My big boy 2 year old!

Two years old?!?!? What the heck?!??! My baby boy turned 2 on December 26, 2012. We had his birthday party on December 15 at The Children's Museum of Houston and it was a blast! It's so amazing to see all of the new things Rex does week after week. It's been awhile since I've blogged so I'm going to try to catch up as much as I can. My updates will probably be out of order...I will remember more recent things first then I bet some of the other things will come!

We found out Rex would be a big brother on November 27, 2012, just one month shy of his 2nd birthday. I know he's going to be such an amazing big brother. He will be 2 years, 7 months when the baby is born. We've always wanted our babies close in age so that they would be close and I feel so thankful that God blessed us with fulfilling that dream. I can't wait to see him with his little sister.

We started speech therapy in early February. At his 2 year check up, his new pediatrician agreed that there was a speech delay present so we got on the ball about getting therapy. After the initial consult with the speech therapist, she agreed that he would benefit from services. Because his initial plan that was initially in place for his physical therapy had expired, they had to re-test him to see that he continued to qualify for services. Almost immediately after the initial consult, Rex started talking more! No therapy had been done yet, just the consultation! My cousin who previously worked with ECI said that it was sort of a joke that kids would start doing things as soon as they would come out! This was definitely proving true with Rex. We've actually only had one therapy session and Rex has grown leaps and bounds in speech in the last month. It's really been more on his own than due to the therapy. His receptive language has always been strong. He knows what you are saying to him. He struggles most with pronouncing words but he definitely tries very hard to imitate what you say. He has a hard time saying anything that starts with the letters b, s, f, l. Most things that start with b, s, and f come out as a "d or t" sound. Depending on where we are in the house or what we're doing, I can typically piece together what he is saying. We do a lot of talking while we are doing things. His new thing at night is to point at the moon and say "moon!" We typically can see the moon outside the living room window and we look at it and talk and sing about it. He knows lots of names of familiar people and is becoming better and better about asking with words for what he wants.

My baby is still a singing baby. I love singing with him!! His new favorite is "The Wheels on the Bus." He started singing it a lot with our neighbor, Ella. This was one of my childhood favorites to I love hearing him sing it. He also loves to sing "Oh my Darlin," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and his ABC's.

He started potty training in January at Ms. Anna's. He does really really well at Ms. Anna's and will go all day long without an accident! At home he has not been as willing. I'm sure seeing his friends go at Ms. Anna's definitely has something to do with it. At first, he would literally run away from me crying when I would mention going potty. He has definitely gotten better at home, though. He usually says no when I ask him but I take him anyway. He will cry at first but when I walk out, he will go. Then we celebrate!! He doesn't like candy or any typical treat that I can give him so we just get excited and dance and clap! In the last week, he started telling me when he has poo-poo. The times that he has had an accident he, gets VERY upset and cries! It's really kind of funny because he starts walking with his legs open and crazy because he doesn't like to be wet. I'm glad he doesn't like it though, and is telling me when he's dirty. That makes me feel that he is definitely ready for this transition. My goal is for him to be completely potty trained by the time this little one comes. Time will tell!

Rex has become very attached to me in the last couple of months. I'm not sure if it's just be cause it's typical at this age or if it's because he senses that something is going on with me being pregnant. I've always heard that young children can sense it and get very clingy to mommy during pregnancy. Regardless of the cause, I'm loving it! I love cuddling with this boy, especially in bed on the weekends. When I drop him off in the mornings, he won't let go of me right away. I have to sit with him for a minute at Ms. Anna's then I tell him Mommy has to go bye-bye and he gives me a kiss and goes with his friends. I love that clingy minute every morning though. I've loved being a mommy from the beginning but as he grows older, I love it even more. He is just pure joy in our lives and my love for him grows more and more every day. It's so amazing how much your heart can love your child.

I'm so anxious to see him as a big brother. I'm anxious and worried for him a little too. I know it will be a transition but hopefully a very smooth transition. I'm sure other mommy's of 2 can relate to that. He hasn't yet grasped that Mommy has a baby in her belly. I think once my belly starts showing more, he may get it but he doesn't understand the idea of a brother or sister yet.

Here's some pictures of my little guy recently

It's a....

It's a girl!!!!!!!

