It's official...IT"S A BOY!

Today is my 28th birthday and we had our 20 week anatomy scan scheduled for this morning. However, from my last post you know that we couldn't wait to find out so we went at 16 weeks to find out that we were having a little boy. We decided to wait until we had a second conformation that it was a boy before we would officially name our son. We were scheduled for an 8 am ultrasound so when we left the house at 7:30 in the morning Brinley was still sleeping. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa Heflin were visiting and could watch her while we went to the appointment. Leaving Brinley is still such a rare occurrence for us that it still feels really weird to not have her with us.

The 20 week ultrasound is the halfway point in the pregnancy and is when they do an extensive ultrasound to look for any abnormalities. Thankfully nothing significant was noted during the ultrasound that was a cause for concern. The placenta was close to the cervix, which is something that will just need to be monitored. If it was too close to the opening then there would not be enough room for the baby to come out, which would mean that a c-section would be required.

The only profile that I was able to capture.

The ultrasound consisted of looking at all the major organs and measuring the lengths of different things like the head, belly, arms and legs. After all the measurements were taken the lady asked us if we wanted to know the sex of our baby. We were then given the confirmation that I have been waiting weeks to hear. That we are in fact having a little BOY! Thankfully this was the case because just this week I started painting his nursery a shade of blue. Jennifer and I are extremely excited that we will each have our own little "mini me's" running around the house. It just so happens that in more ways than one the males and females in our house will be able to relate because Jennifer and Brinley were both first born. While my son and I are both the second child with an older sister.

IT'S A BOY!

If any of you have been following my blog from the start or remember any conversation that we had prior to knowing that Brinley was a girl, you would know that we had a name picked out for a boy. So, I guess in essence you could say that we have known our son's name since before Brinley was even born. It was the first and only boy's name that we came up with and Jennifer and I both really liked it. So, this July we will welcome into our home a baby boy named Landon Michael Heflin. 

Brinley is happy to announce her little brothers name!

The L tasted great!

Would you be impressed if Brinley had stacked these herself? Brinley was quick to knock  them down as soon as I put them up.

 Only jokingly had I mentioned to Jennifer about naming him Jordan Jr., but she quickly turned down that suggestion. We originally decided on the name Landon and when trying to figure out a middle name I just always kept going back to my own middle name and it just seemed to flow well together and Jennifer agreed. So, passing on my middle name will be good enough, which just so happens to be the first name of my father.

Jennifer and I have been so blessed with the opportunity to be parents to a amazing little girl in Brinley and we are super excited, and a little nervous, about our son Landon. Our lives will be hectic and crazy at times with two children that will be 14 months apart, but I know that God would not put anything on our plates that he didn't think that we could handle. I am sure that we will have plenty of good stories over the next few years. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Baby Heflin #2 is a ???

After we found out that we were expecting a second child so soon after Brinley we decided that we should maybe try to save a little money on things that could be deemed unnecessary. One of these things that we decided to save some money on was going early at 16 weeks of the pregnancy to have a gender scan. However, I decided that Jennifer probably wanted to find out early so I was going to surprise her on her birthday, February 7th with a gender scan. Since the gender scan costs $100 I decided that I would tell her about my birthday surprise a little early just to make sure that she approved of the money that we were going to spend. It turns out that just the night before while she was at work a co-worker asked her when we were going to find out the gender and it made Jennifer anxious to know the gender of our second child. A co-worker of mine informed me that Central Baptist Hospital will do a gender scan for you at half the price, so we called to make an appointment. Jennifer really didn't want to wait until her birthday because we could find out 2 weeks sooner. So, we scheduled our appointment which happened to be at noon today, January 29th, 2013.

Upon arrival I started to get nervous about finding out what we were having. When we went into to find out about Brinley, I had almost set my self up for disappointment because I had only thought to myself that we were going to have a son. It just seemed that everything in the world was telling me that a boy was in our future.Even on a impromptu ultrasound at work one night we thought we saw the parts for a little boy. We even had a name picked out for a boy that we both loved, but had struggled to think of a girl name. So, when the lady doing the ultrasound asked if we wanted to know we said yes, but I just knew in my head that we were having a boy. So, I was in complete shock when she informed us with certainty that we were having a little girl. It almost seemed as if my life and all my money passed before my eyes. I imagined all the clothes, accessories, dresses, jewelry and a wedding that I was now going to be responsible for over the next 20-30 years. I was terrified of having a little girl because I wasn't in a household with a younger sister, so I didn't know how things were going to be with a little girl around. However, from the very first moment that I laid eyes on Miss Brinley Kate I couldn't have been happier or more proud of my little girl. She has been an absolute blessing to our lives. She brings us so much joy everyday with every laugh, cry, word, new "trick" or milestone that she accomplishes.

