What do we do with a GIRL?

Last week, I was having some pains so I called my doctor and she said to come get a sonogram ASAP! So I left my office and ran (well drove) up there! Everything looked perfect and they found a cyst which I had before that was the cause of the pain plus as most pregnant women have.....it was also round ligament pain! So while she finished up I asked so do you know what it is? She said...oh yeah, it's definitely a GIRL!!!

We are so excited and I guess Grayson was right all along. Everytime I ask what's in momma's tummy? He always says a sister...so we look forward to meeting Ella Grace Acker in June and we know Grayson will be a wonderful big brother!!!

A New Year!

I can't believe the holidays are already over and a new year has begun! This past year has been filled with so many exciting blessings and our family is looking forward to everything this new year has to bring.

With all the changes going on, we decided to make some at home. Since we are expecting a new addition to our family in June we decided to move Grayson into the guest room which is much bigger than his room now, the office/music room in the front is just too far from everything. It has been nerve racking trying to find bedding that we like and today I finally bought a big boy bed online for him but it is on back order until March. We are going to go ahead and paint his room (well at least Joey...and Nana may help too!) and decorate everything and buy bedding! We will just put his mattress on the floor until his bed arrives. I just want him to be able to transition early enough to get used to his new room so he doesn't feel kicked out by the new baby. Of course, being a 2nd time mom is heart-wrenching and exciting because you want everything to be fair and equal! I finally found bedding I like for his room but Pottery Barn Kids only has the quilt and not the shams so I am not sure what we'll do!

I am feeling much better now that I am in my 2nd trimester! We tried to go during our 1st trimester screening to find out what the baby is and.....it was wiggling around so much, we couldn't tell. It really does not matter which we have but I am just SO eager to find out....Grayson keeps calling it a sister and Joey's mom and my mom always refer to it as "she" so we will see. However, my sister and close friends think it will be a boy.......we have about 4 weeks until we go back for my 20 week appointment so I will definitely post what we're having! I just want to be able to get things ready and to be able to start buying stuff. With me coordinating TAKS in the Spring and hoping this placenta previa changes.....I just want everything to be done before it gets busy!

We also have picked out names so we are so excited about that! Well, I am going to finish online shopping and make lunch for my guys! Hope you all have a great weekend!

The Growing... Acker Family

In my last post, I announced that we are expecting another one! I am now 8 1/2 weeks (around 2 months pregnant) and I am just so excited! It's really nice with the 2nd one because time does not go by slow because you have another one to entertain you and love on! And wow....is Grayson growing. He just amazes us and we just sit and watch him play as I am sure most parents do. This is such a neat age where he is just taking everything in and he is starting to express his own personality. He is also just so sweet about the baby....he gives my stomach kisses and says...."Baby brother 'n' sister!" He does not mean two, we have already had our first sonogram and there's just one! Ha! Ha! I think he just knows it will be one or the other. Joey wants a girl and I don't care, as long as it's healthy. It would be nice to have one of each but at the same time, I have enjoyed having a little boy so either way is fine with me!

I think my main concern is TAKS season as a first year counselor who coordinates all the testing for around 670 kids. I was reading ahead in My What To Expect When Expecting book last night and I was reading about absent-mindedness....so that worried me a bit! But I kow if I try my best and put my faith in God, he will get me through it! He is amazing!!

We go back to the doctor December 8th and I will be around  11 weeks! I am so excited and hopefully I will be able to hear the heartbeat, we did get to see it at our last appointment at 6 weeks almost 7 on the sonogram! We probably won't bring Grayson to an appointment until we find out what it is....it's hard for that sweet 2 year old to keep still forever while we wait at the Dr.'s office!! We will keep you posted and please keep us in your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and baby in June!

Pumpkins and Pregnancy

This has been a crazy past week in the Acker household!! Grayson had swine flu! He recovered! I took a couple of pregnancy tests and they were positive! We are so excited! Grayson will be a big brother and great one at that! I am still early, so we are in that strange, worried stage. With Grayson I waited awhile before we said anything and it probably is good to do that! But Joey told some people at work and I did not want it to spread around and not come from me. We know what could happen and it's something we discussed. If something happens, we will just have that much support to get through it and if everything is healthy and normal, then everyone just found out earlier! I started feeling a lot of nausea and saw some changes in my body....and took some. We were not expecting this because we had stopped trying for awhile but I guess what they say is true...."It always happens right when you stop trying."

