3 Months!!!!!

Here are some current pictures of our little family! Jaxen will be 3 months this Thursday! I can't believe how big he's getting! He went to the Dr. yesterday and is in the 20 percentile for his weight and between the 5-10 percentile for his height...so he's just a lil' fella! He weighs 12 lbs and 8 oz and is 22 1/2 in long. He is drooling a lot more which the Dr. attributes to teething. He tries to sit up while he's laying in my lap, has no concern with rolling over whatsoever, and is cooing like crazy!! Enjoy the pictures!

update

Wow! It's been forever since I've posted a blog on here!! Since my last post we have been fired and relocated back to Springfield MO. God is definitely trying our faith right now during this transitional time in our lives. We are so thankful that we both got our old jobs back and were able to start this past week. We are currently staying with Jared and Kim Bumpers and it is going really well! We were a little worried since Jaxen is obviously a baby and babies cry a lot, but it is going very well! It is nice to be close to my side of the family and to have Jaxen by his Papa and Grandma.
He is getting so big so fast! He is "talking" up a storm! He is definitely a morning baby. His smiles melt my heart!! He is so precious! He has done wonderful during the transition of moving! He has his bad days and his good days thankfully more good days then bad.

some new pics

Just wanted to share a few pictures that we just uploaded to the computer. Everything is going good here! I get to go see Beth Moore live this weekend with my church ladies, can't wait! Brandon and Jaxen will be together all day Friday and Saturday without Mommy... but it will be worth it!!

6 weeks!

Greetings! Jaxen is 6 weeks old today! I can't believe he's already that old! Doesn't seem like more then 2 weeks ago that we went through the process! I had my 6 week check up and everything went well.
Jaxen is getting bigger and bigger each day! He is smiling and cooing when he is in a good mood. We are trying to introduce a bottle with my milk to him so Brandon can help with feedings and because I have a ladies retreat to go to next weekend and would like to leave Jaxen here with Brandon. We've tried a few different types of bottles with no success. Last night Brandon did get him to take 1 oz. out of a different bottle and we jumped for joy!!!
Our '01 Chevy Blazer bit the dust last week on the trip my dad and I made to Indiana to introduce Jaxen to his extended family. There was no way it would make the 6 hour drive back home, so we sold it as is to one of my cousins up there. There is a trustee in our church who is good friends with the owner of a Kia dealership here in town, he pulled some strings and got it worked out for us to get a brand new 2009 Kia Optima at wholesale price. The dealership didn't make a penny off of us which is an absolute blessing!!! God provides! We are dreading the monthly payment but we also know it is much safer for our family right now.

2 1/2 weeks

Things are going really good here in St. Charles at the Shatto house! All of our family has been and left now so it is finally down to the 3 of us. We are so thankful that our family was able to come and spend time getting to know Jaxen and help us out around the house. Jaxen is doing amazing! I just can't get enough of him! Every time his eyes are open I just can't stop talking to him! When he sleeps I find myself just staring at him cause he's so darn cute! He's eating really well. Right now he is eating eery 3 hours for 30 minutes. He sleeps so good at night! He only wakes up to eat and by the time he is done eating he is already back to sleep! As of right now I don't mind getting up every 3 hours during the night and spending time with him, I know that I'm the only one that can feed him and give him what he needs!
Brandon is doing amazing! Did I mention in my last blog that the day Jaxen was born he gave me a beautiful necklace that has Molly's, Toby's birthstones in paw prints and Jaxen's birthstone is a little boy with a baseball hat on. He is such a great dad! It is so sweet to see them nap together! He is great at changing diapers! He diffinetly takes his turn! Seeing him with Jaxen makes me fall in love with him over and over again!

My little man!

Now introducing Jaxen Kayne Shatto weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 in long! Jaxen was born Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. after a wonderful 12 hours of labor! Brandon and I are on cloud 9 as you can imagine and so very happy and thankful to have a healthy baby boy! My labor was absolutly wonderful... we started pitocin at 7:15 a.m., broke my water at 8, got an amazing epidurl at 11:30, started pushing at at 6:15 p.m. He is eating great and sleeping even better! He is absolutly perfect and I couldn't be any happier to be this tired!

