The results are in

We officially are having another GIRL. We found out this morning. I can't say I'm surprised, I kinda figured it would be since I've been so sick. But I was a little bummed....I was excited to try out a baby boy. But things will be fun around here with 2 little girls. I already see Kate's big girl room holding bunk beds full of giggling girls. Now we just need to come up with a name! We have a few we like-- but aren't sold on any yet. We like Anabelle, Abigail (abby for short), Shelby, hey you, baby #2....we don't know! We will let you know when we do. Guess its time to pull out Kate's newborn clothes and see how much we need to buy!

Southeast Texas State Fair

Yesterday was dollar day at the Southeast Texas State Fair, so we decided Kate would really enjoy it. I'm so glad we went- it was a major success! We headed to the animals first. Kate was a huge fan. Here she is petting her first chicken.

She was not afraid to touch any part of the animal she could reach....good thing for hand sanitizer.
She also thought it was fun to kiss any animal that would go for it. This shot in particular cracks me up....preparing to make out with 2 lambs!

She was so friendly to each animal we came to. She would get down to their level and say hi to them. It was super cute.
She really thought the goats were fun. She kept shouting, "Goat, goat!"
Oh the cows....Kate dove head first into a stall after tripping on some straw. Luckily she avoided the cow pies! No harm though, she didn't miss a beat petting and talking to the cow.

And yes she kissed a few cows....
We then met up with our friends and Kate had a blast with her friend Avery.
We found a stuffed gator, and Kate loves them lately, so she was very happy to see it. Of course he got a kiss too!

And then she was given a balloon! That simple balloon made her squeal with laughter for quite some time. She enjoyed running from dad and hitting the balloon into people.

Look at the joy on that face.

This was taken right after saying "daddy mommy balloon!" meaning dad hit mom in the head with the balloon. She thought that was the best game ever!
After that the balloon broke off the string and floated away. Jon and I looked at each other with the "aw crap" expressions and started telling her to wave bye to it, blow it kisses and such. Surprisingly it worked! She didn't cry at all!

Then we headed off to ride a few rides. I bowed out of them----spinning in circles isn't a good idea for me right now. Here is the rest of the gang on this spinny bear ride.
And this is what Kate thought of it:

Apparently not a huge fan. lol.

Then the elephant ride with Nikki. (PS..Nikki was the ride partner of choice. Kate didn't want to ride with mom or dad, not for lack of trying. We wanted to ride with her, but we aren't as cool as Nikki!)Avery and Tanner saying Hi on the Elephant ride.

And to finish up the evening, the carousel. Again she wasn't a fan.

Overall the fair was a great time! Kate only occasionally expressed her frusteration--mostly about being taken from Nikki. No temper tantrums or crying. It was a good time to be out and make memories!

What is better than a clean floor?

A MESSY ONE!! I hadn't even put the vacuum away from cleaning the living room floor this morning when I find Kate sitting with ALL her books around her. I know I've posted almost identical pictures before, but this time it's just to point out that apparently my life will never be picked up and tidy again! Kate thinks that being surrounded by books and toys is a better way to live! I guess I'll get over it, or put all the books in her big girl room (speaking of big girl room, you should start getting excited. Jon is HOPEFULLY going to paint Kate's bed this weekend so we can finally put her room together! We want her to be very used to her big girl bed by the time the baby comes along. Thanks to my mom and collecting for a year now her room is going to be too cute!)

Mini Me

Today at the grocery store we went to the candy isle. I needed to grab some Cadbury eggs, ya know the essentials. Kate was very excited to see the candy and refused to put the bag in the cart. She hugged it for the rest of the shopping trip. It was pretty funny...it really reminded me that she is my daughter! Another funny lately is Cheetos. For whatever reason I have been craving them, so naturally Kate gets to enjoy also. On the way home from the grocery store she asked nicely for her cheetos, and she was a very happy mess by the time we got home.

Run Jonathan Run!!!!

So my husband is pretty much amazing. Scott, Melissa, and Kenneth (some of his siblings) talked him into running in the Cow town race with them in Ft Worth a few weekends ago. Jon decided to do the half marathon with Kenneth and Melissa, Scott is an overachiever and did the full! The slightly sickening part about it was that Jon did so well with little training! His training schedule went like this; basketball on Tue evenings with some friends at church, and Sat morning runs with 2 friends. He finished his first half in just over 2 hours. Then this Saturday he ran another half here in Beaumont and finished 1:54. Sometimes his athletic ability makes me sick....and also attracted to him at the same time! Way to go Jon--we are proud of you!