We are filled with joy but I have been feeling a couple of things like...."How can I love another one as much as I love Grayson?" Is that possible? I want everything to be equal and fair...so there's a whole bunch running through my mind! Of course, family asks....You want a girl, right?" Personally, it does not really matter to me. I will be happy with either one. I love boys, they are fun. It would be nice to have a girl but I would not be sad if I didn't have one...Joey might be!

But I will definitely keep you posted on the pregnancy!

Here are some pics from our Acker Night of Lights. We always go to my sister's and we set up a table with lots of candy, Big Money gospel tracts, and bibles to give out to kids. It was awesome... a lot of kids were like..."Oooohhh, can I get a Holy Bible?" It was awesome and it went great. Grayson, Liv (my niece, and Vann (my nephew) had a blast!

 

What do you do when you have the flu? Why... Arts and Crafts!!

We found out Grayson has the H1N1 flu yesterday. I was very surprised and it had been something I had feared since it came out! He started with a slight fever but was playful so I thought he was just fighting a little bug off or something. Joey's school nurse at his school told me to just take him to the dr. to see and I am glad that I did. Last night was tough but today is much better and I pray that he gets through it in the next couple of days and is back to normal! So since we pretty much have to quarantine ourselves at home, we have kept busy by watching movies and doing arts and crafts, which Grayson loves!

Also,  I am posting some of his pictures at the pumpkin patch from last weekend. Unfortunately, he did not look at the camera much because we had just gotten finished taking pictures in downtown Rockwall and Harry Meyers Park....so he was done!

House Stress!

So we have had our house on the market since the beginning of August. We knew it was not a good time and it was actually a spur of the moment type thing. It went kinda like this:

Joey:Hey I feel like we need to sell our house.

Melanie: Okay, sure.

Joey: Well we need a realtor.

Melanie: I'll find one and call one today.

So as you can see it was very NOT planned out. We have lived in our house for 3 years and we had it built. It is a beautiful house. We have 2 extra rooms and a 2nd living room/dining area we really don't use. We definitely have space with just Grayson and we don't want anything Bigger than what we have now but we just want something more custom. When we had the house built I was the only one with a full time job and Joey was a junior in college and we had just gotten married so getting into this house was a blessing.

But we just have felt some frustration with the process and there are days where I just love our house and although our neighborhood may not be perfect(some people don't take care of their yards and stuff) I want to stay here. But we have a contract until January and I feel like our house is not as cozy as it used to be. Plus trying to keep it neat at all times with a 2 year old is a bit of a challenge.

I have been frustrated but I know God will allow to happen what He wants to happen. So I am really trying to lay all my stress down in front of him and just have faith that what will happen is His will.

Here is one of Grayson's recent pics with our fav photographer Laura!!

Back To Reality for the Acker Family!!

Wow! This summer has flown by! I can't believe it is already mid-August and that means back to school! It is back to reality for our family......back to our regular schedules. We are sad that we don't get to be together every day but at the same time we're ready to have a schedule again! I started my new job at Warren Middle School 2 weeks ago, so tomorrow will be my 3rd week. I like it so far. It's nice to have more flexibility and to do what I have worked so hard in grad school for. Many have asked if we are still going to try for a baby...the answer is yes.....but we are going to try next summer/fall. If it surprises us and happens...it's cool but we would like to wait for two reasons. One, I am trying to get the hang of this new job and two, our house is up for sale. If it does sell we will be staying at my sister's in Travis Ranch until we get somethings built or find something.....so I would rather not bring a new baby and be trying to move all at the same time. The whole house thing is really driving me crazy. We had an open house today and there were some people that looked but ????. Not knowing is what bothers me most, I am happy with staying here if it doesn't but it's just hard waiting for 6 months wondering if we'll be moving or not.

Joey goes back to work tomorrow and Grayson starts school and at a new daycare called Noah's Ark. We loved Barnyard but it's out of the way for us in the morning, we heard that Noah's Ark was good and even though its older, they have really neat programs. They have Baby Can Read and a bunch of other neat programs so we're excited and I know he will love it tomorrow because he is so social.

Grayson's 2nd Birthday is also planned and ready, it's not until September 18th but since we are doing it at Chuck E Cheese (yes...I never thought I would have one there) I had to get everything planned and reserved early. We could not do it at home because we have to keep it nice and most people come to look on the weekends so we couldn't really have it at home. Speaking of his birthday...we were so sad we had to cancel his session. Our photographer Laura who we LOVE is on maternity leave early so Lauren (Joey's sister) and I took Grayson to the Forney park and took some pictures of our own....I think they turned out pretty good!

Well I am going to get everything ready for our journey back to work....I hope to put some pictures up of my new office for those who have asked!