The Littlest Big Announcement

So if you can't tell by the picture and are wondering, "Has she put on some weight or is she pregnant?" I'll go ahead and clear the air and say, "YES. I am...PREGNANT!" We are 12 1/2 weeks along and I'm almost over the sickness, tiredness, and all around suckiness that the 1st trimester brings. This pregnancy is a lot harder to hide than the last one since I'm showing waaay earlier. I'm totally sucking it in and still this picture looks like me at 16weeks with Piper. Oh well, I was warned that you show sooner with the next pregnancy than with the first. I didn't want to believe them. *sigh* I had my first doctor's appointment in November and got a snazzy picture of Lil Mac at 8 weeks and got to hear the heartbeat. He/She's pretty cute and the heartbeat is such a comfort to hear. Our due date is July 12th, but due dates change so I'm not holding my breath (Pip's due date changed 3 times).

This pregnancy has been different from my first and I'll probably constantly compare the 2 because it's all I know. For starters I am convinced, absolutely CONVINCED that this might be my BOY. So for posterity sake, I will entertain my assumptions grounded in old wive's tales and prior experience:

Pregnancy with Pip vs Lil Mac

*extreme gassiness vs just fat stomach

*no morning sickness just food aversion. I lost weight with Pip vs extreme nausea so I had to constantly eat carbs

*I heard a wive's tale that if you are having a girl the mom's prettiness will suffer. For example, my hair turned coarse and grew everywhere extremely dark and fast and I developed a nasty cold sore and acne during the 1st trimester. After that, my prettiness returned and I developed that lovely pregnancy glow vs this pregnancy my hair is silky, shiny, and sparse everywhere else. I did get a cold sore, but it wasn't near as unsightly and no increase in acne. I already feel as if I have a nice glow.

*I was comfortable with weight gain and gained a whopping 40lbs. I exercised, but ate every sweet confection I could get my hands on vs I'm not too keen on gaining weight and am trying to eat healthy along with exercising. Plus, I have no desire for sweet things, but for citrus fruits, salads, and meat-lots of red meat. There's no emotional eating being done with this one.

I know these are long shots since every pregnancy is different and it really does not matter if it's a boy or a girl. Bob and I both agree that being blessed with a baby is enough for us. We are so happy to welcome this little one to our family and for Pip to be a big sister.

Christmas Lights

We decided to spend Family Home Evening at the Denver Zoo to see the lights. The weather was just right for strolling the zoo at night. There were so many beautiful displays. Pip loved seeing the lights and would remark, "Ohhhh pretty!" at each one. The zoo also had a few exhibits still opened to the public like the elephant house, lion habitat, and penguin area. Pip loved seeing the animals at night, but to me it was pretty scary especially when they are more bold in the evening and will walk straight towards you. Kinda freaky.

Gingerbread Houses

I wanted to make a gingerbread house with Pip earlier this month, but time just slipped away. Thankfully, we were able to decorate gingerbread houses at Oma's house with Pip's cousin. Piper had a blast decorating...at first. Once she discovered how tasty the candies were, she had zero interest in placing the tasty treats on the house and 100% interest in putting them in her mouth. I think more candy was consumed than decorated with. Oh well. The house turned out super cute and Pip had fun.

Pip decorated the roof all by herself. I would lay the frosting down and she would place the gumdrops, skittles, and chocolate candies where she wanted them. She also did the hedges along the bottom...after she tasted each one of course.

She was a little tired of taking pictures.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

You can tell Christmas is upon us because I have been SUPER busy! I've been very sick since before Thanksgiving so everything has taken me twice as long to complete. Earlier this month, I decorated the house all cute and even cleared a space for the Christmas tree. Well, that spot is still empty. The weekend we were going to get our tree we had our first big snow followed with sub-freezing temps. Then the next week, we had 3 Christmas parties to attend plus ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. Pip and I also baked reindeer poop cookies and made spice ornaments for our tree that never was. Then we braved the cold and looked at Christmas lights. Pip enjoyed the lights and wanted to go outside and touch them. In between decorating for Christmas and attending parties, we took a few pictures with our brand new camera of all the fun we've been having...well mostly all the fun Pip has been having and it's only just the beginning. We still have to visit mall Santa and make a gingerbread house-maybe we can convince Oma to help us on this one.

