March Madness

Cheering on the Wildcats during the Elite 8 basketball game

Glasses from Gigi


Walking to our neighbors for a St. Patrick's Day Barbeque

Two Straight Minutes

Special thanks to Miss Kendra and Lil H for the Fridge Farm toy that provides the soundtrack to BB's dancing!!

Fun in Flag

The last weekend in February we were invited to visit Flagstaff with friends, to stay in a luxurious "cabin" and play in the snow.

The first day the big boys went snowboarding, and we brought them lunch on the mountain. Then the pregnants and the little boys all went back and took naps (after BB had a complete meltdown at the grocery store - I really pushed him past his naptime limit!)




The little boys had the best time playing all weekend - after this weekend BB spent days saying "Tade? Tade?" asking for Little C.




This was our view when we woke up Sunday morning - it had snowed overnight!


It was time to take the boys out into the snow! Here's BB's first step into the snow:


Not sure how he felt about being waist-deep in snow. He said "Shoe! Shoe!" and when J pulled him up, he had lost a shoe in the snow - whoops! Luckily our cheap solution for not having snow boots was plastic bags tied around our ankles, and the shoe stayed in the bag.


Daddy carved out the way for BB to walk in the snow:




It was picturesque. And it wasn't that cold when we were all bundled up, so we could really enjoy how beautiful it was.




We took the boys sledding! We started just pulling them, which BB loved.


Then we found a hill - BB reached his cold limit after just a couple runs.




I love this picture of Han sledding on a plastic storage bin lid:


J, BB, and I headed back to the cabin once BB got too cold. Everyone else came back later and the little boys laid down for a nap. Once BB was sound asleep, I was ready to build a snowman, and J agreed to come with me because he wanted to build an igloo, even though everyone else didn't want to bundle back up. We left them all reading in the living room. J quickly realized the igloo was a big job, and joined me in snowman-making.




J and I had so much fun that we slowly lured everyone back outside with us.
First, S, who couldn't resist the idea of building an igloo.


Then Han came out, bringing a carrot for our snowman's nose.


Then C had to join the igloo making.


And finally, A joined us while the little boys napped inside.




The boys spent the rest of the afternoon working on their igloo - this is where it was when the girls went back inside for hot cocoa.


J, BB, and I drove home that afternoon once BB woke up from his nap, with our desire for snow-time and friend-time satisfied. Thanks for inviting us Team P!

First Haircut

Before:

J had started referring to BB's hair as a "lady cop" hairdo. And then a kind friend of ours called it a mullet, and when I protested, he explained to me what a mullet was, like I didn't know and that's obviously why I was disagreeing.
And, truth be told, it was getting looooong in the back.
So I watched a couple of youtube videos on how to cut a boy's hair, but I wasn't sure if I was up to the task.
Then on Friday afternoon I had a tear-filled meltdown from feeling overwhelmed and helpless and terrified of how I was going to take care of two kids (oh, the joys of pregnancy hormones - it's been an emotional last week for me and our in-utero banana-sized baby). After J came home and we had dinner, I had re-achieved emotional stability, and I decided it was time to go for the haircut. We actually kept BB up late for the haircut, but he didn't mind since our sit-still-and-stare-straight-ahead tactic was Horton. I quickly reviewed the youtube videos while J strapped BB into the portable high chair in front of the TV.
Here's his hair wet and combed out, ready to cut:

The first cut (gasp!):


In process:

(Note the open mouth - that's exactly what J does when watching TV or sleeping)



After:

I definitely planned for the back to come out longer than this, but cutting hair is tricky! We are really happy with how it turned out!

In addition to the haircut, BB has done a couple of other "firsts" recently - he has put on his own shoes a couple of times, and on Friday we were at a book fair where set up was in progress, and he was invited to come on in and play on their big puzzle-piece foam mats. BB walked in, pointed at the squares and, totally unprompted, correctly announced "Yellow! Blue!" We think he knows his colors!! Of course after that we tried to get him to do it over and over, but he would just give us impish grins and point all over the place.

Fashion Statement

This is how I found BB in his crib first thing yesterday morning:

Is the off the shoulder look the next big toddler jammie trend? Or did he just get bored while he waited for me to come get him?
Either way, he sure made his mama laugh.

Bumpdate: 19 weeks - It's a .........!!!!!!!

Our little family at 19 weeks, on our way out the door to find out if BB is going to have a little brother or a little sister!

This is admittedly not the best picture of the bump, but here are some outtakes:


Sucking his tongue (which means ready for a nap), shoving my face while playing (trying to get him smiling), not in focus

So I fully embrace the lack of bump in exchange for the smiling, still toddler.

Okay, on to what you really want to know:

It's a BOY! BB is going to have a little brother!

Warning: boy parts pictured

Baby Boy looks healthy and measured just a couple of days ahead of my due date (which by the way is actually August 1st, even though I've been saying the 3rd, whoopsies!) And since BB was born a week early, we are definitely expecting this baby at the end of July now, just in case he follows in his big brother's footsteps. And this little boy did not stop moving the entire ultrasound, so we are guessing on another active little man.

Speaking of brothers....BROTHERS! How cute will they be? I hope they love playing together. I asked J that night "They'll be best friends when they're grown ups, right?" I really hope so. I hope BB doesn't feel displaced. I think that is just a mommy bug worry though - I don't even remember life without my little brother. We don't have a name for this little man yet, but don't worry, I've been anxiously obsessing over it pretty much constantly. With BB, we knew exactly what we would name him and we both agreed and loved it. With this baby, we have both gotten a little attached to different names, so today we devoted some time to laying in the hammock and going over our name list. I foresee many hours being spent this way before we draw a conclusion.

Pregnancy-wise, I am starting to feel breathless going up the stairs or with brisk walking, and sometimes even just standing up I feel a little dizzy. I reported all of this to my doctor today and she was unimpressed. She told me that it's common for third trimester symptoms to show up much earlier in your second pregnancy, and that that breathless feeling usually peaks around 20 weeks with the second, so I'm right on schedule. I'm starting to realize that physical activities that seem like they should be doable, like digging up the garden bed to prepare the soil for planting, are much tougher than I expect. J took over pretty quickly on the garden bed when, while convincing him I was fine, I almost fell into my little trench. I also started digging a compost hole and got quickly worn out, even though BB thought it was the greatest thing that ever happened. He stood next to me excitedly bobbing his knees, pointing at the shovel and yelling "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" every time I pierced the dirt. It was very encouraging. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm totally tough and awesome now.) I had a backache for a couple of days after all of that shoveling. And other big news, I can definitely feel the baby move from the outside now too. I can't wait until we find the right moment and J and BB get to feel it too.

Brothers!

Who Gnows?

WE'VE BEEN GNOMED AGAIN!!

This morning I was coming down the stairs and I peeked out the window and saw a foreign bright sign on a stake in our yard - I rushed to the front door, flung it open, and discovered more gnomes!!

Several tiny gnomes just a few inches tall were on the corners of our front walkway, perched on a rock in the yard, and atop our car, and they were looking right at me! A gnome Welcome sign on a stake was under our tree, and a lounging gnome with a frog was next to the front door.

I ran to the garage to get J.

We love it.

We're so curious.

Who is gnoming us?

I have some suspicions,

but the mystery continues...

Our front yard post-gnoming

We highlighted all of the dome-capped foreigners for easier spotting

Close-ups
(Just ignore the dead bush, okay? Clearly, that's what we do)




BB likes his new roommates!