On February 15, at 16 weeks pregnant, I went for a gender determination ultrasound at Baby Love Ultrasound in League City. We went there for our 4D ultrasound with Rex and had a wonderful experience so we went back to them again. I booked my gender determination ultrasound about a month and a half ago for 16 weeks to find out what Baby #2 would be. Many people have asked if we wanted a girl since we had a boy first. I genuinely did not care whether it was a girl or boy. I would have loved for Rex to have a brother but I also would be thrilled with a girl, of course. I've always said your girl is who takes care of you when you get old and there is nothing like a bond between mother and daughter. So either way, I would be completely happy. I was just excited to be having another baby, period! 

We decided to have a gender reveal party. I had my best friends Jenny and Ashley attend the ultrasound with me so that they could see what the baby was to prepare the surprise for us. It was also very special to me to share that with them because they were both there the entire time I was in labor until I was taken back for c-section with Rex. Obviously, they will not get to share that with me this time because I will have a c-section so I wanted to have something that I would share with only them. After Rex's birth experience, I'm not sure they would've wanted to experience it again anyway! haha! But I'm so so glad they were there with me for this. I was amazed at how quiet they were during the ultrasound! We were afraid they would react in some way! I had my eyes closed from the beginning and after about a minute I told the ultrasound lady that I at least wanted to know that they were able to successfully determine the gender. Much to my surprise, she said they already did!! I said "wow! Ok Great!" and I told them they were doing a great job of keeping quiet! I at least expected a gasp or something!! They did nothing!! After the ultrasound lady moved around a bit, I got the clear to open my eyes to see the baby. She is growing perfectly fine. We saw her arm and torso but she was facing back so we didn't see her face. That was fine with me as long as we got a clear shot between the legs!! She said it was a good thing I had my eyes closed from the beginning because as soon as she put the ultrasound thing on my belly, it was an instant butt shot! It was a super quick ultrasound so we were in an out in about 10 minutes. As we finished, I asked her how sure she was. She said she was 100% sure and had never been wrong! Prior to the ultrasound, I was definitely feeling that it was a boy. Corey was certain that it was a girl. I'm not sure why I thought boy, I just "felt it" or so I thought! After the ultrasound lady said she got a clear view right away, I was even more sure that it was a boy!! 

We decided to do Silly string to reveal the gender. I found the idea on Pinterest and it fit Corey and I perfectly. Jenny and Ashley went straight to party city to buy the silly string after the ultrasound. We were so excited to share the moment with our family and friends. Someone counted down "5, 4 3, 2, 1" and Corey and I shot the silly string at each other! My sweet sweet husband shot it right in my face so I couldn't see it right away. What I saw just looked white. I finally clicked when I heard Rhonda  screaming and clapping and I saw the pink string on Corey! I was absolutely shocked!!!!! I just could not believe it!! Even though my pregnancy had been very different from Rex's which was a big indicator of it being a girl this time, I was still so set that it was a boy! I was genuinely shocked to see pink!!! Here are some pictures:

We could not be more excited!!! I don't think it has really set in for me quite yet. Corey said the reveal made it completely real for him. I instantly thought of how blessed we are and how I know with every ounce of my being this was all God's plan for us. It's funny because I would have been thrilled with a boy but I didn't realize how thrilled I would be to be carrying my little girl. Wow...My little girl! I can't believe it! Now if only she would stop making her Momma feel so yucky! This sickness has yet to completely go away. At least now, it just comes and goes and isn't as constant. To anyone who is pondering a gender reveal, I HIGHLY recommend it! Corey was iffy at first and didn't think he would enjoy it as much as being in the ultrasound room to find out there. He said now, he loved it and is glad we did it! 

I've already started thinking of her room and can't wait to get started! We've tossed around a few names and definitely have our favorites but we will wait a little longer to reveal that until we are certain. Today, we called my big sister Leanne to ask her and my brother-in-law Johnnie to be the baby's God Parents. She was thrilled and said yes! This little girl has so many people that love her already and I cannot wait for her to be here!! 

Baby Robinson #2

Ok...so obviously it's been a while...Major catch up time!

On November 27, 2012 our prayers were answered and we discovered baby Robinson #2 was on the way! We had been trying for about 5 months with no luck so far. That month in particular, I was not expecting a positive result at all. We had been using a fertility monitor that Corey's cousin Lacey let us borrow that helped her get pregnant with their little one. I had been using it for about 3 months. That month in particular, the monitor never stated that I was ovulating...it only said "High fertility." After about a week of high fertility, I stopped using it because I didn't want to waste the expensive test sticks. So I was not anticipating a positive result at all that month and had pretty much decided that we would let go of hope for that month and really try next month.