Pip wanted to help me put up Christmas decorations. She especially loved taking care of the very breakable, delicate Nativity scenes I have. She kept toting the baby Jesus around and saying, "Shhh baby sleepy." Cute, until you remember what she did to baby Jesus last year

Way too chipper in the morning!

Pip at Preschool decorating her very own ornament! She got to make 2 ornaments this holiday season. The other one is a really cute ornament we made at the Kelley Kids party. She used her handprint to make little snowmen. I think this will be a holiday tradition we will continue with the rest of our children. We already have 1 tradition where we get 1 ornament as a family.Listening to "The Night Before Christmas". I was totally bummed that I had forgotten to go into my teaching supplies and pull out all my Christmas books. Well maybe next year! We did have a FHE where we read the Nativity story to Pip and talked about what Christmas is all about. She kept saying, "Happy Birthday Jesus". Followed with a nice rendition of "Jingle Bells".

Partying Pip! We had 3 very festive holiday parties to attend this year. The first one was for the Children's Therapy Clinic. Pip has been attending physical therapy for about a week now for her club foot. We luckily started our sessions right before their big Snowflake Festival. We had so much fun! There were crafts, toys, and games. Pip even got to sit on Santa's lap (I held her, Santa stood behind us). The second one was our ward's Christmas party. Pip loved the Nativity program and the rolls. Lastly, was the Kelley Kids party. We had treats and a book gift exchange. We also played a game and made an ornament.

Children's Therapy Clinic Snowflake Festival. This was the only picture I could get of her.

Kelley Kids party! The kids enjoyed dressing Pip up as a snowman. Pip enjoyed all the attention she was getting! Ward Christmas Party. She loves her some rolls!

Christmas sure is fun when you have a kid!

Brrrr...it's cold outside!

SNOW! I have a love/hate relationship with the white stuff. I love that it reminds me of winter. I love the idea of having a white Christmas. I hate that it's cold. I hate that it doesn't melt at least 2 days after falling. When I move to Houston, I will miss it and long for the snowy days of winter. I digress.

So, we had our first big snowfall this weekend and I fretted about not having a snowsuit for Pip. I couldn't justify buying one since she'll only use it for 1 season, BUT I couldn't justify not giving her a chance to go play outside in the snow. After fretting and getting all hormonal about it, we headed off to Target (which was extremely crowded with other moms who were as ill-prepared as I) and bought her a spiffy snowsuit and cute boots.

I have to say that the mere 15 minutes of pure enjoyment she got out of playing in the snow was enough to justify the $70 I spent on her spiffy snowsuit. I got my obligatory snow pictures and will treasure them always. (sarcasm should be noted)

"hmmm, what's this stuff they call snow?"

Pip wanted to play not pose

Thanksgiving...finally.

I have been such a slacker. Things have been crazy busy that I'm just now getting around to writing about Thanksgiving. Since we've been in school, we've been blessed with super long holiday vacations. However, our vacationing days will soon become a memory as Bobby inches closer to graduating and working. Alas, we decided to make a go of our Thanksgiving break and visit Georgia and Alabama. If you're wondering, it's about a 12 hour drive (sans child/dog) to Georgia and a 10 hour return to Indiana from Alabama. Yep, it was long. Thankfully, a friend let us borrow her DVD player. We stocked up on Elmo. By the end of the trip, Pip had an entire Elmo video memorized.

We spent 3 days in Georgia visiting with my sister/bro-in-law, aunt and uncle, and some dear friends in Macon. We also went to the Georgia Aquarium where we discovered that our child is penguin whisperer. We have a video and pictures of a penguin that just absolutely loved Pip and gave Pip her own penguin show. It was pretty cute.

On Wednesday, we went to Alabama. We ate a delicious turkey (prepared by me) and watched the Iron Bowl-the game was terrible. Since we weren't going to be together for Christmas, we decided to have a mini gift exchange. It was nice to be together with family.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy! Bobby and Piper!

The Birthday Kids!

We had a small party for Piper on Monday. All her preschool and neighborhood friends came over to celebrate with her.

Pip received lots of Elmo stuff. She loves Elmo. She also got an art set, a new baby doll, and a Sesame Street ABC toy.

On the morning of their birthday, I made Bobby and Pip a waffle breakfast.