When Jennifer and I started discussing what gender we hoped that our second child would be we actually found positive aspects for both genders. We did not have a true preference boy or girl, we just prayed for a healthy little baby. We both work with so many children whose parents would give anything to have a healthy little child. (It actually makes me a little upset with myself that I was disappointed that day of our last ultrasound because I should have been happy that Brinley was healthy.) Our thoughts were if it was a girl it would actually be somewhat more cost effective since they were going to be born around the same time the majority of clothes could actually be reused with child #2. Having a girl would also give Brinley a sister in which she could grow up with and hopefully be best friends. On the other hand, having a boy would even up the playing field around the house and even out the testosterone and would allow the Heflin name to be passed on to the next generation. It would also give me the son that I have always dreamed about having. So, needless to say both Jennifer and I would be happy either way and again we just pray for a happy healthy child.

Today, we went back to the ultrasound room and after getting situated the lady let us hear the heart beat, which was 153. She showed us the profile view of the whole body and then she said are you ready to find out what your having. We both said yes and she said with 100% certainty that it was a ????. She even said that as soon as she began the ultrasound that she noticed, but went ahead and did all the preliminary views and sounds before informing us. Any last guesses?

We are proud to announce that in July we will be welcoming a little baby brother into the Heflin household.

Our baby boy was not trying to hide what he is from us.

Brinley didn't really seem too interested today.

Jennifer and our little boy!

Brinley is going to be a great BIG SISTER!

Now we got a little smile from Miss Brinley.

Brinley and her toy blocks making the BIG announcement!

Brinley liked the letter B.

We are still learning which way to put the B.

 We are super excited for what the next year has in store for us as we get prepared to welcome a little boy into our home. It is definitely going to be exciting around our household for some time with two little children  who are going to be about 14 months apart. We can't wait to meet the little guy! Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Brinley's Only Christmas as the Only Child

As most of you know from my last post we had a lot of "surprises" this past Christmas with our big announcement. However, in between announcements to our different family members we tried to create new holiday traditions as a family. Jennifer and I also tried to soak up everything because this would be our only Christmas as a family of 3! We started the Christmas season by decorating the inside and outside of the house. We even kept a few traditions that we started when we got married. Each year we make a gingerbread house and this year Brinley got to help. We also get a new ornament each year to put on our family tree. This year Brinley got to put her 1st Christmas ornament up on the family tree.

Brinley helping decorate the family tree.

Brinley putting up her 1st Christmas ornament and trying to eat the tree.

Grandma even helped with the decorating. Grandma was in town to baby sit so I could go to the football game in Atlanta.

Brinley really enjoyed making  the gingerbread house.

Jennifer had to work on Christmas Day so we decided to celebrate with just the 3 of us on December 22, which was a day that we were both off from work. I woke up early and made a big breakfast. After eating breakfast we started to open our gifts. Brinley was far more interested in eating the wrapping paper and playing with the tree than she was with the actual gifts.

Brinley thought the wrapping paper was delicious!

Brinley looks really happy to be opening gifts.

Brinley's favorite toy that she got from mommy and daddy. A little Ferris Wheel for little tumbler people.

A family photo after opening Brinley's gifts.

Jennifer got a Cricut to help with  her scrap booking and craft projects.

I got a new grill!

Brinley trying on her new hat. 

 That afternoon after we all took a nap we got ready for our second Christmas celebration with Jennifer's family. We ate lunch and before we opened gifts we made our big announcement. After the initial shock wore off we opened gifts. Once again Brinley really enjoyed the paper.

Brinley surrounded with all of her presents.

Aunt Amanda helping with opening gifts.

Brinley got her very first play kitchen.

MiMi and Brinley.

Aunt Sarah, Jennifer, Brinley and Aunt Amanda.

