This and That

There has been a lot going on at the Hilton house, so I think I will just combine it all into one post!

The Monster Returns: The acid reflux monster came back to visit! I call it a monster, because it shows up in the middle of the night in the form of vomit...gross but true. J was diagnosed with it in April of 2010 after a month of being sick. He went on Prevacid which worked quickly, but the doctor suggested us weaning him off of it in the fall. We followed his advice, and J did absolutely great! On Tuesday, however, his pediatrician said he was not surprised that it was BACK since foods, viruses, etc. can trigger it. So, we are back on Prevacid and had no puking last night!!

My Gym Birthday Party: Last Saturday, we traveled to celebrate a special little guy's second birthday. J LOVED partying at My Gym and made it known that he did not want to leave. I took J to My Gym when we lived there..around the time he was 14 mos. old. He hadn't been walking that long then, so he was a little more cautious on the equipment. At 37 mos., it was the right place for him! I really miss taking him to places like My Gym, Kindermusik, and storytime, but our life is busy with new activities. J loved his buddy's dinosaur theme, especially the cake. J gave him this big hug at the end of the party...I think he had FUN! I had my camera, but I forgot to get any pictures. I do have one of him with his buddy from our house and a couple from the past at My Gym...


Two from the past...




Airport/Baby Shower: I got to have a little girl time with my friends from MOPS on Saturday morning as we celebrated a baby shower for one of our table moms. She is having a baby girl in February. I loved seeing all of the PINK and cute accessories for little girls! I have to admit that the girl themes aren't all that appealing to me, but the clothes are super cute! I guess I could grow to love butterflies, flowers, and ladybugs if God blesses us with a daughter one day. I am pretty content with pirates, planes, and boats for now. :) Meanwhile, Dave took J to the airport park to watch the airplanes take off. J loved seeing an airport/airplanes in person!! They had such a good time together!







Shark-tastic Award: Somebody in our house earned a special happy gram from his teacher. That's right...J got a special treat in the mail from his teacher last week. He is doing a great job at preschool and has improved on a couple of things that started out a little rocky. ;) For one, he often wouldn't participate or frankly, even pay attention during storytime if the book didn't appeal to him. He wasn't disruptive but traveled to la-la land if he wasn't interested. We talked to him about listening to all books carefully and started reading books off of the shelf that he had not been introduced to, yet. His teacher has really seen a difference with him. Also, he is walking into the building with no tears for Mommy but with a smile. The first couple of weeks were a little hard for him in that area. Yay for our little guy!! Soooo proud of him!!

Skills Test: I didn't realize it until after the fact...probably better that way...but J was given a skills test today on his colors, shapes, letters, etc. His teacher said he did awesome! I was quite impressed since today was his first day back after being out for over a week, and he has only been there a few weeks. This is different for us since MMO doesn't give assessments. His speech is improving, also. We are seeing him talk to more and more people, and they are understanding him. We can see that some of his words/approximations are much clearer. There is still a lot of work to be done, but Lori (and Dave & me) is super excited about his improvement. His confidence is building, and he is willing to try lots of words while watching how we move our mouth. It is interesting to see the words he knows come right to him while he has to take a second to search for others. Success breeds more success!!

OB Visit: I had my 20 week appt. yesterday. Little guy looked great and was sleeping when we started the ultrasound. I guess the sonographer woke him up, because we saw him give a big stretch with his arms after her push! Precious boy! With both pregnancies, I have experienced a low-lying placenta, but this time it was actually marginal placenta previa at 18 weeks. Not real serious but an issue, nonetheless. Well, in just 2 weeks, it has moved significantly. I am now in the normal range. The doctor wants to look at it again to be sure we are in the clear. Also, last time, the sonographer couldn't see our baby's aortic valve, because he was all over the place. She looked at it again yesterday, and all looked great! I really like my new doctor here. She is so easy to talk to and reminds me a lot of the doctor that delivered J. I didn't think I could find one that I liked just as much, but I think I have found one! :)

Sanctity of Life

This Sunday, we celebrate Sanctity of Life at our church, as well as, many other churches. I think this song is so appropriate as we remember and celebrate that life begins in the womb. Our friend, Kerri, shared this song at J's baby dedication almost three years ago. It seemed like the perfect song to express our feelings as parents. Once again, the song comes to mind and the importance of an unborn life as I carry a precious, little masterpiece!