Whoohooo!

I had a Dr. apt today and I am still at 1 cm dilated but I am now 60% thinned out! That is a pretty big change since Thursday when I wasn't thinned out at all. So now that I have made good progress on my own my Dr. is moving my induction up from 6 p.m. on Thursday night to 6 a.m. Thursday morning. One of my only questions to him was "Can I eat a donut before I go in that morning?" And he said yes! So sometime Thursday we will be holding sweet baby Jaxen in our arms!!!! If you are on Facebook we will be updating status' through out the day on Thursday, so stay tuned...

Being Induced!

I had my ultrasound on Friday morning and they found that my amniotic fluid is lower then my Dr. would like for it to be. That being said he is going to send me in Thursday night to start the inducing process!! I'll have a Dr. apt Tuesday at 4 p.m. and I'll know more after that!

Dr. Apt

I had my weekly Dr. apt this morning. There is absolutly no change since last week. Which is a huge bummer!! Still dilated to 1 with no thinning. He is sending me to get an ultrasound tomorrow morning. My stomach is measuring 3 weeks behind my due date so he wants to make sure that Jaxen is still developing properly. He wants to make sure I haven't lost any amniotic fluid and that Jaxen isn't too small. I'm excited to get to have an ultrasound...we haven't seen Jaxen for 20 weeks so I'm anxious to see him again! I'll post again and let you all know how it went when I can!

38 weeks...wow!

I can't believe that I am 38 weeks pregnant! I am so blessed with having an amazing pregnancy! I absolutly love being pregnant! If Brandon would let me I would be a seroget and make money for us this way, ha!
We had a great weekend! My family came up to enjoy the long weekend and we had a great time! We all went to the zoo Saturday and walked around. Great times! On Sunday someone pointed out that they couldn't believe I was 2 weeks away from delivering and I still had ankles, another woman said, "hey she did 2 weeks of camp this summer, it would take more then a zoo afternoon to take her ankles away!" Thought that was cute!
Jaxen's room is simply awaiting decor hung on the walls, everything is washed and in it's correctly labeled area for him to come we are simply needing to put up all the decorations.
I went to the Dr. last Thursday morning and he said I was dilated to a 1 but not thinned out at all yet. I go again this Thursday morning so we will see what he says then.
I didn't post this when it happened b/c I felt dumb about it but now it's funny. The night before I turned 37 weeks I had a massive ugly cry break down! They say when a baby is 37 weeks he is full term and able to be born at any time...we were laying in bed and Brandon said you could have Jaxen tomorrow...I lost it! Not the pretty glistening tear down the face...the snot full ugly cry that takes you into not breathing! I said I wasn't ready to have him and I was enjoying carrying him inside me and didn't want him outside of me yet! At the time it wasn't but now it is pretty funny to think about!
I'll post again if Thursday's Dr.'s apt brings new news!

37 weeks and a great shower!

My church family threw me and Jaxen a shower on Sunday! Our ladies haven't ever really been big on baby showers so I didn't get my hopes up on a specific number on attendance but I walked into the shower and there were like 40 people there!!! I can't tell you how stinkin' amazing of a shower it was! The ladies went above and beyond to make me feel way loved! There were a quite a few people that pitched in and all got me my car seat and stroller combo!

Then Sunday night a gentelmen whose wife died about a year ago came up to me and said, "My wife would have wanted to do something for your shower and I'm not good with words, but you and your husband mean the world to me!" He then gave me a $100! He got tears in his eyes and alls I could say was thank you and gave him a big hug! Isn't that amazing! I have a Dr. apt Thursday morning, if anything is new or changing I'll be sure to post it.

Dr. apt

I am 36 weeks and had my first weekly dr. apt today. Everything looks like it should as of right now. He checked me and I am not dilated at all or thinned out yet. However my cervix is beginning to soften but that's about it. I am definitely more tired then I used to be. I am not sick of being pregnant yet...yet!
We are taking the teens camping this weekend. It's about an hour an a half away and we get to sleep in cabins so I figured I'll go and experience the fun!

