A Long Distance Baby Shower

Well...last night much to my surprise Ben and Katie Nelson came in the front door with arms full of baby gifts! My first thought was that they were bringing things for the twins until Katie and LaJuan said, "Surprise...it's your baby shower!" After a second of confusion I became a little teary eyed at the thoughtfulness of our friends back "home" in Mobile. I definitely felt very much cared about and loved. We received some really cute things for Journey but even more importantly, I really enjoyed knowing that her life and her upcoming birth was being celebrated.


I want thank Morgan and Jenn White for their planning and pulling off a great surprise (and of course LaJuan for not spoiling the surprise). Thank you so much for being a great friend and for going out of your way to make sure we felt special and loved. Thank you also to everyone who was so generous in showering our little girl with pretty dresses, much needed gift cards, toys, picture frames, books and more. This means so much to us!


I am starting my 36th week and we are getting ready for the big day. At my last doctor's appointment my doctor thought Journey's heart rate sounded a little too fast so he ordered a Non Stress Test. She failed the test so I had to go downtown Orlando to the hospital for more extensive tests and an ultrasound (she is weighing 6lbs 3oz). Thankfully all was well with our little girl and the doctor and ultrasound tech both concluded that Journey is just a sleepy little baby...imagine that!

Demetrius and Jayden's First Disney Trip!

Here we are at the entrance to Epcot. Our good friend Lindsay works at Disney so she and her fiance Blake took us as there guests. We had a blast!

Jayden and Demetrius watching a juggling act. Jayden loves balls so he loved this!

You can't see it in the picture but he was watching a train go around the tracks. He mostly liked climbing up on the fence though.

On our way back to our car we realized we parked in "Journey." We took the opportunity to catch a photo of Journey under the "Journey" sign.

These are our friends Blake and Lindsay. Thanks again for such a fun-filled day. Love you guys!

As of Friday afternoon we officially SOLD our house in Mobile! Needless to say we are very thankful.  

Shoes, Daddy's Shirt and Mismatched Clothes

Jayden will now bring stuff to us to put on him. This particular morning it was Demetrius' polo shirt. I couldn't resist...

How about this stylist outfit. A striped onesie, blue and green dinosaur pj pants and some cool velcro sandals. This kid's got class and style!

And last of all...the new obsessions with shoosh (shoes).

Jayden's 15 month check up was today. He was 23lbs 14oz (50th%) and 31 3/4 inches (75th%). I also had my 33wk appointment and all is well. I'm still measuring one week ahead, which puts the baby in the 62nd percentile for size. Thankfully good ole' Daddy was there to help with all of the appointments. We will go today to the hospital to complete the pre-admission process. We've never been to the hospital so it's sort of a "dry run" practice just in case I actually go into labor on my own!

Journey, Jayden and Mommy

Journey's First Photo Shoot

Particular, Head Strong, Strong Willed....Determined

However you want to say it...he JUST is! We have known since the first night Jayden came into our lives that he is a determined little boy who does not easily give up. I would first like to say that I am so thankful for this characteristic of his. If I would have know this about him I would not have worried when my progesterone levels were less than half of what they should have been and I was told that another miscarriage was very possible. I would secondly like to admit that I have to remind myself to appreciate it and not try to "break" him of this trait. So, since the beginning I have really focused on teaching Jayden to obey so that this God-given trait does not get out of hand and turn into defiance and disobedience.

That being said, we decided that now is the time to take his bottle away. He has been drinking everything but milk from a cup for a while now but we haven't been able to convince him that milk in a cup is not poison. To make a long story short, we took his bottle away for 5 days straight and he didn't drink milk or much of anything else for those five days! So, after many dry diaper changes Demetrius and I decided "better a hydrated baby on the bottle for way too long" than a dehydrated, gloomy little boy. So, he has his best friend bottle back and we are saving this fight for another time!