Isaac's Birthday 2010

On June 3rd, my sweet baby boy turned 3. It blows my mind how fast these 3 years have gone and it breaks my heart to see how time truly flies with little ones. I love watching him grow and learn, I just wish things could slow down. I feel so very blessed to have such a good, happy, and healthy child and I try to take the time to enjoy the small things and savor each and every moment spend with him because I know that one day, they will just be memories. Isaac's birthday this year fell on a Thursday and even though his party wasn't until Saturday, the 5th, we still celebrated at home. Darren's Mom, Dad, and Grandad came over and we all ate dinner and had birthday cupcakes for dessert. Afterwards, we let Isaac tear into some gifts. As you can tell by the photos below, Isaac is all boy and absolutely loves anything to do with construction machines and tractors, especially John Deeres! Thank you Mimi, PawPaw, and Boots for coming and sharing this special time with us!!

On Saturday, June 5th, we had Isaac's birthday party at the Pickwick Landing State Park playground. For those of you that attended, this is the same park where Darren and I got married back in 2004. Here is a photo of Isaac's birthday cake. It was sooooo yummy!!

These are some pics of the playground at the park. The playground is to the side of the inn and the spot we were married is on the back-side of the inn facing the water.

This is a group shot we got of almost all the little ones that were there. From left to right are Lillie, Maddox (Isaac's best bud in his class at school), Emma, Ellie (Isaac's "girlfriend"), Isaac, and Jakob. Jakob's little brother Ethan was also there, but didn't want to get in the photo.

Here are just some more shots from the party

Later that evening when we got home, Isaac had to try on his Spiderman outfit that Jakob and Ethan got him. He loves it and I'm pretty sure our Halloween costume for this year is already taken care of!!

Grandma (my Mom) also brought Isaac some boxer brief underwear so he could be like Daddy and he loves them. They are sooo cute on him, but they make him look so grown up!

Thanks to everyone that came to Isaac's party and helped make it a success. Also, thanks to Grandma and Moms for coming and staying the night with us. We missed Uncle Patrick, but hope he and you all can come back and visit again very soon. We love you all!

Catching up.....again!!

Well, I had really hoped not to get so far behind in my posting, but as you can tell, that's exactly what I've done. It seems like time really gets away from you once summer arrives, especially when you throw in a 3 year old little boy and a pregnant Mommy! Anyway, I have a lot of recapping to do and a lot of pictures to share to get everyone up to date on things.

We headed to middle TN for a visit back in April to celebrate our nephew Ethan's 2nd birthday. Dad and Hope were on a trip out west so we stayed at my Mom's house for the weekend. We had a good time at the party, which mostly consisted of just family, but nevertheless, the little boys sure had a big time together! I know I'm terrible, but I didn't even get a picture of the birthday boy. I'm sorry Ethan! Here are the bigger two though who, as you can tell by the photos, had a big time sneaking in a taste of the blue icing on Ethan's cake.

I do want to make a note that on April 4th, Isaac wore his big boy underwear to school for the very 1st time and had no accidents all day long. Way to go little man!

Next, on to Mother's Day. Darren and I have agreed to start alternating holidays now between my folks and his and this year, it was our turn to stay in Savannah for Mother's Day. In no way, shape, form, or fashion though did this mean I didn't think of my wonderful Mama on this day. I am so very blessed to have been born and raised by her and with her influence and if I can somehow be just a fraction of the Mother she has been to me, I will feel like I have truly accomplished something. I love you Mom and thank you for not only being a wonderful Mother to me, but also being the best friend I could ever hope to have. Silly me forgot to even check the batteries on my camera so when I was preparing to take some pics of me and my little guy on Mother's Day, my battery totally died. Here is one of the shots I did manage to get though. Isaac, you will never know how much you mean to your Mommy. Since you've been in the world, my perspective on life has completely changed. You are everything to me and I pray each and every day that you will continue to grow and learn and that I can be right there with you all the way. I pray that you will grow to be a strong, respectable, loving, and God-fearing man and I promise that I will do everything in my power to help you achieve all these and more. I love you so very much Little Buddy!!