Our next Christmas celebration started when my family arrived on Christmas Eve. We started our festivities with decorating sugar cookies. Everybody started out as novices and quickly started to get the hang of it. Grandpa was even able to do a cookie portrait of the Mona Lisa, at least that is what he said it was supposed to be. We followed up our cookie decorating with the "BIG" reveal which I was able to record and most of you have seen the footage I am sure. We ended our night with a trip to the horse park to see the Southern Lights. Brinley really enjoyed getting to see all the light displays that were set up. However, I can't decide if she was more happy about the lights or getting to be out of the car seat during the drive through the lights.

Grandpa's first attempt - it says G-PA in purple.

Grandma is deep in concentration.

Brinley even got into decorating.

Aunt Andrea working on her Christmas stocking.

Uncle McKinley working on his sugar man creation.

 Since Jennifer had to work day shift on Christmas we waited until she got off work to open gifts. It was definitely a unique Christmas because we spent the day doing a little bit of everything. Aunt Andrea and Grandpa went to a movie, Uncle McKinley and I went to his house to workout, and Grandma enjoyed some time with Brinley.If you noticed in the next few pictures, Brinley had multiple outfit changes on Christmas. This is because she had so many outfits and we wanted to get as much use out of them because she will only get to wear them once in her life. Before Jennifer got home from work we began cooking our Christmas dinner. We cooked a turkey and all the fixins. After dinner we gathered around and started exchanging our gifts.

Grandma and Brinley enjoying some time together.

Uncle McKinley playing with some of Brinley's Christmas toys.

Mommy finally got home and we started opening  presents.

Uncle McKinley's gift. It even came with a coupon for a free babysitting.

Brinley really liked Aunt Andrea's gift - it's a little ball that rolls away from you so that you crawl after it.

The Heflin Family - Christmas 2012

The whole family got to stick around for a few more days before Aunt Andrea had to return back home to New York. We really enjoyed getting to spend time together. The days that we get to spend together with all of us are getting fewer and further between. I know that Brinley didn't tell me with words, but I know that she really had a great Christmas. I can't wait to spend many more Christmas seasons with all of my family. Next year I am sure that Brinley will enjoy opening her gifts even more and she can even show her younger sibling the way to do things. I just hope that over the years we are able to instill the TRUE meaning of CHIRSTmas to our children. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Jordan, Jennifer, Brinley and Baby makes 4!

Last September we had the privilege of informing our parents and immediate family about our little bundle of joy that would be arriving the following May. We told our parents at about 4 weeks, and boy did they have a hard time keeping the secret. We didn't want to tell everyone because we have had so many friends and co-workers who have had trouble with pregnancies and we didn't want to have to answer all the questions if something bad ever happened. Every night when they called to talk I was anxious to see if anyone new had "accidentally" found out. They were extremely glad when we got to about 11 weeks into the pregnancy and felt comfortable releasing the information to the public. Being their first grandchild, I can only imagine the number of people that were informed of the great news by my parents.

  

Which brings me to my next bit of news. On Halloween of this year Jennifer informed me that come July of next year we are in fact going to be a family of 4. We talked about this and immediately decided that we would keep this information a secret again. This has proven very difficult because it seems like at the end of every conversation that I have with people, which mostly consists about Brinley, they almost always ask if we plan on having any more. If anybody ever was to pay close attention they would catch me with the quick smirk that comes across my face. However, nobody has noticed it or maybe they just didn't expect us to have back to back kids, well neither did we.

Brinley didn't really want to cooperate for this picture, and it was hard to get it just right with the self timer on the camera.

So of course most of the talks around our house have been about what the upcoming year holds for all of us. After thinking longer about having kids that will be roughly 14 months apart, we have come to realize that it might not actually be that bad (however, ask me next year if I still agree with that comment). Andrea and I are only 18 months apart and my parents were able to handle, so why can't we.

First family photo of all 4 of us!

After figuring out that our due date was July 14th, 2013 we realized that 12 weeks would be right around the start of the New Year. So we decided that we wouldn't tell anybody, including family until Christmas. For any of you that know me, you know that this task would prove to be a very difficult one for me. While on my recent trip to Atlanta to watch the Falcons and Saints football game I was texting and I sent a message to Jennifer that referred to something about the baby, or at least I thought I sent it to Jennifer. A few minutes later Andrea looked over at me and said what is this about? (I had accidentally sent the text to Andrea instead of Jennifer) I was in a complete state of shock. I don't think I spoke for the next few minutes. However, I gathered all my thoughts and then I broke the silence to Andrea, who of course had figured it out because of the text. So the rest of the game and the entire 5 hour drive home we talked about the future little Heflin. She promised to keep it a secret until Christmas, she found out that this was a very challenging  task, but was able to keep it on the down low until Christmas Eve when we announced it to my parents.

