Halfway to Another Little Piece of My Heart!

Today, marks the halfway point to Baby Cox #2's arrival! Wow... time flies, doesn't it?! I cannot believe we're here... 20 weeks today!! And in exactly ONE WEEK from today we'll get to see our precious little one for the second time and we'll get the opportunity to take a peek at the goods and see if we are going to be celebrating with sugar and spice or snails and puppy dog tails! I will honestly be OVER THE MOON with either! And yes, Justin and I have both had our feelings, but they change as much as the Texas weather, we think boy one day and girl the next and sometimes switch it up within the same day. There is only one person who knows and so far His lips are sealed... another lesson in patience, no doubt! :)

In comparison, this pregnancy has been SO different and in SO many ways it has been so much the same. I truly believe that the majority of the differences are related to my mental, emotional and spiritual state of being more than any thing else. I don't really want to get into that too much here because I don't quite have the words yet... but I will and in time I will share, because if nothing else I want to be sure and remember this milestone as a part of my life's journey.

The things that are the same are my cravings... Schlotzsky's and Chipoltle and in that order. I want them weekly and actually if I were honest I WANT them daily, but only allow one or the other weekly... Other cravings include sour candy which are not my friend after I eat them... causing me to RUN for the bottle of Tums quickly... but then again there are very few foods that don't cause me to run for the bottle of Tums. It's a part of pregnancy that I've grown to embrace... especially since I've found the new Assorted Fruit Flavored Smoothies... thank you Tums makers for giving me another option... Peppermint was becoming a little gag-a-licious!

Size wise I think I'm showing faster and carrying lower and maybe carrying a little wider... like through my hips and bootie area and not as much in my belly. Or that could just be at the stage I'm in... only time will tell!

I've been in some pain... but I have to keep reminding myself that chasing a two year old is a lot different than sitting behind a desk... so some aches and pains are going to happen! Not to mention birthing the nearly 10 lb melon head of a first child... I am still paying for that one! :) If I had one HUGE complaint and one that I jokingly asked my doctor to remedy for me it would be the...

PSYCHO DREAMS!! And I mean PSYCHO! I have been attacked by feral cats, a den of cobra snakes, a herd of deer... etc. I have run from robbers and gangsters. I have hurt friends' feeling by bringing my VERY sick child over to their house. I have cried like I have NEVER cried before when Justin told me he wasn't the father of my baby and the list goes on... I have a new one to add to the CRAZY list nearly every night! It is ridiculous! And I have no idea what the deal is with getting attacking by groups of animals/reptiles... maybe it's foreshadowing the feeling I will have in taking care of two kids... BUT honestly, having TEN kids would never scare me as bad as being attacked by a group of feral cats... NEVER! So vivid... so real... so scary! And I realize a bit funny... and yes, I am sure in a few years when I look back at this entry I'll laugh, but for now I'm not laughing... I'm ready for these dreams to take a hike!

On a more serious note I am THRILLED, ECSTATIC, BEYOND EXCITED for Baby Cox #2 to officially join our family this summer. He or she has already carved out a special place in my heart, one that I thought didn't have room for anymore love... BUT then it happened... Baby Cox #2 came into our lives and my heart started growing... making more room. And alas Baby Cox has taken another little piece of my heart! (any Janis Joplin fans out there?)

And teaching Caden about being a big brother is making my heart BEYOND full. He's really starting to grasp the concept of Baby Cox and it is SO sweet and exciting. Today, we were at the park swinging and I said, "Caden, where is Baby Cox?" And he said, "Mommy's tummy!" YES! We're getting it. And he touches Baby Cox and kisses Baby Cox and even pats Baby Cox ever so gently. And ANYTIME we talk about Baby Cox, Caden makes sure to remind us that we are going to take Baby Cox to the "pool" this summer! He cannot wait to take his baby brother or sister with us to the pool... not sure where this came from but he's been saying it since the day we told him about Baby Cox. So, when we pray for Baby Cox, that is our prayer, "That we will be able to take Baby Cox to the pool as a family of four this summer." And I think that about sums up our prayer... that at the end of this we'd all be healthy and well enough to enjoy some time at the pool... what could be better than that?! Gotta love the faith of a child...

