Never Say Never

So if there is one thing I have learned in my 32 years is "Never Say Never".

Ten years ago my friend Heather wanted to introduce me to her friend Brian because he thought I was cute. I said, "Nope. Not interested in dating anyone right now." Yeah. We all know how that ended.

Six years ago, Brian's employer told him he would have to relocate soon. He said sure, but he would not move to Albuquerque. Yeah. Where did we spend the last 5 years?

While living in Albuquerque our Tucson friends and family would ask when we'd be moving back. "Not anytime soon, if ever.", we'd say. Oh yeah... that one came true, too.

When I found out we were moving back I said I wasn't going to work. I was going to stay home, run Get A Grip for Brian, volunteer at Jaxon's preschool, have playdates with friends. What's that? Ami & Mary twisted my arm to going back to teach kindergarten with them! (It took a lot of twisiting :) )

And a month and a half ago I wrote this blog (Maybe Baby? Maybe Not). Going on and on about how we weren't going to have any more kids. One was enough for us. Well, God had other plans.

Oh yes, people, I hope you are all ready. There will be another Pearson gracing our presence soon! There was nobody more shocked than Brian and me.

The fourth member of our family is due to arrive on January 8, 2012. I'm 12 weeks along. It's been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.

Not having planned it, actually, having had a mind set of no more kids, will throw you for a loop when it does happen. I thought we were free of diapers, bottles, baby food, strollers, diaper bags, teething, colic and all of the other "fun" stuff that comes with a baby. plus I felt terrible that there are couples who try so hard for a baby and it just doesn't happen for them and here I am, not necessarily asking for another one with a baby on the way. Needless to say, it took a few weeks for us to get excited. Plus the thought of months of sleepless nights, was not at all exciting.

Then, we had our first ultrasound, at 8 weeks. The doctor saw something on the ultrasound that made us VERY nervous. My experience with doctors making "noises" has not been good. She said she wanted me to have another ultrasound in a few weeks to take a closer look at what this thing could be. As you can imagine, I was a worried. You don't want something to be wrong with the baby you are just getting to know. So, Brian & I had to guard our hearts (yes, I realize I sound a bit like Kasey from Ali's season of The Bachelorette). We needed to prepare ourselves for the worst. Hope for the best, expect the worst. Maybe not the best attitude to have, but it's what we did.

As those 4 weeks moved on, and my belly started growing, (Oh yes, it's became round and big quickly) Brian and I got a bit more excited. Thinking about Jaxon as a big brother made us happy. We think it is going to be great for Jaxon, in a lot of ways (he needs to learn that life doesn't revolve around him). Then, I started looking back at past blog posts, and our picture albums. Seeing Jaxon's chubby little face, his milestones, his excitement made me thrilled to be able to experience all of those firsts again. And sure enough, we have fallen in love.

See that belly! It's getting hard to hide.

Thankfully, things have turned out for the best, so far. We had the second ultra sound last week and the baby looks absolutely perfect! I am so in love with this precious little thing. We could see his/her fingers, nose, mouth, ears, spine. So amazing. Her/his heartbeat seems so strong. The doctor said everything looks good and is on track.

Honestly, how cute is this new little Pearson going to be?


The top yellow word says "head" the middle one says "belly" and the bottom one is "spine"

Jaxon seems totally ready for a new baby. When I told him I had a baby in my belly he said, "What kind is it? Is your belly going to get big like Mary's?" And that was it. He seems to want a little sister and keeps calling the baby a girl. He does want to name her "Dorie", so that'll be interesting if it is a girl. He's even ready to give his crib to the baby so that he can have a big boy bed.

So now we wait a couple more months to find out if we'll be buying pink or handing down blue.

Really?!?

Last week, Jaxon & I went to school with Ami and the Bunchkins (I just can't stay away from the classroom!) The kids did an awesome job of hanging out and playing in the classroom while Ami & I addressed & folded letters.

As we are getting ready to go all of the kids go into the bathroom and start flushing the toilet. Over and over and over and over and over again. It was pretty hilarious. The best part was their giggles and squeals of sheer delight. Plus, when we heard Jaxon say, "Cannon Ball!" Not words you want to hear your child say when he is playing with the toilet! I chose to believe that this toilet was spotlessly clean, by the way.

It's amazing what entertains 3 two-year olds and 1 three-year old.