One day I remembered that my brother found out about Brinley over a text message and he was the very last person in the family to find out about her. So, one day when mom and dad were in town visiting we went over to McKinley's house and after mom and dad walked out to the car to leave I went up to Uncle McKinley and simply said I have some news for you. That is all that it took, he immediately said no way and I said yeah and then walked out to drive mom and dad back to our house. He sent me a few texts that night, but the next morning he sent me a text that said just whatever you do don't wait five years and then have a mistake like me. (As mom would always say - McKinley you were a pleasant surprise.) A few other people found out before Christmas, but we tried to keep our mouths shut as much as possible.

The weekend before Christmas was set to be our first reveal with all of Jennifer's family coming to visit to celebrate and see Brinley. I was scheduled to work day shift that weekend which would make me miss Brinley opening her gifts and seeing her family's surprise when we announced that baby number 2 was on the way. However, a very gracious friend at work agreed to switch shifts with me. The Bolton's arrived and we ate lunch and then decided that we would put Brinley in her Santa outfit for the gift exchange. Under the Santa outfit she had on a shirt that Jennifer had made that simply said "Big Sister". We figured that it would be clear enough. Brinley was sitting on the couch and we told them that she had another outfit on that we wanted everyone to see. Sarah opened up the shirt and immediately looked over at us and said "no way!" and then turned Brinley so that everyone else could see. Amanda said that she started to tear up a little bit and Kara could hardly believe it. So then I went and got the iPad out and showed pictures from our first ultrasound.

The BIG reveal!

Aunt Sarah and Aunt Amanda were thrilled with the news.

Mimi was excited for grand baby #2!

The next big reveal happened on Christmas Eve. I had worked the night before and after I got off work I knew that there were a lot of things that needed to be done and I couldn't sleep. So I made the decision to stay up all day so that I could get on a normal schedule. So after finishing up all the last minute things around the house the grandparents, Aunt Andrea and Uncle McKinley arrived and we decided to go get a late lunch at Olive Garden. After eating we headed back to the house for the big surprise. We once again dressed up Brinley in her Santa outfit with the surprise onesie underneath. We said that we just wanted to make sure and get plenty of pictures with everyone while we were all in town together. Andrea and McKinley were taking pictures while I was filming the whole thing. After a few pictures I said that she had another outfit that we would like to get some pictures with Brinley in. After a bit of a struggle getting her outfit undone, they both had a total look of surprise on their faces and immediately looked at Jennifer and then looked to me for verification. Then the tears flowed down a little bit, no surprise at all if you know the two of them. Then grandpa began trying to figure out if Andrea and McKinley already knew, which they both did. Then grandpa started telling us about a dream that he had recently in which we were expecting a child again. (This is pretty wild because he had a similar dream before we told him about being pregnant with Brinley.) Grandma even verified that he had told her about this dream before hearing the news. They were totally shocked when we told them that we were already 11 weeks along. Their next questions were when was this going to go public and when could they start telling people. We told them that we wanted to wait until after our 12 week ultrasound that we had scheduled on January 2nd. Grandma and Grandpa's reactions were priceless.

The Heflin's on Christmas

We had our ultrasound this morning and they said that the little one looked healthy with a heart rate of 155 and 7 cm long. The whole time the ultrasound was being done the little one was bouncing all over the place and the lady doing the ultrasound said that somebody needed to inform them that we don't jump on trampolines in January. Brinley took this as a challenge because she almost immediately started jumping up and down in my arms, maybe just her way of saying that once this one gets here she will show them how things are really done.  We are so blessed to have Brinley in our life and now in 2013 we will get to welcome the next beautiful addition to our family. Jennifer and I look forward to the adventures we will have with 2 little ones running around together over the next few years. I know for sure that there will probably never be a dull moment in our house.Thanks for reading and God Bless you in 2013!

Little Heflin #2

Brinley and her little brother or sister

Profile view of little Heflin #2