are obsessed with your chalkboard doors in your bedroom. You want us to go back there and draw on them all day, mostly the alphabet, of course.
• My favorite thing you do right now is dance to daddy's record player (you love CCR)
• You want daddy to chase you all the time and you STILL giggle like an old man
• Your favorite toys right now your ball pit (a slide into a blow up pool filled with plastic balls), tee-ball set, basketball goal, and alphabet games/magnets.
• Your favorite show is probably Curious George. You also like Dinosaur Train, Super Why (it's about letters and reading), Bubble Guppies, and Sesame Street.
• You still don't love vegetables, but you will eat pickles like there's no tomorrow. Other foods you love are mac n' cheese, pizza, yogurt, applesauce, blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, oranges, bananas, waffle with peanut butter, PB&J, and Thai/chinese food.
• You still love bath time, but you HATE getting your hair washed. We have to save it for the end because you freak out and try to climb out.
• You are entering into your "terrible twos" and boy they are not kidding about them being terrible. You throw a fit when you have to share toys, if something doesn't work the first time you try it you FREAK OUT like it's the end of the world, and when you don't want to do something (saying "please" or "help") you will throw a fit for 10 minutes and not think twice about it.
• You have started understanding when I tell you we're going to play with your friends. You repeat their names "Gooks" (Brooks) and "Gah-son" (Garrison).
• You're number one request every day is "Outside?" We are BOTH ready for it to be consistently warm so we can just hang out in the backyard! You are getting a trampoline for your birthday and you may never come back inside ;)
• You are obsessed with the moon. Anytime it's getting close to dark outside you want to look for it and ask about it. You are also obsessed with airplanes and look for those when we are outside!
• You are strangely, and wonderfully empathetic for a two year old. If you throw a toy and it hits me (or you hit me on purpose because you're mad) I will say, "Owie! That hurt mommy." And you immediately tear up and run to give me a big hug. You have also hugged and held me a lot when I've had weird hormonal outbursts during this pregnancy. Not to mention when other kids or a baby is crying you make sure to alert me and give them hugs too!

Bubba, I love you so much. Honestly, most of my hormonal breakdowns during this pregnancy have been about you. I get so sad sometimes thinking about having to share my time with you with someone else. The thought of not being able to give you limitless hugs or cuddles or attention just makes me feel lost. I know it is going to be so good for you to have a sibling for this very reason, so you don't become the center of our universe and think that you run the world. But I also know this could be a hard transition for you, and as your mommy, all I ever want in this world is to protect you from hurting, ever. So the thought of you hurting because of a decision we made just breaks my heart. But I know this is just the hormones talking and you are going to love having a sister, you already love holding our friends' babies and giving them tiny high fives (even though they're sleeping and don't know it's happening). And you are so sweet with your cousin Madeline, you love to lay down beside her belly and give her tiny kisses. We are so proud of the little man you are becoming and we pray for you constantly that you will continue to grow in the characteristics of the Lord. Love you to the moon and back, buddy.

With your best buddy and neighbor, Brooks

Meeting your cousin, Madeline!

Always playing basketball, even when you brush!

Third Trimester

Pregnancy Update

How far along?  36 weeks

Total weight gain: 27lbs
Maternity clothes? Even those are starting to get tight. And my trusty maternity tights are making my belly itch! I'm basically living in yoga pants and maxi dresses at this point
Sleep: Ugh, the worst part right now. Because of the way Haddie is laying, it KILLS my back to lay flat for more than about an hour. So I've had to move to the couch so I can sleep sitting up. It's relatively comfortable, but I really miss my bed!
Best moment this week: We've had a couple "Sprinkles" with friends and family the last couple of weeks that have been really sweet. Haddie's room is finally finished and all her clothes (and headbands, I bought way too many) are all just waiting for her to wear them!
Miss Anything? Everything. I don't remember being so over pregnancy at this point with Titus, ha! I miss sleeping well and not having to pee constantly and most importantly, I miss my baby boy being able to snuggle on my chest and not squish my belly.
Movement: A lot more rolling than kicking now. And a lot of movement in my ribs, that's been pretty uncomfortable.
Food cravings: Mexican food! Same thing with Titus: craved it the first few weeks, couldn't stand it for most of my pregnancy, craving it again my last few weeks. And still Nutty Bars, of course ;)
Anything making you queasy or sick: Dirty diapers make me feel a little nauseous. Or throwing out old food that can't be eaten, I've actually thrown out a couple things of tupperware leftovers because the thought of washing out the old food made me feel sick
Gender: Definitely a girl! We did a 3D ultrasound around 28 weeks and the tech said she is most assuredly a she :)
Labor Signs: So different this time around! With Titus I couldn't really tell if I was ever having Braxton-Hicks, I would only ever feel an occasional tightening. Then my water broke at 37 weeks and we were very surprised! This time around I've been feeling the tightening contractions since about 26/28 weeks and since about 33 I've been having some painful ones. I now average probably 3ish an hour and they make me feel short of breath and like I really have to pee. I'm kind of excited thinking about going into labor and counting contractions instead of just having my water break. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I just want to experience it both ways!
Symptoms: No heartburn this time around, thank goodness! Wonder if that means Haddie will be bald... Also not having to pee as often as I did with Titus, but that's because Haddie is transverse breach right now (sideways) so her head is not down yet to push on my bladder.
Belly Button in or out? Out
Wedding rings on or off? on-no major swelling yet
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly just tired. Which makes me moody, but not because of hormones necessarily
Looking forward to: Haddie flipping head down! We are praying that our sweet girl can turn down on her own. I'm currently doing some exercises at home and going to the chiropractor to try and get her to move head down. If she doesn't move by next week, we will have to do a special procedure where the doctor tries to turn her, and if none of these things work, we may end up having a c-section. But Garland frequently reminds me that the most important thing is that's she's born safe even if it's not the birth plan I imagined, and he is so right!

Here are some pictures from this trimester:

30 WEEKS

32 WEEKS

Left with Titus, right with Haddie

 33 WEEKS

 36 WEEKS