Now, on to some humor!! Isaac recently decided that he and Daddy needed to take a bath instead of a shower. Of course, it couldn't be just any old bath, it had to be a bubble bath. Needless to say, I think they both enjoyed it because they've done it many more times since. As you can see in the pics, Isaac even decided one night that they needed to wear goggles in the tub and he somehow convinced his Daddy to go along with it too.

This one just absolutely cracks me up!!!

On May 12th, Isaac school (Cumberland Child Development Center) had their end of the school year program. They mostly sang songs and did the pledges they had learned. Isaac did ok at first, but then refused to get back up there with his class and finished out the program sitting with Mommy and Daddy. Isaac has really thrived since starting at CCDC back in October and we just love the teachers there and the new friends he has made.

After the program, the parents were invited to stick around and have a picnic lunch with the kiddos outside and visit while they played and wore down before nap time. The kids had the biggest time!

Here is Isaac and his buddies Maddox and Payton. Isaac talks about Maddox all the time and just loves to play with him. He really is a sweet little guy and I'm so glad Isaac and he are buddies.

Isaac blowing bubbles

And here is Isaac with two of his favorite girls, Arianna and Ellie. Ellie is on the right and I worked with her Mommy, Mrs. Dale at the Health Department. Isaac has known Ellie for a long time and refers to her as not only his best friend, but his girlfriend too. She is such a sweetheart and I hope these two can stay buddies for many years to come.

These are just a couple of shots of Isaac being his cute little self!!

Memorial Day weekend was a big weekend for us. After work on Friday, we loaded up and headed to my Mom's for the night. The next day, we got up early and hit the road east headed for North Carolina to attend my cousin Haley's wedding. I was a little worried about how Isaac would do on the trip considering it was roughly 450 miles from Carthage, but he did great. Thank goodness for portable DVD players!! When we got there Saturday, we got to visit a bit, but then had to go and get ready to attend the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Unfortunately, due to my troubled pregnancy, I didn't really get to enjoy the wonderful food that was available because I still get sick all the time. Anyway, I was able to get in a couple of pictures before we left of me and Darren and Isaac.

Before I move on, I have to share another funny Isaac comment. While we were at the rehearsal, Isaac suddenly had to go potty so off we go to the restroom. When we went in, there was no one in there but us. I stood Isaac up on the potty and he did his business, then started to open the stall door. I told him to wait just a minute that Mommy had to go potty too. At this time, I heard the bathroom door open and more folks come into the restroom. I proceeded to sit down and do my business when Isaac asked me out loud "Mommy, are you peeing or pooping?" I told Isaac to be quiet that Mommy just had to pee. He then squatted down and looked up at me and said "Mommy, where does your pee come from?" I was completely mortified and before I knew it, I said "Isaac baby, shut your mouth!!" He looked up at me with the most solemn look on his face and said "Mommy, we don't say shut up!" I wanted to just crawl up in a little hole!! Thankfully, the other ladies in the restroom were friends of my cousin that I had met before and all seemed to get a big kick out of Isaac's comments!

After a day on the road and busy night at the rehearsal, we finally crashed out and all got a good night's sleep before the wedding the next day. I was supposed to sit up front with the family during the ceremony, but was too afraid that Isaac wouldn't cooperate. I definitely did not want to cause a scene so we just kind of stood in the background. The wedding was outside at my cousin's house so it worked very well. There is a playground across the street from their house and Darren ended up taking him down because he got a little restless during the ceremony. I really wanted to get some more pictures afterward, but Isaac wasn't cooperating very well at all. I did manage to get a few in though so I guess I can't complain too much!

Here is my mom and my Aunt Carol, her sister and mother of the bride

Isaac and Grandma

My brother Patrick, Mom, and me

Isaac and Daddy. This is probably my favorite. I love these two guys!!