On the 27th, we went to our neighbors house to have dinner. I was already a few days late but being pretty certain I was not pregnant, I did not want to take a test. Again, those little suckers get expensive! Plus, because it was month 5 of trying with no positive, I couldn't stand to see another "not pregnant" result in the window so I had told myself that I would wait until I was pretty certain it would be positive before I would allow myself to take another test. Anyway, that night as we were cooking, I was SUPER hungry. If you've ever been pregnant, pregnant hungry is on another level of hungry. It's an I need food and I need it RIGHT NOW not in 5 minutes kind of hungry. I brushed it off though, because that sometimes happens when I'm about to start. Same thing with the sore breasts, I brushed that off too. When we got home, I mentioned that I wondered if I was pregnant. I pondered taking a test...I had one or two left from a package of three I had bought. Despite being hesitant from not wanting to see a negative, I went ahead and took it. Corey was in the kitchen while I tested. Literally as soon as the urine ran across the test strip (sorry if that's TMI!), there was a positive result! No waiting, what so ever. I remember when we found out about Rex, it was the same thing...an instant result. When I saw that positive, I just laughed and laughed and called Corey in. When he heard me laughing, he knew instantly and we just laughed together and hugged! We couldn't believe it!! We seriously were not expecting it that month. It must be true that once you stop trying, it just happens. We had heard that many times before.

The first people we called were Cody and Ashley. Ashley was already about 8 weeks pregnant so this was so so exciting to know that we would have babies close in age again like Scarlet and Rex are. We got the idea to film all of our immediate families reactions as we told them and it was perfect! We told my best friend Jenny next, then my Mom and Eli, then Jerry and Lucinda, then Rhonda and Mark and finally my Dad and Elvia. I didn't think we'd get to tell my dad and Elvia in person but they came in town for Rex's birthday and we got tell them then. A few days after we found out, we went to Denver to visit my family and were able to tell them too. That was very exciting to be able to tell them in person.

Here is the video that I put together from when we told our parents and Jenny about the baby.

This pregnancy has definitely been different than my pregnancy with Rex. I am much sicker than I was the first time. With Rex, I would get sick at night around 8:30, pretty much every night. Throughout the day, I felt pretty good for the most part except for being super hungry. Since I got sick at night, I would just go to bed and be fine. With this one, it's been pretty much around the clock queasy-ness. I feel pretty bad as soon as I wake up then it tapers off during the day and comes back in the evenings. I threw up one time randomly in my 2nd trimester with Rex. When I was about 6 weeks, the throwing up began with this little one. I've thrown up about 5 or 6 times since then but I think it's only been a handful because I've learned to sort of breathe-it-out to avoid throwing up. At my last check up at 14 weeks, I had only gained 4 pounds. In my first trimester with Rex, I had gained about 10-12 pounds right away. The nurse practitioner told me at that point it was ok for now but that if I maintained the same rate of weight gain in the coming months, she would be a little worried. Being sick has definitely been rough. I know it could be worse and I'm thankful that it's not but it sure is tough to feel sick every day for months. It's funny because I know that being sick is actually a good sign because it means all of your hormone levels are high and things are going right but because I was not sick at all with Rex, and I know he came out perfectly fine, I've felt like something is wrong this time. My doctor and nurse assured me, though, that everything is fine. My belly is finally starting to look more pregnant now so I'm excited about that too, instead of just looking like I ate too much at Christmas. Truth is, I ate hardly anything and what I did eat didn't stay in for long! haha!

The baby has measured right on time for the 2 ultrasounds I've had. I had one at my first appointment at 6 weeks and another at 10 weeks. I am due August 1 but because I will have a c-section again, I am set to deliver July 25, unless the baby comes early. I'm so excited to have a summer baby. I am a summer loving kind of girl and since my birthday is in January and right after Christmas, I was always jealous of the kids who got to have swimming parties. My poor Rexy will probably feel the same way being born the day after Christmas but at least we get to celebrate a birthday in summer now!

I'm hoping to keep my blog a little more updated. I really want to document my pregnancy better this time because I have the worst memory ever and don't want to forget these things. Stay tuned!

 Mommy and Daddy after we found out!

 Positive!!! 

Our little peanut at 7 weeks! 

Summer wrap up and 20 months (almost!)!