And now for the part you've all been waiting for... the BELLY PICS!

I took a self portrait at 18 weeks and haven't gotten around to posting it... it's pretty bad, but who am I to have shame these days... :)

And at 20 weeks... up close and personal...

And from a distance...
I am BURSTING at the seems thinking that in only one short week I'll see whether my little stinker is a HE or a SHE and we can FINALLY give that he or she a NAME! Won't that be lovely?! Typing/saying Baby Cox #2 or Baby Cox is a CHORE! :) It will be a treat indeed! Of course, it will take some re-learning on Caden's part... he's just gotten Baby Cox down... and then it will be something knew! :) Poor guy... being a big brother is tough stuff! :)

We've got lots of fun things coming up this week to keep us busy... so THE BIG DAY will be here before we know it! Until then, stay tuned for some exciting Valentine's Day posts later this week! Caden and I are having a fun, Valentine's Day theme day today and the hubs and I have a Bachelor Date tonight on the couch! Sounds like the perfect day to celebrate love to me!!

Happy Half Birthday Baby Cox #2! We love you and ALL your little flutters too! :)

Tickled Pink to Celebrate BOP!

So let's pick up where we left off...

Just MINUTES after I pushed PUBLISH POST on Thursday afternoon Caden started crying... AGAIN! He had woken up crying a few times during his nap (which is VERY unlike him). Both times I went up and rocked him back to sleep, made sure he was okay and then came back downstairs to blog! Well, finally after the third time of crying after only going back to sleep for 20-30 minutes I decided nap was over and went to get him!

Something was WRONG with the boy... he was crying... and upset... and crying... and wanting me to "hold you." I tried all of my normal... "make Caden happy things" and nothing worked... still periods of crying and THEN... FINALLY he helped shed some light onto the situation when he told me his eyes had "boo-boos," praise Jesus... an answer... I LOVE communication. So, I called our primary doctor at 4:30 and asked the nurse what she thought was up. She thought something was definitely not right and tried to fit me into an after hours appointment, BUT to no avail... SO she suggested that we pack it up and ahead to Urgent Care just to be sure Caden hadn't scratched his eye or injured it in some way. She said that the doctor didn't really think it could be pink eye, because she didn't think pink eye would cause any pain... (I have since talked to several others who have had it as adults and they say it HURTS! So I think pain can definitely be a part of pink eye... lesson learned!)

So there we were... off to Urgent Care, and prepared to sit for what I was afraid would be a long few hours. By 7:15pm we were on our way home with a diagnosis of double pink eye and a prescription for some ointment! On our way home I was thinking...WHAT?! Pink eye?! From who?! How?! And double pink eye?! He just went to school today and he was FINE... OH MY... I am going to have to write all of the parents of the kids in his class... AND Justin is afraid some angry parent was going to slash my tires! I feel terrible... but it struck... SUDDENLY!

Caden's eyes NEVER turned the traditional pink, BUT the next morning he did wake up with a FAT EYE! As Justin said, "He looked like Rocky Balboa after fighting Apollo Creed!" Well said, Daddy, well said!

And another angle...
Poor, sweet boy! He looked so sad... it broke my heart! By Friday afternoon most of the swelling had gone down but the gunk had started to form... STILL no pink though! After making sure it was okay with Nana and Bop and Aunt Ree Ree we opted to still go to Waco to celebrate Bop's birthday! They are all educators... so pink eye doesn't scare them one bit! :) So off to Wacko Waco we drove... with a pink eyed sweetie in the back seat! :)

On Friday night, Caden was EXCITED to be in Waco and stayed up late to wait for Bop to get home from the basketball games! He was thrilled to be in YET another grandparent's home to BOSS some people around! And he didn't squander ONE minute of his time as boss! :)

Saturday morning it was COLD in Waco, so we laid low and hung around the house... UNTIL it was time to head to Georges (YUM) for Bop's Birthday Lunch!

Around the table...

