I absolutely LOVED the photos our friend Cassie took at Thrasher’s birthday party and I wish I could post all of them (especially my favorites of him!) but I will just have to post some of the cute monster details! We had such a great time celebrating his birthday with all of our friends and family. . . and he had a blast!
Happy Birthday, sweet boy!
The past week brought many milestones in the Kelso house. I turned the big two five. Thrasher turned the big one. We celebrated with friends, family, and lots of little monsters. My friend Cassie is a photographer and was amazing enough to come take pictures of the whole thing. As soon as I get them, I’ll post some of the shots. He had a blast! He absolutely destroyed the monster cake I made him, and he went swimming for the first time and couldn’t get enough of it! He loves attention, so he loved having everyone there just for him. We had the party in a friend’s neighborhood clubhouse, which ended up being perfect, but made for one long day. It was all worth it to see him having fun though!
Oh, and something else pretty cool. . . we found out we are having a baby girl!!!!! We just had a sonogram yesterday and got the news! I asked the tech how sure she was, “50%?, 85%?” and she said 99%! The sweet little thing wasn’t shy about showing us her cute little butt and everything between the legs, although she was hiding her face from us! I guess that’s okay as long as I got the go ahead to start buying all things girl! When we first started thinking about having kids and I thought about a girl, I always said “she will never wear pink!” but something in me has changed and it’s all I see her in. I may even have to get my sewing machine back out of the closet and start making things again. . . girl prints are so much more fun! Needless to say, we are thrilled! Kevin is absolutely terrified but I think he’ll come around soon enough. In his words “she’s going to own me”.
Now on to the fun part of figuring out a name! I have a feeling this isn’t going to be very easy.
So the planner in me has kept me awake at night lately wondering what in the world I’ve gotten myself into. I know I’ve still got 22 weeks to figure things out and organize but I also know how quickly time can fly by. I was telling Kevin how I’m already anticipating meeting our little one and I’m slightly envious of my pregnant friends who are due any day now, and of course he stated the obvious, “but we’re not ready for the baby yet!” So true. It’s been one of the most challenging things for me to not be able to really plan. When we became foster parents we knew we would be getting a call for a baby in the age range of newborn – 2 years old, boy or girl. . . how do you plan for that?! You don’t. You get the basics and when you get the baby, you go out to the store and buy almost everything right away with the gift cards your amazing friends and family got you! That was not easy for me. So now I’m stuck with the same dilemma. We really have no idea if we’ll still have Thrasher when the baby is born. Chances are really high we will, but we don’t know.
So here are just some of the questions running through my mind on a daily basis that I wish I had answers to. . .
- Will we need to buy a double stroller?
- Will we need to buy another crib? Thrasher will only be 17 months old when the baby is born, definitely not time for a toddler bed yet.
- Will they share a room? Our 3rd bedroom is a office/music/sewing/storage room and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
- If they have to share a room, won’t the baby constantly be waking up Thrasher?
- How long can the baby sleep in our room in a bassinet? Will I get any sleep with the baby in our room?
- How in the world am I going to take care of a newborn and a 17 month old on my own during the day?
- Most people that have babies this close in age have recently gone through the pregnancy/birth/newborn stage and know what to expect. Not me. Why do I have to do everything backwards?
- Maybe I should rethink this whole stay at home mom thing?
The questions are endless. The funny thing is, before we had Thrasher I had so many questions that kept me up nights, and looking back I see what a waste that was. I’ve spent so much of my life stressing the small stuff when God has always worked it out for me.
I can be a slow learner, but I sure am thankful He hasn’t given up on me yet.
You’ve been with us exactly 6 months now. We’ve watched you sit up by yourself for the first time, master the art of crawling, and just recently take your first step. We’ve all dealt with many sleepless nights due to colds and other illnesses, countless loads of cloth diapers, poopy diapers exploding in the middle of restaurants, scrapes and bruises and bite marks have happened more than one could hope. Your open mouth kisses are the best and you’ll share them with anyone willing to let you.