A Car Confession

Ok, there is one thing about having another baby that is starting to nag at my mind.

My car is small. It works great for 3 people, but that is just about it. But add one more car seat and it will be FULL on a normal basis. Then cue hurricane season. What if we have to evacuate?! We would have to fit our sweet dog in there too somehow, cause he is part of the family! I guess he could sit in the passenger seat with whoever isn't driving, not the most cozy arrangement. I am starting to realize that eventually I will have to part with my car. That fact deeply saddens me! I love my little car! It was a cheap car, so our monthly payments are so small I barely notice them when I pay them. It is cheap on gas because its tiny and a stick shift. I only get gas like once every two weeks. And one of the biggest things I will miss about my car is the day-dreaming time it gives me. You see, on occasion (ya know when my kid isn't in the backseat with me killing the fantasy....so these times are rare) I like to pretend that my car is my dream car (a mustang if anyone is planning on winning the lottery). I crank up the music, and race people down the streets! I love changing gears and pretending I'm driving something with lots of power built for speed! Funny enough this fantasy works for me. It helps me fight off the longing for a 'cooler' or more 'hip' version of myself. Sometimes, and only sometimes I mourn the loss of my 'younger years'. I was 19 when I got married and now at 25 will have 2 kids! And I realize that with those kids my dream car gets farther and farther out of my reach (if I think the backseat of my current car doesn't seem compatible with 2 car seats that barely existent 'seat' in the back of a 'stang will never work for my life!). So I am clinging to my current car as long as I can. I need to at least play pretend every once and awhile! It will take a lot more work for my imagination to turn my mini van into a 'stang. I guess I should start practicing!

Style

Kate has developed quite an opinion about what she wears lately. Usually its her boots that she insists on wearing, and you have seen many pictures of her in those. But today she pulled out a new fashion statement that I think may foreshadow my future.
We got all dressed to go to the store, and she ran to her room to put on this very special skirt on top of her shorts. It is a dress up skirt that goes with her wings and wand....thankfully she only needed the skirt! At least it was purple so it matched. But she marched around the store confidently in that shiny ensemble.

First Family Camping Adventure

This weekend we went on an overnight camp out with some of our good friends. It was really fun, until the sleeping part! None of us got lots of sleep--but aside from that it was perfect! It did start raining at about 10pm, but the rain cooled the temperature down to a perfect crawl-into-a-sleeping-bag-temperature.

Kate got to do the traditional camping things, like roast a marshmallow.....she loved when it caught on fire! But in the end she wasn't a huge fan of eating the roasted ones...she kept going back to the bag for the 'raw' marshmallows!

Pregnancy blues

I've been avoiding writing this post for awhile now. At first I couldn't write it because it was too early to tell everyone I was pregnant. And now, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I have to get this out, even if it is just for my own therapy. Being pregnant stinks! I hate everything about it, except for the end result! So far this pregnancy has been slightly different than the last, but not much. I've been very sick, which in turn helped me to drop 14 pounds in a week and a half (the only other good thing I can think of about being pregnant!!). My food cravings are very different however. With Kate, the ONLY food I never threw up was cheeseburgers. That is def not the case this time around! And last time I couldn't ever drink milk or eat cereal, and this time cereal is usually fine. Thankfully my doctor gave me serious drugs that have helped me stop getting sick all the time, but they aren't a guaranteed fix. I sadly still get sick while taking the max dosage. And please don't just drop by my house unexpected.....cause it is BAD! I'm having a good day when I have the energy to do a load of laundry or wash a few dishes. But that is about all I can handle. Its pretty pathetic. I think that is what I hate most about the pregnant gig--feeling so pathetic all the time! It seems like no matter what I eat, how much I sleep, how many drugs I take, I still just can't function! I still have a sliver of hope that my sickness will ease up soon, since I recently entered my second trimester. I didn't get that lucky last time, but there is always hope right?

At least last time around I didn't have a reason I had to get out of bed, and I could just lie around all day trying not to die...but sadly poor Kate has to deal with a bump on a log mom for a few more months. She hasn't really seemed to notice, so I guess that is good. If I get off the couch much she actually usually tries to make me sit back down. She has started serious potty training almost on her own. She will tell me when she needs to go, and usually has a dry pull up most of the day. She even wears real panties some days and keeps them dry too! It is def not something I enjoy, especially with my pregnant nose and gag reflex, but I keep the end goal in sight and suck it up. I am glad she is basically showing me how she wants to handle the potty training thing, instead of it being a huge battle.