The Boy ♥s His Dog

Months and months ago Jaxon came to AZ to spend time with my parents. While here, my mom sang a Spanish lullaby to Jaxon. I had no idea what the words were, but when we got home, he wanted me to sing the song to him. All he said was, "Sing A Dormir." (which means "to sleep"). So what was I to do? I made up a song, in Spanish, with the words A Dormir in them. We have sang it each day and night since then. Jaxon will even sing it to me or to himself.

Today, he was lying with Lucy on the floor and he began singing A Dormir to her! So stinkin' cute! After he sang it twice he says, "Mama, get the video camera and tape me singing to my dog." Well, it was just too cute not to do what he said.

Lucy was very cooperative the first two times, but by the third I think she wanted to be saved from the kid "petting" & singing to her!

For my non-Spanish speaking readers....

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my baby.

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my doggie.

Go to sleep doggie. Let's go to sleep today.

Go to sleep, go to sleep. I love you very much.

Let's go to sleep today. Go to sleep I love you very much. We're going to sleep!

Nothin' Like the Movies

What else do you do on a hot (100 degree plus) summer day? Go to the movies! It is seriously one of my (mine?) and Brian's favorite things to do. Before Jaxon came along we used to go at least once a week. Brian has even been known to go to the movies by himself during slow work days. So of course we were excited for the time Jaxon would be old enough to join us.

We figured 3 would be a good age. We asked all of our friends and this seemed to be the magic number. We also knew that LOTS of popcorn would have to be involved. This is, in fact, my kid we're talking about and if it's something we have in common... we love popcorn (well, Jax just loves snacks. Period.)!

Thankfully, Cars 2 came out this weekend so we didn't have to suffer through some crappy kid movie.

Oh, how I wish I would have videod Jaxon's reaction when we told him we were going to the movies. Pure elation. And my boy didn't disappoint... "Can we get popcorn?!?"

Ready to go in

I also wish I would have video taped his entrance into the theater. It was priceless. I didn't even think of telling him anything about the movies. Which is weird, because I always tell Jaxon about what we're doing, what we'll see, how we have to behave. But I just didn't. I think it's because going to the movies is so natural for me that it didn't even occur to explain anything to him. He took one step into the theater and was in awe. "This is da movies?!? Wow." Complete with wide eyes and a big smile.

Oh it got better. We walked into the actual theater. "It's so dark. Wow! Look at those seats. This is going to be fun!"

Does he not look like a big kid here?

Let's not forget the popcorn. The HUGE popcorn! I swear Jaxon ate half of that bucket!The whole experience was priceless. Periodically he'd look over at us and smile the biggest, happiest smile. Halfway through the previews, which by the way, why do they show previews at a kid's movie? Anyway, he looks at me and says (not in a whisper) "I want to see Cars not Winnie da Pooh". Yeah. I know. It's called previews. Deal with it.

As an extra surprise they had a Pixar Toy Story little cartoon. So cute.

It didn't get much better for me when he's sitting on my lap, put his arm around me, hugs me and says, "This is soo fun! I love you sooo much!" Melts my heart this boy does.

I really should have talked to him about how we don't talk during movies. He was funny. "Why is the TV on so loud? Why is Mater sad? Did McQueen win da race? Did Francesco win da race? Dat is funny! Did Mater say sabi?" Again, not in a quiet voice.

He did really well for his first movie. It was a long one too. Two hours. He sat really well. Didn't have to get up to go the the bathroom once.

I think we have a new movie buddy.

Soccer Mom

I am becoming a "Soccer Mom"! All I really need is the bumper sticker of Jaxon's chosen sport with his number and name to put on my back window.

We are all excited over here in the Pearson household with Jaxon's new Sports Camp. He goes once a week for 4 weeks and each week they focus on a different sport. So stinkin' cute!

The first week was basketball. Umm, yeah. Basketball isn't his sport.

I have to brag. Jaxon was by far the BEST listener! He did everything Coach Nicole asked him to do. She'd say, "Ok. Everyone back on their star." and Jax would be the first one on his circle. She'd say, "Hold your ball." Jaxon was the first and only one to stop dribbling and hold his ball. I was impressed.

He is going to rock preschool!

First there was a warm-up and some stretching

Then inside the gym we went to practice some essential basketball skills... chest pass, bounce pass, overhead pass, dribbling and of course shooting!











