Jack's Last Few Days as an Only Child

Anne Witherspoon Watson

Well, I guess it is time to change the name of our little family's blog..."It's all about Jack" should probably now be "It's all about Jack and Annie" :)  Anne Witherspoon Watson arrived February 25th at 9:15 pm weighing in at a hefty 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long, a nice big GIRL!!!!  Needless to say it was the shock of our lives getting a little girl!!  I still don't believe it.  The labor and delivery was incredibly smooth, unlike my experience with Jack, and makes a mom think she can have 5 kids...if only you didn't have to be pregnant for 10 months.  Annie is named first for my mom, Anne, and secondly for my paternal grandmother, Ann Witherspoon Woods Cutchins.  And yes, we are distant relatives to Reese, won't she be the coolest kid in school?  Annie has blonde hair and blue eyes and a feisty personality.  She will definitely keep us on our toes!

Things are going pretty well at home.  We are incredibly spoiled to have a baby nurse this time around named Essie.  She is amazing and has made this transition so wonderful for us.  I am VERY nervous for when she has to leave but am thankful for all of the support we have gotten from our family and friends the last 2 weeks. 

As you can see from above Jack LOVES his baby sister...maybe a little too much.  He wants to hold her constantly but unfortunately doesn't quite understand what gentle means...I guess that is what happens when your kids are only 17 months apart.  He is doing well with the adjustment for the most part.  He is fine when I have Annie but has a harder time when John has her.  We are working on some tantruming but I know that we will get through this with him. 

I will try to keep up with the blogging, just a little challenging since Jack loves my laptop so I can't bring it out when he is awake :)

Bump Update

The PG Mamas:
Leslie (July), Mary Elizabeth (June), Me (any day??), Tessa (May) and Mollie (March)!

Yesterday my besties threw me a surprise birthday party/baby shower since both are coming up and because I have amazing friends :)  Birthday is tomorrow and baby, ?????.  My appointment last Thursday went great.  Already 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced...with baby #1 that didn't mean much, but with #2, it means things are starting to get moving...after the party yesterday John, Jack and I went for a walk...probably not the best idea...I ended up having contractions from about 4-11 and was very uncomfortable all night.  Today I am BEYOND exhausted.  The doctor said if I don't have the baby by 39 weeks they will induce because of the size of this baby.  But she doesn't think I will make it to 39 weeks at this rate.  I have another appointment and ultrasound this coming Thursday.  I really hope the baby doesn't come before that.  I am trying to get the last few things done around here and I think the baby should really have it's own birthday.  But either way, I am finally packed and ready to go, Jack too!! He will be spending a few nights with his cousies over at Chip and Leslie's.  SOOOO thankful for their help!  Still so hard to think the baby is almost here and how much our lives are about to change...AGAIN!! 

Jack at 16 months

Jack has changed so much in the last month it's hard to believe he is the same little boy.  He has been a big reader for months now, it's hard to keep the books organized anywhere because he is always lugging them around from room to room.  Jack has finally started talking!  Only a few words that we understand but super cute regardless.  He says choo-choo for train, uh oh, this, night night, book, up, bye bye, ball and baby.  He has also started dancing, which is hysterical.  I guess the dancing mickey has been his inspiration.  He LOVES to play ball with his daddy when he gets home from work and I can hear him and Libbie running and playing in the house, it is adorable.  We went through a short period of tantrums but I think it is mostly his frustration at not being able to do things himself and not being able to communicate.  One thing I learned this week is he was dying to feed himself from a spoon...it is SUPER messy and I'm not thrilled about it but I guess that is how he will learn.   People keep asking me what he thinks about the baby coming....well...I'm not really sure he knows there is a baby coming to be honest.  When I ask him where the baby is he either points at my belly or at his own (which DOES rival mine :)).  So I am SURE he is in for a surprise...poor kid. 

Reading to himself

Feeding himself cottage cheese

man, is this getting messy!

35 Weeks and Counting...

John was nice enough to take this photo last weekend :)  So here we are...in the final stretch!  The end of this pregnancy has definitely been different from my pregnancy with Jack.  We have finally gotten Jack settled into his new big boy room and John and I have been busy trying to get ready for baby #2...with Jack, we had just moved into a new house 4 days earlier so needless to say there was no nesting and no nursery before we went to the hospital.  This time is also very different because I have had Gestational Diabetes...major bummer.  But my new diet, which I started before Christmas, has definitely paid off in the baby weight gain department.  I have gained less than half of what I gained with Jack, which is awesome.  We had an extra ultrasound on Thursday and the baby looks great.  Already 6 lbs 9 oz (Jack was 7 lbs 1 oz when he was born!!) and has a fat tummy and big head, lucky me.  We go back to have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to see how big the baby is and to come up with a game plan to how much longer this baby should cook.  

Pictures From My Other Camera

Our trip to John's Island Florida for Thanksgiving

how Jack entertained himself during dinner

helping uncle Cliffie study for the boards 

 breakfast view...rough life

 first attempt at a family picture...

 2nd attempt...Jack is a wildman

 loving my uncle Cliffie

 Jumping into the pool with daddy

Back home in Virginia Beach

 Happy boy after his nap

 cheese!

 helping Daddy pick out our Christmas tree



10 happy babies lined up on the couch

Christmas at Home

This year we had many many Christmas celebrations.  Since we headed down toTexas to spend the actual days of Christmas with my mom's family, we had many celebrations before we left.  We started off with our own little family Christmas so we wouldnt have to mail everything down to Texas and back.  John was really cute, wanted Jack to have the full experience.  So the Sunday before Christmas we set up all of Jack's presents from Santa and when he woke up from his nap we had Christmas!! 

Before he walked in

Dad, let me in that room!!

let me in, let me in!

All for me!!??

future basketball star