We didn’t know what to expect bringing you into our quiet home. We didn’t really know the kind of love we’d feel after just a short 6 months of watching you grow and form into the little person you are now. Some days I wake up wishing you were born to us and we didn’t have to fight so hard to keep you, but I’m trying to remember this is going to make all of us stronger in the end. God has your whole life planned out already and I truly believe He’s holding you in the palm of His hand. You aren’t mine to protect, you are His. That gives me an amazing peace and I hope one day it gives you the same. We have absolutely no idea where you might be in 6 more months or 1 year from now, but we are enjoying every single day spent with you. I love you more than I ever imagined I could. You have made us a family and brought so much happiness to our lives.
You absolutely adore your “dada” and he adores you. He gives you a bath, sings you silly songs, reads to you, gives you your last bottle, brushes your cute little teeth, and says prayers with you every single night before bed. . . and I know how much you love that time with him. When I say “Dada’s home”, your eyes just light up and you start looking everywhere for him. It breaks my heart to think about you not always having him or even a male figure in your life, but I pray you always remember your Daddy up there who’s loving you so much more than we ever could. Just know right now while you are here with us, we are fighting so hard to make you ours forever.
We love you so much, little monster.
- Mama
This kid has gotten to be SO much fun! He is 11 months old today! That is absolutely crazy to me. Looking back through pictures when we first got him at 5 months old, he looks like a totally different kid. He is still crawling all over the place and has gotten super fast. He stands on his own all the time and just looks around and then plops down on his butt. He’s taken 1 or 2 steps on his own, but I think he just hasn’t gotten up enough guts yet to really go for it. I definitely think in the next month he will just take off. I don’t want to rush anything but after toting around 24lbs of goodness all of the time, I am ready to have a walking baby!
Just a couple of days ago, he started shaking his head no. It’s the first thing I’ve noticed that he’s really mimicked from us and I can’t help but laugh every time. Which of course means he is doing it all of the time now! He babbles constantly but hasn’t formed any words yet except mama. He is all smiles and laughs at home but when we’re out and people try go get him to smile, it’s almost impossible. He loves people and loves being out but he seems to have such a serious demeanor a lot of the time. I think he’s just taking it all in. Just recently, he’s also started screaming at the top of his lungs! Not when he’s upset though, just when he’s playing or doing whatever. I’m assuming he’s just discovering what all he can do with his voice. He hasn’t really done it much out in public so I’m more than okay with it. . . but it is LOUD! He has 4 teeth on the top and is working on his 3rd and 4th on the bottom right now. His smile with all of those teeth is the best. I miss his 2 little bottom teeth he had forever, but he’s still just as cute. He’s really starting to get taller and lose more of the baby fat. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still got plenty of that sweet baby chub but it’s starting to dwindle fast.
He’s gotten to where he pretty much will eat whatever we eat. Which in return has forced us to really try to eat better! On occasion we’ll be having chicken nachos for dinner or I’ll be eating a bag of chips and he’ll look at me and whine for me to give him some but I’m just not ready for that. I figure we have control of what he eats for a big chunk of his life and I want him to only eat the healthiest stuff. We’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and it’s really made me think about the health of our kids. I want my kids to have the same fresh stuff we’re eating, not just stick a preservative filled lunchable in front of them and call it a meal. The poor kid hasn’t even had any juice yet, only water. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with juice every once in a while. . . I just figure he doesn’t know any better right now so we might as well stick with water! He loves drinking out of his sippy cup though. It took him a little while to catch on, but he now knows how to throw it back and drink all by himself. Little accomplishments like that make me realize how smart he really is and how I need to give him more opportunities to learn on his own. I think sometimes I still think of him as a sweet little 5 month old who can’t even sit up yet.
We took him to the beach for the first time this past weekend. I was hoping for sun so I could work on a tan but the clouds decided to cover the sun all day. It was still a really nice day. Thrasher LOVED the sand and water. He thought the sand was a snack and would try to put handfuls of it in his mouth. He was crawling around everywhere and had absolutely no fear of crawling right into the shore. The water was freezing but Kevin took him in it a little bit and he didn’t seem to mind. It started to become nap time though and with sand covered hands, he started rubbing his eyes. I tried rinsing them with the only water available (the salt water) which just made things worse. The nice beach trip quickly turned into “Okay, we got to go NOW!”. We made the walk back and rinsed him off in the freezing cold shower which was miserable and got him changed and all was well for the ride home. We’re spending a whole week at the beach in June with some friends so I started to have fears about what the trip will be like. Luckily the condo where we’re staying is directly on the beach, so we’ll be able to quickly take him back to the room for naps and baths.
