Announcing Baby #2!

Guess who is going to be a BIG SISTER!?

It was nearly a month ago that we publicly announced the exciting Baby #TWO news to our family and friends. If you're reading my blog, then chances are you already know because you also stalk my facebook profile! ;) What most of you don't know is the story behind this "surprise" pregnancy.

It's no secret that John David and I have always said we would like to have four kids. I've had baby fever since Khloe was around 8 or 9 months. It's never been the thought of a second baby that put a second pregnancy on hold, it was just the fear of pregnancy again. It took alot of prayers and some convincing, but in March John David agreed to start "trying" again. We figured we would have a new addition sometime around March or April of next year.

Three weeks later, I packed up and headed to the backwoods of Louisiana ;) to visit with my BFF, Tabatha. The ladies at her church were hosting a baby shower for her sweet baby boy and I was so excited to be able to attend. After a five hour drive, a trip to the mall and Slinkies (a big fun inflatable place for kids) I was EXHAUSTED. She was 36 weeks pregnant and I was convinced I was more tired than her. We both went to bed at 9pm. HA! Old fogies!

The next day, we got up bright and early and started getting ready for her baby shower. {I should have taken a pic of the ADORABLE handmade gifts I made her. I made a nursing cover, fabric covered wipes case, diaper holder, and matching burp cloths.} It was nearly time to leave and I suddenly got the worst migraine. Within minutes, nausea hit. Later that night, on the way to dinner, I got extremely car sick. "Tab, I haven't been car sick since I was 12 years old......... there's no way I would be having pregnancy symptoms this early, right??" We both laughed... but I knew it had only been three weeks.. That's just silly.

A week later, I was home cleaning and the migraine returned. Since being pregnant with Khloe, it's not uncommon for me to get multiple migraines a month, but after a couple days of having some weird symptoms, I decided mid-day to just get up and go take a pregnancy test..... minutes later... BAM.

My first reaction? Well, it had been awhile since I had taken a test and for the life of me I could NOT remember what a double line was. I frantically dug through the cabinet searching for the box. I tore open the box, flipped through the instructions, and found the double line. Time stopped. Just like in the movies, I was moving in slow motion. "Oh...........................my...............GOSH!" Khloe was standing in the bathroom with me (because she follows me around the house 24/7) and that's when the truth of the test hit me... "Khloe... I guess you are going to be a BIG SISTER!!" Right then and there, I texted the picture to John David. No caption... Just the picture. A minute and a half later, he called. "Ummm...." "Yeah, that double line means positive.." I said. There was a moment of silence, and we then both started laughing.

Remember my first post announcing we were pregnant with baby K? (Click the link to read more). It took us six long months, more pregnancy tests than I could count, and buckets full of tears to finally conceive. You can't even imagine the disbelief  and excitement when I realized it only took ONE time (TMI sorry!), and ONE test for baby #2.

I bet you are wondering why I just texted him the picture and didn't do some fun presentation. Well, #1 I was dying. There was NO way I could hold it all day without telling him. #2 The second John David knows I am going to take a test, I'm pretty sure his heart stops. He doesn't catch a breath until he knows the results.  I knew he was about to start operating, so I thought I'd spare him the heart attack by saying "I just took a pregnancy test". I wanted his reaction to be as stunned as I was.

We wanted the announcement to be fun for our family, so I ordered a special "Big sister" shirt and we let Khloe walk around until they finally caught on. Here's two of the reactions we caught on tape: Click the image to watch.

First up: John David's parents. We had just arrived in Gatlinburg, TN for a family vacation with my sister and brother-in-law. We had to edit the over 10 minute video and doesn't seem to be the best quality, but it's still fun!

 

Next is my baby sister, Kelli. Her reaction was the best of ANY!

 

(I was extremely sick when we announced it to my family, hence the laying on the couch)

A few days later, we made it Facebook official with a status update of, "Guess what Khloe is getting for Christmas?!!!!" with this pic attached:

 

Our official due date is December 28, 2012. Due to the previous HELLP syndrome I developed with Khloe, I will have to have a second cesarean, and we doubt my doctor will risk waiting until my due date to deliver since the chance highly increases for developing it again.  We expect to have baby #2 sometime between December 10-20. 

It has been so much fun announcing our second pregnancy, and are so thankful for everyone's loving reactions. Most of all, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU for all your support, and willingness to go out of your way to help me during this crazy time in my life. You are all so amazing and I thank Jesus everyday for my amazing friends and family. 

