Always My Baby

So tonight is the big night that we get to go and see our little one still in the belly and we are both very excited! But before I make a big deal about the new baby and my ultrasound, etc, etc. I wanted to make a post all about Rylan. (I actually saw one on my friend Happy's page about her daughter, and thought how cool!) So here we go:
Rylan has always been a very affectionate little boy. Even when he was a baby he would never want us to put him down, ugh...remembering those days. :) Now he is full of hugs and kisses. My favorite is when he will just run up to me or Ben for no reason and yell, "Mommy or Daddy" and throw himself around our legs and give us a big hug. It is the best thing ever! Every night before bed he asks for a group hug and a group kiss. We love it!
Though Rylan is very much close to Ben and I and always wants to stay close, like we hold hands everywhere,(even walking around the house) he is also very outgoing. He says hi to strangers we pass by and loves when new people come over so he can show them all of his toys. He also loves playing with his friends and asks for them. His BF's right now are Mattie Menzie, Lucious Dahle, Sawyer Graves, and Dahlia Graves. Oh and he loves his cousin Hailie! He always asks me if they are going with us to the park or if they can come over. He loves to play games with other kids. And is usually really good at participating in group activities.
Rylan tends to get bullied by the bigger kids and it really breaks my heart. He is such a sweet little boy and loves to watch the big kids play. I have found though that most bigger kids don't like little kids even standing by them. Rylan has been shoved, pushed, hit and here recently had his foot stomped on. It is so hard as a parent to watch your kid getting bullied all the time and I sometimes wish he were the bully instead because of it. I am hoping we will be able to teach him to defend himself better and when to recognize when another child is not friendly, so we are working on that right now. Of course, Daddy would love to just "handle" the bullies himself. LOL
Rylan impresses us everyday with his intelligence but it hasn't been until recently that I have become completely aware of just how smart he is. Really I thought he was normal until other people and parents have been making remarks to me about his language and his intelligence. I truly have NO idea where he gets it from as Ben and I are not accelerated in any area as far as education goes. As a matter of fact I am probably behind. So Rylan can count to 15 and can recognize any number up to 10. He knows his whole alphabet and can recognize every letter except for (W) and (V). He just started showing and interest in spelling out the words in his books and so I have been working on spelling simple 3 letter words with him. Right now he can spell out loud and recognize "CAT" and "DOG" as words. He knows animals that I don't even know what they are and is probably one of his favorite things to read about, talk about, or pretend to be! His favorite color,he says, is pink. LOL His imagination is starting to really take off and it is so much fun to watch him pretend!
Of course Rylan is a thrill seeker like his parents! He is a terrific climber and loves to jump. He likes to ride the skateboard with Daddy and anything that goes fast! We have a feeling broken bones will be in our future, maybe even sooner than we think. But let's hope not!
As far as food goes, he loves pickles, pizza, fresh fruit and water! He loves candy but really he just likes to walk around with it in his hand. I often find it an hour later uneaten just sitting there and I'll ask him if he's done with it and he says yes. It is kind of cute. I try not to buy anything with corn syrup or sugar in it though. He doesn't really eat any vegetables, but french fries, so I still buy him the stage 2 vegetables, like the sweet potatoes and squash stuff. It is the only ones he will eat. Well, he does like my mashed potatoes too.
Well, I think that about sums it up. I am so excited for him to have a little brother or sister. He loves baby's so much! He always wants to kiss every ones baby he sees. I am hoping he will embrace the role he is about to have as a big brother and we are going to try to do everything we can to make it a positive experience for him. We love you Rylan!

Baby Burgoon II Poll

We will be going to have our ultrasound on Thursday, October 30th @ 6:00pm. So let us know what you think about the babies gender by placing your vote now!