Speaking of naps, I’ve got to brag on him a little. The past month or two he has been a champ at sleeping! He’s been sleeping through the night for a while now, but occasionally has off nights or weeks but for the past month he has slept all night. He’s still waking up around 6am for a bottle, but Kevin gets up and gives him one and he’s usually back to sleep for another 2 hours. We’re hoping to break him of that soon though. He rarely ever even whines when I put him down for naps and falls right asleep for about 2 hours. I’m not sure when we’re supposed to go down to 1 nap but I definitely don’t think it’ll be anytime soon. The kid has been loving his sleep and I’m so thankful. It’s helped me get some much needed rest and get a lot more done around the house.
I almost forgot I have a blog. Can you tell? I can’t use the excuse that I haven’t had time to write, but I will use the excuse that I just haven’t cared to write! Since finding out I was pregnant at the end of January, I’ve been sick to my stomach ALL day, every day. I think I was just finally learning how to deal with the nausea when it decided to leave. Last week I ended up catching a stomach bug from Thrasher (he had a very mild case of it), which only lasted about a day but it was definitely one of the longest days of my life. I can’t remember the last time I was THAT sick. Kevin stayed home to take care of us and ended up catching it as well. My parents were a huge help with the baby while we recovered and I’m just so thankful that it’s all over and everyone is healthy. Tomorrow marks 15 weeks in my pregnancy, and I’m definitely starting to feel a difference. Much less nausea, more energy, and a belly that’s already wanting to stick out despite losing 5lbs! We had a doctor’s appointment this morning and got to hear the heart beat and the baby moving, which is something that just blows me away. I know I’m pregnant. I’m doing everything that a pregnant person is supposed to do, but I think it’s not until the times I see the baby on that screen or hear it’s precious heart beating inside of my stomach that I really realize what’s happening. I can’t wait to feel the baby move, so I can be reminded on a daily basis what a miracle this little life is.
We had so much fun with Thrasher on Easter! I love celebrating all of these “firsts” with him. The day before Easter we went over to a friend’s house and had an Easter egg hunt where Kevin helped T gather some eggs into his basket. He mainly just wanted to eat the plastic eggs, like everything else he comes in contact with, but it was cute none the less. He’s almost 11 months old now and has really been a lot of fun! He babbles all of the time and has recently started saying mama! I’ve tried getting it on video but it’s pretty random when it happens so I doubt I’ll have video proof for a while. I’m also really enjoying the warmer weather right now. I know I won’t be saying that in a couple more months when I’m big as a house, but for now it’s been nice. This weekend we’re thinking about taking Thrasher to the beach for the first time, and tomorrow we’re going on a play date with some friends to the water at Barnett Park in downtown. There seem to be a lot more options of things to do with a 1 year old during the summer time and I am really looking forward to it!
It’s Friday and I never thought I would be so excited about that. Doing hair for quite a few years meant Saturday was my Friday since I always had off Sunday and Monday, then working an office job I got to experience why everyone was always so excited about it being Friday. Well, now that I’m staying home with Thrasher and babysitting a 3 month old full time during the week, Friday just can’t come quick enough. I’m still figuring out this whole stay at home thing. With Thrasher, we’ve always been on the go. He loves being out and so do I. Running errands, going to the park, or spending time with friends, we have usually been able to fill up our days. Well since I’ve been pregnant and extremely sick, I’ve had little to no energy to venture out as much anymore. Throw another baby into that mix, and well, let’s just say we’ve been stuck in the house a lot the last 2 weeks. I agreed to watching Mia months ago before we even had Thrasher and definitely before I knew I was going to get pregnant. Mia’s mom, my friend Katie, is a teacher so I will only have her until the summer. I’m so thankful she’s a laid back sweet little thing. . . it makes everything much easier and I really do enjoy having her around. We have dinner with Kevin’s parents tonight, lots of errands to run tomorrow – since I can’t do them throughout the week anymore, a shopping trip planned with a girlfriend, nursery duties at church on Sunday, and a possible trip to the Strawberry Festival with friends on Sunday. That sounds like a great weekend, so as long this baby in utero complies. . . I think it will be!