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!!! And his girl!! :)

After lunch on Saturday we had to rush home for the Baylor girls' game. Caden got to skip his nap on Saturday so he could play extra LONG with his Nana and Bop. Aunt Ree Ree had to head back to Houston early in the afternoon to check on Uncle Tag... never know what trouble he might get into while she's away! :)

After Aunt Ree Ree left, Mommy took the opportunity to have ALL hands on deck and do a little shopping! I have been in a wardrobe crisis lately... I needed some new things for Baby Cox #2... some things that fit and some things that I could also GROW into! Baby Cox is GROWING, GROWING and so my wardrobe needed to grow just a bit too! While I was shopping Caden, Nana, Bop and Daddy went and fed the ducks at the pond...

They fed EVERY single duck at the pond. They fed them corn and bread! I didn't know ducks ate corn, BUT Caden said they LOVED it! He also got to walk, jog, run home like a big boy! This is one of Caden's new favorite things... he still rides happily in the BOB (thank goodness) but he does like to take his turn at getting a little exercise too! :)

After duck feeding it was time for the guys' game... and then time for us to hit the road and head back to the Rock! Caden was one VERY tired boy and had a meltdown shortly after we got home. It's hard being the BOSS two weekends in a row! We were all in bed early last night and enjoyed a good night's rest!

Thankfully, our pink eye didn't keep us from heading NORTH to celebrate one of our FAVORITE guy's! Caden was especially attached to Bop this weekend which I think might have been the BEST present he received! :) Happy BIRTHDAY Bop! We love you!!

And as of tonight, Caden's eyes are looking GOOD!! And so far Justin and I are nice and WHITE eyed! :)

Happy Weekend everyone!

Valentine's Day Party, Rocker-Style

Today was Caden's Valentine's Day Party at school... can you believe we are already celebrating Valentine's Day... wasn't it just Christmas?! Phew... time flies when you're having fun! Holidays are so much more fun when you have friends at school to celebrate with. Caden was EXCITED about his party... we've been talking about it all week as we decorated his Valentines for his friends, picked out special gifts for his teachers and of course planned the PERFECT outfit!

Well, I don't know about you other boy moms out there, but it can been hard to find cute Valentine's Day stuff for the lil' men in your life. And if you are like me or your kids are like Caden you wouldn't DARE send him to school in anything more than Wal-Mart's finest... he comes home dirty!! So I decided that I would take a stab at making him the perfect shirt (that would likely only last ONE wear) for his Valentine's Day party at school. Now, I don't think I'll be opening up an etsy shop anytime soon, BUT I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

Of course by the time I got to the party this morning, half of his guitar had been pulled off, which NO DOUBT was because he was trying to SHOW OFF his new shirt to all his classmates, strumming those fake guitar strings all the way! Bless his heart, you'd think the kid never got anything new with how EXCITED he gets about new clothes... especially if they involve one of his favorite things!

Before school this morning I KNEW I had to get some photos because, like I said, I figured this shirt might be a one and doner... so I got my buns out of bed earlier to get a head start on the day and we managed to have time to snap a few pics! He was READY to head to school so he wasn't so into the pics... BUT we did our best! :)

Can you tell he's saying CHEESE here?!! Funny little man!!

Happy boy...
He's saying HEL-LOOOOOO here... ha!
Sweet face...
I know, I know it was negative 20 degrees outside... what was I thinking?! But I had to try... I like outdoor pics SO much better! I think he's frozen...

I'm outta here mom... the neighbors are starting to stare! :) Or call CPS on the Mom making her un-coated kid stand outside and take pictures! Ha!

To the rocking chair... Sesame Street was still on the TV... oops!

Ohhhhhhh, he says!
A little black and white action for that sweet stare...

Cheesin' it up with mom's holiday wreath... kinda cute! :)

Now for the PAR-TAY...

The twins... Garrett and Wyatt and their SWEET mommy, Abbi!

PROM pic with his girlfriend Kennedy! He LOVES her... and in fact when we ask him if he wants Baby Cox to be a sister or a brother he ALWAYS says Kennedy... OR a sister like Kennedy! :) So funny... Caden looks HUGE compared to her sweet tiny self! Hilarious!!