35 weeks!

Here are Jaxen and I at 35 weeks! I can't believe it's already so close to the end! We're headed to Springfield this weekend Friday and Saturday for a baby shower. Mom and my sisters are throwing a shower for us and I am pretty excited! Not much is new here. Experienced my first contraction last week...it was half over before I realized what it was. So far all of Jaxen's clothes, bedding, and blankets are washed and ready for him. After this weekend's shower I'm sure I'll have more to get ready but as of right now I'm ready to go.

34 Weeks!

Well here I am and made it through another week of camp! Last week we took our jr. high and it went great! I came home with a head cold though that I can't seem to shake, probably just from being over tired.
Jaxen is doing good! He is so far up my ribs I have no idea where he is going to grow and go for the next 6ish weeks. I'm sure he will find a place he hasn't already invaded some how. During camp I think I wore him out more so then being at home but now that we are home he is moving around a lot more. We were sitting in church yesterday morning and he got the hiccups and you could see my belly just bounce. Such an exciting and unusual feeling! We are trying to get his room finished quickly. I will post some pictures of his finished room as soon as we can.

A great week at camp!

We left last Monday with 12 of our high school students to attend camp for the week. It was absolutly amazing! I was 32 weeks pregnant and a little worried about how I would handle lack of sleep and change of schedule through out the week but it went wonderful!

Our students responded fantastically to the spirit moving through the camp. Josh Barret was the speaker for the week, I hadn't heard him before and he did a fantastic job! We had prayed for him for over 2 months that God would speak through him and He totally did!

I got to lead 1 of my girls to the Lord Tuesday night, as always is a great experience! The excitement never gets old when I get to lead someone to Christ! We had students say they were giving up cussing, stop living the comfortable christian life and start living an on fire for God christian life! Praise the Lord for a fantastic week!

We leave with our Jr. High students on Monday for another full week! Please pray that it all goes just as good for this next week too!

Heading to camp!

We leave for sr. high camp on Monday! I am so stinkin' excited I can't wait! I love camp with a passion! I seriously haven't missed a summer camp since 4th grade! I will be 32 weeks pregnant. We take the jr. high the following week but I'll post how our first week goes!
Please pray that God will really take our students walk to the next level with Him! So many of them come to church, but it doesn't flow over to their daily life. They don't cuss at church or drink or wear things that are toooo inappropriate on Sunday or Wednesday's nights but outside of church it's a totally different story! I'm sure there are many adults like that too. I love working with teens b/c they're modable and impressionable. They can be deffinetly challenging but they are so rewarding!
I've been feeling great and can't believe I am within 9 weeks of my due date! I am totally growing bigger and bigger! It's harder to get out of bed, shave my legs, get dressed, carry laundry baskets, etc. But it is an experience that I have loved and am so glad I'm getting to go through. My lower back is hurting more often so Brandon is becoming and expert back rubber! My teenage girls spent the night Friday night and painted my toes and finger nails for me!

29 Weeks!!!!

Holly cow I'm 29 weeks pregnant!!! That's insane! Roughly 11 weeks to go...crazy! I'm still feeling great and enjoying it all. I definitely get out of breath easier and can't wait to fit into my American Eagle jeans again, but everything is great and well worth the experience!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted b/c it's been crazy around here so I'll do a quick update. We got to go on vacation to see family in Oklahoma and Springfield at the end of June. We had a shower thrown for us in Oklahoma and got spoiled with gifts! Vacation was great getting to spend it with family and having no schedule! Sleeping in is the best!!

While on vacation, both of my parents got the results to their scans and they are both doing great! Mom's came up clear and they will just monitor here with continued scans every 3 months for a while! Praise the Lord! 1 1/2 years of chemo and bless her heart it was all worth it! Dad's scans came out nice too. His liver and lyphnodes didn't show any spots of cancer and the only tumor that was left was in his colon. He had surgery this past Thursday to remove about a foot of colon that included the tumor and he went through surgery great! He gets to go home today and continue to take it easy for a while. Last June he was diagnosed with 2 seperate unrelated stage 4 cancers and they thought surgery would be too dangerous to do so the fact he was considered for surgery is a miracle in itself. Thank you for all of you who prayed for them!

