Chance is One Year Old

I can't describe in words the confusion I feel for having a one year old baby. I may be biased, but I think you can look into those magical eyes and see how special he is.

I'm going to write directly to him to tell him about his ONEderful tendencies as a newly found toddler.



Chance, You are such an amazing and happy spirit.  You have a calm and comforting demeanor that illuminates an entire room. Sweet and gentle, yet determined and stubborn. While you are happy to go on about your own business and play for an hour terrorizing the toy area, the moment you lock eyes with me it's all over. Nothing else matters, but for you to want to be in my arms. The amount of love you have for your Mom (ME!) is a kind of connection I have never experienced.

Don't get me wrong, you absolutely ADORE your Dad and Big Sister. Oh boy do you love them. McKenna teaches you new things and you soak it all in.


You blink a long drawn out blink and we say it's your "I love you" blink.

You make noises like Donald Duck.

You like to lean your head in to touch heads with others.

The first time you sit up in the morning you have a smile on your face.

While you're learning to throw a ball, you hold it in your hand (usually your left) and turn your entire upper body frantically and just haphazardly let go of the ball and it flies in some random direction.

You took a few weeks to gain your sea legs. A few steps here and there, but really decided to start walking the day before your birthday!

You love flipping through books. It looks like you're studying the encyclopedia to then notice you're looking at it upside down.

You don't laugh harder than when your sister makes noises to get you to laugh.

You love Asparagus, Strawberries, Apples, and Beans! SO MANY BEANS!


For the longest time you believed every animal said MOOO. Now every animal says OINK.

THE DOG BED. It is your greatest joke. When the dog bed is out you beeline for it frantically, giggling the whole time and thrust your entire body all over it because you know the dramatic reactions you receive from us for not wanting you on it.

You love baths and splashing in the water.  You slam your hands down on the top of the water and soak everything within a 5 foot radius.

You love exploring McKenna's room, to her dismay, however she welcomes you with open arms (most of the time).

You HATE diaper changes with a passion.

You love knocking things over.  We build, build, build, and you knock over with the greatest satisfaction.

You have a tendency to randomly just fall backwards while you're sitting down.

But bumps and spills don't deter you.  You roll right through them and continue on.

When you wake up in the morning, your soft little curls are frizzed out all over your head.

Above all, you are the piece of the puzzle to complete our family.  I couldn't imagine this life without you. The last year has been quite a journey, and you toted along happily as long as Mom, Dad, and McKenna were right there next to you.  We love you so much and can't wait to continue to watch you grow and learn!

Monthly Milestones through ONE YEAR

Since the last post our lives have had so many changes! Just a couple of weeks after the last post we made the decision to move the family to Georgia....and it was a rather quick and chaotic move!

I'm going to do a separate post for Chance's birthday, But I wanted to update the monthly milestones separately. I think seeing them all back to back to back is so much fun.

Monthly Milestones through 4 months

Check out this Tiny, average sized baby turn into a little beast!

Of course I didn't think to do a baseline 0 months. I remembered when McKenna was a baby forgetting the same thing and swearing I wouldn't forget for a subsequent kid.  and Here we are.

0 days old

  1 month old

 2 months old

 3 months old

4 months old

Our plump little man loves his momma's milk. He is always smiling, though it did take us a while to get him to give us those highly desirable social smiles.  Now at 4 months, McKenna is pretty much the only one to get him to giggle. He LOVES watching her.

We have a FOUR month old!

Things have been busy since the last blog post 😆. Obviously posting blogs is not a priority nor a forte. I don’t think I’ll ever become a traditional Blogger. But, I don’t do baby books so this is what the kids will have aside from hard drives full of iPhone pictures! You're welcome, children. I hope to get the rest of the pregnancy pictures posted, even just for my family to look back on. And I DEFINITELY want to share my birth story!! 

The first four months has been an absolute whirlwind. Chance has been an amazing baby. But thinking back to when we came home from the hospital if feels like it’s been a decade! So much has happened since then. We gone through all of the typical baby things but we’re officially out of the newborn stage and I feel like Chance and I really understand each other. 

He is a happy baby who loves his mama, but might like his big sister even more! The way he looks at her and the way she looks at him is the most satisfying feeling I have ever experienced in this lifetime. I couldn’t feel more blessed, and I feel like my life and family are complete. It was love at first sight for both of them.