Isaac and Mommy

We got up and headed home the next day and were on the road for almost 12 hours. It wasn't nearly as tough as I was afraid it was going to be and again, Isaac did so much better than I even could have hoped he would do. Needless to say, we were all exhausted when we got home. Also, this is the first night that Isaac slept in his big boy underwear and so far, he hasn't had any accidents during the night. Yay!!! I took the next day off work to recoup and I also had my monthly doctor's visit that afternoon. Everything went well and I had finally gained some weight this visit. Like I said earlier, I still can't eat meals and still get sick when I do, but I have learned that if I can just munch on bland foods in small amounts throughout the day, I can usually do ok so I'm trying to stick with what works. I was having some issues with my feet swelling though and strangely enough, it was mostly on my left side. I mentioned this to Dr. Micetich and he said swelling was pretty normal, but it was a little odd that it was mostly on one side so he wanted me to get an ultrasound of my left leg just to make sure, which I had done last Friday. I have not heard anything back from him regarding that, so I'm going to assume that no news is good news. I go back to him on the 29th of this month and after that, we are down to visits every 2 weeks. I can't believe it's already that time and that I only have about 12 weeks to go. I am so ready for this little girl to be here! I'm already feeling very uncomfortable and large and I have the entire summer to go so I know it's not going to get any better any time soon. She is really moving a lot right now and seems to be all over the place, which makes me think of another funny that Isaac said not too long back. We were at church one Sunday and during the music, Baby Layla was really moving around a lot. I let Isaac feel my belly while she moved and he said "I know what my baby sister is saying." I asked him what she was saying and his response was "She is saying let me out of here!!" I just cracked up at him and just can't get over a lot of the stuff he comes up with. It really makes you wonder what all goes through his mind sometimes. This is all for now. Isaac just had his 3rd birthday on June 3rd and I have lots of pics to share from that day as well as his birthday party, but I haven't taken them off my camera yet. That is my next project though and I promise I will have them and another post up as soon as I can!!!

According to Isaac

I know I haven't posted in a while and this is going to be a very quick one, but I just had to share with you Isaac's latest comment that was just hilarious. We were sitting in church on Sunday and just like her big brother Isaac did, baby Layla really starts moving when the piano and singing begin. I got Isaac's attention so he could feel my belly and hopefully feel her movements. I asked him if he could feel her and he said "Yes Mama and I know what she's saying". I said "You do?? What is she saying?" and he replied with "My baby sister is saying Let Me Out of Here!" Well, I almost fell over I was laughing so hard. He can come up with some of the funniest things and oh how I would love to know just exactly what's going on in his little head. Sorry this is so short, but I will do another update soon and will share some pics too. As for me and baby Layla, we are about the same. We are almost 25 weeks now, which is pretty close to 6 months. The nausea and vomiting are still the same, but I continue to try and cope the best that I can. I will be going to North Carolina next weekend for my cousin Haley's wedding and am not sure if my guys are going with me yet or not. We shall see!! Then, I go back for my next doctor's appointment on June 1st so hopefully all will go well. Please continue to keep us all in your thoughts and we'll be back soon!!

Pictures!!!

Hello again! I apologize for the delay in posting. I really don't have a good excuse other than.......I'm just pregnant and STILL not feeling too good. The good news is I haven't lost any more weight (yay!), but I'm still throwing up everything I eat with the exception of what I eat right before bed. Oh well.....I'm half-way there now so I only have 20 more weeks of this!

Also, I thought since my last few posts have been mostly about me and the baby, I really needed to do one about Isaac and include some pics as well. He is still doing great and continues to tell everyone we are still naming his baby sister Spiderman! As for names, she still doesn't have an official name, but we both have agreed that we really like the name Layla so that will probably be her first name, we just have to come up with a middle name to go with it.

As for Isaac, here is my little guitar man. Everytime Daddy gets his guitar out, Isaac has to run and get his too. It is the cutest thing! He even tries to play and sing along with whatever tune Daddy happens to be singing.

This one was taken after school on the day they had their Easter egg hunt. Isaac was so excited to tell me that the Easter Bunny woke him up from his nap that day. He had a blast finding eggs and even played for them for about a week or so after Easter was over.