Pregnancy Update

So this is actually kind of a boring update really. I just thought I would jot down some stuff though anyways. With Rylan I kept a pregnancy journal and took pictures and measurements EVERY month! With this baby I have taken 1 picture, no measurements, and I have 2 journal entries so far. I feel terrible and can only hope my second child doesn't feel less important by it. I find comfort in thinking that maybe when they are having their second child they may understand. (Hey, whatever makes me feel better...right?!) I have had a pretty easy pregnancy though. Of course I was tired my first trimester but had a HUGE advantage as I was able to nap with my son every day, who takes 3 hour naps! That was an enormous help. I can remember being so exhausted and in pain when I was working and pregnant so I have to say the first trimester was easier this go around. After the tiredness passed I had about a week of headaches and bad indigestion but those have since passed as well. I am now at 17 weeks and have gained a little over 10lbs. I am starting to get a lot of back pain, which I got with Rylan even earlier than this, but luckily I had bought a good maternity back brace when I was pregnant with Rylan so that has helped. I also just started getting some round ligament pain. I forgot how scary that feels, but at least this go round I know what it is. I think any pain during pregnancy kind of freaks you out though even when you know what it is. That is another good thing about a second pregnancy, with Rylan if I felt a pain I would monitor it all day and think about it all the time. Now I feel it and then get so busy I forget about it and by the time I remember it is gone. I go on November 3rd for the BIG ultrasound. (2 weeks away) And I had my Quad screening test today. That test makes me a little nervous. It is amazing though that they are able to do it and detect things so you can prepare for different circumstances should they be there instead of having it be a big surprise when your baby is born. I do plan on taking some more belly pictures soon but Rylan dropped and broke my camera recently so I have to fix that first. (Good excuse, huh?) I can't wait to find out the sex of the baby and even more so to have them here with us. I am so excited for Rylan to be a big brother. We talk about him playing and reading to the baby all the time and he loves to rub my belly and kiss it. I tell him the baby wants to talk to him or play and we'll sit there and "play" with him/her. It is so much fun! Oh, and the baby's movements are getting stronger now. I can feel "it" kicking me. I can't wait for Ben and Rylan to share that with me. I can only imagine Rylan's response to the baby kicking his hand! I'm sure he will think that is pretty funny. I think my nervousness is equal to my excitement which is odd because I wasn't nervous at all about Rylan and then BAM it was llike I was hit by lightening...every day....for a year! :) Seriously, Ben and I are both a little nervous after what we went through with Rylan. Sometimes I wonder if having difficult babies is my punishment for having such wonderful pregnancies. Nah! I just pray everyday that we will have a good, healthy baby that we will be able to enjoy. We loved Rylan, but it was the most difficult thing I have ever been through. At least now Ben and I know we can overcome such a challenge. But I do hope that it doesn't have to be that way this time, at least not for so long. :)

150 Beats Per Minute

We went to the OB today to hear the heartbeat for the first time! It was really awesome. He was able to find it right away. Ben was holding Rylan and told him that it was the babies heartbeat we were hearing and Rylan got the biggest smile on his face. It was so cute. The doctor said there were 150 beats per minute, and that "old wives tales" would say that meant it was a girl. I'm not really a believer in those though because Rylan's heartbeat was really fast, and well, he is definitely a boy! Plus the doctor even said he hasn't found that to be true either. But we are still hoping for a girl and if you ask Ben it IS a girl. If you ask Rylan he will tell you the opposite of whatever you say it is. For instance, on the way home, I said, "Is mommy having a little boy or a girl?" And he said, "A boy!" And so I said, "No, a girl!" But then I said, "OK, Mommy is having a boy." So he said, "No, a girl!" He has been teasing me about this for some time now. It is really cute. So everything else is going very smoothly. It is getting harder to hold Rylan now and I have gained almost 7 lbs so far. I already "look" pregnant and I am only 3 months! My clothes don't fit right and my maternity clothes are all still too big so that is a little annoying, but I had actually bought some larger sizes ( not maternity) when loosing the baby weight with Rylan so I have been able to wear those. My next appointment will be at 17 weeks ( 4wks from now) and then we will be setting up the appointment for the BIG ultrasound! I am very excited and can't wait to find out what we are having!

Nickelodeon Hotel

My sister got a room at the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando for my niece Hailie's 10Th birthday and invited us over. We went over Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday afternoon. We had such a great time! The hotel has two amazing pools with tons of fun for all ages. Rylan especially loved swimming in the pool and playing in the little kids area where they had a little slide. He was so funny going down on his bum, his belly, backward, forward, you name it! He is such a little daredevil! They have lots of characters roaming around the hotel and Friday night we went down to the "mall", it's basically a big food court with some stores and an arcade. Anyways, Blue (the dog) from Blues Clues came up to Rylan while his Papa was holding him and apparently freaked out and hit Blue! I was ordering food and didn't see it, but hey, I was glad if someone got too close he didn't want to he would know what to do. :) The hotel has different things and shows for the kids all day and up until midnight at night! We took Rylan on Saturday morning to a Kinder music class. It was much like our Gymboree classes we do here but with more toys and singing. He loved it and it was a lot of fun for Ben and I too. It is amazing how much bonding you do in those classes. We also took Rylan into the arcade and he had a blast. He loved the Dance Dance Revolution and the best part was that we didn't even have to play the game for him to jump and dance on it! But his favorite game was the one where you roll the ball up the lane and then it hits the bump at the end and goes into a different circle for points (sorry, bad description, but I can't think of the name). Well he loved chucking that ball and often times it went into the other lane. So ultimately Ben and I were the ones scoring points. I forgot how much fun that game can be! We were very grateful to have been invited over and had a really great time. Happy Birthday Hailie & Thank you! :)