Last week they played soccer. Oh I think Jaxon will be the next David Beckham for sure! Even the coach commented on how good he was. He smoked the other kids while dribbling the ball! He was able to run and kick the ball no problem. We're so proud.

Unfortunately, I forgot my nice camera and video camera. So all I have are cell phone pictures.

There goes Jaxon, dribbling to the other goal. He's the on in between the 2 coaches.

This week he'll do baseball.

Present

One of our Father's Day presents to Brian was this...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE his picture of Brian! I especially love how he drew Brian with hair. That is funny to us because Jaxon always tells Brian, "Daddy, you have no hair. You only have a little bit of hair."

I Love my Daddy!

My Daddy has a lot of hair.

My Daddy says, "Okay, you can have a fruit snack."

My Daddy likes vegetables.

My Daddy wishes about my dinosaurs.

My Daddy wants candy.

My Daddy hears me.

My Daddy plays cars and airplanes.

My Daddy works.

My Daddy eats pasta.

My Daddy drinks chocolate milk and while milk.

My Daddy likes meat.

My Daddy wears shirts.

My Daddy's favorite sport is soccer and baseball

My Daddy is Brian.

My Daddy loves me! And Papi!

Vacay - Last Day!

After Legoland, Brian & I were theme-parked-out! We decided to forego The Zoo and spend the day at the beach. Well, when we woke up on Wednesday it was overcast and WAAAAY chilly! So we decided to go to The Zoo after all (like how I'm capitalizing The Zoo?) Our plan was to get the tour, see the koalas and then walk over to the pandas and call it a day.

Well, we started off golden! There was no wait for the tour bus. We got on a saw all of the important animals... giraffes, elephants, rhinos, lions, tigers, polar bears, camels, llamas, bears, cheetahs, gazelles, etc. We got off the tour bus and all hell broke loose! To this day I don't know what exactly happened. Jaxon asked for milk. I told him I only had water and Dr. Jekyll came out (is he the naughty one?) I found a nice little corner and put him in time out. Which was hilarious. Because people were walking by and whispering to each other about the kid in time out. He calmed down. We saw the koalas. Super cute!

Then Brian & I needed a potty break. I told Jaxon he was going in with me. Oh my! Here came Dr. Jekyll (or is it Mr. Hyde?) again. You'd think I told him to drink gasoline. He DID NOT want to go into the bathroom. So what's a good mom to do? I dragged him into the stall kicking and screaming. Hey, when a girls got to pee a girls got to pee. When we walked out Brian was standing there. FURIOUS! He said, "That's it! We're leaving." I started to protest, quietly. "But I want to see the pandas." "Anabelle. We are leaving. This behavior is unacceptable and he has to learn a lesson."

Ok. Off we went.

Jaxon screamed the entire way to the car.

Then he screamed for 10 minutes on our way to the hotel.

Finally he fell asleep. Poor baby.As mad as I was at him, I couldn't help but love him. We had pushed him too far. This was after all the 4th day without a nap. UnheWe all took a little rest and went swimming in the hotel pool for a few hours. Not exactly the beach, but still fun.

After swimming we showered and headed to Horton's Plaza for a little shopping. Where Jaxon was an absolute dream. Seriously, you would have never known that a mere few hours before he was a little devil. Oh well.

We worked up an appetite shopping for sunglasses so off to Casa Guadalajara in Old Town for some Mexican food.

Jaxon being his silly self. Wanting me to take pictures of him.

My favorite part of dinner was the mariachi band. Really, it was Jaxon's reaction to the band. The moment he heard the first note he became a dancing fool.

Dancing with his whale

Since we only got one family picture I thought I'd try for a few self-portraits before we all went night night.

All in all we had a good time, yes we had a few rocky moments, but the good definitely out weighed the bad. We do want to try again in a couple months and spend more time on the beach.... no more theme park for us! Oh, and we'll sneak in a nap here and there.

Happy Father's Day

I feel so blessed to have a husband that has become such a wonderful Daddy. I am amazed at the love these two have for each other. It absolutely melts my heart to see Jaxon & Brian playing together and "working" on a project together.

Brian, thank you for all that you do for Jaxon. Thank you for teaching him love, patience (you're learning too), respect, responsibility and how to become a good man. Jaxon is going to be a better person because he has you as a role model. You really are his "best pal".