Countdown is On!!!

     It's that time...T-minus and twelve days our newest little one will be making his/her arrival into our family. As long as baby doesn't change the plans by coming early, we are scheduled for delivery on Wednesday, May 14th. I am a little excited to be done with this pregnancy and looking forward to having another infant in the house. There was nothing bad about it, but it seems like it has lasted more than nine months. Different people have asked what we needed for this baby, here is a link to our registry with some small needs/wants: http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index.jsp?_flowExecutionKey=_c3CA143D5-3001-212A-10AD-9D242DD990EC_k6E3B2A02-784E-B343-19FD-9D7B2413B310&overrideStore=TRUS.
     The excitement is building in our home as this baby will break the tie with the number of males and females in our family. The boys are rooting hard for another male, but I am just not sure they are going to win this battle. Either way, we are just blessed to be welcoming another healthy blessing into our family. Please pray for us as the delivery date approaches and we learn to adjust to our newest family member.

Monkeys, Butterflies & a Two-year old

     Our little girl turned two this month and she has Jeremiah to thank for all the party planning. He chose a monkey theme for the decorations and a butterfly cake for the dessert. Before having kids, I would have let this mismatched party bother me, but with two kids and another arriving soon....I've learned not to sweat the small stuff. He had a great time picking everything out, decorating while she was napping to surprise her and celebrating his sister's 2nd birthday. The birthday girl loved everything about her party, but I would have to say the cake was her favorite part.
     Susannah is doing very well and received a good report at her two-year-old checkup. She's 27.75 inches tall and weighs 23 pounds. It is amazing the growth that she has made in the last year. This time last year, we had specialists wanting to put in a feeding tube and now our pediatrician jokes those same specialists would want to put her on a diet. We feel so blessed that the Lord showed us the answers to her weight gain issues and we were able to avoid unnecessary procedures. She still wears her bi-pap mask like a champ and it helps her get a good nights rest.
     She started walking a couple months ago and has pretty much mastered the skill. She has two therapists that come to the house for developmental and speech therapy. In developmental therapy, she is working on balancing, kicking a ball, throwing/catching a ball and running. She is mainly behind in gross motor skills and has mastered most of her fine motor skills for her age. In speech therapy, she's still working on building a vocabulary, beginning sounds of words, and producing these words/sounds on command. She has picked up signing words like a pro, but now we're trying to get her to produce sounds/words with the sign. It will just take time to figure out whether she has a true speech/hearing issue or just a stubborn two-year old that refuses to use her words.
     I'll leave you with some pictures from our celebration. Happy birthday, Susannah!!

Five, Twenty-Three & Twenty-Seven

     This has been one rough winter and I am ready to see some signs of Spring. We've had multiple snows, a week of temperatures below freezing and too much time indoors. We'll be making a trip to MS in a couple of days and I am looking forward to some warmer temperatures. However, this winter has made me appreciate having a nice warm house where we have a roof over our heads and can afford to keep it warm. You would think with all the time indoors that my blog would not have been neglected. It just hasn't been a priority lately.
     We now have a five-year-old living in our home. Jeremiah had a birthday in August and has grown so much since his fourth birthday. He is a big helper around the house, enjoys playing with his trains, adores his little sister and is praying hard for a little brother. As with all five-year-olds, he's very inquisitive and the questions are endless at times. We do school activities with him from time to time, but have not started an official home school program with him yet. He does well memorizing his Bible verses, starting to show an interest in coloring/writing/drawing and has a love for books.
     It is so hard to believe that Susannah is twenty-three months and will be turning two next month. There are times that it seems like time with her has flown by and other times when it seems like it is creeping by very slowly. God blessed us with a sweet little girl that has taught us so many lessons on parenting. Miss Independent has mastered walking and is cruising all over the house. Our only concern is her speech/vocabulary, but I feel that will develop with time and patience. She finally decided to show me a little love and started saying Momma at twenty-two months.
     Well, I've been carrying around baby Adam #3 for twenty-seven weeks now. Jeremiah is so excited about having a new sibling as long as God blesses us with another boy. He says he'll take a girl, but we'll have to have a boy the next time. Susannah is pretty oblivious to the fact her world will change in May, but she loves other babies and playing with her dolls. Robert and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to bring another child into this world. We know it will bring about many changes, but look forward to meeting our new blessing.
     I think I've caught you up on our lives, so I'll leave you with a few pictures.