::::::Warning...this is a ridiculously long blog that summarizes my summer. Read at your own risk and leisure! If you don't make it though, I don't blame you :) I really just like to do this so that I remember things that happen as Rex is growing but welcome and love readers! Happy reading! ::::::

So my little Rex will be 20 months old in just 5 days. That leaves only 4 months until I have a two year old!! Whoa...that was weird typing that out! A two year old! It's funny because, he still seems like my baby. I guess I really am beginning to understand why our parents say we will always be their baby. He's still my baby baby to me...but he definitely has grown quite a bit in the last few weeks!

Our summer came to and end Sunday night since I went back to work yesterday. It was definitely a bittersweet thing. I was really ready to go back to work. I do not function well at home. I don't like to stay at home. I LOVE being off to be with Rex and spending that time with him but I don't like physically being at home all day. I knew it before and have said it before and I'll say it again: I would be the worst housewife EVER! I get very lazy and can literally do nothing all day because whatever needs to be done can be done "later" since I have time but "later" never comes and I end up doing nothing. I'm not proud of the woman I become in the summer! When I'm at work, I'm in work mode and I know I only have x amount of time to get things done so, they get done. Hats off to the mommy's who have the motivation to get things done at home!! I honestly wish I enjoyed it more. To each their own, right?

The bitter part of going back is, of course, not being with Rex all day. He's becoming quite the character! My favorite new thing he is doing is our bed time ritual. I take him to his crib, kiss him goodnight and lay him down. His Nana (Corey's mom) got him a little Precious Moments Stuffed Animal that says a night time prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May Angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their blessed site. Amen!" We start the prayer with the sign of the cross and then I press the button for the prayer. He smiles every time I play it! At the end we say "God bless Mommy and Daddy and My Whoooooole family" while lifting our hands up when we say "whoooooole family." This is something Ms. Anna does with the kiddo's when they say grace at lunch so we continued it into night time. We end with the sign of the cross again with a kiss on the hand at the end. When he kisses his hand he goes "Mmm-aaaaa!" It is absolutely precious! When he did it for the first time last week, my heart just melted! If there is one thing I pray that I can teach my son, it is to have faith in and believe in God. I'm glad we've started that early!

In July, we re-assessed Rex's development to determine if we should continue or discontinue physical therapy. I'm very excited to say Rex is no longer receiving Physical therapy! He has made so much progress! He goes up and down small steps without hesitation and has even started climbing up big stairs on his hands and knees which is a big jump since he never crawled. He LOVES being on top of the bed and couch. He says "Up, up, up, up, up, up" Over and over to get me to help him up on the couch or bed. He thinks it's hilarious to plop down on the cushions and fall over! He is also loving pillow fights and being knocked over! He's only fallen off the couch once and it wasn't too big of a disaster :) I know there are many falls to come! He is also going down the slide in our backyard on his own. I have to admit, I didn't know he could do that! Ashley C. and I were busy inside doing something while Scarlet and Rex were playing outside. It was then that he went down on his own! That was definitely an a-ha moment when I realized I needed to quit worrying so much and let him figure things out on his own.

Feeding him is still a challenge sometimes. His latest thing he does when he doesn't like something is that he will gag! It drives me bananas! He has actually thrown up twice just a little bit! Little stinker! Some of the things he loves are yogurt, white grapes, string cheese, applesauce, strawberries, goldfish (What would I do without goldfish!), ritz crackers, Turkey, potates and gravy Lil' Entree by Gerber, spaghetti, mexican rice and taco meet, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, french fries and cheerios. Oh and baby food! My 20 month old is probably the only little weirdo who still likes baby food and baby oatmeal. I feel bad giving it to him because I feel like he's too old for it but sometimes, that's all I can get him to eat! I try to squeeze in other things as much as i can but most of the time I'm unsuccessful. I'm not going to lie, one thing that makes me feel even better about him being back at Ms. Anna's is that I know he is eating good at lunch! He loves her cooking and loves Mexican food!

We officially have a dog in the house! My little Bella is finally back home with me. She's been with my mom since I moved out. We were supposed to take her when we bought our house but never did. Rex absolutely loves her and Bella does really well with him so we decided to finally get her. I was sitting in my bedroom the other day and all of a sudden Rex came running faster than I've ever seen him run! And here came Bella behind him! I love that he has his little buddy with him!