This little chunker is just shy of 19 pounds at 4 months old. He has been at the top of the standard growth curve since the beginning, but even jumped higher on his own growth curve starting at One month old. We dealt with the crazy emergency room scare at five days old, to find out his jaundice levels were fine. At five weeks old we discovered he had a tongue and lip tie that needed to be revised. A few weeks later I decided to cut out dairy, and after a slip up a few weeks in (aka me eating a whole cheese pizza 🙄), we confirmed his intolerance or sensitivity to dairy. I will say through it all we have seen and amazing chiropractor that has helped keep Chance feeling his optimal self.  

I'm going to share all of his milestone pictures in a separate post.... this little man has packed on the pounds and seeing them all back to back is awesome!

Full term... and then some!

Let's do some catching up on bump pictures! I'm going to go ahead and update through right now! I am currently 38 weeks pregnant.... just a couple of days shy of the same gestation MK was when she was born.... the excitement! The anticipation! The PRESSURE.... on my pelvis that is lol.

Overall this pregnancy has been pleasant with the occasion aches and pains. This Little man is so insanely active, sometimes it feels like he's going to bust right through my belly!! I do recall feeling like McKenna was active, but I definitely think this guy's got some bigger, more intense moves.

Sleep has been difficult.  And I've started to get the night sweats... something that plagued me immensely post-partum with McKenna and this is just a lovely reminder of what's likely to come!

Let's take our stroll down memory lane of the last couple of months. Kinda crazy to scroll quickly through them and watch it GRRRRRROOOOOOWWWWW!!!

Not sure what happened here, but we had the case of the missing shirt! I loved this blue shirt that we were using for Bump Updates. It was so soft and stretchy.... but I swear the three of us searched for a cumulative hour for it before giving up! Luckily I had a semi-decent replacement, a navy maternity shirt.  It will still bug me forever that we couldn't maintain the blue shirt, but life goes on!

Having a child during the pregnancy process is such a dramatic change from the first time. Things just aren't as apparent or at least as front and center. But having a little one to experience it all with is incredible! McKenna has been a part of the process the entire time. She has only grown more and more involved and excited about Little Man joining the family. She sings to him at bedtime every night, says she wants to change diapers, and asks when he's coming every day.  While there's no telling how our family will adjust when he finally gets here, we are soaking up our time together now while also looking forward to our new little addition!

Through 24 weeks!

This is around the time panic sets in. Out of nowhere I feel like I have ran out of time! Of course, there is still plenty of time, but when there's more pregnancy behind you than there is in front of you it starts to feel like you need to begin getting ready.

Overall the last few weeks I have felt great physically! Obviously I've got quite a few chalkboard pics to be sharing in this post! Boy has this blog morphed from when I blogged pregnant with MK. Let's just say life is just a smidge busier, but I'm so happy that we've made the effort to keep up with these pictures!

WEEK 20

Energy: Up until this time I have been able to plug away throughout the day as normal. The last couple of days I've been hitting an energy wall right around dinner time. I think I may need to start keeping tabs on when I'm overdoing it and pausing to give myself a rest.

Movement: I'm not sure this little guy EVER sleeps. All day long I feel him thumping around in there. But the hiccups. oh the hiccups. I vaguely recall enjoying them during my pregnancy with MK? But this little man's hiccups feel like a clicking sensation in my belly, and truth be told, it is super annoying!

WEEK 21

Cravings: Sweets. Sweets. Sweets. always. my love.  Kevin just changed the name of the game by starting to make homemade milkshakes.... they are amazing and they hit the Satisfaction button head on!

Sleep: I have been turning on meditation tracks to fall asleep and I swear they have helped me sleep better throughout the night.  I have yet to recall making it to the end of a single session because I'm always out before the end of it.... which is rare because I am a HORRID sleeper! I have woken up a few times with the start of Charlie Horses (which I was just reading back in my blog and I guess I had them with McKenna too). Of course, drinking water helps it out, but it's a delicate balance to avoid being up all night peeing!!!

WEEK 22

Week 22 was a particularly special one because it landed on MKs birthday. I love she loves to participate in our chalkboards every week, and she was super proud for this one!

Weight: Not sure where I'm at now, but between my last 2 midwife appts I had gained SIX pounds in a month! That's a record for me for any month I've been preggers. I'd like to say I've been trying to make sure I exercise more regularly or cut out more of Kevin's milkshakes, but that would be a lie.