We've been so busy! Last weekend we celebrated my 2 favorite people's birthdays-Bobby and Piper. I can't believe how fast she's grown up. I was watching her climb up the stairs the other day and I remembered a conversation I had with mom about how I needed to teach Piper how to go up and down the stairs safely and I wasn't entirely convinced she would ever learn how to go up and down the stairs, but here we are and she loves going up, up, up and down, down, down! Bobby is the big 35! He doesn't seem very amused about this. He keeps saying he's halfway through his life. But last time I checked there weren't very many 35 year olds still in college, so I think it's safe to assume that his life is only just beginning.

The Potatoheads

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

Meet the Potatoheads and their little Tater Tot!

Halloween Highlights:
Pip has learned how to say "Trick or Treat"
I made and ATE my very FIRST caramel apple. I had no idea what I was missing. Yummy!
Bobby agreeing to wear, yet another, Halloween costume made by me.
Carving the worst pumpkin ever. I will not post pictures of it. It is embarrassing. Imagine a pumpkin with no face, just giant hole.
2 very festive Halloween parties
and way too much candy!

Fall Fun

The joys of being 2!

Playing in Leaves

The kids had so much playing in the leaves. They jumped, kicked, and threw the leaves high up in the air. The boys were more eager and willing to play, it took some time for Pip and Ella to join in on the fun.

Pip showing off her big pile of leaves. She loves collecting leaves everywhere we go...along with rocks and twigs and acorns. One of our preschool lessons was on leaves and the kids went on a nature hunt. Pip's been nature hunting all month. I have no idea what to do with her collection. We like to play a game called, "Return to Nature" where I make her take one or 2 leaves, rocks, twigs, etc and return them home. She loves it.

Making Pumpkin Headbands and Picasso Jack-O-Lanterns

The kids got to make their very own pumpkin headbands. Pip has great spatial relations. She placed each pumpkin evenly on her headband. (that's my girl!)

Aren't they so cute! I promise all those kids are 2, but when I see them lined up...Piper has really loved getting to know all her friends. She's getting to the point where she will recognize them and talk about them when she goes home.

"Star Student" We decorated jack-o-lanterns. Pip placed the eyes, nose, and mouth all by herself. I happen to love that Picasso pumpkin.

FLASHBACK: Trip to Nauvoo August 2010

I was looking through pictures and realized I never documented our trip to Nauvoo. How could I have forgotten? I know...life was pretty crazy around that time. First, Bobby was coming home from his internship in Texas. Second, my in-laws were making their very first trip to B'town and staying at our house. Third, school was starting back up. August is always an insane month at our house, so a vacation was in order. I had never been to Nauvoo and Bobby hadn't been there in 25 years. The drive was interesting. We drove through corn field after corn field, a massive wind farm, and followed the mighty Mississippi. We passed through several tiny towns (in one town we saw 2 little boys sitting on the front lawn just watching the train go by and waving at the few cars that passed, too funny!) When we finally arrived in Nauvoo, I was surprised by how quiet it was. Apparently, the BYU performers had just left so the town was in desperate need of tourists. We were one of the few families there so we got VIP treatment from all the tour missionaries. We learned so much about the city and its rich, vibrant history.

Bobby and I did a session at the Nauvoo Temple. We got to take a mini tour of the Temple and look at artifacts from the 1800s. We both agreed that this Temple was absolutely beautiful and bright. Pip loved peeking through the gates at the Temple and running around smelling all the flowers.

This trip is when I think Pip discovered a fascination with horses. Her Opa took her to see the horses across the street from where we were staying. For the rest of the weekend, it was "horsey, horsey!"

We went on a wagon tour of Historic Nauvoo. I loved listening to the stories of pioneers and the history of the buildings. We had a chance to ride on the trail leading out of Nauvoo that the Saints used when they left for Salt Lake. I looked back and could see the city that these Saints had built and felt such sadness for them, it was a real sobering experience.

The Sculpture Garden behind the visitor's center was so beautiful. Our favorite was called "Fulfillment". Piper loved the one where the children are playing "Ring Around the Rosy". She wanted to get in on the action. It was cute watching her twirl with the statues.

One of our last stops was a visit to Carthage Jail. To me this held the same reverence and respect as the Vietnam Wall.

After visiting Nauvoo, both Bobby and I had a new respect for our pioneer ancestors. Nauvoo was such a beautiful and peaceful place.