We recently got new neighbors in July. I was so worried about what our new neighbors would be like because our old neighbors, Jeff and Jana, were wonderful! We couldn't have asked for better first-neighbors! So the new ones had big shoes to fill! Our new neighbors are Danny and Jessica and they have a little girl named Ella who is a month older than Rex. Can you say PERFECT???!! From day one, we've gotten along great with Danny and Jessica and have clicked so well and so have Rex and Ella!! We have definitely hit the neighbor jackpot twice! Having great neighbors is one of those things you don't understand the importance of until you live in your own place.

Over the summer we got to spend quite a bit of time with Ashley Olive, Drake and Hunter and of course, my number one sidekick Ashley Collier and Rex's number one, Scarlet :) Over the summer Ashley Olive found out baby number 3 is on the way!! I am so so stinking excited!!! Brandon, her husband and Corey's cousin, was not able to get off work to go with her to her first appointment and she didn't want to go alone so she asked me to go to help her with the boys. The boys didn't end up going but she still had me go with her. Honored sounds like such a cheesy word to use but I felt so honored that she asked me to go to share something so special. She is due in March and I could not be more excited! It was so much fun watching Rex, Drake and Hunter play together this summer. We got to do a couple of group dates with Ashley and Scarlet to the Childrens Museum so the kids could play in the TotSpot. The kids had a blast! We plan on having Rex's birthday there! The majority of my summer days was spent with Ashley Collier house shopping for her and Cody. I'm a sucker for looking at houses so it didn't take much convincing! Not to mention, again, it was a great honor to help her do that. If it weren't for my two Ashley's, I seriously would have been depressed being stuck at home all summer! I love you girls! Yay for best friends who are teachers too!! Watching Rex and Scarlet play together has been one of my favorite things to witness. They play so well together! They hardly fight and are always having fun. They'll be even closer now that Scarlet is going to Ms. Anna's full time! It's so precious!

Ashley Collier and I got to experience cheer camp for the first time as sponsors. Our camp this year was put on by the Pasadena Memorial cheerleaders who did an AMAZING job! Our girls improved so much over the week that we were at camp. They got camp chant champs  and we also had our mascot and 3 of our cheerleaders name to the all star squad. Needless to say, we were very proud of them! Not gonna lie, some of the fun cheerleader games and dances brought be back into being a kid again! I had to remind myself that I was the adult this time and not the kid and couldn't get up and dance silly like the girls were! It was a very tough internal battle to fight that off! :) I'm really looking forward to working with the cheerleaders this year.

My big summer project was fixing my taqueria of a house and redecorating to fix the God-awful paint color we chose the first time around. With help of a wonderful decorator named Billy Marbery, we got it together starting with the perfect paint color! Corey and I painted the house again. We also added bead boarding to the bottom half of the dinning room walls with the bottom half being painted a truffle brown. We mounted our TV on the fire place and turned out living room around. Rex now has a designated play area on the back side of the couch where I put a bunch of low shelves with cube openings where he can store his books and toys. The wall above my shelves will be a work in progress. The room looks great already! Makes me love my house even more now that we've made it more our own.

Sadly my summer ended on a very sad note for the Lopez side of my family. My great-Aunt Catherine (My grandpa's sister) passed away on Friday, August 10. It was very difficult seeing her in the hospital those last few days before she passed because my aunt Catherine was always so active. She was 86 years old and still driving around! Family was so important to Aunt Catherine. She never missed a celebration for our family, even though we were not her immediate family. Although it was for a short time between when Rex was born and when she passed, she never missed an event for him. She was at my shower, his baptism, his birthday party and even the little halloween party I hosted for the kiddo's last year and everything in between for the rest of her extended family members. When I had Rex and had those gatherings for him, I really grew to appreciate her presence at each event. I will miss her very much. She was my Momo's best friend and I know she will miss her very very much. I know we will see her again, though, and I know she is with us. If you've gotten this far in my blog, please pray for our family, especially her daughters, grandchildren, sisters, and my Momo.

I've been back at work for 2 days and I'm already super busy! I'm teaching a new thing for the 3rd year in a row but very excited to be working in special education which is where my education background is. I'm going to be doing mostly inclusion in general education classrooms and will teach a math resource class. I'm excited about the subject change but not so excited about the room change as I had to give up my giant science room since I did not need it! I was blessed to inherit all of the materials of my good friend and former 4th grade teacher, Leigh Anne Lidrbauch since I replaced her position (she is our new peer facilitator) so I don't think I will need to buy math materials, thanks to her! Hopefully this will be the last time for a long time that I need to move rooms! I'm definitely looking forward to getting my room together and done by the end of this week! I'm ready to see the finished project! And I'm excited for our new school year! Our cheerleaders are looking great already so I'm very excited about that too!