Eatin' some Chick-fil-a... YUMMM!

The twins again... they were going to make sure that Mommy was STAYING!! How cute are they in their overalls?!! I love overalls so VERY much!! :)

Caden CHOWING down... with his friend Teagan!

Running around after lunch and heart-shaped finger jello... SO FUN! Hey look mom, Bob the Builder!! :)
Caden wanted me to get a picture of their Valentine's Day wall... SO cute! Look at all of those sweet faces!! :)

Checkin' the mail! One of the favorite toys in all of the class... might need to invest in one of these for home!
Where's Garrett?!! Cute hats they made for today... of course my child won't wear his! He must already be self-conscious about that big head of is... no extra attention needs to be drawn to it! :)

What a FUN FUN FUN party day at school! AND the best part is we get to celebrate again next week with a Valentine's Day fun day with Mommy and a family date with Daddy... can't wait!

Happy Valentine's Day y'all... from my lil' Rocker to yours! :)

Let's Rodeo, San Antonio!!

Thursday morning I got a feelin'... one of those instincts that you can't really seem to shake off... I knew that our original plan to leave for San Antonio Friday morning so that Justin could make it to a 9am meeting was seeming a little impossible, especially with the local weather forecasters going NUTS about our impending SNOW/ICE storm! So I picked up my handy dandy phone and made a few phone calls and before I knew it we were packing up the car getting ready to get to head out of town later that night! We had until 9pm that night... or else we'd be driving through heck and high-snow to get to KK and Albi's house... and a HUGE no thank you to that we said!

Turns out, Justin's 9am meeting didn't happen either because San Antonio got the ICE part of the SNOW/ICE storm that the Austin forecasters were calling for. So we had a nice relaxing morning at home... and by relaxing I mean, Albi pacing the floors PRAYING, HOPING, WAITING to get in his truck to head to work... he can't stand a day off apparently! And Justin... on the computer, off the computer, on the phone off the phone... he too was trying to convince people to risk their lives so he could save their meeting... oh... men! We love them for it, BUT geez, can't they appreciate a slow start to the work day?! I know I could!

Typically, by noon on a Friday I would have done ALL sorts of things... cooked breakfast and lunch for both Caden and I, played countless games, done some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, played some more with Caden, turned videos on and off, filled sippy cups, changed diapers, found missing toys, etc. etc. BUT on Friday I didn't do ANYTHING! That's right, I turned KK loose and sat my pregnant, happy bootie on the couch under a PILE of blankets! It was LOVELY! Caden bossed his KK around ALL day long and I was happy to let him do it... and of course she was happy to play employee to his bossy schemes! GOT TO LOVE grandparents!! I needed a break and I got one!! Thank you KK!!

On Friday night after the boys both had a successful afternoon at the office, we went out for a YUMMY dinner... it was fabulous to be treated to such a meal, especially one that required no one to cook! It was nice to get out of the house after a cold day inside, and even nicer to chow down on some good, good, good food! Did I mention that I ate a 16 ounce steak that night?! Oh, I didn't?! Well, I did... and I ate every last bit of those 16 ounces! And by the next morning I was recharged and raring to go...

We all were... well Caden maybe not so much as the rest of us, since he's been BATTLING the nastiest cold since last weekend! Fever Saturday and Sunday, better Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday all of that congestion seemed to feel the urge to FIND it's way out and so it did in the form of eye yuck, nose yuck and cough yuck! Thank goodness for a sweet friend who recommended the UNTHINKABLE... mucinex... we did it and Caden was SO much better within just a few doses! :)

Okay so back to being raring to go... we were READY and RARING to go to the RODEO!! Let's RODEO SAN ANTONIO... that was this year's official slogan which I'll be darned if it isn't the catchiest little slogan I've heard in a awhile... it got us there! :)

Last year, KK, Caden and I went to the rodeo during the week and got to enjoy the sights and sounds of the action with ZERO crowds... and quite honestly for a Saturday we got pretty lucky... the crowds were nothing overwhelming! The weather was gorgeous... a Chamber of Commerce day for sure... and a nice break from the blistery cold of the previous week!

