Updates, Updates!

I've decided I'm a terrible blogger, but I'm not ready to give it up yet! So here is a brief (i'll try to keep it brief anyway)- recap of our lives in the past few months. 

Last I posted, I announced the upcoming arrival of our second child. Since then, we've found out that Grayden will be the big brother to (surprise, enter gasp reaction here!)- a baby brother! I had a feeling we'd be bringing another rambunctious Hartman boy into this world but secretly held on to the hope of a girl. Since, my initial disappointment- (I was really hoping for some dresses and bows around here)- I've grown to be very excited about having another sweet baby boy in this family. Our approximate due date is May 11th which puts me at 27 weeks currently. I've had a few more complications this time around- I was diagnosed with placenta previa early on and have had to have ultrasounds every 4 weeks to see if it would resolve (it still hasn't). Since my initial complications and a few bed rest scares, things have been good thus far, however if I still have a previa closer to my due date, I'll have to have a scheduled c-section, which I'm really having a hard time coming to terms with. I had such a great delivery experience with Grayden and was hoping for a similar experience. It's true that each pregnancy is truly different. For example, do you have any idea how much you pee yourself during the second pregnancy?!? I am only 27 weeks and have already peed myself like 5 times! Are you kidding me!?! Anyway, we'd appreciate any prayers on behalf of the rest of this pregnancy, my bladder, my placenta, baby boy's continued health, and the upcoming delivery.

And as you can see, we have not yet decided on a name for this sweet boy. We currently call him Horatio, because I was tired of little man and baby boy. Our goal is to decide on a name soon, as I'd like to have a few monogrammed things this time around. 

Grayden has exploded into a full out big boy. I can't get over his full sentences, his amazing smarts (he truly is a genius), and his hilarious and amazing personality. He makes us laugh on a daily basis. He is currently very much into football (yes, still), Buzz and Woody, bicycles, Super Mario brothers, video games, and playing swords (which can be any object, really). He loves to sing and dance, try to ride his dog, Riley like a horse, and have tickle fights in bed. He is going to be an amazing big brother and I'm so happy that he is going to have a lifelong brother/playmate. I just can't believe he'll be 3 in less than 1 month! We've got to get this potty training going...(my child hates the idea of using the potty. I'm really hoping for some progress soon.)

In the ramblings of our life, Rob and I are just enjoying our sweet family and preparing to put our house on the market... YIKES. We bought this house, knowing that we didn't want to stay forever, and we've put quite a bit of work into it, and are ready to move on- Keep us in your prayers over the next few months- as we prepare to put the house on the market come March/April.

Friends Grayden and Brayden at the Zoo. (Rob took both the boys on his own!

Grayden at the Zoo on a pretty January day!

Sleepy boys!

26 weeks

Baby "Horatio" at 27 weeks. His legs are over top his head.

Growing

This Hartman family is growing. We are so excited to announce (a little late here) that our family of 3 is becoming a family of 4. Now, I'm not leaving Riley out, I just don't want to confuse anyone by saying we are becoming a family of 5- that is how rumors are spread- and no I'm not pregnant with twins. I may look like I'm carrying twins, but I have been assured that there is just one little bean sprout growing. The new addition to our family will be arriving on or around May 11th. I'm just about 15 weeks along and probably already look 25 weeks pregnant. Okay...not really, but I am in awe of how much faster the second baby bump grows. I had to bust out the maternity clothes like 3 weeks ago! This pregnancy has been much different than the first in several other ways too. I remember being sick with Grayden...but I don't remember being this sick. My designated sick times are somewhere between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. This is also the time I am usually driving home from work. Throwing up in the car while driving is a task that I never thought I would have to master...but I must say I've become a pro. I apologize if I just made anyone sick. Other things have been different too- however, some are just too personal to share on a blog post, so I will reserve those to myself.

In other things growing- Grayden is becoming such a big boy. I can't begin to tell you how much joy he brings Rob and I (and everyone else who comes in contact with him). He is such a good little boy....tantrums are fewer than before and his language is exploding. It amazes me how quickly his little brain learns things. He's doing great in his Tuesday/Thursday school and has learned so much!

He's not 100% sure what Mommy and Daddy mean when we say he is going to be a big brother, but he seems to get excited. When I show him my belly and tell him baby, he lifts his shirt, point to his belly, and says baby! Now, I assure you that my son does know that his belly is a belly, he just thinks he has a baby in his belly too. The first time we told Grayden he would be a big brother, we asked him if he wanted a baby brother or sister, he responded with "baby cookie!". He called the baby "baby cookie" for awhile and now when we ask him if he wants a brother or a sister, he changes his mind about 3-4 times, such as "brother!, no, sister!, no, brother!, no BABY!". We are sure that he will be a great big brother to either, a brother or a sister. However, I will say that I have resolved myself to the fact that we are having another boy. As Rob says, "Hartman's only make boys"...and this has been proven to me when I found out that my sister in law who is due in March is infact- having another boy. So, the world need be prepared for 4 little boy cousins and grandboys in the Hartman family. Now, I must say, that I have not actually had "the" ultrasound (probably in a few weeks), but you can just know, that we will be having another boy.