Baby Picasso

So my mom gave Rylan this really cool art set with paints, markers, crayons, etc. We have played with it every single day since we brought it home. He especially loves the paints and, I think, for his first painting he did a pretty darn good job! But I am bias! We have also been attending the art class at Gymboree and I am going to have to start an album with all his creations. It is going to be hard for me because I am NOT a collector and when I think of the years of "art" albums ahead of us I can't help but think I should just throw them away. (Don't worry, I won't, well I did throw away that glittery one the other day, but it was making a HUGE mess in my house!) I guess one day he could show them in a gallery next to his masterpieces! :)

9 Week Ultrasound Photos

Today was our 9 week follow-up ultrasound appointment. I am so happy to report that everything looks great! The baby is about 1 inch long (from rump to head) and has a really good heartbeat! We took Rylan along this time and he did OK. I had told him, "We were going to see the baby today" and he was excited and kept saying, "Baby...baby," but in the middle of the ultrasound he said, "Done!" He is infamous for letting us know when he is "done" with something! So now we won't go back for 4 weeks and at that appointment we will be able to hear the babies heartbeat. I am so thankful and feel so extremely blessed to be able to have two wonderful pregnancies without complications (knock on wood). I never could have imagined having that after 3 years of heartache and pain of trying to conceive with Rylan. I just feel so fortunate and grateful that my pregnancies don't have to be as complicated as my getting pregnant! To anyone who has had trouble, my heart completely goes out to you!!! I have seen such strength and love in the lives of several of my friends who have had difficulties and I am so excited for those who have had success stories and pray diligently for those who need their success story too! I know it is difficult, trust me I remember, to hear sometimes when others are getting what you so badly want. But I also know that you will have a wonderful conception story to tell one day and beautiful children to tell it to, so hang in there and take the opportunity to share in the joy of those around you! Lots of love to everyone!! xoxo

Tropical Storm Fay Brings Flooding & Fun!

Well the rain finally took a break yesterday, right as Ben took the last sand bag out of the truck! Go figure! But we were very thankful, as were most of the neighbors! It seemed the whole neighborhood came out to enjoy our "river" here in Palm Bay. Rylan had so much fun walking through the water and riding the four wheeler down the streets. People were out paddling surf boards and canoes. We had several people get stuck in the street whose cars were flooded. It was a terrible shame. We were so glad to see some relief from the showers and luckily our street lost the water over night. We hope everyone were as fortunate as us and were able to make it fun.

We Have Upgraded Our Home...We're Now Waterfront!!!

Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay we are now able to list our home as "Waterfront." These pictures were taken yesterday afternoon. One of our neighbors, unaware of the flooding, was trying to get home and got stuck! Ben had to go down, as well as a few other neighbors, and push him out of the water, which was above knee level! We also saw a rare and funny moment where a cat went swimming right across the street! We couldn't believe it! It wasn't panicked or anything, it just calmly swam from one side to the other and then got out! Of course some neighborhood kids enjoyed walking through it and a few even went through on their four wheelers. I was very thankful that the rain let up a bit last night so that the water has gone down today but it seems as though it may be on the rise again. Other than that though we have been safe. My Grandmother, who lives in a manufactured home, came to stay with us last night and Rylan has enjoyed having time with her. We hope everyone else has been able to be safe and that the people this storm will soon effect will also be blessed with safety.

The Big Debut of Baby Burgoon II

"It" is finally here....well there! We are so happy to announce that our baby is safely implanted and, at 7 weeks, has a great little heart beat! The doctor said that all looks well but wants to perform another ultrasound at 9 weeks, which of course makes me nervous, but I am just going to try and focus on the fact that I get to see my little one again really soon! I have been feeling great. This pregnancy has been very similar to Rylan so far, as I haven't had any sickness, just fatigue. I do suffer for indigestion probably every night and my stomach always feels like I ate something yucky. I was the same way with Rylan though. I am so grateful to Ben that I am able to be home with Rylan, especially being pregnant. What a world of a difference it makes! I am lucky to be able to nap with Rylan and somewhat take breaks. I kept a pregnancy journal with Rylan and at this point I was suffering a lot of back pain and was SO much more tired and I know it was my job! I have never been able to say that being home was easier than working until now! So I am truly grateful to him for working so hard so that I can be home. I will keep you all posted on the next ultrasound and post the pictures...of course! Thanks to everyone for their support and excitement for us! We love you all!