If you've made it this far, you deserve a medal! But you can't say I didn't warn you! :)

Two years as Mrs. Robinson

This blog is a little delayed (surprise, surprise) but better late than never, as I always say!

Corey and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary a little over a week ago on the 4th of July. It feels like so much longer than two years. And I mean that in a good way :) It's probably because in those 2 years we've done so much. 

When we "re-met" each other in February of 2009, I never thought in a million years we would end up where we are. It's so amazing how we really have no clue what God has planned for us. We moved in together in October of that same year and Corey proposed exactly a year after we re-met each other on February 13, 2010. At that point we had planned on getting married in March of 2011 but we got an unexpected surprise in April when I found out I was pregnant! With the help of my mom, aunts and cousins, we moved our wedding way up and planned a wedding from start to finish in just 8 weeks! We chose the 4th of July as our wedding date because it was on a Sunday that year (finding a venue on a Saturday with that late of notice was impossible) and it was just in time for me to still have a small enough pregnant belly to not look pregnant in a wedding gown. I was 12 weeks pregnant when we got married. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding that captures the date 

After we got married, I got a position teaching Texas History at the school I was already working at. We started home shopping in August as well and bought our home in September. Then our precious Rex was born the day after Christmas to top off our whirlwind of a year! So, I graduated from college (Dec 09), got engaged, got married, started teaching, bought a house, and had a baby all within a year! Do you see why it seems so much longer than 2 years??? :) 

As we came upon our anniversary, we were stronger as a couple than we ever had been before. I'm more in love with my husband than I ever have been before. I started thinking about what helped us get to that point. We have fun together, we're silly together, we have a beautiful son together, we balance each other out with our personalities. Then I realized a surprising thing that made us strong: Fighting and arguing. What??? Fighting and arguing?? If someone had told me years ago that fighting and arguing are what would help make my marriage stronger, I probably would have run away from the idea of marriage!

 Let me explain... One of my favorite things about Corey and I is our ability to communicate with each other. When we have a disagreement, of course we start off butting heads. But after we both cool off from the initial disagreement, we almost always are able to not only discuss the situation calmly, but come to a resolution together. The key though, is not only getting your own feelings out, but listening to the others feelings. If you are not listening to someone's feelings, it is likely that nothing will be accomplished. Corey and I were 22 and 23 when we got married. That's pretty young. We are still growing as individuals. We have to pray that we continue to grow together and never apart. Marriage is not an easy thing, especially when little ones come into the picture. Children are such a beautiful blessing and a wonderful addition to a marriage but to say that children bring only joy and no challenge to a marriage would be naive. I would have never imagined that one of our biggest fights would end up being one of our most triumphant moments as a couple. An argument that could have been so detrimental to our relationship ended up being one of the best things that happened to us which is why I am surprisingly thankful for those fights. Now...just to clarify...just because arguments typically help make us stronger doesn't mean we do it all the time! It's the times that we do fight that this happens :) 

The perfect song for this: Jason Mraz's "I won't give up"

My favorite line: "We got a lot to learn. God knows we're worth it. No, I won't give up."

So next time you get into a fight with your significant other or even a family member or friend, try to look at it as a growing and learning moment rather than something negative in your relationship.  

I doubt he will read this but if you do, Corey, I love you more than words can describe and I'm so thankful for every kiss, hug, happy moment and even every fight. Can't wait to see what the future holds! 

18 Months Old!

I'm a few days late with this but...better late than never I guess! My baby turned 18 months old last Tuesday. Every parent says this and it gets a little old but...where has the time gone?? He's not a baby anymore...gosh...he's a toddler! Of course he will always be my baby but he's turning into a little person!

We went yesterday for his 18 month check up. I was very relieved to discover that he would not be getting any shots. Woohoo! He will get one more when he's two but nothing between now and then.

We were very excited about no shots! 

 He's growing and gaining weight. Here are his latest growth charts they give us every time we go in for a well-child check up.