I have lots of pictures to update with- but haven't gotten around to uploading off my camera, so Halloween and pictures of late will be coming. Until then, enjoy this one of our little Grayden sharing his exciting news.

And enjoy this one- of our little bean sprout who at the time of this ultrasound was about

1 1/2 inches long (10 weeks) Now baby is about the size of an apple!

Way Over Due: Summarizing Summer

Wow..surprise, surprise- guess who is behind in their blogging?

I have to admit, it's not that I'm ignorant to my lack of blog postings. I check my blog roll everyday, which requires me to see my own lack of postings. However, whenever I start to write, I become very overwhelmed with everything I have failed to post! Our summer has been a whirlwind of busyness. I am not sure I even know where to begin, so instead I will just tell you what these past weeks have entailed.

Our hilarious 2 year old man continues to bring happiness to our lives. He's blossomed into a true toddler. His language has exploded and if I had to predict what he would be when he grows up at this point, I would suggest an OCD singing football player. Grayden LOVES football....I don't think I can fully explain how MUCH he loves football. He lives, eats, and breathes all things football. As soon as he wakes up he asks "football tv!" which means, "turn on football please".  When we change him, he asks "football shirt please!", which means he would like to wear his OSU football jersery- in which he has worn for 4 days in a row this week....(we have to pry it off at night and wash it for the next day. he was devastated that I said no this morning. It's Sunday!), and he continually is acting out football- hiking the ball, tackling himself, and fumbling the ball-he even kicks off after he scores a touchdown. It's insanity- really it is. His other love is that of singing. And I can't leave out the dancing- he enjoys that too. About the OCD behaviors- we are hoping that this is just a stage.

Grayden has recently started Tuesday/Thursday school which he adores. He's only had 2 weeks so far- but he loves his teacher, Miss Karen and asks every time we get in the car if we are "class? go class? alright, class!" - which means "are we going to school? Yes? Alright! Class!".  He gets very upset if we are driving to the store or dinner instead...obviously class is much more fun.

Recently he has found himself a new friend and sleep mate, One of our sweet ladies we used to be in small group with from church brought Grayden a Curious George and Grayden has been attached ever since. He also insists on sleeping with his ABC blanket that his Nana made him. We also (FINALLY) converted Grayden to his big boy toddler bed. He's done great! He hasn't once got up during the night or nap time. In fact I think he prefers to get in his bed himself.

To summarize our summer so far, we've mostly stayed in - it's been beyond hot here! We've made a trip to Cincinnati to see the Reds - and will probably making another trip come playoff time! We went to Gatlinburg for the annual family reunion, took a day trip to Chattanooga, been to the zoo, and had various other small adventures. I apologize if I've left anything or anyone out- my memory is suffering! I do have a bit of bittersweet news....Our roomate and good friend, Andy has gotten engaged!! We are more than excited and happy for him, but I will admit that I'm a bit sad to see our "second child" and friend leave the nest in the next few months. We love Lauren though- and we are so happy that they've found each other.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the little man and I promise that I will TRY to do better about updating.

Grayden with his Papa

Graydenand his teacher Miss Karen

Going to school

At the zoo

Playing football

Grayden's New Favorite Song (as promised!)

Recap: Busy, Busy Hartmans

It's been so long since I posted last, I'm not even sure where to begin! Grayden has grown so much since his 2nd birthday and it seems he is getting smarter every day. He amazes me with the things he says. And sentences! How does that happen? It seems like we were just working on words. Now it's "I need help" or "Momma, cracker please." And our favorite saying? "IT FELL DOWN!", which is what we hear probably 50 times a day. And let me assure you, things are not actually falling down 50 times a day....it's just that if something is on the ground, then "it fell down". And when the tv is turned off, "it fell down". So you can see how things fall down often around here. Grayden still loves music, singing and dancing. His most current favorite song is Rain, by Breaking Benjamin. I have a video of him singing along, I''ll be sure to post that soon. And one thing that I haven't caught on video yet is Grayden's most favorite thing of all- playing football. Rob introduced Grayden to video games which I initially thought was a terrible idea, but Grayden doesn't like to really play video games- he likes to MIMIC video games. Let me explain: Rob will turn on our football video game and put it on demo (which means it plays without anyone actually having to play). Grayden will then proceed to take his football and mimic every play and player on the game. Hilarious? Yes.


To catch you up on what we've been up to since I posted: Rob and I went to Hawaii for almost 2 weeks, Grayden stayed with his Nana and Papa in Ohio (while we were in Hawaii), we made  a trip to Michigan to meet our niece Brynn and celebrate our other niece Blair's 2nd birthday, we made a pit stop in Dayton to see Mamaw, a pit stop in Louisville to see nephew Luke (and his parents too), trips to the zoo, Jen had strep throat, Jen had jury duty, Grayden fell in love with Curious George, and we fell more in love with our little boy. Whew....it's been a busy couple weeks to say the least.

I'll spare all the details- but I will say we had the best time in Hawaii although deeply missed our chinchilla (Gray) and I think Grayden had a great time with his Nana and Papa. We loved getting to see our families (even if it was only for just a little while) and loved watching Grayden play with his cousins. A few pictures below to summarize our end of April/May/early June....