 Pumpkin face

Trip to the dairy farm

Jeremiah the cowboy

Happy girl

Snow day

Bell Ringing with daddy

Loving her baby doll

    

Miss Susannah - 15 months

Susannah turned 15 months on June 20th, only a day late updating this time, so I felt the need to update you on her progress. Also, a blog update would not be appropriate without pictures for you to oooooh and ahhhhh over.

Watching brother at swim lessons

We're about to make a quick trip to MS and back for a Moak family vacation, so she won't have her official 15 month checkup to be able to update growth until we return. However, she is currently dealing with a stubborn sinus infection and had to make a visit to the pediatrician. We were surprised to find out that she now weighs a whopping 14.2 lbs. Yeah, I realize that is not much for your average 15 month old, but that is the largest weight gain she's had between visits. We were very blessed to find such a simple solution to her weight gain issue. She is a champ at wearing that cpap machine at night with very little fussing.

15 month snapshot



Things I am doing at fifteen months:

• She is a good sleeper, tolerates the cpap well, and likes to sleep in to eight or nine in the morning.
• She has progressed well with mobility in the past three months. She travels all over the house by rolling or doing an army crawl.
• Still has two teeth on top and three on bottom, but I can see where more are trying to come in on the top.
• Susannah is starting to skip the morning nap and usually takes a short nap in the afternoon.
• The personality is really starting to shine through....she is such a sweet, kind, happy baby. But, can turn a switch so quickly to cry for long periods.
• She has a small vocabulary which consists of saying dada and using those same sounds for good night, bye and anything else she is trying to communicate. Jeremiah's vocabulary was very small until he was two and then the words just started flowing out of him. We'll continue to work with her, but not worried at this point.
• It won't be long until we have a little girl sitting up independently. She does really well balancing while playing in the floor with a toy, but usually falls over while trying to reach for another toy.
• We are currently switching all her clothes from 0-3 months to 3-6 months. She will probably still be in 0-3 month pants in the winter. She's still in a size 2 diaper and size 0 shoe.
• Susannah loves to imitate things that she sees her brother or us do....she is getting good at giving high fives.

  

  Two of the greatest blessings from the Lord

Happy 1st Birthday, Susannah!!

Yeah, I know....she turned one on March 20, we had the party in Feb. while in Mississippi, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.

 She had a great time at her party and loved eating that cupcake. I appreciate my parents letting me use their house and all of Susannah's aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-aunts/uncles, cousins and friends for attending and celebrating that special day with us.

She received a good report at her twelve month visit. The cpap machine is helping her sleep better at night, allowing her body to rest well and has helped her gain some weight. At twelve months old, she weighed 12lbs 8.5ounces and was 23 3/4inches long.

Things I am doing at twelve months:

• She is a great sleeper in her bed, but not in the car or at church. She likes to sleep late in the morning.
• Susannah loves playing on the floor, rolling around and starting to crawl wherever she wants to go.
• Teething has not bothered her at all....she has two teeth on top and three on bottom.
• She takes a short morning nap and a longer afternoon nap.
• Susannah is a very nosey girl and loves to people watch.
• She has started forming some words, but mainly just dada.
• Sitting up has been a challenge, but she is getting stronger each day and is determined to master it.
• Eating is a favorite activity now....she will drop everything she is doing when she hears a wrapper being opened or sees someone getting a snack.
• At twelve months, this stubborn girl had weaned herself from nursing, but wouldn't take a cup either. She held out for about two months, but is now drinking out of a cup.
• She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but they are getting a little snug. She is in a size two diaper.
• Personality has developed and these are a few words to describe Miss Susannah....strong willed, determined, contagious smile, and sweet spirit.
• She loves her big brother and thinks he hung the moon.

100th post & 10 months w/Susannah

Can't believe this is our 100th post on the blog. I started this blog when I first found out I was pregnant with Jeremiah. I didn't do very well keeping up with it at first. I got better at updating once I started staying home with him and even more posts once we moved away from family. However, I have now slipped backwards a little and not posting as often as I should for family and friends. I could blame it on having a second child, the ridiculous amount of doctor appointments she had in the beginning or just realizing that there are seasons in our lives when little things like a blog just are not very important at all. Our life is getting back to a somewhat normal pace and we are just enjoying having time at home.

