one year check-up!!

Jayden had his one year check- up today!!!

Here are the stats:

20 lbs, 3.5 oz (30th percentile)
30 1/2 inches long (89th percentile)
18 inch circumference of his head (50th percentile)

So he is long and skinny. What else is new? :) All in all, everything checked out great! He also got one shot and only fussed a bit right afterwards and has been fine ever since. He was very charming and the doctor loved him. Our regular pediatrician is out on paternity leave. His little girl was born last week. So we saw a different doctor who was very sweet.

Still can't believe that our little boy is one! Feels like yesterday we were taking him in for his 5 day check up. Time flies when you're having fun!

Here's one pic we got of him on the scale!

peek-a-boo!

Jayden LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He'll put his hands over his face and wait for us to say, "Where's Jayden?" and he'll pull his hands away with a big grin and we chorus, "There he is!!" He'll also play it around a corner or with a towel or anything that works. Here are a couple cute pics we caught of this fun game with our sweet boy!

party party party- Part 2

A few more party pictures!!

A little unsure...


More sure..


"Mom, this stuff is GOOD!!"


This shirt is so appropriate for Jayden. It says, "Mr. Happy." He is so happy all the time. Thanks, Stephanie!!


Really, who's more excited about turning one? The parents or the child? :)

Party party party!!!

We had Jayden's birthday party yesterday!! The party was so much fun, complete with cake, munchies and about 40 of Jayden's "closest" friends. Hee hee. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special day! And a BIG thanks to both of Jayden's grandmas, Stephanie, Uncle Matthew and Lilly who worked so hard to make the party happen! We love you and we had a great time!

Waiting for his cake...


Getting messy...


Opening presents...


Being silly with Grandpa Roger


This is all we have for now. I promise to update with more later!

one year ago today

Jayden is one! Who can believe it? One year ago today we were in the hospital...in awe and wonder, exhausted, elated, scared to death. After 26 hours of hard labor, our sweet boy entered this world alert and screaming. There are no words to describe the wonder of watching your baby be born, of seeing them emerge. Ecstacy does not do it justice. It is incredible. In some ways it feels like yesterday we saw little Jayden's face for the first time, and in other ways I feel like I can't remember a time when he wasn't in our lives.

Jayden, we love you sweet boy and count ourselves extremely blessed to be your parents. You have filled this past year with joy and love we never thought possible!

Here are some cool things Jayden is doing lately:
- still crawling around like a crazy person
- cruising on everything
-standing on his own for a couple minutes at a time
- taking a couple steps but then will plop down on his butt. We think he'd be walking if he wasn't scared of it!
- he is off bottles entirely and drinking whole milk instead of formula now! such a big boy
- talking up a storm. his current words are: dad, hi, bye, mama, all done, ball (ba), basketball (ba-ba-ba), kittie (keeeeeeyyyy) and bird (buh)
- he also repeats lots of things randomly. today someone said, "bad bad bad" and he said, "Bad bad bad." He also has repeated "light", "lovey", and "grandpa" to name a few
- sleeping 12 hours a night and taking two good naps still. since being at my parent's house for the last week, he has started napping longer in the morning which is SO nice! :)
-eating all sorts of regular people food. his current faves are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, raspberries, meatballs (really, all red meat), bananas, mashed potatoes, and bread
- plays peek-a-boo with the best of 'em

We have his check-up at the doc on Friday and will update everyone with his stats.

an early present!!!

Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Phil couldn't wait till Jayden's party to give him his present. So it was unveiled this past weekend, much to Jayden's delight!!




He can also push it around, which is primarily what he does with it. We just don't have any pictures of that. It also plays music and Jayden has figured out how to turn it on. He loves it!

loving the outside

time with mom and dad

Our morning routine every morning is that Jayden wakes up at 6:30, we go get him and then he hangs out in bed with us and has his milk and then plays for awhile. We love the time with him...good morning snuggles and kisses!!! Here's him being silly one morning.

Here is looking at Daddy with a big grin on his face!!!


"I love my mom!!"

sweet smile

We just LOVE Jayden's smile. Here's a good pic of it.

clapping!!

So Jayden has started clapping and is quite taken with his new skill!!! It is so so so adorable!!

Jayden LOVES his daddy

As one would imagine, Jayden is quite attached to his daddy these days. While bed rest has been a bummer, it is great to see how tight Jayden and Dan have gotten. Most kids do not get such a great opportunity to spend so much time with their dad!!! I think Jayden is going to be one sad kid when Daddy goes back to work. :(

This is how Jayden spends a lot of time these days. He definitely thinks Daddy should be hanging out with him ALL THE TIME.

I love this shot!! So sweet. Think I might need to frame it in black and white!

Not sure what Jayden is smiling at here but its a cutie patootie picture of our sweet boy!!