I'm not sure how clear those pictures will show but he is in the 22nd percentile for weight and 33rd percentile for height. He's my little guy :) He's always been in the lower percentiles since birth but he's progressively catching up. But let's be realistic, with the parents and grand parents he's got, it's not likely that he'll ever be in the higher percentiles! He's a very picky eater so I was a little worried about how little he's eating but Dr. Jimmerson said if he's growing, pooping, and peeing, no worries. 

She asked me if we had any concerns. I told her we're very happy with the progress he's made with his gross motor development. His physical therapy has been wonderful and definitely a God sent. We are a little concerned with his speech development though. He says a few words: dog, bye-bye, uh-oh, and up. When he's crying he says mamamamama. If he wants something or wants to get my attention he says (well shouts) what sounds like "Meh!" It's kind of hard to spell out baby sounds! haha! If he wants to turn the light on, he says "aa-puu" but I'm not sure what that really translates to. His receptive language is great. If we tell him something, he definitely understands a lot. We can tell him to throw something in the trash, close the door, stand up, sit down, put your shoes on, change your butt (change your diaper :) ), take it to your room, etc. etc. He knows where his belly, eyes and nose are and knows where mommy's are too. Dr. Jimmerson said that he should be putting two word sentences together by 18 months which he is definitely not doing. To be completely honest, I was a little surprised that she said they should be putting two words together by 18 months. To me that seems a little early but, nonetheless, I still agree he should be saying more. Next week ECI is coming out to do Rex's 6 month re-evaluation for his physical therapy. At that time, they will also assess his speech therapy. If it is determined that he does qualify for speech therapy, I'm assuming services will continue with ECI but with a speech therapist instead of his physical therapist. Dr. Jimmerson also wants to have his hearing tested to see if that could be a cause of his speech delay so we should be doing that fairly soon. Although we've had and are still hitting a few bumps in the road with Rex's development, I'm not overly freaking out or anything like that. I know that these are semi-typical delays that many children experience and I really don't feel like it's anything cognitively wrong with him. God willing, these are things that in a few years, it will not be evident that he experienced them. 

One thing I do know for sure is that this boy loves to sing already! He woke up a couple of weeks ago singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I didn't even realize that he knew the song and he woke up singing it on his own without hearing it or anything. It was so sweet! Needless to say, we sing that song quite a bit now. Most of the time, he starts singing it on his own randomly. I think it's so sweet that he just has music going in his head constantly. He will start singing whether we're playing inside or outside, or at the grocery store or eating dinner. I LOVE it! Now that I think about it, he always hummed even as a baby baby. It wasn't any specific tune, just humming. My Momo does the same thing so it always made me think of her. I'm praying he is musically inclined in some way. Corey was in choir and I was in band so I hope Rex follows in our footsteps. 

He loves talking to himself in the mirror. When he sees himself he tries to say "Hi Rex!" I always say that to him when we stand in the mirror. Now he likes to peek over the side of the stand up mirror we have in our bedroom so it's like he's playing peek-a-boo with himself. He thinks it's pretty hilarious! 

Here he is giving Rex kisses!

He's eating with a spoon. That was a very proud Mommy and Daddy moment! He still goes back and forth between using his hands and the spoon and he also still lets me feed him. 

The toddler attitude is definitely starting to show a little more as time goes on. When he gets angry, he will yell and sometimes growls his little Rex growl. I joke that he knows his name is Rex and that a T-Rex growls! haha! He also throws his arms around sometimes and likes to scratch us if he is upset. The scratching is what has gotten him a little swat on the caboose. If he doesn't stop after I tell him no, the swat happens. I think he's getting the picture, though, because typically if I tell him "No!" very firmly, he will give me a hug immediately after. Thus far, the temper tantrums haven't been too bad. He's always been a pretty mild-mannered baby so lets see if that continues. 

I'm super excited about being home with him for summer. I'm trying to keep him on the same feeding and napping schedule that he's on regularly at Ms. Anna's. So far, so good. This is only the beginning of Mommy and Rex's annual summer adventures and I can't wait to see what we get ourselves into! 

