I know, I have really been slacking on the photos.  The early pregnancy fatigue is starting to let up a little bit so hopefully I will have have more time to devote to other things besides sleeping.  We are all doing well! Emerson is growing like a weed and talking more every day.  As you can see, he is also feeding himself :)                              

New addition!

Ok, I failed to make an announcement post on here, but today we are 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant with baby Merrick #2!  We had the first trimester screening today and they said baby looked perfect.  The Dr. is leaning towards boy, but it's still a little early to be sure.  Baby was a wild man in there...the poor ultrasound tech took 30 minutes trying to get all of her required images because he was rolling around in circles and flipping all over the place.  He has all 10 digits, two hemispheres in his brain, a healthy heart beat, intact spine, and all of the appropriate organs for this gestational age.  I am totally happy with any gender, but I think I breathed an unexpected sigh of relief at the thought of it being another boy.  I have three bothers, I have a son...I am familiar with boys.  I have no idea how to do hair or paint nails and if she was anything like I was as a teenager, she would worry me sick lol.  I would also have to be the bad guy while Daddy is wrapped around her little finger.  This way I get my Momma's boys who will love me even after they go through puberty and Daddy can be the bad guy :).  SO excited, either way...just ready for December to be here!!

Sentences

Emerson is using more two word sentences!  He said "bye bye duck" and "bye bye toodle (turtle)" when getting out of the bath tub this weekend.  He also says "Peas (please) Mama".  He said Gramma for the first time this past weekend while we were at my Mom's in Arkansas, but it was when he saw a picture of my mom, not to her face. He also saw a picture of Ally and loudly hollered "Yaya!" and then wouldn't let us turn another page in the album.  He kept turning it back to Ally's picture and saying "Yaya, Yaya, Yaya".  He is starting to run and dance.  His P.W. and Miss Debbi got him a Yo Gabba Gabba DVD and he just loves it.  He climbs up in his red chair and just sits there with a giant grin on his face watching.  Occasionally he will get up and jump around and dance with them.  I am finally coming to terms with the fact that he needs his first hair cut. He has this mound of curls on the back of his neck that, when wet and brushed straight, go down to the middle of his shoulder blades.  I just don't want to part with them!  His bangs are in his eyes and his hair covers his ears.  I am constantly putting it behind them and sweeping his bangs to the side.  If I could just trim the sides and front I would, but then he would have a curly mullet lol.  I can't do that to him.

Allergies

Emerson went for his first allergy appointment this morning.  Good news!  He is not allergic to Bodie!  They only did a stick test for dog because he is not old enough for immunotherapy and the dog allergen is what we have the most control over.  He has been on Singulair for over a month now and it is managing his symptoms quite well so the Dr. didn't see the need to put him through additional testing yet.  It is very promising that he is not allergic to dog because that is one of Scott's worst allergens and more and more research is showing that genes play a strong role in allergies.  Hopefully his are minor and his symptoms are just exaggerated by living in Oklahoma. 

16 months

15 months!

He survived his 15 month check up.  He won't need any more vaccinations 'til he's at least 2, I think.  He is still on the same growth curve in the 75th percentile for length and the 40th for weight.  His Dr. was impressed with his verbal skills.  He said they usually look for 5-6 words at 18 months and Emerson already has around 10 fairly well enunciated and appropriately used words.  Prior to this visit Scott had to take him to get his lead level drawn, which is routine, and it sounds like it was a nightmare.  It took 3 different phlebotomists and none of them were skilled in pediatric blood draws.  There was blood on both Scott and Emerson's clothes when they got home! Part of me wishes I would have been there, but it was probably for the best as I most likely would have overreacted, called them all incompetent, stormed out of there, and he'd have had to go through it all over again somewhere else.  Sometimes it's better to leave mothers out of it :).  Emerson's baby cousin Frank Willard "Tripp" Merrick III was born beautiful and healthy a little over a week ago and we are very excited about it!

For those of you who don't already know, Scott was promoted to Sales Manager at work!  We are very proud of him!  It has been stressful for everyone because he hasn't been able to find someone to fill his previous position, his help, so he has a lot on his plate at work and we're trying to get a self-contracted addition to our house started at home and then we have a dog and a baby and a marriage that need attention...oh and there's sleep and food too...:)  But we're hanging in there and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Hope everyone has a great Easter!

'I pooped'

Emerson said 'I pooped' at school today! And he had in fact pooped :).  He seems to pick up a new word every other day now.  He says 'up' when he wants to picked up, or to be taken out of his highchair, or when he wants help lifting something up.  He also says 'please', but it sounds more like 'peas'.  When he sees a picture of a fish he opens and closes his half puckered lips to imitate one.  Tonight we were eating gold fish crackers while playing on the living room floor and I gave 2 to Emerson so he popped one in his mouth and carried one over to share with Bodie.  He did this several times in a row, but then when I commented on how sweet he was being he started just waving them in front of Bodie's face, giggling, and then putting them in his own mouth hehe.