2 years old | 33 weeks

And just like that, Jade is 2! I can't even believe it. She is so smart and learns so much from Damon. She is talking pretty good for her age, but maybe only mom and dad can understand at this point. We have given up on potty training until baby brother is here and settled in. We only really tried that out for a couple weeks back in September,  but it didn't stick quite as well as mon hoped it would so we will try again in a few months. She is pretty easy to please when it comes to food. Some of her current favorite snacks are deli meat, gogurt, apple sauce, and plain sandwich bread.  She is pretty brave on the playground now. She use to only attempt the smallest slide, but now does almost all of them without help or hesitation. She loves to put her own shoes on, having her teeth brushed (pretty sure she just loves to eat the toothpaste), picking out her own clothes, "little angel" videos on youtube, and much much more! I am so curious to see how she does with a baby coming. She seems to like baby doll toys, but obviously that's not the same. I'm just hoping she will have that natural gentle, caring nature about it all when he arrives and won't go to crazy.

I am officially 33 weeks pregnant this week as well and feeling it! The craziness that comes with the holidays is harder on this big prego body than I thought it would be. Nothing unbearable, but definitely have less energy than I would like. Damon asks me all the time when the baby is going to come out and loves laying on my belly getting kicked. He also makes sure to remind me that my belly is big every time he has a chance. Especially if its popping out of the bottom of moms shirt. #hillbillylife 

23 months | 30 weeks

Jade is on her last month before turning 2! She is strong willed, smart, and so much fun right now! She learns a lot from Damon. She knows her ABC's, numbers 1-10, and more words than I can think of. Of course at this stage mom and dad are the ones who understand the majority of what she says, but she knows all about everything she's saying. She loves to eat but is starting to pick and choose some things that she does/doesn't like. Not quite as extreme as Damon yet, but she is realizing she has an opinion on things and will not hesitate to express it. Some of her favorite things right now are gogurt, oranges, applesauce, moms water (NOT hers for some reason), climbing the stairs on her own, playing hide and seek, and much more. She is usually not sleeping through the night. She mostly just wakes once and comes into our room. Because I don't want to fight it, I end up finishing the nights rest in her room. Thankfully she has a nice full size mattress in her room so it's doable for now. Damon also sneaks into our room most of the time. Not sure how it's going to work out with baby #3. Hopefully this one just knows how to sleep. Otherwise I have to sleep train or I will go crazy.

Speaking of baby #3, we are doing well and I'm getting bigger and more tired as the days go on. He loves to do summer-salts in my belly.  A lot of the time I can feel him all the way down by my pubic bone as well as in my ribs at the same time so I think he's going to be tall. That or flexible. Probably  both. Damon loves laying on my belly so that he can feel the baby moving. He has been making comments here and there asking about the baby more-so this time. He will find some of his old shoes that no longer fit him and bring them to me and say he is going to save them for the baby. It's a good thing because I was going to if he wasn't. He also loves to feel my belly if he happens to see me before the shower. He is always surprised about how big my belly is and often starts laughing kind of excitedly whenever my belly happens to peep out of the bottom of my shirt. I know, hillbilly status over here. It's getting big. I am on the every 2 week checkups but they are fairly pointless at the moment aside from checking vitals, measuring my belly, and listening for babies heart rate.

4 years old || 22 Months || 25 weeks

Damon is 4 years old now! Some things that he is into these days are dinosaurs (we watch Land Before Time at least once a day lately), any truck, and loves going to preschool. We had a dinosaur themed birthday party and the kids got to crack open dinosaur eggs. The party kind of died earlier than we planned this time. Previously when we have had parties at this park, the lights automatically turned on when it started getting dark. Well, that wasn't the case this time. Now we apparently have to schedule the lights to be on after dark. So we ended earlier and were forced to have everyone pull out the flashlights on their phones so that we could see the cake. A couple of us went back to our house to open gifts, but it was late enough by the time we gave up and went home that it wasn't a big deal. Aside from that, it was a good turn out and Damon had fun. Damon is an organizer. He also does not like getting dirty. Anything that is messy, he usually is not a fan and will fight it as much as possible. He loves to help his dad do anything and everything. He constantly asks when dad will be home whenever he is working. Damon's patience has shortened recently. Everything "takes a long time." For example, any car ride- before we even leave our neighborhood he says "Mom, it's taking a long time!" He loves to be creative and color or paint. He does very well in preschool and loves going. It was the easiest transition for him. He was not sad at all to leave mom during the day. Damon has gotten pretty good at swimming. Although swimming season is over, I haven't updated on that for awhile. He took swim lessons this past summer from someone in our ward and did really well. He was a little slow at learning at first until we got him goggles and then it was like a night and day difference and he figured it out so quick. He also was taking piano lessons over the summer, but is not currently since his teacher went away to college. We haven't gotten him enrolled in anything else since preschool just to make it easier for him to transition into school, but hopefully we will add some fun stuff in here pretty quick. We have been talking about T-Ball and then also finding another piano teacher. When he was taking piano, he was just learning basics like rhythm and things like that since he is so young. We will see if he likes it enough to find another teacher and keep up with it.