Isaac got to go to another egg hunt that weekend at church, which he also thoroughly enjoyed. This is my brown eyed boy before the hunt.


This is what the Easter Bunny brought Isaac

He is really in to Curious George these days so he was thrilled to get a movie with a bunch of George episodes on it. He also REALLY enjoyed the chocolate stuff he got, which I am happy to say, we are finally finished with! Chocolate + an almost 3 year old makes for a very interesting and wild combination!

This was after church in his Easter outfit

Isaac and Daddy

Family Shot
(apparently I didn't notice my dress falling off my shoulder at the time!)

Mommy and her sweet boy

We went to Carthage this past weekend to spend time with Grandma and as always, had a wonderful visit. It was way too short, but I hope to get back again very soon.

I have to share one last thing with you which is the latest Isaac funny. We were at Grandma's and she was telling Isaac how big my belly has gotten. Isaac says "Yeah, because my baby sister is growing in there." Then, Daddy decides to take it upon himself to ask Isaac how his baby sister is going to get out of Mommy's belly. I panicked when he said this, but Isaac's response eliminated all my worries. With a straight face, he simply said "Well, I guess God is going to fly in there and just flip her out!" I told Isaac, "Yes baby, that is exactly right!"

That's all for now, but I hope to not be so long before posting again, I promise!!

Boy or Girl???

Well, this past Friday, I had my appointment with the specialist for my ultrasound. The days and weeks leading up to this appointment filled me with much anxiety and anticipation, but Darren kept reminding me things would be ok and God would take care of us, no matter what the outcome. So, the news is.........everything looked completely fine and normal!! He said he saw a few remnants of the membrane they had spotted on the first ultrasound, but it was nothing to be concerned about and he didn't see any reason for me to come back to him. He though we would finish out the rest of the pregnancy with Dr. Mic and everything would be fine. I can't tell you how much relief this brought me!! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Also, they were able to tell us one other piece of important information. Baby Howard #2 is going to be a..................GIRL!!! We are so excited and thrilled that our little family will have a boy and a girl. As for me, I'm still throwing up everything, but my days aren't filled with quite as much nausea as they were. Guess by now I should know it's just something I need to get used to until September gets here and this baby girl makes her debut. We have been throwing around a couple of names, but we aren't decided on one yet. If you have any suggestions, please share!! Also, my Mom and Grandmother came to visit for the weekend and we all had a very good visit. We hadn't seen them since Christmas (I know, waaaaaaay too long!) and we had some long overdue catching up to do. We love you Grandma and Moms and hope to see you both again very soon!!

Also, Isaac has said some more funnies lately. He told my Mom he was having a baby brother and when she asked him what his name was going to be, he told her "Superman"! Then, she asked him what if the baby was a sister instead. His response was "I'm not having a baby sister at my house!" Guess we have some work to to before she gets here!

Lastly, I want to give a quick thank you to Mrs. Julianne. I got the sweetest card a couple of weeks ago and I just want you to know how much that meant to me. I was in a pretty low spot at that time and your note definitely lifted my spirits. Thank you again, it meant the world to me!!

Doctor Visit

So, we had another dr.'s visit this past Thursday and for the most part things went really well. Unfortunately, there is still no change with the nausea and vomiting, which I voiced my concerns over. Although he is aware of just how awful and miserable it is, for now, he said I'm still within the normal timeframe for all this sickness and for now, he's not that concerned about it. He told me to keep drinking the water all during the day like I've been doing, but to also try and add in some gatorade too and we would see how things are at my next visit. I'm still hoping and praying for this to pass, but at the same time, I'm realistic in the fact that I know the odds are not in my favor. Oh well, not much I can really do about that huh? Anyway, the rest of the visit was a little stressful for me. He told me that the ultrasound tech had noted a spot on the ultrasound and just for safety's sake, he wanted to send me to a specialist for a more detailed ultrasound. He said many times, spots like these go away on their own and cause no harm at all for the Mom or baby. He stressed to me that he wasn't really concerned about this, but just wanted to double-check things and he didn't want me to worry about it either. Well, that's easy for him to say! I'm trying not to get worked up over this because there's just no sense in worrying over something we really don't know a lot about just yet. Anyway, I go to the specialist on the 26th of this month and then back to the doc for my monthly visit in April. Please keep us all in your prayers that my visit and ultrasound go well and that the only thing they see is a happy, healthy little one bouncing around in there.

