Sleep

Tommy slept the whole night last night! He slept from 8pm - 8am! I am so proud of him. Especially, after I wrote about how hard it was yesterday. He woke up at 2am and cried for about 5 minutes and put himself back to sleep. He woke up again at 5am for about 2 minutes and put himself back to sleep! I am hoping this will continue! Please say a little prayer for him! It was an amazing night of sleep for me!

Feeling better

I would like to say that I have not blogged in awhile as we have been busy with company and enjoying the nicer weather. However, the real reason is because I have not been feeling well. I forgot what the first trimester was like and I had about two weeks where all I could do was stay inside and try my best to play with Tommy and keep him busy but I would just pray that I could make it to nap time each day. Luckily, Joe would help me out in the mornings and Joe's parents love to watch Tommy so they watched him quite a few afternoons and evenings. Tommy also loved getting out of the house and going to visit them especially since all I wanted to do was stay inside. Luckily, I am feeling a lot better. I have also not gained any weight during my first trimester. Granted, I had not lost all of my baby weight from Tommy but when I was pregnant with Tommy I gained over 10 pounds in my first trimester.

Update on Tommy:
- Turned 10 months old on October 30th.
- Is walking - he started about two weeks ago and can now take numerous steps but he is still somewhat unsteady and has no idea how to walk with shoes on his feet.
- Weighed 17 lbs. 9 oz. at his 9 month appointment. He was in the 90th percentile for height and the 10th for weight - He is my little peanut.
- He is a very happy baby and his favorite thing is to play with his Daddy!
- He has two teeth.
- He loves to eat and no longer eats baby food. He loves to eat anything that we are eating.
- He still nurses - he REFUSES to take formula. I tried to switch him once I got pregnant but there was no way he was going to switch - He only wants the real stuff.
- He can be very stubborn.
- He cries very loudly.
- He DOES NOT sleep through the night - This is such a hard thing right now. He just started going from 8:00pm to 5am a couple of weeks ago and now he is back to waking up earlier. I try and give him his pacifier but he still cries. One night he cried on and off for over two hours. I finally went in and fed him and he went right to bed. I am just getting really sick of getting up in the middle of the night. My pediatrician and OB doc said that I need to make him cry it out as he does not need to be eating at night but I guess I am a sucker and can't handle all the crying. I thought he would grow out of it as he eats so much during the day. This is something we are working on every night. Hopefully, he will be sleeping completely through the night before the next baby is born!

Big Brother

Yes, Tommy is going to be a big brother! We are expecting our second baby! I am about 9-10 weeks along with a due date of May 22, 2010. While we were open to another baby I was still a little shocked when I found out I was pregnant. I was home alone with Tommy when I took a home pregnancy test about a month ago and it was positive! Joe was still working and I really wanted to tell him but I wanted to wait until he got home so I could tell him in person. So, I wrote on Tommy's diaper that he is going to be a big brother and when Joe came home I asked him to go change Tommy as I needed a break. Joe started playing with Tommy and I kept saying please change his diaper. Finally, Joe changed his diaper and could not believe what he just read. He was so excited!

(I am not sure why Tommy's diaper looks so big in these pictures. He must have had a lot of pee that afternoon!)

Tomtoon

Pat (Joe's brother) made Tommy this awesome pontoon and surprised us with this amazing gift! Pat thought up the idea and bought all the supplies and made it in his living room! We were so excited. Pat gave this to Tommy this past May but I am finally getting around to posting these pictures on my blog. Isn't it amazing. Tommy actually floats in this thing. We put his bumbo seat and he fit just perfectly into the pontoon that we now call the Tomtoon! Than you so much Pat!

Simple Things

While washing the car a few weekends ago Joe told me that he is so happy. He had always dreamed of washing his car in his own driveway with his family right inside. It was the perfect Saturday and Joe felt like he had arrived. I love you Joe! It is the simple things in life that make him happy!

North Dakota: Part 2 (Water Time)

Yes, in the Smith family you even take your dog with you on the kayak! We love our dogs!

You can see our cabin behind Joe water skiing to the left of Joe's shoulder - it is the white one with the big wrap around deck.

We spent most of our trip back to North Dakota at Lake Sakakawea. I grew up going there every weekend with my family and we would meet up with all our cousins and aunts and uncles. It is fun to go back there now and bring Tommy and Joe. My mom inherited my grandparents cabin so she tore it down a few years ago and built an amazing cabin/home. We love spending time on the water. We go water skiing, tubing and have contests to see how many people can stand on the tube at one time. Tommy loved being on the boat and playing in the water even though it was cold. He does not mind the water being cold as he just loves being in water. My mom bought him a life jacket last summer before he was born and he had to wear it on the boat. It looks like he is being strangled but he actually liked the life jacket. We are hoping to teach Tommy how to water ski next summer with kid's skis. My cousin Michelle learned how to water ski at the age of 2 so we are going to try and beat her record. I don't think it will be a problem as Tommy loves the water!

Labor Day Breakfast (Tommy style)

Tommy started off the day with rice cereal, pancakes and cantaloupe. He is really starting to enjoy food and wants real food more and more each day which means he is starting to nurse less and less during the day. He sure loves food and wants anything and everything that Joe and I are eating. We started him out on rice cereal and moved up to baby food. Now, he loves to try and eat real food but I still feed him rice cereal and baby food throughout the day. He eats three meals a day. He is becoming such a big boy!