Jade is 22 months now. Almost 2! She gets mistaken for a 3 year old all the time because she is so tall. She prettymuch knows her ABC's and #1-10 now. Some food that she is currently obsessed with is gogurt, applesauce, plain slices of bread (but only takes like 2 bites out of it and then leaves it to go stale), and chips/salsa. She is our less picky child but she has started forming opinions about random things lately and will turn things down sometimes. She also loves oranges, strawberries, and prettymuch any fruit. She loves putting on her own shoes and gets frustrated when she can't get it right on her own. She now thinks she's big enough to go down the stairs by herself and won't accept any help. She's like that about random things now. She thinks she's big and can do everything on her own. She loves to try buckle things and is very particular about that being done. She's starting this (hopefully) phase where she throws scream fits when she doesn't get what she wants which is real fun. We are currently trying to take away naps, but not fully. She does nap sometimes, but I don't push it unless she's sick or someone she's been exposed to has been sick. We aren't really potty training anymore. She will tell us occasionally when she needs to go potty and about 50% of the time she is right. Other times she has already done it in her diaper. So we keep her in pull-ups for ease of helping her go potty when she does say it. We don't want to push her to potty train too early like we did with Damon and have it be so stressful and long.

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant with baby boy! I'm feeling pretty good. I have had some occasional contractions already and plenty of random heartburn/acid reflux. I can't seem to pinpoint what's causing that. Adam has felt movement once so far. Damon has said he has felt it, but nothing huge. And Jade has not felt him yet. I have not had my (regular) glucose test yet, but I will have that next week. Otherwise we don't have much to report on the pregnancy! Baby moves lots and we seem to be healthy so far!

21 months

Another month down. Jade says so many words now I can't keep track. Some of her favorite things are drinking from water bottles like an adult (she does this surprisingly well- usually better than Damon!). She is not a big fan of falling asleep anymore. She takes at least an hour to fall asleep at night, but still takes a nap during the day. So, maybe we will be cutting out naps here pretty quick. We attempted potty training recently. Our whole household (except for Adam) was sick with a cold so I figured it was the perfect time since we were going to be home cooped up anyway. We started on a Monday and she had lots of accidents the first day. By the end of the week she had NO poop accidents, but would have lots of pee accidents. Usually just starting in her underwear. I went ahead and got pull ups to use during naps and that gradually turned into an all day thing. Before we knew it, she was hardly using the potty anymore. So, we are taking a couple days off and put her back into regular diapers so that we can start fresh in a few days. Next time, NO pull ups. I wasn't planning on potty training her until her little BROTHER (surprise!!) is born because I felt like I started Damon before he was completely ready and it took a lot longer than it should have. So I was waiting for her to give the go ahead. And here we are. I had heard that girls tend to be a little younger when they want to potty train and that they train quicker, but we will see. I will believe that when we are completely potty trained. Jade loves to sing along to her favorite songs (Adam Lavigne- Girl Like you) (Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes), and the Blippi soundtrack. She will randomly throughout the day start reciting parts of Blippi saying "B-L-I-P-P-I, Blippi! Good Job!" Whenever we have anything Panic! At the Disco on the TV, she is GLUED to the TV. The girl has good taste in music! She hasn't been a big fan of nursery so far. She is getting better, but our ward just switched up the classes (we have 5 or 6 nursery classes!!) and now she will have a different class and teacher so we are probably going to be starting over. Since we have all been sick (and out of town), we haven't had her in nursery for awhile so we will see how that goes. Jade is still rocking a mullet. Her hair will not grow out in front of her ears! The hair is already so fine, but being on the hairline it's lacking a bit. Good thing the girl looks feminine and I dress her like a girl or else people wouldn't know. She had her first trip to the beach recently (along with Damon's first) and they both did good! Damon was fearless and loved digging in the sand and looking for shells. Jade was unsure about the sand and water at first, but by day 2 of the trip, she was doing laps in and out of the water. They both did ok in the car ride over (6hrs) too which I wasn't really sure would work as well as it did. Our dang air in our 2016 Nissan Rogue wasn't working well on the way there and back. You'd think with the car being not so old that the air could keep up, but apparently a 6hr drive did it. We return the car in a couple months when our lease is up though. Jade and Damon like playing on Damon's dump truck. They love pushing each other throughout the house and they are always laughing so hard. It's something that always brings a smile to my face. Little kids belly laughs are the best. We decided on Halloween costumes (mostly). We are doing an avengers theme this year. Damon chose spiderman, we got a captain marvel costume for Jade, mom is planning on being fat thor (gotta rep that prego belly), and so far dad is going to be iron man. We will see how mom and dads costumes come together, but that's the goal so far. Jade loves putting her shoes on all by herself, playing with her dogs, mommies necklaces, and wearing everyone's shoes. Some of my favorite things she says right now is her version of mickey mouse which is "Mick-sauce" and broccoli which is "boppi."  She tries to say everything and her pronunciation is fun to listen to.