Speaking of that little one inside me, I will be 10 weeks along tomorrow! We have our first “real” appointment – not just an ultrasound – next week and I’m so excited! I’ve managed to lose 5lbs from being sick but at only 10 weeks along my stomach is already feeling huge. My pants are snug and everything I wear makes me look chubby, not pregnant! Hopefully that starts to transform soon enough.
I hear a little whine coming from the other room. . . guess nap time is over. If I can just manage to finish this load of laundry and keep the kitchen cleaned up today, I’ll be a happy girl!
Friday was the day we got to hear and see the little heartbeat. It was absolutely the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. There are no words to really describe it. This baby is our miracle baby and every day I am falling more and more in love. The nurse at the pregnancy center who was amazing enough to do this ultrasound for us told me to come back in at 12 weeks so she could do another one and we could see the little one bigger and more active. I. Can’t. Wait. I’m 7 weeks today – apparently I was a couple days off and the baby’s due date is 10-10-10. How cool would that be? I’ve read only 5% of women deliver on their actual due date, so the chances are pretty slim – but neat none the less.
The baby’s heart was beating away at a perfect 143 beats per minute. 143, I Love You. That still makes me smile. It was such a relief to see our little blob and also to see there was only one in there. Not that we have twins run in the family or anything, but it’s definitely something that had crossed my mind. Along with that, I had the horrible thought there just wasn’t going to be a baby and I was dreaming it all up! Waiting 1.5 years for something like this makes you come up with some crazy stuff!
Saturday we were planning to hang out with Kevin’s family from Tennessee that’s in town but I ended up being stuck in bed all day with some horrible nausea and a terrible migraine. Kevin has been such an amazing husband and daddy through all of this. He has completely stepped up his game and taken care of us in every way possible. Going to the store for the smallest things, taking care of Thrasher while he’s teething something horrible, listening to me whine and complain all while telling me how worth it this is going to be. I have seriously fallen even more in love with him. . . I can only imagine what he will be like once the little one is here! Today I woke up better but still not feeling great so we decided to skip out on church and relax. We slept in until 9am which was amazing! I think we all needed the extra rest after our day yesterday. This evening we finally made it out of the house to run a couple of errands and have dinner with his family before they headed back home tomorrow. I’m so glad we got to see them all, especially since we have no idea when it might happen again!
This week the little peek achoo’s eyes, nose, and ears are starting to form. Inside of me. It’s the most amazing thing to think about. As sick as I’ve been feeling, I couldn’t be more thankful for all of it. I would probably be a nervous wreck if I didn’t have every symptom in the book, so I’m trying my hardest to suck it up and not complain too much. Some days I don’t do a very good job though. Next week we have our first ultrasound and it just won’t come quick enough! The nurse at the pregnancy center I used to volunteer for agreed to do a ultrasound for us at 7 weeks! Our first prenatal appointment isn’t until almost 11 weeks so I couldn’t be anymore thankful for the early ultrasound. I can’t wait to see a little heartbeat flicker.
My emotions have been slightly out of whack lately. I’m normally fairly quiet and keep to myself, sometimes afraid of saying the wrong thing…that I might sound stupid or possibly offend someone. Well lately. . . I just don’t seem to care as much. Sometimes it’s a good thing and other times it hasn’t been so good.
On Tuesday we went to check out a local birth center. I have a couple of friends that have given birth there or used their midwives for home births and all of them have had amazing things to say. It’s been around forever, so I wasn’t sure how comfortable I would feel there. We decided to go tour the place and see if it’s something we’d be interested in and I absolutely loved it! I felt so comfortable there. We told them we’d think about it and call to set up our first appointment when we decided. We got in the car and said “Sooo, what did you think?” and we both agreed it just felt right! We’re very excited to have made this decision and we’re just praying for a healthy pregnancy that makes it possible to give birth there. The decisions have already begun. . . fun!