We started our journey at the Petting Zoo... NOT my favorite place, BUT Daddy was with us this trip so I was ALL about it! These animals have NO shame and NO fear... they will start nibbling on anything they can get their grubby little mouths on... shameful I tell you!

Caden really seemed to enjoy the Petting Zoo, especially all of the animals that were Caden-sized... once he ventured over to the BIG (ugly) Llama he wasn't so sure... actually scratch that... he was VERY SURE that he didn't want ANYTHING to do with that guy... no love for the llama! Poor llama!

This picture below seems to be more about the pretty high school girls than the animals... I think he was asking if they would pet him??!! :) Hubba, hubba!

After the Petting Zoo we headed over to the Swine Races to grab a front row seat and of course a Swine Snout... snouts for a buck... can't beat that! Thanks Albi!

Wouldn't you know, Caden wasn't a fan of the pig snout, although today he's been playing with it at home... strange! Anyway... pig snout or not we were in for a treat... LOTS of CUTE, CUTE little, little, itty-bitty pigs were off to the races! After three exciting races and LOTS of energetic cheering from the crowd we set off for the next portion of our day...

The RIDES... Now, I'm not sure what the deal with the San Antonio Rodeo is, BUT the majority of the rides would not let any kid under 36" ride a ride... not even with an adult! Oddly, enough at the State Fair of Texas some of the EXACT same rides were present and you only had to be 34", so with Caden being 1/4 of an inch too short for most rides we had to stick to just a few! BUT it didn't REALLY matter because Caden had fun on ALL on them!

ESPECIALLY THIS ONE!! The Poo-moo ride... or Shamu ride... or whale of tale ride... he LOVED it! AND he convinced his KK to ride with him! I need to do a little shout out to KK and Albi right here... they have both been on Weight Watchers and have BOTH lost some serious weight... like 12 pounds a piece! AND KK was PROUD that she and Caden BOTH fit into this tiny little whale seat!! AND her energy level was crazy high this weekend... and it's a good thing that it was because Caden had her on-demand! We are very proud of KK and Albi and all of their hard work... they are looking g-double-o-d, good! :)

Hold on KK... :)
Next up, the infamous balloon ride from the State Fair... he rode this one twice with his Daddy!

After a full sheet of tickets worth of rides (Thanks Albi) we headed over to the coliseum to watch the Cutting Horses do their thing... pretty darn cool!

And then to the cows... Caden loves "moos"
And some more pigs... BIGGER pigs!!
And a wooden pig... cool! Please notice the pink sheet of paper in Caden's hand... he carried this around for no shorter than 30 minutes, in and out of EACH building and exhibit... why you ask? Because it had a picture of Shamu on it, of course... it was a flyer for Sea World! Bless his heart!

The BABIES... Caden kept saying BEEBIES, BEEBIES! He's really into BEEBIES these days... perfect timing huh?! :)

When the beebies grow up they become "tit-ens" or chickens! :)

One of our last stops before riding some rides before leaving the park was to watch some of the livestock competitions that were going on. Caden loved watching the bulls, steers and other animals being shown... while I do love the rodeo, I am secretly hoping that we don't have to raise one of these animals of our own one day... hopefully Caden will choose another passion!

After a LONG day at the rodeo we were all glad to be at home and in our comfy clothes! It was was a take-out type of night and a great way to wrap up a fun weekend in San Antonio! Sunday morning we came home early to get ready for our Super Bowl party and get our CRAZY house back in shape! AS soon as we got home I went into frenzy mode, washing clothes, cleaning dishes, steaming floors... after a long, dark, cold week inside last week... all it took was a little bit (or a LOT) of lovin' from KK and Albi, two days of BEAUTIFUL sunshine and a 16 ounce steak to give me that burst of energy I was so desperately needing! Thanks KK and Albi for treating us to yet another fun YET also relaxing weekend in San Antonio! We love y'all!!