Stay tuned. I'm positive there will be many updates to follow on Baby NUMBER TWO!! :)

Family Vaca

John David had some free vacation time coming up, so we decided we were overdue for a trip to the mountains. We were so excited when John David's parents and Rebecca and her family were all able to take off work at the same time to join us. Jd's Ortho conference in Destin, FL finished up and we headed North. 

John David and I arrived first and then his parents. We had a top secret that we were dying to tell, but Rebecca made us wait until they arrived to share the news. An hour later we finally spilled the beans that we were almost 7 weeks pregnant. (See my previous post to see how we did it!) 

We had an amazing three bedroom condo at the Westgate Resort which features an indoor waterpark. If you are ever planning a trip to Gatlinburg, I would definitely recommend you check out this place!!

I got the waterpark picture off their website just so you could see how fun it is. This is only one side of the waterpark: the kiddie area. 

 

Khloe had an absolute BLAST!

1...2...3.. GO! 

 The look of pure joy! :) 

Later that day we headed into town but got caught in a nasty thunderstorm. We caught a trolley and stopped by Ripley's Aquarium.

Poppey (as she calls him) is kind of Khloe's favorite. :) 

Becca, Daniel and Grayson 

 

John David and I have a lot for aquariums so we try to go whenever we find a new one. We had both visited when we were younger but didn't remember a whole lot about it. While this wasn't the biggest or the best we've ever been to, it still was very well put together and super nice. I wasn't able to get very many great pictures because morning sickness hit and I spent most of  my time running back and forth to the restroom :(

I happened to catch the diver feeding the fish. 

Khloe was a little nervous of the shark tank that you walked through. 

Sweet Gman.

 Because Nana is SO cool!!!

The penguins were expecting too!!

Later in the week we went to The Dixie Stampede since I had never been. I'm extremely allergic to horses, but just couldn't pass it up since everyone else wanted to go. I took 2 (yes TWO) antihistamines before we even walked in the door.

 

Khloe and Grayson couldn't take their eyes off the horses and all that was going on. We were nervous how they would act, but I don't think either made a peep during the entire show :) 

  

The show was awesome, and though I did have some sneezes it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We spent most of the week indoors at the cabin because of the weather and I was extremely sick half of the time but we still had a wonderful time and it was great to be with our family for a few days and enjoy each other's company.

Before leaving the city, we stopped by Walmart and Jd bought me a trashcan for the trip (for the sickness), because both our babies need their own can. I plan to monogram both and keep forever. Every time they give me problems I will have them bring me their garbage can and I will remind them what I went through to bring them into this world! LOL!!!!!

We stopped by my family's in Olive Branch on the way home and made the big announcement that we were expecting baby #2! :)

My 18 month old Khloe

I haven't updated Khloe's progress for almost 6 months now and it makes me sad! Naps used to be longer and her play time didn't consist of getting into every single thing in this house she knows she shouldn't. :)

Somebody out smarted Mommy & Daddy by crawling UNDER the gate. Ahhhh!

 First time play-doh experience! 

I've pulled out the dress up clothes a few times, and she has a blast with all the accessories!

I tell everyone that I love this age/stage. The first year of your first sweet newborn baby's life is spent worrying over every little runny nose and desperately clutching their hand so that they don't fall. These past few months have just been so fun watching her come down the curly slide all by herself, letting her run as fast as she can until she falls (and then kissing all the boo-boos), and finally letting her explore the big kids playground by herself (but keeping a very watchful eye and guiding hand as she needs it).

Such a big helper! She LOVES unloading the "Hoott hott" laundry and then helping mommy put it away! :)

Some of the basics:

• Weighs about 23-24 pounds. 
• Size 4 diapers, 18 month clothes, Size 5 1/2 - 6 shoes.
• Sleeps 12-14 hours a night, without waking. 
• Has 9 teeth, four JUST broke through in the past two weeks. 
• Eats anything but ground beef (HATES it) and cantaloupe (which gives a very bad diaper rash?). Drinks 2-3 cups of milk per day.
• Loves her Dee-dee (Bella). Poor dog spends most days under my bed hiding from K lol.

 Still very much loves the bath! :)

Here are some of the words she's saying these days...