I actually think that she kinda likes me being sick, because she gets most all of my attention while I sit around. I do LOTS of book reading, singing and watching movies. She is great at bringing the toys to me that she wants to play with and just letting me sit, except for when she has to potty. She is pretty creative with her playing, she likes to play pretend and be goofy.

For example, she wore these for the better part of a day and used the wand that goes with it to dance around and sing. It was pretty entertaining.

On a positive note, I will find out in about a month what we are having. My gut says girl, cause I feel so crappy...but fingers are crossed for a boy! Once we know what it is, we can start the fun part of decorating and making room for a new family member. Hopefully I will be over getting sick by then so I can have energy to go crazy!

Happy Valentines Day!

2 weekends ago my dear friend babysat Kate, and decided to do a valentine theme photo shoot. Here are just a few shots to give you an idea. I think she is pretty cute- but I know I'm biased!

So hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day! I got my gift (new cell phone) last night and am enjoying playing with it today! I have to bust my butt and finish Jon's gift soon...like before he gets home from work! Nothing like last minute gift making.

NOISE!

It seems like it is always loud in my house. But how? I only have one kid! During nap time I almost never watch tv, in fact I turn it off and enjoy the sound of silence. I can't totally blame my daughter, she has two parents who aren't classified as quiet, but does everything have to be done at the TOP OF HER LUNGS?!?!
She always is running around having a grand ol' time, and sometimes her noises make me smile...but most of the time my head just spins. She still loves to read books to herself, and one of her favorites right now is the Grinch. She opens it, and finds the page where it talks about the noise, noise, noise...and then yells "Noise! Noise! Noise!" and closes the book. I think that kid really just does things to tease me!

One of the fun noises lately is when she is riding on daddy's back. That girl loves to climb on him and laugh and yell all around the house. She is such a crazy kid! She also is very into the phrase "what did I do", except when yelled it sounds more like "WAY-Ido?!?". She has a cartoon she watches on the computer, and any time she pushes a button to make life more exciting she yells that phrase. And when she is playing with daddy's phone and goes somewhere she knows she isn't supposed to she runs to him saying "UHOH, WAY-Ido?". And at church, my daughter can be heard above the congregation yelling "BIRDS!!!!" to Jon. She loves to play cell phone games during church, and we let her cause, let's face it-- she sits still longer with the phone than anything else! But man-- someone needs to teach that girl how to whisper! Her parents should get a clue!

And two unrelated pictures...just cause they have been taken in the last day or so. Sometimes my kid is just too naturally beautiful! I have yet to cut her hair, because it grows in with its own natural style. To prove my point, here is an after nap shot. Mind you--I didn't use a brush that day at all, and rarely do (partially cause I'm a bum, and partially cause I don't need to!)
And on Saturday Kate had a daddy daughter day while mom got to be a lazy bum! I came out of our room to get a snack and see Kate sitting on Jon's lap doing this to his face while he read a book. She is such a sweetie--even if she is loud about it!

Kate goes to the Zoo and New Years Too!

Since my family had to head home right after Christmas, we got to go spend New Years with Jon's sisters in Ft Worth. It was nice to get to go see everyone! On New Year's Eve we decided to head to the Zoo. Kate was a little difficult, since by the time we got there it was her nap time, but she really enjoyed herself! On the 20 minute ride to the zoo she took a tiny nap.

Here is how the Zoo adventure started. She sat in the stroller and let Dad lift her up to see the animals. It was working out wonderfully.
Aunt Lorraine and Lauren. It was the first time in 2 years we had seen their family. Glad we got to see them again!And then we did the unthinkable as parents. We set the beast free to feed the fish:
And this was the end result. She had to push the stroller. That is one thing, but if you tried to help her not run into people she would scream at you for touching it and not letting her do it alone. Jon and I were over that real quick.Then a miracle occurred. We went to feed the birds! And my sis in law hid the stroller! YAY!!
Michael found a friend!

And after the birds we had our normal run-everywhere 2 year old back! Here she is with Aunt Melissa. Thanks to Michelle for letting us crash at your place! It was a great weekend to see family and relax.