Mother's Day..one day late!

This was the first Mother's Day I got to celebrate with a baby outside my womb. I remember last year so vividly, 38 weeks pregnant, anticipating Jayden's arrival, so unsure of what was to come yet immeasurably excited. And this year, here I am, a sweet 11 month old in my arms, and another sweet baby boy growing inside me. I am humbled by how God has blessed us! Mother's Day just three short years ago was spent grieving the baby we had miscarried just one week before. That day was so hard, so painful. Mother's Day two years ago was spent wishing we had a 5 month old baby or were expecting another one. I cried a lot that day! God is so good to have redeemed our broken situation and blessed us with not one but TWO sweet baby boys to love!!! 

Jayden, you amaze me everyday with all that you are discovering and learning. I love watching everything you do. You fill our lives with smiles and laughter, ours and yours. Our joyful, sweet boy, how we love you. You are our miracle boy, too. Those early ultrasounds, the doomsday words from the doctor...God was bigger and you hung on. I thank God for you, sweet boy, my firstborn. This last year spent with you has by far been the best of my life. 

Eli, how we can't wait to meet you! Our surprise package, our unexpected blessing. I so look forward to watching you grow, to getting to know you, to being your mom in this crazy world. You are our miracle boy, too. After all we went through to have your brother....to get pregnant with you so soon, while still breastfeeding, after being told were infertile...you are such a gift to us!! 

And to my own mom...I have learned so much about being a mom from you, and have had the opportunity to put it into practice this last year. Being a parent, and being a mom, is so much about self-sacrifice. As you would say, about laying down your life for your kids. Thank you for spending the last 28 or so ( a little less, really, but that's ok) years doing that for me. And thank you for spending the last 4 or 5 weeks continuing to lay down your life for me, for helping me, for loving me so practically in countless ways. You know what it means to be a mom and I am eternally grateful for your example and your love! 

To my wonderful mother-in-law....thank you for welcoming me into your family with such open arms. Thank you for being such an awesome mom to my husband. He loves me so well, and that is a reflection of the parenting you gave him! 

And to my biological mom....you will most likely never read this, but thank you for giving me life. And thank you for giving me all mentioned above...it was your choice that enabled all this wonderful blessing. I pray you know Jesus and we will get to meet in heaven someday! 

belly shots...30 weeks, 6 days

Gotta love the "battle scars" from Jayden. I don't seem to be adding any with this pregnancy which makes me happy!!


This is not the best picture of me but I'm wearing one of my favorite t-shirts. It says, "Jayden's Mommy." Super comfy!

If you want a comparison of what I looked like back at the beginning of March, click here.

a trip to the park with Daddy

Jayden and Daddy went to the park today. Here are some pictures of him on the swing (same one as pictured a couple months ago). Jayden had a great time and even met some new friends.



In these pictures he is wearing his new shirt that says, "I still live with my parents." Too funny. Soon I could wear one that says, "I live with my parents....again!" Ha ha ha.

we have hair...

Our child is finally growing hair...just unevenly and kind of 80's style. Check it out.

Small, wispy mohawk

And the definite beginnings of a mullet


Sometimes I wonder if Eli will come out and already have more hair than his brother! If he gets his dad's hair, its a definite. :)

cuddles

I was laying on the couch today and Jayden came over and reached for me. So I picked him up and he cuddled right up to me. I love that he is still snuggly with me. It was such a sweet time, we had to capture it on film!!

Sorry I look so unkempt. Its hard to be motivated to look good when you don't leave the house. And, no, I don't just lay around holding random plates. I had just eaten a snack and Jayden was wanting to hold it so we let him for a minute.

sweet boy

more thoughts from the couch!!

Hi all! I will apologize in advance for this post not including pics. We haven't been very good the past few days about taking pics of the little boy! But I thought I should check in anyway. Bed rest is going fine. 3 weeks down, either 5 or 6 to go!! So that's exciting. We saw the doctor this past Wednesday. No big news. Eli is growing away and all is well. We see her again next Wednesday! So things are good. Dan is a superstar husband and dad..cleaning, hanging out with Jayden, making meals, etc. He is awesome and I am so thankful for him!! :) We are slowly but surely getting ready for the move. They have started showing our apartment and there is one family that is super interested. It would be great if they applied and got it so our landlords don't have any lag time with rent or anything! We have picked packing days for people to come help (even though Dan may SEEM like Superman, adding "pack the entire apartment" to his list of things to do might be a bit much...) and we have booked movers for May 31st. My mom is working like a crazy person getting their house ready for us to move in. Dan's mom has been here twice this week helping out and cleaning as well. We are so blessed by our friends and family that are pitching in so much right now. So that's the Stephens family update. We'll post some pics of Jayden soon! :)