January 31, 2010
I’m pregnant!!!! Wow. We’re still in complete shock. This is so planned, yet still so unexpected.
This morning as I was getting ready bright and early to fulfill my nursery duties at church, I felt a little sick to my stomach. I thought maybe I was just hungry, but also remembered I was about a day late on getting my period. I figured I might as well give it a shot. If you know me and know the journey we’ve been on with trying to get pregnant, you know I had slightly given up. I mean, we were definitely still “trying” in every sense of the word – is that too graphic? – but I had stopped all the ovulation tests, stopped taking my temperature, and overall just stopped caring about trying to time things out perfectly. I stopped getting excited over late periods and stopped taking pregnancy tests early. The disappointment was getting to be a lot and this was just easier.
But this morning felt different. Kevin was in bed not feeling well and Thrasher was still sleeping, so I took the test and just stared at it preparing myself for the first letdown of the new year. Within just a couple of seconds, I saw a second line. Of all the pregnancy tests I’ve taken, I’ve never even seen the fainest second line. I was in shock. I read the directions one more time just to be sure that’s what a positive meant, opened the bathroom door and went running into the bedroom. . . screaming, “I think we’re pregnant!!” After a bit of crying and “are you sure?! are you sure?!” I had to get ready to leave. I had one more pregnancy test I wanted to take to be sure but I was all out of pee by then, so I had to head to church knowing this big news and not being able to tell a soul. A friend I was working with in the nursery even told me about her dream recently that I was pregnant and she said she knew it was going to happen really soon. I just smiled and nodded, “uh huh!”. After church I headed home to take the second pregnancy test and once again, I quickly got a positive! We went to lunch with some friends, and had to keep this huge secret inside. I think we both had a perma grin the entire time. I quickly called my momma to tell her and her reaction was completely priceless. She must have screamed for at least a whole minute or two. I loved it. We also told Kevin’s parents today as well, and they were absolutely thrilled! We are so excited for this baby AND about the possibility of adopting Thrasher one day. I prayed for a baby and now. . . well, let’s just say God works in the craziest ways! 2 in one year. Now comes the fun of figuring out how in the world I will take care of 2 babies under 2!
It’s all about God’s timing and not mine. It took me a long time to figure that out but I’m glad I finally did.
February 1, 2010
I called my OB/GYN to set up my first appointment today. It’s set for March 11 and I’ll be almost 10 weeks along by then. 10 weeks pregnant!!!!
Is this real? Still doesn’t feel like it!
February 2, 2010
I took another pregnancy test just to be sure. Still positive!! Definitely feeling it today too. I’ve been very nauseous and I keep trying to eat to make it go away but it’s not working. We are already so in love with this little poppy seed inside my belly. The first thing Kevin does in the morning is ask how his babies are and gives them kisses. (All 3 of us now!) He kisses my belly that looks the exact same as it always has – except slightly more bloated. It is the sweetest thing in the world to me.
February 3, 2010
We are 5 weeks today and the baby is the size of a sesame seed – or head lice – I’m not sure which one is better to think about. We have 5 weeks left to go until we get to see our little one and hear it’s heartbeat! I’m so excited. Today I went grocery shopping and couldn’t believe how strong everything smelled! Before I even got into the store, I could smell everything in the entire bakery like it was sitting on my lap. Let’s just say, that made it super hard to only get the healthy stuff!
February 4, 2010
We’ve decided to tell everyone our exciting news sooner than planned. After lots of reading about what’s going on inside of me right now, I’ve realized more and more how this is already a baby. I know a lot of people think at this point it’s just a clump of cells and isn’t really a baby yet, but I don’t believe that. I believe this is a baby that God has already planned and formed and no matter what happens. . . this precious life matters. I feel like hiding that from people is saying we think it’s not of enough importance to share. I know the reasons people don’t tell, those are the exact reasons I’ve had for wanting to wait. I don’t know if I would want to privately deal with the loss of a child, or if I would need the support of all my friends and family to get me through. . . but I think it would make me feel even worse knowing that only a few got to share in this precious babies life.