26 weeks!

Good morning! Lets see...what all has happened since my last blog?
1. We finally named our son, Jaxen!!
2. We had a great week of VBS with our church family! I got a pie in my face for the girls loosing the penny march for the week but it was all for a good cause! We raised like $888! Our high attendance night was 74 kids!
3. Jaxen is moving like crazy! Feels so out of this world!
4. Mom and Dad both get scans done this week to see if either/both of their cancers are in remission!!
5. I'm getting my hair highlighted tonight, hooray!
6. Still trying to think of something that Brandon, Me, and Jaxen can all be for Halloween that matches each other...ideas welcome

4 years ago!!!

4 years ago today I married my best friend! I can't believe we are celebrating our 4 year anniversary already! Seems like it was only 4 months ago sometimes but other times feels like it's been 40 years!!! I am so thankful God has our entire life planned out and mapped how He wants it to go and all's we have to do is follow the road signs! He knew exactly what He was doing when He gave me Brandon! Sounds cheezy but he totally completes me! I am horrible with directions and following signs...for instance I get lost in the mall...Brandon is great at that and now also has GPS!!! I sometimes tend to get hyper and over excited about things, Brandon calms me down and levels me out. He doesn't close the cabinet doors...I walk behind him and do it for him. I don't read very fast and so when the information pops up for a show we are watching I'm done with 2 lines and he's already finished the paragraph, he reads it aloud so we both finish at the same time. I totally suck at technology...sometimes can't even add a new contact to my cell phone, he was like born with all the know how embedded in him. Pretty much, he's amazing!

24 weeks!!! and a Picture!

Here I am at 24 weeks standing in front of the baby room we painted last week! Nothing new going on here for us...hate the hot weather coming in and hate to see our seniors graduate and move on...all part of life

23 weeks!!!!

Good morning and happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of those who served our country!!! I am waiting for Brandon to wake up and our friends are coming over and we're painting the baby room!!!! I can't wait! We took before pictures and so I'll post some before and after pictures when we get done. I've been feeling the baby move quite a bit lately but last night Brandon got to feel him for the first time last night! I was so excited to finally get to share the experience with him. It's still not very strong from the outside but I was very thrilled that Brandon got to feel him! I painted my toe nails Saturday while Brandon was taking a nap and it is definitely getting harder to maneuver to reach them. Brandon got hives over the weekend for the first time. We can only narrow it down to be from a chicken sandwich he ordered from TGIFridays. So bless his little heart he's all itchy and blotchy!!!!

Pregnant...or...fat?

Greetings readers! Happy late Mothers Day to all the Mothers! Brandon treated me so good yesterday! (as always) I got a new pair of p.j.'s and an adorable little onsie that says "Mommy Rules". We went to lunch then had a great nap! Then got to watch Bride Wars after evening church. Pregnancy is still going great! I feel like I'm growing more and more but yesterday at church someone said...so when are you going to get pregnant...urg!!! I thought I looked pregnant finally instead of just fat!!! Oh well! I am feeling him move at night more then what I used to but still not strong enough for Brandon to feel it from the outside. We got to go register for our baby showers Friday night! Oh that was fun! We registered at Target and also Babies R Us...check it out. I need to post current pics...but maybe I just look fat...lol! Have a great week!

It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and it went fantastic! As soon as she turned the monitor on we could tell he was proud to tell us he's a boy! She didn't even have to go down and try to make him move his legs, he was all out and about proud of it! He weighs 9 oz and his foot was 1 1/2 inches...he had the hiccups while she was measuring all of this so it was funny to watch him bounce! We are narrowing down between 4 names. We like Gavin, Brayden, Jaxon, and Cooper. It's amazing that God chooses to grow a child like this! I don't know how people don't believe in God especially after having a child.