Baby Brown #3 Intro

I have been slacking on updating this on all angles. So since the title tells just about all, I am officially 17 weeks pregnant with baby #3. We do not know the gender yet, but should around 18-19 weeks. So my due date according to my calculations is January 27, 2020! I have been feeling pretty good lately. I went through a mildly rough month or so with nausea and lack of appetite, but nothing extreme. I haven't freshened up on how it was when I was pregnant with Damon to see how closely this pregnancy compares to his, but I do remember that with Jade I had more morning sickness basically just like this one. So, my vote is with a girl this time. We will see on August 29 when we have the ultrasound! I haven't been eating super healthy and did go through a little bit of a sugar craving stage, but again nothing crazy. I took the early glucose test (as I have to early on in every pregnancy thanks to having GD with Damon) and I passed! I will have to take the glucose test again at the regular time between 25-30 weeks if I remember right. Hopefully I'll do ok then as well. Damon's current prediction is that this is a boy baby. Jade is oblivious of what's going on. I tried telling her there was a baby in my belly and she just lifted up my shirt looking for it. So we will see how that changes as it gets closer. She and this baby will be 2 yrs 1.5 month apart. Damon and Jade are 2 yrs and 2 months apart so it will be very similar. More updates coming.

19 months

Jade has been talking up a storm lately! She has been saying so many more words just randomly that I didn't even realize she could say (or her version of them). She surprises me every day and I love watching her learn new things so fast. Just off the top of my head here are some words she says:

Mom

Dad

Papa

Nana

Blanket

Food

Banana

Cheese

Eggs

Yogurt

Bread

Meat

Pizza

My Turn

No

Yes

Bye

Love ya

Dog

Horse

Cat

Slide

Car

Truck

Broccoli

Bib

Bottle

Milk

Juice

Snack

Apple

Bike

Ball

Shoe

Shirt

Pants

Dress

Hat

Socks

Book

Kitty

Potty

Poo

Pee

Diaper

Wipes

Apple Sauce (this one is pretty slurred)

Bird

Rattle

Mobile

Baby

belly

ear

nose

eyes

hand

feet

legs

back

nose

hi

xander (her bestie)

ETC

I know I am forgetting some, but you can see what I mean when I say her vocabulary has exploded!  She is in size 7 shoes, 18m-2t clothes, and 4 diapers. She has leveled off as far as sizing goes. Some of her 18m onesies and pants don't fit because she is just getting taller. It's hard to find pants that are long enough, but fit her little waist. She loves brushing her teeth, playing in mommies makeup, putting her own shoes on, climbing, our dogs, and all things blippi. We love her and she keeps us on our toes. Damon and her have their ups and downs, but for the most part do really well together. Jade is more of a lover and randomly likes hugs and cuddles that Damon isn't always excited about. But I love watching them play and have fun when they do!