WEEK 23

Position: Baby P is still insanely low! I can feel his little arms rolling around what feels like right above my pubic bone. It's killer on my bladder, but I'm just telling myself if he stays that low he is that much closer to the EXIT!!!

WEEK 24

Another "special" week... chalkboard day landed on Chief's 11th birthday. Makes me feel bad that we weren't even in town for Boog's 10th birthday a month ago, but he make sure to get plenty his share of attention.

I'm really starting to feel LARGE. Comparing bellies at this point is a bit intimidating too! My belly is definitely larger this go around. Just taking it week by week and focusing on the excitement that is ahead of us!

Week 17, Week 18, Week 19

Week 17

Not a whole lot to say week to week as there was last time.  Life has carried on a bit more, crazier of course, and Little Man just gets to come along for the ride! So you'll likely begin to see more of these combined chalkboard updates... I just can't keep up with it all!

Baby Boy is the size of a Turnip!

Energy: Energy has been great for me! I've been plugging away with life per usual.  My motivation for exercise is moderate.... I'm getting it in 3-4 times a week.  It's more about timing for me. It's definitely not the same as my pregnancy with MK-- I was up and out every morning with her. It's much different this time around!

Movement: Little man is getting busier and busier in there! Feeling flops and rolls already!

Weight: We don't own a scale in the house. I don't believe I did for MK either so I'm not sure how or why I would update on this... but I can speak of water retention and water weight.  Just like with MK, my rings just randomly slip off.  I don't know what it is with how my body adjusts to pregnancy, but it seems to just want to dump as much water out of me as it can (IN THE FORM OF PEEING MULTIPLE TIMES AN HOUR ALL DAY).


Week 18

Week 18 was a particularly exciting week! I've been feeling movements for a few weeks now, but just in the last week or so have I started feeling movements on the outside. I had tried to get Kevin to feel something several times, and it's always ended up with silence and stillness (to which is an awkward pulling of the hand away to continue doing what we were doing). BUT he finally felt him! And it wasn't just a kick, it was a big old roll. Now when I alert Little Man is awake, he can put his hand on my belly and feel him most of the time.

Energy:  My Christmas gift from kevin this year ended up being a package for prenatal yoga classes. I won't be able to make it every week because it's about a 30 minute drive, but I definitely think it will be super helpful as I get bigger and wider! Typically I aim for more power/strenuous yoga classes, but this one is all about breathing, relaxation, and stretching. It was wonderful.  I also had never been in a room with more pregnant women at once!! (There were 25 in this class!!!).

Nursery: We snatched a sit-and-stand stroller that is compatible with the infant carseat we already had from MK. This was our first big purchase for Little Man! I showed it to McKenna and she is STOKED to have a big seat in the back.  Win Win.

Cravings: Sweets, sweets, sweets.  But this really isn't much different than when I'm not pregnant.  Oh.. and just in general, I Cant. Stop. Eating.


Week 19

McKenna felt Baby Brother move today!! It's been a long couple of weeks of having her run to put her hand on my belly and wait, but the patience just isn't there. I know they'll be movement when her hand is there, but she's fidgeting and chatting so much that she just couldn't connect with the movements.  We've joked that Baby Brother is playing hide and seek. But today, there was no denying that foot that bonked her!

Nursery: We finally bought a crib! I've spent weeks digging through websites and swip swaps. It's been weighing on me whether to go "all out" or just get it done and make it wonderful. Ultimately, we decided to go with a more inexpensive crib.  This is the only kid that's going to use it, honestly, we just didn't feel like it needed to be over the top!  It hasn't come in yet, so let me get it built before I truly form an opinion :P.

Sleep: I feel like I'm getting "fine" sleep. I don't think any preggo woman would say she sleeps great, but I'm not going to complain about it... this week anyway. I officially sleep with a body pillow and a pillow behind me so I am barricaded in place. 

Position:  This Little Man is SOOOOOOO LOW. Like, he is all uterus. Way lower than MK ever was. As is stands, he is not high enough for anyone to attempt to feel him without being inappropriate. Every time he kicks or moves I feel pressure on my bladder.

With next week being officially HALFWAY, I'll probably pull out some of MKs belly pics and look at some comparisons. I can't wait to look at the differences!