18 weeks!

I can't believe I'm 18 weeks!!!! That's 4 1/2 months!!! How crazy is that! It's gone relatively fast until these past few days since my Dr. apt is Friday morning to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! I am very anxious to know! My apt is at 10 a.m. so thankfully I don't have to wait all day long, just wait until Friday! I'm definitely having growing pains in my stomach lately...but that's ok cause it just means the baby is growing! When I saw my Dr. in the end of March my goal was to not have to see him again until another month check up, ever since the beginning of the pregnancy I've never made it a full 4 weeks in between visits, I always wind up with complications of some kind so I'm very thankful that I got to wait a full 4 weeks before seeing him again.

17 weeks!!

As of Sunday we are 17 weeks pregnant! Can't stinkin' believe it is going so fast! We go next Friday morning the 24th for the ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! Can't wait to see what we are having! I think I've felt Squishy move 2 times within the past few weeks. I'm ready to start feeling it more often and regularly. We had a great Easter day this past Sunday! Dad has 2 more doses of chemo and then he'll get scans to see if his cancer's are in remission. Mom gets her scans in June to see if her's is done as well! I am loving the weather, we get to walk the dogs more often and they enjoy that!

Dare 2 Share...What a great weekend!

What a wonderful weekend we had with our students this past weekend! We got to take them to a Dare 2 Share conference here in St. Louis. This conference is so much more then a pep rally, it really challenges and teaches the students how to witness to their friends step by step! They got out of their box and really experienced change! We are so blessed to have the coolest job in the world! I mean that! We get to hang out with students that we can be absolute dorks around...go to camps, retreats, activities, and McDonalds like all the time! God has blessed us with so much and the place that we are in at our lives right now is absolutly amazing! Last night was teen service at church and Brandon got to really share his heart with the church family about reaching out to the students and becoming mentors to them. It was a great and emotional message! Instead of ending it with a typical invitation and alter call he encouraged the church family to come down and take a student by the hand and take them to the alter and pray with them specificly about their week. We ran out of teens fast and there were more adults willing to pray but no more teeens. One of the boys was bragging b/c the pastor picked him to pray with...he was glowing with pride that he got picked! It was so neat to see the church family connect in a great way to the students.

I am 15 weeks!! I can't believe that next Sunday I'll get to say I'm 4 months pregnant! That blows my mind! I had a regular check up on Thursday and everything sounded great. The heartbeat was 158 beats a minute. I have an ultrasound scheduled for April 24th to see if we have a boy or a girl! Very excited to find out! We put up a big marker bored in the teen room and half says boy and the other half says girl and we're letting the students put their name on the side they think we are having. So far there are double the names on the boy side...we'll see whose right!

Some pics!

This weekend I got to take my teenage girls on a girls only weekend retreat. It was great great fun! BBC put on a great program! My girls had an absolute blast! They got to stay in the dorms, we did face masks, played games, just great bonding time! I posted a few pics of the group!

I am 13 weeks pregnant! I am feeling great and can't wait to see my mom, dad, and brother this weekend!

12 weeks!!

Greetings friends! Sorry it's been a little bit longer then normal since I've blogged...things get a little hectic around here sometimes. Well we are 12 weeks!!!! Hooray!!!! I definitely have a pooch!!! I need to take a pic and post it for you but I don't think it's cute yet still just weird...ya know. We got to hear the heartbeat last week!! It was 162 beats a min. I wasn't supposed to get to hear it for another few weeks but I was spotting and the Dr. wanted me to come in to get checked out. Turns out I have an irritated cervix. He said no need to worry it can happen all the time and some people don't know what causes it. It's not close to the baby and it should heal up like a scratched knee. It was a little scary not knowing what was causing it but it's all ok! I got to go maternity clothes shopping this weekend! It was a lot of fun! Not much else is going on...

Look at my Baby!!!!

We had a great Dr. apt this morning! I love my Dr.! The ultrasound tech. brought up the baby on the screen and I set up and said, "Oh my gosh! It's huge!!" A month ago it was just a little blob and now we can clearly see body parts! It blows my mind that a living thing is jumping around inside of me! God is amazing and how He chose to grow life!