On your feet! And the beginnings of summer :)

One day...I hope to fulfill my hopes of blogging regularly. One day...   :)

I'll start with another "Rex milestone." Since he started walking, our next challenge to tackle was standing up on his own. He's been able to pull up for awhile but it took him awhile to generalize it. For example, he could pull up on a toy basket that I had weighted down with books and could pull up on the couch with no problem. He was struggling with pulling up on other things, though, and also struggled with standing up without pulling up on something. It's been a definite work in progress that we started months ago. He started pulling up on random things much better about a month or 2 ago but the free standing has been more of a challenge. We started with teaching him to lean forward and put his hands down on the floor. Over the last few months, we've guided him to position himself to hold his upper body up with his arms then bend his legs to stand up. Again, because he never crawled, this motion and position did not come naturally to him. For a long time, he would rock his body forward like he wanted to get into the position but didn't quite make it all the way. About 2 weeks ago, he got to the point where if we helped him get on his hands, he was able to stand up from there. BIG accomplishment! We were so proud with just that! Last Friday, June 1, we were hanging at Cody and Ashley's having a little girls night in. Rex was completely restless and was being mr. busy body, as usual. He ended up on the ground and FINALLY stood up completely on his own!!! SOOO exciting! During the following week, he still struggled with it quite a bit but this last weekend, he really got it down! He's standing up with no problem now! In fact, sometimes he sits down again on purpose so that we can clap for him again! haha! Sometimes his little shoes get in the way of his flow but he's working on it!

It's so interesting to me to see how he does things exactly the way that we've taught him through physical therapy. He did the same thing when he learned the motions for pulling up and sitting up on his own from laying down. It really is amazing how the brain works. Our next challenge is to get him to step up and down on steps. He thinks he can't take them but, of course, he really can. For example, when the transition happens between the patio and the grass, he stops on whichever side he's on and waits for us to grab his hand to cross over to the other side. I typically put my hand out just enough to where he reaches for it and takes the step on his own. He does pretty well with it but sometimes he's hard headed. Catching himself better with his arms when he falls is also another big obstacle we're working on.

I'm loving the fact that his little personality is starting to show. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that he is such a loving, sweet hearted child. He loves giving hugs to his friends! Rex and Scarlet have gotten to see each other a lot more here lately because she is going to Ms. Anna's a couple of days a week. As soon as Rex sees her, he goes straight to her and gives her hugs and pats her! Our hearts just melt!! It's so so sweet to see the bond they have! It took awhile, I think because she was walking so much sooner than Rex. But now that he's keeping up with her, they play SO well together. Needless to say, Ashley and I are just smitten! :) Our plan to make Rex and Scarlet husband and wife is playing out just as we planned! haha! Just kidding :) We know they will probably be just the best of friends and that's perfectly fine with us.

Rex loves to take clothes out of the dresser drawers. When he takes them out, he does it with such determination! He grabs the item and throws it on the floor! Seeing him attempt to put clothes back is quite amusing too!

Awhile back, he started scratching us when he becomes upset. For example, if we tell him "No!" or take something away from him, he scratches your arm. No matter how firm of a voice I would get, little stinker was persistent and would keep doing it and laugh at me on top of it! Daddy decided it was time for a little swat on the caboose so my little stinky got his first little spanking a few weeks ago. I know there is much controversy on "corporal" punishment but I have to say that since we started doing that, he has not been doing it as much and it is obvious he is thinking about it before he does it. Sometimes he will do one finger instead of the whole hand. Sometimes he will lift his hand to scratch then take it back. There was even a time when he was about to scratch me but I caught him and told him "No!" and he put his head on my shoulder and patted my back! Aside from that, we have a pretty well behaved, non-temperamental little toddler. Time will tell how long that will last! Last week when we were leaving my mom's, Rex wasn't ready to leave. Usually I say "Ok! Let's go bye bye!" and he'll start saying "bye-bye" and wave to go. This time he was NOT ready! When I went to get him, he actually growled at me! It was the funniest thing! I told my mom, he must know his name is also the name of a very large dinosaur! haha!

My newest niece Melania Grace Anzaldua was born last Monday, June 4. She's absolutely beautiful! She brings my niece/nephew count up to 20!!! Just one of the many blessings of coming from a mixed family! When Rex saw her, he immediately shook his head at her!

School is out for summer! Tomorrow summer school begins for 3 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers for a good experience! We'll see how it goes!

Let's see who got this far...I'm very hesitant to "say" this "out loud" because I'm sort of superstitious about it but I'm going to roll with it...Corey and I have decided we're ready to be serious about trying for little Robinson #2 :) I don't like to plan...I like for God to take the lead. That's what He's done with everything "big" in my life. NOTHING has gone as I planned but it has worked out the way He planned and the way it was supposed to be! So we're not necessarily "planning" but giving a little boost to God's plan and praying it will all play out just the way it's supposed to!