18 months

Jade is officially nursery age and half way to 2 years! I can't even believe it. It seems like the moment that she started walking, it's been going SO fast. She loves to hug Damon randomly and it is not his favorite thing. He is not a fan of being held down. Jade still loves to eat all day. She loves her shoes, putting her hands over her face and hiding, playing hide and seek, playing with puppies or any animal she has access to. She has a strong stink face that makes people think she hates them very easily. I think she gets that from her mom. Her hair is getting longer, but still sort of in the mullet stage and is very fine and gets nappy easily from sleeping. Jade is starting to tell us when she poops in her diaper and even asks to go on the potty. She usually gets stage freight and doesn't like it once you set her on the potty. We might need to pull out the kid potty soon. She sleeps through the night just as well as Damon now which isn't perfect, but getting close! She is starting to be less dependent on mom. Mom use to be the only one who could get her to go to sleep in her bed. We have been done breastfeeding for a couple months now I believe. She still occasionally asks for it but gives up easily. She is not a fan of swimming this year yet. The water isn't warm yet, but a refreshing cool. She still is not a fan, but maybe we will get there. It's been surprising because she loved swimming so much last year. She is currently wearing sizes 18m-2t clothing, size 6 shoe, and size 4 diaper. She is not a fan of bows or headbands anymore so those don't usually stay on long. Same goes for ponytails. We usually sport the nappy bedhead look. Some words she says are:

Hi

Bye

Yes

No

Mom

Dad

Nana

Papa

Pickle (cockle)

Banana (nana)

Snack

Juice

Dog

Kitty

Love ya

Good night

Blippi

Fishy

Drink

Done

Food

I want _____ (see above options)

That sums up the ones that are consistent but she is imitating words all the time but doesn't always do it more than once. She is so smart and knows what we are talking about more than we probably realize. 

Height- 33.5in

Weight- 22lb8oz

Head Circumference- 48.2cm

17 months

 Baby Jade is such a livewire and keeps us busy at our house. She constantly wants to be eating. She started developing an addiction to making us flip through videos on youtube every 10 seconds. She could not watch more than a few seconds before wanting to watch a different one. So she's no longer allowed on the phones for awhile so that she doesn't get addicted. She would love to grab moms phone in the morning and have her turn on a video for her to watch. Only for a few seconds before throwing the phone on moms face. Repetition was key in making sure mom is up for the day. She had the process down. We love her with all her spunk. She is getting a nice scowl expression down and likes to do it to everyone. She loves to dance to her favorite band- Panic! At the Disco. Especially "High Hopes." She also loves watching the music video. She does not like mushrooms. She likes most everything else. Here are some of the things she says now:
Mom
Dad
Done
Dog
Fishy
Drink
No
Yes
Snack
Bye
Hi
Blippi
Shoes

There might be more that I'm forgetting. She is not a fan of swimming so far for this year, but the pools are still on the cool side. She would much rather explore the yard. She does not let mom put bows in her hair anymore. She will tolerate a pony tail for short periods of time. She loves to throw toys out of the bathtub. She is still nursing just twice during the night only. She officially has her room put together and is sleeping in there full time now. She loves to steal Damon's toys and juice. She always makes sure to let mom know when she has pooped in her diaper by coming for a nice stinky cuddle. The moment mom acknowledges the issue, she runs away to avoid a diaper change. Plus I think she loves the chase. She is already wanting to go to nursery at church. The moment sacrament meeting is done, she will try to run into the nursery room. I hope that means that the transition from us not being in there will be smooth as well. She will be officially nursery age next month and mom is SO READY. She "saw" a movie (dumbo) in the theater for the first time. And by that I mean she slept the whole time. She has been taking 1 nap during the day, but has been starting the day earlier so she often wants to nap way too early and when doing so, has a long emotional evening. She hates it when mom is cooking in the kitchen. I think she doesn't realize she is hungry until I get in there and start cooking and then she wants me to help her find something to eat. She is still rear facing in the car and in her infant seat. I believe Damon was forward facing right around 12 months because he was so tall and hated the car unless he was forward. She seems to do just fine- probably because Damon is next to her, but she also is not too tall for the seat yet so that is definitely a factor. Jade loves animals so much. She is just like her momma that way. Any time there is a bird on the ground she wants to chase it. Any time there is a dog nearby, she is waving, saying hi, and running toward it. She is going to be in heaven when Poppy has her puppies.
18-24m size onesies, shirts, and pants
12-18m shorts
size 4 diapers
size 5 shoe