P.S. Just this past week, I have felt the first movements from this little one which is both exciting and comforting.

P.S.S. I have to tell you a couple of funnies that our child has said lately. First, he asked his teacher why the little girls in his class pooped all the time. She told him that they didn't and why did he say that and his response was, "Yes they do Ms. Cassie because when they go potty, they wipe every time!!" He also asked Ms. Cassie if he had a baby sister, what would her last name be. She told him it would be Howard, like his was and his response was "Well, if it's a boy, they better not name him Isaac because that's MY name!!"

Update Overdue

Okay, I know that once again, I'm behind on things. I meant to post long before now, but if you all knew how sick and puny I've been, you would totally understand! So, let me catch you up on things. Due to the insistence of my wonderful Mom and Dad, I ended up ordering the Nausea Watch I talked about in my last post. They both basically told me that I couldn't afford not to at least give it a try because after all, according to the reviews, it's the latest greatest thing. So I get the watch and for the first day or two, I really think this thing might work. I still got sick, but I thought it was because I was just overeating. Then I thought that maybe it might take a few days of wearing it for it to really kick in. It felt pretty weird to wear. Every time it would send one of those pulses, it felt like my hand was asleep. Well, turns out my high hopes came crashing down. Guess I'm one of the rare weird ones that it doesn't help. I still wear it sometimes, I guess because I feel obligated after spending so much money on it.

So, after another week of feeling lousy and puny, I called the doctor back to complain and see if there was anything they could give me. Dr. Mic's nurse said she would call me in some phenergan, but I didn't get too excited. I took this with Isaac too and it didn't help a bit, but I thought I would at least give it a shot. Well, I was right......again! It didn't help at all. I still threw everything up and then I couldn't hold my eyes open. Phenergan totally knocks me out, which completely takes it out as an option because #1, it doesn't work and #2, what good is a pill that doesn't work and just makes me sleepy?

So, I give it a few more days of being just completely miserable and last week, I thought I just can't do this anymore so I called the doctor back to see if there were any other options. After weighing myself and discovering I had lost another 2 pounds (which brings me to a grand total of 12 so far) I called the doctor, desperate for help. That was an ordeal in itself, but I finally got one of his nurses to call me back and she said she would call me in some zofran. This too was something I tried with Isaac that seemed to work, but only for a short time. Zofran is a drug that is typically used with cancer patients to help with the nausea while they are going through chemotherapy. Anyway, she called it in for me on Friday so I was hopeful that I would have a decent weekend. Guess what??? Once again, I was let down. I do think that the zofran has helped with the nausea some, which is definitely an improvement, but I still threw up everything I ate. I am really starting to get concerned now because after looking back at my pregnancy notes from Isaac, I was not this sick with him. Yes, I threw up all the time with him, but I managed to maintain my weight for the most part. I would gain a couple of pounds, then lose a couple and it was back and forth like that for practically the entire pregnancy. I did not lose a big lump sum of weight all at once like I have with this one. I go back to the doctor this Thursday and I am asking that you all please keep me and this little one in your prayers. I pray that everything is well with this pregnancy and that like Isaac, this will be a healthy happy baby.

On a lighter note, we went on February 22nd for my first ultrasound. The sonographer said everything looked really good and we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time too. She told us that I was actually measuring about a week ahead, but wasn't sure if Dr. Mic would change my due date or not. Guess we'll find that out on Thursday. We also go back on April 19th for another ultrasound and we should be able to tell what Baby Howard is at that point in time. We did get some pics of our little one and I'm so excited to share. Meet Baby Howard!!!