It's so hard to believe that it has been ten months since Miss Susannah made her arrival into our family. I've already started plotting ideas and making plans for her 1st birthday party. We'll be in Mississippi the first part of March, so I'm glad that we will be able to include our family. To me, a 1st birthday party is not about the balloons, presents or cake (even though I love a white cake with icing). It is more about celebrating the fact the parents and the child survived that first year together. Don't get me wrong....I love babies, but while you are in the trenches dealing with teething, diapers, late night feeding, constant crying.....sometimes I just wanted to give up.

I thought I learned a lot about rearing a child with Jeremiah and was pumped when Susannah came along. Robert and I just knew we had it all under control and were going to fly through this first year like it was nothing. Wham!! Susannah threw us a curve ball. I never knew a baby could cry for so long without stopping, hated to be rocked to sleep and would not fall asleep in the car (even on long car rides). Even with all the trying times, I love her so much, look forward to celebrating her 1st birthday and thanking the Lord for blessing our family with her. Without Miss Susannah, our family would not be complete.

Things I am doing at ten months:

• I'm still sleeping through the night and mastered sleeping with the cpap machine like a champ.
• I love playing on the floor, rolling around to wherever I want to go or sitting in my new pink chair.
• I'm a big drooler and teething on anything that will fit into my mouth. I have two teeth on the bottom and two more coming in on the top.
• I still take a morning and afternoon nap.
• I am a nosey little girl. I keep my eyes on everything that is happening around me.
• I enjoy cooing, babbling and talking to whoever will listen.
• I have mastered the head control and still working on sitting up.
• I love to eat!! I sit in my own high chair and will eat fruits, vegetables, meats and finger foods. I'm still working on drinking out of a cup.
• Still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but graduated to a size 2 diaper. With all the food I am eating, I should be in 3-6 month clothes soon.
• I enjoy having a book read to me and love playing with my brother.

All Smiles

Loves her new chair!!

My big girl...her favorite seat in the house!!

Miss Susannah ~ 6 months

I've been debating on doing this post for quite a while because I really don't know what to say in it. On one hand, I want to be upbeat, positive and share the wonderful things about our happy precious little girl. On the other hand, I feel like I'm hiding information by not sharing about the struggles we've had with her these past three months with her weight. Here we go....we went for her six month checkup a couple of weeks ago and she received a fair report. She weighed 11lbs 4 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long. The doctor has been monitoring her weight since she turned four months old. She really hasn't gained since she was three months and they (pediatrician/therapist/gastro specialist) really have no clue of what is going on with her. At first, Robert and I just thought she was going through an awkward growing spurt, but now it is a little worrisome that she isn't gaining weight. We'll just keep praying for an answer and trusting the Lord to guide us in this manner. She did get more shots and handled them like a champ, but someone else panicked the whole time. Jeremiah is so protective of Susannah....he pleaded with us and begged us not to let her get shots.

If you look at Susannah, you would see a happy, sweet face that lights up the room and her personality has changed drastically in the past month. She no longer cries all the time....yeah!!! She loves playing with her toys, babbling with Jeremiah and cuddling with mommy/daddy. She is an amazing kid and a true blessing from God. I started this blog years ago to be able to document events that happen in our life and so family can keep up with the happenings in our life. I share these details for informational purposes and not for pity. Yeah, it is hard raising two children with special medical issues, but I try to look at the positive side of the situation and remember that God will never give us more than we can handle. All in all, I have been blessed with two healthy children that may need special medical attention from time to time, but thankfully aren't facing any major medical issues.


Things I am doing at six months:

• I am sleeping through the night and get up between 6 & 7 in the morning.
• I don't like sitting in much of anything, but love to play on the floor.
• I love playing with toys and will put anything in my mouth. I'm teething and drooling on everything, but no sign of a tooth yet.
• I still take a morning and afternoon nap.
• I enjoy cooing, babbling and talking to anyone that will listen. I am starting to make sounds similar to dada, but not quite there yet.
• I love to smile and laugh. I have the biggest grin when my mom, dad, or brother talks to me.
• I still have good head control, but still working on sitting up.
• My mom is really happy that I have finally started liking my car seat. I don't cry anymore while we are traveling to church or around town shopping.
• Still wearing 0-3 months clothes, newborn pants, and size 1 diapers.
• Loves bath time and can't get enough of it.

6 months - smiling big



Dressed for church