• Mommy
• Dada (which Jd is very jealous she won't say Daddy)
• Cookie (aka ANY type of food)
• Nana (Banana)
• Nana (Grandma), Gigi (Great Grandma), Poppa (Great Grandpa), KK (Auntie Kelli), Tootoo (Auntie Tooty)
• Bebe (Bella)
• Side (Outside) 
• Wawa (Water) 
• Sinnnng (Swing, which is her FAV!!)
• Night-Night
• Bankie (Blanket)
• Baby (LOVES her baby dolls!!)
• Poo poo, pee pee & Diaa (Diaper)
• Counts to three: Waan, Duuu, Dweee!
• Shew (Shoe)
• Barrr (Barney..... oh how she loves Barney! I can't quit singing the songs too!)
• Eye-Bibe (High five)
• Duga-Duga-Duga (tickle-tickle-tickle!)
• SDOP! (Stop!) 
• She knows all body parts and can point to them individually. Daddy recently taught her where her Boobies are... I'm pretty sure he is going to regret that one! She runs around and pulls up her shirt and says BOOOOOBIES!!!! As loud as she can! LOL!
• Oh, and we can't forget NO-NO!!
• Dog
• Car
• Buuurd (Bird)
• Haaat (Hat)
• Ball
• Light

 

Sometimes all that play time leads to an early nap!

If you know me and know about my secret baby blanket, you understand why Khloe holding onto to HER fav blanket for dear life is so funny. This thing goes EVERYWHERE with us!!! Ahhhhh!

I know I am forgetting more words and things she does, because this kid does NOT stop talking or doing! She's forming more sentences every day, they usually don't make much sense but when you ask her to repeat it, it sometimes sounds exactly what she said before!

We are loving summer already. Our fav playdate is at the fountains, and then at home she's loving our new flower spinning sprinkler! And what would a Mobile baby be if she didn't love the beach!!? :)

As sad as it makes me, my tiny little preemie baby is a full blown, bossy toddler now. And every time people tell me to cherish this time because it passes so quickly it silently breaks my heart because I know how much it's true.

Please stop growing sweet girl. I'm not ready for you to NOT fit in my arms anymore.

I love you Khloe, and no matter how old you get, you will always be mommy's baby girl! :) xoxo.

Easter 2012

We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus in Batesville with John David's family. The entire family gathered together at Grandma's house and had a wonderful family dinner followed by an egg hunt on the front lawn.

 

The Tullos Grandkids

(L to R: Elisabeth, Joselyn, Khloe & Grayson) 

Khloe loved collecting the eggs, placing in her basket, dumping them out and starting over. :) 

Daddy had to get in on the egg hunting after he learned there was a "special egg" that had $20 inside. 

(I think Elisabeth or Joselyn was the lucky winner of that one)

 

We took a break from egg hunting to play and Elisabeth was the victim of a mean tickle game.

Grayson decided Khloe needed to be tickled too!

We had just found out I was pregnant a couple months before Easter, so we asked Rebecca (my sister-in-law) to snap a few family pictures to remember when it was just the three of us! :)

My little doll.

 "Look see that bird? Bird up in the sky!"

This was Khloe's favorite saying for months!

 "Family. Where life begins and love never ends." 

A few snap shots later, Khloe was over it and ready for a nap!

 

We spent Easter morning at John David's hometown church worshiping with his parents. Such a beautiful weekend that we will forever cherish!

Christmas 2011

I just realized I forgot to post any Christmas pics, so this blog is going to be mostly for memory's sake.

I set up a little mini photo shoot around our Christmas tree to get some cute pics for our Christmas cards.

Our family Christmas tree. 

Last year Khloe was a teeny tiny two month old. This year at 14 months old, she had a BLAST with the Holidays. She would barely be done opening one box before moving on to the next. Christmas takes on a whole new meaning when you have your own babies. We had a nice family dinner and then sat down to watch Miss Khloe make a HUGE mess of wrappers and bows in our living room. Here's a few pics:

 

 

She is very much into all things girly. She always has a baby doll on her hip and a purse on her shoulder. I think one of her favorite gifts was a little purse full of baby bottles and cups. She carried it around for the rest of the night. : ) 

 We left Mobile and headed to Nana's house. Mom bought her a tent and she was very reluctant to get in until her Daddy showed her just how to do it. I LOVE Mom's reaction. Too cute.

Next up, Gigi's house. Khloe and Lauren love each other. Kloko (as Lauren calls her) loves crawling all over LaLa! :)

Love my sweet sweet family!

 Silly girl. Everything has to go on top of her head!

Let's see how many pictures it takes to get a descent family pic:

Sadly, I didn't get any good pics from Nana T's house. Everyone's schedule was very different this year so the kiddos were ready for naps by the time we opened gifts. And as all you Momma's know, pictures during the crash of nap times never turn out pretty! We did have a wonderful time there though. Didn't want anyone to feel left out!

These are just a few of the 300+ pictures we took during the holidays. The saying really is true, "It IS the most wonderful time of the year." I can't think of anything better than family, food, and fellowship with the ones you love the most!