Dylan’s Photo Shoot

Dylan (as expected) was a little less cooperative than Sean was for his 3D photo shoot today. The good thing about it was that we were able to watch him longer (and I had to eat some Starburst candies to get him moving) while he thought about moving his hands and feet away from his face. He was really active and REALLY squashed in there.... pretty much kept his feet in his face the whole time! He's still head down and seemed to be in deep thought most of the time (probably concerned that we still have 7 weeks to go and there doesn't seem to be much room!).

  

Happy Easter!

John’s family came to visit for the long weekend to celebrate Easter and John’s birthday.  We had a great time with everyone and kept busy – boating, eating (lots), dying eggs….  It was awesome because Sean not only knew who everyone was the first day they arrived, but could say their names! Ok, well Aunt Michelle is ‘Chelle but close enough!  

It’s almost 5 pm as I’m writing this and Sean is still asleep from his 2:00 nap… I think it’s safe to say that he’s pooped from all of the festivities!!

Babies Everywhere

Jen and baby Grant came over last week and Grant spent most of the time laughing at Polly (he thought she was hilarious) and Sean (once he realized that running around and acting like a fool could make Grant laugh). And I’m not just talking about giggling, but Grant was doing full out belly laughs, it was awesome. He’s the most adorable little guy – almost exactly a year younger than Sean – and we have a feeling that the two of them are going to have loads of fun together.

Trip to VA and MD

My college roommate Elise (who is due in May) was on the east coast earlier this month and I just had to go up to Annapolis and see her! So Sean took his own trip up to Richmond for the weekend to hang out with his Grandma and Grandaddy.  It was the longest I’d been away from John and Sean but it was so wonderful to see Elise and of course, as I’ve already mentioned, Sean is much more resilient than I give him credit for He had a great time and so did I! We can’t wait to meet Elise and Jeff’s precious little baby girl Jordan and are just thrilled that “Jordan Ward” sounds like it was meant to be  

haha, just kidding….

Walk Tall

…. even if you fall, get up!

Sean has come so far since he took his first steps a few months back. He has a whole new world to explore

Officially Under Construction

We decided that we needed to move Sean into his big boy room as soon as we were ready so he could have a chance to settle in before baby comes.  We don’t want him confusing his room with the baby’s nursery.  I wanted to make the transition fun for him but also comfortable so we kept all of his furniture (crib included – he thankfully still likes being in there) and just moved it upstairs.  Let me tell you, I’ve agonized about this for months now - worrying that he would be scared upstairs, we wouldn’t hear him if he cried at night since our room is downstairs (the fact that we have monitors never seemed to occur to me), his sleep would be all messed up, he would keep trying to go to his old room…. you name it, I was awake at night worrying about it.  Now, one could argue that I was awake because I was getting up to go to the bathroom every 2 hours, but I digress. 

So we painted the room, got Sean some new bedding, toys, pictures, etc. and once everything arrived we decided to make the big move upstairs over a weekend.  I’m happy to report that not only does Sean seem to love his new room, but he didn’t skip a beat.  One thing he’s really taught me over the last year and a half is how resilient kids are, especially compared to their parents! Sean seems to take major changes in stride while I’m in the corner in tears biting my nails – ha!  Guess I can learn a thing or two from our little guy.

Another Trip Around the Sun

Pop Pop and GG came down to visit for my birthday which was awesome! They hung out with Sean while John took me to a fabulous dinner at The Melting Pot and to a comedy show. The next night we had a delicious steak dinner topped off with birthday cake (yellow cake with chocolate icing…. my fav) and balloons that Sean picked out.  It was wild having my first “birthday party” that my son enjoyed . 

Pop Pop and GG got to go to the library with Sean for story time and GG also got to go with Sean and Emmi to his weekly visit to The Little Gym.

Our Baby

Frogs on my Toes?

Sean’s Grandma and Grandaddy sent Sean some very cool new rain boots for Valentine’s Day. Of course John and I couldn’t wait to put them on him but Sean wasn’t so sure.  Here’s the progression of the first 10 minutes he had them on…..

A Plethora, a Cornucopia, a Mass Amount of an Update

I’m delinquent in posting so here are some updates from the last few weeks.  BTW, this blog title is a shout out to all my VT friends who took Chris Neck’s Management class

Our friends Chris and Emily came over for dinner and brought their daughter Julia who is just a few months younger than Sean.  It’s been fun to see them change over the past year and a half, and will also be fun to see how they both react to having little brothers over the next few months! Whoa.

Next, Sean’s Grandma and Grandaddy came down for a few days to visit. Sean got to take his Grandma to the library and show her where he hangs out during the week. He’s turning into one busy toddler these days!

Sean finally learned how to drink out of a straw (YIPPIE!) and has been trying to get all of his animals to do the same (thank you Great Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs for Sean’s Valentine doggie):

We also made our first trip to Chick-fil-A last week. I didn’t get any pictures but the look on Sean’s face when he saw the Cow walking around was priceless.  I was so worried that he’d take one look at the Cow, start crying hysterically, throw his food on the floor and we’d have to leave (not a good situation with a hungry pregnant mom) but much to my delight he L.O.V.E.D the Cow! He gave him high 5’s and followed him around the restaurant (along with the other 94 kids there).  Needless to say, I heart Chick-fil-A even more now and we will definitely be making more trips there in the future.

Finally, Baby Ward is busy as ever and seems to be doing just fine with his water aerobics during the day (and night, and mid-morning, and afternoon, and evening….).  He continues to give the nurses a hard time when they try to get his heartbeat because he’s usually moving around so fast.  We’re still working on his name but think we’re getting close!  “Construction” has commenced on Sean’s soon-to-be new room - we hope to move him upstairs over the next few weeks and get the nursery all setup for baby’s arrival.

Oh Brother!

As most of you know, John and I are expecting baby #2 in June. We found out last week that it’s a boy! Let me tell you, this little guy is a busy kid. I’ve been feeling him move around for about 3 weeks, much earlier than I felt Sean. And he’s up all.the.time.!! ::GASP:: We better get our sleep now. I think Sean is going to be a wonderful big brother and am looking forward to the two of them being good buddies. They’ll be almost exactly 2 years apart which should be fun (read –-->; exhausting). Here are his most recent pics:

Baby weighed in at 8 ounces so I guess that doesn’t get me off the hook for the few pounds I’ve gained already! Here is a comparison of me at 18 weeks with Sean and this little guy. Aside from the fact that I just appear a little more tired and rundown, they look a little different to me. We’ll see if that continues to be the trend as the journey continues.

Baby #2 at 18 weeks (left); Sean at 18 weeks (right)