J's ultrasound at 20 weeks (Masterpiece #1)

Baby Boy Hilton at 20 weeks (Masterpiece #2)


A look at the past...
J's Baby Dedication-March 2008

A Few of Our Favorite Things..

We have pretty much been cooped up inside for three days now. In some ways, it has been nice to just hang out together at home, and then there are those moments when we just really feel cabin fever setting in. Unfortunatley, even while Dave was off, he had to work from home. He headed back to the office today, so it has just been J and me playing together. Earlier, I was thinking about how this blog is really the only place I record highlights of J's life. I am sure that when he is older, I will want to remember even the small things that were a part of him. I guess I am nostalgic in that way. In a few months, I will have even less time to record things, big or small, and I will be trying to remember the highlights of two little boys! As I was playing with my little guy this morning, I wondered if I would remember the things we played together on just a typical day at home. I assume I will remember many of our outings and family trips, but will I remember the day to day special times we have together. So, what did I do? I captured some of our favorite toys that we like to play with together. We have those special crafts that we do, and J is great about playing independently, but here are just a few of the things that he really likes to play with with Daddy and Mommy on a typical day at the Hilton house..










Then, there are those things that Little Man doesn't like so much...

A Snow Day

J got to experience his first snow of 2011!! We got some snow over the Christmas holidays at my parents' house, but we didn't play in it...forgot the snow attire! I have to admit that although I think the snow is pretty, I really don't have a desire to go out in it for more than say, 10 minutes. This year, it seemed as if J shared my opinion of the snow. Last year, he really liked it, but our neighbors had this cool tube that he got to ride on. Of course, we have different neighbors since the move. Like most things, it takes him a minute to get warmed up to new things, but he usually will give them a try. In the cases where he resists, we strongly encourage at least one try. After awhile of being out there and him watching Dave & me having fun, J adjusted to the cold snow. We even captured a few smiles...








And a tear or two...

It's a...BOY!!!

We have officially announced that we are going to have another precious son in just a few short months! We are very excited to give J the gift of a brother!! Our prayer is that they will love each other and will develop a lifelong friendship. Dave and I have never had the opportunity to watch brothers grow up together since we both had sisters. This is quite exciting for us, too! We were reflecting on life with two sons and quickly realized the huge but awesome responsibility God has given us in raising boys. It is so important that we raise them to be Godly men who will hopefully one day be the leader of their family. As a mommy to one little boy, I can say that the relationship is unbelievably special and unlike any other. I am sure moms of girls would say the same. I knew from the time I was a little girl that I wanted to be a mommy to a son, so when we heard our firstborn was going to be a boy, I was releaved & overjoyed all at once. Now, I have the chance to experience that unique love and sweet relationship again with a totally different little guy. Dave, on the other hand, is happy to have his last name carried on once again and is totally psyched about having another boy in the house. What a blessing you already are to us, Baby Boy Hilton!

This one really made the sonographer and us laugh. If you can distinguish these, then you can see this little guy's feet all the way up at his head, one hand on his hip, and the other hand up at his face. He was moving all around like this the entire time he was on the screen. I knew I was feeling him move a lot! I love that feeling, of course!! Do we have a little firecracker in our future??

Everything looked great with him. This is a sweet profile pic.

Christmas Celebration with the Hustons

On Christmas Day, we were able to share a late Christmas lunch with my extended family, and then head to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with my sisters & family. J had a blast with MORE new toys and his cousins there to play with him. He especially loved his Buzz telephone, frog ball, and the tunnel that attaches to his tent. :)




There was one time when we could only see the tunnel sticking straight up in the air! There was a little 3 ft. surprise in there, though!

Isn't this what a tunnel is for??

Christmas Morning

This was the first year we spent Christmas morning at our house. It was so sweet to be in our new home with J as we celebrated Christmas! J slept until about 7:30, and then we gathered in our bedroom to read the Christmas story from scripture before starting anything related to Santa. I really wanted the story of the birth of Christ to make some sense to J, so we also had his little Bible open to the story along with the Fisher-Price Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus. Dave read from his Bible, and I read from J's. J held onto baby Jesus the entire time, sticking in a few kisses for him every now and then. He stayed so attentive (first plus for a 3 year old boy)through the entire reading and pulled out Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus as we talked about each one! Finally, we sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus. We absolutely loved J's reaction to it all!

J was sorta perplexed by all of the new toys that this Santa dude left for him. We talked some about Santa throughout December, but I am not sure he really understood the concept of this character coming to his house and leaving toys. Regardless, he liked what he left...take a look...