10 WEEKS!!

Well...I'm 10 weeks so that is very exciting! We're treckin' right along! My clothes are all much tighter then they were before! I'm down to like 3 dresses I fit into for church. I've lost 3 lbs. but haven't had any morning sickness so far! We get to go to the Dr. Thursday morning and see Squishy! I went to bed Friday night craving some really saucy spaghetti! I had a dream that night that I was at my grandma's house and my sister, mom, and grandma all fixed like 10 different types of spaghetti all for me! So needless to say...I went and got some spaghetti Saturday for lunch! My Brandon is gone for 2 days. Our pastor's wife's dad passed away and him and a few of the deacon's are driving up to Michigan to be there for the family. It's a 9 hr drive, bless his heart! I've been gone and left him here over night a few times but this will be my first time here without him. Have a great week!

9 weeks!

Greetings to all! We are 9 weeks and Brandon thought of a name to call him until we find out if "it" is a he or a she...Squishy!! From Finding Nemo, when Dori sees the jelly fish and says "I will call you Squishy, and you will be mine. You will be my Squishy!" And something very exciting happened tonight! We parked in the parking spot for "Expectant Mothers" for the first time tonight! I made sure that there were still other parking spots available just in case there was some one that was very pregnant and actually needed to park closer to the store. So that's my pic! Still no morning sickness! My taste buds are kinda throwing me for some loops but it's all worth it!

Wkd plans?

Greetings! Not much new to blog about this past week! I'll be 8 weeks on Sunday and thankfully I still haven't had any morning sickness! We got up this morning to find that the dogs had gotten into the trash in the garage and dragged it all over the yard! It was disgusting! Needless to say they are way grounded! I have a girls activity tomorrow and I'm introducing them to the $1 Jewelry Galore! I'm sure they will become addicted as I am! We're going to friends house tonight to eat Imo's pizza for the first time and play their Wii! Have a great weekend! What are you all up to?

Our first ultrasound!

God is amazing! The way that a person is formed and grows inside of another blows my mind! This morning we got to see this little blob inside of me that we call baby! We got to see the heart beat but couldn't hear it since I'm only 6 weeks.
I do have to go get another ultrasound in a month to check on 2 cysts that are on my ovaries and are rather large. The Dr. said they should dissolve by themselves but wants to check on them to make sure. So we get to see the baby again!!!

Monday Morning

I had a great weekend! I got to go down and visit with my family! Brandon didn't get to come with me but it was still fun! I've yet to win a game of Monopoly but it's still on of my favorite games! I made it back in time for Winter Jam!! It was amazing! $10 and you get to see New Song, Toby Mac, Hawk Nelson and some other groups! It was great! Our students really enjoyed it!

I had a friend ask me blog about all my symptoms and everything that was going on during the pregnancy, so I will do my best!! I am 6 weeks right now and so far no morning sickness! Praise God! I've been told that my cramping is normal that it's my uterus growing...those are starting to lighten up! I do have to go to the bathroom ALL the time! I've been to the library and got like 7 book on pregnancy and a friend brought me "What to expect while you're expecting" so I feel very informed so far! As far as names we have a few that we really like but I'm not going to say definitely what we'll use as far as names until we find out if we're having a boy or a girl...or both!! My ultrasound is this Thursday morning to measure the baby and make sure everything is progressing as it should and at that time we'll see if there is more then one!!! B/c I was on so may fertility pills the chances are higher then normal...so we'll see! I'll be sure to post and let you know!

WOW...I'm PREGNANT!!!!

So...it's been stinkin' forever since I've been on here! Christmas was great aswell as New Year's. We had a gret winter retreat with our teens!
As many of you now by now...Brandon and I are expecting a little Shatto!! We have been on fertility treaments for the past 9 months so this is a very exciting time for us! My due date is Sept 18th. I go back for an ultrasound Jan 29th and at that time we will see if we are having more then one. Thank you to all those that have prayed with us during this time in our lives!!!