P is for PUMPKIN!

I love October. I love Halloween. I love Fall. and I absolutely love pumpkins. Buying a pumpkin is like buying a Christmas tree, both equally enjoyable and fully festive! One thing I have always wanted to do was go to a for real pumpkin patch. NOT a "pumpkin patch" that's just pumpkins thrown on a lawn, but a bonafide straight off the vine pumpkin patch. So this past weekend, I was in search of "the patch".

On Friday, we went a local B'Town patch. However, the pumpkin patch consisted of beautifully arranged pumpkins on a lawn. Not exactly festive, but well worth the effort. There was a barn with a few animals and a really, really old horse. We bought 2 pumpkins.

On Saturday, feeling unfulfilled in my quest to find "the patch", we headed down south about an hour away to Loogootee, Indiana. We got this flyer at a gas station for Lark Ranch-it boasted u-pick pumpkins, tractor ride, petting zoo, pony rides, food, and 3 corn mazes. Lark Ranch did not disappoint. We had so much fun and it was cheap! The pumpkin patch went on for acres and the pumpkins were perfect. They had gourds and my favorite: the Cinderella pumpkin (white pumpkins). I wanted to buy every pumpkin. We ate hot dogs, funnel cake, and cotton candy (my favorite). Pip loves horses so I took her on a horse ride. She got to sit on a a tractor and pet a pig. So much fun! We didn't do the corn maze because it was dark and we forgot a flashlight. I could and would go back again...

However, the drive there is...quite an adventure. First, Loogootee is literally in BFE and Google gave the WORST directions ever. We should've just followed the directions on the flyer. Honestly, it's deliverance country...at one point I could hear the banjos. Secondly, the roads were poorly marked, unpaved, and one-lane. There was one spot where someone hand wrote the street sign on a poster board with a big arrow pointing west. Thankfully, we did not go on that road. For anyone that's seen horror movies, you never go down a road with a handwritten sign. The scenery was lovely though. The road followed the crest of a hill so you could see brightly colored tree tops and lakes. Just lovely. On our way home, we went the correct, more civilized populated way and the drive wasn't near as much fun.

What a fun, pumpkin-filled weekend adventure!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!

Happy, happy birthday Lesly dear. Happy days will come to you all year. If I had a wish that wish would be...a happy, happy birthday to you from me!

A simple 30th birthday. If you couldn't tell already, I really LOVE my birthday. For my special dinner we went, sans child, to Morton's Steakhouse in Indy. For my special present, 2 tickets to see U2 in concert in Colorado this coming May! Yippeee! Now I can cross 1 thing off my Bucket List.

See 30 ain't so bad.

Hindsight is 20/20

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward."

What an amazing journey this has been. I've had a lot of fun searching for pictures and reminiscing about my twenties. There are so many things I wish I could tell my 20 year old self- those pearls of wisdom that only come from countless mistakes: Don't date him or if you're going to date him at least get kiss before you dump him. Buy that fast car. Put those doughnuts down because that 100 pound figure of yours isn't going to last, in fact it will be a distant memory by 26. Laugh more, smile often. Quit waiting for something to happen. Invest in Facebook. Slow down.

I've met so many people in the last 10 years. Those who have helped me, befriended me, encouraged me, and stood by me. I've lived in 4 states across the US. I climbed a mountain. I marveled at the limitless ocean and majestic mountains.

Is this it? Is this the highlight of my life? Is it all downhill from here? Will I have enough time to do all the things that I wanted to do?

The next 10 years will be a whole new adventure. Buy a house. Get a new car. Have more kids. Finally be OUT of college. See the world. Run a marathon. Climb another mountain. Make more memories.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. "

Well said Abe Lincoln, well said. Here's to my 30's. May you be as much fun and as full of surprises as my twenties!

29 and Feeling Fine

2009

Well, it's almost here. I'll be 30 tomorrow. I look at this picture and it pretty much sums up 29: being a mom. I became a mom at 28, but I learned how to be a "mom" at 29. For some this might not seem like much of an accomplishment or challenge or noteworthy to put on my memory lane. It's significant to me. I'm also incredibly happy. I'm happier at 29 than I was at 20. I feel like I'm in the place I'm supposed to be.

I think I'm ready to say hello to 30.